Dark Days Rough Roads (17 page)

“Is there
anything major going on?” She told him other than a few people wandering around
door to door asking to borrow food, there hasn’t been anything unusual. “Ok,
well just tell people to go away if they come to the door. Make sure one of the
kids tells them to go away too so they know there’s more people in the house.
Switch back to the regular frequency.”

Haliday
told them he would check in later. She asked him what had happened, he didn’t
reply. Kayla woke up and asked where they were. He turned his light on and
glanced at his binder and maps. They were making good time. They were well
north if Indy and he was actually heading back toward Warsaw. His plans were to
skirt it this time. If the Indiana National Guard was active though, then they
would be here as well. Other than the small infantry unit there, he didn’t know
what else they might have waiting. No more games with them, that’s for sure.

It took
him a while, but he managed to skirt the city and was now close to the Michigan border. He was heading straight for Three Rivers, Michigan, but was going to avoid
that like a plague. There were quite a few railroads that ran through it and he
didn’t want to get tied up in that mess. With the train yards, stopped trains
carrying people from Detroit to Chicago, and freight trains from just about
anywhere, there would be a lot of people hanging around. Not the spot to be,
that was for certain.

It was
Dawn’s turn to keep watch and she was doing a check around the first floor.
Everything seemed to be ok and she walked over to the radio and called Roger.
“Ya, go ahead,” he said.

“You
wanted me to call you, didn’t you?” she asked him.

“Oh ya,
uh, give me a second.” He had to adjust himself in the seat.

She could
tell by his voice that something was wrong. He asked her what the SITREP was
and she said, “So far ok, nobody is really out doing anything. Roger, you ok,
what happened to you?”

“Long
story, don’t worry about it, we’re all ok though. We are going to stop for a
break, top off the tank and then move on.”

Dawn
asked how far out he was. “Well, on a normal day about two hours or more, but
with the route changes we have to make, probably 8 at best and 12 at the most.
Especially with the travel being one shit storm after another. Have you seen
any other cars or trucks, vehicles of any type out there?" he asked.

“We
aren’t seeing too many.” She told him that there was an occasional older
vehicle, a lot of ATV’s and some scooters and stuff like that.

“Any
government troops or anything like that out there?”

“None
that I’ve seen or heard.” That struck him as odd.

Haliday
asked her if she was ready to go and she told him yes. “Ok,” he said. “No sense
in taking chances, why don’t you make the first move in the morning.” Dawn said
that was a good idea.

“I’ll let
you know when we leave and when we get there.” she added.

“Ok,” he
said, “stay put there until I get things organized and get everyone else on a
time table. Talk to you later.”

Rich was
listening in. “Anything we need to know?” he asked.

“No Dad,
you have your plans, when the time comes I’ll have you guys go ahead with
them.”

“Ok, talk
to you later Roger,” he replied.

Dawn was
double-checking everything in the garage. She went to disconnect the generator
when she heard a noise outside. She stopped and listened for a minute to see if
she could identify it. She was hoping it was one the neighborhood cats or a
raccoon or something, but it sounded different somehow. As she listened she
heard a hollow metallic clinking noise. She had no idea what it was. It wasn’t
anything good, she thought.

Dawn ran
into the living room to wake up her mom and sister. They got up groggily and
Dawn told them someone was outside. They sat there trying to fully wake up.
They said they didn’t hear anything. Karen then said, “Wait a minute, I hear it
out front.” They were fully awake now.

At first
it sounded like the wind blowing the tree branches against the siding but they
weren’t sure. Diana and Dawn ran upstairs to see what was happening. They took
a quick peek outside and saw the top of a ladder against the gutter. It had
been the feet of the ladder she heard clinking around.

Diana and
Dawn both looked at each other and backed away from the window. Dawn aimed her
pistol toward the window. Diana saw the figure getting ready to climb on the
roof and she turned on her flashlight. All they saw was the figure try to climb
unto the roof, heard a man yell and then tumble down into the bushes below.

Diana
thought it was actually amusing, but Dawn reminded her someone just tried to
break in. They didn’t go near the window in case someone shot at them. The
nails had done the job. They didn’t plan on sleeping tonight now, just planned
on getting ready to go.

It was
almost five in the morning now and almost 72 hours since the EMP hit. The
weather had started to turn colder. That was what you got in Michigan. 70
degrees on one day and 40 the next day. This close to winter, there would be
far fewer warm days and they would have to prepare for that. It was almost a
blessing it happened now and not in the dead of winter. Traveling in snow would
be very difficult.

Everything
was packed and ready to go now. They triple checked everything and did a walk
through of the house four times, making sure they had taken what they wanted.
Karen stood there and cried. This had been their home since her divorce years
ago and they had made it their kingdom. They had folk art, knickknacks and
reminders of their Norwegian heritage and they hated to leave it. All three of
them cried and couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

They went
into the garage where the ATV was waiting. The sun would be rising and people
would be getting up soon and they wanted to be out of here before it became
apparent they were leaving. Diana opened the garage door and Dawn pulled the
ATV out into the driveway and then backed up to connect the trailer to it.

Diana and
Karen kept their eyes open for trouble. Dawn then pulled forward and they
closed the garage door and put a few padlocks on it. With no one here, it was
just a target eventually anyway; no sense in trying to make it Fort Knox.

Dawn made
Diana walk out by the street and check that area out. Diana protested, but Dawn
just looked at her and said go. She walked out, looked around and looked across
the street. The guy with the old car that broke down had come outside and was
watching them intensely. Karen climbed in the front seat next to Dawn and they
pulled out toward the street. At the end of the driveway Diana jumped into the
back seat and they slowly moved out into the road.

As they
were pulling out Dawn looked at her neighbor and flipped him the finger again.
He returned the salute promptly and all three of them noticed his hands had
bandages on them. Diana said, “That prick tried to break in last night. We
should have shot him. He’ll be breaking in as soon as we are gone.”

Karen
said “Let him, nothing left but a drum full of water in the basement.” The rest
was just memories that they had to take with them in place of the physical
items.

As they
travelled east a bit they only got a few strange looks, but they still maintained
a vigil to keep themselves safe. They would have to snake through some
neighborhoods to avoid the main roads and populated areas in order to end up
about 18 miles north near Metamora. Here they would stay until they got word to
move to the next point. There weren’t a lot of people where they were heading
and it was harder to get to than where they had been. It was far more rural.

What a
sight this thing was. This double seat ranger towing this small 5X8 single axle
trailer loaded to the hilt with who knows what inside. Actually it was a large
amount of food and water and their personal items, which was not much at all
except for Diana’s. Diana had packed like it was the end of the world. In a
sense it was, but there was a lot she wouldn’t need. Business attire wasn’t on
this year’s post apocalyptic fashion runway.

The
ranger was pretty much stock, except for the engine mods to make it run and the
tires. The tires had been changed from their beefier off-road rubber to a set
more suitable for pavement. They could always change them out if the need to
remain off pavement was needed. The trailer was just a plain trailer with added
locks. In a pinch they could sleep inside if they emptied it and were in a safe
location. They were on their way; Dawn called Roger and told him.

About the
same time over at Haliday’s parents, they were all sleeping. Randy was supposed
to be up keeping watch, but he fell asleep. He was jolted awake by a pounding
on the door. He went over and asked who it was. He heard a familiar voice, “It’s
Uncle David, let us in.” Randy wasn’t sure what to do. He heard his uncle say “Hurry
up Randy, Bobby is hurt.” He opened the door and David, who was carrying Bobby,
rushed into the house.

“Go get
grandma,” he said. Randy just stood there looking. “Go now.” Randy closed and
locked the door and ran to get Bev. Bev came out into the living room to find
Bobby lying on the ground bleeding from his head. David was trying to hold a
t-shirt against his head and Bobby just screamed in pain. Bev told Randy to go
into the basement and bring up the plastic container marked first aid. Rich and
everyone else got up at this point after hearing the screaming.

Bev
grabbed a blanket and put it under Bobby’s head. "What happened?" she
asked. David was shaking. He was a big guy, not really in great shape, and the
incident had taken a toll on him. He had halfway carried Bobby about a quarter
of a mile as fast as he could. He was breathing heavy, he was frightened for
his son, and what he was saying didn’t make sense. No one could really
understand him at the moment, he was winded.

Bev moved
the t-shirt and looked at Bobby’s head. Most people would have fainted, but
after six kids and the accidents they had growing up, it was almost normal to
her. “David, don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks, he’ll be ok.” She put
the t-shirt back. Randy had come up from the basement with the large container.
Bev looked at David and told him he would have to hold him still. She told
Randy and Kevin to help him.

She went
over to the sink and used a bottle of water to wash her hands. She took another
bottle over to where Bobby was. “Put him on the coffee table,” she said. They
put him on the coffee table and she pulled up a kitchen chair next to his head.
She put on a pair of latex gloves. “Ok, hold him down.” She removed the t-shirt
again and took a flap of skin the size of an orange peel and lifted it up and
poured water over it rinsing the area well.

She
placed it back and held it there. “Rich, go wash your hands and come back and
put some gloves on.” Rich did as instructed and came over. “Hold this in
place,” she said. He held the flap of skin down, but didn’t watch what was
going on. Bev pulled out a suture kit and stitched the flap in place. “It’s not
going to win awards, but it’ll have to do.” She covered it with a clean
dressing. She dug out some antibiotics they had bought on the net. He’ll need
to take these just in case of an infection. "Now what happened?" she
said.

David had
caught his breath and began to tell them how he had made it home and waited to
see if his girlfriend would show up. Bobby had actually said she would go to
grandma’s house because it was closer. It made sense, so they set out for the
house. They had stopped in the evening behind an abandoned shop and took a nap
and rested. When they woke up they started out again. They ran across a woman
walking down the railroad tracks about a quarter mile away from here.

This
woman looked like she had been through the ringer. She was maybe in her
fifties, thin build, oversized clothes on, missing some teeth, ragged hair.
When they encountered her, Bobby had said, “Look Dad, I think she’s a bum.” The
woman had started walking up to him screaming and yelling about being called a
bum and David told her to back off. He wasn’t armed and had no way to defend
them. He tried to walk away, but she kept telling them, “You ain’t no better
than me now, you gonna learn life’s hard knocks now.”

Bobby,
being a typical 14-year-old kid, said “Shut up bum. You’re a bum and always
will be.” He left David’s side and walked right up on her. David tried to call
him back, but he didn’t listen. “Bum, bum, bum, bum,” he taunted. She swung her
walking stick at him like a golf club and it glanced off his forehead at just
the right angle, splitting it open. Being a facial wound, it bled like crazy.
Bev thought how odd head wounds bleed like crazy, but aren’t that bad. David
picked up rocks and starting throwing them at the woman and chased her away. He
had grabbed Bobby then and rushed to the Halidays’.

*****

Haliday
had never been happier to see the Michigan border as he drove through. He felt
better about being back in the state, but not about the current state of the
situation. They were coming up on US12, aptly named Michigan Avenue. You could
actually take this from downtown Detroit to downtown Chicago. No one really did
this though, unless they wanted a sightseeing tour. Too many small towns and
stops in between.