A Perilous Journey

by Darrell Maloney

  “Yeah, mostly. He always bugged me to come up here and visit him, but I just never got the chance. He probably thinks I’m dead by now, and it’ll be worth the look on his face when I walk in to finally pay him a visit.”

  “Okay. But you said ‘mostly.’ What’s the other reason you’re stopping to visit?”

  “Like most preppers, he either has everything or knows where I might find it. I’m going to ask if he can help me strengthen my plow blade. Maybe by wrapping the wood in sheet metal. Maybe by welding the nuts on so they don’t loosen up and fall off again.

  “And there’s something else, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Most hard core preppers have ham radios.”

  “What’s a ham radio?”

  Frank gave her a look. An incredulous look.

  “I thought you worked for the Dallas Fire Department. You don’t know what a ham radio is?”

  “I was a paramedic. The only thing I did with a radio was to receive calls, and to call the hospital to tell them we were on our way. Now don’t get snippy with me, young man. Tell me what a ham radio is.”

  “Oh, I love it when you call me a young man. It makes me feel vibrant and sexy.”

  In the back seat, Eddie snickered.

  It reminded Frank that he and Josie would never again have any privacy.

  “It’s like a long distance radio. If you have a good enough transmitter and a tall enough antenna you can broadcast all over the world.”

  “Well, what are you gonna use it for?”

  “To call Junction. To tell them we’re coming and to watch out for us.”

  -10-

  Half an hour later they passed a sign which read:

  LUBBOCK CITY LIMIT

  POP. 264,410

  And they entered a brand new world.

  A world in which the road in front of them was free of snow.

  Oh, the half inch of ice was still there.

  It was still as slippery as owl snot.

  But the three feet of snow cover was totally gone.

  “Am I dreaming this?” Josie asked.

  “If you are, I’m in your dream too, and I like it. Don’t wake me up.”

  It seemed as though they’d slipped through a portal into a parallel universe. A universe in which Saris 7 and Cupid 23 never happened. It looked like just another winter day in a town where snow plows came through on a regular basis to keep the roads clear for traffic and pedestrians.

  Except…

  Except there as no traffic around.

  No pedestrians either.

  Frank could have picked up speed but he didn’t.

  Instead he continued to creep along at a snail’s pace. Five miles an hour, mesmerized by what he saw.

  Suddenly, in front of him, he saw something he hadn’t witnessed in a very long time.

  He hadn’t seen an approaching set of headlights in all the hours they’d been on the road after leaving Plainview.

  For that matter, when he was carjacked on the highway and forced at gunpoint to drive to Plainview months before he hadn’t seen any either.

  He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he saw a set of approaching headlights.

  But there they were, a couple of blocks south and heading northbound.

  Right toward him.

  When they drew closer, Frank recognized the approaching car as a police vehicle.

  He rolled down his window and held out his arm.

  The policeman pulled alongside.

  “Hello there, stranger. Having problems?”

  “Oh, no. Everything’s fine. I was just wondering if you could point us toward the police department.”

  “Sure. Can I ask where you’re from?”

  “Most recently Plainview. Left there a few hours ago. Home is San Antonio. Used to be a detective down there.”

  “I thought so. Welcome to Lubbock, detective. To get to the cop shack go straight to 10th Street, then turn left. Then go to Texas Avenue, nine blocks east. You can’t miss it. It has a big American flag flying proudly out front.”

  “Thank you officer.”

  “You bet. Enjoy your stay.”

  The officer went on his way and Frank did likewise.

  After he rolled his window back up, Josie asked him, “Frank?”

  “Yes, honey?”

  “What did he mean when he said he thought so? That you were a detective, I mean. How in the world would he know that?”

  He shrugged off her question.

  “I don’t know, honey.”

  Now, that wasn’t quite true.

  Fact was Frank knew very well what the officer meant.

  It just wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to explain.

  It was just easier to profess ignorance; to pretend he didn’t know the answer to her question.

  Police officers everywhere have a certain air about them.

  It’s not really cockiness, though criminals sometimes describe it that way out of spite. Especially after being caught.

  No, it’s not cockiness. It’s more like a sense of calm confidence. Policemen are secure in the knowledge that they’re capable of handling themselves.

  They walk with a certain stride, their heads held high.

  They talk the same way.

  The difference is subtle.

  But lawmen and former lawmen can usually spot a brother in blue.

  In that way, it’s not unlike how a Marine can spot other Marines, even if one or both have left the Corps many years before.

  The Marines have a saying: once a Marine, always a Marine.

  The same can be said of law enforcement officers.

  Brothers and sisters in blue are brothers and sisters for life.

  The traffic lights were burned out. Lubbock had no power, as its power plant had run out of fuel a long time before and no additional fuel was coming in.

  But the green metal sign attached to the traffic light pole was still legible in the dirty gray sky.

  Frank followed the directions he was given, turning left on 10th Street and watching out for the flag flying over Texas Avenue.

  The icicles hanging along the bottom of the “POLICE” sign probably weren’t there until just recently, when the temperature went above freezing for a short time before dropping again.

  It was the first sign the thaw had started, and he wondered how many others had noticed the water dripping off the bottom of the sign that day.

  Theoretically, each summer from here on out would have more thaw days until, three to four years hence, the world will have returned to more or less normal.

  In front of police headquarters, Josie noticed something Frank missed completely, and took great joy in pointing it out.

  In four empty parking spaces directly in front of the building she could actually see something she never expected to see.

  Not ice. Not snow. But red bricks.

  -11-

  Lubbock has been around since the turn of the twentieth century.

  That was long before modern paving came about.

  Like most small towns in that era, town leaders got tired of dusty and dirty streets and brought in bright red bricks to cover their roadways.

  Laying brick was expensive and time-consuming, so it didn’t last as the preferred method for grooming streets. It was soon replaced with gravel, caliche, and eventually asphalt paving or concrete.

  The nice thing about the bricks, though, is that they seemingly last forever.

  The red bricks covering the streets in downtown Lubbock are still going strong after over a hundred years. If city leaders can resist the urge to pave over them, they’ll last a thousand more.

  The locals have a love/hate relationship with the bricks. On the one hand they love the “quaint” and nostalgic feel they give the streets.

  On the other hand they moan and groan about the noisy vibrations beneath their cars as they drive over them.

  In any event, the four spaces reserved for police ve
hicles was the only place in Lubbock where the ice and snow were completely melted, as idling police cars sitting in the same spaces day after day provided enough warmth to melt the stuff away.

  For Josie, it was like the icicles: a reminder that, as bad as things were, they’d eventually get back to normal again.

  Warm weather, it confirmed, would be back.

  Eventually.

  Frank parked his homemade snow plow across the street from the police station and killed the engine.

  He hated to leave the big machine unattended, since surely people saw him pull up in it.

  Somebody with the know-how could hot-wire it in minutes.

  Surely not in front of the police station, though.

  Or maybe they would.

  They walked inside the lobby and Frank told Eddie, “Do me a favor, would you, partner?”

  “Sure, Mister Frank.”

  Then he thought maybe he should find out what he volunteered for.

  “Um… what do you want me to do, Mister Frank?”

  “Don’t worry, Buddy. It’s easy. All you have to do is stand right here and watch out the window. If you see anybody go near the Hummer you yell out and let me know right away.”

  “Want me to go tackle them and beat them up, Mister Frank?”

  “No, Eddie. They might shoot you or something. Just yell for me and let me know, okay.”

  “Sure, Mister Frank! I’ll do just what you say on account of I don’t want to get shot. On account of…”

  “Thank you, Eddie. You’re a good man and a great partner.”

  Frank knew that sometimes Eddie had to be cut off early on in a conversation. Otherwise he’d talk forever.

  He and Josie walked up to a reception window, where a young man in a closely cropped beard and a crisp black uniform said, “May I help you folks?”

  “Hello. My name is Frank Woodard. Once upon a time it was Detective Woodard, with the San Antonio Police Department. I’m just passing through town and looking for an old friend.”

  “I’ll help if I can, Detective. What’s your friend’s name?”

  “Ronnie Rosco. He retired from the LPD several years ago.”

  The officer in the window smiled.

  “Oh, that one’s easy. We all know Ronnie Rosco. He’s quite a character.”

  “Yeah. He was when I knew him too.”

  “Do you know where the Metro Tower is?”

  “Nope. I’m afraid I don’t.”

  “Go north two blocks, and then turn right on Broadway. Go about… I don’t know. Maybe four blocks or so.

  “The Metro Tower is the tallest building in the city. And it’s the only one that’s twisted. It’s pretty easy to spot.”

  “Twisted?”

  The officer laughed again.

  “Ask Ronnie. He’ll tell you about the tornado. The building was vacant when Saris 7 hit. Ronnie squatted there. He claims the entire tenth floor. There are several other squatters there too, but none of them are willing to climb ten flights of stairs every day.

  “He says it keeps him in shape. And he says it’s important he stay in shape in case we recall him.”

  “Recall him?”

  “Back to active duty. He’s been trying to talk the police chief into letting him rejoin the force. So he can help us catch bad guys. He says us young whippersnappers need a seasoned veteran like him to show him how it’s done.”

  “Is the police chief considering it?”

  “No way. He says he doesn’t need any old men trying to come in here…”

  The youngster suddenly seemed to realize that he was talking to an officer from the same era as Ronnie Rosco.

  “Oh, excuse me, Detective. I didn’t mean…”

  “It’s okay. I agree with you. It wouldn’t be good for some of us washed-up old former officers to come in and show you how it’s done.”

  He winked to show he took no offense.

  “Anyway,” the younger man continued, more cautiously this time, “the chief tells him he’s not needed at this time, but to stay in shape in case we need him in the future.”

  “Sounds like your chief’s a pretty smart guy. What’s his name?”

  “Lyndall Privett.”

  Since the blue brotherhood is a tight group, Frank thought he might know the chief.

  He didn’t.

  At that moment Eddie called out from the building’s lobby.

  “Mister Frank, somebody’s out there walking around the Hummer.”

  Frank said to the junior officer, “Gotta go. Thanks for your help,” and was gone in a flash.

  -12-

  From the lobby window Frank stopped to observe the man for a moment before going out to confront him.

  It never hurt to size up a potential adversary before a battle.

  Texas was an open carry state long before Saris 7 struck the earth. As such, it was not uncommon to see her citizens carry side-arms, or even long guns, as they walked the city streets going about their business.

  There’s never been anything wrong with that; it’s their God-given right and Constitutional right to do so.

  After Saris 7 struck the earth it became even more common, and these days it was pretty much the standard. These days it was rare to see a person who wasn’t carrying a weapon of some type.

  Frank, who wasn’t trusted with weapons in Plainview, was the rare citizen who wasn’t packing heat.

  The man on the street looking at the Hummer was. Therefore Frank was at a disadvantage.

  “I guess I’ll have to use my keen wit and boyish charm,” he said to Josie as he opened the lobby door.

  “You two stay here, and call out the cavalry if things look like they’re getting ugly.”

  “I’ve got your back, Detective.”

  The voice came from behind him.

  It was the junior officer, who followed Frank to see what would make him hurry away so quickly.

  As Frank exited the building the policeman followed.

  He stood at modified parade rest, his hand resting upon his duty weapon, but stayed a respectable distance away.

  This wasn’t his business, but he was ready to step in should he be needed.

  Brothers in blue have no qualms about backing each other up and walking into a gunfight if necessary.

  It wouldn’t be needed on this particular day.

  The stranger greeted Frank warmly as he approached, as is the Texas way.

  “How you doin’? I was just admiring your wooden snow plow here. How does it work?”

  “Well, to be honest, I’ve been having some trouble with it. I didn’t have any locking nuts or washers, and the nuts keep vibrating loose.”

  The stranger thought for a minute, then said, “There’s an abandoned machine shop two blocks up on the right. Big sign on the front that says ‘Riley’s Machining and Boring.’ Everything edible was looted a long time ago, but you can’t eat nuts and washers. I reckon you can find what you need there.”

  “Thank you, sir. That’s quite neighborly of you.

  “Say, if you don’t mind, would you point me toward the Metro Tower?”

  “Shoot, that one’s easy.”

  He pointed to a skyscraper a bit to the northwest and said, “That’s it right there. Tallest building in Lubbock.”

  “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

  “You bet.”

  Frank did indeed pull up and park outside Riley’s place of business.

  On the front door was posted a hand-written sign, which sounded suspiciously to Frank like a suicide note.

  FEEL FREE TO TAKE

  WHATEVER YOU NEED.

  WHERE I’M GOING I’VE

  GOT NO USE FOR IT.

  -Tom Riley-

  Nearly all businesses these days had doors which had been pried open.

  This one was different.

  True to his word, Tom Riley left the front door unlocked for anyone who happened by.

  Perhaps a nod to his kindness, the windows weren’
t broken and the door wasn’t damaged in any way. It opened easily when Frank turned the knob.

  Certainly the place had been looted many times by people looking for food or beverages. But they didn’t make a mess of the place like they did in virtually every other business in town.

  The place was dusty, sure.

  But the only sign anyone had been rooting through it were several drawers which had been left partly open.

  Even in the dim light it took Frank only a few minutes to find what he needed. All the while he was ready to bolt back outside if Josie sounded the horn. That would be his signal that something troublesome was afoot.

  But that never happened.

  Frank found the hardware he needed and shoved a handful of locking nuts and a handful of locking washers into the leg pocket of his cargo pants.

  Before he left he paid a tribute to a good man he never knew, but would have liked to.

  The tribute was uniquely Texan in style.

  In the doorway, facing the inside of the place, he tipped his hat and said… “Wherever you are, Tom Riley, I hope it’s a better place than this earth has become. God bless you, sir.”

  He returned to the running vehicle and asked Josie if there were any problems.

  “No,” she said. “Other than Eddie asking about four hundred times if he could drive it.”

  “Does he know how to drive?”

  “He used to. Before he… you know. Actually he was a pretty good driver back then.”

  He looked over his shoulder and said, “Eddie, I’ll tell you what. I want to help you develop every skill you have. In a world like this one everything you’re able to do makes it a little easier to survive.

  “If we make it back to Junction and make it to the thaw, you remind me I said I’d take you out and let you drive this thing. And if you need help relearning how to do it, you remind me that I said I would teach you. Okay?”

  Eddie grinned from ear to ear.

  “Oh, boy! Sure thing, Mister Frank.”

  Josie squeezed Frank’s hand and turned away, wiping a tear from her eye.

  In all the time she’d lived at the distribution center in Plainview, not one of her brothers ever offered to teach Eddie anything.