Wandering Highway: A Desperate Journey Home

by Ike Warren

  Wandering Highway

  By Ike Warren

  Copyright © 2012 by Ike Warren

  All Rights Reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1: Initial Reports

  Chapter 2: The Blast

  Chapter 3: Catastrophe Abounds

  Chapter 4: Heading Out

  Chapter 5: The First Night

  Chapter 6: Eastbound

  Chapter 7: Into The Darkness

  Chapter 8: Are Those Dead People?

  Chapter 9: Gunshots

  Chapter 10: Separation

  Chapter 11: Exhaustion

  Chapter 12: The Warehouse

  Chapter 13: Fires

  Chapter 14: Midnight Delight

  Chapter 15: Disaster At The Lake

  Chapter 16: My Place Is Here With Them

  Chapter 17: Confrontation

  Chapter 18: The Pond

  Chapter 19: The Barricade

  Chapter 20: Tractor Trailer

  Chapter 21: Lumbering Strides

  Chapter 22: Frantic Cries

  Chapter 23: Code Words

  Chapter 24: Recuperation

  Chapter 25: Invasion

  Introduction

  I began writing Wandering Highway in the summer of 2010 when my wife was 8 months pregnant with our youngest daughter. On a hot summer day we had gone out shopping and we had placed ourselves in a similar situation that the young married couple find themselves in this book. As we were out that day I began to ask myself, "What if a disaster happened right now that rendered all modes of transportation inoperable? What if every electronic communication device was somehow rendered useless? How would people react to such a situation? How would we get home?" With that question running through my mind I set out to write Wandering Highway and as I did I tried to include realistic situations in an effort to answer my own questions. One thing that I did not want this book to become was another survival “how-to” book about a couple who already had all the right answers and all the necessary gear to get through any apocalyptic situation. Though I knew that survival skills would play an important part in the story, more importantly I wanted to focus on the couple’s hardships and even on some of their mistakes. I wanted to write about a couple who were, at times, woefully unprepared for the situations that they faced and who often put their desire to reunite with their family ahead of their own personal well-being because I honestly feel that many Americans would react in just that very that way to such a disaster. My goal was to keep this story grounded on ordinary people who face real challenges and who must overcome real struggles and fears and who rejoice in their triumphs. I hope that you as a reader will find that I achieved my goals for this book as you read how I imagine one particular couple would react under such terrible circumstances.

  - Ike Warren

  Chapter 1: Initial Reports

  “Daddy I’m scared.” Samantha said as she looked up at her father.

  Allan Anderson stared at the television with wide eyes. A reporter on CNN was talking on the phone to a news anchor and on the screen there was a line of bold text.

  Massive Power Outages Across Northern Europe.

  “Daddy?” Asked the five year old in a tiny voice.

  Allan held his gaze on the television. He could hear his daughter asking for him but in his focus on the television her voice seemed muffled and distant. I have to hear this. This news is important. He told himself.

  “Daddy?” Her words tugged at him.

  The reporter on the television continued. Allan thought he heard a hint of panic in the reporter’s voice “… you could feel the electrostatic in the air and then came the crackle and the smell of burning electronics all around us…” The reporter said.

  “Daddy?” Her insistence pulled him back to inside his living room.

  “What is it honey?” Allan looked down at her, dazed from the information that he had just absorbed. He noticed that his daughter’s dark brown hair had white ribbons and bouncy little curls in it. She was wearing a blue dress with a white flower print along with matching pantyhose and little blue buttons on her shoelaces to match the color of her dress. Jennifer must be playing dress-up with Samantha this morning. He thought to himself.

  “Daddy, I’m scared.”

  “Don’t be scared sweetheart.” He said.

  The reporter was still speaking on the phone, almost in a manic tone of voice now, “… and none of our cameras or equipment are functional at this time. I’m speaking to you now via satellite phone that was somehow spared during the event. One of my camera guys thinks it’s because of the metal container that we keep it in. I don’t know. All that I do know is this satellite phone is working now and it’s the only electronic device that is actually working since the event last night.”

  Jennifer was putting an ear ring on her ear as she walked into the living room where Allan and Samantha were sitting watching the television. She was wearing black pants and a shirt that brought out the giant curve around her waist that indicated a pregnancy that was almost full term. She was 29 years old and she would have normally looked every bit like a teenager except that the later stages of her pregnancy had been hard on her. Recently she had gone through so many sleepless nights as she dealt with late night nausea, early morning nausea, the inability to get comfortable in any sleeping position, emergency dashes to the bathroom, and a whole list of other issues that she didn’t mention to Allan so that he wouldn’t worry about her too much. In addition to the difficulties of her pregnancy she had been attending the local community college, studying to become a nursing assistant. She had gotten her basic college courses out of the way and had just started getting into her core curriculum when she found that the material was too difficult, not the least of which, expensive. She had spent countless hours either pouring over her school books trying to learn the lessons or pouring over their family’s budget trying to figure out how to make ends meet with the added expenses of her tuition. Her tired eyes expressed just how much sleep she had lost lately but she pressed on, excited to go out of town today.

  “Samantha, are you ready to go to grandmas?” She asked her daughter who still had her head buried under her father’s shoulder.

  “I don’t want to go. I’m scared.” Samantha replied.

  “Why are you scared?” Jennifer asked.

  “Because of what daddy is watching on the TV.” Samantha looked up at her father seeking reassurance. Jennifer glared at Allan.

  “I’m not watching anything.” Allan declared.

  “Sure you aren’t.” Jennifer said sarcastically. “What you need to do is quit scaring your daughter, turn off the TV, and go get ready. Did you even notice your daughter’s outfit? She matches from head to toe.” Jennifer smiled with pride at her knack for fashion.

  Allan was still focused intently on the television. “Go get ready for what?” He asked without looking up and oblivious to half of what she had just said to him.

  Jennifer’s glare turned into a cold stare, “What do you mean ‘Get ready for what?’ What do you think I’ve been getting ready all morning for?”

  Allan paused while he considered his response carefully. A moment passed and then as the answer came to him he snapped his fingers with excitement.

  “We’re going to the mall in Grapevine today.” He remembered. Allan grabbed the remote control for the television off of his knee and hopped up. “I’ll go get ready now.” He smiled as he walked over to her as she stood with her arms crossed in the doorway blocking his path. Years of practice had taught him that a few playful gestures would get him back on her good side. He slid his hand over to h
er sides and gave her a gentle tickle but she did not respond. He continued, hoping to break through her barrier, but she just remained there in the doorway glaring up at him. Time to change tactics. He thought to himself and he frowned and puckered his bottom lip out at her, expressing his defeat. A slight grin crossed her face and he instantly lit up.

  “See, I knew you weren’t mad at me.” He said and she grinned wider and raised her chin to him inviting a kiss. He bent down and gave her a peck on the lips.

  “I love you.” She said adoringly.

  “I love you too.” He replied, grateful to have won back her affection. Though, both of them knew that he had never really lost her affection. This was a game that had been played out hundreds of times throughout their eight year marriage and it always left him feeling that he couldn’t love her more than in that very moment. Their playfulness with one another was a foundation to their marriage that all started long ago when he met her at his workplace at a local accounting company and the lighthearted nature of their relationship had never faded despite all their years together.

  “I better go get ready now.” He said as he stepped past her. Jennifer turned and gave him a playful slap on his butt as she followed behind him.

  "I laid out some pants for you and ironed two shirts for you.” She said.

  “Why two shirts?”

  “One is your dress shirt and the other is your white undershirt.”

  “You ironed my undershirt?”

  “Yes. I want you to look nice today. And wear your new shoes too." Jennifer insisted. "I don't want you walking through the mall in those old worn out sneakers of yours. You've got those brand new Sketchers still in the box."

  "Those old worn out sneakers happen to be the most comfortable shoes I’ve got." Allan retorted.

  Jennifer gave Allan a look that asked, “Please?”

  "Fine." He said and he retreated into the closet and lifted the box of black Sketchers dress boots off the top closet shelf. What took Jennifer hours of primping and curling only took Allan ten minutes to get ready.

  The three of them climbed into the cab of Allan’s pickup and as he struggled to buckle Samantha into her seat he glanced over at the infant car seat that was already setup and staged on the other side of the rear bench seat for the baby that was on the way.

  “I wonder how much of a production it’s going to be getting in and out of this truck once there are two of you to buckle in.” He grinned at Samantha.

  “What’s production?” Samantha asked in her tiny voice.

  Allan thought it over and chose his words carefully. “It means work, but work that you enjoy doing.” He smiled and closed the door beside her and hopped into the driver’s seat.

  “Ouch baby.” Jennifer complained as she sat down in the passenger seat beside Allan. She put her hand on her bulging stomach, “You’re on a kicking spree today.”

  Allan looked on from the driver’s seat with pride. The two caught each other’s eyes and Allan smiled and extended his hand onto Jennifer’s stomach.

  Samantha looked on from her car seat in the back of the quad cab Dodge Ram pickup. “I’m going to grandma’s house.” She interrupted jealously. Jennifer smiled at Allan and they both turned their focus to Samantha.

  “Yes you are. Do you have your DS?” Jennifer asked. Samantha was in love with her Nintendo DS and played it almost daily since receiving it last Christmas.

  “Sure do. I have it in my backpack.” Samantha replied while patting her hand on a pink backpack adorned with Disney princess characters.

  “Looks kinda rainy out.” Allan said looking up through the top of the windshield.

  “Awesome!” Jennifer said with excitement. She always loved inclement weather even when she was a little kid. When she was young her parents would get frightened at thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rain but Jennifer was always glued to the window until her mother would force her to back away out of fear of her getting struck by lightning.

  They arrived at grandmother Ellie’s house in Greenville Texas and Samantha unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out the door with excitement even before Allan could put the truck in park. He wanted to tell her to wait until the truck came to a complete stop, but Samantha was already running towards the front porch before he could even get a word out. As soon as Allan parked the truck and stepped out onto the sidewalk he smelled the odor of something frying in cooking oil and the mixture of the summer heat and humidity and stinky grease hit him like a dog’s hot breath in his face and he curled his nose in disgust. The smell had wafted from inside Ellie’s kitchen out into the entire neighborhood and the smell of it made Allan want to vomit. Ellie always seemed to have hot food in the oven and lately she had been selling some of her food to local businesses for extra income and she always gave the leftovers to some of the people in her neighborhood. When Allan first started dating Jennifer he loved going over to her house to smell the aromas of the homemade cooking as it filled Ellie’s house but over the years the fragrances of the her cooking had worn on him and now the smell of it was purely repulsive to him. They knocked on the door and as Ellie opened it the smell of fried chicken billowed out of the house and Allan felt his stomach roll.

  Ellie had long greyish-brown hair that fell midways down her back. She had a plump figure and didn’t stand an inch over 5 feet tall. Allan had noted how over the years she had put on weight equally relative to the increased amount of food that she cooked in her kitchen, from years of tasting her recipes again and again to make sure the flavors were just right.

  She greeted them with a smile and then looked down at Samantha, “Hello my Princess.”

  “Hi grandma.” Samantha said in a playful growl.

  “What a beautiful little green dress you have on.”

  Samantha looked down at her dress and then back up at her grandmother confused. “Grandma, my dress is blue, not green.”

  “Oh you have to forgive me sweetheart. I’m a little color blind sometimes. I see that it’s blue now.” Ellie lied. She had always had trouble distinguishing between certain colors. As a child her teachers ridiculed her constantly, always thinking Ellie just wasn’t paying attention in class.

  “Hi mom.” Jennifer said as she leaned in to exchange hugs with Ellie.

  “Hi Mrs. Walker, your food smells wonderful.” Allan lied. “Let me guess, fried chicken?” As the words came out he felt his guilty conscience stabbing at him for thinking negatively about Ellie’s cooking and he wondered if she knew what he really thought.

  Ellie waved a hand to dismiss Allan’s comment, “Oh it’s just a quick batch of chicken legs that I cooked up.” She said as she waved at someone down the street who was walking out of a house with an overgrown yard and a front porch that was piled high with junk. “The neighbor called and asked for it this morning.”

  “Does he pay you to cook for him, mom?” Jennifer asked.

  “No he doesn’t, but I don’t mind. Mr. Rodriguez keeps an eye on the neighborhood.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “And I don’t think he has much money anyways.”

  Allan smiled, feeling especially guilty for his negative thoughts about Ellie’s cooking now. Only a complete jerk would criticize her generosity. He thought to himself.

  Ellie had never thought too much of Allan. It wasn’t that he was a bad guy or anything. Ellie actually thought he was a really good match for her daughter. But what she didn’t like was that he had taken her daughter away from her. When Jennifer was a little girl her father had died in a car accident and ever since then Ellie held Jennifer very close to her, almost to the point of sheltering her. When Jennifer came of age and started dating, Ellie knew that she would have to let go of the reins eventually, but when Allan came along and swept Jennifer off her feet Ellie just wasn’t ready for it and now every time that she saw Allan her first thought was of what he had taken away from her.

  Allan noticed that Ellie was almost glaring at him and he looked down at Samantha in an attempt to find somethi
ng to relieve the tension in the air. “Well Samantha, mommy and I are going out of town for a few hours. You be a good girl, ok?”

  “Ok daddy.” Samantha replied and then she stepped up into her grandmother’s house. Allan leaned down and gave the little girl a kiss on the top of her head and the thought crossed his mind of how Samantha would need a good bath later that night to get the fried chicken odors out of her hair. Only a complete jerk. He reminded himself.

  “Bye sweetie.” Jennifer leaned down next to give Samantha a kiss. “We’re going to get some maternity clothes for mommy and some baby clothes for your little brother.”

  Samantha’s eyes lit up at the thought of finally having a little brother.

  “What time should I expect you guys to be back here?” Ellie asked.

  “Well, it takes about an hour to get to Grapevine from here. That’s two hours driving there and back, plus probably four hours of shopping. It’s twelve o’clock now so we’ll be back probably around six o’clock tonight.” Jennifer replied. Allan looked on, never ceased to be amazed at how calculated his wife was with time.

  “Sounds good to me. You two have fun.” Ellie smiled and then she looked past them and waved. “Hello Mr. Rodriguez.”

  Jennifer and Allan turned around to see an elderly gentleman walking up to them who had come from the junky house down the street. Allan considered how unusual the man looked. He was wearing a cowboy hat and bright green shorts, a long sleeve button-up dress shirt, and the most worn out pair of sandals Allan had ever seen.

  “How are you folks doing?” Mr. Rodriguez asked in a rugged voice with a deep Hispanic accent.

  “Oh, we’re doing just fine.” Allan replied.

  “I’ve got some good food in the kitchen.” Ellie bragged. “Let me go get it for you.” She said and she stepped into her house.

  There was an awkward silence among those left standing outside and Allan anxiously tried to think of something to say. “It looks like it is going to rain today.” He said looking up at the sky. The rest of the group looked upwards along with him.