AWOL: A Character Lost (26 page)

Barbara had no response.

He put the drinks on the table and sat down.

Silence between them.

They watched the world go by for a moment.

“I’m sorry Barbara. I don’t know what more I can say,” Danny replied, breaking the icy silence.

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why didn’t you try to convince me harder? Why didn’t you make me see your side of the story?”

“I tried to tell you, but you laughed and went to work. Remember that?”

“How was I to know you were serious?”

“I don’t know; guess I thought you would believe me. It didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t, you always have.”

“Where are the kids?”

“They’re in their rooms getting settled in.”

“You left them alone.”

“They’re fine.”

“More go with the flow Danny talk. You never seem to amaze me with your easy going attitude.”

“What do you want me to say to make it all better? What can I do to convince you that I did all that I could?”

“I think I would just like to be alone right now.”

“Barb, we need to really work this out.”

“We don’t. I need to work it out because you seem to have it all under control, just like you, the easy breezy Danny way, jump in the stream, just float along with it no matter how much shit is floating with you or how bad it smells.”

“Don’t you think this hasn’t bothered me? I loved our friends, our church, our life, I loved all of it, and I loved your family and they loved me. It’s killing me to know I didn’t do more, but what could I do though? My fucking hands were tied.”

“You could have warned them. You could have tried to convince me harder.”

“Yes, I’ll give you that. I could have, but let’s say, I run to your parents and tell them, tell them the end is coming, then I call the rest of your family and tell them too. No one would have believed me, probably would have had locked me up, and the red haired guy would have had me killed for talking, and you guys killed for knowing too much. And if neither of those scenarios played out, then he could have just thought we were too blabby, moved on to another family? We would be out there either dead or suffering right now. I had to play the cards I was dealt, and yes it was a bad hand, a bad fucking hand. But I did the best with it what I could.”

“Can I just finish my drink? I don’t want to feel sorry for you right now.”

“You’re fucking impossible! Do you know that?”

“Just go.”

“Fine!” Danny stood up and slammed the seat back into the table, hard enough to rattle the ice in her glass, and send the beer bottle wobbling. He stormed off as Barbara watched him go.

“I saw what happened?”

Barbara looked from Danny to the person who said this. It was a tall, handsome man, with dark blue bedroom eyes. Those eyes were currently blood shot, and it appeared the man had recently been crying.

“I’ve been through it myself recently. Do you mind if I sit?”

“I’d rather be alone, if you don’t mind,” Barbara replied, hoping the guy would leave.

“No problem. It just seemed, from the looks of it, like a conversation my wife and I had, days ago. Thought I could help. Sorry to have bothered you,” the man replied, turning to leave.

“How did you guys get past it?”

The man stopped and turned back to her. “We didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“She left with the kids, Friday night; and I had no choice but to come down here without her.”

“So you just left her out there?”

“I drove to her parent’s place, but the house was empty, there was no one there. I tried to call her cell phone many times, but she never answered. I had no choice, but to come down here and hope she would eventually find her way down.”

“Did she?”

“No, still looking; but I know what happened to her and the kids. I can’t beat that feeling in my heart no matter how much I drink. I’ll leave you alone. Again, I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

The man walked off, and Barbara took a moment to soak that conversation in, let it sink in deep. She finished her drink and made her way back to the apartment, deciding it was time to let Danny off the hook.

When she was gone, the man Barbara had just talked too sat down at a table. The red haired guy sat down beside him, a second later.

“Did she buy it?” The red haired guy asked.

“She did,” the man replied. “It scared her half to death. I could see it in her eyes. I was barely gone before she left.”

“Good,” the red haired guy replied, as he got up and left the table, smiling.

*

Danny fumed all the way to the elevators, all the way to the apartment door, fumed as he opened the door, and then calmed himself once he was inside. The kids had been through so much already. It wouldn’t do them any good to see their father in such a state of anger.

He placed the room key in his pocket, and walked over to check on his sons. They both were laying there listening to music, fast asleep. He turned away and walked into the master bedroom.

He placed the suitcase on the floor next to the bag full of pictures, and then curled up in a ball on the bed. While he was lying there half asleep, he felt weight settle onto the bed. He turned over, thinking it was Barbara, but it was Michael instead. Danny sat up, and quickly went back to father-mode.

“It’s okay, dad,” Michael replied with an adult sounding calmness to this voice.

“What?”

“This. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself. Johnny and I are okay. I promise that much. We’re both strong enough to handle it because of you.”

“What about your friends and your life before?”

“Most of them were douche bags.”

“That’s no way to look at it.”

“I don’t mean it like that. I’m just trying to say it is okay. We know you did your best. That’s all.”

Michael got up after he said this, and Danny sat there dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure why his son had flipped a switch just now, gone from hostile enemy to friend; but in this whole crummy current day this was something positive to cling to.

Barbara had slipped into the apartment while Danny and Michael were talking. She was standing at the door to the master bedroom when Michael brushed past her. She wanted so bad to reach out for him, to hold him and comfort him, but she let him go.

When he was gone, Barbara closed the door, walked over to the bed, and sat down beside her husband.

She looked at him.

He looked at her.

“I’m sorry Danny.”

“Don’t.”

“You did your best; and even if that best isn’t what I think it should have been, and believe me, I don’t, you still did do what was necessary for this family. For that I will always be grateful, because I have my kids and I still have you.”

“So you don’t hate me?”

“I could never hate you.” Tears reached the edges of her eyes; soon they would fall. “I just keep thinking about my mom and dad. How close they were to us. I could have at least saved them.”

“Don’t do that to yourself.”

“I can’t help it.”

“They would want you here, safe and sound. No matter what happened to them.”

She fell silent, and started to cry, like a gentle rain that quickly turns into a downpour. Danny slid over and wrapped her in his arms. She fell into them and didn’t push away.

Danny sat watching the underground sunrise, as the light slowly built behind the pane of glass. He was currently reading an Anne Rice novel, as he sipped on coffee and waited for his family to wake up. Months had passed since they had first arrived here, and to say it was an adjustment would be the understatement of the world. They were all having issues, missing family, missing friends, missing the fresh air, the outside, feeling more and more claustrophobic as the hours, days, and weeks wore on. They were adjusting though, even if it was slow; they were getting use to this place and their new life.

A knock on the door pulled Danny away from the book, and the artificial sunrise. He got up, and walked over to the door.

The red haired guy was standing there in jeans, long sleeve tee, and tennis shoes when Danny answered the knock. “It’s time,” he said.

“Time?”

“To get started on your new job.”

Danny looked down at his pajamas and then back up to the red haired guy. “I guess I should change then.”

“Certainly.”

“Come in.”

The red haired guy walked in and closed the door. He stood there and waited, as Danny went into the bedroom to change. Barbara stirred on the bed when Danny entered the room.

“What’s happening?” She asked.

“My job.”

“Job?”

“It’s the reason why we’re here.”

“Wait, what?”

“Never mind, I’ll explain later. Get some sleep and make sure the kids are ready for their school meeting this morning.”

“Okay,” she replied, too tired to discuss this latest secret that Danny had been keeping, so she filed it away for later. “Where was the school meeting again?”

“By the monitors in the main area. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Danny put on a pair of shorts, long sleeve shirt, and tennis shoes. He kissed Barbara goodbye, closed the bedroom door, and then joined the red haired guy. “Ready when you are.”

“Do you like the motif?” The red hair guy asked, noticing that there were no family pictures or things like that hanging on the walls of the apartment. He opened the main door, and stepped out into the hallway.

“It’s not bad,” Danny replied, as he made sure he had his keys and ID. He did, so he stepped out into the hallway, and closed and locked the door.

“How’s your wife?”

“Getting better every day,” Danny replied, thinking of an old Tesla song when he said that. Where were they now? Where were any of those artists he loved to listen to?

“So, she’s adjusting,” the red haired guy replied, as they walked to the elevators.

“We all are,” Danny replied, as he punched the button on the silver panel.

The elevator doors opened and closed then took them down to the lobby level. They exited the elevators and the building without talking.

Once outside, Danny noticed a bunch of chairs pointing towards the TV screens, set up like an assembly meeting, circling around the 4 blank black monitors.

“You guys really thought of it all.”

“What do you mean?”

Danny chucked a thumb at the chairs. “I mean right down to school and everything.”

“Kids need school; they shouldn’t be without because of this current situation.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

The red haired guy led Danny away from the six tunnels, back towards the entrance way to the common area. He unlocked a door, and opened it up. It was dark inside this space, like a thick black coffee without cream.

The red haired guy turned on a light, a single bulb in the ceiling. This light revealed another black door. The red haired guy unlocked this door, and pushed it back against the wall, locking it into place. He stepped into the darkness beyond the doorway, and flipped up a light switch. This hidden tunnel exploded with light.

Danny stepped into the tunnel, which was solid white from top to bottom. It was large enough to drive a semi truck through with a few inches to spare on the top and sides of the vehicle. This tunnel ran straight until it ended in another solid black door. They reached this door and stopped.

Danny heard more voices, and he turned around to see men and women entering the tunnel behind him. They all had a person, someone official looking, guiding them.

“More trainees?” Danny asked.

“We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible.”

The red haired guy unlocked the door and opened it. He flipped another switch, and the room beyond them filled with light. Danny followed the red haired guy into this room and stopped. They were now standing on a black metal grate shaped in the form of a square. This grate had 3 safety rails around it, one in the front, and two on the sides connecting to the wall. The rail on the left was open to a long set of descending stairs, which also had a safety rail on either side of it.

The room below looked like an aircraft hanger on steroids. Its height was enormous; reaching so far up that Danny had to strain to see the top. The room itself stretched out ahead and to the left and right for what seemed like miles. There were hundreds of vehicles all lined up shiny and new in one corner of this massive place.

“Shall we find your car,” the red haired guy replied, motioning for Danny to move on as other people started to file in and line up behind them.

Danny followed his lead, and the two men descended the stairs. When they reached the bottom they walked over to the vehicle Danny was assigned to – a cherry red number from nose to tail.

These vehicles looked like old school El Caminos – the kind of car that was trying to be a truck, the mullet of vehicles. They had a rounded nose that looked like something on a modern car with big headlights and fog lights embedded into the bumper. On the outer edges of these fog lights were two small guns, barely noticeable if you weren’t looking for them. The wind shields were slicked backwards into the flat roof of the cab, which connected to the camper shell on the back, air tight and sealed. The cab had one door, on the driver’s side. There was no passenger door. All the windows, except for the main windshield, were blacked out with a very strong tint. The red haired guy pushed a button on the door. The air tight seal whooshed as it was broken. The door lifted up.

Danny looked inside the machine, as that new car smell raced up into his nose. What he saw was that there was one seat in the center of the cab with a shoulder harness and belt. There was a gear shift next to this seat, six-speed, and on the floor three pedals like an ordinary car with a stick shift.

The dash was simple in its design. In front of the driver, there was a fuel gauge and an RPM gauge, but nothing to monitor the speed limit. In the middle of this dash there was an altitude gauge (measured in feet), temperature gauge, radiation gauge, oxygen level gauge, low ammunition gauge, a clock, and an emergency button. On what would be the passenger side, there was a glove compartment with all necessary instructions as to what to do in case of an emergency, an owner’s manual, and a pistol (strapped nice and neat to the glove compartment door – bullets to be assigned later).

“Climb in,” the red haired guy replied, with the air of a car salesman trying to bait his client.

Danny hopped eagerly into the cab and slid into the seat, which was soft and plush, but stiff enough to keep you awake.

“Do you see the five labeled buttons?”

There were five push buttons on a panel to the left of the steering wheel, one for the lights, one for the fog lights, one for the guns, one for starting the vehicle, and one that said lift.

“Yes,” Danny replied, eyeballing the buttons.

“Those buttons are the most important things in this vehicle. They control all of your major functions.”

“Lift?”

“We’ll get to that in a moment.”

“Guns?”

“It’s more of a precaution than anything else. You’ll probably never use them, but they are there if you need them.” Danny shut up and let the man continue. “You’ll work the gears like you would in any car that drives on the road. I think you know well enough how to climb up to speed using a gear shift and an RPM gauge.” Danny nodded, the man continued. “Sixth gear is cruising speed. There is a cruise button on the right side of the gear shift. Hit it once to turn it on, tap the break once to turn it off. I would advise using it only when you are at a good cruising altitude.”

An engine fired up, and Danny turned around to see what one of these machines looked like turned on. The light green car idled for a moment, rumbled like an angry electric car, as its boat-like belly sat flat on the ground. While Danny watched, it slowly lifted up into the air about twelve inches, and hovered. After a couple of seconds of idling, it sat back down on the ground, and turned off.

“When you push the start button, this car will raise up just like that one. Then you will tap the lift button slowly, until you are firmly off the ground. I would advise at least eight to twelve feet maybe a little more. Once at that height, you can start driving. The vehicle will move forward just like an ordinary six-speed car. When you start running through the gears, pull down on the steering wheel so the car can rise. When you think you are at a good cruising altitude, you will probably be in sixth gear. You can then lock the wheel in place with the red button underneath it. Make sure though, before you lock the wheel that you have the car level. You can do that by pushing the steering wheel back to its neutral position, which is the position it will be in when you start the vehicle. When you want to descend, push the red button again to unlock it, and raise the steering wheel up. You will need to use your best judgment when it comes to landing. Another thing to remember, when you come to a complete stop, or this car sits idle for more than a couple of seconds. The car will automatically place itself back on the ground, just like the green car did, and turn off. That is a gas saving feature we have installed on all of the vehicles.” The red haired guy paused. “Any questions so far?”

Danny nodded there wasn’t. The red haired continued.

“The most important thing to remember is the big button in the center of the steering wheel.” Danny looked at it. “Grab the head seat on the dash and put it on.” Danny did as requested, sliding the speakers over his ears and the mouth piece over his mouth. “Now plug it into that hole.” There was a small silver opening just beside the big button on the steering wheel. Danny plugged the head set in, but heard nothing but static. “When you are out there this will be your only line of communication. You will need to touch the button on the center of the wheel to talk to the dispatchers. This will be your life line. Always, and this is important, make sure it’s working before you leave.” The red hair guy pointed Danny to the back wall of the cab. Two more buttons were there. “This one lowers the window between the cab and bed area. It’s sealed at the gap between the cab and bed, so you don’t have to worry about getting contaminated if you’re opening it while you’re traveling. This other one opens the cargo doors.” The red haired guy lowered the window and then opened the doors. “Simple enough, right?”

“Will I have a suit to wear?”

“We have a protective suit that you will need to have on when you leave, but the windows will allow you to travel without a helmet or air hose. These windows work like the ones in your home, taking in bad air, making it breathable inside the cab and bed area. There is a place just under the dash where you will attach an air hose, if there is an emergency, and a helmet to go with it; but you shouldn’t have to use them. If you do, they are both located behind the seat. There are also two air tanks, which will allow you to breathe clean air in case the car has some kind of trouble, or you have to go outside for some reason. Both tanks hold about four hours of air, and it should allow us enough time to get to you or for you to do whatever it is you need to do outside the vehicle. Those tanks will attach to the helmet, and they can be hooked onto your body so you don’t have to carry them. We will also give you gloves that will fit snuggly over your sleeves, and the helmet will have a neck guard. This guard will be tucked into the suit so if you are outside everything will be covered.” The red haired guy paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and then continued. “Behind this seat there’s also a tool kit for simple repairs, and when you leave we will put extra ammunition back there.” The red haired guy showed Danny where all of this stuff was, and then leaned out of the car. “I’ll be right back,” the red haired guy replied. He walked off, leaving Danny alone.

While he sat there, he took a moment to look around. The place was a busy bee hive of activity with the trainees doing all sorts of activity with their cars. When the red hair guy returned with the suit, Danny had a few questions lined up for him.

“What’s up with the office building?” One corner of this gigantic hanger was filled with a three story building that had white exterior walls, two black glass double entrance doors, a flat roof, and lots and lots of windows, most of them looking out on the area where the vehicles sat.

“That’s where we will monitor the drivers, and keep you guys safe as you travel from here to D.C.”

“D.C.?”

“Washington is our hub for things we need. If they can’t fill the order of whatever it is we need, then you will be sent to Atlanta or to New York.”

“And if any of those hubs can’t fill it?”

“Let’s just say that’s not an option. We’re hoping one of them will be able to. Those places are big enough to hold small factories where we can manufacture the basic necessities, things that will help us not live like animals.”

“You guys really did think of everything, didn’t you?” Danny paused, and pointed towards two large shiny double doors, sealed tight, with a dark rubber substance in the middle of them. “I assume that’s the way we leave.”

“Yes. Do you want to try the suit?” The red haired guy held it up.

It was a blue convict suit with extra insulation. Danny slipped out of the car, and put it on. It covered everything, but his hands, neck, and head.

“If you look down, the open hole is for a hose that will allow cool or warm air to flow into and out of your suit. You can access that dial here,” the red haired guy replied, pointing to a place on the dash that showed cold on one side, hot on the other. A dial rested between those words allowing for the temperature of your choosing. “That open hole is sealed at the base and will only open when the hose is attached. That hose will connect under your steering wheel, and lay in your lap when it is attached to the suit.”