by Annie Berdel
‘My Uncle Noah lives about 35 miles outside of Memphis. He said that rumor is that the city was destroyed. I think ‘flattened’ was the term he used. Jeremiah said using air quotes.
“Jesus...” Scott replied trailing off.
“Yes, well like I said. You were lucky.”
“What’s that got to do with this heap of crap?” Scott asked motioning to the fragments on the table.
“My Uncle found this on his farm.” Jeremiah stated
“Ya, well.” Scott said as he started to pick the pieces up and examine them. One in particular caught his attention. Long and black like a spider’s leg, Scott flipped it over looking at the wiring hanging from its sheared end. “Could it have been one of those drones they use to look for marijuana in the outlying fields?
“Could have been but I don’t think so.”
“Why not? They use them all the time out in places like this.”
“Well, because three have now been found after the blast, all pretty much blown apart.”
“Ya, so? Maybe they got caught in the blast like everything else around there?”
“Uncle Noah said that a blue light from like a spotlight was seen prior to the blast, all within the same general area that these things came down.”
“These things were looking for something? I’m not following.” Scott asked
“Here, look at this.” Jeremiah said as he pulled a shard from under the blanket the pieces were laying on.
Scott reached out and grabbed the fragment from Jeremiah. Turning it over, he ran his thumb over the etching on the side. “Have I seen this before?” Scott asked himself, perplexed as the emblem looked familiar.
“Flip that over, Scott. What do you think that means?” Jeremiah asked Scott
“What these letters? U.A.V.” Scott read out loud as felt the letters under his thumb. “That’s easy enough. My guess is it’s just a UAV, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Just a fancy name for a drone. Our government likes to tag on fancy names when they are trying to cover up the obvious. You ain’t figured that out by now? That’s not surprising looking at all these pieces and parts. My question is what was it doing and what does DEW stand for?”
“I’ve been wondering that myself.” Jeremiah said with a sigh
“Hey boys, whatcha doin?” Ridley asked as she walked into the room. Startled, both guys looked like they had been caught doing something their mother wouldn’t approve of.
“Nothin, kiddo” Scott said as Ridley walked around the table eyeing all the remnants of the machine.
“Kiddo? I just performed miracle surgery and you want to still call me kiddo? Besides, this is fascinating! Where did you find this and why is something from Lockheed Martin all over your dining room table?” Ridley asked
Jeremiah looked at Scott, who was already looking at Jeremiah. Unspoken words passed between the two men. How in the world this little girl saved Shelby’s leg already left them with much respect for her, whether they wanted to give her the affirmation but to be able to help unlock a piece of a puzzle that had both men with a million questions was difficult for their testosterone levels to handle.
“Uh, Rid. You want to sit down for a bit and tell us how you know this is from Lockheed Martin, one of the largest defense contractors our government has?” Scott demanded
“Am I in trouble somehow?” Ridley asked confused
“No, not at all!” Jeremiah quick to explain. “Goodness no, but how do you know where this is from? I thought you were in medical school?”
“Oh! Yes, but Lock does more than just design military stuff. We use a lot of their equipment in the medical field, especially where lasers are involved.” Ridley explained
Scott took a deep breath in as he raised his hands above his head, locking his fingers and rested them on top of his skull. “Lasers, aye?”
“Any idea what DEW stands for?” Jeremiah asked Ridley
“I can tell you what DEI stands for. Our equipment had the same emblem, here” she pointed at the half, blue star on the side of the piece Scott had in front of him now. “Our equipment with what’s left of the star all was manufactured from Lockheed. Our DEI stood for ‘Directed Energy Instrument” but I have no idea what DEW would be.... Directed Energy... I just don’t know.”
“Weapon?” Scott shot back at her. Silence hung in the air like the fog on the first cold October morning. Looking at the mess on the table, Ridley threw the fragment with the emblem back on the table and started to gather the blanket at each end.
“What are you doing?” Scott asked
“We need to get this out of here. There could be residual diffractions coming off of this thing!”
“What the hell does that mean?” Scott, now shouting at Ridley, started to help her gather the blanket.
“The instruments we used had the ability to manipulate the energy, to divaricate it for a prolonged treatment within the body. If this thing is in anyways a bigger version of that, a weapon like you said, there could be fall out even a month or more outside of its normal operation.
46
Tom glanced around town like he had never been there before. He needed to find the supplies on his list and find the Sheriff but he had not the first clue where to start looking. As he guided the mare down the main road, he caught sight of a dive of a bar that looked familiar. Tying the nag onto a small bush outside, Tom entered the dimly lit room. The only light coming from the filthy windows, Tom squinted as he tried to make out if anyone he knew was inside.
“Anciano! Why are you here?” a female voice broke the stale fermentation of air.
“Hola” Tom replied “I’m looking for some supplies. Could you help?”
“Qué es esta lista?” she asked
“Just some things I need back at my farm. Is there anyone here who could help me?”
“Loco, go find Sherriff. He will help you” She laughed as she turned away from him and sauntered back across the floor. “Vete”
Tom glanced into the back room where she entered. Several grungy looking men were standing around a pool table laughing. The woman walked over to one of them and tossed her head back towards Tom. The man glanced back over his shoulder in the direction she indicated, the smile quickly disappearing from his face. Laying the cue down on the table, he walked towards Tom.
Tom’s eyes tightened as something within him recognized the man approaching. Realizing he was holding his breath, Tom stammered around a bit to try and conceal his nervousness.
“I understand you are looking for supplies?” Ben asked giving Tom a wink
“Yes, so you’re the Sherriff then? Here?” Tom said looking around the shithole of a bar.
Ben cocked his head with a twist. Am I the Sherriff? What game is he playing?
Ben decided to humor the man and play along.
“Why yes, I am the Sherriff in these parts. I know everyone and everything that goes on in these around here. Even what goes on out at your farm. ” Ben said, extending his hand.
“I guess you were serious the other day then.” Tomas replied with a grin
“Well come on in then, have a drink! Let’s see what’s on your list.” Ben quipped. “You like some homemade beer that ole Jim back here has shared with us?”
“Um, sure” Tom responded as he was shoved into the back room. Tom looked around at the room he had just entered. A pool table took up most of the room. Several bar stools lined two walls with a couple tall tables thrown haphazardly between. Half empty bottles and overflowing ashtrays littered the table tops.
Tom gasped when he saw the two girls in the corner. Not much more then 14 or 15, the girls were chained to the base of one of the tables.
“See anything you NEED” Ben sneered
“I, uh. I think I came to the wrong place” Tom stuttered as he turned to go back out of the room. One of the men lurking in the shadows had anticipated Tom’s hasty exit and quickly blocked his path. Tom took a couple steps back, staring at the guy.
“No. Actu
ally you came to the exact damn place you wanted to now didn’t you, Tom?”
Tom whipped his head around as a flash of memory came back. Ben understood the recognition on Tom’s face.
“Damn, you do remember me after all. My feelings were about to be hurt but I can see you are starting to recall our times of yore!” Putting an arm around Toms shoulder, Ben turned Tom around to face the girls.
“Everyone, this is my good friend Tomas Montalvo. Tomas, meet your next of kin. Here Tom, pull up a chair, we have a lot to talk about”
“What’s the price?”
“Two thousand for the girl. Five hundred for the boy.”
“Wow, that’s a big difference!” Tom exclaimed.
“There uses vary greatly. The girl will be sold, probably to a certain gentleman with particular tastes. She will be moved overseas. The boy, aye. If he survives, he will probably end up joining the revolution. There is not much need for him other than to carry a gun and fight. The girl on the other hand” he replied with hand gestures emulating a sexual act.
What did Tom care what happened to them after they left. These kids screwed up his life enough. They were of no use to him other than mouths to feed. He could use the cash though, add it to what he had stashed away. It would help greatly in his getting the hell away from Emma. A little bit more and he would be able to leave without looking back.
“Let me think about it. The prices seem low” Tom said as he scuffed his boot on the dirt floor
“I assure you, Amigo. I pay you the top price with no strings. Quiet and simple and I disappear.
Tom shook his head quickly up and down, “Ya, ok” he muttered
“We have a deal?” the man asked excitedly grasping for Tom’s hand
“Ya, ya. We have a deal. Just, give me some time to work out the details.” Tom replied
Tom walked out of the seedy little bar, his eyes squinting as the sun hit his pupils full on. Lifting his hand, he shielded his eyes. Glancing around to see if anyone saw him, he quickly walked up the street towards the sheriff’s office.
A bead of perspiration broke out across Tom’s brow. Shrugging off his jacket, he swung it up over his shoulder as he walked.
He could do this. How hard could it really be? These kids weren’t his. All they do is remind him of, well. He wasn’t sure what they reminded him of, it was more of a feeling they gave him when they looked at him. Like they were blaming him for something. Something he couldn’t put his finger on.
Stepping off the curb, Tom automatically looked for traffic. Chuckling to himself, he figured it would be years before things got back to normal around here. A couple years before anyone would come looking for him, as he saw it. He anticipated his wife to searching for him at least
, which was why it was important for him to get a head start. He figured he could make it to Florida before anyone would really realize what had happened and by then it would be too late.
47
Picking up the clothes that had been tossed on the floor, Emma dumped them into the middle of the bed. Grabbing the closest corner of the fitted sheet, she tugged it loose from its captive and walked to the next corner until there was a mass of soiled clothes, blankets and sheets piled into its own cocoon. Lifting the bundle, she deposited it near the door. Gathering the neatly folded ensemble of freshly washed bed clothes off of the chair, she walked back to the bed and flipped the contents out of the pillowcase as she fondly remembered where she had learned how to fold sheets like an expert.
Karen had lived across from the farm that Emma had grown up on. Roughly the same age with Karen being only a year older, they had spent many summer days at each other’s houses hanging out and doing chores together. Emma’s way of folding sheets prior to watching Karen was just wadding it up into a ball and stuffing it in a drawer. After Karen, all that had changed. Neatly folded and each set of laundered bed ware would get tucked into its own pillowcase making it so simple to find pieces and parts when it was time to change bedding.
Fitting the corner of the sheet over the mattress, Emma walked back around to the other side. How much longer would she be making this bed for her husband to sleep in? When would he come back to their bed instead of sleeping here in this room by himself? Deep in thought, Emma wrapped each corner and tucked it under the mattress. Swiping her hand across the top of the sheet to smooth it out, she reached out and grabbed the flat sheet and shot it free from its fold over the top of the bed. Watching as it fluttered down almost perfectly into place Emma decided maybe it was time to move her husband back upstairs. He was getting around just fine including taking off on several adventures to who knows where leaving Emma slightly apprehensive but she knew she had to relax. He was a grown man and even though she was worried about his health after his accident, she knew he needed some space. She was actually hoping it might chill him out.
So many mixed emotions were making Emma sick to her stomach. Tom had changed since the accident. He wasn’t the Tommy that she had been married to for the last seventeen years. While she could see hints of his old personality, there was an essence about him that she didn’t particularly care for. Hitting her across the face was something new that she still needed to deal with. Her Tommy never raised a hand against her. This new personality, this Tomas was someone she had not met yet. It seemed to be the easiest way for her mind to wrap itself around what was happening between them. Tommy was her husband. Tomas was this new intrusion into their lives. The question being, who exactly was he and how long was he going to stay?
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Emma looked down at her hands now resting in her lap. Tears taunted her as she felt helpless to understand what to do next. She wanted nothing more than her husband back but she knew that was near impossible. She needed to grieve. She wanted to run as far and as fast as she could and forget that any of this happened, but she knew running wouldn’t change reality. It would just put off the inevitable for a bit.
Giving a half-hearted chuckle, Emma thought how different life would be if the catastrophe hadn’t happened. If they were still living back in Indianapolis, Emma would just jump in her Jeep and go for a long drive. She would seek the advice of people she trusted and she would probably go onto the internet and done tons of research on Tommy’s condition. Now though, with very limited resources, she was at a loss. Hell, it felt like she the walls were closing in on her on some days. How much longer would she be able to tolerate her husband’s behavior? How much worse would he get? Then what? Throw him out? Make him leave? Then he would be out there and she would have no idea where he was or what he was up to. That old saying crept through her mind like a slimy snake, Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer. Was that what Tommy was becoming, her enemy? Chills ran through her at the thought of losing him again. She needed to get out of here, and fast.
48
Picking up her head, Emma looked back at the house that was now quite a distance across the dead field. How she couldn’t wait for spring with the rebirth of everything around her. Would her life return to normal? Slowly closing her eyes, she breathed in the still chilled air. If only she could forget the past few months. If there was some way she could click her heals and make everything rewind. Breathing forcefully outward, she knew the truth. Looking down, she kicked the hard dirt beneath her boot. No way in hell would life ever be the same.
“I need a plan God” she muttered into the faint breeze. “I’ve no idea what to do, where to go or how to get all these people there safely. All I know is I need some direction.”
Lifting her face towards the heaven, she waited for an answer. The sun teased faint warmth against her skin, fleeing as a still chill in the air chased it away. A faint smile curled at the corner of her mouth as she turned, half expecting God to shout down His instructions to her. What a relationship they had built over the years. It was a connection that she relied heavily upon to keep her sane. He listened when she screamed, He held her tears when she cried and He laughed when she laughed
. What better friend to have was there? She could almost sense at times a face palm or two going on, but all in all, she knew she was loved.
Walking the rest of the way over to where the field ended, she turned left and headed to the back corner of the field. She needed some alone time, just to think and breath and there was no better place to accomplish that then deep in her woods. She saw a lot of these trees grow into adulthood over the years, some etched with her initials now distanced in their bark way above her head. She had skipped school a few times here, hidden amongst the outstretched branches like arms enveloping a child offering protection. She had cried here, baring her soul to the moss covering the rocks and the to the May apples standing in attendance offering an ear. She had grown to love all the families that roamed these hills, hidden among the forests surreptitious milieu. There was a feisty bunch of chatty squirrels who resided in the big oak tree that stood by the big rock half way up the main hill. An army of bullfrogs, green and bumpy that serenaded her if she were out there at dusk, singing songs of long lost love and such resided down at the edge of the creek that ran through her property. Emma had few that she included in her tribe, but here, deep within the folds of her land, she was home. The trees, the animals all spoke to her better than humans could most of the time.
Today she walked with a purpose. She needed peace. No chaos or noise, but a gentle whispering of tranquility to her soul. She had almost made it out of sight of the house when she caught the white ball of fur bounding across countryside in her direction.
How could she leave him behind? She chuckled to herself
Waiting as her devoted accomplice caught up to where she was at, she watched as he tore through the wind like a white sail on the waters with a hurricane chasing. A beast of a dog, she had the pleasure of having him in her life since he was a pup. Her mind lapsing back to the day she arrived at the farm to purchase the two goats. She had just gotten out of her truck to walk up to the house when she was accosted by a hoard of dogs, big and small. What resembled a family unit was now swirling around her with much excitement as their owners, catching wind of the commotion, were walking up from the barn to meet their visitor.
