Chapter 2: Refugee Crisis

Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006. The next morning…

I awoke in the easy chair in Aidan's front room to the sound of horns honking and people yelling outside. Getting up and stretching, I made my way over to the balcony window and was about to pull the curtain aside to see what was happening when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I jumped before whirling around to face Aidan.

"Whoa Lee, take it easy!" he laughed. "I was going to tell you to hold on! You don't know what's out there."

Alexis and Louisa came into the room. "Why don't we all just look?" suggested Louisa.

Neither Aidan nor I could argue so all 4 of us ripped aside the curtain in front of Aidan's balcony door and were greeted with the sight of military vehicles, Red Cross vans, and humvees jamming the streets going into Harrisburg. Hundreds if not thousands of people lined the streets also heading towards the city carrying suitcases, duffel bags, and other luggage.

"What do ya think's going on?" asked Alexa.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. Maybe we should go down and ask around a bit."

Louisa jumped up. "Lee are you nuts?! Things could get out of hand!"

Aidan rolled his eyes. "Louisa, do those people look like they're going to riot anytime soon? The Red Cross is out there and there's soldiers and policemen all over the place. If Lee wants to go out there, I'll go too"

Louisa glanced at me and then Aidan before sighing. "Alright. Just be careful Lee." she said as she hugged me.

I returned then hug. "Okay, I will."

I grabbed the fanny pack that had my .38 in it while Aidan dragged the table away from in front of the front door and undid all the locks.

"Okay Lee, let's go." he said.

I just nodded and Aidan opened the door. I followed him out as Alexis closed it from behind us. Aidan and I went down several flights of stairs before entering the lobby. The lobby was just as crowded as it was last night, except there were people who were sitting on top of their suitcases, trying to change out of sweaty, dirty clothes, and tending to their children.

"Who do you think we should talk to?" asked Aidan, looking around.

I looked to my right and spotted a girl about our age who was sitting dazed in a corner.

"Let's ask her." I said as Aidan followed me.

The girl looked up at us both suspiciously. "Who are you guys?" she asked defensively.

"It's okay, we just want to talk to you." said Aidan. "What's your name and where are you from?"

The girl seemed to relax a bit. "I'm Emma. I came here from outside of Baltimore."

Wait, Baltimore was one of the cities that got hit! I had to find out more!

"What happened last night? I mean, with the bomb. And how did you get here?" I asked.

Emma sighed tiredly. "The bomb went off at around 8:10 last night. We didn't hear anything from the government in Annapolis and without the national guard, things got out of control quickly. We lost all our power and communications and looting was rampant. Businesses and stores burned, people ran around with stolen goods, other people shot at random people to try to steal whatever they had on them. I heard a rumor that a refugee camp was being set up near Harrisburg, so I got into a van with 10 there people and headed north into Pennsylvania. I'm still waiting to get picked up by the Red Cross to head there now."

Aidan and I shared a concerned glance. Things sounded really bad down there.

"Most of the people here escaped from Baltimore or D.C." Emma continued. "I can't describe how lucky you guys are to have electricity and running water. Because I could really use a shower right now."

I chuckled a bit. "You can thank Three MIle Island for that."

Emma returned a smile. "Yeah. Ironic that the thing that almost destroyed this area in 1979 is now the thing that's saving it."

Aidan couldn't help but smile too. It was kind of ironic.

"Do you know anyone else who can give us more info?" asked Emma.

Emma pointed out the door. "There's the Red Cross outside and more refugees coming in out on the streets. I think they're from the Pittsburgh area."

"Well, thanks! And welcome to Pennsylvania." I said as Emma and I shook hands before Aidan and I headed outside.

Outside, it was pretty crazy. Red cross vans and soldiers were everywhere distributing relief supplies and giving directions to the people on the streets who were headed to the Harrisburg North Refugee Camp. Aidan and I went up to a Red Cross van where a woman was handing out bottles of what looked like Iodine. Must be for countering internal radiation poisoning. She turned to us and was about to hand me a bottle when Aidan put his hand up.

"No thanks ma'am. We're not refugees. We just want to ask you a few questions." he said.

The worker put down the bottle and sighed with relief. "Well, that's good. We're running a bit low right now. Now, what questions do you have?"

"Yeah, uh, do you know what's going on with Pittsburgh? And what about all these people? Where are they from?" I asked.

"Most of them are from the Pittsburgh area. A bomb went off there, but not in the city itself." she answered.

Hold on, so Pittsburgh DIDN'T get hit?! Then what did?

"Wait, if Pittsburgh didn't get hit, then where did the bomb go off?" I asked.

The worker thought for a moment. "I can't say exactly, but from what the refugees told me, the bomb went off somewhere west of the city. Even though Pittsburgh survived the blast and most of the fallout which headed north, things are bad over there. Electric and communications are down, and I think that looting is really bad. A lot of people from that area are coming here to Harrisburg because they heard you guys still have electricity and running water."

"What about the other countries in the world? Are they doing anything?" Aidan asked.

"Canada is preparing to perform some supply drops in this area due to the refugee influx as well as in Northeastern PA, Michigan and Ohio. NATO is preparing to send a peacekeeping and relief force into New England and they'll probably send some supplies too." she answered

Aidan huffed. "They'd better! Otherwise we'll all starve."

The worker laughed. "Tell me about it! If you want more info, you should talk to more of the people here or take this." she said, handing me a card with a radio station number. "The state government is constantly making announcements over this radio station. You should check it out."

Aidan and I said our 'goodbyes' and headed off to talk to more people. The refugees and national guardsmen were all exhausted and a bit grumpy, but they were willing to answer most of our questions. A couple from Delaware County near Philadelphia confirmed that Philadelphia was gone. A national guardsman informed us that the PA National Guard was working to establish a "safe sector" that stretched from the PA-Maryland border all the way up to Williamsport, Allentown, and Scranton in the north, as far west as Johnstown, and as far east as West Chester. 2 teenagers from Washington D.C. said the city and the suburbs had been totally obliterated and Aidan and I had to keep our distance because neither of them looked very healthy. They probably absorbed some radiation.

Most shocking of all, we heard from a national guard captain that due to the refugee crisis, Harrisburg's population had swelled from 50,000 to around 500,000 overnight! The state government was struggling to find accommodations and supplies to support all of them. Another problem was being able to ensure that we had a steady supply of electricity. Three MIle Island had been refueled about 3 months ago, but we weren't sure how long it could support the Harrisburg Metro Area's electric grid.

Aidan and I had decided that we had heard enough from the refugees and we headed back up to our apartment to tune into the state government's radio station with Louis and Alexis. When we got back upstairs, both of them leapt straight for us!

"Lee, you made it!" cried Louisa and she threw her arms around me neck, her brown eyes sparkling with relief.

Geez, girls can be so emotional sometimes! I rolled my eyes and returned her hug.

"It's good to see you to Lou!" I replied. "A Red Cross worker outside gave us the name of a radio station that broadcasts state news. I think we should check it out."

Aidan wa way ahead of me. He'd already gotten out the radio and tuned into the given station. Once he found it, all 4 of us gathered around the radio and listened closely.

"Since midnight last night, the Pennsylvania state government has been accepting refugees from the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington metro areas. Population of Harrisburg has reached an all-time high in its history as the number of people within the city and surrounding areas is estimated to be around 550,000 or more." announced the broadcaster.

"550,000!" gasped Alexis. "Can we even support that many in this area?"

Aiden shook his head. "I don't think so. Not for long."

"In the meantime, all Pennsylvania residents are ordered to begin rationing all essentials including water, electricity, food, fuel, batteries, and weapons. The Prime Minister of Canada has promised to perform several supply drops over Harrisburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, State College, Erie, and Scranton over the next few days. An international Red Cross relief force is expected to arrive at the Harrisburg International Airport within the next month to deliver more supplies as well as evacuate stranded foreign citizens." continued the announcer.

"Well at least we're receiving aid." I said offhandedly. "Still, I wonder what's going on in the rest of the country."

"With communications and electric down in most of the country, I doubt we'll hear much from anywhere else." commented Aidan.

"And now for a full list of the cities that have been confirmed hit."

They were going to announce the cities that got hit! The energy in the room intensified and for a few seconds, I swear we could hear each other's' heartbeats.

"The list of confirmed hits include: Atlanta GA, Denver CO, Dallas and Houston TX, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego CA, Miami FL, St. George UT, Lawrence KS, Minneapolis MN, Chicago IL, Indianapolis IN, Seattle WA, Detroit MI, Boston MA, Hartford CT, Baltimore MD, Phoenix AZ, Washington D.C., Charlotte NC, and Philadelphia and Beaver Falls PA."

Man, that was a lot of places! Most of them seemed logical, but a few of them were a bit unusual like St. George UT, Lawrence KS, and Beaver Falls PA. What was so important about those locations?

"And now for a few of the major cities that have been confirmed spared, however, the situation of most of them remains unknown. They include:

Las Vegas, Nevada

Richmond, Virginia

Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio

Montgomery, Alabama

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri

Nashville, Tennessee

Jacksonville, Tampa, and Tallahassee, Florida

New Orleans, Louisiana

Austin and San Antonio, Texas

Sacramento, California

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

and finally, New York City, New York

The majority of the listed cities are currently without power and communications including our very own Pittsburgh. The refugee situation is expected to worsen as the month progresses therefore, all PA residents are advised to keep tabs on all supplies and essentials as the National Guard establishes a safe zone that will stretch as far east as Allentown and West Chester, as far south as the PA-MD border, as far north as Williamsport, and as far west as Johnstown. As soon as it is established, borders will be strongly enforced to ensure the safety of all PA citizens. We will keep you notified and updated 24/7."

The radio crackled a bit with static before being cut off. So Pittsburgh DID survive! But Beaver Falls didn't. Despite that, things sounded really bad over there. No electricity, no running water, no communications, and next to no security like the National Guard, police, and Red Cross we have here in Harrisburg. No wonder so many people want to get out of there.

Over the next month, the situation in South Central PA would stabilize. Electricity was kept on, water kept running, and some communications kept up. The state government would remain in contact with Canada, the newly independent Republic of Appalachia (RoA) administered from Charleston WV, and to a limited extent, the international community. For now, each state, parts of states such as in our case, and even individual cities and towns would operate independently since a central government no longer existed in what used to be D.C.

Speaking of independant parts of states, a safe zone was successfully established by the National Guard that covered all of South Central PA and some of Eastern and Northern PA. The state government promptly declared independence from the United States, and announced the creation of the Republic of Greater Pennsylvania (RGP) with its capital in Harrisburg, our state governor as "president", and a population of around 7 million. Appalachia was the first to recognize us and we recognized them in return. And as promised, the borders were strongly enforced. Unfortunately, these enforced borders spelled the recipe for a border conflict in late October with Maryland that would test the strength of a newly independent Central Pennsylvania. But that is a story for another entry.

To be continued...

And now...A sneak peak at Chapter 3

The radio announcement came in early on Halloween morning. The Red Cross and other international relief agencies had taken charge of most of the Eastern US while some former government organization called "Ravenwood" had taken charge in the West.

"Panic arises as the borough of Hanover has fallen to invading Marylanders."

"The governor has urged all PA residents to take up arms to drive back the invaders."

"Defenses around the city of York are on the verge of collapse."

"PA National Guard soldiers have now occupied the Maryland panhandle."

"It's over for you Lee! You and all of Pennsylvania! We will destroy you, your friends, and your pathetic little republic and take all of its resources for ourselves!"