The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 48

Their shoes were soaked almost as soon as they stepped outside. Between the melting winter snowpack and the spring rain, the puddles and rivers that seemed to overrun the town were not only deep but cold. However, the town would not dry up overnight and if they were to make a hasty escape from Cle Elam they would have to do things they found disagreeable. The first to complain was Aurora. She didn’t feel that her life had to be perfect, merely under tight control, and when the act of living strayed outside of her comfort zone she made her frustration known. “Fuck!” she yelled. “This is bullshit! My feet are fucking freezing! Can we just get this over with?” Eli rolled his eyes at her tantrum as they approached the service station. The accumulated snow had certainly succeeded in doing its damage. The roof had caved in roughly halfway down the walls, with I-beams torn from their attachments. There was, however, a small crawl space created by the folding of corrugated metal and after some debate, it was Jackson who volunteered to go in. Getting down on his hands and knees, he immediately felt the effects of the frigid water, and lying down on his stomach, snaked his way in.

Once inside, he saw the darkness created by the collapsed roof and yelling to the rest of the group asked if anyone had a flashlight. Maya, always prepared, made it a point to keep one with her at all times for any situation that required its use. With his hand reaching out through the crawl space, Maya passed it to him with a brief set of instructions.

“Try looking near the counter,” she said. “If it’s going to be anywhere, it’ll probably be somewhere around there.”

Taking the flashlight, Jackson crawled back in and continued his search. There was no room to stand, and he was forced to crawl along the floor, through the icy water that had accumulated after the building’s collapse. Maya, Eli, and Aurora stood just outside the crawlspace anticipating the discovery of a necessary piece of equipment when they heard Jackson loudly call to them from inside.

“I got one!” he said. “It’s called a siphon, right?” A cautious excitement took hold of those waiting outside as Jackson extended an arm through the crawl space opening – his hand holding the sealed package containing the group’s salvation. Moments later, he passed two more, believing that three are better than one.

“Hang on,” he said. “I’ve got to back up a little.” With his clothes soaked, Jackson began the difficult crawl through the small space leading to his waiting friends. But just as he exposed both his head and both arms, the air was broken by a crashing sound coming from within the crushed service station. This was followed by Jackson’s sudden unconsciousness. Maya called to him, but the only answer she received was a silent mumbling of words, paired with a thin stream of blood running from his mouth.

“Jackson, what’s wrong?”

Aurora began crying with the realization that whatever had happened was likely very serious.

The three were left panicking as they struggled for a way to help him. Common sense dictated that an injured person should never be moved for risk of further injury, but their situation was desperate and Jackson needed help. As Aurora stood by helplessly screaming, Maya and Eli grabbed an arm and began pulling. The resulting movement spurred Jackson into consciousness and as his eyes widened in shock he begged them to stop. But Maya and Eli’s attention was fixed only on helping their friend to escape, and with one final pull a tearing sound cut through the cold spring air. Jackson, again, lost consciousness and as they began dragging him from the crushed metal, all three were horrified to realize that somehow his body had been severed in half just above the waistline. To make things worse, as they pulled him out, his internal organs had escaped and now lay strewn across the ground, partially floating on the cold spring flood water.

Eye contact is one of the things that constitutes our humanness and, without thinking, Eli rolled Jackson’s body over in order to get a response. But none would be forthcoming, except for a reflexive spasming of what was left of his body – the force of which pushed a torrent of blood up from Jackson’s lungs and out of his mouth. Then, a quiet stillness blanketed his face as death stole away with his soul. This, however, did not stop Eli from demanding a response from someone he had been friends with since freshman year. Kneeling next to Jackson’s head, he pleaded for any sign of life.

“Jackson!” he screamed. “Come on, buddy! Just say something, please!”

For Jackson, life was over, but the horrors of living were just beginning for the three remaining friends. Now, they were flooded with indescribable grief, having witnessed the flame of mortality snuffed out before their eyes. Unbeknownst to them, within the service station an I-beam had fallen, still attached to a sheet of corrugated metal had slipped from its precarious position and fell cutting through Jackson’s body with a single stroke. The thin sheet of metal was all that held back the deluge of blood that could have given him a few more seconds of life. But without this knowledge, the actions of his would-be rescuers were carried out without a moment of reason. From that moment on, they would question their actions as essential versus humane.

With the surrounding pools of water turned to blood, Jackson lay with his life drained from only half his vessel. Everyone knew where the other half lay but were unwilling to retrieve it, even though they believed that he deserved a proper burial. Turning away from the grisly sight, the group – minus one – walked away with all emotion erased from their faces, replaced by shock. Now, what was once six had been reduced to three, and without the rest of the group, their chances of survival also decreased proportionally. As they entered the house, everyone felt the gloom of loss following them. The repeated trauma of loss and isolation left their minds numb as the wheels of intellectual machinery began to rust. It had previously occurred to them that there was no going back – that the world of what once was dead. If civilization had been a person, it would have been dead and buried long ago, wrapped in the shroud of all things transitory -- birth, life, and death. What we do between our entrance into the world and our exit is surely ours to decide, but everything changes when we are forced by circumstances to accept what is unwanted when no other choices are given. This was the place where the remaining three friends found themselves. There were no other choices. They either engaged the wheels of their minds and learned to live by their wits, or allow themselves to shut down in the throes of grief and die.

The weight of silence was overpowering, effectively leaving the small group involuntarily mute, without words in any language able to express their pain. After what seemed like an eternity, Aurora spoke up as her sobbing began to subside.

“So, what do we do now?”

Her question was met by continued stillness until Eli responded. Somehow, he found a determination he had been previously unaware of. What’s more, the flickering spark of intelligence burst into fiery tongues of inspiration and strength.

“We need to get out of here,” he said. Reaching out toward Maya, he asked for the three siphons Jackson obtained just before his demise. “I’ve got an idea.”

Retreating to the kitchen, he returned with a serrated knife and began opening the sealed, containing hoses and pumps. Examining all three siphons, he surmised that a working siphon needed only one pump, and began dissecting them. Finding some duct tape, he finished the job of creating one long siphon, confident it would reach down into the tank and allow them to remove as much gas as they needed. But as brilliant as his invention was, it still needed to be tested, and what better way to carry it out than to go to the gas station and put it to use? “We need to go back to the gas station,” he said. Still panicked, Aurora spoke up with tears returning to her eyes.

“I’m not fucking going back there,” she said. “I can’t handle it.”

Maya slid over next to her and, putting an arm around her shoulder, tried to offer some comfort. Eli knew he couldn’t leave Aurora alone and realized that Maya should be with her. “Maya,” he began. “Why don’t you stay with her? I’ll handle this.”

Looking up at him, Maya’s eyes said what words could not.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “This has to get done, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

On his way out, he grabbed a blanket, believing that Jackson’s body, or what was left of it, should be treated with dignity. He would see his face one last time before covering him with the blanket. This would also allow the girls to avoid seeing the tattered remains of someone whom they once called friend.

In spite of the snow, it didn’t take long for Eli to reach the gas station and, looking at Jackson’s body, tried to keep from looking at the mass of entrails that lay across the flooded asphalt. He knew that at some point his body would become an easy meal for the wolves or bears roaming through the town. Kneeling near Jackson’s head, Eli quickly noticed the pallor of lifelessness that had stolen his soul and now consumed the color of life from his face. He spoke to him one last time.

“Hey, buddy,” he began. “I know we didn’t always get along, but I miss you already. Thanks for going into the store. I don’t think I could have done that. It kind of looks like I just don’t have the balls to do much of anything, huh?” He placed the blanket over Jackson’s body, being sure to cover both his face and the open stump of his abdomen. Eli tried to maintain his composure as tears began drifting down his cheeks. “We’re going to be leaving soon,” he continued. “So, I guess this is it.”

The word ‘goodbye’ was never spoken and Eli got to his feet, walked around Jackson’s body, and searched briefly for the metal port Maya had spoken of. With the lack of snow, it stood out easily against the concrete surrounding the gasoline pumps. Twisting off the brass-colored cap, he fed the tub down into the tank. He was surprised to find it was not as deep as he thought, and felt the end of the siphon strike the bottom. “Fuck,” he mumbled. “I hope there’s gas in here.” If the tank was empty, Jackson’s death would be for nothing. Holding the other end of the tube to his nose, he smelled the slight flow of air and suddenly backed away.

“Oh, fuck yeah,” he said.

Yet, there was still the question of whether the siphon actually worked, and compressing the rubber pump several times was shocked to see gas rise up from inside the tank. How much gas remained could not be determined, but it was cause for celebration.

Having removed the siphon tube and replacing the twist cap, Eli giggled uncontrollably as he ran back to the house. One may have thought that he had gone mad as he threw the door open and held up the patchwork instrument of their escape. “Guys!” he yelled. “It works! It fucking works!” This was the only good news they had heard since the beginning when the world fell apart. Now, grief and pain fell away as joy took their place. Getting up from the couch, the girls stood in disbelief, having been accustomed to a life of desperation.

“Are you sure?” Maya asked.

Eli held out the tube, letting the fumes of gasoline waft through the room. The girl’s eyes widened as each caught the strong scent of gas. “Holy shit!” Aurora exclaimed. “It does work!” Maya was overcome with giddiness and, turning to each other, embraced excitedly. Their feverish celebration quickly led to something neither had anticipated nor planned for. It was something so spontaneous that neither was able to interrupt it. During their embrace, their eyes quickly met, followed by a passionate kiss. Time stood still as they became lost in a long act of deep, hard passion and as their tongues began to touch, the world suddenly pulled them back to the uncomfortable fact that Eli was present. Surprised by this realization, they backed away from each other and, looking at Eli's expression, searched for an explanation.

“Um, Eli,” Maya said. “I guess we forgot you were still here.”

He never saw this coming and stood with a vacant expression. No words would ever be enough to say what Eli was thinking, but in his attempt to respond, what words he could manage came out hesitantly.

“Um, well,” he said. “I guess that happened.” The girls looked at each other with concern, struggling for a response.

“We’re sorry, Eli,” Aurora said. “No one was supposed to know.”

As much as Eli played the class clown, he did maintain some degree of understanding and quickly put the girls at ease.

“You know,” he said. “Whatever does it for you.” He turned his attention to Aurora, whose face flushed with embarrassment.

“At least now I know why you never wanted to have sex with me.”

Although he spoke in jest, Aurora knew that her sexuality was not the only reason for her lack of interest. In truth, she found him immature, somewhat disgusting, and always with an attitude. The fact that he was dealing rather well with what was, until now, a secret surprised her. But, the fact remained that they were finally leaving, despite everything they had lived through.

Regardless of how the conversation ended, there hung a heavy tension in the air. Seeing the need to continue on their journey, Maya exploited the moment, breaking the silence with only a few words.

“Guys,” she said. “We need to get going. The RV has to be gassed up, and we need to get as much stuff in it as possible.”

Having been caught up in that inescapable stillness, Eli took a deep breath as he pulled himself back to the task at hand.

“Right,” he said. “Let’s just grab as much as we can and get the hell out of here.”

Hoping the RV’s wheels had not gone flat over the winter, Maya left ahead of the other two and minutes later pulled up in front of the house. Opening the side door of the RV, she stepped out and quickly went back inside. Soon, all three hurried out towards the vehicle and, dropping an armful of blankets and food, ran back for more. Their next stop was the gas station. This would prove to be a very trying moment as Jackson’s body still lay in plain sight. Even though a blanket covered what was left of him, the small group had to fight to avoid seeing his disjointed remains.

Pulling into the gas station, Maya stopped between the cap of the tank and the covered remains of Jackson’s body in an attempt to hide the gruesome scene. This seemed like a better idea than trying to avert one’s eyes from something that had already branded itself onto everyone’s brain – a sight that no one would be able to forget. Before disembarking, she asked everyone to stay inside and keep the shades of the windows closed. No one was to look outside, for obvious reasons – at least, not yet. Opening the gas cap of the RV, Maya quickly went over to the twist cap leading to the underground tank. Feeding the siphon tube into the storage gas tank, she inserted the other end into the vehicle’s fuel tank. Eli had done a good job in lengthening the tube, and with a few squeezes of the siphon’s bulb, she saw the gas rise through the tube. Another one or two firm squeezes, and she was able to hear the flow of gas as it moved through the tubing. Maya was overjoyed, and continuing the flow of lifesaving fuel allowed it to fill the tank to near overflow. Closing the gas cap, she pulled out the siphon and stored it in one of the lower compartments, accessible only from the outside.

Now, with this accomplished, she climbed back into the RV with a new perspective that the hope of their survival truly did exist. Turning the key, Maya touched the gas pedal as the engine roared to life, bringing a smile of optimism to her face. But there was one last item on her mental checklist and, exiting the RV again, knelt down and scanned its underside looking for any signs of rust or corrosion. A heavy winter can sometimes cause metal to rust and the deeper the rust goes the more damage it can do. After close examination, Maya was relieved to find the vehicle’s underside to be in pristine condition. Climbing back in, she belted herself into the driver’s seat and, putting the RV in gear, pulled out of the gas station. Being careful to avoid any potholes, Maya called out to Aurora and Eli. “Guys,” she said. “We’ve got one more to do.” Aurora and Eli looked quizzically at each other. “I thought we got everything done,” Eli said. “What else is there?”

Maya’s focus was on the road, not on conversation. After a few minutes, she pulled into the parking lot of the RV dealership. They weren’t there to acquire parts, although it was decided to pick up two new tires as well as a plug-in tire pump.

Having parked around the back of the dealership, Maya turned the engine off and, leaving the driver’s seat, sat with Aurora and Eli for a necessary conversation.

“Okay,” she began. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

Aurora and Eli looked at each other dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong?” Eli asked. “This isn’t about you two, is it?”

The fact that Maya and Aurora were involved in a relationship had, in their opinion, become a non-issue. This was something far more important. “We need to figure out where we’re going to go,” she continued. “We can’t just wander around. We need to know where we’re going. Any suggestions?”

The silence of thought filled the air as the group considered the matter. Everyone agreed that they needed to plan a destination, but with the entire country in front of them, the question of where to go became difficult. But wherever they landed was where they would stay.

“Hey,” Eli said.

He had remembered the phone call Maya took just as the world began to crumble.

“You talked to Marty, right?”

Maya clearly remembered the conversation, but it was cut short when the power went out. “Yeah,” she replied. “He was in Los Angeles, why?”

“Did he say what his plan was?” Eli asked. Marty had not given her a lot of information, only that the country had been attacked with a weaponized strain of smallpox.

“No,” Maya asked. “The line went dead.” Eli considered how they would obtain more information on what Marty’s strategy might have been. To accomplish this, they needed to know more about him.

“Maya,” Aurora said. “How well do you know Marty? I’ve never met him, but you might know something that could give us an idea of where he may be headed.”

It had been some time since she had last spoken with him, but the one thing she knew about Marty was where he was from.

“I think he’s from someplace in upstate New York,” she replied. “Some small town with a history.”

Maya prided herself on her memory, but stress, having taken its toll, left her with less ability to concentrate.

“Shit,” she continued. “I don’t know. It’s somewhere south of the Adirondacks. I just can’t remember the name.”

“Why does it matter?” Aurora asked. “We have a general idea. All we need to do is go to that area – maybe you’ll remember by then.”

Maya nodded her head in agreement and praised Aurora for offering such a suggestion. “That’s brilliant,” she said. “Maybe as we get closer, I’ll be able to remember it. Now, how do we get there?”

Bringing out the map she acquired at the gas station, Maya unfolded it as Eli and Aurora leaned in to study it.

“Alright,” she began. “We could go down through California and swing through Texas. Or, we can drive north and around the northern end of the Rockies and across the country. We just need to make sure we follow a route that takes us through a lot of towns and cities. We can’t afford to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.” No one wanted to go to Texas, mostly because of the heat, and it seemed easier to drive around the Rockies. Eli, pointing out the obvious, noted that they were close enough to the northern end of the continental divide that getting through the first leg of their journey would be fairly easy. Finding their way east while looking for any populated areas was another matter altogether. Not only would they have to look for food, water, and other resources, but would also have to be careful who they ran into. It’s nice to think people might come together in times of crisis, working in solidarity towards a common goal, but the reality is that people are selfish and would heartlessly kill someone for a pint of water and a can of beans.