AWOL: A Character Lost (23 page)

Suddenly, they both stopped, and while they stood there in a stand off, Michael realized that the front door was now his only option. If he could get to the neighbors, he would be safe. Michael wasn’t sure who would be up at this hour on a Saturday, but if he beat on enough doors, he was sure someone would eventually answer.

Of course Danny had thought of Michael heading out the front door, so when Michael threw the last pillow on the couch at him, Danny went one way and Michael the other.

Danny got to the door first, and blocked it.

6:13 A.M.

“Michael, you don’t understand.” Danny held out his hands in a stop motion as he talked to his son. Both of them stood there with sweat on their bodies, their clothes damp, breathing heavy.

“What did you do to mom?”

Danny decided he wouldn’t be able to out chase his son, no matter how good a runner he was; but maybe he could explain it all to him. Maybe if he just told his son what was about to happen, Michael would understand.

“Sometime today the world is going to change.” Danny watched his son close, watching for any sign of movement, anything that said his son was going to bolt. “You know all the stuff you’ve seen on TV about the bombings.” Michael nodded his head. “You were right. You and your friends were right.” Danny looked for recognition in his son’s face as he continued. “I’ve been told that today the world will cease as it currently stands. That mankind will be brought to its knees by nuclear war. I don’t know what time it will happen, but I have somewhere safe we can go, somewhere for you, for your mom, for Johnny. I had to give them this shot (Danny held up the one in his hand) so I wouldn’t have to go through what I’m going through with you. Time is precious and very urgent Michael. If you trust me, and you will help me, you won’t need to get your shot. I could use a hand getting everything downstairs, a lot easier with two than one. What do you say?”

Michael just stood there, didn’t say a word, and then ran for the stairs. Danny had one chance to catch him and that was it. If Michael got past him and up those stairs he could get into his room, lock the door, climb out the window, and then be gone. Danny would have no choice, but to take the remainder of his family to safety, and just pray that Michael wouldn’t suffer.

6:20 A.M.

Danny managed to grab Michael with a fingertip. This fingertip hooked into the back pocket of his son’s blue jeans causing the pocket to rip an inch or two. It was only a tiny grip, and Michael was a strong kid, stronger than Danny realized. The pocket ripped free a couple more inches, Michael inched forward, but Danny had him, and he knew it. He pulled his son back to him just as the pocket ripped clean, and fell to the floor.

Danny slipped a firm arm around his son’s waist, and held him tight. His son fought and kicked, but it was no use. Danny shoved the needle into Michael’s arm and comforted him as he passed out.

6:25 A.M.

Danny stood there a moment holding his son’s lifeless body, stroking his hair. “I’m sorry; I wish it would have been easier,” he replied, as he put his son on the floor and checked to make sure the front door was locked. It was.

Danny then put his plan into motion.

6:27 A.M.

He hurried over to the basement door and opened it. He turned on the light and grabbed the bags. He hoisted them up and made his way down the wooden stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he stepped onto the basement floor and walked over to where the armoire was sitting like a giant wooden guard. He put the bags down, and loosened the muscles in his arms.

6:30 A.M.

Danny went to one side of the armoire and put his back against it. He pushed. It didn’t budge. He pushed again, and it still didn’t budge.

6:32 A.M.

Danny walked around to the other side of the armoire to see what the hang up was. He looked down at the floor, and he saw that there was a large crack stopping the furniture’s forward progress; and the legs, the ones that helped it stand up right, were stuck. When Danny had pushed this armoire over on Thursday, he had managed to slide the two legs right into this crack without realizing it.

6:34 A.M.

Danny lifted up the behemoth piece of furniture with all his might and somehow managed to get both legs unstuck. He took a second to catch his breath.

6:35 A.M.

Danny found his breath and pushed. The furniture moved with ease, and Danny moved it completely out of the way.

6: 40 A.M.

Danny grabbed the suitcases and picked them up. He walked a quarter of the way into the dark tunnel, his shoes slapping on the metal as he went, and placed the bags there. He then stepped back into the basement, and walked over to the crawl space. He opened the door, and peered inside. He had purchased four sleeping bags at the superstore, along with several flashlights and a lot of non perishable food. He tossed the sleeping bags one by one over to the tunnel entrance. Then he retrieved the large cooler full of water, granola bars, pop tarts, dried fruit, and meat in a can that wouldn’t spoil. He put the cooler in the tunnel and laid out the sleeping bags. Once all of this was done, he went back to retrieve his family.

6:55 A.M.

Danny picked up Barbara, and he carried her towards the basement door. She was heavy dead weight, but not too bad.

6:57 A.M.

Down the stairs they went with cautious gentle steps. When Danny reached the tunnel, he stepped inside and placed her in one of the sleeping bags. Barbara didn’t stir, as he covered her up. She just lay there lifeless. Danny kissed her. “I love you, be back soon.”

He made his way back up the stairs and grabbed Michael, who was about as heavy as his mom. Danny’s back complained, but he pushed on.

Down the basement stairs again and across the basement they went; and, just like his mom, Danny placed his first born inside a sleeping bag, and covered him up.

7:03 A.M.

Danny hurried out of the tunnel and up to Johnny’s room. This involved not only climbing the basement stairs, but the stairs in the house as well. Danny didn’t mind because the last piece of the plan was about to fall into place.

7:06 A.M.

Danny hoisted Johnny off the bed, and found the last member of his family to be carried, was the lightest. He was glad it worked out that way. He carried Johnny out into the hall and stopped.

7:08 A.M.

He took a moment to look around at all they had been fortunate to have since they had gotten married, and then he realized something, something a woman would see and a guy would not. He had forgotten the pictures. The one thing he needed to bring that wasn’t a necessity was the pictures. If he lost their wedding photos or the kid’s baby pictures or all of the clicks they had taken of each other throughout the years, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself. He was also pretty sure, no, he was confident; Barbara would never let him live it down.

7:10 A.M.

Danny took Johnny down to the tunnel and placed him inside a sleeping bag. His family was now safe in the tunnel, but Danny had to make one last trip into the house. He had to retrieve as many pictures as he could, even if they were going to clean the house of radiation once it was all done. Who knew what that stuff would do to pictures and delicate things like that? It was better to be safe than sorry.

7:14 A.M.

When Danny reached the first level of the house, he ran into his office and grabbed his gym bag. He emptied it out and quickly went about the house collecting every picture and photo album he could find that would fit into the bag. Once he was done, he hoisted the bag over his shoulder and made his way down to the basement stairs.

He descended the stairs and made his way over to the tunnel. Danny stepped into it and placed the bag of photos on the floor.

7:26 A.M.

He took one last look at the room and the world around him. He took one last deep breath of clean fresh air, one last look at the sun pressing on the windows, one last look of everything.

7:27 A.M.

Danny grabbed the door and pulled it away from the wall. He eased it down to the point where it almost clicked closed, and stopped. A sliver of light was peeking in, almost trying to get in as if it wanted to help shut out some of the darkness or maybe it just needed to get somewhere safe.

Danny hesitated no longer.

He pulled the door closed.

The lights came on above, startling him, as the door locked into place with a rush of air, sealing it tight.

Danny took a seat, and waited. His eyes were heavy, sleep comes easy.

The TV’s pop and come to life.

A test pattern emerges, a silent image on the screen.

7:30 A.M.

The bombings spread from coast to coast, up and down the continental United States into Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Hawaii, Alaska, Russia, China, throughout the Asian countries, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. On and on they went until every continent except for one was covered in some form of chaos. The only exception was Antarctica. For whatever reason, taking the time to bomb such a small place really seemed unnecessary. Would it surprise you to know that Antarctica was once on their list, but that it was deemed a waste of time, and a waste of a bomber? There was nothing on that frozen piece of land worth destroying.

These suicide bombers targeted anything that made the human population function. They blew up cell phone towers, TV stations, power plants, water plants, electrical plants, and sewage plants. Maybe the world could have recovered after that day if that was all they attacked; but once the nuclear plants started to melt down the human population was officially doomed.

Now, I’m not saying the entire population above ground was wiped out in the bombings, but those that did survive were sent back to the time of the caveman. People were forced to live and survive on what was left of the world, choking and dying all the while on toxic air full of radiation.

The Middle East Nuclear Arms Association completely wiped them selves out in the process of carrying off their master plan. Every member (including their leaders) went out in a blaze of glory on that Saturday.

*

Danny was awakened by sounds coming out of the TV. He looked up at the screen in front of him and down the tunnel. As far as he could see, the rest of the screens were showing the same thing. It was a news channel, one he had never seen, showing a whole city block in Wisconsin in ruin. Danny thought the city was Milwaukee, but he wasn’t sure of it. As he sat there and watched the screen, he started to see more footage and more breaking news as more reports started to come in. Then all the TVs went black after the last report, somewhere in Tennessee.

He sat with his back against the cold metal wall and stared at the black screen for a moment, its silent darkness popping with the sounds of gentle static. His eyes felt heavy –like concrete was placed upon the upper lids. He held them open for as long as he could and then dozed again. He dreamed of simpler days with his kids, days of running in the fresh air, and all the benefits his current life once had to offer. It was peaceful in those dreams, peaceful and inviting. He didn’t want to wake up, but it was Barbara stirring, coming to, that forced him to wake. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her, realizing that he could feel fresh air flowing in from the three slot vents above him. When he looked down the tunnel he could see these vents, like islands sporadically placed, inches below the spot where the roof met the wall. He hadn’t even noticed the stale air this morning when he had placed his family in this metal tomb, but he did notice the fresh air now, because it cooled and dried his warm moist skin. He looked down at his watch (which he used to use when he ran) and it read two in the afternoon. He couldn’t believe he had been against this wall for at least seven hours; it was a long time to sit and sleep.

Barbara opened her eyes and saw lights above her; she squinted at them as she lay there on her back. She was confused, lost, and unsure of her surroundings. She sat up and rubbed her eyes then looked at Danny. He looked back at her. Rage flashed across her face when she thought of the hallway and the way he had attacked her. She smacked him, and the sound of the slap echoed off into the tunnel, faded out into the distance. “That’s for the hallway,” she replied. “And, if you ever touch me again like that . . .”

The red haired guy appeared on the TV above them, interrupting her. He was wearing a bright red shirt, which really didn’t work with his bright red hair.

Danny let the stinging slap subside as he looked up at the screen.

Barbara seemed content with her hit so she let it go and looked up at the TV.

“We are all meeting in the common area,” the red haired guy replied. “If you live outside of downtown Raleigh, call the number on the card we gave you when we first met. If you don’t see a phone in your area, walk until you see one. We will send a shuttle out to get you. Stay by the phone, the shuttle will only go as far as the phone you call from. Those of you seeing this in the common area, welcome.”

A sound of something opening found their ears, and they looked down at the floor. The center portion of it opened up, exposing two clean steel rails, which began or ended, depending on how you looked at it, just inches from where their children slept. This floor transformation went on all the way down the tunnel for as far as they could see.

“I guess we should get moving.”

“What the fuck’s going on Danny?” Barbara looked around as she said this, unwilling to budge unless she got answers.

Danny thought about that question for a moment. He breathed in deep, sterile air, for the immediate future air, and tried to explain something to her, anything; because this is the kind of thing that could and would send a person into hysterics if it wasn’t handled just right.

“I don’t even know where to start, Barb.”

“Try, because the longer I go without answers, the worse I’m going to get.”

“The world’s over,” Danny replied, blunt and to the point; but in times like these, it really is the best and only way. “Sometime this morning that Middle East Nuclear Arms Association, that we heard so much about, set the world to glow.” Danny paused, studied her. She was doing okay, but it was starting to sink in. It wouldn’t be long before she flipped out. “The world is over, and you are safe and secure, so are the kids. This is home for now.”

She looked down at her sleeping children and then back to him. From there she looked at the tunnel, the TV screens, the closed and sealed door, felt the fresh air from the vents on her face, checked out the lights, soaked it all in, then tried to hold it all in, but couldn’t. It wasn’t tears that started to form, but vomit. She got up, found a corner, and threw up. She wretched until she was dry heaving.

Danny tried to comfort her, but she held him back. He, wisely, and I mean wisely, stepped away.

She wiped her mouth and let her stinging stomach fall back to normal as she looked at him. “Family, friends, the kid’s friends . . .”

“I don’t know. I just know we’re safe.”

“So, what you were telling me, before, at the house, about that guy. This was what he was preparing you for?”

“Yes.”

“I’m such an idiot. I could have told so many, had so many here now. I could have gone on the news, blasted it all over social media, so many more could have been saved, if I just believed you. Why didn’t I believe you? You’ve never lied to me before. I’m so stupid, stupid, stupid . . .”

She started to ramble like this, as she slipped over into shock. Danny knew what he had to do. If the attack in the house was bad, man, he was about to get it now. She kept babbling, acting like a lunatic, cussing herself, cussing everything around her. Danny raised his hand, her eyes saw it, but her mouth kept going. And then he smacked her, had to do it, no choice. It broke his heart, because he always told her he would never hit her, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

She stumbled a bit and then, as her brain registered what he had just done, she looked up him. Rage flashed across her face. She charged him, and he grabbed her, held her arms as she tried to swing at him.

“It’s okay. I know it’s hard. I’m here. We will get through this together.”

The fight was going out of her. She was getting tired, and the urge to kill was passing, and a new emotion was forming. She stopped fighting, and fell into Danny’s arms. She started to cry; Danny let her, holding her until she had no more tears.

“I’m sorry. I should have included you more,” he replied, trying to make it right.

Barbara stepped away from him, wiped a little bit of blood from her lip, and dried her eyes. She had nothing to say to him at the moment, apology not accepted.

While Barbara collected herself, Danny kneeled down in between his sons and put a hand on each of their bodies. He tried to gently wake them. Like kids do, they came to, after a moment or two of poking and prodding, waking like they had been asleep for centuries.

“Can I pee?” Barbara asked. She felt like she hadn’t peed in days.

“Sure,” Danny replied, as he looked at her. “We all should.” Danny ran the stuff he had found on the memory stick through his head. Bathrooms were the one thing he knew they would need most, so he made sure to remember where they were along their rout. He walked over to a slot in the wall, reached in, and pushed a round red button. A door swung outward revealing a chemical toilet, toilet paper on a roll, sink, and mirror. Hand sanitizer and not soap hung on the wall in a little plastic container.

Barbara stepped in, and closed the door. The boys finally pulled themselves out of slumber while their mom was in the bathroom. The guys took turns at the bathroom when she was done, and then they all met back up at the sleeping bags.

Michael shied away from his dad, as they stood there waiting to go.

Barbara caught on to it. “What did you do to him Danny?” She asked, that motherly instinct kicking in. Michael let her hold him, rare, so, so, so rare, for him to let her do this.

“I kept him safe. Now, we need to get walking.” Danny started rounding up their gear, and getting them ready for traveling. He wasn’t sure how far they would have to walk before they saw a phone, so it was urgent they get started.

“Are you okay, honey?” She stroked Michael’s hair as Johnny looked at his brother.

Michael noticed and pushed her away. “I’m fine mom, okay. I’m a big boy.”

“Okay, everybody grab something; let’s get moving,” Danny replied, slapping his hands together.

They all started collecting their things; Barbara stopped the process for a moment.

“What’s this?” She asked.

Danny looked at Barbara who was currently kneeling, and looking inside the bag of pictures, both boys looking over her shoulder, curious as to what was inside.

“I didn’t know if they would be safe in the house or not, so I grabbed what I thought were the most important ones.”

Barbara was stunned. Here was this man who had just put her through absolute hell, and now this revealed itself to her. It didn’t let him off the hook, but it did remind her of the type of guy he was. The type of guy he was before this day happened.

“Okay, let’s go now. Time is wasting,” Danny replied, slapping his hands together again.

No one hesitated; they followed his lead, grabbed their stuff, and started to walk.

The walk was about two miles in length.

Danny was the first to see the phone. A small red number set back inside the wall with push buttons and a headset attached to it by a silver wire cord.

“There it is,” Danny replied, stopping them. “How about you guys go into the cooler for some food and snacks? I’ll make the call.” He set them up in an area just beyond the phone, where he thought the shuttle wouldn’t run them over. “Eat light, food and water are scarce,” Danny replied, walking over to make the call after taking the card out of his pocket that had the number on it.

Barbara looked down at the cooler and what was inside of it when it was opened. She then looked at the sleeping bags and the suitcases. So many secrets, she thought, so many secrets. She had loved this man and known this man for so long. How had he done all of this without her knowing it? The wifely instincts must have slipped somewhere along the way.

When Danny came back, he sat down beside Barbara who was looking through the bag full of photos.

“They are sending a shuttle as we speak. It should be here within thirty minutes to an hour,” Danny replied.

“Dad, what’s going on?” It was Johnny talking as he munched on some beef jerky and water.

Danny looked at Johnny and then to Barbara.

“No sir, you don’t get the easy way out with this one,” Barbara replied, sharp and bitter. “You have to explain, not me.”

“Yeah dad, why don’t you tell him, tell him how you let his friends die?”

“Michael! Don’t talk to your father like that. Apologize!”

“He doesn’t have to Barbara; none of you do, no matter what you say to me. This is going to be tough on all of us.”

“Don’t be my hero, dad,” Michael replied, turning to his food and ignoring his father.

Danny let Michael go off into his own world and focused in on Johnny.

“Is that true, dad?” Johnny asked, waiting for an answer, still munching on food.

“It wasn’t my choice. I could only save us. I couldn’t save anyone else. Believe me, I wanted to.” Danny paused for a moment and looked at Barbara. She looked up at him, and then quickly back to the pictures. Danny turned from her, and continued. “You see Johnny, those guys on the news . . .”

“The guys that were threatening to blow up everyone?”

“That’s the ones, well, they went and did it. We’re down here because of them. They nuked the world.”

“So, there’s no home to go back to?” Johnny asked, still munching on food.

“Eventually we will get to go back, once the radiation is cleaned up.”

“What happened to everyone?”

“Some were brought down here, like us. Some were not. Throughout the country the same thing has happened, people safe, just like we are.”

Johnny’s questions died after that as he finished up his snack. At his age, he wasn’t really sure how to process this information. Mad or sad, both of them seemed like obvious choices. He just didn’t know which one to pick.

Time clicked forward.

No one talked.

Danny had thrown in a few games they could play to pass the time. Johnny took to one of them, but Michael just sulked. Danny left him alone with his thoughts.

About thirty minutes later, they heard the whoosh of air as something was fast approaching. They all looked down the tunnel and saw a big shiny object coming their way. This object looked like a beige egg-shaped street car. It arrived, and stopped just where the phone was located.