His mind drifted back further, playing the fight incident in his head again and again, like a movie scene. He wondered if he could have done more, or done better, or what everyone was going to say about him the next day. If he was going to get suspended. If his mother was going to find out. If Tina Carridine liked him.
“Oh shit,” Tobias said, stopping dead in his tracks.
Brian's daydreaming ceased. “What?” he asked. Tobias didn't respond. When Brian looked ahead, he could completely understand why. In front of them sat the blue junk car. At first Brian thought, maybe there is more than one. Tobias verbalized this sentiment, “Do you—do you think this is the same car?” he asked, slightly panicked. They both knew that it was, but didn't want to admit it.
“Let's go back the other way,” Tobias continued. Brian knew then that his earlier suspicions about Tobias were right. They were lost.
Chapter 2: Jeremy’s Journey
Jeremy Rafelson didn't get far before his truck failed. This had little to do with a supposed EMP attack, but instead with a blown radiator hose. Something so stupid and preventable, that he should have easily been able to avoid it. He had spent precious hours trying to fix it, but nothing would work. He needed a replacement hose. If he had a cell phone, the problem could have easily been fixed. All he would have to do was to call for a tow truck. But Jeremy didn’t have a cell phone. Why a man would put so much focus on stocking the necessities without considering purchasing a cell phone was a paradox in itself.
The world ran on cell phones. Instant communication at their fingertips at all times. Not Jeremy. He didn’t believe in them. It was an irrational belief about being tracked by the powers that be that fueled his paranoia. After being relentlessly hassled by Linda to purchase a cell phone as to be a part of the 21st Century, Jeremy complied. He purchased a “pay as you go phone,” which disappointed Linda greatly. “You’re such a cheapskate,” she would say. After they split up he threw his phone in the garbage and never got another one. It was now, however, when he desperately needed it.
His truck broke down in the middle of nowhere, outside Charleston, West Virginia. Even leaving the night before, after receiving an alert to evacuate the city from his disaster preparation group, he failed to get out in time. It shamed him to think that he had been meticulously planning for a disaster for so long, that when the time came, he was taken slightly off guard. He did, however, have the necessary supplies on-hand for his travels. There was no way he could have taken everything he had packed into his truck, but he took what was necessary for survival. He carried a “bug-out” bag on his back that weighed about sixty pounds. This was a tolerable weight, for foot travel, though Jeremy would take a bag that weighed nothing if he could.
He had his best pair of hiking boots on, broken-in and ready to go. All the elements were there for travel, but as Jeremy looked at his map, he couldn't comprehend the distance at which he was going to need to travel. His destination was Tennessee, particularly the Great Smokey Mountains. He knew of a cabin there. Somewhere he could lie low, if need be. Wherever he ended up, primary essentials would be the same: food, water, and shelter. That would be his focus.
Some things Jeremy just couldn't get out of his mind. He had recently come to a realization about his pepper group, but would still ask the same questions that would lead to the same conclusion. He couldn't understand why they didn't work together as a team to evacuate the city together. That's what they would have done if this was the military. If they were like the soldiers Jeremy knew in his platoon, no man would have been left behind. They could have all worked together. This was the point in Jeremy's line of thinking that provided a simple fact about the prepper group: they were about self-preservation. Rob, the speaker of the group, was every bit about ensuring his family's survival over anyone else. Why would they take a big group of people to some secret hideout when people would end up being the greatest threat of all? Rob was actually kind for giving Jeremy the heads-up in the first place.
After that thought, Jeremy would go back to the drawing board. No, really, why did they leave me? Maybe the routine of questions were to keep his mind free of the major errors that he made the night before. This would be the main reason why he was on foot walking on a deserted back road instead of safely hidden in the mountains away from the sprawl of the neighboring city. For Jeremy, these thoughts were hard to wrestle. Especially when the natural stages of grief were surfacing; such as denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Jeremy was somewhere between denial and anger. He was in denial over his truck breaking down. He was angry at himself for deviating from his escape plan, wasting so much time, and for ultimately being weak by trying to warn others. People, it seemed, that had long ago forgot about him.
It was the night before, Wednesday 1:45am. Jeremy was on the road, slightly behind schedule, but still making progress. His truck was packed with fuel cans, water, camping gear, and the works. He had decided that he was going to warn his parents. It was a natural instinct. How could he live with himself if he hadn't? He drove to his parents’ house, about thirty minutes away from his trailer. He didn't care how late it was, this was a matter of life and death. He felt anxious, like he was late for work or for a flight. But he had to be patient. And if his parents refused to leave, if they didn't believe a word he said, then he would have to accept that and move on. But what if nothing ended up happening? This was a tad foolish for Jeremy to consider. He believed that things were hanging on by a thread and that it wouldn't take much for it all to tumble down.
His parents, Bill and Lorraine, lived in an old neighborhood that had seen a high increase in crime as of recent years. This concern was the deciding factor behind Jeremy's decision to get his parents. What was the purpose of keeping himself safe and sitting there in a cabin in the mountains all alone and worrying about the people he cared about? No, Jeremy was going to alert his loved ones, saving them in the process. He would be a hero to the town. He would even rescue his estranged ex-girlfriend, Linda, now married with a child. Though he hadn't talked to her in two years and didn't even know where she lived. Every house along the road could have been hers. It was no doubt a house of love and happiness. Linda and her perfect husband, and their perfect child. There was no room in this portrait for Jeremy. And even though it had been two years, she was never far from his mind. “Truly pathetic,” thought Jeremy.
He pulled into his parent’s driveway of their three bedroom home on top a small hill. There were two cars. His father's Buick Century and a four-door Dodge. Jeremy suspected that he knew who owned the Dodge. He'd only met the guy once, and had nearly forgotten about him. His parent's had rented his room out to a man named Philip while Jeremy was deployed overseas. When Jeremy returned, his parents told him they had reached an agreement and that his room was going to be occupied for the next year. “Son, you're in your twenties now. You've saved up some money, so we didn't think it would be a problem,” his dad said.
And he was right. It wasn't much of a problem. But when he met Phillip, Jeremy believed that his parents had found the son they always wanted. During dinner they treated Jeremy as the guest and Phillip as their son. He liked the same football teams as Jeremy's dad. He even liked race car driving, whereas Jeremy didn't. He was helpful, polite, and well-liked by Jeremy's parents. Not some moody, stubborn, and impulsive college dropout.
Jeremy checked the house. Not a single light was on. No doubt they were all soundly sleeping. He looked at his watch. It was almost two in the morning. He was going to alert them no matter what they thought. Of course, they were going to question him. And if he told them that he got the information from a disaster preparation group he met online, they would comment on how typical it is that he'd become a full-fledged nut. “Why can’t you be more like Phillip?” his mother would ask.
“Now there's a man who is going places. You could learn something from him, Jeremy,” his father would chime in.
Jeremy opened the screen door and knocked lig
htly, but there wasn’t an answer. He wondered how he was going to knock without startling them. But there were little ways around that. He banged on the door repeatedly with his fist. The sound echoed through the quiet neighborhood. The door rattled. The next door neighbor's dogs barked. An outside light came on, someone was up. “Who is it?” a voice said from behind the door. It was Jeremy's dad, Bill. “It's Jeremy, open up,” Jeremy said.
He could see the silhouette of his father peeking through the blinds in the window next to the door. The unlocking of the door locks followed. Bill opened the door a few inches, but did not remove the chain attached from the frame to the door. Still a tad disoriented, he squinted from behind the door. “What are you doing here at this hour?” he asked.
“I need to talk to you guys, it's urgent.”
“About what? Can't this wait until morning?” his father asked, annoyed.
“I wouldn't be here right now if it could.”
Jeremy detected grumbles from his father. He shut the door, removed the chain, and opened it. “Well, come on in,” he said rubbing his tired eyes.
Jeremy entered the house and followed his father to the nearby living room where Bill turned on a small lamp next to the couch. Jeremy paced towards the hallway where the bedrooms were at. “Where's mom?” he asked.
“Sleeping, obviously. She's been a little under the weather as of lately,” Bill said, unable to keep up with Jeremy's pace.
“We need to wake her up. Things aren't safe here. There's going to be some real changes in the next day or two, and I—“
“Hold on. Just stop for one minute,” Bill said. He placed his hands on Jeremy's shoulder to halt him. “We haven't seen you in, what, six months or so? You come in here in the middle of the night talking crazy. Just take a breath and tell me what this is about.”
“There's no time to go into details.”
“Take a seat, calm down, and get your thoughts together. Are you in some type of trouble?”
Jeremy pushed his father's hands away, “Jesus, dad, I'm not a kid anymore. You're not listening to me.”
“Not another word until you sit. And keep your voice down!”
Jeremy reluctantly walked over to the couch and sat. “And I'm not a fucking dog either.”
His father towered over him. “Now tell me what this is about.”
As calmly as he could state, Jeremy continued, “This isn't easy coming here and doing this. You know how bad things have been going. Well, about to get a lot worse.”
“What sort of things have you been going through?” Bill asked.
“Not me, dad, everyone. You know, the entire country. You and mom and everyone else.”
Bill sighed. “Not this again. This is why you're here? To tell us about the end of world?”
“See, this is why I wanted to talk to mom. You're so blind to what is happening around you—“
“You know, I have to wake up in three hours to go to work—“
“There's not going to be work for you to go to, dad. That's what I came over to tell you guys. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but it's going to be big. You have to trust me on this,” Jeremy said forcefully.
Bill's eyes narrowed. “What exactly have you gotten yourself into, Jeremy?”
“Just forget it!” Jeremy said rising from the couch, “I want to speak to mom....Mom!” he called.
“Keep it down,” Bill demanded.
Suddenly Lorraine emerged from the hallway, wearing a bathrobe, her graying hair tousled. She put her glasses on when Jeremy took notice. “What are you two arguing about?” she asked.
Jeremy and Bill both turned. Her presence had quieted them. She walked over and gave Jeremy a hug.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said.
“You too, mom,” Jeremy said back.
“Yes, Jeremy was just telling me about the end of the world. Would you like to continue?” Bill stated.
“What are you talking about?” Lorraine asked.
“We have to get out of the city. I don't mean to startle you, but hear me out. It will become very unsafe here in the next couple of days. I don't know exactly when. But I do know that I'm leaving tonight.”
“Where are you going? “Lorraine asked.
“Tennessee.”
Bill laughed. “Tennessee? Have you lost your mind?”
“We'll be safe there. The high altitude. Less people. Lots of natural resources.”
“You know, Jeremy, you don't have to go all the way to Tennessee to hide in the mountains. There are plenty of mountains here in Pennsylvania,” Bill said.
“Tell us, what is going to happen?” Lorraine said, ignoring Bill's sarcasm.
“I'm not sure. But by the end of the week, you're going to want to be as far away from here as possible,” Jeremy answered.
Bill interjected. “I don't want to discount what you're saying, I really don't. But this sounds like the same stuff you were talking about when you were a teenager. Remember 2012? You told us the world was going to end then. It was an obsession. I'll tell you what I told you then, it's a fantasy. The world can't just end. It doesn't work like that.”
“Oh yeah? Well, what if your money had no value tomorrow? What if access to food and water was limited? What about fuel? Take a look around you. We’re already at the breaking point. We just that one final push,” Jeremy argued.
“And what will that be?” Lorraine asked.
“I can't say for sure,” Jeremy said.
“That's because he’s not sure of anything,” a voice said from the hallway. From the shadows emerged Phillip, the favored roommate of his parents.
“Phillip, sorry if we woke you,” Bill said.
“No problem, Bill. Jeremy, nice to see you again,” Phillip said as he leaned against the wall.
Jeremy nodded, without verbal responded, clearly irritated by Phillip's presence.
“Jeremy here says that we have to get out of town tonight,” Bill sad looking back at Phillip.
“Dad!” Jeremy said.
“I heard him. Quite an active imagination. I'm even about to start packing,” Phillip stated smugly.
“Hey Phillip, why don't you mind your own business and go back to bed? This is between me and my parents,” Jeremy said back.
“Jeremy!” Lorraine interjected.
Jeremy grabbed his mother’s arm. “We don't have much time. Please listen to me.”
“You want us to just up and go with you tonight? To live in the mountains?” his mother asked.
“Just until it's safe to come back. Isn't it worth the effort just to be safe? Don't you guys trust me at all?”
Both parents looked into each other’s eyes, uncertain of what to say.
“You know who I ran into the other day? Linda, your old girlfriend,” Phillip said approaching the group.
“Oh yeah? So,” Brian said. He felt his heart seize at the sound of her name.
“Yeah, she's doing well. Her husband is a good guy. They have the cutest son too. Just a wonderful family,” Phillip continued.
“That's great to hear,” Jeremy said.
“Yep, she's happier than I've ever seen her,” Phillip said.
With that said, Jeremy couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“What the hell is your problem? I don't even know you. I told you once, go back to your room and let me talk to my parents. I'm not going to ask again.”
Jeremy was directly in Phillips face at this point, ready to escalate the confrontation further.
“Boys, stop it!” Lorraine pleaded.
Phillips's smirk remained. He seemed to be enjoying himself. “I'm hurt, Jeremy, I really am. You and I went to high school together, and you don't even remember me.”
“You're right, I don't,” Jeremy said.
“I was friends with Linda in high school. I remember when you two first met.”
“That's amazing,” Jeremy stated.
“Those were the days,” Phillips answered
“Yes they were,” Jeremy said back.
“You two break it up. You're upsetting Lorraine,” Bill said.
“Have you warned Linda about this?” Phillip asked Jeremy.
Jeremy felt like pummeling him if necessary.
“Not that it's any of your business, but no, I haven't talked to her in a while.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
“That's a shame. We talk all the time, still good friends after all these years.”
“Such good friends that I never heard of you, even when we were dating.”
“I fell off the radar there for a while. You should at least swing by her place and warn her.”
“I don't know where she lives.”
“Call her then.”
“I don't have her number.”
“Yeah you do,” Phillip said, “I bet you still know it by heart.”
“I told you to back the fuck off!” Jeremy said as he pushed Phillip.
Phillip stumbled backward. Lorraine shrieked. Bill moved between the boys. “That's enough! Jeremy you need to go,” he said. Jeremy was perplexed at his father's stance. “I need to go? This weird son-of-a-bitch has been riding me the minute he came out. It doesn't matter. I just need you guys to come with me. You and mom.”
“We're not going anywhere,” Bill stated.
“Okay, mom then,” Jeremy said.
All three men looked at Lorraine. She appeared to be struggling with a decision.
“I believe you, Jeremy, I really do. But I think that if something terrible were to happen, we'd be safer at our house. We're secure here. It's familiar” she said.
The End Boxset: Postapocalyptic Visions of an Unstoppable Collapse Page 7
