by West, Lee
The woman held a small black device, which looked similar to a bar code reader.
“We haven’t been issued any ID codes, but I can provide a driver’s license,” offered Marvin.
“Have you been through processing?” asked the man.
“No, we haven’t been processed. Where should we go for that?” said Mike.
Frank shot Mike a severe look, trying to shut him up.
“You should’ve been assigned a location based on your address. Why the delay?” asked the woman.
“We thought it would be better for my grandfather if we were all processed together. You know, to help the old man,” said Frank, glancing at Marvin. “It’s an intimidating process from what we can tell, and he can’t take care of himself.”
“You’re not allowed to leave your zone without approval. Do you have approval to leave the zone?” asked the woman.
“Sorry. No, we don’t. Maybe you should take us to the nearest processing facility? Or maybe you could take us to the one that processes Lawrence,” said Mike.
The guards looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do. Neither of them seemed eager to take them to a processing point. Frank picked up on their uncertainty and hesitation.
“Don’t listen to him. We’ll be fine. We just had to get gramps over here. We’ll report to the nearest processing facility,” he said.
Frank’s words seemed to satisfy the guards. Then the woman said, “Where are your friends?”
“What friends?” asked Mike.
“The other people you were running with,” said the man.
“Those weren’t our friends. We just happened to run into them here in the park. We aren’t sure where they were going,” said Frank.
Again the guards glanced at one another. Finally the woman said, “We’re letting the three of you go. You must immediately report to your assigned processing center. And if you run into the people who aren’t your friends, tell them the same thing.”
“We’ll report immediately. Thank you,” said Frank.
Marvin watched them head back down the trail, thinking it was odd that they didn’t have a vehicle parked nearby.
After they were out of earshot, Frank turned to Mike and said, “What the hell was all that about? Are you trying to get us picked up?”
“Yes, actually I was trying to do just that. I want to be with my family. Those two could have looked up which zone Sharon and the kids are in. They would have had information for me. Now? I’m stuck running and hiding like a fugitive while my family is out there!” said Mike.
“I know you’re stressed. I am too. I’ll never know what you’re truly going through right now, but I want to find them just as much as you do. Getting caught isn’t the way to do that. You saw what they were doing to those Asian people back there. We just shouldn’t allow ourselves to be trapped into something we can’t get out of,” said Frank.
“Why do you think those two didn’t just zip-tie us and take us away?” asked Marvin.
“Maybe they took pity on the elderly? Or me for having to take care of you?” said Frank.
“Nice. And thanks for the grandpa reference, by the way.”
“It looked to me like they were hiding something. Maybe those two were outside their own zone?” offered Mike.
“I agree. There was something fishy going on there. I’m just glad we were able to stay out of their dragnet. Despite your best effort,” said Frank, hitting Mike’s arm.
The three men continued to walk out of the park and through the neighborhood toward the school.
***
Nancy ran as fast as she could, with Brett fast on her heels. Not knowing the park, they chose to run in the direction Frank had pointed out, hoping his previous experience in the park had factored into his decision. Terror propelled her forward at a dangerous pace, threatening to send her face-first into the ground if she ran any faster. She took a quick look over her shoulder, expecting to see a platoon of soldiers barreling toward her. Instead, she found herself staring at an empty trail.
“Slow up. We’re fine. There’s no one behind us,” she said.
Brett stopped and bent over, placing his hands on his knees. He sucked air through his mouth like he was hyperventilating. Nancy immediately noticed his distress.
“You okay? I don’t mind leaving Marvin behind if he has a heart attack, but I’m not leaving you.”
“It’s nice to know I rate higher on your concern scale than Marvin. I guess all these years of marriage paid off,” he said as he straightened up and breathed in through his nose. “I’ll be fine. Just winded. I don’t think I’ve run that far or fast since high school.”
“Me neither. This just confirms my belief that runners are masochists. That nearly killed me.”
“Where did they go? Do you think the others were caught?” asked Brett.
“I have no idea. Those two came out of nowhere. I didn’t even hear them driving up,” said Nancy.
“Do you think we should go back? To check on everyone else?”
“No way. For all we know, there could be more than just two soldiers. I have no intention of going back into the park. Looks like we’re at the boundary of it anyway. I say we keep walking in the direction Frank gave us.”
“Don’t you care what happens to them?”
Nancy stopped and looked at Brett. He seemed stunned that she would be willing to leave their traveling companions.
“It’s not that I don’t care. You know I do. It’s just that I’m not willing to voluntarily walk back into a situation that will get us caught. We have no idea what’s back there. Those two could have been the tip of the iceberg for all we know.”
“I know you’re right. I just feel bad walking away without even a glance back.”
“We aren’t just walking away. We’re walking in the same direction Frank showed all of us. Everyone sat there and listened. With any luck, the others will do the same, and we’ll all run into each other somewhere up ahead.”
Brett seemed relieved at the thought of the others catching up with them. He relaxed a little and picked up his pace to match hers. “You’re right. We should get out of the area. We can stop at a safe distance from the park and wait to see if anyone else emerges.”
“That’s a great idea.”
The couple walked in silence until they reached the chain-link fence marking the edge of the park. The tall fence gave them a little trouble, since neither of them had climbed a rickety chain-link fence since they were kids. Once over, they entered Lakeview, one of the park’s abutting neighborhoods. She knew from the local news that Lakeview was a bit of a mess, but seeing it firsthand drove home the TV-generated impression. Rundown, squat houses covered with peeling paint. Rusty, dilapidated cars parked on the street. Dead lawns. She couldn’t wait to get through the neighborhood and into the hills beyond.
“Do you think we’re safe walking in the middle of the street?” asked Brett.
“I have no idea. Walking through the backyards sort of scares me, so I’d rather do this. Besides, I’d rather not climb more fences. I barely got over the last one.”
“I snagged my pants on the top and almost fell on my head,” said Brett.
“We should be fine,” said Nancy.
“If we hear something, we can always run,” said Brett with a wink.
“Funny guy. At this point, if we hear anything, I say we put out our thumbs and hitch a ride.”
“Oh, how quickly the rebel spirit dies in the face of vigorous exercise,” said Brett, laughing.
Nancy smiled and grabbed his hand while they walked purposefully down the street.
They walked a few blocks before Brett stopped them. “Look! That might be the school Frank mentioned. Why don’t we stop there and wait for the others?”
“Sounds like a plan. They’d have to walk this way if they listened to Frank’s directions. Plus, it’ll keep us off the street while we try to figure out where to go next,” said Nancy.
Lak
eview Primary was a small elementary school, which most of the local children attended. The entire thing looked sad to her. She knew the school’s facilities would never be on par with those offered to more affluent kids. However, seeing the school up close, and not just reading about it or seeing it on TV, made her very uncomfortable. A tall chain-link fence encircled the playground located at the back of the building. “No trespassing” signs had been seemingly posted everywhere to discourage outsiders from entering the playground or school.
“Who do you think they’re trying to discourage from entering?” said Brett, pointing to one of the signs.
“Gangs would be my best bet. Look at the tagging on the side of the school.”
A large artful scroll was spray-painted on the side of the building. To Nancy the symbols and words didn’t make any sense. The scroll’s meaning was lost on anyone outside of the gangs. To a gang member, the same scroll could mean life or death, depending on which gang held the territory.
“Poor kids. This is a rough place to go to kindergarten.”
“You aren’t kidding.”
The couple decided to sit on the ground behind a parked car and wait for the others. Once settled, Brett said, “How long should we sit here?”
“I don’t know. Thirty minutes at least?” she said.
“I would have said an hour.”
“An hour? Don’t you think that’s excessive? The park is right down the street. Anyone that didn’t get caught should be along shortly. Unless they got lost. Then there’s not much we can do for them.”
Brett’s expression immediately changed when she suggested less time.
“Fine. One hour. Then we have to leave. It’s already late afternoon.”
“I can live with that,” said Brett before he kissed the top of her head.
— 20 —
Meg’s feet screamed at her as she sprinted away from the soldiers. She barely had enough time to jam her swollen feet back into her shoes and slap together the laces before they were forced to bolt. They ran as quickly as possible in the direction taken by Brett and Nancy, hoping it was the way Frank had previously indicated. If not, they could find themselves hopelessly lost in an unfamiliar town. They ran for another minute before Joe pulled on her arm.
“Nobody’s chasing us,” he said, breathing heavily.
“What do you—” she started, glancing over her shoulder. “What the hell?”
“I know. They were right on top of us,” said Joe. “Now we’re completely alone.”
“What do you think happened back there?” she asked him.
“From the looks of it, I’d say those guards were enjoying each other’s company when we stumbled onto their love nest.”
“Oh, come on! You can’t be serious? I think they were patrolling the park. Somehow we managed to get lucky that they didn’t spot us earlier.”
“I think those two were the ones getting lucky. Or you’re right, and taking the long way through the woods saved us from getting caught.”
“It doesn’t matter, I guess,” said Meg, glancing around the park. “I have no idea where we are, by the way.”
“Me neither. We don’t have a compass or anything else that could help us find our way. I think I remember Frank saying we needed to go in this direction until we reached a school. Or maybe he said we needed to go in this direction after the school. I couldn’t tell you any more than that. Everything got erased from my memory when we had to bolt out of there so quickly. What I do know is that we need to keep going.”
She stared through the trees and bushes ahead, spotting a chain-link fence.
“I see a fence. Probably the edge of the park,” said Meg. “That’s a good sign.”
They approached the fence, studying the neighborhood beyond it.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and catch up to Brett and Nancy,” said Joe.
“I sure hope so. I really don’t want to have to hide in this neighborhood. It’s scary looking. Besides, where else would we go? Back home? That didn’t seem like an option.”
“No, it didn’t. We could try to find my brother at his survivalist camp? He might still be there. I think it’s in this direction. Didn’t he say it was in the mountains? Or am I wrong about that?”
“No, I think you’re right. He definitely said it’s in the mountains, but I have no idea where. We’d need to look at a map to find it. It’s too big an area to cover on foot. Maybe we should skip your brother and keep heading westward—away from the suburbs.”
“I guess that’s our only option right now,” he said.
Meg felt extremely stressed at the thought of them trying to find a safe place to hide and hopefully ride out whatever crisis the government had concocted. Her mind swirled with questions about how long they’d need to hide and where a safe place would be.
They hopped the fence and walked down the nearest sidewalk, keeping an eye on the road in front of and behind them. Nothing stirred in the neighborhood, adding to her level of dread. The street looked like something out of a zombie movie. Empty and quiet one minute—she didn’t want to think about it.
Joe stopped and squinted at something up ahead. “That must be it! I see a small school or some kind of building up there.”
They picked up their pace significantly, heading directly toward the school.
“Where did he say we go next?” asked Meg.
“I think from here we have to cut through the woods. Right? Weren’t they talking about trespassing or something?” said Joe.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I zone out when Nancy’s talking. It’s all that keeps me sane around her sometimes.”
“Hey! Over here!” yelled Nancy.
“Speak of the devil,” said Meg, hoping Nancy hadn’t heard what she just said to Joe.
Nancy stood from behind a parked car and waved at them, beckoning them to join her and Brett.
“You don’t think she heard that, do you?” said Meg.
“I doubt it,” said Joe. “Too far away.”
Meg and Joe jogged over to join them behind the car.
“Damn, we’re relieved to see you guys!” said Joe.
“Us too. We weren’t sure if you guys would make it out of there,” said Brett.
“Neither were we,” said Meg.
“Any sign of the others?” asked Nancy.
“Not since we passed them running,” said Joe.
“They were crawling along. I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they got caught,” said Meg.
Her words had a chilling effect. They weren’t safe anywhere on the streets. What had seemed to be a secluded, secure passage through the park had turned into a trap. The same could and would happen again if they didn’t find a permanent place to hide. Just as the gravity of the situation weighed them down, Brett stood up and smiled.
“Or not! Here they come now!” said Brett excitedly.
“What the hell?” said Nancy.
The three men strolled down the center of the street, in the direction of the school. They didn’t look like they were intentionally moving slow. Instead, they appeared physically unable to walk any faster.
“What the hell happened to you guys? We thought they nailed you,” said Nancy.
“They did,” said Frank.
“What?”
“Both guards focused on us. The woman caught me, and the man ran ahead, grabbing Mike and Frank,” said Marvin.
“They grabbed you? Oh shit. What happened next? Why did they let you go?”
Marvin came over to them and put his bag on the ground. “It was the oddest thing. They asked to see our codes.”
“Your what?” asked Joe.
“What does that mean?” asked Nancy.
“We had no idea. They made us pull up our sleeves and inspected our left forearms with some sort of reader,” said Frank.
“What kind of reader?” asked Brett.
“The sort with the funny blue light that can pick up invisible ink,” said Mike. “They had th
e same stuff at Disney World. When we went there, the park marked our hands with invisible ink. They scanned our hands when we reentered the park in the evening.”
“That can’t be it. It has to be something more complicated,” said Frank.
“What happened when you weren’t able to show any markings or whatever they were looking for?” asked Nancy.
“Nothing. They just let us go. They said we needed to go to the nearest processing center immediately. Then they just left us. They seemed like they were in a hurry to depart,” said Mike.
The group of friends stood around considering what had occurred.
“I’m starting to wonder if you were right,” said Meg, turning to Joe.
“Right about what?” asked Nancy.
“Joe has this idea that the guards were off for a little afternoon delight when we broke up their party. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Why else would they have let the three amigos over here out of their clutches? They probably didn’t want to have to explain why they were in the park,” said Joe.
“That could very well be what happened,” said Marvin, scratching his chin.
“Where to now?” asked Brett.
“Now we have to start cutting through the yards to get out of the neighborhoods and into the forest,” said Frank.
“How far away are we from home?” said Nancy, turning to Brett.
“I’m guessing several hours at least,” said Brett.
“Then we should stay put for now. Maybe we can break into the school and rest here. We’ll never make it home. We’re all exhausted from the day. Besides, I really don’t feel like spending the night in a mosquito-infested forest,” said Nancy.
“I second that,” said Meg.
“Me too. Let’s see if we can get inside,” said Joe.
Yanking open his bag, Frank pulled out a small hand ax and said, “I’ve got just the tool for the job!”
“Where did you get that?” asked Mike.
“I took it from the lifeboat. I almost decided to drop it when we were walking on the hilly paths. Glad I didn’t.”
Frank led the group around the back of the building. Looking over the windows, he decided on one at the end of the bank of windows. Spreading his legs to steady himself, he took a long swing, cracking the window. The glass shattered, spilling both inside the building and on the ground. After knocking out the shards on the sill, he placed a jacket over it and said, “Ladies first.”
