The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 43

Returning home, the group congregated in the living room and, sitting on the floor, began sorting through their new supply of food and other necessities. Visibly shaken, Jackson was unable to erase the image of death from his mind, and trying to distract himself with the task at hand, he cracked. Pulling his knees-up, he burst into tears as he raised his hands to his face. He did his best to conceal his emotions while leaving the grocery store, but still felt them welling up from the shock of having witnessed death for the first time in his young life. Getting up from the floor, Maya sat next to him and, wrapping her arms around him, tried to soothe his shattered nerves. “It’s okay,” she said. “We’re probably going to see this a lot, and I know this sounds harsh, but I hope you never get used to it.”

Now, she turned her attention to the rest of the group.

“We can’t afford to lose our humanity, no how bad things get.”

Aurora, already upset by Jackson’s sudden outpouring of emotion, expressed what she thought was an impossible task.

“How are we supposed to do that? We’re a bunch of fucking college students. What do we know about this shit?”

Still, with her arms around Jackson, Maya gave her the only answer she could think of. “I don’t know what to tell you,” she said. “But we’re going to have to figure it out somehow.” The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as everyone contemplated the reality that death now lay everywhere and no matter where they went it would likely follow them like wolves maddened with hunger.

Eli was the first to ask what had already been a topic of conversation. With their circumstances constantly changing, the question would likely be brought up repeatedly.

“So, what now?” he asked. “If we’re going to keep seeing this shit, then I say let’s get the fuck out of here – go someplace isolated, someplace where we’re not going to have to see this. I mean, look at Jackson, he’s a fucking mess, and he’s only seen this once. I don’t know if I can handle this crap.”

Maya let out a sigh of resolve, knowing that the world had changed more than any of them realized. Maya paused as she composed an answer she knew no one would like.

“Has anybody looked out the window?” she asked. “Winter is here.”

“Yeah,” Eli replied. “I think we’ve noticed that, so what?”

He was clearly agitated by her statement of the obvious.

“Eli,” Maya interrupted. “I’m not done.” Her voice was firm and effectively served to cut him off.

“The weather is only going to get worse,” she continued. “So for now we’re stuck here. So you’ll have to get used to it.”

Sometimes the things we are forced to accept are the things we are least likely to cope with. This was now the position the group was cornered into and one way or another, everyone would have to find a way to deal with it.

Having collected himself, Jackson, still with his knees pulled up, made a somewhat ominous remark.

“I feel like I’m going crazy. I don’t think I’m going to get through this.”

Hearing this, Maya quickly took on the role of counselor as she tried to console him. “Jackson,” she began. “Listen to me. We have each other, and we’ll get through this. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Her words seemed empty given the situation, but empty words were better than nothing at all. Aurora believed it was time to take a side and chimed in with her assessment.

“I think Jackson’s right,” she said. “We need to get out of here.”

The conversation had crossed the thin line of sanity into what was clearly unreasonable, forcing Maya to make an executive decision. Getting to her feet, she stood in front of the group and speaking firmly made an inarguable stand, knowing that if they left now they would be swallowed up by the elements.

“Now you fucking listen to me,” she began. “We’re at the edge of the Rockies, it’s winter and I don’t know if any of you have noticed but a storm’s coming in. Do any of you want to be out in that? We’ve been living in Tacoma for how many years now? All of you know what this weather can do, and you want to travel in this? I’m sorry, but we’re not going anywhere until spring. We’ve already lost two of our friends. I don’t want to lose anymore. Got it?”

They sat in silent grief for their departed friends, never having considered the consequences of any decision they made. As for Maya’s speech, they knew she was right and resigned themselves to remaining in the small mountain town, cut off from the world at large.

As if on cue, the wind began roaring down the mountain, striking the exposed side of the house with such fury that the floors and windows shook. Nature’s sudden onslaught succeeded in bringing the four friends to realize their true insignificance in the face of what seemed like the coming apocalypse. To define their reaction as terrified would be a grievous understatement. In fact, given what sounded like a freight train about to collide with the house, those inside trembled with the firm belief that they would soon see their lives come to an end. But for Eli, the terror that held him in its unforgiving grip pushed him to a point he could never have imagined. Suddenly standing, he looked down quickly examining himself, and was horrified at what he saw.

“Fuck!” he yelled.

This attracted everyone’s attention as he continued ranting.

“I fucking pissed myself! Fucking shit!” Tears and panic were now replaced by unchecked laughter at Eli’s expense as he stood looking down at the large stain of urine that had collected in the fabric of his jeans. He would never admit it, but he knew that his urinary mishap was a response to intense fear and still remaining as wet spots continued raving uncontrollably. “Stop laughing!” he yelled. “It’s not funny. This is fucking bullshit!”

Laughter grew from loud giggling to outright hysterics as Eli, retreated to his room, his cursing going on unbroken. Even Jackson, who not long before sat crying over his first and hopefully last encounter with death, lay on the floor, unable to contain himself. Certainly, laughter was the best treatment for the trauma he encountered.