No Normal Day

by Richardson, J.

  As they had moved through town, it had been a very different picture. Not just the cars looked pillaged but more and more of the stores and anywhere that food might be, had broken windows and doors, things strewn out all around. And they were seeing more fires, some intentional in yards and open areas. Some structures had actually burned out or were still on fire, fires on the horizon in dozens of places. The most shocking scene was the crash of a medical transport helicopter. It still smoldered, the blades of the chopper rose up from a house roof, some charred looking limbs sticking out from under a stretcher cot that was thrown out of the transport. For some reason, Jack had not previously thought of the planes in the sky. Looking at this crash and then at the many fires in the distance, he said to Lee, “Of course, the planes would have just fell out of the sky.”

  Lee looked over at him, “S--t, thousands would have died just from that.” Jack caught just a brief scent of the awful smell, that he recognized, of charred flesh. They caught glimpses of people moving around, some openly gawked at the moving vehicle, most were intent on what they were up to.

  In the few small towns that Jack's meandering route was took them, it was not quiet so bad. They had made it to the bridge that spanned the lake, only about an hour longer than a pleasure trip to visit the kids would have taken. Jack slowed, looked up ahead and he could see dead vehicles dotting the bridge. There was very little shoulder on the bridge, just guard rails. Some sections looked like it would be a tight squeeze to get through. Like right in front of them, where a big bread truck sat, the front end crossing the center line a bit. Jack inched the wagon through, not without “grandma's” pristine old car getting it's first battle scars. As they moved past the truck, they could see the back doors had been beat to hell, finally pried open. Not much left in there, a few snack cakes and loaves of bread mashed into the hot pavement. They had to get out and move two more vehicles but made it across to the big metal locked gates that were the entrance to Trish's lake addition. Jack pulled off the road and up to the gates. “What now?” said Lee.

  “I have an opener, of course it's useless. Eric, my son-in-law, did tell me about a manual release...if I can just remember where it is.” Jack bailed out, he climbed over the barb wire fence, that led off from rock pillars beside the gate, to get to the back side. He looked around the lock mechanism and the box that housed the swing out controls. Lee stood in the door of the wagon. He said, “Jack, this could get us shot.”

  “Yeah, well keep a look out, will ya?”

  Jack finally found a switch up underneath the lock and he heard a click. The gates were loose, he swung them back towards him. “Drive through, Lee”. They closed the gates behind them. The narrow road twisted and turned, following the shore of the lake. Weekend houses, some looking too grand for weekenders dotted the shoreline, woods were thick on the opposite road side. It was about a mile to where Trish and Eric's modest lake cabin sat. This was a popular retreat for wealthy Dallas-ites. However, Eric was really smart about real estate. He found an older house on a nice part of the lake and bought it for a steal. He and Trish had worked hard, remodeling and were so proud of their house on the lake. Along the way, Jack saw Eric's truck, he eased around it, feeling the tires spin a bit on the soft road side. “He didn't quite make it to the cabin,” said Jack. They turned off on a small circle and pulled up to the lake cottage. Jack saw Eric coming up from the lake, carrying a bucket. Trish, came out the back door, two little giggling girls running right past her, grabbed on to Jack's legs, squealing “Poppa!”. Jack, reached for Trish. Her eyes were moist, “Daddy”. He grasped Eric's hand to shake. “Are you guys okay?”

  “We are making it.” Eric puts his arm around Trish's waist. “What's happening, it's something bad, isn't it?”

  “You are right, it is something bad. We just don't know exactly what, yet. Oh, Trish...Eric...this is Lee, he is a good new friend.”

  “Nice to meet you, Lee.” They both shook his hand.

  Trish wiped a tear away and looked over at the station wagon. “Daddy, what in the hell, is that?”

  Jack laughed, “Well, it looked a lot better before we had to squeeze by the bread truck on the bridge. It belongs to Kathryn and Tate.”

  “Kat? Where are they? And why is that piece of junk running?'

  “I won't get technical, Trish, it seems that the really old cars are not effected by whatever has happened. Not many of these beauties left, though”, he smiled. “Kat and Tate and all the rest of the family are back at the house.”

  “Everyone?” Trish was wide eyed.

  “Everyone but ya'll, girl. We decided it was time you came home for a visit.”

  Jack got serious. “Go in and start gathering your clothes and things, Trish. You better get a least a few of the girl's toys, not big things. You know how they love to dig in the chest of old toys that belonged to you girls.” Nicky interrupted, “Yay! We can play with the little people”.

  “Sure, but right now, you need to go in and help Mommy.” As she and the girls went in the house, Jack said, “Honey, get what you really need, don't plan on coming back anytime soon.” Trish looked like she didn't totally accept that.

  “Eric, if you have any food, we need to gather it. Do you have a gun, here?”

  Eric looked down at the muddy water in the bucket. “We don't have much food left. I was putting off telling Trish, I have been seriously thinking of breaking in the neighbor's cabin, to see if they had any thing in their pantry. I was more than a little glad to see you, Jack. I have a .22 that I brought down to shoot snakes and such.”

  “Go get all of that together and any ammo that you have. And tell Trish to gather your blankets, pillows and some towels. I need to talk to her about something....but first he looked at the house next door and remembered Beth saying, don't pass up any food. “we are going to visit the neighbor's”.

  They have loaded the back of the wagon, stuffing in bags and linens. Trish moved to get the girl's car seats. Jack put both hands on her shoulders and looked her in the face. “Trish, you have got to get your head into this. I know that it's a lot to take in but you are a smart girl. No car seats, the girls will sit between you and Eric, in the back seat.” She spots Eric, coming out of the house next door with a trash bag full of something. Jack followed her eyes, “We have a lot of hungry mouths at the house, we need all the food we can get, understand?”

  She pulled away from him. “I understand, Daddy.”

  “Good, now I need to talk to you about something else. Can you get in the warehouse?” Trish was the second in charge, rumor said soon to be number one, at a sprawling distribution plant for a huge retail home improvement chain. It was about fifteen minutes from the lake house.

  “I wasn't at the plant on Saturday, I am not sure what the situation is there. I should be able to get in. Why do you want to go to DC?” questioned Trish

  “There are some things that we really need, in order for all of us to be safe and function at the house,” said Jack.

  Trish had that disapproving look on her face, the one that was actually so similar to her Dad's. “We can't just go in the warehouse and take stuff,” she said in disbelief.

  “I understand that this goes against everything that I taught you. If the world ever gets straight again, lots of folks will maybe answer for their actions. But right now, the survival of you and those girls and all of us depends on the choices we make. It is the number one priority. We will try our best to accomplish that, without hurting anyone else. Make no mistake, I will do what I have to, to kept us alive and safe.”

  Trish just loaded the girls in between Eric and herself and sat sullen. She had become a very independent and strong lady, it had been necessary for her to move up in her career, in a mostly man's world. Her parents had taught her values, honesty and patriotism. Her Dad believed the worst transgression was to lie. She and her sisters had learned early on, if you were doing something you shouldn't be, then the only way to get around it...you had to lie, the big
no-no. So the warning, don't ever lie to me, pretty much covered all of the rules. She wasn't convinced yet, of her Dad's assessment of the situation. As they moved away from the safe haven of the lake, she would quickly change her mind.

  The closer they moved to the warehouse and to the Interstate that ran right in front of the complex, the more she was seeing the horror of what had happened. Lines of dead and vandalized vehicles, fires were burning, either no one around at all or menacing looking groups of people roaming around. Even packs of dogs were picking around, looking for something to eat. Trish looked down and saw the little hand resting on her leg. Oh my god, I should have known, Dad is right. This is something is really bad. It is for certain.

  The road took them under the Interstate, they only had to push one car out of the way to reach the gates of the DC. In the far distance down the Interstate, Lee spotted what appears to be some military vehicles, they looked mobile. He said, “Eric, do you have those binoculars?” The field glasses were still around Eric's neck, he removed the strap and handed them to Lee in the front seat. Lee opened the door and scoped down the jammed road, bringing the distant vehicles into focus. After a few minutes, he got back in and handed the glasses back to Eric. “It's military alright, maybe National Guard. I can't really see what they are doing. I did see them put a couple of guys in the back of a truck.”

  Jack said, “How come the trucks are mobile? Maybe they are beginning to try to give some aid.”

  Lee just looked ahead for a minute and then said, “It might be rescue and aid but they seem to be holding guns against them. Maybe policing? I do remember hearing that there were supposed to be some vehicles in shielded storage, that would remain functional after an EMP. This could be a good sign, I don't think I would trust in that. We will wait and see.”

  The girls were being quiet, did they sense the drama of their situation? Trish was about to tell her Dad to drive around to the rear of complex where the loading docks were, when she saw that the front gates were busted open and no one was in the little guard house. Trish told her dad, “Go past the parking lot and turn left and go to the loading docks,” This warehouse distribution center covered acres and acres, hundreds of employees worked there. It would have been the weekend shift last Saturday, so not as many cars were in the parking lot as would have been during the week. The back gates also stood open. One big truck was inside the back gates, about half way to the docks and several more were backed up at the docks. “Dad, go in that big opening over there,” she pointed to a ground level, wide entrance. The wagon crept in the door, along the concrete floor.

  The warehouse had glass windows way up high, rows and rows to let in the natural light and fans as big as airplane propellers hung down, their blades still. It was, of course, darker than outside, Lee pulled out a big flashlight. Conveyer belts and towering shelves of product filled the enormous spaces. Fork lifts were here and there and no sign of anyone. It was pretty stuffy inside and they rolled down the windows. Jack was digging out his list so they could locate what they needed. Trish said, “Stop,...I smell smoke. Do you smell that?”

  “Yeah,” said Jack.

  “Turn down that way, beside those lawn tractors,” Trish spoke in a whisper.

  They eased along past the mowers and wheelbarrows and other large yard equipment. At the end of the long row, in an open area there was a fire burning in a big metal barrel. “Wait” she said, “What the heck?” About twenty men were standing around or sitting in lawn chairs. Some tents were set up further away, a girl opened the flap and exited one. Lanterns and other battery outdoor lights were scattered around. She saw bar-b-que grills and coolers. It looked like a big tail gate party, at first glance. A short, dark haired man in jeans and a T-shirt walked about half way to the car. Trish opened the door and stepped out, Jack exited at the same time. Lee slid his hand to the gun and Eric moved the girls up close beside him.

  Trish said, “Manuel? Is that you, what are you doing here?”

  “Hey-y, boss lady. We were on the weekend sheeft, you know, we could not leaf here, boss.” the man spoke with a Spanish accent, the same as a large portion of the employees of this plant. The company had an aggressive program for the employees to learn Spanish and for the Spanish employees to learn English. Manuel spoke English well and he was a leader in the area where he worked. Trish, had studied hard to learn the language and she spoke Spanish fairly fluently. She saw some familiar faces but many she did not recognize.

  “Que gente? Manuel's amigos?” queried Trish.

  “Yes boss, they are employees and mi amigos,” the man answered.

  “You know you should not be here, Manuel?”

  “Si, um-m, yes, but we have no place to go.” Some of the men were easing forward behind Manuel, one had a knife in his hand. Jack moved in closer behind Trish, his hand on his .380. Eric was leaning over the seat and watching closely, he had pushed the girls down in the seat. Lee was ready. Trish heard a questioning small voice from the car, she was glad that the guns she had frowned at earlier, on the front seat of the wagon and on her Dad's waist, were there.

  She looked around, there was some bottled water and some candy wrappers, other packaging from the vending machine food in the cafeteria. Of course, they would be all broken into, the cafeteria meals are contracted out, probably not a whole lot of food stored there. “What are you going to eat?” Manuel relaxed just a bit and put his hand up to signal the others to back off.

  “We are managing boss, there are some out looking for food right now.”

  Trish said, “Are there any more people still here?”

  “Most everyone left. Maybe still someone, way down at the other end. We hear noises last night,” he pointed.

  Jack touched the back of Trish's arm. She sighed and straightened her back, “We are going to gather some things we need from the plant. Then we will be gone. Don't burn down the place”.

  “Yes boss lady,” Manuel smiled. She turned to walk back to the car, Jack right behind her. Manuel said, “Boss?” She stopped. “Viaje Con Dios”.

  Trish turned and faced him, “Viaje Con Dios, Manuel.”

  They got in the wagon and Jack backed down the long aisle. Eric didn't say anything, he and Trish just exchanged a knowing look. Brook climbed into her lap and Nicky squeezed up close. Trish said, “Dad, when you get backed up, go over to the left and we will find those tarps on Momma's list.”

  They moved around the miles of aisles, they found nearly everything on their list. The tarps, several boxed shelving units, another big roll of barb wire, three more plywood panels and lumber studs, some long bolts and nuts, a rake and a hoe and some spades. They included a couple of big heavy plastic tubs. Trish saw some solar outdoor lights and pulled them off the shelf. The big bag was not much use, they just flattened it out and stacked the stuff on top. The tarp covered everything, they tied and secured it the best they could.

  The station wagon, once again was bearing a cumbersome load. Jack noticed that one of the tires looked a little low. He recalled that Jason said he had to change a flat. We probably don't even have a spare. “Eric, I think the spare tire is mounted up under the wagon, would you look?” said Jack.

  Eric knelt down and looked up under the car, “I see a wheel and no tire, Jack.”

  “Damn, that's no good. We've got to find some spares.”

  Trish directed, “Go back out and down at the very end of the warehouses there is a garage. They do maintenance on the fork-lifts, etc. We do have two pick-up trucks and van that we use around here. Maybe we can find some tires and wheels there. If not, we will just have to go out in the parking lot and see what we can find.”

  They were lucky enough to find a tire and wheel, they replaced the low tire. They also put a spare underneath. Jack wanted one more. He doubted the wisdom of stacking one more thing on top, he was going to anyway. The kids were asking for lunch. Trish dug around through the neighbor's food in the bag, she found cans of vienna sausage, crackers, some cheese sprea
d in a can. Jack remembered the vanilla wafers that Beth had sent and tells the girls. With some of the warm water from the back, they had a break and felt a bit better.

  They were loaded up and headed back out of the complex. Trish spotted a man climbing out of one of trucks at the dock. He had a rifle pointed down at his side. Must be one of the truck drivers. Trish asked Jack to pull up. She rolled down the window and said, “Hey, did you get stuck here?”. The man looked the car over and then bent down to look at Trish.

  “Oh, hello mam. Yeah, me and a few other drivers got stranded. A couple of them took off walking, two days ago. There's two more guys here”. The man was still looking over all the stuff in and on the old station wagon.

  “Well, this is some of my family. We are trying to make it back home, about 90 miles from here. You do know that there are still some employees inside?”

  The man doesn't smell so good up close, Trish draws back a bit.

  “You mean those stupid greasers,” he snarled. “They are stealing everything they can get their hands on.” She spotted a lawn chair and outdoor cooker beside the man's truck.

  Trish doesn't have much patience for bigots and idiots. Got that from her father, she guesses. “They are employees at this plant and they are in a damn bad situation, like all of us. I really wouldn't fool with them, if I was you.” The man just shrugged, pulled up his dirty looking jeans and spit.

  She looked over at Jack, “Let's head home, Dad”.

  Jack put his foot down hard on the accelerator, even with the load that the wagon was burdened with, it's mismatched tires squealed, the rear end slid just a bit and he headed towards home. For some reason that he didn't understand, he felt damn good and he was laughed out loud. Lee looked at him, “You are one crazy old man”. The girls giggled, but soon, as they twisted down the country back roads again they slept. Trish looked down at them, she wanted to tell them that she was sorry that they would not get to have the kind of childhood that her parents had given her. She was soon asleep herself, Eric's arm was stretched across the seat back to touch her shoulder.