One Man's Island

by Thomas J. Wolfenden

  When they got back into the truck, Robyn asked, “Why did you do that?”

  “Well, I figure this little town has done a lot for us, just by being here. I thought it’d be a nice gesture in return.”

  “But no one will see it.”

  “You and I know it’s here, flying proudly. That’s all that matters. It’s a sign of respect to the men and women who once served their community from this building.”

  Tim put the truck back into gear and Robyn rolled down her window, making a wing with her hand and floating it on the passing breeze. They reached the intersection of RT 460 and headed west, passing through Princeton and into Bluefield, where they easily found the Camping World dealership. They parked and got out to look around. They could see that nature was coming back in a big way, with every crack in the asphalt lot sprouting weeds, and even a few sumac trees. The roof of the building looked like it had a lawn growing on it, and peering through the dirty window he could see that part of the roof had collapsed at some point during the last winter. It looked like a tree was growing up through a shattered display case.

  They walked around the lot looking at each camper, finding some fault with each one they looked at. At least there were no pushy salesmen rushing out to pester them and they could browse at their leisure. After a half hour of searching, Tim found the one they were looking for. A full thirty feet long, it had everything they’d need— a full kitchen with a large refrigerator, and a full sized range top and stove, a good sized bathroom that even had a bathtub, several ‘slide-outs’ that would make it even larger when parked, a large couch, and even a gas fireplace. He was also very happy to see that it had a washing machine and a dryer! There was a queen-sized bed at one end with plenty of storage underneath, and another berth type bed in the front over the dinette table, which would also fold out into a bed if they were expecting company, which they weren’t. The thing that really sold him on it was the full bank of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, and the brochure said that it was a full fifty-amp service.

  This camper was built a lot sturdier than their old one, as this one was built for full-time RVers in mind. It was also a tow-behind, and that was the kind Tim preferred. He had eschewed the idea of a fifth-wheel camper, because he’d lose a lot of storage in the bed of the truck. He busied preparing it to move, and when he was ready to back up the truck to hitch it, Robyn stopped him, a concerned look painted across her face.

  “Daddy?” she said softy.

  “Yes, Pumpkin?” he said, looking up from the hitch.

  “We’re never going to be back here, are we?”

  “Chances are, probably not, baby.”

  “Okay,” she said, and looked away.

  “What’s the matter?” he said, walking over to her.

  “Well, I was wondering if we could… well, I’d like to say goodbye to my mama.”

  Tim thought for a minute. It wasn’t that far from here, if his memory served him correctly. It couldn’t hurt, he thought.

  “Okay, hop in. We’ll take a drive over right now.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeppers! Lets’ go!”

  They hopped into the truck, and Tim had to admit it was easier driving it without the trailer behind them. They got onto Rt. 52, and headed for Welch. Here the road was discernibly narrower, as the weeds were rapidly overtaking the road, and the tires thumped over each crack in the weed-choked macadam. Pretty soon it would look like a long, narrow meadow, and you’d never know there was a road here once. At two places, kudzu had already crept all the way across the road and up the power poles on the other side. Yes, nature was coming back in a big way, and in a few years you’d never know there were people ever there. Rounding a bend in the road on a blind curve, Tim slammed on the brakes, skidding to a dusty stop.

  “Shit that was close!” he said, looking out the windshield.

  Robyn looked out, and said “Oh wow! That was close!”

  A mere ten feet in front of them the road just disappeared. It was almost the exact spot where he’d encountered Robyn for the first time last year, and looking around, he was really glad they’d left the trailer back in Bluefield. There was absolutely no place to turn around the road was so narrow, and Tim would have to back up several times to turn even with just the truck. They got out, walked to the edge of the pavement, and looked down. There had been a bridge here until recently, and with the heavy snows came an extremely heavy melt off that had turned this little creek ten feet below them into another raging river. It was now a little stream again, but what it had done was tear out the bridge, leaving a thirty foot gap in the road and steep ten foot banks of loose dirt on either side.

  “Well, somebody better call West Virginia Department of Transportation!” Tim said.

  “You know what is white with a blue and gold stripe, and sleeps four comfortably?” Robyn asked.

  “No, what?”

  “A Double-U Vee Dot truck!” she laughed, and he caught the joke and laughed heartily too.

  “That’s a good one!”

  “My mama used to say it all the time.”

  “Your mama must have been a funny lady, Pumpkin!”

  “She was,” Robyn said, looking down. “I guess this means we won’t be saying goodbye now, huh?”

  “Never say never, because this is just an obstacle, and we can get over it,” Tim countered.

  “But how?” she asked. “It’s so wide and deep!”

  “Oh, don’t you worry,” he said with a wink. He went to the bed of the truck and pulled out a large coil of rope and a small rucksack. He walked over to a huge oak tree that was growing alongside of the road and tied one end of the rope to it, then walked to the edge and tossed the rope across the thirty foot gap, where it landed on the other side.

  “You wait here. This is the hard part.”

  “Okay,” she said nervously, as she watched Tim go to the edge and sit, then push off and slide on his bottom down the embankment, stopping at the creek’s edge. He waded through the stream, and it was only a few inches deep where he stood, until he got to the far bank. I am getting too old for this shit. This is where a dumb, eighteen year old private came in handy. They were the ones you sent to climb over this stuff like a monkey. He slowly climbed up the bank, slipping back several times, which made Robyn catch her breath, until he finally got to the edge of the asphalt on the far side and pulled himself over the top He lay there out of breath for a moment or two.

  “Are you okay, Tim?” she yelled across. Tim just held up his hand with a thumb’s up gesture. He lay there for a few more minutes, then stood and picked up the coil of rope. Walking over to an equally large oak tree on the far side, he tied that end of the rope so it was taut all the way, and suspended about six feet off the ground. He then opened his pack and removed a short section of rope about twelve feet long and a snap-link carabiner. He used the rope to tie a ‘Swiss seat’ around his waist and legs, then snapped the link to the seat, right where his belt buckle was. Hoisting himself up onto the rope, he snapped the link onto it, and quickly shimmied himself back across to the other side, unhooking himself, and dropping at Robyn’s feet.

  “There, easy as taking a dump,” he said.

  “But how am I going to get across?” she asked.

  “I’ll show you. Grab your piece,” he said, and she went and got her carbine. “Grab mine too!”

  She did as she was told, walking back over to him and handing over his weapon, which he slung across his chest.

  “Sling yours like I just did and hop on my back.”

  She did, wrapped her arms around his neck, and he hitched her legs around his waist.

  “Now close your eyes, and whatever you do, don’t look down.”

  “Okay,” Robyn said, holding on as tightly as she could. He reached up, quickly reattached himself to the rope, and shimmed his way easily across to other side, thinking she didn’t weigh much more than a rucksack. He planted his feet on the ground and unhooked himself. You can l
et go now.”

  Robyn dropped off and looked at him, smiling.

  “See, told you it was easy!” he winked. “C’mon, let’s get to walking.”

  They walked the few hundred yards to the old run-down trailer that Robyn had once called home. The winter hadn’t been kind to it, and the heavy snow had totally collapsed the roof, bowing out the outer walls. The waist high grass was heavily overgrown by weeds. Kudzu vines were rapidly overtaking the whole area here with a vengeance, and it wouldn’t be long before nature swallowed up the whole trailer park. They walked hand in hand to the back of the trailer and found the spot where Geoffrey had buried Robyn’s mother. The makeshift wooden cross Geoffrey had made was still there but leaning haphazardly to one side like a drunken sailor. He stopped a few feet short and let her go by herself to the grave, where she sat down right by the cross. She tried to right it, but it just leaned back where she had found it, so she gave up.

  “Hi, Mama, I came back to say goodbye. This is Tim, and he’s been taking care of me since you’ve gone. I won’t ever be back this way, Mama, so you rest easy. I’ll be okay with Tim. You’d have really liked him. He’s taught me all kinds of things, and he’ll protect me, so don’t you worry. Well, I guess this is it,” she said, standing and brushing off the grass and hitchhikers from her pants.

  Walking back over to Tim and taking hold of his hand, she turned one last time and said, “Goodbye, Mama. I love you and will never forget you!” She stood there for a minute more, and then looked up at Tim. “We can go now.”

  They made their way back to the truck, crossing the chasm as easily as before. When Tim had the truck started and turned around, she looked over at him and said, “Can we get out of here quick? It really is depressing around here.”

  “Sure thing, baby, we’ll beat feet!” He put the truck in gear, spinning wheels to leave. They left the rope where it was, as it would have been too much trouble to retrieve it, and they could always get more along the way. They made their way back to Bluefield silently, and quickly found the camper dealership. Once there, they transferred all of their belongings to the new camper, and hitched it to the truck. Tim took one final look at the little camouflaged trailer they were leaving behind. It really had served them well, and in a way, he’d miss it.

  Making sure they had enough fuel, they headed back east on Rt. 460 until they came to I-77.. They turned onto the highway heading south, the same way that the others that had left the tracks in the snow those many months ago had gone. Only a few miles south of that exit they crossed from West Virginia into Virginia, and that part of the Interstate was very steep. Tim was thankful for the electric brakes on the camper. As they made their way, Tim laughed at a road sign that read “Bland, Virginia.”

  “Glad we didn’t stop there, it’s far too bland for my taste!” he said, and Robyn laughed. Shortly after that, they passed through two tunnels slowly, and a few miles later met up with the junction of Interstate 81, which ran west to where it would eventually meet up with I-40 near Jefferson City, Tennessee. There they headed west in the late afternoon sun, Robyn’s feet dangling out of the passenger side window, and Tim smoking a cigarette. They crossed into Tennessee, into a city called Bristol, and seeing the billboard signs, Tim remembered it was famous for its NASCAR races. They made it all the way to an overgrown rest area on the highway near a town called Bailyton, where they stopped for the night. After setting up their new home, they made a light supper, and Tim took two folding camp chairs and set them up outside. Propping his carbine up next to him, he cracked open a beer. Robyn came out wearing shorts and a t-shirt, holding a can of Coke, and sat down next to him. The sun had set an hour ago, but the evening air was still warm enough to sit out in shirtsleeves, and they both looked up at the night sky in silence for a long time.

  “Sure are a lot of stars,” she said, finally breaking the silence.

  “That there are. Never would see a night sky like this in Philadelphia.”

  “It’s amazing,” she said. “Just think, what we’re seeing happened millions of years ago. Some of those stars might be long gone by now. We’re just looking into the past.”

  He would never cease to be amazed at what fell out of her mouth. “How old are you again?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “More like thirty!” he said. “And you’re exactly right. What we’re looking at is ancient history.”

  “What’s that?” she asked. “Is that a plane?” she added excitedly, and he looked to where she was pointing.

  “No, that’s a satellite. There are thousands of them still up there, orbiting the Earth. Probably will for thousands of years to come.”

  “And they still work?”

  “Maybe. At least the military ones would. That IVIS pad we listen to the music on?”

  “Yeah?” she said, nodding her head.

  “Well, I can contact the military satellite with it, with that special antenna I have. All the military computer networks are still up and running. They’re probably powered off solar or something.”

  “Really?” she asked in amazement. “Then if someone else is out there with one, you could contact them?”

  “In theory, but the several times I’ve tried I never got any response, except a prompt from whatever computer I was synced with, that everything on the network was nominal.”

  They watched the satellite travel across the night sky until it passed into the Earth’s shadow, hiding it until its next pass.

  “Oh, okay then.”

  “Honey, don’t rush it. We’ll eventually meet up with other people,” he said, finishing his beer and crushing the can.

  “Want another one?” she asked.

  “Yeah, one more maybe, then it’s time for the fartsack,” he said.

  “Can I have one?”

  “You never give up, do you?” Tim chuckled.

  “Nope,” she said, hopping back into the camper. Tim sat and looked up at the stars some more. The moon had not yet risen, and he had a clear view of the sky. It always made him feel really insignificant, like a single grain of sand on a beach. She came back out and offered a cold can of beer to him, and the coolness and the sweat on the can felt good in his hands. He popped the tab, took a sip, and sat back to watch the sky. As soon as he was comfortable, a huge meteor slashed across the sky, leaving a bright red and green tail behind it that lasted for several seconds.

  “Wow! Did you see that?” she squealed.

  “I sure did.

  “Did you make a wish, Daddy? You’ve got to make a wish on a falling star!”

  “Baby, I have everything I need right here. No need to wish for anything else,” he said, taking her hand. Robyn didn’t say anything more, but didn’t let go of his hand. They sat like that until Tim was finished his beer, and they packed up and headed inside for the night. Just as Tim was closing the door, he heard an owl hoot, and figured they were getting their fill of mice and other rodents. They both took showers and climbed into their new beds, luxuriating in the fresh sheets. They were asleep in minutes.

  The next day, they woke before sunrise, and after a quick breakfast, were back out on the road. They made good time, only having to cross the overgrown median twice, to go around pileups. The huge piles of twisted and burned metal in each instance looked like it had been there a thousand years. They made it all the way west through Knoxville and Nashville, where they were finally forced to take I-24 northwest due to a massive pileup blocking all the lanes. It was almost dark when they crossed into Kentucky at Clarkesville, and Tim reminisced about a time long ago when he saw signs for Fort Campbell, where he’d gone to Air Assault School. They then headed north on the Edward T. Breathitt-Pennyrile Parkway, and Robyn laughed at the name. It was well past ten PM, when they pulled into another overgrown rest area near Crofton, for the night. Tim decided to wait until morning to check all the parked trucks for fuel, hoping to top off all of their jerry cans, and fuel tank. When they finally bedded down for the night, Tim lay there, and than
ked himself for making the move when he had. If they’d waited one more year, the roads would be even less passable, as nature was taking back what man had tried to conquer faster than he’d thought possible. Everywhere they passed, houses and buildings were already in bad condition, and the roads were getting worse. At least they hadn’t come across anymore washouts.

  In the morning, they sat and had their coffee some toast. It was the last of the bread for a while, and they decided to finish it. After Robyn finished her last slice, she brushed the crumbs from her fingers.

  “So where to today?”

  “Let’s take a look at the map,” Tim said, pulling out his road atlas. “We’re here in Kentucky. I think we’ll keep heading north and cross over the Ohio River here, and into Indiana at Evansville.”

  “Then are we going to pick up I-64 here?” she asked, pointing to a spot on the map just a little north.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll head a little further north on this Rt. 41, and then head west into Illinois at Vincennes.”

  “Why there? I mean, the highway is right here, and we can head west right there?” Again she pointed at the map and looked at him questioningly.

  “I don’t know. Something is telling me we might be better off going this way.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re the boss!”

  He didn’t know why, but something in the back of his mind was telling him to go that way. He couldn’t explain it. Whenever he felt like this in the past, even if it went against common sense, he did it, and it usually was the right decision. Tim went out with his siphon hose and jerry cans, and in no time he had enough diesel fuel to fill up the truck’s tank and all his jerry cans for spares. After that they packed up and headed out north, and this time Tim took the IVIS pad into the cab with them so they’d have music to listen to along the way. Tim was in an 80s mood, and played all the CDs from the post-modern era he was fond of: Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, The Fixx, Madness, Ice House, Men at Work, and a bunch of others. Robyn loved the mix. The travelling wasn’t as easy that day, and they had to cross over the median on several occasions to go around wrecks. They stopped for lunch at another rest stop, and Robyn was able to shoot two rabbits with the .22, which she expertly skinned and gutted, just like Tim had shown her.