Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

     “We are not going to let those monsters bomb us!” Wolfe yelled into his microphone.

     A reporter appeared on the television screen, “This was the president’s speech shortly after hours of restoring power and the Internet in an undisclosed area. Just days after the press conference he made another live appearance.”

     “We sent out best to combat North Korea,” Wolfe said. “They were sent on a very top secret mission.”

     “We received news from a source that they were unsuccessful due to an electromagnetic pulse,” said a reporter.

     “I cannot comment on that,” said Wolfe. “If there was such a force nobody would have been able to survive that. What I do want to comment on is that I am proud of our soldiers for what they did.”

     “Their loved ones want to know what happened to them since they never returned,” commented the reporter.

     “Who let him in here? Someone take him out of here,” Wolfe said as security removed the reporter.

     “What are you doing for the victims?” said another reporter.

     “Emergency response is doing a very good job for their prompt arrival and care of the victims of this horrific act,” he said.

     “What are you doing about it, President Wolfe?” he asked again. “Don’t you think that you should take care of the Americans that this happened to?”

          “Get him out of here!” Wolfe was agitated. “I sent thousands of troops to bomb North Korea.”

     “So, you killed more Americans?” the reporter shouted back. “You antagonized a world leader notorious for his cruelty. You single handedly murdered thousands of your own citizens and counting and you are not doing anything about it? Don’t you care?”

    Security located the reporter and dragged him out of the room. Other reporters started yelling in protest. As security dragged the reporter closer to the door the reporter managed to reach up and pull his hair off of his head. The reporter was wearing a wig and everyone gasped in horror as they saw his bald head.

     “This is what you did to us! You get to hide in a safe place while people who voted for you suffered from your immaturity!” he shouted as the guards tried to regain control.

     The reporter appeared back on the television screen as the press conference faded out, “Wolfe left the press conference abruptly leaving our country without any answers. We sent Dan to the outskirts of ground zero to report on the survivors. Dan?”

     Dan stood on the outside of a chain link fence, “The emergency crews have been working hard on such a short time limit. Emergency shelters are overwhelmed with people evacuating the East and West. It’s been especially brutal as the winter months are upon us.”

     “Any word of rescue efforts being delayed?” she asked.

     “There have been many obstacles in the rescue efforts,” he said after a pause. “They are currently looking for more volunteers to rescue more people.”

     “What kind of health concerns are there presently?” she asked.

     “Radiation poisoning is the primary concern; it’s what has been causing the highest mortality,” he answered. “Other concerns are cancer and if there will be enough medical supplies to support all of these ailments. The medical cost, of course, is going to soar. It’s going to be worse as the recovery efforts begin and businesses begin to rebuild.”

     “It might be a while to assess the damage,” she commented.

     Dan nodded, “Especially, that much of what makes everything function has been completely wiped out.”

     “Here now, we have Bill Morgan who has had an opportunity to review which states were impacted the most by the terrorist attack,” she said.

     Bill sat beside her next to a map of America, “Glad to be here.”

     “Thank-you for making it on such short notice,” she said. “What can you tell us about all who were affected by this attack?”

     “Our entire country has been affected,” he said. “The hardest hit states were California, Washington State, Oregon, New York, and pretty much the entire region of the east coast. It’s difficult to determine at this point how many bombs there were because of the extensive damage and the damage goes on for so many miles.”

     “Do you know if there were any survivors in the areas that were struck?” she asked.

     “It is hard to say,” he said. “We have yet to see anyone from either coast of America. So far, we have seen survivors from the states closer to those that were struck by atomic bombs. The survivors who have arrived are sick from radiation or are injured from the attack.”

     The television was turned off. Mom placed the remote control on the nightstand. She leaned back in her bed. She had a bad feeling that her husband was one of the airmen deployed to North Korea.

     “Why did you turn off the television?” grandma asked. “We came all of this way to know what is going on and now you turned off the source of information.”

     “I think that Brian was one of the people who were sent to North Korea,” she answered.

     “We don’t know that,” grandma stated. “Nobody has come to tell us anything.”

     “It’s kind of hard for them to tell us anything if nobody knows if we’re alive or where we are,” she told her. “For all we know a majority of military bases were eliminated by the attack. So many people are dying, mom. Everyone who rescued us is dying. We are dying.”

     Jason came into the room fresh from a shower, “We need to get to a relative’s home.”

     He checked his phone. He had partially charged it earlier enough to locate an Uber driver to bring them to a hotel. At least there were people left determined to help others to get from point A to point B during this chaotic time.

     “Do we have anyone near who can come get us?” asked Olive.

     “I’ll have to go through my contacts and start calling around,” he dialed a number and then pressed end. “Not everyone has their service back. This may take a while.”

     “Can we at least listen to the television?” asked grandpa.

     “As long as it is not the news,” said mom. “I have seen enough.”

     They turned the television back on. Olive sat and stared out of the window. The town was so unfamiliar to her. She looked at her family and she felt lucky, but she did not know for how long. They were missing hair and had mysterious spots on their skin.