36 Hours: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction Series by Bobby Akart

much of the Sun’s northern hemisphere. This is an image of the far side taken a few moments ago. A huge dark coronal hole has formed, and this has the potential to slam Earth with some fast solar wind .
    “ We didn’t get much aurora from this solar storm today, which is, frankly, puzzling. But that should change as this enormous black void rotates into Earth view on the east limb tomorrow morning .
    “ We can expect the fast solar wind to increase, and this region will most likely launch solar storms in the next twelve hours. Regular viewers of my forecast know that I’m not an alarmist. My primary goal is to provide you the latest space weather forecast so you can prepare accordingly. In the past, our government agencies have chosen not to inform you of the consequences of significant solar activity. I believe you are capable of making an informed decision .
    “ There is a very strong possibility of extreme solar weather, so please take my forecast into consideration to determine how that might impact your day tomorrow. Outside of that, expect to have some amazing auroras stretching as far south as Arizona, Louisiana, and Florida. So aurora watchers, look at the skies tomorrow evening and cross your fingers that this will be a wonderful display of colors and nothing more. I’m Andrea Stanford. Thank you for watching .”
    “Alex, what do you—” Madison began to ask before Alex interrupted her. Alex pounded furiously on her keyboard—quickly navigating between Google search results and various websites.
    “Mr. Stark said something today and I want to look it up. There! Look at this.” Alex pointed to an article about the 1859 Carrington Event. “Here, Mom.”
    Madison read the article aloud. “What Carrington saw through his telescope was a white-light solar flare, a magnetic explosion on the sun. Before dawn the next day, skies all over the planet erupted in red, green, and purple auroras so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily as in daylight. Indeed, stunning auroras pulsated at near tropical latitudes over Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Hawaii.”
    “See, Mom. Dr. Stanford said the aurora could be seen tomorrow night in Florida. That’s almost Cuba!”
    Madison read more of the article before catching her breath. Alex was obviously excited about this. But being excited about some colorful skies was far different from predicting the end of the world as we know it.
    “Listen, Alex. I understand your interest in all of this. It does sound exciting to see the aurora here in Nashville. I’ve never seen the northern lights myself.”
    “Mom!” exclaimed Alex as she jumped out of her chair. “I don’t care about the pretty lights. Who cares about the pretty lights? A solar flare this big could cause a massive blackout. Pretty lights? How about no lights ?”
    Madison was concerned about her daughter’s highly charged mental state. If you read enough on the Internet, you’d go around wearing a suit of armor, if you even left the house at all.
    “Alex, let’s see how this develops. We can see what the news tells us in the morning.”
    “Mom,” Alex protested, “the news won’t tell us anything because the government won’t tell the news anything. Dad always says the government lies to us. They’re probably lying now.” Alex stood defiantly staring down at her mother.
    “Honey”—Madison rose to her feet in an attempt to calm her daughter down—“the government is aware of this situation if Dr. Stanford knows about it. If we’re threatened in some way, I’m sure the government will tell us what to do.”
    The phone rang, interrupting the debate. Madison checked the caller id. It was Colton, thank God .
    “Hi, darlin’!” answered Madison, showing her genuine appreciation for the call. She didn’t like to argue with Alex. “How was the concert?”
    Colton provided her the details of his day in Dallas. Madison listened dutifully and interjected a comment here and there. She