Wandering Highway: A Desperate Journey Home

by Ike Warren

  I promised her I wouldn’t leave her side again. But she needs medicine. What do I do? What do I do? He thought.

  His decision was to take the baby with him to go find medicine and leave Jennifer behind. He blocked the broken window by sliding one of the big wooden dressers in front of it and wrote out a note that said "Took baby to find medicine. Be back soon." He placed the note on the bed table beside Jennifer and he knelt down and kissed her lips. He wrapped the baby in a fresh towel from the bathroom and walked out of the house and locked the front door behind him.

  It took Allan an hour to walk from Ellie’s house to the CVS drugstore. It would have taken less time had it not been for his broken shoe that slapped against the pavement with every step and he cursed himself for not looking for some duct tape or something to bind his shoe back together at Ellie’s house before leaving. As he approached the CVS drugstore he was happy to see that it did not appear to have been looted or burned down and when he walked closer he understood why. Pacing in front of the building was a police officer, probably more likely a rent-a-cop, but he was dressed in all the right garb to play the part of a real policeman.

  The quick thinking of the store manager to lock up the CVS drugstore and place guards on rotation to watch over it had saved the building and all the valuable drugs inside. Allan approached the front doors hoping that just maybe the store might still be open to the public. As he approached the building the police officer out front noticed Allan approaching and he sprinted towards him.

  “Hold it right there.” The police officer said. Allan looked down at the nameplate on the guard’s badge and silently read the name Bill.

  “I need to get in the store.” Allan said.

  “Store is closed. It won’t open back up until the lights come back on.”

  “Bill, is that you?” Allan asked. He had never seen the man before in his life but he had to try something.

  Bill looked puzzled. “Yeah I’m Bill. Who are you?”

  “I’m Allan. We had Math class together back in high school didn’t we?”

  “Probably so. I don’t remember much from those days. Too much chasing girls and drinking.” Bill chuckled. “How you been man?”

  “Good until everything went to shit.” Allan replied, happy that his plan was working so far but nervous that his lies could fall apart at any moment.

  “You’re telling me. It’s been chaos around here. Almost had a riot in front of the store yesterday. Is this your little one?” Bill looked down at the sleeping baby resting across Allan’s chest.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m here for. I need some medicine for him.”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  Allan thought quick. He didn’t want to go into the whole story about their long walk home from Dallas and Jennifer’s condition. Bill probably wouldn’t believe his story anyways. He wanted this to just be a quick in and out grab to get back to Jennifer as fast as possible. “My baby has an infection where we had to cut his umbilical cord with a dirty knife.” He was only half lying now. They did have to cut the cord with a dirty knife but there were no signs of infection.

  “Have a look?” Bill requested and Allan nervously unwrapped the baby out of the towel and revealed the perfectly normal looking naval area.

  “Eww, that looks bad.” Bill grimaced. “Well, I guess you could try Walgreens or maybe Wal-Mart but I can’t promise you’ll have any luck.”

  Allan knew that the Wal-Mart and Walgreens were nothing but charred ruins from passing by them earlier in the wagon. “Could you just let me in here to get some antibiotics real quick?” Allan pleaded.

  “No can do. If I let you in then I got to let the next guy in and the next guy and so on and so forth. I can’t be setting a precedent like that.”

  Allan was out of options. The CVS drugstore was his only hope for finding an asthma inhaler anywhere in Greenville. This asshole is practically killing my wife. Allan felt rage begin to boil within him and tears of anger swelled up in his eyes. Every part of him wanted to punch Bill as hard as he could and knock him out, steal his keys to the building, and run in and grab the medicine that Jennifer so desperately needed.

  But he couldn’t.

  He didn’t know if there were other police officers patrolling the area and there was no way that he could mount a decent offensive with an infant tucked in between his arms. His tears of anger turned to tears of frustration and Allan immediately regretted what he did next. With his free hand he reached inside the baby’s towel and pinched the infant’s skin hard. The baby let out a terrific wail that sounded like an air raid siren. I’m so sorry baby. Allan silently apologized.

  Bill looked down with a sad frown on his face. “Oh that poor little guy. Is he in a lot of pain?”

  “A lot of pain. He just bursts out crying like that all throughout the day. His infection is really bad. If we don’t do something now he might not make it.”

  Bill paused for a moment and looked at Allan as if to size up the situation.

  “If I let you in the store you won’t cause me any problems? You won’t tell anyone that I let you in?”

  “No problems at all sir. My mouth is sealed.”

  Bill fumbled with his keys and walked over and unlocked the front door of the CVS. He looked cautiously over his shoulder and then slid the door open.

  “Run in there, get what you need, and knock on the door when you’re coming out. I’ll motion for you if it’s ok to come out or not. I don’t want anyone seeing that I let someone in. I don’t want another riot on my hands, you hear me?”

  Allan nodded and went inside. He darted to the back of the store and hopped over the counter of the pharmacy and searched high and low amongst the shelves of the prescription drug counter. It felt like time was racing by and any moment Bill would burst in and say “Time’s up”. Everything looked like it was written in a foreign language and Allan understood why Jennifer had found the material in medical school so difficult. Finally he opened a cabinet drawer and found a section full of brown boxes labeled Primatene Mist.

  “Bingo!” Allan shouted. Primatene Mist was the medicine that Jennifer had always kept by her side but the FDA had banned it as an over the counter medicine a few years earlier and now it was only available by prescription. He grabbed two boxes of the medicine and on his way toward the front door he grabbed a roll of duct tape.

  Allan knocked on the glass door at the front of the building and Bill looked around like a drug dealer checking for cops. How ironic. Allan thought. Bill waved at him and Allan stepped outside.

  “Get what you needed?” Bill asked.

  “Yes sir.” Allan replied.

  “Let me see.” Bill demanded.

  “What?”

  “I need to see what you got.”

  Allan nervously revealed his loot and Bill looked it over suspiciously. The label on the Primatene Mist had a clear picture of an inhaler mouthpiece on it, anyone could recognize it, and Allan gritted his teeth in anticipation of getting caught in his lie.

  “What’s the duct tape for?”

  “Broken shoe.” Allan lifted his right foot up and smiled hoping to distract Bill’s eyes from the asthma inhalers.

  “Have a safe trip.” Bill said.

  He’s so oblivious. Allan thought as he began to walk away.

  “Oh, and Allan.” Bill stopped him. “You and I both know that we didn’t go to high school together and that baby’s naval area looks just fine.”

  Allan was stunned. “Then why did you let me in the store.”

  “Cause when you pinched the shit out of that baby I knew that you were desperate.”

  Allan’s face glowed red in embarrassment.

  “I thought you were a druggy looking for your next fix and I was going to give it to ya. But unless asthmas medicine and duct tape is your drug of choice, I guess I judged you all wrong.”

  “The medicine is for my wife. She’s very ill after walking home from Dallas and the tape really is for my broken sh
oe.”

  “Well it was nice meeting you. Oh, and Allan, just tell the truth next time and don’t pinch that baby anymore.”

  Allan nodded and then took off down Wesley Street back towards Ellie’s house. He was so flustered from the confrontation with Bill that he walked two blocks before he remembered his flapping shoe. He stopped and ripped off the plastic wrapping that covered the duct tape and wrapped the tape around his shoe several times until he was satisfied that it would never flap again. He sighed with relief that he could finally walk without his shoe slapping and scrapping against the pavement but he quickly found the silence of his steps deafening and his thoughts began to race about Jennifer and he prayed that the medicine would help her.

  He prayed that she was still alive.

  Chapter 23: Code Words

  Allan reached Ellie's front steps and he was preparing to kick the door down but out of habit he reached out and tried the door knob. To his surprise the door was unlocked and he swung the door open. Did I forget to lock it? He asked himself. He walked to the master bedroom and looked at the spot where he had left Jennifer but only the imprint remained from where she had been laying on the top comforter. Allan dropped the medication in his hands and began to run throughout the house screaming.

  "Jennifer! Jennifer!" He checked every room in the house but she was nowhere to be found. Flashbacks of the other day when she was attacked on the highway ran through his mind.

  Oh God not again. He prayed. Then the thought struck him. Maybe she is playing a game. There had been times in the past when she would be in a room and Allan would walk in without noticing her presence and she would playfully sit there in silence staring at him, waiting for him to notice her for however long it took. When he would finally notice her she would always bust out laughing and, of course, call him an idjit. Is she playing like that now? His logic told him no, this was not the time for such games but he spun around and searched through the house again hoping that he would find her sitting somewhere giggling at his ignorance. He made it back to the master bedroom where he had started and noticed something different about it. He leapt to the side of the bed and picked up the note that he had left her and discovered that his handwriting had been scratched out and the words "Gone underground. Green house down the road."

  The note flew out of Allan's hand and he grabbed the bag of medicine as he ran out of the house. He stopped in the middle of the street and looked up and down the neighborhood in both directions but he didn't see any green houses and he didn't remember passing any on his way to or from CVS. If there is a green house down this road then it's going to be in the other direction. He thought as he started walking the opposite way down Church Street. Finally when he reached the end of the street he saw a white house to his right and a blue house on his left with a terribly overgrown yard and a bunch of junk piled high on the front porch. He looked down the street again but there were no green houses on the entire road. What if this is a trap? He thought. He was just about to turn around and go back to Ellie's house when Samantha’s conversation with Ellie over the color of her dress came back to him in a flash.

  “Grandma, my dress is blue, not green.” Samantha had said.

  Was this a code word from Ellie? He didn't wait to answer his question and he ran up to the front steps of the blue house and knocked on the door. The inside of the house was quiet and he peered into a nearby window and saw no indication that anyone was inside.

  "Hello. Hello. Anyone home?" Allan yelled and then he knocked on the door again.

  Suddenly the sound of footsteps could be heard inside the house and a moment later a voice called out from behind the front door, "Who is it?"

  "It's Allan."

  The door crept open and a dark figure appeared behind the crack of the door and then it flew open to reveal Ellie standing in the doorway with a shotgun held parallel to the ground.

  "Oh Allan. Thank God you made it.” She swung open her arms to embrace him but she quickly stopped herself. “Who is this?" Ellie asked excitedly with a huge smile on her face as she peered down at the tiny infant's face peeking out of the bath towel in Allan’s arms.

  "This is your grandson.” Allan smiled. “Where are Samantha and Jennifer?" He was anxious for answers.

  "I'll meet this little guy later. They are downstairs. Jennifer is awake but she is having a hard time breathing."

  "Take me to her. I have medicine."

  "Oh thank God. Thank God you are here Allan." Ellie put her hand on Allan's arm, gripped it tight and escorted him down the hallway. She turned to a door that opened outward to reveal a set of stairs that led down into a basement that appeared to be lit up with flickering lights down below. He walked down the steps and the stairwell opened up to a large room where candles had been placed around it to provide lighting. Lying on a bed in a corner of the room was Jennifer and hunched over her with her back to him was Samantha. The little girl turned her head when she heard their footsteps coming down the stairwell and her face lit up brighter than the candles when she saw that it was her father.

  "Daddy!" She exclaimed and she leapt from the bed and buried herself into him. Allan fell to his knees and smothered her with kisses.

  "I missed you so much sweetheart." Allan said with tears in his eyes. "Daddy is home now."

  "I missed you too." Samantha said with tears in her eyes also. "Daddy what is that?" She asked pointing at the towel in his arms.

  "This is your baby brother." Allan said as he unwrapped the towel to give Samantha a better look. Ellie was leaning over his shoulder peering down with excitement.

  "What's his name?" Samantha asked.

  "We haven't decided yet. We'll talk about all that later. Right now I need to check on mommy."

  "Mommy is having trouble breathing." Samantha said.

  Allan handed the baby to Ellie and he walked over to his wife who was lying motionless on the bed. When he rounded the corner of the bed’s footrest he saw that Jennifer’s eyes were open and she looked at him.

  "Hey baby. I have medicine for you."

  Jennifer wheezed and nodded her head. Allan opened the inhaler box and screwed the bottle onto the mouthpiece and squeezed two squirts of the mist into Jennifer's mouth. Jennifer slowly stretched her neck out to allow the medicine to enter her lungs and a few seconds later her wheezing lessened and she nodded her head to confirm that it was working. Allan ran his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  "What happened to her?" Ellie asked.

  "She panicked when we got to your house and we couldn't find Samantha."

  "Oh dear. I'm so sorry I didn't want to leave you two a note. I was afraid if I did that those hoodlums might come back and find it and it would lead them right to us. I was afraid to even write on the note that you had left for Jennifer but I knew I had to leave you something."

  "I'm glad you did. And good thinking on writing in code."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Saying that this house is green."

  "It is green."

  "This house is blue Ellie."

  "Oh good heavens." Ellie sighed with embarrassment at her color blindness and they all chuckled.

  "How did you get her over here?" Allan asked.

  "Mr. Rodriguez has a hospital gurney." Ellie said pointing towards the other side of the room. Allan's eyes landed on a man who was wearing a cowboy hat with dark leathery looking skin that matched the leather chair that he was sitting in. It was the same man who had come to Ellie’s house on the day of the blast to pick up the food that Ellie had cooked.

  "Oh excuse me. I didn't see you sitting there." Allan apologized.

  "Oh that's ok. I suspect you two have been on quite a journey these past few days." The old man said.

  "You can say that again."

  “How far did you end up walking to get here?”

  “I guess we walked over 80 miles if you count all the detours that we had to take.”

  “Wow daddy, that’s a lot o
f miles that you walked.” Samantha marveled.

  "Well feel free to rest here all you like." Mr. Rodriguez said. “Ellie has been taking care of me and feeding me her good cooking for so long, it’s the least that I can do in return.”

  Allan looked around the basement and saw varieties of canned foods stacked on shelving from the floor to the ceiling. In one corner of the room sat four 55 gallon blue water barrels and beside those sat an assortment of various sized containers such as soda bottles and milk jugs, all of them full of water. There were oil lanterns and with dozens of bottles of spare lantern oil along with boxes full of spare wicks and other various parts. Beside the old man was a giant gun safe and stacked against it were several fold up cots, a number of folding lawn chairs, the hospital gurney that they had used to get Jennifer over to the house, and a big stack of folded blankets.

  "You've got a lot of stuff down here." Allan said as Samantha sat on the bed beside him and he pulled her closer to him.

  "Doesn't he though?" Ellie commented as she rocked her grandson in her arms.

  “Dad you stink.” Samantha said.

  “I know it sweetheart. Daddy has had some rough days lately.”

  "This is my own little underground shelter.” Mr. Rodriguez steered the conversation back his way. “I've been preparing for this sort of thing for a long time."

  "You knew the blast was going to happen?" Allan asked.

  "Not specifically the blast, but I suspected something would eventually happen to disrupt our way of life."

  "What do you think caused the blast?"

  "I have some ideas. You know the news was talking a lot about CMEs from the sun right before the blast, but that doesn't make sense to me.”

  Allan gave the old man a puzzled look.

  Mr. Rodriguez continued. “I was watching the news a few days before the blast and there was talk about increased solar activity. But we have instrumentation in space to detect massive CMEs days before they affect Earth. We should have had much more forewarning than we got."