Free Charlie's Requiem Novella by A. American Page B

out.

Chapter 10
    Day 2
    Charlie
    Kirkman Specialty Clinic
    About 6 a.m. the next morning I had had enough of my tossing and turning. Most of the people still slumbered, and the morning sun had not yet risen. I got up and found Dr. Kramer in the break room, making a large pot of coffee in an old percolator. I saddled up next to him and found two clean mugs. I knew where most of the utensils were stored given the multiple lunches I had brought on my frequent sales calls to the office. We both worked in silence as we reflected on the situation and unsuccessfully sought a solution to our predicament. It’s very calming preparing your morning cup of coffee, almost Zen-like.
    We sat down at the table and enjoyed our cup of java. After a minute of welcome silence, he put his mug down and we began to speak.
    “Do you have any other clothes?” He asked.
    “I have my workout clothes in my backseat,” I cautiously replied. “Why?”
    “Do you have gym shoes as well?”
    “Well, yeah! They’re running shoes.” I said. “I usually hit the gym on my way home. But why are you worried about that?”
    “I think you’ll need those shoes, and your workout clothes. I think we can even scrounge up some scrubs for you.”
    “Whoa!” I said. “I’m not staying here that long.”
    “You may not have a choice,” he flatly replied. “I haven’t heard a single siren or other emergency vehicle all night. Have you?”
    “Come to think of it,” I said back. “No. No I haven’t.”
    “Then it’s worse than a local problem. It has to be at least city-wide or greater.”
    He got up and refilled his mug, adding a bit of sugar and powdered creamer before returning to the table.
    “Charlie,” he started. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen over the next few weeks.”
    I started to interrupt him, fully intent on setting him straight. I was not going to stay here that long. No way! No how! But before I could get a word in, he held up his hand to shush me. He was Dr. Kramer, so I shut up and listened.
    “Charlie, the world as you know it is going to fall apart. And I don’t mean fall apart like a hurricane or tornado hit us. I mean, fall apart like the world is going to end.”
    I couldn’t believe what he was saying. If it had been anyone but him, I would have left the table and never come back, writing him off as a quack. But his eyes and demeanor told me that he wasn’t fooling around. He was dead serious, and I held his gaze and just kept quiet.
    “Do you have any place to go that is safe? Before you answer that, I mean safely away from the city or other large crowds of people.”
    I thought of all my relatives and friends. I tried to think of someone that lived in a rural area, maybe on a farm or in the country. I came up blank.
    “Not really, doctor.” I replied. “My father lives in Maitland and my mom is in Tampa. All my friends live downtown or in Baldwin Park.”
    “Hmmm,” he said. “We’ll have to think on this a bit.”
    We heard a sound outside the door and Janice shuffled in and joined us.
    “Can you spare some coffee?” She asked.
    “You know you don’t need to ask,” he replied.
    Janice poured herself a large mug of coffee, added a yellow pack of sweetener and plopped next to me at the table. We waited for her to take a couple of sips before we started back into the conversation.
    “I want you both to understand what we are facing here,” he began again. “We are looking at months or possibly years without power.”
    Janice and I both looked at each other. What he was saying was unfathomable. How could he be so certain?
    “You both know I was in the Air Force, right?”
    We nodded our heads in unison.
    “I have some experience with this scenario. We were trained on the potential effects of an EMP attack. Now I’m not saying there has been an attack on the United States,” he continued, “but regardless of the cause, the results are the same.”
    “If what I remember is correct, it may