AWOL: A Character Lost (27 page)

Danny looked down at his navel and checked it out. He then looked up at the red haired guy. “How will I know I’m heading towards D.C., once I’m out there?’

“You will follow the GPS in the car.” The red haired guy showed him where it was located, just below the emergency button. “You punch in D.C. on the key pad, and it will help guide you in that direction via the small screen. It won’t fly the car; you’ll still be in charge, but it will help you get there safely,” the red haired guy replied, as he closed all of the doors.

“This is a lot to take in.”

“I know, but now is the fun part. It’s time to drive. Follow me.”

“Should I stay in the suit?”

“Yes, so you can get use to it.”

Danny followed the red haired guy over to another part of the warehouse. There were four cars sitting there along with a track to test them on. This track was maybe a half mile in length, oval, with obstacles spread out on it, such as hovering orange cones, a wall, cars, buildings, cardboard people on stands, and other things like that.

“I scheduled you for one of the first runs this morning.”

“Any reason?”

“I know you’re an early riser, and you’re best at that time. Plus I have a full day ahead of me, with many more trainees. The earlier I start the better.”

“What’s with the extra padding?” Danny asked, pointing to the rubber halo that circled each test car.

“Well, we can never be too safe,” the red hair guy replied, as he opened the driver’s door and then the rear cargo area. “Climb on in.”

Danny did as he was asked, as the red haired guy went around to the back and climbed inside that way. He crawled to the end of the cargo area and knocked on the glass window that separated the cab and bed. Danny lowered it, as the red haired guy pulled a handle that was attached to one side of the bed. A seat popped out with a seat belt attached to it. The red haired guy strapped himself in. “This jump seat is for emergencies only. If we have a driver stranded, we may send you or anyone of our drivers out to retrieve them. It shouldn’t be used to just let someone ride around back here for fun, only for emergencies. This round box beside me, with the closed lid, is for waste disposal, in case you have to go while you’re on the road. It empties into a septic tank, underneath the car. This tank can be cleaned or emptied by pushing this button.” The red haired guy pointed to a button at the bottom of the box, far enough down so that it wouldn’t be hit by a simple accident. Finished with his explanation, he pointed to a button on the left side of the driver’s seat. “That button closes the doors once you are inside. Go ahead and push it.”

Danny pushed the button, and the door to the cab slowly came down then locked into airtight place with a whoosh. The cargo doors also closed at the same time with that safety sounding whoosh.

“Now what?”

“Start it up.”

Danny pushed the ignition button and didn’t hear anything, but he felt his body rise as the vehicle came to a hovering position.

“Now it’s just like driving a car.”

Danny locked the belts in place, nice and secure, and put on a helmet that fit his head. This helmet was sitting on the floor of the car next to other helmets of various shapes and sizes. All of them were strapped down, so if the car was to wreck, they wouldn’t fly around inside the vehicle and harm the driver. Safe and secure, Danny found the reverse and backed the car out of its spot. It was a little weird at first because of the levitation. It was kind of like driving a boat in the air.

When Danny had the car out of its spot he pushed the levitate button a couple of times, and the car responded by rising. Comfortably off the ground, he put the car into first gear, and aimed it towards the track.

“We need to line up behind the red car that’s waiting. We get six laps, and then we need to exit off so others can practice.”

Danny lined his car up behind the red car, but it wasn’t smooth. When he pushed in the clutch and hit the brake, the car didn’t just stop instantly. It drifted forward a bit, banging, ever so gently, into the waiting car.

“Easy Danny, you need to approach objects with a little more stopping distance. It doesn’t brake like a normal car even thought it drives like one.”

“Got it,” Danny replied, feeling like he was back in Driver’s Ed. He had passed that class with no problems, so he knew he would have no trouble now.

The red car made its way onto the track, and started circling.

“Can I go now?”

“Yes, just be mindful of the other car. We only allow two on the track at a time, for safety reasons,” the red haired guy replied. “Today we just want you to know how to operate the car, get use to it, get your feet wet so to speak. We will work on honing your driving skills as we move forward with each lesson.”

Danny held the gear shift in first gear, steadied his nerves, and then let out on the clutch as he pushed on the gas. The car moved forward, and onto the track. He ran the gears up to third on the first half of it, which was free of obstacles, going faster than he should have. When he saw the wall, he yanked the steering wheel down too quick, and the car shot straight up. Danny didn’t panic. He was able to correct this mistake and bring the car back down to the right level. He made his way into the swerving part, flying in a zig zag between hovering cones, dodging all obstacles with ease.

The rest of the laps got better; and by the sixth lap he was able to go to fifth gear on the obstacle free part, down to fourth as he easily cleared the wall, and at fourth he stayed as he whipped into and out of the zig zag course, dodging obstacles without blinking an eye. When he was done, he swung the car off the track and back into its parking spot. After a few seconds of idling, the car set itself back on the ground, and turned off.

Danny turned around, smiling. “How was I?”

“You did great, a real natural. Now let’s let someone else use the car.”

The two men filed out, Danny unsuited, and the two of them made their way back to the common area. Once there, Danny saw his boys at the school orientation sitting together. He looked from his sons to the red haired guy. “So, same time tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Danny started to walk off and stopped. He turned back to the red haired guy. “You never said anything about me leaving?”

“It’ll be a while. We’re well stocked. What we need now is preparation; so, when the day comes, you will be ready to go on a moments notice.”

“Okay, well I’m going to get my kids.”

“See you in the morning.”

“See you then.”

The red haired guy made his exit, and Danny went over to the small gathering of children. The four big screens, which had once shown graphic violent images, were now filled with a smiling older bald man with a horseshoe pattern. The name on the bottom of the screen said Principal Johnson; he was at least 60 years of age, maybe more. Mr. Johnson was currently going over the packet that the kids were looking through. This packet explained to them how school would work, how they would be graded, hours they had to be on the computer, and things like that.

The class let out a short time later, as Danny stood there and waited. While he stood there, more parents gathered around him, waiting for their children.

Johnny walked over to his dad with the packet in his hand and a big smile on his face when the class finally ended. He was already saying good bye to a couple of kids close to his age. Michael had the same slouch he always had, but he had started a slow change that only a father could notice. Both boys had taken to this end of the world scenario better than Danny could have ever expected. If there were issues, they were deep, deep down inside where he couldn’t see them.

“How was it guys?” Danny asked.

“Not bad.” It looked like Johnny was going to do the talking for both of them. “We have to been online for two hours each day. We have our weekends off, and it doesn’t matter when we fill those two hours.”

“I know, I heard.”

“I also met some guys my age. They live close to us.”

“Great. Michael, how was it for you?”

They had started to walk when they started to talk. They reached the hotel lobby and then the elevators.

“It’s okay, better than regular school,” Michael grumbled under his breath.

“I can see how that would be better, less hours, class when you want to go, no teachers,” Danny replied, as they climbed onto an elevator, and rode it up to their floor.

They arrived at the apartment door.

They went inside, and the door closed.

The day drifted into the night.

Time passed.

*

Danny trained each and every day except for Saturday and Sunday, learning new tricks and techniques all the time. He picked up on this new job faster than anyone else. He excelled at the indoor course, and breezed through the outdoor course. The kids settled into their school activities. Johnny made new friends, and was showing no signs of depression from the life he left behind. Michael had started to improve, but he was struggling more than his brother. He was getting up to the age where he would be driving soon, going on dates, getting laid, and gaining his independence. He would be robbed of all that because of this current situation. Barbara found ways to occupy her time by teaching exercise classes, making new friends, reading, and running. She also came to terms with Danny, and the truth he had kept from her, not only about the end of the world, but his new occupation.

Just after their 4 month anniversary of living underground, Danny was up late one night because he couldn’t sleep. He was nursing a drink, reading a book by Stephen King, and relaxing. He heard a rustling at the door, and if he hadn’t been up he would have never heard it. He got up from his chair, and walked over to investigate.

He opened the door, and found the red haired guy standing there, looking at him surprised. Danny turned around to look at the window, which was dark, signifying night time, odd hour for a visit. Something was certainly up.

They walked out into the hallway, so they could talk and not wake his family.

“I’m surprised you were up. I was going to leave this on your door for you.”

“I couldn’t sleep, had a lot of trouble since we moved down here,” Danny replied, looking at the brown envelope in the red haired guy’s hand. “What’s that?”

“It’s time to go home, Danny.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve managed to clean up some of the homes and get them ready for occupation again. Yours was one of them.”

“Really?”

The red haired guy handed him the envelope. “This will walk you through all the modifications of your house and how you will be safe living above ground. It also has lots of technical stuff, like how to contact us for help, how to call for a shuttle, things of that nature.”

“How was the house?”

“It was in pretty good condition, one of the better ones, which is why we cleaned it first. It’s really quite nice in there.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“I just got back.”

“Can we go tomorrow?”

“You could go tonight if you want to. There are new mattresses and clean sheets on the bed. The fridge and pantry are well stocked. We also have twenty-four hour guard patrol, just to keep you safe.”

“Is there nothing you guys don’t think of in advance?”

“We like to cross our I’s and dot our T’s.” The red haired guy smiled after he made that joke. It might have been the first smile Danny had ever seen from the guy.

“Funny,” Danny replied, smiling.

“Do you want to go home tonight?”

“Everyone is asleep right now. How about we leave in the morning?”

“I guess we could skip a training day for that. You’re one of our top students.”

“Thanks.”

“Someone will be by in the morning to help you get started. Goodnight Danny and welcome home.”

“Goodnight. Thanks for everything.”

“Thank you, for all you’ve done. I know it has been difficult,” the red haired guy replied, as he made his exit.

Danny stepped back inside the house, and closed the door. He inched into the bedroom and curled up beside his wife. He kissed her, and she stirred. “Barbara.” She opened her weary eyes and looked at him. “Are you ready to go home?”

*

The next morning, Barbara made sure they got all of their things together; and she made sure everyone pitched in to leave the place clean. They had all worked together to destroy every bit of grime, dust, and human debris that they had made. Danny wasn’t sure why they needed to do that since nobody would probably ever live here again, but survivors were flooding in each and every day. He wasn’t sure if another family would take up residence in 306; but, if they did, the cleaning crew wouldn’t have much to do.

When the woman in the blue convict suit arrived at their door, late in the morning, Danny’s family was fully packed, almost jumping up and down as they waited to go home. She was a sweet black woman with big eyes and young physical attributes. She had a warm voice that was perfect for this time and place.

“Do you need any help with your bags? We can arrange for someone to come and get them.” She asked.

“No. We can handle them,” Danny replied.

“Okay then. Are you ready to go home?”

“Absolutely,” Danny replied, looking back at his family, and for the first time since they had left their house they all looked happy, even Michael who was certainly different now, different than when he had first arrived here.

“Follow me then,” the woman replied, motioning them down the hall.

Danny and the boys grabbed their gear and started to walk. Barbara took one last look at the apartment; the window now lit up to show daylight hours. She was surprised by the fact that she was actually going to miss it. The move at first had been rough and she had fought Danny tooth and nail over it, but they were all closer now because of this experience, for that she was happy.

“Are you coming Barbara?”

She looked back, and saw Danny standing there all alone. She looked down at her hand, realizing the door was still open, that she still held the handle. Danny walked over to her and took her in his arms.

“I’m sorry about everything. I know this has been tough.”