I could hear the sound of sea gullies scavenging for food on the beach behind me. The low sun reflecting off the rolling waves and passing cloud formations above. A seagull squawked before flying off into the air. A deep breath filled my lungs with the salty aroma of the sea and land.
I sat in a state of tranquility as my fingers accented the keys before me. A small trail of smoke shot up from a lit cigarette between three fingers. Above me; two large palm trees with long narrow leaves created a welcome canopy of shade. My gaze was downward on my laptop screen.
A thought surfaced in my mind, “This is not living. Breaking away from the usual technosphere of the internet and cell phones. Time to take a break and enjoy what nature has to offer. No stress of always thinking of what I need to do next. No distractions.” But as I thought about this I began to remind myself how long I had been disconnected from the outside world.
After five years of being totally off the grid I guess I had gotten used to it, and then I realized I have not heard the sound of my own voice for maybe a year or two. As I contemplated this situation I couldn’t help but wonder about my former colleagues, what they went through and what happened. That thought forced me to unlock my phone to check if I had any messages.
The screen gave me no surprises; no friend request from someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. Nothing. After some time sitting in front of my internet linked computer I decided I will attend to my fishing gear and equipment. Take a quick look at my reading material. Get stuff together for dinner. I opened the patio door off the screen of my computer. I wandered around the tiny cottage and was lost in thought as I did so. I remembered meeting my friend on the beach after meeting at the villa. I remembered how we shared a bottle of wine as we talked about everything under the sun. I remembered convincing him to go for a swim at night. It was the first time I took a swim at night. To top it off we decided to join with the other body floating in the water.
Before I could finish pulling out my fishing gear I heard the audio cue from my cell phone. I turned around with my fishing pole in hand and paused dead in my tracks, remembering that I had no signal and my phone had no power. I took the cell phone and looked at how long the battery had. My cell phone was almost out of power because it had been unused for almost two years. The screen lit up, but only for a moment before dying again. I pressed the power button again, but it didn’t work.
I thought, “WTF?” I knew right then what happened. The whole island was in a worldwide blackout. This can only mean one thing: a major EMP attack. The problem was, it happened so fast, and there was no prior warning. My head felt like it was going to burst with all the chaos of questions and thoughts.
The sudden shock forced me to sit down for a moment to catch my breath. I stood up, and as I did so, I brushed over the radio I had overlooked for so long. I knew that if my cell phone wasn’t working, the radio wouldn’t either. I took the radio and sat down again. I scratched my head as I turned the radio on.
My eyes slowly scanned over all the channels, still seeing the same thing, silence, only a soft hissing sound. I moved over one channel and realized there was nothing but static and a slow beeping sound. I then moved on to the next and next and next and after a few more minutes of nothing but static, my cell phone started to power up again. I grabbed it; it had a minimal charge.
It was a miracle that I still had some cell phone signal, so I decided to play a little catch up. I didn’t have a signal of any kind before, just that little glimmer of hope.
Before long I had three emails, and a couple of texts. I was confused that any of the stuff was being sent, and why it was sent. The whole thing was so bizarre.
The emails started coming first. They were from several years ago, of people from all over the country, including those I knew personally and those I regarded as people I knew but had not exchanged much contact with over the years.
That kind of sucked. It took me awhile to get through them, and I was furious. But then my cell phone beeped and made the sound of a text.
I quickly activated the cell phone. Another text. I opened it up and realized that it was from my friend.
Cell phone text: Emergency message. We are in really big trouble!
It was scattered in all caps with two exclamation points. What does this mean? I thought. Why wasn’t he on Facebook or some other social website?
I quickly checked my Facebook feed and realized all of my contacts were gone. There was no trace of any of them still online. The only friends that were there, were the ones that were online when it happened. They just got sucked offline. I assumed this to be the end and as much as I realized that the internet and all its wide world of information was no more, I was still pissed. I wondered what happened and how would I survive. I guessed I might just have to go back to basics. What was easier to get back when it comes to surviving? What was easier to get back when it comes to surviving?
I just didn’t know.
My cell phone beeped and I opened the email.
Cell phone text: Do not open my email. This is my only means of communication now. The rest of the island has been shut down.
