Distinct

by Hamill, Ike

  “See?” Lisa asked.

  “What does it matter?” Tim asked. “One of us is remembering wrong. We’re all getting older, and we’ve been through a ton of trauma in the past few years. I think we have all earned a little early dementia.”

  “There are books,” Brad said.

  “And photos,” Lisa added.

  Tim turned up his hands. “Okay. I’m convinced. So what?”

  “The point is that maybe we don’t belong together,” Brad said.

  “And if we don’t belong together, then maybe there’s a place where we do belong,” Lisa said. “Imagine this is true for a moment, but instead of now, the year is 2002. For you, the World Trade Center has fallen. For Ty, it’s still standing.”

  Tim shrugged and motioned for her to continue.

  “A calamity has happened for you, but not yet for Ty. If you could visit him, then you could warn him.”

  “Or rescue him, if he was one of the victims,” Brad said.

  “And to him, you might seem to be either crazy or not from Earth,” Lisa said.

  “That’s what Jackson said about the man with radiation poisoning,” Ty said.

  “Possible radiation poisoning,” Tim said.

  At some point, Romie had picked up the field glasses and started gazing off at the shore. It was easy to tell where they had launched from—their old houses were pumping out a big volume of smoke.

  “We’re going to want to put a pin in this conversation,” Romie said.

  They all turned to her.

  “Looks like the crazies have found a boat.”

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  Brad climbed to the bridge of the boat. Lisa was a good pilot, but Brad had spent more time investigating the shoreline of Long Island. He pulled into a long dock that led up to a restaurant. The place sat on the back of a country club. Brad had parked a truck under the valet awning in front.

  They squeezed most of them into the cab. Tim sat in the bed of the truck with the dogs.

  Brad pulled slowly away from the place, taking each turn like the back was stacked with eggs.

  “They better not burn down my boat,” Brad said.

  “You can get another one,” Romie said. She put down her window so she could put her arm on the edge.

  “Where are we going?” Lisa asked.

  “There’s a condo building on the other side of the inlet,” Brad said. “It looks out over the water and should have a decent view of those guys. We can stay there while we make our plans.”

  Lisa sat back in her seat and sighed.

  It was a quick trip. Brad watched the rearview mirror about as much as he watched the road ahead of them. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the people chasing them were closing the distance. He made a wrong turn and ended up at a state park campground.

  As he turned around in the parking lot, Romie shook her head. “This is not the fanciest condominium I’ve ever seen.”

  “I turned too soon,” Brad said. “It’s a lot easier to stumble on a place than it is to find it again.”

  He returned to the main road and then turned at the next sign. He parked the vehicle in front of one of the interior buildings and shut off the engine.

  “Looks like that building over there is closer,” Romie said. “Why don’t you pull down to the lower parking lot?”

  “Because he doesn’t want us to be visible from the water,” Lisa said.

  “We’re going to be visible either way,” Romie argued.

  “What’s worse—five people walking, or a big shiny truck?” Brad asked.

  Ty’s voice was low and commanding. “Let’s take this argument inside, okay?”

  Brad nodded and got out.

  Tim kept the dogs close to himself as they jogged to the far building. Romie brought up the rear. At some point during the running, Brad had tweaked his knee. He fought to hide the limp as they climbed the stairs up to the glass doors.

  They were locked.

  “Break it?” Ty asked.

  Romie shook her head. “Lisa, do your thing.”

  Lisa studied the lock as she lowered down to her knees. She pulled a small pack of tools from her back pocket and began to work the mechanism. While she worked, Brad moved carefully to the edge of the building. The bushes along the foundation were overgrown. He walked along their edge, keeping his foot to the wood chips so he wouldn’t trample the grass. When he got to the corner, he poked his head around. There were too many reflections on the water to get a good look. One of the white splotches might be a boat crossing. It was too far to tell.

  “We’re in,” Tim called.

  Brad came back to the group.

  The building had a small lobby and halls that headed either direction, giving access to the doors of the units. A vacuum cleaner stood in the center of the carpet. Its long cord wound all the way to an outlet next to the counter.

  “There are balconies up on the third floor,” Brad said. “We need to get into one of these condos.”

  “I’m on it,” Lisa said.

  Romie wandered towards the shore side. She found the doors out to the common deck. The dogs raced to one end. Some birds had built their nests in the railings. They dive-bombed Cedric and Murphy as they sniffed around the nests. Tim called them away. The birds still swooped and chattered.

  “We shouldn’t have come out here,” Brad said.

  “Why not?” Romie asked? She glanced out over the water and then turned her face up towards the blue sky above.

  “The way that glass door swung open, it could have reflected the sun right at the boat. They could have spotted it.”

  “The sun is high,” Romie said. “A glass door isn’t going to reflect shit.”

  “There’s a better view from up here,” Lisa’s voice said from above. They looked up and saw that she was up on one of the balconies. A floor above her, Brad saw a telescope mounted on another deck. He left Romie and rushed inside.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  They gathered behind Brad as he peered through the telescope.

  “I got ’em. They’re moving fast. Looks like three of them on the boat. I don’t recognize them.”

  “Move,” Romie said.

  “Hold on,” Brad said. “They’re moving really fast right now. They’re hard to track. Give me a second. One of them is pointing. Looks like they see where we docked the boat.”

  “Are they looking over here?” Lisa asked.

  “No,” Brad said. “They’re all looking towards the country club at the moment. Okay, they’ve stopped. Romie, take a look.”

  She put her eye to the lens and took a moment to figure out how to control the thing. The dials required fine movements.

  “Ah,” she said when she finally had it. “Huh. That one kinda looks like Abe, but I don’t know the rest.”

  “Are they landing?” Lisa asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “Three of them,” Tim said.

  “How big?” Ty asked.

  “Abe is pretty small,” Brad answered.

  “The other two are bigger,” Romie said. She pulled back from the telescope and gestured towards Ty. “Not as big as you.”

  Ty looked between Tim and Romie. It took him a second to pick up on what they were thinking.

  “No,” Ty said. “That’s a bad idea.”

  “What’s a bad idea?” Lisa asked.

  Romie turned. “There are five of us and only three of them. We need information, and they have it.”

  “We’ll have to make our decision quickly,” Tim said. “If we want to surprise them, it should be soon after they land.”

  “We have the numbers,” Romie said. “It doesn’t matter if we surprise them or not.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Tim asked. “What if they’re armed?”

  “They’re not,” Romie said. “People in Northam rarely use guns. They’ll hunt with them, but don’t allow anyone in their community who keeps firearms. It’s one of their strictest community rules.”
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  “And we’re going to assume that they’ve all gone crazy but they’re still holding to their morals?” Tim asked.

  “They didn’t use guns against me and Romie earlier,” Brad said. “And Carrie didn’t say anything about it on the radio. I think Romie’s probably right. If they were armed, we would know.”

  “Still seems like a big risk,” Ty said.

  “And I say we make sure to surprise them, just in case,” Tim said.

  Romie looked through the telescope again.

  “They’re still talking. How about this—Lisa stays here with the dogs. The rest of us go and we stay in contact with our radios. They can’t listen in, right?” Romie asked Brad.

  “They use CB. Our radios are secure police radios. I don’t think they’ve adopted those.”

  Romie nodded. “If Lisa sees anything, like weapons strapped to their backs, she’ll give us the signal and we’ll abort.”

  “And we’ll try to surprise them in the restaurant or clubhouse,” Brad added.

  Tim and Ty looked at each other. Ty nodded and agreed.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  This time, Brad drove fast. The truck swayed and shook as he took the corner back onto the grounds of the country club. Romie held up the radio between them.

  “Where is she?” Romie whispered. She clicked the button on the radio.

  “There’s too much terrain,” Tim said.

  They were only fifty yards from the building when the radio squawked and Lisa’s voice emerged from it.

  “…there? Can you hear me?” Lisa asked.

  Romie jumped on the button. “Lisa. We’re pulling up. What do you see?”

  In the rear of the truck, Tim and Ty leaned forward.

  “There’s a fourth man,” Lisa said. “Repeat: there’s a fourth man. He’s wearing a hood and appears very weak. They brought him out from below on the boat. Two of them are helping him walk.”

  “But where are they?” Romie yelled.

  “They docked next to our boat. They’re almost to the doors to the restaurant.”

  “So much for surprise,” Tim said.

  Brad brought the truck to a stop under the awning at the entrance.

  “Maybe we’re okay,” Brad said, throwing open his door. “It’s dark in there.”

  When Lisa’s voice came out of the radio again, Romie turned the volume down a little.

  “One guy is staying outside, next to the door. The other two have walked the weak person inside.”

  Brad reached the door of the place first. He held it open as Romie caught up. Ty brought up the rear. Through the doors, Brad took a right instead of heading towards the restaurant. He jogged into the pro shop and came out with a handful of golf clubs. He handed Ty a 4-iron and distributed the rest.

  “I’m turning you down,” Romie whispered into the radio. “Hit the call button if there’s an emergency. Otherwise, don’t talk.” She clipped it to her belt.

  “We’ll take the main hall,” Brad whispered as he pointed to himself and Romie. “You guys go through the kitchen.”

  Tim and Ty nodded and headed through the doors.

  Brad and Romie held their clubs aloft as they crept forward. When they reached the reservations stand, Romie put up a hand. She had a better angle on the dining area. She held up three fingers and pointed.

  Brad slowly moved his head around the corner so he could see. Two men stood near the door. Through the glass, he could see the third outside. At one of the round tables, a figure was slumped down. That person looked like they were passed out or asleep.

  Romie moved closer to Brad so she could whisper.

  “As soon as we see Ty and Tim across the way, we go in strong. At the very least, we can distract them so Ty can get the jump on them.”

  Brad nodded. The behavior of the men didn’t make much sense. They had sped across Long Island Sound, presumably in pursuit, and then they had reached the restaurant and simply stopped? Unless the slumped figure required some rest, Brad couldn’t understand what they were doing. But, for that matter, why drag an invalid across the water?

  Romie tightened her grip on the club and was getting ready to go.

  “Wait,” Brad whispered. He put his hand on Romie’s arm to stall her. “What if the guy over there is infected with something and he’s contagious? What if they just want to expose us to what he has?”

  Romie wrinkled up her face with confused frustration.

  “Why haven’t those other guys gotten it? We haven’t seen one sick person except for the person slumped at the table.”

  “I guess,” Brad said. “Still…”

  Across the way, Tim and Ty burst from the double doors to the kitchen. Apparently, they hadn’t guessed Romie’s plan.

  “Shit,” Romie whispered. She rushed out. Brad was right behind her.

  The two guards didn’t move a muscle. They stood with their arms at their sides. The man resting on the table was the only person to react. He pushed his way upright and glanced at Romie and Brad. His focus shifted to Tim and Ty. It stayed there.

  The sick man smiled.

  Brad saw a shiny pool of something on the table. It was too dark to be spit. Just enough sunlight penetrated from the windows to allow Brad to see that it was blood. The man wiped a line of it from his chin and then he waved to Tim and Ty.

  “Come,” he said. “Sit down.”

  CHAPTER 24: VIRGINIA

  ROBBY LOST TRACK OF time. The sun moved through the sky. Gordie whined, licked his face, pulled at the leash, and then settled to the ground next to him. The young man was deep in thought. He would have to come out of it on his own.

  Behind his blank eyes, Robby was sitting on the bottom rung of a stepladder. His grandmother was there. She smiled down at him. Her love was unconditional—she always said so—but her affection was very conditional. Robby had to act like a person if he expected to be treated like one.

  “You scale trees like a monkey. You’re not afraid of anything. Why won’t you get my bundt pan down?” she asked.

  “We’ve been here before,” Robby said. His voice was too deep. He was an older version of himself—much older than the kid who had climbed the ladder.

  “Oh?” his grandmother asked. She moved to her round table and pulled out one of the chairs.

  Robby explained as she sat down. “The smart part of my brain is solving some problem. I’m just here killing time until it gets figured out.”

  His grandmother laughed.

  She straightened the placemats until they were in their perfect spots. Robby knew that if he moved one of them a sixteenth of an inch, she could spot it from across the room. The wood was darker under each of those placemats because the sun hadn’t bleached the grain underneath.

  “You’re old enough to stop saying things like that, Robby.”

  “I know.”

  “When I was in college, I knew one or two people who everyone considered smart as hell. It was off-putting. I always thought, if they were so smart, they would know that they’re driving people away with their strange mannerisms. I’m not suggesting we all bend over backwards to fit in, but a little grease in the channel makes for a much smoother ride.”

  Robby nodded. He had heard this speech a million times before. It was always precisely the same, too, because it was always a replay of this exact moment.

  “Use some of that brainpower and observational skill to endear yourself with the people around you. Be careful about what you say and who you say it to. Don’t ever act the fool, but use your intelligence to grease the channel.”

  “I understand,” Robby said. It was time to climb the ladder. He didn’t want to, but it was time. He would climb the ladder, slip and bang his head, and then spend an eternity in the hospital while the smart part of his brain worked out this problem. In the end, the answer would appear like magic. Smart Rob was still down there, but Robby wasn’t allowed to speak with him directly.

  Robby stood and started to climb.

 
For once, something new happened. A sharp pain flared in his forearm. Robby looked down at it. For a moment, he didn’t see anything. Then, a series of deep impressions dimpled his skin. Robby knew the pattern.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “Gordie!” Robby yelled.

  The dog’s jaws were clamped on his arm.

  “Let go!”

  The dog was dragging him. It took a moment for Robby to remember where they were. They were sitting on the bank of the South Anna River. The water level was rising fast. In another minute, it would be high enough to soak their feet. Turning west, he looked upstream. A wave, a least two feet tall, was coming down between the banks. He had to revise his estimate. They were going to be washed away in seconds.

  Gordie let go and started to climb.

  Robby struggled to untangle himself from the leash. It was wrapped around his ankles and the dog was pulling it tight. He could hear the water as the flash flood tore at the grassy banks. Robby spun, got himself loose, and charged after Gordie. They climbed towards the chain link fence at the top of the hill.

  Looking back at the surging water, he only hoped it would be high enough.

  The trees had grown over and through the fence. Gordie found a gap and slipped through. The leash caught on a branch. Robby freed it and dove to the ground so he could follow the dog’s path. On the other side, they looked back.

  The river had turned brown. It swirled in deadly eddies. Across the river, something had changed. The ribbon of green foliage, cutting through the burned out landscape, now bent to the left. It had been straight before—Robby was sure of it.

  Upstream, a tree cracked and split. A moment later, they saw it sweep by in the current. The base and roots followed a few seconds later.

  Above, the sky was perfectly clear.

  “Flash flood. It’s not moving like the killer liquid. That’s been gone for ages. Either there was a heavy rain upstream, or a dam burst, or…”

  Grabbing the leash, Robby ran.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪