Alone Again_After the Collapse

by John Sullins

  “What have you found on the flash drives?”

  “I’ve only looked at one so far. It answered some of my questions.”

  “Which questions?”

  “Let me avoid that question for now. I need to see more before I tell you. But before that, I want to look at what is on some of the other flash drives.

  He looked through the little box and for no specific reason selected flash drive number seven and plugged it into the adapter. He again saw the face of his great grandmother. But this time she was much older, maybe in her early eighties. Her hair was no longer blond, it was a light grey. Her once beautiful skin was wrinkled and sagging under her eyes. She looked tired.

  “I hope with all my heart that the person seeing this is a descendant. I am sitting here, alone, as I have been for many years. I should have probably made this video first, before the others, but at the time I made the others, I honestly did not expect to live this long, at least not as a free citizen. I thought that if I lived to be old, it would probably be on the inside of a prison.”

  Ed Roy was holding one of the burgers on his spatula, about to turn it over in the skillet when he heard those words. He dropped the burger back into the skillet and jumped off the stool.

  “What did she say?”

  Keith did not answer, he was concentrating on the screen.

  “Let me begin by saying that I was born on June 1, 1977. As I just stated, I am now old and alone, my memory is very clear about some things, but dates give me problems. Whatever dates I state here, may not be accurate because of the bad memory. Only GOD can explain why I have lived so long while everyone near and dear to me have died. I’ll do my best to explain why I am alone. In this video I won’t talk about the times when I was a child, I want to talk about the people close to me when I was an adult. My sister was Maggie, she was younger than me but passed away when she was only forty-seven. She died of breast cancer. She was divorced, had no children so I know I have no nephews or nieces.

  My first husband was Brad Hunt, he died in 2004 or 2005, only two years after we were married. He had family in Atlanta, but after his death, I lost contact with them. His father was Gary, his mother was Sharon, and his sister was Renee. I have not seen or talked to them in almost fifty years. His death changed my life forever. That story is recorded on a different video.”

  Ed Roy returned to the stool and flipped the burgers again.

  “I later fell in love with an FBI agent named Napolen Hill. Shortly before we were to be married, in 2009, he was killed by a bomb set off by a terrorist group. His death pushed me deeper into the secret life described in the other videos. It was several years after Napoleon’s death before I got involved with another man. I married Buck, his first name was Ralph, but he preferred to be called Buck. I met him when I was passing through Ohio. He was a police detective and interviewed me after I shot a man breaking into my vehicle while at a motel. It was years later before we were married. I had been shot in the abdomen when I was in my early thirties and was told I could probably never have children. When I became pregnant at almost forty, we were both shocked. Our son, Brandon married Mary Todd. Together they had a son they named Forest, our grandson.”

  She looked away from the camera and wiped tears from her old eyes. She turned back to face the camera and continued.

  “Buck died last year from a heart attack. He was a great husband and father. We lost Brandon after he was burned in a fire, he was a fireman. Brandon’s death crushed Buck, but was nothing compared to the death of Forest. Forest was killed while serving in the military. His death was also too much for his wife Mary. She became severely depressed, and was hospitalized for weeks. One day she walked away from the hospital and we never heard from her again. I sit by the phone every day hoping she will call but never does. I’m just too old to try to track her down. So, I have no blood relatives.

  Keith excitedly said, “That explains it. That is why no one came looking for me when my mother died. My grandparents were both dead and my great grandparents did not know where she was or that she was pregnant!”

  Chapter 77

  Keith began pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor. Finally, he understood how he ended up in the hands of foster families and the orphanage. He felt chills down the back of his neck and the hair on his arms tingled.

  “I can’t believe it. After all these years, I have answers.” He stepped to his right and rested his forearms against the kitchen wall. He tilted his neck forward, pushing his forehead against the cold wall as he cried.

  Ed Roy removed the hamburgers from the stove and placed them on plates. He reached out and turned off the computer.

  “Sit down Keith. The food is ready and I want to propose a toast to your great grandmother. Making that video was the right thing to do.”

  When Keith heard those words, the right thing to do, he pushed off the wall and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

  “She used those words in the other video, the right thing. I think those words were very important to her.”

  Ed Roy opened the door of the refrigerator. “We have no beer or wine to use for a toast. How about a cold can of soda?”

  Keith laughed, “Yes, that would be good.”

  Chapter 78

  Snow was falling again the next morning when Ed Roy slid out from under the covers. Keith was standing in the living room looking out the window when Ed Roy walked in.

  “The weatherman says we might get ten inches today.”

  Ed Roy ran his fingers through his short black hair and looked down at his bare feet.

  “I think I want to go back to my place this morning. I have a set of snow chains in my shed. I think I might want to put them on the new truck.”

  Keith continued to look out at the snow. “I’ll put on my boots and go with you.”

  “No need for that. I know you want to watch more of those videos. I’m thinking it might be best if you did that alone. There may be personal stuff in there that you may not want anyone else to see.”

  Keith turned to face his little friend.

  “I’ve told you before, I consider you my family. I don’t think there is anything you can’t hear.”

  “Ok, but just the same, you need to watch the videos yourself the first time. I feel a little uncomfortable hearing that stuff. It is like listening to a private conversation between a mother and son. In this case a great grandmother and great grandson.”

  Keith shook his head in agreement, “Ok then, but I will tell you about what she says when you get back.”

  Keith sat on the living room couch in front of the fireplace with the laptop and watched more of the video while Ed Roy was gone. He started to become concerned when Ed Roy had not returned after over an hour. After another half hour he turned off the computer and walked to the window. The snowflakes were thick and he was unable to see more than twenty yards down the driveway.

  He waited another thirty minutes before putting on his boots and grabbing his gloves and watch cap. He let the Caddy warm up a few minutes before putting it into gear and plowing his way through the snow to the county road.

  The snow was several inches thick and the Caddy’s tires spun but maintained enough traction to keep him moving. The snow was falling fast enough that there were no tires tracks visible on the road. The snow had already filled in Ed Roy’s tracks.

  As he rounded a bend in the road about a mile from Ed Roy’s place he noticed steam or smoke rising from the ditch on his left. He slowed to a stop and left the Caddy sitting in the center of the road.

  Ed Roy’s new red truck was sitting on its top and wedged into the trees twenty feet down the slope. The steam he had seen was rising from between the front wheels which were pointed up into the falling snow.

  He scrambled down the embankment but his feet slipped out from under him causing him to slide through the snow on his butt to the side of the truck. He laid on his side, brushed snow from the window, and looked inside. Ed Roy was behind the steerin
g wheel, hanging upside down, suspended by his seatbelt. His hands were dangling down motionless and his face was covered with blood.

  Keith grabbed the door handle and tried to open the door but it did not budge. He jumped up, stumbled around the front of the truck to the driver’s side. The door would not open but the widow glass was broken so he dropped to his knees and crawled halfway through the window. He positioned himself under Ed Roy, and as blood dripped onto his face, and pushed up with his left hand on Ed Roy’s shoulders and unlatched the seatbelt with his right hand.

  He lowered Ed Roy gently and pulled himself and Ed Roy out the window into the snow.

  “Can you hear me Ed Roy? Buddy, can you hear me?”

  Ed Roy did not respond.

  Keith knew he should not move his friend, but also knew that time was critical. He got to his feet and lifted Ed Roy like a father lifting a sleeping child. He moved at an angle up the slope to maintain his footing and placed Ed Roy down on the large rear seat of the Caddy.

  The big car slid dangerously on the slick road but Keith managed to get to the hospital without losing complete control. He carried Ed Roy through the emergency room’s doors calling for help.

  “My friend was hurt in a car accident. He needs help!”

  Chapter 79

  The emergency room waiting room was cold and dark. Keith was the only person there. He walked in circles around the row of empty chairs in the center of the room. Each time he walked near the reception window he stopped and tried to look down the hall to where he last saw Ed Roy.

  His mind was filled with the image of the overturned truck and his friend hanging lifelessly from the seat belt. He asked and answered questions silently as he continued his circling of the chairs.

  “Was he driving too fast? No, he loved that new truck too much. Something must have happened. Maybe a deer ran out in front of him and he lost control trying to avoid hitting it. He would not want to kill a deer or dent his truck. Yea, that might have been what happened.”

  He stopped at the window and looked down the hall again. There were no doctors or nurses in sight. He continued his circling.

  “Were there any deer tracks in the snow? I didn’t see any. But the snow was falling so thick I would not have seen them. Was there a dent, deer hair, or blood on the front of the truck? Maybe, I didn’t look. Should I go back out there and check?”

  He heard voices from the hallway and stopped at the window again. A nurse was standing in the swinging doors of the treatment room. She was talking to someone inside. Keith tried to get her attention by waving but she did not look his direction before walking rapidly down the hall away from the window.

  He continued his circling.

  “Maybe I need to call the sheriff to report the accident.” He took the cell phone from his belt and dialed 911 and listened to a woman’s voice.

  “This is the Piscataquis Sheriff’s Office. Due to budget cuts there are no deputies currently on duty. If you want to report a crime, it can be reported between the hours of 8 AM and 3 PM on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. If you are in need of an ambulance or the fire department please call…….” He did not listen to the remainder of the recorded message. He clicked off the call.

  “Son of a………..”

  As the anger rose in side him, a new question crossed his mind.

  “Could Dick Head have done this?”

  Chapter 80

  The thought that someone might have intentionally hurt his friend pushed him beyond his level of patience. He walked past the reception window and down the hall to the swinging doors of the treatment room. He pushed open the doors and stepped inside. A tall thin doctor wearing the standard white doctor’s robe turned from the bed where Ed Roy was lying, and looked at him.

  Before the doctor spoke, Keith said, “He is my brother, I am worried sick. Is he hurt bad?”

  The doctor spoke softly to one of the nurses before moving around the bed. He put his hand on Keith’s shoulder to escort him from the room.

  “I’m not positive yet, but it seems obvious he has a concussion. His vitals are good but we are checking for other injuries. We won’t know more until we get x-rays and an MRI. Can you give me details of what happened?”

  “It was a traffic accident. He was late coming home so I went looking for him. I found his truck upside down in a ditch. He was hanging from the seatbelt, he was unconscious.”

  “How long was he there before you found him?”

  “Not sure, but my guess is maybe an hour at the most.”

  The doctor showed no reaction. He put his hand on Keith’s shoulder again.

  “We won’t know anything more for a couple of hours. You can’t be in the treatment room. I will let you know what we find as soon as I can.”

  Keith pushed open to the door and took another quick look at Ed Roy.

  “Please do your best to take care of him. I need to leave but I will be back in about an hour.”

  He drove faster than he should and returned to the overturned truck. He parked the Caddy near the edge of the road, put on his hat and gloves, and got out. The wind was blowing and snow was still falling restricting visibility. He walked along one side of the road and then the opposite side looking for deer tracks but the falling snow had obliterated all evidence of what had happened. He moved to the spot where he believed the truck had left the road and imagined what Ed Roy might have seen or done that could have caused him to leave the roadway. The tracks he had made earlier were covered so there was no way to tell if a deer had crossed the road or another vehicle was involved. Even the marks in the snow where he had slipped and slid down the slope were gone. The upside down truck was completely covered with snow and was barely visible from the road.

  He was more careful when he moved down the slope this time. He started at the rear corner of the truck and wiped the snow from the fenders and sides as he moved forward along the passenger side examining the truck for scrapes, deer hair or blood. There was a large dent in the front passenger side door, probably from the roll over but no other damage. He wiped snow from the front bumper and grill but again found no hair or blood. Both headlights and turn signal lenses were still in place. He moved along the driver’s side from the front bumper towards the rear. When he wiped the snow from the rear fender he found another dent behind the rear door and on the rear fender. There was also a section of light green paint along the edges of the dents. It was obvious that whatever caused the dents was that color. He turned and looked up the slope for anything painted green. He saw nothing so he angled his way up the slope in the area where the truck had rolled over. He pushed his hands into the snow feeling for a metal post or anything else that might have caused the dents and left the paint on the truck. He found nothing under the snow that could have been the cause.

  By the time he reached the top of the slope and the road, he knew what he needed to do to be sure of the cause of the accident.

  Chapter 81

  Keith returned to the hospital and was told Ed Roy was still unconscious but in stable condition. A young nurse, about his age, escorted him to the treatment room.

  “You can stay only a few minutes. We will be taking him to intensive care as soon as they are ready for him. He won’t be able to have any visitors today. You can come back tomorrow morning at 9 AM. You might be able to see him then.”

  He stood beside the bed and looked down at the little man now with a bandage around his head and most of his face, a needle and tube in his left arm, the tube connected to a clear bag hanging on a metal bar beside the bed. Keith glanced at the machine that was monitoring Ed Roy’s heartbeat and breathing.

  He put his hand on top of Ed Roy’s and leaned over the bed.

  “I am going to find out what happened. If it was that son of a bitch Dick Head, I will do the right thing.”

  As soon as those words crossed his lips, he thought about his great grandmother and some of the things she had done for revenge.

  When the nurse asked him
to step aside so she could move Ed Roy to the intensive care unit, he left the hospital and drove to the Hamlet house. As he waited for nightfall he gathered and tested the items he would need. He connected night vision goggles to an outlet to charge the batteries and searched through the clothing in one of the rooms where he found a set of solid white insulated coveralls. He could not find any white cloves or hat, but he did find a white hooded sweat shirt and a set of green camo gloves.

  He moved to the room with the guns and stood staring at the wall where they hung, trying to decide if he really wanted to take one with him, and if so, which one.

  Again, his thoughts turned to his great grandmother.

  “She was the expert at this sort of thing, what would she have done?”

  Of all the pistols in the room, the one that drew his attention was the FN 57 that he had seen a few days ago. That gun was unusual, different from the others in that it was such a small caliber, 57x28. The shell casing was necked down like a rifle bullet and the actual bullet was about the size of a .22 rim fire. It was so different, he knew his great grandmother had it there for a reason. Maybe that was her favorite gun. He smiled as he took it from the wall and moved to the shelves with the ammo.

  He loaded twenty rounds into the magazine, holstered the pistol, put on a set of ear protectors, and stepped to the side of one of the shooting benches. He pushed a large red button on the side of the bench and the overhead cable began turning, pulling a target hanger from down range towards the bench. He used one of the many man sized silhouette targets from the closet and pushed the button again to move the target down range fifteen yards.

  He lifted the FN from the holster, slid back the slide to get a live round into the chamber and used a two hand grip to fire the first round. He was surprised that there was very little recoil when the pistol fired. He was also surprised when he saw the small hole in the center of the chest of the target. He raised the pistol to firing position again and fired three more fast rounds. All three were again in the center of the chest.