Wandering Highway: A Desperate Journey Home
Page 25
“Feel better after your bath?” Ellie asked.
“It was amazing.”
“Any boo-boos that I need to look at?”
“Any what?” Jennifer curled her eyebrows at the question, not because she didn’t understand, but because it was weird to hear her mother say that as if she was still a little girl.
“You know what I mean. I’ve only been saying it your whole life. Any cuts, scraps, or bleeds that need looking after?”
“I do have some pretty bad blisters on my feet.”
“Get some of that anti-septic ointment out of that medical box and rub it on like I did for Allan but don’t cover it with anything.”
“Oh, you did it for Allan but I have to do it myself?” Jennifer sighed with a grin.
“That’s because Allan took off his pants for me.” Ellie teased. Jennifer shot Allan a what-the-hell look.
Allan cleared his through and began to fidget. “It was just to dress the cut on my leg.”
“Sure it was.” Jennifer nodded her head in a suspicious yet teasing manner. She grabbed the antiseptic ointment and did as her mother instructed and then she spread some of the ointment on her hands where they were still sore from the scrapes received from falling in the darkness when Allan cut his leg. Then she put a dab on the bump on her head from where she had been attacked by the couple who stole her purse.
Ellie turned back to the pots that were boiling and began to stir them. The aroma that filled the room reminded Allan and Jennifer that they hadn’t eaten a real meal in days and both of their appetites immediately felt ravenous. Mr. Rodriguez slid the bed over to the far edge of the basement and he brought out a long table with folding legs and set it up in the middle of the room. He went back and grabbed an assortment of the folding lawn chairs that had been leaning against the gun safe.
“I haven’t had this many guests down here for dinner before. I have some better chairs in the dining room upstairs if you all would prefer those instead.”
“The fold-outs will work just fine Mr. Rodriguez.” Ellie said as she began to sit five steaming bowls down on the table. “Now, everyone, the food is hot so be careful and blow on your spoons so you don’t burn your mouths.” She said as she took the baby and held him so that the others could eat first.
“Thank you for dinner Ellie and thank you so much for sharing your home with us Mr. Rodriguez.” Jennifer said. “By the way, I’ve only ever known you as Mr. Rodriguez. What is your real name?” She asked.
“Sebastiano Guadalupe Rodriguez.” He said with his hand bouncing in the air with each syllable as if he was the conductor of an orchestra. “And it is my pleasure to have you in my home. As I said before, it is the least that I can do in return for all the favors that Ellie has provided me through her cooking over the years.”
They said a prayer and thanked God for the food and Allan dug into his bowl and lifted out a heaping spoon full of vegetables and beef stew. He blew on his spoon for a brief moment and then shoveled its contents into his mouth. He nearly fainted as the food tasted so wonderful to him. He began nodding his head towards Ellie.
“Well is it good Allan?” Ellie asked.
“It’s wonderful. So good.” Allan replied.
“I’m glad you like it. Not a terrible as my fried chicken I hope?”
“What do you mean?” Allan was stunned.
“Oh Allan, I think we can be honest with each other now. I’ve seen the way you turned up your nose when you entered my house. I know you weren’t very fond of my cooking.” Allan wanted to interrupt her and explain or do something to stop her from calling him out like that in front of everyone. “Truth is I didn’t think very much of you either.”
“Mom, stop it.” Jennifer interrupted.
“Let me finish sweetheart. You see, when Jennifer left the house when she married you I got lonely. I couldn’t get any pets like a lot of people do after their kids leave home because I’m allergic to pet dander. I resented you for taking my daughter away from me. All I had was my cooking so I decided to open up my kitchen to people like Mr. Rodriguez who would come to visit me and help keep me company.”
Allan put down his spoon, “I was wrong Ellie. I was so inconsiderate for ever thinking of you in a negative way like that.”
“And I am sorry for thinking unfavorably of you. You brought my daughter home to me and for that I will be forever grateful to you.” She leaned in and kissed Allan’s blotchy sunburned forehead. “Now dig in.”
Before Allan took another bite he stopped and looked at his daughter. “Samantha, mommy and I have an important question to ask you.”
“Oh really? What is it?” Samantha’s face lit up.
“Mommy and I aren’t sure what to name to baby and we were wondering if you had any names in mind?”
Samantha looked down at her bowl and thought for a long moment. Just when everyone at the table expected her to admit that she couldn’t think of a name she perked up with a wide grin.
“You said you walked a lot of miles to get here right?” Samantha asked.
Allan and Jennifer looked at one another curiously. “Yes.” Allan replied.
“Well then how about naming him Miles?” Samantha suggested.
Everyone cocked their heads as they considered the name. Nobody at the table was sure what kind of name to expect to come out of Samantha, and Miles wasn’t a name that anyone had considered, but the name was appropriate given the whole situation surrounding his birth.
“I happen to like the name Miles.” Jennifer agreed.
“I think Miles is a perfect name.” Allan confirmed.
Ellie stood and held the baby up so that everyone at the table could see him. “Everybody, please meet Miles Anderson.”
The table erupted in cheers and then everyone began to eat. All of the bowels were empty in just a matter of minutes and soon Ellie was serving seconds.
That night they could hear the sound of gunfire in the air and people whooping and hollering as the hoodlums, as Ellie called them, made their way to one of the houses down the street. Everyone in the basement decided that it was time for bed. They folded out the cots and arranged them around the room so that everyone would have something to sleep on. The bed went to Allan and Jennifer where they placed the baby to sleep between them and they all slept snug, relieved to finally have shelter over their heads.
Chapter 25: Invasion
The next morning they awoke to the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades slapping against the air. Jennifer, Allan and Mr. Rodriguez ran to the backyard while Ellie stayed downstairs with the children. They waited for a moment and when the sound drew nearer they saw two military style helicopters circling over the downtown Greenville area.
"It's the military!" Jennifer exclaimed as she jumped up and down in excitement. The three of them cheered and Mr. Rodriguez pulled the cowboy hat off his head and waved it around in the air in elation. As they watched the helicopters hovering above the city they saw the side doors open on the helicopters followed by the appearance of something being dropped out of the doors. The items seemed to float in the sky and they took their time to fall to the ground.
"Wonder what their dropping out?" Allan asked.
"Leaflets." Mr. Rodriguez answered.
Allan gave him a curious look. "Makes sense. I guess. Maybe they have a message for us." He replied. "I guess I should head over there and see what they say."
They went back inside and Allan put on his shoes. Mr. Rodriguez gave him a 9mm handgun and a holster to clip on to the side of his pants and he slapped him on the side of the arm and told him, "Be safe" as he stepped outside.
As Allan walked closer to the downtown area he saw the side doors on the two helicopters shut closed. The helicopters flew together in one last arching circle around the downtown area and as the tail rotors came around a final time Allan noticed that both of them had a red emblems with a yellow star in the middle where he would have normally expected a United States flag to appear. That's w
eird. Allan thought to himself. Maybe we're getting help from other countries?
He reached the downtown area where hundreds of leaflets littered the streets. Standing around them were people reading them. A woman walked past Allan sobbing and on the other side of the street he saw a woman collapse into the arms of man who was standing behind her. Everyone looked to be in a state of confusion and shock and it appeared as if they had just received the worst news imaginable. Allan bent down and picked up one of the leaflets. On one side of the leaflet were words written in a foreign language. The characters looked like hieroglyphs to Allan and if he had to guess he would say the language was of Asian origin. On the reverse side there was more writing in badly written English.
"This notice is hereby ordered by the army of the People's Republic of China. All citizen in North Texas region are to register at military operations center in Dallas Texas. All man, woman, and child are to proceed to military operations center in Dallas Texas by August 15 deadline. Take only possession needed to complete journey."
Allan dropped the leaflet in disbelief and he watched it spin to the ground as his mind spun along with it. This can't be happening. He thought and he picked up a handful of leaflets at his feet and he saw that they were all the same.
He walked back slowly to Mr. Rodriguez's house, demoralized, as if all the life had been sucked out of him. When he approached the house everyone was standing on the front porch smiling with excitement.
"Well, what's it say?" Jennifer asked with a big grin.
"It's not good." Allan replied and he handed her the messy stack of papers.
Jennifer inspected the leaflet and began to read the side written in English out loud. As she read the words everyone's faces turned from excitement to shock and then to anger.
"So the Chinese did this?" Ellie asked.
"Looks like it. I guess we've been invaded." Allan replied.
"This is more than an invasion. We've already been conquered." Mr. Rodriguez said and then he paused. "It's brilliant you know."
"What's brilliant?" Allan asked.
"The Chinese attacking us with an EMP like this."
"I don’t understand. What was all the talk about the sun and solar flares before the blast?"
"That's what I'm saying is so brilliant. The solar flare really happened. The Chinese were waiting for it and caught us with our pants down while we were staring at the sun. On top of that, they can easily deny it. If any other nation accuses them of attacking the United States, they can say it was the sun that did this and they are just here with their military on a peacekeeping mission."
“But what about the earlier reports of blackouts across Europe? Why did they attack Europe if their target was the United States?”
“Because a Chinese target on the United States is a target on Europe. We’re one and the same. Our economies are too interlinked, our militaries too intertwined. This was an invasion across a global front.”
Everyone just stood looking around with blank stares on their faces. It was all too much to absorb. Jennifer looked down and read the leaflet once more, this time in silence, and then she looked up at the group.
"What are we going to do about their demand that we report in Dallas?" She asked.
Allan remembered his words from back at the barricade line outside of Royse City when they had tried to enter Hunt County. Better to shoot us than to force us go back into Dallas. But now that he had reunited with his family he couldn’t contemplate doing something that would jeopardize their safety.
“We have do what they say.” Allan admitted.
A look of dread crossed everyone's faces.
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