Dark Days Rough Roads (21 page)

He went
in the garage and looked around. He spotted a five gallon can of gas that was
almost full. He went and dumped it in the Tahoe. He went back in the garage and
walked over to Alan and Nancy’s Harleys. He pulled the fuel line from the tanks
and emptied them into the gas can and dumped that in the Tahoe as well. He got
about an extra 10 gallons total, which was good enough.

He loaded
everyone up and looked around. People were just standing there. To him it
almost looked like the zombie apocalypse. These people looked that far out of
it. Unshaven facial hair, unwashed hair, dirty clothes, dirty faces, blank
stares and that look of despair. What the hell were they waiting for? These
were upper middle class, who thought they were immune to disaster and probably
counted on a government rescue. Wait until the lower class gets a hold of them.
Wait until they turn on each other.

He was
thinking about the note saying the kids made it home from school. Since Kayla
was in college he hadn’t really thought about that. He wasn’t worried about the
junior high or high school kids. What the hell did they do with the smaller
elementary school kids? Did you turn loose a 5 or 6-year-old? Hell, a 7 or
8-year-old? That was scary to even think about. In some areas they needed buses
to get home.

He
guessed that they might have food for a while at the schools, but eventually
that would run out. What about the staff? How long were they willing to stay
and watch them if that was even the case. Would people be able to walk there,
pick up their kids and make it home? With so many people relying on two family
incomes to live, he wasn’t sure how many would have been close enough. He
didn’t really want to think about it.

Mike
said, “Hey, we going to get back on the road?”

“Oh ya, I
was just thinking.”

“Thinking
about what?”

“Nothing
really.” There was no sense in sharing his concern with the rest of them; there
was nothing they could do anyway. The thought of kids in school or abandoned
haunted him a bit. It was time to get home now though. He pulled out of the
neighborhood ready to get home.

“Listen
Mike, what do you say we run the highways as far as we can go?” Mike asked if
that was risky.

“Well,
it’s the quickest way to get back home and there might be some issues, but look
at it like this. We’ll be clear of Detroit, so we are avoiding that sewage
dump. I figure we have an hour and a half using the highways or four if we use
the county roads and smaller streets.

“I think
it’s worth the risk. Too many little cities on the county roads, the gas
mileage sucked, and the highways should be clear of people as they most likely
found their way into the neighborhoods and I’m betting we only have to dodge
cars. I’m tired, I’m sore, and I want the hell out of this damn truck.”

“Do it Dad,”
Kayla said.

Linda
said, “Whatever Mike thinks is good with me.”

And Mike
said, “Ya, let’s do it.”

He knew
the way home from here and he was ready to get there. He dreaded making this
call. Everyone was still listening and waiting for the report when he came back
on the air.

He had
dumped the radio protocol long ago and as long as he didn’t reveal last names
or locations, no one knew who they were, where they were, or what their plans
were. Everyone else understood this as well, so he just clicked the mic and
laid it all out there.

“You guys
out there?” He got the two responses. “Ok listen. Alan’s house was empty. It
appears Nancy was home and the kids made it home ok. They waited and then
packed up and went to a friend’s house. No idea who, no idea where. There’s no
sign of Alan, he might have made it home and then went there later, I don’t
know.”

Bev asked
him if he checked the area.

“No, not
at all. I kept an eye out for his truck around the general area as we drove in,
but we are getting back on the road now.”

“Can you
just look around a bit more?” she asked.

“No.” He
left it at. She didn’t argue the point either. She knew it would be a losing
battle with Roger. Roger understood the endgame more than anyone else here. He
was thinking about his brother in Missouri and sister in Texas, wondering how
they were doing right now.

It was
late afternoon now and would be dark in a couple more hours. On the highways
there was the occasional vehicle, but not many. He did notice a couple people
looking through cars and just figured them to be looters. He kept telling
himself, just three lousy days. The zoo gates opened and the animals were set
free.

After
dodging the cars for about an hour he was heading north on one of the main
roads called Telegraph and hung a right on Square Lake road. This would dump
him onto I75 for about a mile where he would pick up 59 East back toward his
house. He couldn’t help himself; the hospital was too close to pass up. He
could hang a left, pass by, then within another five minutes jump on M59
directly.

He passed
the hospital slowly. It was just a big dark building lurking there as dusk set
in. In another 30 to 45 minutes, it would be totally dark. He looked at all the
buildings on the property and it was clearly evident they had been ransacked a
long time ago. He had no idea who was left in the building and he didn’t care.
No doubt the residents of this place they called Ponticrack had done a thorough
job taking what they wanted.

He popped
up unto 59 and headed east. It was like déjà vu. He remembered all of the cars
being here and the trip he made with the old man within just an hour of the
event. He was passing by the little strip mall and saw that the grocery store
had the windows broken out and just as he predicted, it was completely empty.

He pulled
into the parking lot and slowly drove by. Definitely empty. He drove by the
pizza joint and noticed it too was empty, nothing at all, not even the pop. He
pulled out onto the road and started to head for home. Just another mile, that
was it. They would be home, they would not be there long, but it was still
home.

Kayla
screamed out, “Stop Dad, stop!” He hit the brakes hard. Max had taken up
residence on the center console and tumbled forward. He looked up at Haliday,
who just smiled. They had a love-hate relationship, they loved to hate each
other. What was it he missed? He started looking around.

“There,”
Kayla said, pointing away from the Tahoe.

“What?”

“Over
there Dad,” and she pointed out the window.

“Ok, I
guess I’m blind, I’m not seeing it.”

“It’s
Blake Dad, from school.”

“What
school?”

“High
school Dad, he played football.”

“Ok, it’s
Blake. Let’s get home.”

“Wait Dad.
Hey Blake, come here.” The kid came walking up slowly then a little quicker
when he recognized her. Kayla jumped out causing Haliday to jump out too and
draw his pistol in case of trouble. Kayla gave the kid a big hug.

“Dad, you
know Blake.”

He looked
at the kid and said, “Ya, thanks for the pizza.”

“No
problem Mr. Haliday.”

“Why
didn’t you say something the other day? I didn’t recognize you. Of course,
whenever I saw you it was during the football games and you had a helmet on.”
Kayla had been a cheerleader since 7
^th
grade and into her first year
of college, After that she decided to work to help pay tuition. “It’s been a
couple years since then too,” he added.

Kayla
asked Blake how he was doing.

“Well, I
went back to the pizza shop and took the flour and all of the canned pizza
sauce and took it home. I used my mom’s garden cart for that. I only started at
the pizzeria a couple weeks ago, so I didn’t have a lot of money but bought
some stuff from the grocery store before it closed for good. I saw it get
looted this morning, there was nothing left after only a couple hours.”

“How’s
your mom?” Kayla asked.

Blake
looked down at the ground. He lived with his mom who was widowed. He and Kayla
were like brother and sister with Kayla having lived at home with Haliday, who
was single as well. They had a connection based on that, but that was it. She
had helped him get through Spanish in high school and he helped her with her
math. Then there was student council and football and all that other stuff they
both belonged to.

Blake
just looked up at her but didn’t say anything. Haliday sensed something wrong.
“Blake, is she sick or hurt? Does she need help? Take me there and I’ll see
what I can do.”

“She’s
not home,” he said.

“Does she
work near here? Was she at work?”

“No,” he
said. “She went on a cruise with my grandma. They would have been at sea when
the power went out.” Oh shit, Haliday thought. Another thing to consider.

If the
ship got hit they would just be floating around out there. He wondered what
would happen. No bilge control pumps, no water desalination, no way to cook really
and thousands of people on a small floating hell just drifting wherever the
current would take them. He shuddered at the thought. Mike and Linda had gotten
out of the truck at this point.

“Kayla,
grab the Tahoe, back it into Blake’s driveway and wait for us there. Mike, you
and Linda go with her. We’ll meet you there.” The driveway was only about 150
yards down. “I need the walk. I need to talk to Blake here as well.” They went
to Blake’s and waited for them to get there.

“Blake,
you have any family close by?”

“No sir.”

“Where’s
the closest family you have?”

“My aunt
is in Kentucky and my grandpa, who didn’t go on the cruise, is in Florida.”

“Any
close family friends around here?”

“No sir.”

“What
have you been doing the last few days?”

“Well sir,
I boarded up the windows of the house and hid everything inside. That’s about
it. I looked around in the garage for stuff I could use. I found some firewood
for the fireplace, but not much. I was going out to look for some more for
tonight because I ran out.”

Haliday
and Blake reached Blake’s house at that point. “Kayla, take Linda to the house,
get Randy and Kevin and bring them back here and I mean quickly. Bring the
Cherokee. Bring flashlights too. It’s getting dark. Make sure they have
firearms. Make sure the house is secured and everyone is on high alert. We got
a lot of people watching us right now.”

“What are
you going to do Dad?”

“We’re
going to get Blake here packed up and bring him along.” Kayla started to cry a
little bit.

Blake
looked at him and said, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Well,
for starters, you say thank you, secondly, that you will abide by the rules,
and third that you will pull your weight around the homestead. Final item,
she’s off limits,” he pointed to Kayla. “Now, just so you know, we aren’t
staying around this area. We’ll be leaving in the morning. Is that a problem?”

“No Sir,
not at all, and thank you.”

The group
arrived and Haliday had them back up close to the door. Next they went inside
and he had Blake show them where all the food was. They piled it into the
living room. He helped Blake pack clothing and some personal things. Next he
told Blake to grab anything of value like jewelry or coins or anything he could
use to trade. He told Blake these would be his bartering items and no one
else’s.

He walked
the house with Blake and then the garage to see if there was anything else. In
the garage was an older Yamaha 250. “Does it run Blake?”

“Ya, but
I don’t have any gas in it.” Haliday told Randy to grab some. There were a couple
jerry cans on the back of the Cherokee. He grabbed one and dumped a little in
the bike. They’d be taking that too.

“What
about firearms Blake?”

“I don’t
have any.”

“You know
how to use them?” He shook his head no. “Well, there’ll be a crash course tonight
or tomorrow morning. You’ll be expected to use them if we need to, any problems
with that?”

“No sir.”

“Ok,
we’re heading over to my house now, anything else you need here?”

“Just one
second please.” He ran into his bedroom and grabbed a handful of pictures out
of his nightstand drawer and a small picture frame with a picture of his mom in
it.

He
grabbed a black marker and wrote on the wall, he didn’t want any notes blowing
away or getting lost.
Went with Kayla and her dad, be back
, he looked at
Mr. Haliday. “Spring, Blake, in spring.”
Be back in spring
, he wrote,
I
love you Mom
. Blake’s eyes were glossy. Randy, Kevin and Mike had thrown
everything into the Cherokee and Randy wheeled the Yamaha out front for Blake.
Blake closed everything up in the house, and then made sure the bike started.
They all went back to Haliday’s.

When they
pulled in, they put the Yamaha and Tahoe in the garage. They pulled the
Cherokee around back and locked it up tight and put a steering wheel lock on it.
A good old fashioned “the club” came in handy now that alarms were useless.
They double-checked everything and went inside.