Escape to Canamith

by Richard Friedman

  “Billy goat bit her daughter’s leg,” corrected Dr. Goldman.

  “Either way, rabbit or billy goat. I think she should be with her child during this crisis. She hasn’t come up with the magic answer yet, and perhaps she never will. In the meantime, something terrible may befall her daughter and I’d feel partially responsible for that if I thought I was part of the reason she was sitting in this hotel with us and not spending every waking minute possible with her baby girl. Dr. Goldman, you had small child at one time, didn’t you?”

  “It wasn’t that long ago, thank you, and yes, I see your point. You don’t know Professor Jenkins too well. As much as she loves the little girl, that would be viewed as giving up, and one thing I can assure you, Mr. Drake, there’s no quit in that woman.”

  “I agree! I can see that for myself. That’s why I think we should present this idea as a united front…as a group…to insist that she leave this place at once and return to her child. We can send her assistant with her too. He can keep tabs on her, and let’s face it; the poor boy almost got me killed at the zoo. His loss will be easier to overcome. There are plenty of brilliant minds in this room to figure out what’s going on. What say the group?”

  Doctors Massey and Morales looked to Goldman to take their cue.

  “I suppose it would be better for the child if she was with her mother…”

  “Good! Then it’s decided. I’ll get Aldo and we’ll tell Professor Jenkins at lunch. I’ve already prepped General Taft about the idea and I have a driver and a car ready to transport both of them back home.”

  When the team entered the lunchroom, Lila was already seated with Aldo, eating their salads with fresh chopped chicken. Everyone else kept standing, looking restive.

  “What’s up with you people? Did I miss something?” she asked.

  Drake, in his first stoic moment of his life, sensed that nobody else was ready to talk, so he did. “Lila, we’ve been talking, and—”

  The slender professor stood up with a jolt. She wasn’t pleased. “Who’s been talking?”

  “Please, Lila, hear me out. Things are getting worse out there and we were talking and we want you to go home.”

  “What are talking about?” Lila steamed at the suggestion she leave the capital.

  “Just listen for a minute. You have a small child. The rest of us have grown children or, are…unattached,” said Drake, and Lila noticed Aldo cringe.

  “What is your point?” Lila demanded.

  Goldman stepped in. “My kids are in their mid-thirties now. They are scattered all over the place. Same with Dr. Morales. Your daughter needs you. You’ve got to get out of here while you can. Mr. Drake said he’s made transportation arrangements with Gen. Taft for you. I’m afraid the wheels, as they say, are already in motion.”

  Lila despised other people making decisions for her. It harkened her back to her youth when her father insisted she stay in Canamith. I am an accomplished scientist in my field, a published author, a guest speaker and professor at a major university, and now I’m being told to go home.

  Lila eyed Massey with disbelief. He turned away, ashamed that he had not reached out to her first.

  “Lila, the way things are going…I feel…we all feel…I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Sophie and you weren’t there for her.”

  “Please, Dr. Massey…” Lila began.

  He turned back to his colleague and muttered, “I’m sorry, Lila, I mean it, but you should be with Sophie. This decision is irrevocable.”

  Lila plopped back down in the chair and hit the cushion with a thud. She tried to invoke the brilliant sentence that would persuade her peers to acquiesce to her way of thinking, but the words didn’t come. As the right side of her brain searched for the reasons to stay, the left side conjured images of Sophie. She saw Sophie crying in the hospital, her leg bitten by an unassuming billy goat. The wound was healing, but the world had been turned upside down and thrown sideways since that day at Sanderell Hospital.

  Lila kept her head facing the old tattered carpeting, a combination of blue and green paisley wool that was designed to hide stains. Now it found a new purpose that the manufacturer hadn’t thought of. It was absorbing Lila’s tears.

  She didn’t cry often and certainly wouldn’t have thought she would find herself breaking down in front of this group. She’d cried in front of Massey once. That was when Sophie was born. Massey brought an appropriate gift to the hospital, but the Junior Scientist Kit came seven or eight years too early for her to enjoy.

  “Look at me, I’m a mess,” whispered Lila.

  Dr. Goldman handed her a tissue, and Lila dabbed at the salty remnants of tears on her face.

  Drake, the pragmatist of the group, changed the tone, tried to rush her out the door.

  “Well, so much for mushy good-byes. Professor, you’ll have to excuse us. You have a daughter to hug and kiss, and we’re going to try and save the world for the two of you. If you don’t mind….” He motioned her to leave with his the gestures of his right hand.

  “That’s it?” questioned Lila. “Dr. Massey, can I speak with you in private for a moment?” They moved to the side of the lunchroom, far from Drake and the rest of the people. “I don’t trust him,” said Lila.

  “Who?”

  “Who do you think? Drake. I’m telling you. Keep an eye on him. This is all happening too fast. This doesn’t feel right. Can’t you sense something odd about him?”

  “He certainly doesn’t fit the type of academia we associate with, I’ll give you that.”

  Lila grunted.

  “Sometimes you drive me crazy! I’m telling you, I can’t pinpoint it. Please, be careful around that guy. Can you at least promise me that?”

  “Promise. Now, go and get your stuff together. We’ll be laughing about all this in two weeks back at the college.”

  Lila shook her head, disgusted with Massey’s lack of foresight, and walked away.

  Massey walked back towards the rest of the group. “Mr. Gorrell?

  No response. Aldo stared into space, lost in thought.

  “Mr. Gorrell?” This second request was louder and got the young man’s attention.

  “Yes, Dr. Massey?”

  “I want you to go with Professor Jenkins. She thinks she can handle anything thrown her way, but I want you to keep an eye on her for me. I’ll need her back at the school when this calms down and I want you to escort her back safely. What do you say?”

  “No problem. Are you sure?” chirped the eager assistant.

  “We can handle it here without you.”

  “Dr. Massey, are we flying back home?”

  “You won’t need vomit bags today, Aldo. You’ll be driving. Air travel has been curtailed to the military. I’ll see back at the university soon. Please be careful, both of you.”

  A couple of swift good-byes and hug from Dr. Morales and Lila and Aldo headed out of the lunchroom. Lila turned at the door and offered one last bit of encouragement. “Remember…all things are explainable. I’ll be thinking of you guys. I’ll try to call you if I think of anything. Goodbye.”

  Lila rushed back to her room and gathered her belongings. She tried for an hour to reach J.J., but the telephone lines were busy. On her fourteenth attempt to reach her husband, the line connected to Kate’s house.

  “J.J.? Is that you? The phone reception is terrible. It’s no use, honey, I’m leaving here.”

  “Sophie and I have been worried sick. We were going to get in the car and try to find you. I didn’t know what to do. What’s going on there? You wouldn’t believe what’s happening here, it’s crazy. I’m trying to keep Sophie calm, but she can tell that everyone is upset.”

  “Is Sophie all right? Tell me the truth,” Lila demanded.

  “She misses you and she’s doesn’t understand why the schools are closed and why we’re eating out-of-date food from the pantry. What have you guys come up with?”

  “I don’t know what to tell you, but I�
��m leaving here in an hour. They’re not letting me fly home. I’m going to have to drive. Three more planes fell out of the sky yesterday and passenger planes have been grounded. Massey was able to commandeer one of the heavy metal-plated military vehicles and if we can find enough gasoline, I’ll be home. It’ll take at least nine hours, maybe longer, I’m not sure. I don’t know when I’ll be able to reach you again.” Lila paused, then added, “Have everything ready to go when I get home.”

  “Go? Go where? All the emergency shelters are full. While you’ve been trying to save our sorry asses, the majority of the coast is in shelters and bunkers. We’re like the last ones last inside a house. There’s people going up and down the streets looking for food and I’ve heard horror stories about what they’re doing to people who don’t give up their food,” said J.J.

  “Those shelters won’t last for long, if I’m correct in my assumptions. I’ll tell you about it when I get there. Can I talk to Sophie?”

  “Yeah, hold on.”

  A minute passed as Lila waited for Sophie to pick up the telephone. The little blue-eyed blonde love of J.J. and Lila’s life spoke softly.

  “Mommy, when are you coming home? I miss you.”

  “Oh, baby, I miss you too. I want to give you a great big hug and a kiss. I’m coming home real soon, sweetie.” Lila wasn’t able to control her emotions and began crying while Sophie spoke on the other end.

  “Mommy, are we gonna die?”

  “Goodness, no, Sophie. Don’t say such a silly thing. Daddy and I are going to keep you safe.”

  “Mom…my, I…I…want you to come hooome nowwww.”

  “Oh, my angel, I’ll be home as soon as I can. Daddy will take care of you until then. Put daddy back on the phone, my love.”

  “Okay.”

  “Lila, it’s me. Hurry home, but be careful. Call me if you can. Sophie is scared to death. I don’t mind saying that I’m scared too.”

  “J.J., being scared is okay. Keep it together for Sophie. I expect we’ll make it home soon.”

  “There’s one more minor item I should mention.”

  “What?”

  “Your brother Mathis is here.”

  And with those words, the call dropped. Lila tried the number again, but it was no use, and before she made a third attempt, Aldo was waving his arm frantically for her to follow him to the garage, where the military vehicle was gassed up and ready to leave the capital.

  CHAPTER 27

  Aldo waited in the truck when Lila tossed her duffel bag in the back seat. Lila saw that the driver was equipped with several rifles and the front seat was filled with boxes of ammunition.

  “How did Dr. Massey pull off this nice ride?” asked Lila.

  “Thank General Anderson when you get back home. Do you remember him? He’s the man I wanted to neutralize not too long ago. We can thank him for the vehicle and our driver. His name is Jay Kenyon. He lives out by us and he’s made this trip a dozen times.”

  Lila was relieved that neither of them was going to have to drive this over-sized truck all the way back to the coast themselves.

  Lila flashed the driver a big grin. As much as she was disappointed to leave the capital, she couldn’t wait to see Sophie. The driver smiled back and gave Lila and Aldo a chilling, but welcome greeting.

  “Hi, I’m going to do my best get you both back home safely. Don’t worry. I have this truck, these brains in the top of my head, and my friends sitting next to me.”

  Kenyon pointed to the assorted weapons easily within his reach in case of an emergency.

  “Ready?” he said.

  Lila and Aldo nodded and away they went. They drove through the underground parking lot and then on to the street where a hint of sunlight temporarily gave them a false sense of security that everything would be all right.

  When they emerged from the lot all three occupants of the truck realized that the world had changed in the last few days while they were kept within the confines of the hotel.

  “Aldo, look!” shouted Lila.

  “What is it?

  “It’s that guy from that Dead Bugs company.”

  Kenyon slowed as if to stop, but everyone let out a startled gasp when they got closer. Edgar had been killed. A pool of dried blood formed on the sidewalk next to his head. A half smoked cigarette and the rest his of smokes lay strewn all over the street.

  “I told him smoking was gonna kill him,” said Aldo.

  “That’s not funny,” Lila whispered.

  “I meant he should have gone back inside his truck, not hang around the parking lot smoking those damn things.”

  “Don’t look at him,” said Kenyon.

  Lila buried her head in Aldo’s shoulder and covered her head with both hands.

  Her younger assistant touched her gently on the back. “It’s going to be all right. You’re going home. Close your eyes. I’ll let you know if there’s anything going on.”

  Without any verbal acknowledgment, Lila let of the weight of the last few days out of mind and fell into a deep sleep while Kenyon sped the truck out of the city and on to the road heading west.

  They had traveled several miles when the first signs of trouble began. Kenyon had taken his eyes off the road for an instant to view the remains of a smoldering cargo truck and missed the red light signal and plowed through the intersection. The southbound tail end of another vehicle missed their truck by inches. The force of the sudden stop sent luggage and laptops flying, startling Lila awake. One of the smaller computers struck Aldo a glancing blow to the side of the head. Dark crimson blood began to ooze and dripped on the leather seat, giving the bench a disturbing mix of leather and blood.

  “Damn it,” yelled Aldo. As he wiped his forehead, he wasn’t surprised to see his right arm and sleeve soaked in blood.

  “Sorry back there!” shouted Kenyon. “Is everyone all right?”

  Lila grabbed a pair of sweat pants that were sticking out of her suitcase and handed them to Aldo, who used them to at first wipe, then press and hold on his wound.

  “Yeah, just a flesh wound, as you guys would say.” Aldo shouted to the driver. He turned to Lila and said softly, “Maybe the Army didn’t want Kenyon driving any of their troops. They probably thought we were expendable.”

  “I don’t believe that. Look out there: people are going nuts. I wouldn’t want to drive to my neighborhood grocery store and Kenyon is driving us all the way back home.”

  The next hour was uneventful but their easy drive west on Highway 29 turned ugly forty-five miles from the spot where Aldo received his first injury of the day. His second came when Kenyon stopped on the side of the road to relieve himself. He was gone less than a minute, but he failed to protect the guns in the front of the seat. When he left the car, he forgot to lock the door. Two young men in their mid-twenties ran up to the opposite side of the car where Kenyon couldn’t see them. They crept down low against the driver’s door. As Kenyon was whistling the Army fight song, one of the youths opened the door, reached inside the truck and grabbed one of the guns sitting on the passenger seat with his right hand. His left hand grabbed a round of ammunition and he was out of the vehicle again, running across traffic on the highway to a waiting car that sped away before Kenyon had finished zipping up his pants.

  Gorrell opened the rear gate and tried to jump out to catch the criminal, but he landed awkwardly on his left ankle and stayed down on the dusty road for a moment.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” yelled Lila.

  “Damn it, Kenyon. You forgot to the lock the door! How stupid is that?” Aldo yelled to the returning soldier.

  “Shit,” said Kenyon, “the gun they stole doesn’t work. I’m angry they lifted the ammo, we might need that.”

  “Kenyon, why are you carrying guns that don’t work?” asked Lila.

  “That was your gun, if we needed it. The general authorized me to bring along one working weapon. I requisitioned another one without him knowing it, and then I asked him
if I could take the busted revolver, you know, to give to you in case we ran into trouble. At least it would make you feel better. He agreed. It’s best he didn’t see the stash of ammo I pilfered on the way out the door,” said Kenyon.

  “What makes you think I’m incapable of using a gun?” Lila asked defiantly.

  “Well, can you?”

  “That’s not the point, and for the record, no, I’ve haven’t shot a gun in years, but I hope that you will not discount my abilities. Can we get moving before somebody steals the steering wheel from under your nose?”

  Aldo rose and tested out his twisted ankle. “Don’t worry about me, guys, I’m fine. I was just trying to save the fair maiden from the bad guys.”

  “Sorry; is your ankle okay?” asked Lila.

  “Yeah, it’s okay. Do you have any ice up there?”

  “That’s a negative,” said Kenyon. “Do you think that in the future you can stay in the vehicle and leave the heroics to me?”

  “You’re already injured and we’ve barely left the capital,” Lila chuckled to Aldo.

  “Let’s hope I can withstand the rest of the journey without needing my insurance card,” Aldo replied.

  “Good luck finding a hospital with an empty room today. Let’s see what Kenyon can do now that his bladder is empty,” said Lila.

  “Whatever you do, don’t offer him anything else to drink. I think my cat has more holding power than our driver.”

  “Shhh! Not so loud. If he decides to dump us out of the car, we’re dead meat. Maybe we’re making him nervous. Try talking to him about something he likes.”

  “What do you suggest? Hey, buddy, do you prefer to shoot bad guys in the head or in the leg?”

  “I was thinking of a less violent and hostile option. Listen to this. Oh, Kenyon?”

  “Yes, Professor Jenkins,” replied the driver.

  “What is your favorite facet of the Army?”

  “Let me see…” said the driver. He removed his hat, rubbed his hair, short as it was, and replaced the cap. “I guess if I had to pick one thing it would be shooting bad guys in the head.”