Dark Days Rough Roads

by Matthew D. Mark

  Kayla looked at the kid. He was her age, twenty maybe twenty one. “You can’t blame us,” she said, “you can only blame yourself. You caused this to happen. No one has the right to steal anything, regardless of what’s going on.”

  “You clueless little bitch,” he said, “people out there are taking what they want, police can’t stop them, what’s the big deal anyway, they can afford it.”

  Kayla looked at him. “If the lights came back on right now, how would you justify what you’ve done?” she asked.

  The kid said, “Ask yourself the same question, bitch.”

  “I did.” she answered, “I helped save my life and my family’s life.”

  Haliday covered the holes in the back windows with some hundred mile an hour tape. Most people just called it duct tape, but in the army he came to know it as hundred mile an hour tape. Legend had it that during WWII, people said it was so strong it’d hold a Jeep together going a hundred miles an hour. He chuckled at that. Ya, try and find a Jeep that could do a hundred, he thought. He found a small whisk broom and they cleaned out what glass they could out of the Tahoe, but it was not a lot.

  "What are we going to do with him?" Mike asked.

  “We are going to walk him out to the gate, and we are going to cut him loose and drive away,” Haliday answered. “He can do whatever the hell he wants after that.” Mike reached down and he and Linda pulled the kid up. They opened the hangar door and Haliday slowly drove the truck out to the gate without the lights on then they walked the kid to that point. They cut the kid loose and everyone jumped in the truck.

  As they were pulling away the kid just stood there. He started walking back toward the hangars. One of two things: he was either going to bury his father and brother or most likely he went back for the bag of loot they were stealing. Haliday couldn’t help but wonder what the hell people were thinking.

  It was two and a half days, and they were pulling this stuff already. He got to thinking about what Kayla said to the kid. She got it, it was hard lesson, but she got it and did what had to be done. He felt bad; this is not a lesson he thought any kid should have to learn. Unfortunately in the new society, it would happen again and again across the country.

  Haliday looked over at Mike as he drove along and said, “Take a breather, I’ll keep a look out for some gas.”

  Mike said, “I did that already.” Haliday looked down and the tank was full. Mike added that he filled the two empty cans as well. Mike reclined the seat and took a nap.

  Haliday did a quick calculation. Twenty six gallons in the tank, 10 in the cans wedged between the bike and tailgate, twenty five more in the back. With sixty one gallons total and about an average of maybe eight miles a gallon with this crude engine, they would have a range of almost 500 miles. They might be able to make it without having to stop for anything but rest breaks. That’s if things held out ok. That was a big if.

  It was late and he looked down and turned the ham on. He spoke into the mic, “It’s Roger, anybody on the net?” He just waited. “Hey, it’s Roger, is anybody on the net?” While he waited, he popped open a small bottle and sucked down some Tylenol. He took four of them hoping to take the edge off the throbbing pain. He had some heavier meds, but hated taking that stuff. Besides that, he needed to be fully aware at the moment. Everyone else had fallen asleep. He really wanted to join them, but wanted to be back in Michigan more.

  “Anybody out there?” he repeated. He heard a voice, “I am.”

  “Who is ‘I am’?” he asked.

  “It’s Karen, Dawn’s mom.”

  “Oh, ok, must be your turn to watch the house.” He was tired and didn’t recognize the voice at first. She just said yes. “Where is Dawn, is she available?”

  Karen told him they were sleeping. “Diana is next to pull security and then Dawn after that.”

  “Ok, have Dawn call me when she gets up, anything going on over there?” She told him they heard the grocery stores were stripped and so were a lot of other stores where people were taking generators and all kinds of other supplies. “No real trouble yet,” she said.

  He said, “Ok, take care, and talk to you later.”

  “Bev, Rich, how about you guys, you there?” Kevin came on and said they too were all sleeping. “Ok, anything new on your end,” he asked.

  “Hold on, grandma is here now.”

  “Hi Roger, we haven’t heard from you in a long time, what’s going on, is everything ok, you almost home?” she wanted to know. Roger didn’t know where to begin. He didn’t want Karen, Dawn or Diana to hear. They were very new to this and might get panicky if they knew how bad it was. “Switch to A2,” he told her.

  He waited and then she came on. “Are you there Roger?”

  “Yes, I am Mom. Listen, I’m not going to repeat myself. We hit a major snag and it tied us up for hours. We weren’t sure we were getting out of it alive; I’ll explain it when I get there. Anyway, we are going to be a while longer. A few things have happened that are going to make it harder to get back so you might have to move a little quicker than expected.

  “Is there anything major going on?” She told him other than a few people wandering around door to door asking to borrow food, there hasn’t been anything unusual. “Ok, well just tell people to go away if they come to the door. Make sure one of the kids tells them to go away too so they know there’s more people in the house. Switch back to the regular frequency.”

  Haliday told them he would check in later. She asked him what had happened, he didn’t reply. Kayla woke up and asked where they were. He turned his light on and glanced at his binder and maps. They were making good time. They were well north if Indy and he was actually heading back toward Warsaw. His plans were to skirt it this time. If the Indiana National Guard was active though, then they would be here as well. Other than the small infantry unit there, he didn’t know what else they might have waiting. No more games with them, that’s for sure.

  It took him a while, but he managed to skirt the city and was now close to the Michigan border. He was heading straight for Three Rivers, Michigan, but was going to avoid that like a plague. There were quite a few railroads that ran through it and he didn’t want to get tied up in that mess. With the train yards, stopped trains carrying people from Detroit to Chicago, and freight trains from just about anywhere, there would be a lot of people hanging around. Not the spot to be, that was for certain.

  Chapter 11

  It was Dawn’s turn to keep watch and she was doing a check around the first floor. Everything seemed to be ok and she walked over to the radio and called Roger. “Ya, go ahead,” he said.

  “You wanted me to call you, didn’t you?” she asked him.

  “Oh ya, uh, give me a second.” He had to adjust himself in the seat.

  She could tell by his voice that something was wrong. He asked her what the SITREP was and she said, “So far ok, nobody is really out doing anything. Roger, you ok, what happened to you?”

  “Long story, don’t worry about it, we’re all ok though. We are going to stop for a break, top off the tank and then move on.”

  Dawn asked how far out he was. “Well, on a normal day about two hours or more, but with the route changes we have to make, probably 8 at best and 12 at the most. Especially with the travel being one shit storm after another. Have you seen any other cars or trucks, vehicles of any type out there?" he asked.

  “We aren’t seeing too many.” She told him that there was an occasional older vehicle, a lot of ATV’s and some scooters and stuff like that.

  “Any government troops or anything like that out there?”

  “None that I’ve seen or heard.” That struck him as odd.

  Haliday asked her if she was ready to go and she told him yes. “Ok,” he said. “No sense in taking chances, why don’t you make the first move in the morning.” Dawn said that was a good idea.

  “I’ll let you know when we leave and when we get there.” she added.

  “Ok,” he sai
d, “stay put there until I get things organized and get everyone else on a time table. Talk to you later.”

  Rich was listening in. “Anything we need to know?” he asked.

  “No Dad, you have your plans, when the time comes I’ll have you guys go ahead with them.”

  “Ok, talk to you later Roger,” he replied.

  Dawn was double-checking everything in the garage. She went to disconnect the generator when she heard a noise outside. She stopped and listened for a minute to see if she could identify it. She was hoping it was one the neighborhood cats or a raccoon or something, but it sounded different somehow. As she listened she heard a hollow metallic clinking noise. She had no idea what it was. It wasn’t anything good, she thought.

  Dawn ran into the living room to wake up her mom and sister. They got up groggily and Dawn told them someone was outside. They sat there trying to fully wake up. They said they didn’t hear anything. Karen then said, “Wait a minute, I hear it out front.” They were fully awake now.

  At first it sounded like the wind blowing the tree branches against the siding but they weren’t sure. Diana and Dawn ran upstairs to see what was happening. They took a quick peek outside and saw the top of a ladder against the gutter. It had been the feet of the ladder she heard clinking around.

  Diana and Dawn both looked at each other and backed away from the window. Dawn aimed her pistol toward the window. Diana saw the figure getting ready to climb on the roof and she turned on her flashlight. All they saw was the figure try to climb unto the roof, heard a man yell and then tumble down into the bushes below.

  Diana thought it was actually amusing, but Dawn reminded her someone just tried to break in. They didn’t go near the window in case someone shot at them. The nails had done the job. They didn’t plan on sleeping tonight now, just planned on getting ready to go.

  It was almost five in the morning now and almost 72 hours since the EMP hit. The weather had started to turn colder. That was what you got in Michigan. 70 degrees on one day and 40 the next day. This close to winter, there would be far fewer warm days and they would have to prepare for that. It was almost a blessing it happened now and not in the dead of winter. Traveling in snow would be very difficult.

  Everything was packed and ready to go now. They triple checked everything and did a walk through of the house four times, making sure they had taken what they wanted. Karen stood there and cried. This had been their home since her divorce years ago and they had made it their kingdom. They had folk art, knickknacks and reminders of their Norwegian heritage and they hated to leave it. All three of them cried and couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

  They went into the garage where the ATV was waiting. The sun would be rising and people would be getting up soon and they wanted to be out of here before it became apparent they were leaving. Diana opened the garage door and Dawn pulled the ATV out into the driveway and then backed up to connect the trailer to it.

  Diana and Karen kept their eyes open for trouble. Dawn then pulled forward and they closed the garage door and put a few padlocks on it. With no one here, it was just a target eventually anyway; no sense in trying to make it Fort Knox.

  Dawn made Diana walk out by the street and check that area out. Diana protested, but Dawn just looked at her and said go. She walked out, looked around and looked across the street. The guy with the old car that broke down had come outside and was watching them intensely. Karen climbed in the front seat next to Dawn and they pulled out toward the street. At the end of the driveway Diana jumped into the back seat and they slowly moved out into the road.

  As they were pulling out Dawn looked at her neighbor and flipped him the finger again. He returned the salute promptly and all three of them noticed his hands had bandages on them. Diana said, “That prick tried to break in last night. We should have shot him. He’ll be breaking in as soon as we are gone.”

  Karen said “Let him, nothing left but a drum full of water in the basement.” The rest was just memories that they had to take with them in place of the physical items.

  As they travelled east a bit they only got a few strange looks, but they still maintained a vigil to keep themselves safe. They would have to snake through some neighborhoods to avoid the main roads and populated areas in order to end up about 18 miles north near Metamora. Here they would stay until they got word to move to the next point. There weren’t a lot of people where they were heading and it was harder to get to than where they had been. It was far more rural.

  What a sight this thing was. This double seat ranger towing this small 5X8 single axle trailer loaded to the hilt with who knows what inside. Actually it was a large amount of food and water and their personal items, which was not much at all except for Diana’s. Diana had packed like it was the end of the world. In a sense it was, but there was a lot she wouldn’t need. Business attire wasn’t on this year’s post apocalyptic fashion runway.

  The ranger was pretty much stock, except for the engine mods to make it run and the tires. The tires had been changed from their beefier off-road rubber to a set more suitable for pavement. They could always change them out if the need to remain off pavement was needed. The trailer was just a plain trailer with added locks. In a pinch they could sleep inside if they emptied it and were in a safe location. They were on their way; Dawn called Roger and told him.

  About the same time over at Haliday’s parents, they were all sleeping. Randy was supposed to be up keeping watch, but he fell asleep. He was jolted awake by a pounding on the door. He went over and asked who it was. He heard a familiar voice, “It’s Uncle David, let us in.” Randy wasn’t sure what to do. He heard his uncle say “Hurry up Randy, Bobby is hurt.” He opened the door and David, who was carrying Bobby, rushed into the house.

  “Go get grandma,” he said. Randy just stood there looking. “Go now.” Randy closed and locked the door and ran to get Bev. Bev came out into the living room to find Bobby lying on the ground bleeding from his head. David was trying to hold a t-shirt against his head and Bobby just screamed in pain. Bev told Randy to go into the basement and bring up the plastic container marked first aid. Rich and everyone else got up at this point after hearing the screaming.

  Bev grabbed a blanket and put it under Bobby’s head. "What happened?" she asked. David was shaking. He was a big guy, not really in great shape, and the incident had taken a toll on him. He had halfway carried Bobby about a quarter of a mile as fast as he could. He was breathing heavy, he was frightened for his son, and what he was saying didn’t make sense. No one could really understand him at the moment, he was winded.

  Bev moved the t-shirt and looked at Bobby’s head. Most people would have fainted, but after six kids and the accidents they had growing up, it was almost normal to her. “David, don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks, he’ll be ok.” She put the t-shirt back. Randy had come up from the basement with the large container. Bev looked at David and told him he would have to hold him still. She told Randy and Kevin to help him.

  She went over to the sink and used a bottle of water to wash her hands. She took another bottle over to where Bobby was. “Put him on the coffee table,” she said. They put him on the coffee table and she pulled up a kitchen chair next to his head. She put on a pair of latex gloves. “Ok, hold him down.” She removed the t-shirt again and took a flap of skin the size of an orange peel and lifted it up and poured water over it rinsing the area well.

  She placed it back and held it there. “Rich, go wash your hands and come back and put some gloves on.” Rich did as instructed and came over. “Hold this in place,” she said. He held the flap of skin down, but didn’t watch what was going on. Bev pulled out a suture kit and stitched the flap in place. “It’s not going to win awards, but it’ll have to do.” She covered it with a clean dressing. She dug out some antibiotics they had bought on the net. He’ll need to take these just in case of an infection. "Now what happened?" she said.

  David had caught his breath and began to tell them how he
had made it home and waited to see if his girlfriend would show up. Bobby had actually said she would go to grandma’s house because it was closer. It made sense, so they set out for the house. They had stopped in the evening behind an abandoned shop and took a nap and rested. When they woke up they started out again. They ran across a woman walking down the railroad tracks about a quarter mile away from here.

  This woman looked like she had been through the ringer. She was maybe in her fifties, thin build, oversized clothes on, missing some teeth, ragged hair. When they encountered her, Bobby had said, “Look Dad, I think she’s a bum.” The woman had started walking up to him screaming and yelling about being called a bum and David told her to back off. He wasn’t armed and had no way to defend them. He tried to walk away, but she kept telling them, “You ain’t no better than me now, you gonna learn life’s hard knocks now.”

  Bobby, being a typical 14-year-old kid, said “Shut up bum. You’re a bum and always will be.” He left David’s side and walked right up on her. David tried to call him back, but he didn’t listen. “Bum, bum, bum, bum,” he taunted. She swung her walking stick at him like a golf club and it glanced off his forehead at just the right angle, splitting it open. Being a facial wound, it bled like crazy. Bev thought how odd head wounds bleed like crazy, but aren’t that bad. David picked up rocks and starting throwing them at the woman and chased her away. He had grabbed Bobby then and rushed to the Halidays’.

  *****

  Haliday had never been happier to see the Michigan border as he drove through. He felt better about being back in the state, but not about the current state of the situation. They were coming up on US12, aptly named Michigan Avenue. You could actually take this from downtown Detroit to downtown Chicago. No one really did this though, unless they wanted a sightseeing tour. Too many small towns and stops in between.

  He kept looking for a place to pull off. He couldn’t continue driving for much longer and with the amount of time most likely left, the break would do him good. He looked over at Mike, who was hovering between sleep and consciousness. He asked him to look in the binder and see if there were any notes written in the margins regarding the area. Mike looked and said something about campground races.