HADRON Dark Matter

by Stephen Arseneault

  Chapter 11

  _______________________

  Mace was awakened several hours later by Derwood licking his arm. The dog was excited and in need of his attention. After a moment of thought, he recalled a treat was rationed whenever the dog returned from doing his business outside. His paws were wet from the evening dew that had settled on the lawn. Mace looked at his phone. It was approaching 11PM.

  “Come on. Let's get you your reward.”

  As Mace dropped a small bone-shaped treat on the floor, he took note of the TV. The station was showing static. He picked up the controller, scanning for stations. None were active. He walked down the hall toward the bedrooms, stopping at Jane's and Johnny's door.

  He knocked on the door lightly. “Johnny? You up? Jane?”

  Seconds later the door lever turned and a drowsy Jane Tretcher stepped into the hall. “What is it? Has something happened?”

  “How do I know if the power is out? No stations are broadcasting.”

  Jane shuffled her feet while walking to the couch as she attempted to wake herself up. Her hair was disheveled, which Mace had never seen on her before. She picked up the tablet controller. With several swipes, she brought up the screen showing the house monitoring system.

  Jane sighed. “It's out. When did the channels go out? What time is it?”

  Mace half smiled and half grimaced. “Not sure. Kind of dozed off myself.”

  Jane chuckled. “Not much a watchdog, are you?”

  “Apparently not anymore. I used to be able to do forty-eight hours without sweating it.”

  Jane patted him on the shoulder as she turned to go back to her room. “We're not the spring chickens we once were.”

  “Going back to bed?”

  “I wish. I was sleeping good. No, going to wake Johnny. You might go wake the others if you would. You can be the bringer of bad news.”

  Mace said in a normal voice, “Hey.”

  Jane stopped and turned.

  He pointed. “I like the hair.”

  Jane rolled her eyes as she turned back to her room. Five minutes later, the group of five was standing in the kitchen, all mumbling.

  Mace said to everyone, “We need to decide if we're leaving or not. Power is out again. It's late. This might be our best chance to get on the road.”

  As Jane poured a cup of coffee for Johnny, she said, “We're not sure exactly when power went out. We do know that it was sometime after four.”

  The comment was followed with a sarcastic “You’re responsible” look aimed at Mace.

  Johnny picked up the control tablet. “Hang on. We can check the status logs as to when the generators kicked in.”

  Several seconds passed. “We lost power at 8:13PM.”

  The prop wash from rotor blades could be heard in the distance.

  Tres looked out the window. “That must be Mr. Rogers coming in.”

  “Well, I say we put it to a vote. We can always come back.” Johnny said.

  Mace replied, “Do we want to fix up the gate before we go?”

  Johnny took a swig of his coffee. “Uh, that burns. I guess we never made it to that, huh?”

  “I bet we could rig something up in half an hour or so. Might be worth the wait to know we have a safe place to come back to if we can't get out of town.”

  Tres asked, “You have a welder?”

  Johnny nodded. “That garage has just about every tool known to man.”

  “Acetylene?”

  Johnny nodded again.

  “I can't promise it will be pretty, but I might be able to fix that gate. Can you bring the torch out to the end of the drive? I'll go have a look.”

  Mace followed Johnny toward the garage. “I'll bring it out. I have a Mig and a Tig too, but my generator that will run those is on the fritz at the moment. Been lazy about taking it to the shop.”

  Johnny turned back toward the door. “Jane, can you bring Don and Cam in? Maybe get some food going for everyone?”

  Jane nodded. “Taken care of. Vanessa, want to give me a hand?”

  “Yes. At least that's something I can do.”

  Mace followed Johnny from the garage, pulling the cart that held the acetylene equipment.

  When they arrived at the gate, Tres was waiting. “If we can drag that car back, I can cut here, here and here. We'll need to straighten these bars. I can heat them down here if you pull from up there. As I said, it won't be pretty, and it certainly won't be as strong or secure as it was. But at least it won't be wide open.”

  Johnny nodded. “We'll take the SUV with us, and we can park my Jag right across front. Make it look like someone is here.”

  Mace laughed. “You don't think the Jag will draw them in? That's kind of like saying Come get me.”

  Tres sparked up the torch. “We could go back to the bar and get my rental. I need to get my clothes out of there anyway. Who cares if we leave that.”

  Johnny smiled. “I like this kid. Have I said that before?”

  Mace replied, “I don't believe you have.”

  Johnny looked back down the drive. “I'll bring the SUV back with a come-along. We can get that cruiser out of the mix while he cuts.”

  Tres pointed. “You notice? The bodies are gone.”

  Johnny replied, “Just glad Mr. Michaels didn't come back for a visit.”

  Mace gestured down the road. “I know we can't pick up everyone we come across to take with us, but I hate leaving the Simpsons alone.”

  Johnny said, “Go ask 'em while I get the car moved. If they want to go, it'll be tight, but we'll make accommodations.”

  Mace walked down to the Simpson estate. The gate was locked and the body pile had been removed. He climbed up and over, jogging the fifty yards down the drive to the front door. His knocks received no response. He yelled out several times, identifying who he was. Nothing returned but silence. He circled the house, knocking on all the exterior doors. The Simpsons had gone.

  As Mace jogged back up to Johnny's drive, Johnny was busy pulling the wrecked cruiser back from the gate. After an adjustment, the dead vehicle was pulled to the side.

  Tres waved Mace over. “Pull on these bars as I heat them up. I'll tack that top piece back on when we're done.”

  The welding job took another twenty minutes.

  Tres lifted his helmet and shut off the torch as Johnny pulled the gate shut. “Wow. Closed first try. Heckuva job you did there, Tres. I'd have been out here all night.”

  “Ready to get my car? I'm dying to get a shower and swap clothes.”

  Johnny raised Tres' arm. “You could use a little deodorant refresh there too.”

  Tres sniffed. “What? I don't smell at all.”

  Mace gestured toward the last location of the body pile.

  Johnny chuckled. “OK, maybe that's from the scumbags.”

  Tres shook his head as he climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV. “Man's trying to tell me I smell like death and decay.”

  Mace half frowned. “That's a smell you never really get used to.”

  The ride to the bar was short and quiet.

  As Tres got out of the SUV, Mace said, “When we go we should we bring the Jeep.”

  Johnny nodded as Tres opened the door to his rental. “Can't hurt to have a couple spare vehicles going with us. Would give those in the RV some extra room while we're on the move.”

  As they pulled back onto the roadway, Mace looked in both directions. “You notice we haven't seen any cars? I would have expected we would at least see a couple.”

  “I noticed. Just as happy to not see any. We don't want any trouble from the cops or the bangers tonight.”

  Upon arrival at the Tretcher estate, Jane was waiting outside with Vanessa. “You need to take this girl by her place for clothes. She won't fit into anything of mine. Too tall.”

  Vanessa shrugged. “Five-nine.”

  Mace replied, “You're across the bridge, right?”

  “Just on the other side.”

&
nbsp; Mace gestured to Tres as he got out of his car. “Come with us. We're going on a run to get clothes for Vanessa and myself.”

  “Sure.”

  As Vanessa climbed into the Jeep, Mace said, “We hit your place first. We need to get in and get out. You’re looking for practical stuff only. No little black dresses and no heels.”

  Vanessa scowled. “Hmm. I hadn't thought about that. Guess we aren't going dancing, are we. Not sure how much I'll be bringing.”

  Mace said, “Pretend you're going camping and there are no restaurants or night clubs anywhere around.”

  “You make it sound so appealing.”

  Mace pulled back onto the roadway. “If we're lucky it will be nothing but peace and quiet.”

  Tres said, “Too many people in the world for that. Let's just hope that anyone else out there is reasonable.”

  The bridge going across the river was mostly empty, as were the roads leading to it. Only the occasional car whizzed by in the other direction. As they turned on the street that fronted Vanessa's apartment complex, the interstate came into view. It was packed bumper to bumper with cars. The glow of red taillights illuminated the road in front of the Jeep.

  Mace stopped. “Those your buildings up there?”

  Vanessa nodded. “Yep.”

  Mace took a deep breath. “OK, hang on. We're taking the sidewalk.”

  The Jeep was pulled up over the curb and began down the side of the road. Two walkers yelled as they jumped out of the way. They hopped the curb back onto the entranceway of the apartments. Five cars sat in a line beside them, attempting to get out onto the road.

  Tres asked, “Where they going?”

  Mace replied, “Must have opened the highway up or something.”

  “Doesn't look very open.”

  Mace pulled to a stop in front of Vanessa's building. “Don't think we care. And we're all going in.”

  They climbed two flights of stairs before coming to her door. It was ajar.

  Mace turned to Tres. “Watch my back.”

  Vanessa tried to look into her apartment over his shoulder. “Kitchen and living room here. Single bedroom and bath straight back.”

  Mace slowly pushed the door open, flipping on a flashlight as he went. The refrigerator was open in the kitchen. An empty stand stood where Vanessa's TV had once been. A quick check of the bathroom saw open drawers and an open medicine cabinet. Mace moved into the bedroom and checked the closet. Clothes were on the floor. Dresser drawers were pulled out.

  He stepped back into the doorway. “Tres, stay right there. Vanessa, come in and get what you can.”

  Vanessa walked into her room. “Uh. Why do people have to do this?”

  She turned and looked into the closet. “Nooo. My dresses! And my shoes!”

  “Won't matter where we're going.” Mace pulled an empty suitcase from the closet. “Here, fill this up. Got any plastic garbage bags?”

  Vanessa pointed with a look of frustration. “Kitchen cupboard. Yellow box.”

  “Undergarments, socks, anything warm, T-shirts, sweats, shorts and jeans. Grab all you can. If we have to later, we can barter for whatever else we need.”

  Tres poked his head in the door. “Someone's coming!”

  Mace said, “Keep packing. We'll handle this.”

  He stepped through the doorway onto the concrete landing as the individual topped the stairs. “Dudes, what's happening?”

  Mace said, “We're just picking up a few things.”

  The guy squinted as Mace shone a flashlight in his eyes. “OK, not my business. You wouldn't have any good buzz, would you? To sell?”

  Mace said, “Buzz?”

  The guy crossed his arms. “Yeah, man. You know... weed.”

  Tres replied, “We got no weed or any other buzz, now piss off.”

  The guy turned toward the stairs with a scowl. “Don't have to be so harsh, man. Whole world has gone crazy.”

  Tres shook his head. “What a waste. Just like my cousin. World is crumbling and all he cares about is getting high.”

  “He won't last long if this continues.”

  Tres glanced back into the apartment. “She doing OK in there? Looks like a mess.”

  “It is. Why don't you go give her a hand so we can get out of here. I'll watch the door.”

  Tres walked into the room. “Tell me what you want and I'll stuff it in one of these bags.”

  Vanessa pointed. “Just start pulling everything from those drawers. Who was outside?”

  “Some toad looking to score weed. We sent him on his way.”

  “Tall, thin, sandy-blonde hair and a goatee?”

  “Sounds like him.”

  “Then we really need to get out of here. He runs with a group of five or six guys that are always up to no good.”

  Three pops from a handgun rang up from the parking lot. Mace dropped to the concrete deck.

  A voice yelled up. “Throw down your guns and we'll let you leave!”

  Mace replied, “Not a chance.”

  He crawled up to the railing. The flash from a muzzle could be seen coming from behind a car as two slugs impacted the building behind him.

  Mace yelled down. “I'll give you one chance to clear out before I come down there to kill you.”

  “Big talk coming from someone lying on his belly!”

  Several laughs could be heard.

  Mace moved back and pulled himself up into a crouching stance against the outer wall of Vanessa's apartment. “There aren't any ambulances going to come pick you up, you know! Just the coroner!”

  The hallway echoed as two more slugs hit the side of the building.

  Mace moved back into the apartment, closing the door to Vanessa's room to block any light from the flashlight she was using. Tres poked his head out.

  Mace said, “I got this. Just help her pack.”

  He pulled the door shut, making the living room pitch black, before moving up to the windows that overlooked the parking lot below. Peering from the two-inch opening at the bottom of the blinds, he located the shooter and his two friends crouching behind an SUV. With careful aim, he placed a 5.56mm round into the shooter's left upper arm. He dashed out onto the stairwell and sprayed the SUV with a half dozen additional rounds. The thugs yelled as they grabbed their downed friend, dragging him off to behind a building.

  Mace walked back into the apartment. “You two about ready? I'd really like to leave before they get stupid and bold.”

  Vanessa looked around the room with a sigh. “I guess. They aren't still out there, are they?”

  Mace picked up two bags of clothes. “They are, and we need to go now before they come back with more friends.”

  They hustled down the stairs, throwing the clothes into the back of the Jeep. As they sped down the parking lot, four pops from a handgun sounded. Tres turned, peppering the corner of the building where the shots had originated.

  The Jeep turned the corner into the entranceway and then jumped the curb back onto the sidewalk. The line of cars attempting to get onto the freeway was growing longer. At the end of the line, they cut back onto the road and headed toward the bridge to cross the river. Mace's apartment was on the other side.

  Tres said, “What is wrong with people?”

  Mace replied, “Don't know, but if you find the answer, please tell me.”

  At the bridge, Mace pulled to a stop. “Crap. Cops are blocking it off.”

  “Well, they're on our side. They'll let us through.”

  Mace slowly shook his head as he put the Jeep in reverse, backing into a driveway. “We can't risk it. We'll have to go down to the next one.”

  Vanessa frowned. “Isn't that like three miles?”

  “It is. Let's just hope they aren't doing the same there.”

  After a short drive, they turned onto a four lane road that crossed the river. It was open, with several cars moving in each direction. Fifteen minutes later they were rummaging through Mace's apartment.

  Vanessa s
aid, “Man, everything in here is stacked, folded and pressed. I should have had you handling my stuff.”

  “Ten years in the Army. They don't like sloppy. I guess their training works, because I can't stand to have things out of place now. I find it irritating.”

  Vanessa asked, “Tres, what about your place?”

  “I'm kind of a neat freak too. I have everything in my room arranged in its exact position. My brothers used to come in and move one or two items almost every day because they knew it drove me crazy.”

  Vanessa laughed. “Great. Looks like I'm stuck with a couple compulsives. Just don't expect me to keep my space organized, wherever that ends up being.”

  The remainder of the run went without incident.

  Jane turned to Vanessa as she dumped her bags. “Got the clothes you needed?”

  “Some. My door had been kicked in and the place torn up. They took all my nice stuff, which it looks like I won't be needing anyway.”

  Tres said, “Mace got in a gun battle with some locals. Shot one. They scattered and we made a run for it.”

  Jane shook her head. “What is wrong with people?”

  Tres laughed. “That's exactly what I said. We should be helping each other right now, not robbing each other.”

  The clothes were sorted through by Vanessa and Mace. They each took what they fully expected to use, with the rest being discarded in a pile. After stowing the selected clothes in the RV, they gathered in Johnny's den.

  Mace asked, “Still no broadcasts?”

  Johnny replied, “Not a peep from anywhere.”

  Don Rogers said, “I could have the ham up and running in about fifteen minutes.”

  Mace leaned back on the heavy leather couch. “It's already after 1AM. I'm thinking we wait until four-ish before leaving. Should see the least amount of activity out there about that time.”

  Johnny stood, “Don, I'll give you a hand. Come on. Maybe we'll hear something useful.”

  Cam followed after as they walked to the back door, heading for the helicopter and the ham radio gear.

  Jane smiled. “I'm glad you all are with us. And I have confidence, if we can stick together, we'll get through this... wherever it leads us.”

  Mace crossed his arms in silent thought. “Is she right? Can we get through this? Is this group strong enough to protect itself?”

  He reasoned they had the weapons... and the determination, so they would find out soon enough.