Alone Again_After the Collapse

by John Sullins

  He looked up at the ceiling. “Hell, this is nice compared to being outside on a night like this. If I can get that van going, I will be in heaven.”

  She moved to the hearth and sat down beside him. “There is a single bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms, bring the mattress down here for the next few nights. Then when you leave put into the back of the van and take it with you. You can take a few blankets and pillows too. I’d much rather give you what you need than sell it for a few pennies on the dollar to someone I don’t know.”

  She looked to Dale for his approval.

  “You got it right sister. Anything you see that you can use, you can have, not just blankets and pillows. If you find any camping gear, tools, or whatever, just take it.”

  “Thank you, thank you very much.”

  Chapter 16

  Shortly after daylight, Keith was up and in the garage searching for a battery charger. He looked on and under the workbench with no luck. He found a ladder in the corner of the garage and used it to climb high enough to look at what was sitting on the wood slats nailed to the roof rafters. He found a set of Dodge floor mats, a small cardboard box with what he believed to be engine parts from a lawnmower, and another box with three sections of solid nylon rope. He dropped the floor mats and rope onto the floor beside the van but left the engine parts where they were.

  He climbed down the ladder and thought about the possibility of asking a neighbor if they had jumper cables or a battery charger. It was too early to knock on any of the neighbor’s doors, so instead he got into the van and examined the interior. The seats were torn in a couple of spots, but in general, it was fairly nice. He got out and walked around to the passenger side and slid open the side door. There, on the floor under the rear bench seat was a battery charger and short extension cord.

  He grabbed them up and excitedly connected the cord to an outlet. He was unsure of the exact time, and could not remember for sure the hours Deanna had said the electricity was on during the mornings, but he wanted to charge the battery as long as possible before it went off.

  He opened the hood and connected the clamp on the end of the red wire to the positive terminal and the black clamp to a bolt head on the engine. He used one of the screwdrivers from the workbench to pry open the caps on the top of the battery to check the water level. The level was good, so he pushed the charger switch to the on position and watched the needle indicating the level of charge.

  “Yes,” he shouted when the needle bounced to the right indicating the battery was accepting the charge.

  He heard the door open behind him and saw Dale entering.

  “I found a charger inside the van, the battery is charging!”

  “How long has it been on?”

  “Just now, only a minute or so.”

  “Have you checked the engine oil?”

  Keith did not answer the question. He leaned over the engine and pulled out the dipstick. “The oil looks a little dirty, but it’s full.”

  He dropped to the floor and wiggled as far under the van as he could get, which was not far since two of the tires were flat. “I don’t see any oil leaks.”

  “What do you think can be done about the flat tires?”

  Keith slid out and got onto his knees looking at the tires.

  “There’s no compressor here, I guess I’ll have to take off the wheels and take them someplace.”

  Dale said, “Let’s take the flats off now and I’ll take them someplace after breakfast. We can start on the stuff in the house and pick them up later.”

  “I think I should try to get it started before we take off the tires. If it won’t run, there is no need to fix the flats.”

  “Ok, but breakfast is first.”

  Keith was quiet as he ate. His thoughts were about possible bad or contaminated gas in the van’s tank. He thought about the availability and cost of a new battery. He thought about engine coolant, he needed to check the radiator. Then he thought about the condition of the thermostat. A corroded thermostat would cause the engine to quickly overheat. He thought about the heating coils, would the van stay warm while driving. If the heater did not work the windshield would ice over and it would be unsafe to drive.

  He finished his breakfast in one final gulp. “I can’t stand it, I have to go see if that thing will start.” He picked up his plate, put it in the sink, and went to the garage.

  The charger needle was on 30% charge. He pushed the switch on the front of the charger to “start” which would deliver the most power possible to the battery and got into the driver’s seat. He took a deep breath and turned the key. The engine turned over rapidly but did not start. He turned off the key and pumped several times on the gas pedal. He took another deep breath and turned the key. The engine turned over and after only two or three seconds, it started.

  “Yea!” Keith shouted. He pushed down on the horn, beeeeep beeeeeep, beeeeep!

  He glanced at the gauges. The gas gauge indicated the tank was just over a quarter full, the battery was charging, and the oil light was not on. He pushed the gas pedal down slightly and let the engine rev higher as he listened for any knocking, banging belts squealing. Everything sounded good. He turned the key, shut off the engine, moved the switch back to normal charge and left it connected to the battery.

  He was full of energy and enthusiasm as he ran back to the house and told Deanna and Keith the good news.

  “I am going to take off the two flat tires and then I’ll get to work on the stuff in the basement.”

  Chapter 17

  The small narrow basement windows provided little light so Keith carried the boxes and bags up the stairs one or two at a time to the kitchen where Dale and Deanna sat on chairs in the middle of the room and made fast decisions if the items were to be trashed or sold.

  The boxes and bags to be auctioned were labeled and stacked in the living room along with the boxes they labeled the night before. By late afternoon the basement was empty, except for the far corner where Keith had placed a few items he wanted to keep for himself, but the back yard was piled high with boxes and bags of trash.

  When Keith leaned back to rest on the couch, Dale stood up. “I’m going to pick up your tires. You stay here and take a break, you’ve earned it.”

  Keith knew there was no way he was going to take a break, “I’ll be waiting in the garage when you get back.”

  Dale was smiling when he stopped the car at the open garage door and opened the trunk. “They got them fixed. One needed a new valve stem, one had a small nail in it. They are good to go.”

  Keith lifted them from the trunk and immediately put them on the van which was sitting on concrete blocks supporting the car under the rear springs. Keith used the lug wrench to tighten the nuts on each wheel and then jacked up the driver’s side enough to pull out the blocks before lowering that tire to the floor. He did the same on the other side and stepped back to admire his work.

  “You may not believe this Dale, but this is the first and only car I have ever had.”

  “Are you serious? You’ve never had a car?”

  “No, I grew up poor, even more poor than most. As I said, I grew up in an orphanage and as soon as I was old enough, I went into the Army.”

  “Did the Army teach you to drive?”

  “Yes, I drove about everything in the Army. I like to drive.”

  “Well, you will get your chance soon enough. The house is going faster than I expected. All we have left is the upstairs, and there’s not much there.”

  Keith used his shirt sleeve to wipe dust from the side of the van. “Don’t forget the attic. I can get up there when we go back inside and take a fast look, just so we will know what’s up there.”

  He opened the driver’s door and got inside and turned the key. The van started and ran smoothly. He tipped his head back and howled like a coyote, “howelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

  Chapter 18

  The access to the attic was in the ceiling of the
upstairs hallway. Dale reached up and put his finger through a metal ring on the end of a chain connected to a trap door in the ceiling. He pulled hard and the door swung down exposing a folded ladder connected to the door. Keith pulled on the bottom step and the ladder unfolded and touched the floor. He went up the steps and stopped when his head and shoulders were inside the attic.

  He looked to his right and then left. Ten feet to his right he saw a few boxes and two footlockers, all were covered with a thick layer of dust.

  “There are some boxes and a couple of footlockers, that’s it. Do you want me to bring them down now?”

  “Yea, if they are not too heavy.”

  He pulled himself up into the attic and stayed slumped over to avoid hitting his head on the rafters. The closest box was about two feet square and sealed closed with tape. He cautiously squared his feet and lifted it testing its weight. He had no trouble picking it up and carrying it down the ladder. He sat it on the floor of the hallway and went back up.

  The next box was larger and heavier but he was still able to get it down the ladder. He sat it on the floor beside the first box and went back up the ladder.

  When he grabbed the leather strap handles on the closest footlocker, the one on the left side broke in his hand. He used the other handle and dragged it to the ladder.

  “Stand back Dale, this one is fairly heavy and one of the strap handles is broken. I’ll bring it down but if the other handle breaks, it might fall, watch out.”

  He held the handle in his right hand and gripped the top of the ladder firmly in his left. He lowered the footlocker and moved down the ladder one step at a time.

  “One more,” he went back up the ladder.

  The last footlocker was identical to the first but lighter. He got it down the ladder as Dale was cutting the tape on the top of the first box.

  “It’s Dad’s old Army uniform.” He held up a dark green jacket with patches on the sleeves. He dug deeper into the box and lifted out a pair of pants and hat.

  “Damn, this stuff is old.”

  Keith looked at it for only a second or two before opening the second box.

  “This one is full of photos, looks like your family photos.”

  Deanna came up the stairs, “Bring them down when you come. I want to go through them.”

  As Dale opened the first footlocker Keith opened the second.

  Dale knelt on the floor as he looked inside. He held up a large knife and hatchet, both in a leather sheath. He handed it to Keith.

  “You should take these.”

  He lifted out a military canteen and handed it to Keith.

  Keith lifted out a ragged bed comforter from his footlocker and looked at what was under it.

  “Oh my goodness. Look at this, it’s an old western style pistol, and a holster and belt. I think it might be an old Army issue.”

  He handed it to Dale who asked, How do you know about this stuff?”

  Keith leaned over the footlocker to keep looking. “One of my Army buddies was a gun freak. He had collected gun magazines. I looked at some of it.”

  Dale handed him the gun, “You can have this stuff too. It might come in handy in Maine.”

  After they finished with the foot lockers, they went through boxes, closets and drawers in the upper level of the house until the house went dark when the electricity went off again. They moved to the living room and ate cold sandwiches for dinner while they talked about the plans after the auction.

  “I need to get back to Pennsylvania as soon as possible after the auction.” said Dale.

  Keith looked at Deanna, “Do you live here in Boston?”

  “I live just south of here in Quincy, near the bay.”

  “Waterfront?”

  “Yes, waterfront and windy. It seems the wind never stops blowing there. I’ve got the place up for sale, but the economy is so bad, I doubt it will ever sell.”

  “If it sells, where will you go?”

  “I want to move back to Pennsylvania. That is where all our family is. Mom and Dad moved here from Pittsburg when Dad was promoted. They wanted to move back to Pittsburg when he retired, but they could not sell this place and could not afford to go off and leave it, so they were stuck here. I moved up here to be closer to them, but now there is no reason to stay.

  “I’ve never had a reason to stay anyplace, except the Army,” responded Keith.

  Chapter 19

  People began showing up for the auction shortly after 7 AM Saturday morning. Luckily the weather had warmed and the sun was shining. The auctioneer brought two young men to help with the sale and Keith assisted them with carrying items from the house to the front porch where the auctioneer stood overlooking the people standing in the yard, on the sidewalk, and in the edge of the street.

  Items sold cheap and he could see the disappointment on both Dale’s and Deanna’s face. When the smaller items were all sold the furniture was moved out one piece at a time by two young men which slowed the pace of the sale. To keep the auction moving Keith pulled Deanna aside and told her he thought they should go through the pile of items that she had consider trash to see if there was anything that might sell.

  She followed him to the back porch and began sorting through some of the old clothing from the pile. She folded a few pair of jeans and slacks as neatly and quickly as she could. “Take this pile to him, maybe someone will buy it. That will save us from taking it to the dump.”

  Keith did as he was told and was shocked when people bid to buy it. He returned to Deanna.

  “You were right, he got several bids, sold for $11. Give me some more.”

  She had already prepared two more stacks so he carried them to the front porch. This process went on between the sale of the furniture and by the time the auction ended, nearly the entire pile including two broken lamps, boxes of shoes, a bag containing dusty women’s hats, and other miscellaneous items, all sold.

  As the people left and the auctioneer was calculating the total sales and his commission, Dale and Keith sat on the edge of the porch.

  “You did a good job Keith, when will you be leaving for Maine?”

  “Tomorrow I guess. I need to pack all the stuff you gave me and check the van again.”

  Dale took his wallet from his pocket and counted out four one hundred dollar bills, one ten dollar bill and one five dollar bill. “Here, you earned it.”

  “I didn’t expect this much.”

  Dale laughed, “Well, my plan was to give you $200. But Deanna said that the stuff from the trash pile got us another $215. Since selling that stuff was your idea, she said you should get the money, I agree.”

  Keith slapped Dale on the shoulder. “Thanks, you are good people. I appreciate it.”

  Chapter 20

  He was up early and in the garage. He found that the rear seat of the van was designed to be removed by lifting a small latch near the bottom of the seat supports. He pulled the seat out the side door and went to the house for the single mattress he had been sleeping on for the past few days. He placed the mattress on the floor of the van, folded his blankets, and stacked then in the corner along with his suitcase. He had saved a couple of the empty boxes from the auction and placed the things he had found in the attic in them. One of which was the old Bear bow.

  He opened the hood, checked all fluid levels, checked the air pressure in the tires and started the engine. He let the engine run as he lowered himself onto the garage floor and checked for any leaking fluid.

  Dale came into the garage and leaned over the fender and watched.

  “One thing to keep in mind this morning is gasoline. I was told by the owner of the place that repaired the tires that they will have gas today, but it won’t be until about 2PM. I suggest that if you want to buy gas before you go, be there about an hour before that. He said that is about the time a line begins to form.

  “Do you know how much it is now?”

  “I think it was about $60 a gallon when I picked up the tires. But the p
rices varies every time he gets more gas. How much money do you have?”

  “$458.”

  That will get you about seven gallons and maybe a hundred and forty miles. How much gas did you say was in the tank?’

  “About a quarter tank, about five gallons I’d guess.”

  “That might get you another hundred miles. How far is it to where you plan to go?”

  “Maybe three hundred.”

  Dale took out his wallet and handed Keith two hundred dollar bills.

  “You are going to be short. Take this, it could make the difference of having enough gas or being stuck on the highway.”

  “No, I can’t take that, you already paid me more than I earned. I will figure something else out to get me there. I don’t want you give me money for nothing.”

  Dale nodded his understanding and pushed himself off the fender.

  “Ok then, but how about this. I’ll flip a coin, if it is tails, you win, if it is heads, I win. If you win you get that $200, if I win, you give me $200 from your wallet.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. If I do that, I won’t have enough money to buy hardly any gas.”

  “Yes, but if you win, you will have enough gas to get you there.” Dale reached into his left pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He picked the coin he wanted to flip and held it up to entice Keith to make the bet.

  Keith tried to smile and nodded. “Ok, go ahead and flip.”

  As he flipped the coin into the air he said, “Heads I win, tails you win.”

  The coin hit the concrete floor and rolled three quarters of a circle before stopping tails up. They both leaned over and looked at the coin.

  “You win, you keep the $200.” Keith reached to pick up the coin but Dale moved faster. He picked it up and dropped it into his pocket before Keith could see it was a two tailed coin.

  Chapter 21

  Deanna handed Keith a large bag and gave him a hug.