The Horsemen Cometh

The radio cut out first. The car died almost an instant later.

A feeling of surrealism engulfed Kyle. It was like being in a dream. He instinctively pulled his car off of the freeway, but why was everyone else doing the same thing? His mind rushed through its Rolodex of explanations, pausing briefly on “there must be a siren coming.”

The near perfect silence vetoed that possibility.

People were climbing out of their cars all along the road. Apparently, everyone was having car trouble at exactly the same time. That did not seem very likely. Kyle’s mental Rolodex flipped some more. It stopped on the worse possible answer. It was the only one that made sense.

EMP, electro-magnetic pulse.

Kyle took a deep breath and then sat on the hood of his car. He knew he only had a minute or two.

Checking his cell helped confirm his suspicion. There were no bars. In fact, there was nothing. He might as well have been checking a rock for a signal. It was as dead as his car.

He looked up the sky and smiled. Then he remembered his wallet. There were family pictures there. Taking them out, Kyle spent a moment on each; capturing a memory before saying goodbye to each of his kids in turn, saving his wife for last. ‘Goodbye honey,’ he thought to himself.

People were gathering together on the highway. No one had figured it out yet. Kyle elected to keep the answer to himself. There was no reason, they would all know soon enough.

Less than two minutes after his car lost power, Kyle felt the wind and turned to face it.

It built up exponentially, sweeping cars and people away. It was the nuclear wind...the mighty backhand of God.

word count 295