The Last Days (5 page)

Chapter 5

Mike and Kelly crossed the road and walked through the grass back to their camp sight.

Mike knelt down on his knees when he got close to their RV to let Kimmy slide off his back.

They were returning from a hike on the Natural Bridge trail. The trail was about a mile and a half long, round trip. Kimmy got tired after half a mile and Mike had to carry her the rest of the way. Seven year olds always seemed to have an endless supply of energy, except when you wanted them to do something.

Mike was sure if he had insisted, she would have been able to easily finish the hike under her own power. But he knew Kimmy liked to get piggy back rides from her dad as much as he liked giving her rides on his back. After all it was their vacation and vacations were for having fun and enjoying yourself.

Kimmy hopped off of Mike’s back and ran over to the cooler that sat next to the RV. She opened the lid and pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew. She quickly removed the cap and took a long drink. When she lowered the bottle from her mouth she let a long breath, followed by a burp and a little giggle.

“Kimmy!” Kelly exclaimed. “That’s not very lady like!”

Mike laughed.

“She gets that from you.” Kelly smirked. “If ‘your daughter’ grows up to have the manners of a drunken sailor it’s your fault!”

Mike smiled but he knew better than to say anything.

“You young lady, put the cap back on that bottle. You can drink the rest of it later. Go get your towel and shampoo. You and I are going over to the shower house and get cleaned up for dinner.” Kelly ordered.

Kelly walked over to the RV and opened the door. As she went inside, her head popped back out and she looked at Mike. “Are you going to come with us? Want me to get your towel?”

“No thanks. I think I’m going to take a break first. ‘Your daughter’ is getting heavy!” Mike grinned.

Kelly smiled. “If ‘your daughter’ didn’t eat like her father she wouldn’t weigh so much.”

Mike laughed as Kelly disappeared inside the RV.

Whenever Kimmy did anything questionable she was always his daughter. Whenever she did something good, she was Kelly’s daughter. Kimmy was an ornery kid, which meant most of the time she was his daughter.

Mike laid back on his folding lawn chair recliner. They all had a fun day and now he was tired. He pushed his head back into the soft head cushion and looked at the tree tops that surrounded the campground.  It was now late in the day and the sun had fallen below the tree tops. The golden rays of the sun flickered as they moved through the leaves and branches of the trees as a breeze caused the leaves to gently sway.

Mike couldn’t help enjoy the sight. Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky was a beautiful place. Beautiful and isolated in the hills of North East Kentucky. He had been coming here to camp for the last fifteen years.  After he and Kelly were married, he brought her here camping the following fall. He had held his breath and hoped. If she didn’t like it here, he knew that would be his last trip to Carter Caves. Fortunately she fell in love with the place and they had come back for a week each year after that in the fall to enjoy the mountains and the fall leaves.

Mike’s thoughts were interrupted by the pop and fizzing sound of a tab being pulled off a can of beer close to his head. He glanced to his left and saw his camping neighbor, Chuck.

Chuck was holding two frosted cans of cold Bud Light.

Chuck held out one can towards Mike. “I saw you guys coming back and thought you might like a cold drink.”

Mike smiled as he reached up and took one of the cans.

Mike took a drink as Chuck made himself comfortable in the recliner next to Mike. Chuck pulled the tab off of his can and tossed the tab into the fire pit on top of the cold ashes and bits of unburnt wood.

Last night Chuck and his wife had sat around the fire pit with Mike, Kelly and Kimmy roasting hot dogs over a blazing fire. After the hotdogs, Kimmy roasted everyone a marsh-mellow.  Of course for every marsh-mellow she roasted for someone, she roasted another one for herself. The adults talked and Kimmy ate. Mike had kept a close eye on her as she sat near the fire. He wanted to make sure ‘his daughter’ didn’t burn her fingers.

The door to the RV opened and Kimmy came out, hopping down the steps.

“You look all full of energy!” Chuck smiled at her.

“She should be full of energy!” Mike laughed.

Kelly came out of the RV behind Kimmy and shut the door.

“Hi Chuck!” she said.

“Hey Kelly.” Chuck replied.

“We’ll be back in about twenty minutes.” Kelly said. “You guys enjoy yourselves.”

Mike and Chuck watched as the girls crossed the campground on their way to the shower house that was next to the campground office about two hundred feet away.

“It looks like you had fun today. Where did you go?” Chuck asked.

Mike took a sip of his beer. “We took Kimmy on the Natural Bridge Trail to see the bridge.”

“Nice family trail.” Chuck nodded.

“It’s beautiful. Except for the top of the bridge.” Mike chuckled. “As soon as we got to the top of the bridge, Kimmy made a beeline to the edge of the bridge and looked down. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

Chuck laughed. “It’s funny how fast they can move when you don’t want them to.”

“On the way back we walked Kimmy down the haunted trail.” Mike smiled.

“Across from the campground entrance?” Chuck asked.

“Yea. It starts down at the campground entrance and comes up through the woods for about a quarter mile. It ends across the little road behind us.” Mile replied.

“I thought the haunted trail wasn’t open until Friday night?” Chuck asked.

“It’s not. They only do the haunted trail on Friday and Saturday nights. We want to take Kimmy on the trail tomorrow night when they have all the scary ghosts and zombies.” Mike chuckled. “But we thought if we took her along the trail in the daylight so she would understand it is all make believe, tomorrow night wouldn’t give her nightmares.”

Chuck laughed.” Good idea. Hey you want another beer?”

Kelly had put Kimmy in a shower stall and handed her a wash cloth and the shampoo. After the water started in Kimmy’s stall, Kelly went into the next shower stall.

She hung her towel and clothes on the hooks outside the curtain then stepped in and turned on the water.

After the water began to get hot she stepped under the shower and began to lather up.

She was just about to put shampoo on her hair when she heard Kimmy turn off the water in her shower.

“Kimmy. After you dry off, go brush your teeth, OK?” Kelly called out.

“OK Mom!” Came the reply from Kimmy’s stall.

When Kelly was done showering, she reached out and grabbed her towel and began to dry off. She could hear the water in the sink running out in front of the stalls by the mirrors. She smiled to herself as she head Kimmy spitting in the sink.

Just to be sure, Kelly stuck her head around the curtain to make sure Kimmy was brushing and not just playing in the sink.

As Kelly looked around the curtain, she almost dropped her towel as her body became tense.

Kimmy was at the sink brushing her teeth. The water was on full and splashed loudly in the sink.

Kimmy was concentrating in the sink as she spit toothpaste down the drain.

Six feet behind her, staggering in through the door to the shower house and moving slowly in Kimmy’s direction, were two gray grotesque forms. Small patches of red hair dotted the tops of their heads. Blood ran from their mouths and down over the front of their torn dirty white t-shirts.

Their arms began to raise and reach out towards Kimmy.

One of the creatures began to make a low guttural sound.

They were now only inches from grabbing Kimmy.

Kelly pushed her shower curtain forcefully to the side and stepped out of her stall. She put her hands on her hips and looked sternly at the two creatures

The creature’s arms dropped to their sides. One of the creatures quickly reached up and pulled her rubber mask over her head. The teenage girl looked at Kelly, her eyes were wide. “We were just going to scare her a little. Honest!” The girl stuttered.

The other creature pulled off her mask and stood looking at Kelly sheepishly.

Kimmy turned from the sink, as she heard the girls talk behind her. She turned and looked at the girls and started to giggle.  “You guys look funny.”

“We’re zombies” The one girl said.

“You’re supposed to be afraid of us!” The other girl added.

The first girl looked at Kelly. “We were just practicing. We get to scare people on the haunted trail tomorrow night.”

“I think maybe you should go practice scaring people somewhere else.” Kelly smiled.

The two girls turned and started to walk out of the shower house. “I told you we didn’t look scary enough. Maybe we need to pour more red paint on us. I don’t think we are bloody enough.”

Kelly looked at Kimmy. “I’m glad they didn’t scare you.”

“I knew they weren’t real zombies.” Kimmy said.

“How did you know they weren’t real zombies?” Kelly asked.

Kimmy smiled. “Don’t be silly. Zombies aren’t real, that’s why!”

Kelly smiled. “Finish brushing your teeth. Your Dad is waiting for us.”

They finished getting dressed and left the shower house. They passed Mike as he was coming for his shower.

“I’ll be back in five minutes.” Mike smiled.

Kelly leaned close to Mike. “Keep an eye out, there are a couple of zombies running around here somewhere. I think they are looking for someone to eat!”

“You mean those two scary creatures with the pink and blue short shorts and high heels.” Mike smiled. “I saw them. They scared the hell out of me!”

Kelly smacked Mike with her wet towel.

Kimmy came running over and looked up at her dad. “Daddy, we saw two zombies but Mommy scared them away.”

“I bet she did.” Mike laughed.

Chapter 6

John watched as Cindy struggled with a fish on her line. He watched carefully just in case the fish started to win the battle. So far the battle had been pretty even, but Cindy was starting to move closer to the edge of the stream.

John moved in behind Cindy and grabbed her around the waist.

“Mind if I help you a little?”

“OK!” Cindy said breathing heavily.

John smiled as he pulled her back from the water. After a few feet, they pulled a fourteen inch trout out of the water and up on shore. It flipped from side to side in the grass.

“Wow! That’s a big one.” Cindy shouted.

“It sure is.” John said. “It’s almost as big as you.”

Cindy beamed proudly.

“Let’s get this monster in with the other three and get them back for your mother to cook up before it gets dark.” John said as he put the fish in the basket with the others.

He started to walk back up to the house as Cindy skipped along beside him.

Barb was sitting out on the back porch steps and watched as John and Cindy walked up the hill and back to the house.

“Well how did you do?” She asked.

“We caught four.” Cindy replied proudly. “One was as big as me!”

“Wow. I’m glad it didn’t pull you in the creek!”  Barb smiled.

“It was close.” John laughed. “We worked up an appetite. Let’s go eat.”

“Yea, let’s go eat!” Cindy echoed John’s words.

“OK.” Barb smiled. She looked at John and spoke quietly. “Would you light the grill? The electricity went out about twenty minutes ago.”

The smile on John’s face faded. “Shit!” John said softly. He looked at Barb. “I don’t like this. Whatever has been going on the last few days is starting to get a little too close to home.”

Barb put her hand out and touched John’s shoulder to try and get him to relax. She smiled at him weakly. But now even she was starting to get concerned.

She watched as John lit the charcoal grill. After lighting the charcoal, John pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and checked to see if Mike had left him a message. She could tell by the way his shoulders slumped, the answer was no.

While he waited for the grill to get hot, he went into the house and brought out a flashlight and his old transistor radio. He slowly moved the dial, waiting nervously to hear a voice, any voice. But there was nothing but static.

The sun slowly dropped below the hill tops. The daylight slowly faded as the damp air from the creek began to drift up the hill, making them all shiver.

Mike looked at the menu in front of him. They had eaten at their campsite all week. Saturday, their first night, they had made mountain pies over the campfire. He always enjoyed the ham and cheese pressed sandwiches cooked over an open fire.  Sunday they ate hamburgers. Monday they made spaghetti. Tuesday they ate grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Last night they roasted hotdogs. Tomorrow they would eat sandwiches and finish up the leftovers. Tonight was there special meal to celebrate the end of their vacation.  They always celebrated by going to the park lodge and having a big feast of Kentucky mountain home cooking. They usually had fried chicken, meatloaf and potatoes with gravy and then a big helping of cherry pie and ice cream.

Mike looked at all the options on the big menu. It was so hard to narrow it down. Everything looked so good.

“I want a hotdog.” Kimmy said as she looked at the pictures on the menu.

“But you just had hot dogs last night.” Kelly said, trying to guide her to something she could only get while she was here at the park. “You can have hotdogs anytime.”

“Look at this.” Kelly said pointing at the big picture of crispy southern fried chicken. ”Doesn’t this look good?”

“Yea, but not as good as this hot dog.” Kimmy replied pointing at the picture of a hotdog smothered with mustard and onions.

Mike smiled at Kelly as she shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “If that’s what she really wants. I’m having the fried chicken. They make great fried chicken down here.”

“Then I’ll have the fried chicken too.” Kimmy said looking up at her dad with a big grin on her face.

Kelly looked at Mike and smirked. “Like father like daughter.”

Mike gave her a little grin. Not too big of a grin, because he knew if he did, he would pay for it later.

The waitress walked over to the table. Mike noticed that she seemed to be nervous. “I’m sorry I haven’t taken your order yet. We are shorthanded tonight. None of the other waitresses showed up and the cook only has one helper. I’m the only one here tonight. I guess I can’t blame the others for not showing up with everything that has happened. My husband wanted me to stay home too, but I said I didn’t want to just not show up. I like working here and honestly, we need the money.”

Mike looked up surprised by what she had said. “What did you mean about everything that has been happening this week?”

“You didn’t see the TV reports?” The waitress asked.

“No. We’ve been staying up at the campground all week. No phones or TV. Just peace and quiet.” Mike smiled. “What did we miss?”

“I think a war started with China and then all the riots started around the country. It looked like things were getting pretty bad.” The waitress started.

“A war started?” Kelly said looking shocked.

“Is there still a TV up in the lobby?” Mike asked sounding concerned. “Maybe I should go up and take a look?”

“The TV is still there, but it won’t do any good. All the networks went off the air three or four days ago.” The waitress said. “The last thing was that emergency broadcast message. But even it has stopped now.”

“Shit!” Mike said.

“Daddy said that shit word again.” Kimmy said looking at her mom.

“Ssssh!” Kelly said, trying to listen to Mike and the waitress.

“Are we at war with China?” Mike asked unable to believe the words as he heard himself say them.

“I’m not sure if it’s us or someone else at war with China.” The waitress answered. “The networks started to tell about fighting in China and something about a nuclear bomb, but they went off the air before we knew for sure what was really going on. But it all sounded pretty serious.”

“What about the emergency alert broadcasts?” Mike asked. “Did they say anything about us being at war?”

“No, nothing about war. It just had a message running across the bottom of the screen about emergencies in a bunch of cities and for everyone to stay home and off the highways.” She replied.

“Which cities?” Mike asked as his head was spinning with all the worst case scenarios running through his mind.

“Washington DC, New York and a lot of others. I don’t remember them all there were so many.” The waitress said.

“Did it say what the emergency was?” Kelly asked.

“No. It didn’t give any details. I tried calling my sister, she lives out near Chicago. That’s it, Chicago was one of the cities on the list too.” The waitress started to say.

“Did she know anything?” Mike interrupted anxiously wanting to know more.

“I couldn’t get through to her. I just kept getting a message that my call couldn’t go through to try again later.” She answered.

“Maybe you should see if you can use one of the phones up at the front desk and call back home and see if you can find out anything?” Kelly said looking worriedly at Mike.

“The phone lines don’t work anymore either. You’re lucky we still have electricity here at the park. It’s been on and off all day.” The waitress added.

“Do you live around here?” Mike asked.

“I live about fifteen miles down near Route 64. Why?” The waitress asked.

“What’s it like outside the park?” Mike asked. “Are there many people out on the highways?”

“No, not really. I guess everyone is staying home like the emergency broadcasts said before they went off the air.” The waitress replied. “I guess that’s why things have been so slow here. I’ll probably stay home myself tomorrow until things get back to normal. I can’t make any money around here like this.”

Kelly reached out and squeezed Mike’s hand and gave him a worried look.

“Would you still like to order dinner?” The waitress asked. “Consider it on the house. If you don’t order anything, since there is no one else here tonight, we’ll just have to throw it out.”

“I’m worried Mike.” Kelly said nervously.

“I am too.” Mike replied looking at Kelly. “But we have to eat and we’re not going anywhere tonight.”

“I’m not sure I’m hungry anymore.” Kelly said.

“Why don’t I bring you out a little of everything we have back in the kitchen. Maybe you will see something that will make you hungry.” The waitress smiled. “Just eat what you want and remember me when you leave the tip.”

“Thanks.” Mike said trying to read the name on her name tag. “Milly, that will be fine and I’ll certainly remember to leave you a nice tip for all your help.”

Milly smiled and walked back to the kitchen.

“Mike. What do you think is going on?” Kelly asked when the waitress left.

“I don’t know what to think.” Mike answered. “It sounds like we might be at war. With the TV and phones out and the emergency alert saying there were problems in a lot of the big cities, it sounds like we’ve been bombed.”

“That’s scary.” Kelly said quietly.

“But on the other hand, we haven’t seen anything that would indicate we are at war.” Mike continued.

“But we are in the mountains away from everything. What would we see around here?” Kelly asked.

“If we were at war we would maybe see jets or missiles flying overhead or hear loud explosions off in the distance or something.” Mike answered.

“Maybe you’re right.” Kelly thought. “But what do you think we should do?”

“It’s dark now. Maybe in the morning we can drive the RV down to the interstate and see if we can get cell reception somewhere. I can call my brother and see what he knows. If we can’t get through then maybe we should just pack up everything and head home. If we leave by noon, we should be able to get back home by tomorrow night sometime.” Mike said. “On the other hand we only have one more day left here. I’d hate to give up our last day for nothing. It has been a great vacation. Peaceful and quiet! You know there could be another reason for what the waitress told us.”

“And what would that be?” Kelly asked.

“She’s crazy.” Mike smiled. “You know these mountain folks aren’t the most stable people. Maybe she got into a bad batch of moonshine.”

Kelly chuckled as she quickly looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen. “Mike shush. She might hear you!”

Kimmy giggled.

Kelly looked at Kimmy. “And don’t you repeat a word your dad said!”

“So what do you say we wait until morning and see what we can find out before we panic?” Mike said. “Other than what this waitress said, I think it has been pretty damn nice around here.”

Kimmy’s face lit up. “Mom, daddy said that damn word again!”

Kelly wanted to yell at Kimmy, but she was too busy trying to hide her face so Kimmy wouldn’t see her laughing.

Kimmy started looking around. She was getting bored waiting for the waitress to bring their food. The restaurant was located in the lower level at the back of the lodge.

A small clearing stood outside and below where they sat. It was about a one hundred foot clearing that angled sharply down hill between the lodge and woods. She had no interest in talk about war or riots.

She didn’t really understand what that was or why it was important. All she understood was that she was getting hungry. Her thoughts drifted from the things she didn’t understand. She was suddenly distracted by movement at the end of the clearing and she watched the woods down at the bottom of the hill bathed in a dim light from the lodge.

“Dad look!” Kimmy said studying the movement. “There are more people pretending to be zombies.”

Mike and Kelly looked out the window and down over the hill where Kimmy was looking.”

“Wow!” Mike smiled. “They have much better costumes than the last zombies I saw. They even walk like real zombies.”

“There are no real zombies Dad!” Kimmy said.

“I mean if there were real zombies, that is how they should walk.” Mike laughed.

“Do you see our two zombie friends down there?” Kelly asked.

“Definitely not!” Mike said as he studied the group staggering through the clearing.

Kelly’s foot connected solidly with Mike’s shin.

“Ouch!” Mike yelped.

He was about to ask why she did that, but when he saw the ornery look on Kelly’s face, he decided to cut his losses and just be quiet.

“Here we go!” Milly said as she wheeled a big cart of food over to their table. She started to set plates of food on their table in front of them.