The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 54

Eli was surprised at how comfortable the bed was, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, his mind shut itself off. Sleep is a healing process, assisting in the recovery of both mind and body. Yet, this would not be enough, and Eli would be haunted by the malignant sight of death for the rest of his life. While he slept, Aurora managed to distract herself by rummaging through the RV’s interior, looking for anything of interest. Maya, on the other hand, was deeply concerned for his state of mind, hoping that Eli would bounce back sooner rather than later. Moments after Maya touched the gas, everyone but Eli felt the rear wheels strike what had become a much smaller bump. Knowing what she had run over made her sick to her soul, but in time this would subside, for the most part.

Continuing their drive, Maya strained to see the road signs and turnoffs. Having referenced the map again, it was decided that they would make a course correction and leave route 90 at Liberty Lake. From there, they would drive north through a small section of sparse housing, then east on Route 290. From there, they would turn north at Moab, a small town huddled next to the railway. It would then be a simple matter of staying west of Newman Lake, looking for a place to stop that was far enough from the houses and cabins surrounding the shoreline. But as Aurora examined it more closely, she discovered something of particular interest. Just left of the turnoff onto Route 290 there were, at least, two cannabis dispensaries and although neither of the girls had ever used it they knew that Eli did. This led Aurora to a rather compassionate decision. “Hey, Maya,” she began. “There’s a couple of weed shops just left of the turnoff on Route 290. Do you think we should stop?”

Maya was more than a little surprised, knowing that Aurora was not one to use substances of any kind outside the occasional beer.

“You don’t smoke weed, do you?” she asked. “Why would you want to stop at a place like that?”

“You’re right,” Aurora replied. “But Eli does, and with the shape he’s in it might help him to keep things together. You said it yourself – we can’t have him falling apart.”

Maya knew nothing about sedatives or psychotherapeutic medication, but she did know that this simple plant could, in fact, help Eli to keep his mind settled.

“Aurora,” she began. “That’s a brilliant idea. Tell me something, are you two becoming close at all because that’s a very kind thing to do for someone who’s basically a giant pain in the ass.” In truth, as far as Eli was concerned, Aurora had made her thoughts on him known several times, but he needed help and if a bag of weed could do that, they would find a way to get it. “Okay,” Maya continued. “Where is this place?” Referencing the map, Aurora pointed out the location of ‘Primo Cannabis Dispensary Spokane’. Getting there would be easy. Finding the signs in the dark was the problem.

Route 90 was hazardous enough during the day. At night, the dark landscape seemed to play tricks on Maya, as shadows appeared to take on a life of their own – slowly dancing amongst the wrecked cars and rotting corpses. The one thing that kept her from becoming mentally entangled in the playfulness of this nocturnal trickster was Aurora’s voice. She guided her, step-by-step, along the highway towards their destination, and soon they found themselves at the turnoff to Liberty Lake.

“Okay,” Maya said. “Where are we going from here?”

Double-checking the map, Aurora directed her to turn left onto North Harvard Road. From there, it was a straight shot to route 290. But before they turned off, they would stop at the dispensary Aurora had mentioned.

“Hey,” Aurora said. “Should we tell him where we’re going, or should we surprise him?” Maya considered this carefully. It would be quite a surprise for Eli to wake up in front of a weed store, but she decided that he should be told just before their arrival. He rarely used it while in graduate school, but during his undergraduate years he spent a lot of time partying and was usually stoned out of his mind. There was no doubt that Eli loved to smoke weed. Having turned onto North Harvard Road, Maya could not help noticing the street ahead seemed perfectly straight, perhaps to a fault. This allowed her to drive a bit faster and as long as nothing darted out from the darkness, she was certain that they would make better time getting to Newman Lake. With the lights still off, Maya drove by the light of the full moon and was amazed to realize how well her eyes had adjusted, but at some point, she found the light from the RV’s display to be distracting. Trying to block the light with her hand, she asked Aurora to find something that would cover the lights – even a piece of cardboard would be sufficient. But despite Aurora’s thorough search, there was nothing to be found. New RVs are not equipped with sheets of cardboard.

Maya continued scanning the street for movement but saw nothing – not even a cat running out in front of them. An odd sensation overwhelmed her – the feeling that the world was truly dead. Now, she was struck by a mix of emotions. The dark solitude conveyed a degree of loneliness she could not avoid. At the same time, fear crept into her soul – not a fear of the dark but of what might lie within it, waiting.

As per Aurora’s directions, they had traveled far enough to see the dim view of Route 290. The turnoff to the cannabis store was not far away and as they approached East Rowan Avenue, Maya prepared to turn left onto East Gilbert Street when Aurora suddenly redirected her to a parking lot. Maya, already nervous about driving in near zero visibility, expressed her tension, giving Aurora a stern suggestion.

“You need to tell me these things sooner,” Maya said.

“I know,” she replied. “But it is pretty dark out here, and we can’t turn on the lights yet. I’m doing my best.”

It was not Maya’s intention to snap at her, and offered a heartfelt apology.

“It’s okay,” Aurora replied. “Everyone’s gone through a lot. I’m surprised we haven’t been at each other’s throats the whole time.” Maya’s response was silence as she focused on a safe place to stop, somewhere where the RV would not be easily seen. She soon found that the building next to the cannabis store offered more than adequate cover, and stopping directly behind it turned to Aurora.

“Go get Eli,” she said.

Aurora turned towards the rear of the RV and with a broad smile walked into the bedroom where Eli was still sleeping. Crawling onto the bed, she gently shook him by the shoulder and as he began to wake, she whispered briefly in his ear.

“Hey, Eli,” she began. “You want to smoke some weed?”

The suddenness of his wakefulness was enough to startle her as Eli jumped off the bed and ran to the front of the RV. To say that he was ‘excited’ would be a vast understatement.

“Do we have weed?” he asked. “Where did you get it? Come on, let’s get messed up.” The girls began giggling as Eli sniffed at the air for the sweet smell of ganja – one of the many words he used to describe his favorite pastime. “Eli,” Maya said. “Chill out, we don’t have any yet but according to the map, that building over there is a cannabis shop. I don’t know if…” Eli was already out the door with flashlight in hand. The opportunity to acquire even a small amount of the dried flowers left him giddy, but remembering the need for caution, he slowed to a careful walk. Reaching the front corner of the store, he glanced around to find the windows intact. Perhaps the virus that left so many stricken had killed too quickly for people to start looting. Apparently, crime had become a thing of the past.

Walking out in front of the store windows, Eli tried the door and wasn’t surprised when it refused to open. Glancing around the front of the building, he managed to recover half a brick. It wasn’t very big, but he knew from experience that it would get the job done. Without hesitating, Eli stepped back and threw what was left of the brick. Striking the laminated glass, he watched in amusement as it collapsed into sharp gravelly bits and, stepping through what was left of it, stood momentarily in quiet reverence as if in the presence of God himself. He didn’t quite know what he was looking for, but he needed to act quickly, feeling the fear of encroaching aloneness. Running behind the counter, the first thing he noticed was that everything had been left untouched. He opened drawers and cabinets and was left stunned to find the products of enlightenment still in sealed bags, and grabbed two plastic grocery bags and filled them to overflowing with whatever he could grab. On his way out, Eli stopped at the counter. He certainly couldn’t leave without a few accouterments – lighters, rolling papers, a few pipes, and a couple of grinders. Then, turning towards the windows, he spotted what could only be called ‘a stoner’s trophy’. Sitting on a shelf in the far corner of the store stood a two-foot-high glass bong. It was a thing of beauty – almost a work of art with its many colors and twists. He would later notice the price tag, marking it at five hundred dollars. “Good thing I’m stealing this,” he whispered. “I could never afford something this good.” Gently removing it, he clutched it close to his chest and, with bags in hand, quickly left the store.

Returning to the RV, Eli was met by Aurora, who held the door open for him. They wanted to get moving as quickly as possible while it was still dark and pulling out into the street they turned left onto Route 290. From there, they made their way to Moab, a small town just north of the Spokane River. The drive was fairly quiet with one exception. As Eli sorted through the bags of ill-gotten ganja, he began celebrating. “We’re gonna get fucked up,” he began. “We’re gonna get fucked up.”

It almost sounded musical.

“Fuck,” he continued. “I’m going to be high for a year with all this weed, motherfuckers!” Neither of the girls had ever seen Eli act with jubilance and agreed that they had made the right decision. But as he was rolling what would be the first of many joints, Maya spoke up with a stern warning.

“Eli,” she began. “DO NOT smoke that shit in this RV, got it? We’re going to stop soon, so you’ll have to wait.”

Eli was somewhat disappointed but clearly understood.

The atmosphere returned to a state of calm and Maya, taking explicate directions from Aurora, soon turned left onto North Starr Road. The rest of the drive was turning out to be akin to a maze of pavement and dirt roads, but with Aurora’s keen sense of direction and focusing on the roads outlining the lake, they found their way to Newman Lake. Once on NW Newman Lake Drive, Maya thought it would be a good idea to turn on the headlights, as the roads had become narrow and twisted. Despite the area’s troublesome topography, Aurora knew exactly where they were going and continued calling out a series of lefts and rights until the headlights cast themselves on something as terrifying as it was unexpected. Letting out a scream, Maya brought the RV to a sudden stop. In the middle of the dirt road stood a man covered with raised nodules, his skin glistened in the glare of the headlights from an almost constant flow of fluid. He stood unwavering without the slightest movement. Maya leaned on the horn and cursed the man, hoping he would step away from the road.

Hearing Maya’s scream, Eli ran up to the front of the RV and, seeing the ghostly image, considered what many might think as cruel and unnecessary. “Who is that?” he asked.

It seemed like a ridiculous question, and Maya had an answer.

“How the fuck do I know?” she asked. As still as he was, his appearance gave the impression of being dead on his feet, but they needed to find a way of getting around him. “You know,” Eli said. “We could just run him over.”

Both girls turned to him with shock on their faces. “Are you out of your mind?” Maya asked. “You fell apart after running over a dead body, and now you want to kill this guy? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Although Eli believed that they would be doing the unknown man a favor, Eli reconsidered and, letting the wheels of inspiration spin, came up with an idea.

“What if this guy tries to break in?” he asked. “We’re going to have to defend ourselves.” It was at that moment that Aurora realized they had overlooked something – something important. “Fuck!” she said.

“What is it?” Maya asked.

Aurora took a deep breath and, expelling a noticeable degree of fear, responded to Maya. “We forgot to pick up some guns,” she replied. A moment of silence settled over them as they tried to think of how to deal with the man who stood half-dead only a few yards in front of them. “I have an idea,” Eli said. “I know it sounds stupid, but let’s try turning off the lights – everything. Let’s just go dark for a few minutes and see what happens.”

With no other options, Maya agreed and, turning off the headlights, waited.

“This is stupid,” she said. “What’s supposed to happen now?”

“Hey,” Aurora replied. “It wasn’t my idea.” Letting a few moments pass, Maya, expressed her frustration.

“Fuck this,” she said. “We need to get going.” Turning the headlights back on, everyone was shocked to find the man had vanished. “Alright,” Maya said. “Where is he?” No one had an answer.

“Where the fuck did he go!” she screamed. “This isn’t fucking funny!”

Aurora, trying to be calm, stood up next to Maya’s ear and whispered.

“Maya, we need to get going.”

Everyone was tired, and the appearance of what seemed to be some unearthly apparition only served to drain them further.

“Yeah,” Maya replied. “We’ve got to go. But if that fucking thing jumps out in front of us, I’m going to run it over.”

In her mind, what stood in the middle of the road was no longer a person but a thing to be eliminated and if it reappeared, Maya would treat it as such.