Free Abandon by Stephanie Dorman

pressure of her texts and calls though and eventually she had become a multiple night stand.  The multiple night stand that just happened to be at his house that morning.  He supposed in a way it might have been the hands of fate that caused him to dial her number that night, it was entirely possible he saved her life by having her spend the night given the current state of her apartment complex.  He just didn’t understand why she had come back to him instead of running to her family and friends.
    Pulling into Cumberland was like coming into a ghost town.  The streets which should have had people teeming on them doing last minute Christmas shopping were empty.  All the storefronts had big signs that read closed on them.  There were no cars, or any sign of life.  Cort could feel his own anxiety level rising even more.  Even with the power out there should be people out.  Turning the corner onto the main road through Cumberland he saw a police officer standing in front of a cruiser which was blocking his way.
    “There’s a cop!” Katy exclaimed pointing at the car.  “We can ask him what’s going on.”
    Cort rolled his eyes at her excited outburst.  Somehow Katy had the ability to annoy him with everything she said since they had left Ellicott City.  Maybe it was because everything she said was so obvious, and he was hoping eventually she would discover a deeper layer in the world around her.  He understood on some level that Katy just wasn’t built that way, so he suppressed the urge to say what he was thinking and instead slowed the car to halt in front of the officer’s car, and stepped one foot out, leaning on the open door.  
    “Excuse me sir, can you tell me what’s going on?”
    The officer had been staring at their car with a dazed look in his eyes, and Cort realized his voice had brought him out of a trancelike state.  “Son, you can’t be here,” the officer responded finally, pointing at the car.  “You best get in your car and head back to wherever you came from.  Haven’t you heard what’s going on?”
    Cort shook his head, noticing that the officer looked like hell.  His eyes were bloodshot, and his body looked weary like he had come to work off a three day coke binge.  Things were obviously worse than they had initially thought, and he wondered how none of them had noticed on the drive out to Deep Creek.  “No, my friends and I, we just got to our vacation home last night,” he lied.  “There was no power and we hadn’t been watching the news.”
    The cop sighed, taking off his hat and running his hands through his silver hair.  “Y’all should probably get back there then, the word from the President is to stay in your house until they figure out what’s going on.  Essential personnel on the roads only.”
    Katy stepped out of the car, looking at the cop.  She had pulled down her shirt a little to reveal some additional cleavage and was twirling her hair around her finger.  “Until they figure out what’s going on?” she asked sweetly, leaning up against the door of the car.  Cort was impressed by the way she maneuvered herself to get more information out of the man almost effortlessly.  
    The officer looked Katy up and down, oblivious to the assets which she was trying so hard to display, and continued to run his hands through his hair.  Cort noticed that the hair was actually coming out in small chunks and he wondered how stressed the officer was before the events of yesterday.  “Look kids, I don’t know.  There’s something goin’ on out there and until the powers that be figure it all out you better stay inside.”
    Cort opened his mouth to ask additional questions and the officer interrupted him.  “You deaf boy?  Go home!  Skedaddle!” he barked, reaching for his weapon.  Cort slowly sat back down in the car and stared at the officer, who had his weapon drawn and pointed directly at them.  He had never had a police officer pull a weapon