The Dead Divide Us

by Vincent S. Tobia

  “Daddy, you cursed,” said Paul’s son Eddie.

  Paul turned back around to face his family. His eight year old boy, Eddie, sat on the couch with his younger brother Shawn (soon to be 6 years old). Both boys were watching television, glued to it actually.

  “I’m sorry, Eddie. Anything new on the TV?” Paul said as he walked back over to Eddie and Shawn. Paul already knew the answer: there was nothing new on the television. All the news stations had just been repeating the same things--in Manhattan and parts of New England people were getting sick and killing each other. Once the news reports a bomb like that, people want to know more about it. They don’t want to keep guessing about unconfirmed bits of news.

  “Nothing new, Dad,” Eddie said just as Paul expected...

  Paul grabbed onto the back of the white couch and propped up his body, arching his shoulders high up. He looked down at his two sons. They really should be getting back to bed. If anything got any worse or changed they’d still be just as safe tucked under their covers. But Paul supposed that a lot of the problem was the shock of the whole thing. How could anyone sleep with such strange news being reported?

  Just then, Paul’s wife Ruth came running down the stairs. Paul noticed that she was still in her pajamas, as was the entire Landry family, only now she had a clean white robe thrown over her shoulders. She rushed past her family and flipped open her laptop computer. The glow of the laptop’s screen lit the bottom portion of her face with a light blue tint.

  “What’s the news from Robert? Is he okay? And your parents?” Ruth asked eagerly.

  Shawn Landry, who had woken up like everyone else when their neighbor Roy Benton came knocking loudly just after 2:30 am, turned away from the television and looked up toward his father.

  The news that had abruptly jarred them from sleep, that had made them all think confusing and awful thoughts, was now starting to weigh down on little Shawn. It had been a long hour, indeed. Clinging onto his brown and beaten plush Pound-Puppy, five year old Shawn had tears gathering in his young eyes. He hadn’t taken his attention away from the television since he sat down. He was very afraid of what was happening around him even though for the last hour he had been “acting strong” and not letting his fears take control.

  “Uncle Rob?” Shawn started to say, his voice cracked and he coughed a little. Shawn instinctively raised his finger toward the TV then continued, “Nana and Papa? Are they okay? Is that happening where they are?”

  Shawn barely got the words out before he burst into tears. It was a completely desperate, confused, and tired cry. Paul’s heart broke for his child.

  Ruth put down the laptop and quickly swept Shawn into her arms. Shawn cried into Ruth’s shoulder but still had his watery eyes locked on the television.

  “Uncle Rob is fine. I had to wake him up and tell him the news, but now he knows what’s happening east of him,” Paul explained.

  Eddie, now aware that his parents were talking about the situation, grabbed the television remote and lowered the volume.

  “Is he going to your parents’ farmhouse?” Ruth asked.

  “Yeah, he’s on his way there to make sure they’re alright. I told him to head toward a military safe zone they have set up there too…” Paul said.

  “Military? That can’t be good, can it? I mean that’s bad isn’t it?” Eddie said, turning to face his father on the couch.

  Paul thought that it was definitely not a very good sign, but he didn’t want to admit it to his boys until he heard more from Robert’s end.

  Eddie was a strong kid, even for 8 years old. He was taking all this relatively well. Paul was proud of him, yet something about it seemed off. Perhaps both of his children should be upset by all of this? Would that make him feel better?

  Now who was really afraid? And who is more afraid? The Human of the Ghost? Or the Ghost of the Human?

  “It just means that they are taking every precaution necessary; it’s a good thing, Eddie,” Paul said trying to sound reassuring; then he turned back to Ruth.

  “You try your folks?” Paul asked.

  Shawn had stopped crying, but he looked incredibly tired. Ruth put him back down onto the couch and pulled a fluffy, heavy blanket over him.

  “Yes, I called them. I emailed my cousins too, they’re all fine. It seems like they’re in the same situation as us--waiting and watching,” Ruth said.

  Ruth’s family, the Marsh’s, were from northern Wisconsin. Ruth’s entire family came from a long history of Green Bay Packer fans, something Paul and Ruth always joked around about, because while growing up, Paul Landry always rooted for the Chicago Bears. Any American football fan will tell you that the Bears and the Packers are long time bitter rivals. During sophomore year at Virginia Tech when Paul first laid eyes on Ruth, she was actually wearing a Packers t-shirt. His first instinct was to ignore his own body and mind’s compulsive attraction to Ruth. She was absolutely his type, so finally he looked past the Packers t-shirt and asked her if he could buy her a drink.

  A year later Paul made his first visit to the Marsh homestead to meet Ruth’s parents. When he walked into their den he pretended to faint and carried on saying “My eyes are burning! Burning!” The Marsh’s den was made up entirely of Green Bay Packer’s memorabilia: curtains, trash cans, coffee table, couch, blankets, posters, signed footballs, actions figures, trading cards, umbrellas, shit paper in the bathroom (Paul actually liked that one)... you name it and they had it.

  Ruth had a few cousins in Wisconsin, but she was an only child. At the moment, Paul was feeling very glad for Ruth not having any siblings on the East Coast. He did worry greatly for Robert and his parents, Thomas and Rita.

  “You’ve got to call your parents, Paul,” Ruth said, snapping him back into the nightmarish reality that was this late night.

  “I know. I’m going to warn them that Robert is coming to get them. I’m sure I won’t have to wake them up though,” Paul said as he walked back over to the large bay window of his living room. Looking out into the perfect suburb that was his street, he saw all the houses were lit up...

  Ruth sat down between her sons as Eddie picked up the television remote and turned the volume back up.

  “Reports coming in from our affiliates in New York City are stating the number of outbreaks has not changed. Again, this is hard to say, but it seems there is a virus or something on the loose causing some people to become very sick. It is also believed that the sick are attacking other civilians. The good news for us here in the greater Seattle and surrounding area is that right now all reports of the outbreak seem to be contained to the Manhattan and lower New England areas.” The local newsman rambled on, but Paul tuned him out as he raised his phone and dialed his parents’ phone number.

  2

  Paul was starting to get extremely nervous. His parents were not answering the phone. After four unsuccessful tries, Paul hung up and dialed back right away. He did not want to get their answering machine again. Something about talking to a machine at a time like this seemed infinitely pointless to Paul. He looked back at his family sitting on the couch with their blank stares directed at the TV and gave them a quick smile. Shawn looked like he was drifting in and out of sleep, his head propped up against his mother’s thigh.

  Paul’s cell phone continued to ring; each ring seemed slower then that last. Paul thought to himself, “Where can they be? It’s not even 7 in the morning there yet!”

  Paul turned back to look out his front window at the street again. Their house was at the end of a cul-de-sac. Looking out front, he had a great view of the curvy paved road and its long line of large two-story houses. This was a nice little family community that Ruth and Paul decided to settle into. Sure it had its minor problems here and there, but Green Falls had been good to them---so far.

  As the phone rang a long fifth time, Paul noticed that his neighbor, Roy Benton, had walked out of his house onto the front lawn and headed toward the street with his cell phone in his hand. Then on t
he left side of the street, closest to Paul’s house, two front lights suddenly came on as Glen Fry and Warren Blakely walked out of their separate houses. Glen was also holding a phone up to his ear.

  Paul was a little puzzled by this but soon realized what was going on. His neighbor Roy was a pretty stand-out and stand-up character in their little community of Green Falls, Washington. If you came around this area and needed help of any kind, Roy was likely to meet you. Roy was the head of both the Green Falls community and the local school boards. No, Roy wasn’t the Mayor of Green Falls, but he might as well have been. Actually, he always joked about running for it.

  Every Fourth of July, Roy would invite the entire street to his place for a day long party. He’d always rent one of those large inflatable bouncy castles for the children. His wife Kirsten and their nine year old daughter Alexis would bake a truck load of America themed bake goods. The Benton’s went out of their way to be outstanding citizens of their fine community. One year, Glen Fry and his wife had actually screen printed a few custom t-shirts for Roy’s big party. They read: “In Roy We Trust."

  So it was no surprise to Paul that Roy Benton was the first one to come knocking at 2:30 in the morning to tell them the current unsettling news. Roy probably felt like it was his duty as the make-shift leader of Green Falls. It was also no surprise to Paul to see that Roy met Glen Fry and Warren Blakely in the middle of the street. Roy was busy making plans. What would they do if things get any worse in the east?

  “Hello?” an out-of-breath voice said over the phone.

  Startled, Paul replied: “Hello, Mom?”

  3

  “Oh, Paul! Is everything okay? Isn’t it late in Seattle?” Rita Landry asked.

  Paul’s thought process was stunned for a brief second.

  “Um, yeah, of course it is. Mom, I had to call a few times to get you.”

  “I’m sorry. Your father and I were out back settling the horses; they were kicking around in their stalls this morning. Something spooked them good... probably a fox,” Rita explained.

  Something spooked them? “Oh shit,” Paul thought.

  “Paul, it has to be almost 4 a.m. there. Are you okay? Ruth and the kids are okay?” Rita asked, concerned.

  “Yes Mom, they’re fine. Listen, have you guys turned on the T.V. today?”

  There was a second of empty silence that made Paul suddenly very cold. The possibility that he’d have to explain again, in detail, that people in the east were getting sick and turning on each other never crossed his mind, until now.

  “No honey, we haven’t had a T.V. for a few days now. The old clunker finally burned out,” Rita said.

  Paul thought about his parents’ old television. It was the old tube style circa 1970s -one of those big ass wooden framed televisions that also doubled as a table or countertop. You could stand on top and jump up and down on those old beasts. Growing up, Paul and Robert had watched everything on it. It was an amazing feat that it lasted as long as it did but what a time for it to finally die.

  “Okay Mom, listen up,” Paul said, now serious.

  “Who is it?” Thomas Landry hollered from somewhere in the background noise of the phone.

  “It’s Paul,” he heard Rita say to her husband.

  “Paul? Isn’t it late there?” Thomas said back.

  God, not this again.

  “Mom! Listen to me. Something is happening east of you in Manhattan and parts of New England. People are getting sick,” Paul blurted out.

  Again there was a moment of silence that bothered Paul. But this time, before Rita spoke, he could hear her finish sipping something (probably coffee) and cough with surprise.

  “Getting sick? Paul, are you joking around?” Rita said, now with fear in her voice.

  “This is no joke Mom. Can you and Dad please turn on your radio?”

  Ruth moved from the couch and startled Paul as she walked up behind him and put her hand on his back. Ruth mouthed the question, “They okay?” Paul nodded his head “yes” and waved her backwards.

  “Tom, get out the radio. Turn it on,” Rita yelled to her husband.

  “Mom, Robert is coming to get you guys. He should be there soon. I already talked to him and he’s fine,” Paul said, making sure to not let his mother reach panic status.

  “Your dad is getting the radio, Paul how serious is this? You’ve got me pretty scared.” Rita said back to her son. Paul felt a large sum of guilt now. Why did he have to tell everyone in his family about this? It’s not like this mess was his fault.

  “It’s seems like a big deal east of you in those areas. But that’s the only place it’s been reported,” Paul said.

  “And you guys are fine, nothing there? No one getting sick?” Rita asked.

  “No, everyone here is fine, just kinda waiting around and watching the news,” Paul said.

  Paul did not want to tell his mother the part about the sick people attacking each other; he felt he frightened her enough.

  “Mom, I need you and Dad to do one more thing for me. While you wait for Robert to arrive…” Paul said.

  “Sure honey, what?” Rita spoke back.

  “Stay inside and lock your doors and windows,” Paul said sternly.

  “What? Lock our doors? Because people are sick in New York? Paul you’re not making any sense,” Rita said confused.

  “Robert will be there soon. Mom, call me back on the cell phone when he gets there, okay?” Paul asked.

  “Hmm okay, we’ll call you back soon,” Rita said.

  “You guys aren’t in any danger. Just wait for Robert,” Paul said, and he looked back out onto his street.

  Glen, Warren and Roy were dispersing, walking away back to their homes. Except Roy was now walking toward Paul’s house. Roy’s bathrobe glided out behind him like a superhero’s cape. Was everyone still in their pajamas? For a moment the world had seemed to have gone mad. Was it?

  “Okay honey, be careful,” Rita said.

  “You too. Remember to call me back,” Paul reminded.

  “We will. We love you.” Rita said, sounding sad.

  “We love you too.”

  And Paul hung up.

  4

  It was about four in the morning and Roy Benton was yet again knocking on Paul Landry’s front door.

  Shawn turned over on his side, his back now facing the television, still sleeping. Eddie and Ruth heard the knocking and became slightly startled until Paul motioned to them that everything was alright and he would answer the door.

  “It’s only Roy again,” Paul said.

  Ruth had her laptop open. The large La-Z-Boy chair she sat in made her small frame look even smaller. Paul tucked his cell phone into his pajama pants pocket and walked quickly over to the door. As he did, he glanced upon his wife’s face which was now well lit by the laptop’s glow. She doesn't even need makeup to look so pretty, Paul thought. At that moment he was reminded of how well he had it. A tremendous feeling of happiness and accomplishment quickly overwhelmed him. He and the love of his life had two beautiful children, were living in an extremely nice home in a nice neighborhood, having three square meals a day, cable T.V. and all the opportunities in the world beckoning them to thrive with success. A lifetime of joy still awaited Paul’s family. But exactly how much time was really left now?

  Paul’s stomach turned sour just as he turned the doorknob.

  “Hey, howdy fellas,” Roy said as he swiftly entered the Landry residence. There was a somber and grave tone hidden behind Roy’s voice. Paul closed the door after him and then pointed to his sleeping son on the couch.

  “Let’s talk in the kitchen,” Paul said quietly.

  Roy only nodded and walked with Paul into the next room. Ruth closed the laptop, got up from the chair, and walked toward the kitchen as well.

  “Eddie, you stay here and look after Shawn, okay?” Ruth said, trying to give Eddie a sense of responsibility and keep him away from anything Roy may tell them.

  Eddie, who didn’t
take his eyes off of the television said, “Okay, Mom. I’ll keep an eye on the news too.”

  Before entering the kitchen Ruth thought to herself, “Eight years old and such a grown up kid.”

  Ruth entered the kitchen and saw Roy standing next to Paul; both were standing at the island table in the middle of the room. Pots and pans of all sizes hung above the kitchen island. The entire kitchen was white with all of the counter tops and the top of the island black. Each school night before her family retired to sleep, Ruth got out four cereal bowls and juice glasses for the next morning. Last night had been no exception; the island was set with four places--her family’s places. Ruth walked up to the island, pushed aside one of the cereal bowls, and laid down her laptop. She popped the top and opened Google to look for any new news she could find on the apparent outbreak on the east coast. As she looked up at her husband and her neighbor, she took notice of Tony the Tiger staring at her from the counter top.

  “Hi, Ruth,” Roy said.

  “Hey Roy, what’s the news?” Ruth replied.

  Roy turned so that he was now facing both Paul and Ruth. Roy was a tall fellow; if he wasn’t careful, he would hit his head on the hanging pots.

  “Well, as you can imagine everyone on the block is scared. Only a few of them have relatives back on the east, but nothing like you have Paul. You are the only one with immediate family out there. Did you contact them?” Roy said.

  “I did. I called my brother, told him the news, and he’s on his way to get my parents to safety,” Paul replied.

  Roy nodded, clearly thinking about something, and pushed his thick rimmed glasses back up his nose. Roy’s balding head was shiny and wet due to the slight mist of rain falling outside.

  “They live in Northeastern Pennsylvania, right?” Roy asked and Paul nodded a “yes” back to him.

  “Did they say if they encountered the virus? Or sick people, whatever it is?” Roy asked.

  Paul immediately thought of what his mother said, “Your father and I were out back settling the horses; they were kicking around in their stalls this morning. Something spooked them good, probably a fox.” And she was probably right, just a fox. There was no reason to worry about that; all reports of this outbreak were around Manhattan. Plus, she didn’t say to Paul, “Oh and you know what? A very sick looking man tried to attack us! Boy oh boy, was he sick looking!”