Dystopia: The Long Road

by DJ Cooper

  The one thing he dreaded and was trying to figure out was Matty. Matty was Matt’s son and he would be taking him along. Thinking about this made him cringe. Matty’s mom was not what one would call an easy to get along with person. When Matt married her, no one could figure out why, no one liked her and she was horrible to Matt and even worse now about things with Matty. He laughed to himself thinking, ‘well, if things are bad enough to go to Matt’s place, I could just shoot her.’

  Shaking his head, he said to himself out loud, “While I might enjoy that and Matt could rest easy, I guess I couldn’t do it to Matty. Sure was fun thinking about it though.”

  He decided he would wait to see what happened with things before contacting her. Thinking of it, he knew his timing on that would have to be just right. She was what he would call a “sheeple”, someone who would follow along with whatever the government or others would say, having no real opinion of their own, simply following the crowd like sheep. If something caused a breakdown she would be the first in line waiting for a government handout. He didn’t relish the thought of trying to get Matty out of an internment camp or something.

  September 18th

  John sat in front of the stove building a raging fire before Amy would get up. It was cold this morning, he hadn’t checked the news yet, but he was sure it was well below freezing. It had been a hard frost during the night, he was sure much of the garden was toast. It was only six, but he still had not been able to check his bank accounts online.

  The banks were to reopen this morning and he thought it strange he was unable to even log in. He decided to wait until nine before trying to check at the bank. Turning on the news, he sat watching to see if there was any news on the banking situation. To his chagrin, there was nothing, just more fluff and fiction. The news held little more than the weather forecast and some story about the President and family on vacation again. John was instantly irritated because it seemed like they were always on vacation and usually smack dab in the middle of some crisis.

  John headed out to the bank promptly at nine, he arrived to see armed guards outside the bank and a mob of people waiting for it to open. He was going to just leave, but decided to go ask if the guards knew what time the bank would be opening.

  As he walked up he overheard people talking in the crowd, an elderly gentleman was speaking to what appeared to be his wife saying,

  “If the bank doesn’t open soon we should go, there are some very angry people here and I think we would be safer at home.”

  A very angry man was shouting that it was time for the bank to open and to let them in, along with another man who seemed to be getting the crowd all agitated.

  John walked up to the guards to ask when they would be opening, when the guard turned his weapon in a threatening manner, telling him, “Hold it right there buddy!”

  John was stunned saying, “Relax man, I just wanted to ask if you knew what time they would be opening?”

  The guard looked to ease up a little, but still maintained his stance and said, “We do not have that information, we are here to keep the crowd under control.”

  John thanked them and turned to leave when the other guard asked him, “Did the news or anyone say anything about this? We have been here all night and no one has come to relieve us or give us any information.”

  The other guard grumbled at him, saying, “Shut up!”

  John just shook his head, “No” and continued to his car. Once in the car he tried to call Matt, but all it kept telling him was, “We’re sorry, all circuits are busy. Please try your call later.”

  Leaving the bank he went over to Mark and Renee’s to see how things were going. Mark was there when he got there, which was much earlier than his usual time to be home.

  When he asked why, Mark just shook his head and said, “The world has gone mad, there is no work for me today. Everyone is in a panic over the banks and wants to hold off on their projects.”

  John said, “I’m not surprised, you should have seen the mob at the bank. You would think people could go at least a weekend before needing to get things.”

  Renee was making them brunch and asked John, “Do you think there is anything to this banking issue? I’m glad you made us take the money out on Friday, but when I went to the store this morning gas jumped up another seventy-five cents since yesterday.”

  John shook his head saying, “And so now it begins.”

  Renee looked at him quizzically and asked, “What begins?”

  John said, “Don’t you worry there Mama, you’re going to be ok.”

  Gaining a more serious tone John looked to Mark and said, “I need you guys to be prepared to leave here if you have to. Did you keep the tanks full like I asked you to?” They both nodded and John said, “Good, here is what I need you to do; first I need each of you to pack a bag of clothes. Be sensible, nothing like a vacation, more like what you would take for camping. Don’t forget extra socks, gloves, hats and scarves also add your tennis shoes to it. Then I need you to put out an outfit like you might wear for hiking, everything down to the socks and boots. Have this in a spot in your room so you could quickly change if you needed to.”

  Renee began to get upset, asking him, “Why do we need to do this.”

  John said, “Don’t worry about anything there girlie, it is all just in case.”

  Once John felt confident they had their bags together, he began helping Mark look at tools and such that might be helpful. Renee was working on what John had instructed her to do with other things inside the house, she had all their important papers inside her purse along with a freezer bag of only the most precious of family pictures.

  The goal was to organize things so they could easily and quickly pack up the vehicles and go to John’s house. John and Mark made a mini cache for them in a small graveyard down the road, in case all they could take was their bags.

  John waved as he pulled out of the driveway saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you. If you hear from Matt tell him I said Sierra Echo Tango. He will know what that means.”

  John and Matt already had a few phrases that meant different things, this meant all is SET to bug out. Thinking about Matt he knew he had to go check on Matty. This would likely be an unpleasant encounter, but he decided today was a good day to see.

  When he got to Rita’s apartment, her usual rude attitude was blatantly obvious. She was a heavier girl, but not in a proportionate way, she insisted on wearing tight clothes that would accentuate the worst areas of her body and fail to cover others. She stood at the door, glaring at him, her hair a strange shade of orange and her lips pursed in annoyance.

  John said, “Hey Rita, with all the trouble at the banks I just wanted to stop by and see if you and Matty needed anything.”

  She instantly became accusatory saying, “What? Did Matt want you to come spy on me?”

  John replied, “No, he just wanted me to make sure Matty was ok if any trouble happened.”

  She sneered, “I’m not incompetent you know.”

  John sighed, “No one said you were, but with the banks failing to reopen I just wanted you to know if you needed anything to stop over, you are BOTH welcome and I can loan you some money if you can’t get any from the bank today.”

  She said, “Fine, but I’m sure we will be ok.”

  John nodded and said, “One last thing, if any trouble starts because of this, you and Matty come over.”

  She glared at him sneering saying, “I said we can take care of ourselves.”

  John sneered back slightly and with a warning in his voice said, “Matty is who matters here and let me give you one word of advice. You will not have to fear bad guys if anything happens to him because of your pride and attitude. Because I will be far worse than any bad guy you can imagine. Matt wanted him taken care of in the event of issues and I will take care of him one way or another.”

  Rita stepped back a little and stammered, “I’m sorry John, I know you mean well, I’m just trying
to keep Matty safe too.” She knew better than to make John really angry.

  She asked if he could take them to the store for some groceries, telling him she had tried this morning but everyone had gone crazy buying everything in the store.

  She began to cry, saying, “They were pushing and shoving and grabbing things out of my hands. One guy pushed Matty into the counter and kicked him.”

  John was angry now and shouting through the apartment for Matty. Matty came from the back room with a large knot on his forehead, running to Uncle John, as he called him, and whimpering into his belly.

  John glared at Rita, “Why didn’t you just tell me, why were you being so bitchy?” Rita just stood there with her head low.

  John told Matty, “Go pack a backpack for campouts, while I talk to your mom.”

  He turned to Rita with what he felt was sheer hatred in his eyes and said, “Matty is coming with me.”

  She began to object when John put his hand up to silence her and saying, “I’m not done, you may come too, but he is not leaving my side until this is all over. Do you understand?”

  She nodded and said, “Ok.”

  He said, “Go, now! Pack a bag, oh… and forget the nail polish.”

  Rita did as she was told but did not look happy about it, she complained as they were getting into John’s truck that he didn’t have to be such an asshole. John just glared at her, he was not going to argue with her in front of Matty.

  As they started to leave, he remembered Kimmie and Jenny, they were Matt’s cousins. They were only eighteen and twenty but had gotten an apartment on the other side of the same community that Rita and Matty lived in. John drove across the parking lot, he felt he needed to check on the girls. He didn’t know to what end, but they were not what one would call financially savvy and would not have seen the banking issues and saved some money.

  As he pulled into the lot where parking was designated for their building, he saw Kimmie trying to fight off two teenagers who were taking her groceries out of her trunk. John stepped out of the truck Glock in hand and yelled out,

  ”Hey! You, drop the bags!”

  The teen that was closest to him could see the gun in his hand and immediately dropped the bags, but the other one flipped him off as he rounded the corner of the building with his plunder. John smacked the one that stopped in the back of the head and told him to go home.

  Kimmie was crying when John approached her and had a long scratch running down her forearm that was bleeding. He motioned for Rita to come help him, but she sat crossing her arms in defiance, she hated Kimmie and would have no part in helping her. He walked up to the truck and told Matty to come with him that he needed him to help. He sneered at Rita telling her to make sure to keep the truck safe.

  She looked horrified and said, “You aren’t leaving me here alone, are you?”

  John replied, “No, you didn’t want to come help, you’re choosing to stay. We’ll be right back.”

  John and Matty took Kimmie up to her apartment to find Jenny in bed sleeping. He ordered her to get up and start packing a bag for each of them, while he began to bandage Kimmie's arm. Looking over he could see Jenny adding lingerie and dresses and gasped, snapping at her he yelled for Matty to come show her what to pack.

  Jenny began to cry, saying, “What’s wrong, John why are you yelling at me?”

  John stopped what he was doing, he hadn’t realized he was so harsh with her. She was sleeping and had no idea what was going on.

  John walked over and hugged her saying, “I’m sorry Jenny, and I didn’t mean to be so harsh. Things are not going good in the neighborhood and I want you and Kimmie to come with me for now.”

  She nodded and asked what she was to pack, John told her to have Matty help her that he would know what she should pack for each of them.

  The girls grabbed the food Kimmie had just bought along with the feminine products from the bathroom. As he was watching John realized he had not stocked such items for Amy. Hurrying the girls out he said he had to make a stop at a store on the way. All the girls in the truck whined it was too crazy and they were scared. John and Matty looked at each other, Matty rolling his eyes.

  Matty would be ten in October, he was small for his age but very quick with the wit. Matty was a good looking boy with dark hair and dark eyes and could win you with a smile.

  John remembered hearing Matt say that he had been hoping to get him to grow over the summers and vacations he got to spend with him. It was hard because he was always fighting with Dez, Matt’s girlfriend, about not wanting to eat what she cooked.

  Matt and John had talked on many occasions about how Matty treated Dez and believed it was Rita’s doing. John admired Dez because she put up with Matty’s attitude and was always good with him. He silently wondered how he would get through even a day without smacking the daylights out of Rita for all the trouble she had caused them, and the certain problems she will make for him before this was all over.

  Making numerous stops along the way, John was able to get a large amount of both tampons and feminine napkins for all the ladies. He also picked up a number of jars of both peanut butter and jelly because that was one of Matty’s favorite things to eat. He also got more saltines because they would last better than bread for him.

  When they arrived at the house, Amy was standing out front waving to John. He knew this was not like her and worried something was wrong. Hopping out of the truck and practically sprinting to where she was, he looked quickly in all directions before speaking. Panting, he said,

  “What’s wrong? Are you OK?”

  She said, “Of course I am silly, I just wanted to tell you to park on the other side of my car because Mark and Renee are going to be here in a few minutes.”

  John sighed, saying, “Oh good, I’m glad they decided to come right away.” Amy looked at him quizzically asking,

  “Why honey, what is going on?”

  She began to feel alarmed and looking toward the truck she noticed Rita getting out. With daggers in her eyes, she looked at John and said,

  “And what is that doing here?”

  John told her to relax, that it was a necessary evil for the sake of Matty and he would explain later.

  Chapter 5

  “The End is now the Beginning”

  “War is a way of shattering to pieces… materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and… too intelligent

  -George Orwell

  The small group sat around the table after dinner chatting and drinking coffee with various conversations going on, Kimmie was playing cards with Matty while Jenny stared at the TV.

  John rose and started speaking, “We need to get the sleeping arrangements worked out.”

  Before he could finish speaking Rita said she was not comfortable and wanted the room for her and Matty, which John quickly vetoed.

  They had a guest bedroom and two sleeper sofas; he assigned Mark and Renee the guest room. Rita would have the full size sofa while Kimmie and Jenny would share the queen. He handed out pillows, comforters and sheets and showed them how to open the sofas.

  Matty frowned, saying, “Do I have to sleep on the floor?”

  Rita scowled at John, “I guess you’re just a kid, you can handle the floor.”

  She had an uncanny knack for saying exactly the wrong thing. John, giving Rita a disgusted look went to Matty knelt down smiled at him a devious smile saying,

  “Bud, you get the best bed in the house.”

  He looked over glaring at Rita with a look of victory, as he led Matty to an area in the far corner, where he unwound a hammock and attached the loose end to a hook on the opposite wall. Matty giggled with excitement exclaiming,

  “This is the best bed ever! Thank you Uncle John.”

  Hugging John tightly he ran and scrambled into his hammock and immediately got it swinging.

  John and Amy wished everyone a good night’s sleep and said they would discuss things in the morning. Aft
er everyone had settled in Kimmie got up and went over to Rita’s bed. She sat on the edge of the bed as Rita rolled away from her. Kimmie had heard her quietly crying and come over; she tried to act like she felt bad for Rita. No one liked her, no one really ever had. She had a miserable disposition and was always saying horrible things about Matt. She hated Dez and tried at every turn to make Matty hate her. Kimmie had been subjected to her harsh words on more than one occasion, so even she did not know why she went to comfort her.

  She asked her what was wrong, trying to sound kind. Rita snapped back,

  “What do you care?”

  Kimmie’s tone got sharp when she said, “You know what? I don’t, forget it. I just thought you might like to talk about it. Good Night!”

  Rita rolled over slightly and said in almost a whisper, “Why do you talk to me? With everything that is going on, why did John even bring me with him?”

  Kimmie looked at her quizzically saying, “Because you are Matty’s mother, and whether we like it or not he needs his mother and would not have left without you. You really don’t matter, but for him it has to be don’t you understand anything?”

  Rita began to speak when Kimmie cut her off. “You could give people a try and instead of being a perpetual bitch try being kind to another person. I came over to see if you needed to talk and you snapped at me. Rita no one hates you, they hate the way you act.”

  Rita sniffled and said, “I know… I know I do it too but it just comes out. I was mean to Matt but all of you really have no idea what really happened, you would only listen to him.”

  Kimmie reached out and touched her arm saying, “Just try not to be so bitchy, and maybe you will make it through this.”

  Rita felt a horrible fear, but nodded and thanked Kimmie for the chat and saying, “I will try and I know John is just trying to keep us safe. You have been kind and I haven’t, I’m sorry Kimmie. I really am.” Kimmie smiled a little and headed for her bed. The smile left Rita feeling uneasy, it was a crooked smile with some kind of knowing look in her eyes.