Burn District 1

by Jenkins, Suzanne

  “So, you’re saying its okay?”

  “We’re great.” She smiled at Kelly, and then got a look that Kelly would later refer to as Laura’s go fuck yourself look. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious, I guess. You never talk about Mike.”

  “Like I said, he’s private. And, he’s mine.” Laura smiled. “Not that you were implying otherwise.” Kelly thought it was common, if not immoral for single friends to make moves on married friend’s husbands.

  Easter dinner would be a turning point in her relationship with the Davis marriage. They’d had too much to drink and Kelly made a flirtatious comment to Mike in front of everyone, including his mother and father.

  They’d just come in from an Easter egg hunt and roll, and the noise was deafening. The four Davis children, plus a few extra neighborhood kids ran the adults ragged. Mike and Laura loved every minute of it, jumping up and down and screaming, encouraging the kids, the grandparents making as much noise. The yelling and wine had given Kelly a whopping headache, nothing that more wine, or better yet, a shot of tequila wouldn’t take care of. It led to the adults doing tequila shots with lime and salt after dinner. Carol was hysterical laughing, teetering in the corner of the kitchen on a barstool. It looked like a strong breeze could knock her over.

  “Mom, I have you to blame for the madness around here,” Mike said. “What were you thinking, putting squirt guns in the kid’s Easter baskets?” They teased her, howling laughter. Kids running in and out of the house added to the scene.

  “Why’d we have so many kids?” Mike asked, mocking. Everyone laughed, Laura shaking her head. There was a lull in the conversation, when Kelly felt a zap of energy flow through her body just as Mike innocently looked at her and smiled.

  “If you ever get tired of the confusion over here, my place is as quiet as a church.” The words were out of her mouth in seconds, but it confused her, like they’d been spoken by someone else. Laura stopped what she was doing and looked over at Kelly, her face relaxed and a slight smile on her face. She didn’t react the way Kelly thought she might have in the face of such disrespect. Carol gasped and whispered something to Randy, who frowned. All of this transpired in seconds. Laura was moving to the counter with the relaxed look, unthreatened by the words, when Mike got up and embraced her, and then in front of everyone, dipped her, charming her, and kissed Laura on the mouth. He smacked his lips and pulled her back into a standing position as she giggled.

  “I love my life,” Mike said. “We’re never bored, are we?” He said it in such a way as to not embarrass Kelly, but it let her know that he’d never betray his wife.

  “We are certainly never bored,” Laura agreed. “I’ll get you some ear plugs, Kelly. They are great when the decibels get too high.”

  Waves of heat flowed through her body, embarrassment, and something close to humiliation. A little tremor had started in her lips and she was afraid she would burst into tears. Too drunk to drive home, maybe fresh air would help.

  “I’m drunk,” she admitted. “Time for fresh air.”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Laura called.

  “Me, too,” Carol said. “I feel like I might throw up.”

  “Me, too,” Randy said. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to.” He got up and went into the bathroom. Mike was hysterical laughing, bent over at his waist, slapping his hand on his knee. A crisis had been averted.

  “Whose friggin idea was it anyway to do shots of tequila?” he asked.

  “Kelly,” Laura said, pointing. “It’s all her fault.”

  “Yes, I think we better keep our eye on Kelly. She might be trouble,” Mike said.

  “I’ll be on my best behavior,” Kelly answered.

  “When?” Laura asked, laughing.

  “Whenever I have to be.”

  “Well, we won’t hang by our eyelids,” Carol said, coming along side her and putting her arm through Kelly’s. “Let’s go outside before I barf.” The laughter started up again.

  By ten, Kelly was sober and ready to go home.

  “I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” she said, hugging Laura goodbye. “Thank you so much for one of the best Easters I’ve ever had.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Laura said. But Kelly felt like there was little distance, a little coolness. She loved Laura and didn’t want any pink elephants.

  “I’m sorry about that comment about my house being quiet. It was the booze.” Laura patted her arm.

  “No problem. You can see he’s not going to take you up on it.” She smiled at Kelly, with just a certain look, like she understood she led a charmed life that a lonely, middle aged woman might long for. They hugged again and Laura walked her out to her car, standing by as she buckled herself in and drove off.

  Now in the Arizona desert, Kelly rolled over on her back again and looked at the ceiling of the berth, the headliner covered in some kind of synthetic fabric that had silver threads in it, just enough glint to catch what little light there was inside.

  A body walked into the bathroom, the camper rocking reminding her where she was. She heard water running, the door opening, footsteps coming toward her.

  “Knock knock,” Steve whispered. “Kelly, do you want company?”

  She sat up and moved the folding door away. “It’s late,” she said. “Aren’t you tired?”

  “I am, but I heard you tossing and turning. I thought I’d make us some tea. I can’t sleep either.”

  “Okay, I guess tea would help,” she answered softly, inching to the edge of the mattress and sliding down to the floor. “I’m worrying about those stupid things that have the power to keep you up at night but then mean nothing in the light of day.”

  “Oh yes, I know that drill well.” He filled the teapot with water and put it on the gas stove to heat. “Now we have all the reason in the world not to sleep. I’m not even sure we’ll make it through the night.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I read on one of the forums last month that this area is vulnerable because of the food producers. One of the things you can do to control your people is to control their food source.”

  “You’re scaring me,” Kelly said. “Why’d I think this was the safest place to be?”

  “Well, don’t be afraid,” Steve said. “Being aware of these ideas will give you power. You said yourself you wanted to grow food. The only problem is we have no water here. The commercial fields are irrigated with water from the Colorado River by systems that have been in place for one hundred years.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We could go to California. Southern California, especially the mountainous region of north San Diego County has a year round growing season and a temperate climate. They’re in a drought right now, but it’s still better than we have here. We get less than three inches of rain a year.”

  “Oh boy, water is really an issue, isn’t it?” Nodding his head, he turned the stove off before the teapot whistled. He poured the boiling water over the bags and pushed a sugar jar closer to her.

  “I have a friend who has a cabin in the foothills outside of Camp Pendleton that’s been empty for five years. He’s in Florida now. But he offered me his cabin when I told him we were running.”

  “Oh no,” Kelly said. “I’ve read military installations will be the first places to get hit if there’s a war.” Steve smiled at her, waiting for her to grasp what she’d just said. It didn’t take long; lowering her head, she started to laugh. “Right.”

  “Yep, this is not the scenario anyone thought it would be with terrorists and outside dangers. It’s like civil war, only the teams haven’t differentiated yet. Or a rebellion. Yes, it will be a rebellion.”

  “Only no one is rebelling yet,” Kelly noted. “We’re just running for our lives.”

  “Give it time,” Steve replied. “Nothing is going to happen quickly, I’m afraid. Someone in a position of power is going to have to get smacked in the face first. Then something will change.
”

  Kelly sipped the tea and put her head back against the wall. “I liked my life the way it was. Boring and predictable. I don’t want to think about bombs and killing and viruses.”

  “Well, from what I hear, you can set aside any worry about a virus because it doesn’t exist.”

  “There’s no proof either way,” Kelly said, defensively. She was tired of men thinking they could make sweeping statements with no proof and that no one would challenge them.

  “Why would the hospitals be bombed if there was a threat of a mass epidemic? My own doctor told me. He went to school in Philadelphia. He said classmates of his who practice up by where you live have told him they’ve never had a case. Yet there have been, what did I hear? Ten bombings just in the Philadelphia area alone. Ten. Ten towns in the most populated area of the country.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and pointed to the door. Following him outside, Kelly pulled her sweater off the berth and shrugged into it. It was getting cold at night in the desert as autumn progressed.

  There were still red coals in the fire pit. Steve arranged more wood over the coals, small kindling and bigger split logs. He crouched down and blew on the fire until the kindling caught. “How’d you know to meet us here?” Kelly asked.

  “Laura called me with the message that she was sending me a link she wanted me to read, saying it was life or death. It was a Rumor forum. It was the first time I’d heard of burn districts. Later, I called her and all she said was that they were coming to the desert, and she’d send me an email when the time arrived. I was too antsy to wait around and told her to come whenever she wanted, I’d be here and so I am. I needed to spruce things up for my family.”

  “What did you think when you read the forums?”

  “I thought it was another conspiracy theory until I had an experience with my brother when we were returning from a fishing trip.” He told Kelly the story about the burn in Florence, South Carolina.

  They spent the hours until midnight talking and getting to know each other. Kelly was attracted to him, but very worried about Laura. Steve was attracted to Kelly and didn’t care what Laura thought. But he didn’t make a move and she certainly didn’t say anything. They had the rest of their lives if it was meant to be.

  When the moon was overhead, Steve looked at her and offered her his hand. “I guess we should call it a night.”

  Sighing, she nodded her head. “I feel like a child, fighting sleep. Like I’m going to miss out on something important if I nod off.”

  “Well we better try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is coming soon enough. I’ll wake you if anything exciting happens.” She took his hand, giggling, letting him pull her up. They stood closely and looked at each other for few minutes. She could smell his breath, minty toothpaste and cigarettes. Holding his hand out, he stepped aside.

  “After you, my dear.”

  Bowing her head, she nodded. “Thank you.” She was a little disappointed that he didn’t at least try to kiss her, but he was just waiting to get inside. He had an eerie feeling they were being watched, like maybe Laura had gotten up to pee and decided to peek out the window. Steve opened the door for Kelly and she pulled herself up into the camper. She needed to use the toilet after all the tea but was embarrassed in front of Steve. So she just pointed toward the door.

  “May I?”

  “After you,” he said. She went inside and dug for her toothbrush in the makeup bag she’d stashed in the cabinet. Looking at her reflection in the mirror while she brushed, the unreality of their situation magnified; the impossibility that she left her job and her house, running to the desert with people she didn’t know all that well, who in their generosity brought her along, saving her life, and now offered her a place to live. When she came out of the bathroom, he was sitting at the dinette with his back to the door, listening to the radio. She was touched by the effort he made, trying to give her privacy.

  “Thank you, Steve. Thank you for allowing me to stay in your camper. It just hit me how lucky I am to have Laura in my life, or I would probably be dead.” He looked up at her as she stood next to the table.

  Kelly was a classic beauty, tall and slender with red hair that had faded a little since she’d turned forty, and was moving toward strawberry. Thick, red hair hid the grey as it started to grow in with such frequency that it was impractical to pull out. It angered her; she was invisible because she wasn’t twenty-five anymore. It wasn’t fair. Seeing the way Steve was looking at her, she decided maybe she’d just been looking in the wrong age group of men. Thirty-year old guys might have felt more in step, but someone pushing sixty was definitely more appreciative.

  “Do you live in the same district?” Steve asked, surprised that it had never occurred to him why Kelly was there in the first place. “I guess I just thought you’d come along for the ride.” She shook her head.

  “If she hadn’t told me to prepare, going out of their way to come to get me, well, you get the picture.” He moved over on the bench and took her arm to pull her in.

  “Tell me how it happened?” he asked, putting his arm around her shoulder. Telling him the story about Pete coming to Mike and Laura’s, warning them to prepare and then coming back with the news they had to leave was exhausting to relate.

  Impulsively, Kelly reached her arms up around Steve’s neck and kissed him. It had been a long time for both of them. Kelly had to make an effort not to get into a frenzy of passion and he was trying to be respectful, too. But his real reason for controlling himself was because if they tried to crawl into the berth together to have sex, it would be so awkward because there wasn’t enough head room for him to get on top of her. The only way he could think of doing it was standing up right there in the kitchen. But then they’d run the risk of rocking the camper and waking up the Davis’s.

  Fortunately, she didn’t seem to need an explanation when he stopped and held her. “I guess we better say goodnight,” she said. He bent over and kissed her again.

  “Thank you for the best evening I’ve had in a long time,” he said. She slid out of the booth and waited while he got out and they embraced one more time.

  “Good night,” he whispered, turning from her. It wasn’t the easiest climb to get back in the berth and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable if he stood and gawked at her. She watched him get into his bunk bed and wave and then she climbed up and inch wormed into the space.

  It was after one o’clock in the morning. She laid on her back and thought about what had happened that night and when she finally closed her eyes, fell right to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  Laura

  Morning in Arizona is so different from Pennsylvania. Our house there faces south, the sunlight dapples through the golden and red maple leaves at an angle signaling winter is not far away. Here, the light is steely and penetrates everything in its path. I opened the shades above the sink which faces south too, but instead of a view to our pond, the fence that runs along the border between the United States and Mexico is all I see. The light depressed me, the first time it had ever had that affect. Grasping the edge of the counter, a wave of fear swept through me. Realizing I’d better conquer it before it paralyzed me, I did deep breathing, focusing on my family. As long as I stayed busy caring for them, the situation we were in wouldn’t get the best of me.

  Making coffee, putting a pan of refrigerator sweet rolls in the oven to bake, I looked out over the living room. Mike was thumbing through a magazine. His posture didn’t lie; I could tell he was ready to pounce, inactivity an abomination. He’d be looking for something to occupy his time very soon, his day of rest over with after the grueling trip.

  “I’m sending the girls out,” he said, getting up to leave. “Don’t look at me like that. They need to participate. Then I’m going to start organizing that acreage of junk your father has with the boy’s help. There are probably things in there we can use when we can’t get supplies anymore.” I sipped my coffee after he left the trailer. There w
asn’t anything to reply, although I wondered if those retail places would even be open. I watched him walk over to the van, gesturing with his hands to our girls, handing them a list and cash, laughing with Kelly.

  Kelly and the girls left to do the shopping in town. When the van pulled down the driveway, I had an additional moment of fear; I was letting my two precious daughters leave the safety of our compound. In twenty-four hours, the trailer and surrounding camp meant security to me. My dad, Randy and Mike, would never knowingly let anything bad happen to us. Now, the girls would be out of our realm of protection.

  “If we are going have any normalcy we need to allow them to do this much,” Mike said, back at the trailer, watching me wring my hands. He’d given them each two hundred dollars with lists of items to look for; nylon webbing, rolls of sheet metal at the lumberyard, a box of two-inch screws. I knew he was planning on reinforcing the trailer, but against what I wasn’t sure, and was afraid to ask.

  “Why’d you give them so much money?” I asked.

  “They’re wise women,” he said softly. “If they see something we might need, I want them to be able to buy it.”

  We’d been hoarding cash while Mike was doing doomsday prepping. Just enough of our paychecks went into the bank to cover bills, and a little went into a savings account. We were paranoid that someone at the bank might be keeping track of the cash we had on hand. When Pete came to warn us, we stepped the process up, closing our savings account, cashing out what we could in investments and paying bills with money orders. If we lived frugally, we figured we had enough cash for a year. We didn’t know what to do with all that paper. We had a small gun safe that was always in Mike’s sight. I had a wad of cash in my purse and my suitcase. The logistics of the money were anxiety producing.

  “I’m getting nervous,” I said. Mike frowned.

  “Go see your dad and tell him I’ll be right over,” he said. I grabbed my straw hat and went around back where he and the boys were already stacking scrap wood. Before long, I got into the work, the physical labor satisfying my urge to be productive, while calming the worst of my anxiety. Long before we expected the girls to return, I saw the van coming down the driveway fast, leaving a trail of dust. Mike was out in the field, dragging metal parts from an old truck to a pile he’d started.