First Strike

The missiles would be in flight for approximately 30-45 minutes depending on the exact location. With no US equivalent of Israel's 'Iron Dome' or Reagan's Star Wars SDI, all of the warheads would reach their targets.

D-Day. Lander, Wyoming

Ryan woke up to find Kodie laying across his lap. He would have smiled but his brain was sending him some kind of signal. He forced himself to wake up and pay attention, and he understood it was the ham radio.

"KN0ABC this is KD2ABC, come in."

Steve Griffin's last command master chief, a 30-year Navy veteran named Larry Murray, lived in upstate New York. He reached out to him a day prior, and after some short reminiscing, Steve asked him if he was still a licensed ham operator.

"You better believe it! What's up, Admiral?"

Steve told him he needed a favor and the retired master chief said, "Anything. Just name it."

Larry Murray was to send out a repeat broadcast to one specific address.

"Just leave it on and let it run for 48 hours or until you hear back from them or me."

"I'd like to ask why, but I know better," Larry replied with a chuckle. "Okay. You got it. When do I start sending?"

"I'll text you."

"Anything I should know?" he asked, knowing he shouldn't.

"Nothing I can tell you, my old friend."

Murray knew that meant trouble, but he knew better than to ask.

"Roger that. Consider it done."

As Ryan got to the radio he heard the call signs again. He sat down and grabbed a pen and paper next to it and wrote down what he heard.

"Nearest facility to be eliminated. Stay inside. My location eliminated. Godspeed."

Kodie woke up shortly after Ryan did as he left her slumped all the way over. She heard the noise and followed it to its source.

"What does that mean?" she asked when it played again.

It kept playing as Ryan spoke.

"I'm not certain but I believe it means F.E. Warren is going to be hit. And...."

His blood ran cold as he said, "Washington DC is going to be obliterated."

"What? Oh, my god. Ryan. That's where...."

He was choking back tears as Kodie walked up from behind and put her arms around him. He put his hand on her arm and allowed himself to cry for a few moments. The tears stopped when they heard another noise from the equipment room just as the ham radio fell silent.

"What's that sound?" Kodie asked, overwhelmed with noise and information she didn't understand.

"No. God no! That's the external Geiger counter."

A Geiger counter detects ionizing radiation such as alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays using the ionization effect produced in a Geiger--Müller tube, which gives its name to the instrument. Ryan knew that a nuclear blast 270 miles away wouldn't be heard inside the bunker, but the flash of flight that carried radioactive alpha particles would make a Geiger counter spike in a big way.

He quickly moved to the equipment room and went to the meter.

"Fuck me," he said as Kodie grabbed his hand.

"What does that mean?" she asked, looking at him and the meter.

"It means a nuclear weapon just exploded."

"Where?"

"F.E. Warren most likely. That's the nearest 'facility'."

"What does that mean?" she asked, trying not to panic.

"Depending on things like the wind--it's speed and direction--we'll be receiving radioactive fallout from some trace amount to...I'm not sure. I have a booklet I haven't had a chance to read, but I know that anything above a certain number of micro Sieverts is dangerous. Double that increases the risk of cancer. More is...fatal. I just don't know how much. Yet."

He stood up, blinked a few times, and looked into Kodie's eyes which were also filled with tears.

"Ryan. I am so sorry," she said as she held him.

"Me, too. For everyone."

"Do you really believe DC is...."

"Yes. I can't say with certainty, but that's my sense."

"Can we still get any news?" she asked hopefully.

"Let's go see."

He knew that if US communications satellites had been destroyed or affected, there wouldn't be any news to watch. But as they retuned to the satellite TV, it was indeed broadcasting, and the news was worse than anything they could have imagined.

It took some time to piece it all together, but later that same day they learned about the two SS-18s and their targets. They also learned that China had invaded Taiwan and that a US aircraft carrier had been sunk and two more damaged.

Iran had joined in the new middle east war and Israel was now fighting on three fronts for its very survival. America had been drawn into the fight and casualties were high on all sides.

It was nearly 24 hours later when the president of the United States made his first televised announcement to the country and the world from an undisclosed location.

He confirmed pretty much everything Ryan and Kodie had pieced together. He told the nation that Russia had been duped by China and that after a US retaliatory strike destroyed Moscow and a silo-based facility called Tatischevo in Russia, the two countries had agreed to cease hostilities to avoid mutually assured destruction or MAD, the old acronym from the Cold War era, that implied no nation would ever use nukes to avoid annihilation.

The estimated death toll in America--so far--was just under one million with about as many casualties, many of whom were dying every minute from radiation exposure and burns. The cost in terms of rebuilding was extraordinary, and what was left of the government had been relocated to some other place.

The president called for unity and calm and warned the public that rebuilding could take many years. He then went on to explain the situation in Taiwan and its implications for the US and the world at large.

"There will shortages of food, water, fuel, and other supplies," he explained before going on for sometime about the spread of radioactive fallout and how to best protect oneself from it.

"Can you turn it off?" Kodie asked, too shellshocked to think.

He did then sat in silence with her.

She again snuggled up close and put her arms around him.

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before we can safely leave?"

"No. Not yet."

She held him close then looked at him again.

"Can I tell you something and have you promise not to laugh?"

"Of course."

She sat up then pulled her legs onto the sofa. She looked at her feet then looked at him.

"When we were in the attic? I...I know this is absurd, but I had these...feelings. This...fantasy maybe...of...you and me. Together. I know how old I am and how...disgusting that would be to a handsome boy...young man...your age, but I did feel that way."

Ryan just stared at her as she spoke, and kept doing that when she finished.

"Please don't be angry, Ryan. I know I shouldn't have said anything, but since we're here...together...I just wanted to...."

He slowly leaned over and kissed her. To his surprise, Kodie not only didn't pull away she kissed him back. Softly at first then more passionately.

"Make love to me. Please?" she asked as the long, deep kiss ended.

Ryan smiled as he stood up. When she did, he picked her up and carried her. She was too sad to laugh or do anything, but she was also happy in some strange way she couldn't explain and didn't want to think about. Right now she just needed him, and something told her he needed her, too.

Fourteen Months Later.

"Honey? The Geiger counter reading. Come here!" she called out.

Ryan hurried to her where she was pointing to the first safe reading they'd seen since two days after the strike when winds brought fallout their way.

"We're getting close," he said, his hands on her shoulders.

It took another three months for the level to drop low enough that they felt safe going outside.

"You ready?" Ryan asked as they stood by the blast door.

"Yes," Kodie said as she held his arm while he entered the code.

It was just before sunrise, and the sight was so beautiful that both of them teared up.

"You'd never know anything happened by just looking around, would you?" Kodie said, unable to tell that anything had happened at all.

They'd brought the dirt bikes in that first night and had started them twice a month for a few seconds each. They had more than enough fuel to get to their homes, but neither of them knew whether or not they even had a home.

As they reentered civilization nothing looked too out of the ordinary, but as they got closer to home there were a lot of abandoned vehicles along the paved roads. Gas stations were closed with "NO GAS" signs on them. Restaurants were closed with signs indicating there was no food.

Now very concerned, the two dirt bike riders felt a momentary relief when they saw their houses. As they got to within a few hundred feet they could tell that everything was still intact. The doors were still locked, no windows had been broken, and other than the huge amount of weeds everywhere things looked pretty much the same.

Inside they discovered the food had long since spoiled and still stunk to high heaven even though much of it had completely rotted. There were insects galore, but otherwise the house was undamaged. There was no electricity, so they opened the door and windows to air them both out then sat outside together in the street.

"What do you think?" Kodie asked the man she now loved and trusted.

"I think we need to find someone who can give us a sitrep."

She knew that term meant a 'situation report' and said, "I agree. Let's head into town."

They still had a half tank of gas but took only one bike. There were a few people sitting outside here and there, but other than that Lander seemed like a ghost town. They drove to the police station and went inside to see if anyone had any information.

"Ryan Griffin. Where have you been?" the chief of police said as he stuck out a hand to shake.

"We uh, we got out of town and stayed with some friends of...Kodie's."

The chief shook her hand, too, and told them both it was good to see them alive and well.

"Chief? How are things here?"

"Oh, boy. Have a seat, okay?"

He gave them a rundown on Lander with nearly all of the news being bad. Food was scarce, the power plant was down, no cell service, no microchips, and a whole lot of dead and sick folks from the fallout.

"We had heavy winds right after the base got hit. We had a ton of fallout. Older folks and those were already ill went first. We've had a bunch of cancers. Me included. Blood, bone, brain. Most of the fuel we have left went to keep the hospital generators running as long as we could. The last one ran out three months ago. It's been rough.

On a positive note, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a cease fire and returned to a pre-war border situation with Russia retaining Crimea. China had seized Taiwan but the Taiwan Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Company had been destroyed leaving the entire world, including China, in a world of hurt as it had been the single most important producer of microchips on earth. Shortages affected military and civilian aircraft, and any modern device than ran on 3-5nm chips, and there was a spillover effect on anything that used larger chips.

Moscow and DC were wastelands that would require at least a decade before anyone could think about rebuilding. Dozens of satellites were gone with only a handful remaining and there was just one functional cable news channel left in the country. But without electricity no one could watch. Some folks had emergency radios that could be hand cranked or solar powered IF the sun was out. That was their only source of news.

"A lot of folks just left. Headed for larger cities, I suppose," the chief told them. "Me? My wife died a year ago, my kids live on the east coast, and I really don't have anywhere to go--and I'm dying, too. So I hang out around here, but there isn't a whole lot goin' on. The only crime to speak of is folks trying to steal food, and there isn't a lot of it to steal."

He looked at them then asked what they planned to do.

"I don't know," Ryan told him, "but whatever we decide we'll do it together."

Things had changed so dramatically that seeing someone who was almost 21 years old with a woman who was 36 didn't even get a second look.

"Well, there isn't much I can offer you, but I do you wish you both well. Oh. How's your dad? Is he with you?"

Kodie squeezed his hand as Ryan told him, "No. Dad was in DC."

"Sorry to hear that, buddy," the chief said sincerely. "Well, whatever you do, don't head toward F.E. Warren. Go any other way but that."

"I think maybe we'll go back and spend some time with our friends," Kodie said as she looked at Ryan, knowing he, too, realized Lander had nothing left to offer them.

They still had a ton of food and fuel, and were they to make that known it would last the town a few days and nothing would change--except for them.

"Take care, Chief," Ryan said as they shook hands again.

"You, too," he told them as he nodded to Kodie. "And take care of each other."

"We will," she promised as she and Ryan walked out hand in hand.

"To the Batcave?" Ryan asked, getting a laugh from the beautiful, older woman he loved.

"Can we see if there's a justice of the peace in town first?" she asked.

"I like the way you think!" he told her as they hopped on.

They found a retired judge who agreed to marry them as his wife served as their witness. They didn't have any paperwork other than a piece of paper from a legal pad he wrote on, and there was no one to get it from or give it to, anyway. A reception was out of the question but they were as married in God's eyes as anyone could be and while things were as bad as they could remember, they were as happy as they could possibly be under the circumstances.

*****

They spent two more years in the bunker only going into town twice a year. Power was restored after the first year, and both of them saw a dentist for the first time since the first strike. The following year it was because Kodie Griffin was pregnant for the first time in her life.

They moved back into her place and spent several weeks cleaning it out and up and making it ready for the baby. Their supplies were nearly gone, but the economy was slowly coming back, and Ryan was able to find work and make enough for them to get by.

In one sense nothing would ever be the same. And yet, in another, life was continuing to go on as the human spirit and the will to live drove them to keep trying.

Their son, Steven James Griffen, would grow up in a very different world. But because of his grandfather's foresight he would indeed grow up with two loving parents who loved him and each other more than any first strike could ever keep from happening.