by Ike Hamill
“The world,” Lisa said. “I know it was before you were born, but reality has taken some hard turns several times in the past. It’s entirely possible that what we’re perceiving is indeed happening.”
“Then that’s even worse,” Ashley said. “I think I have to continue on either way.”
“You’re not making sense,” Tim said. “I’m all for figuring things out, but we’re not going to do it by wandering around lost in this madness. I’ve been out here for weeks and weeks.”
“You haven’t,” Lisa said, interrupting him. “Remember?”
“Fine, but I have been out here long enough to know that if we can’t make sense of what we’re experiencing then we’re never going to be able to learn anything, right?”
“Maybe this is temporary,” Ashley said. “Maybe this confusion is limited to this area, or maybe it’s a temporary symptom of our bodies adjusting to the strange magnetic fields. I’m going to continue.”
“It’s dangerous,” Lisa said. “The thing making all the noise and the panther. Those are just what we know about so far.”
“Everywhere is dangerous. That’s the point of trying to learn more,” Ashley said.
“Fine,” Lisa said. “You convinced me. But if you’re going, then I’m going too.”
“Yeah,” Tim said. “Which way?”
He pointed in the opposite direction from the orange blaze. According to the angle of the sun overhead, assuming it was dawn, the direction that Tim was pointing was north.
“It doesn’t make sense, but, yes. I think we should go that way,” Ashley said.
They finished packing up their gear without further discussion.
Chapter 22: Brad
“You’re finally coming around to my way of thinking, huh?” Brad asked.
Robby had pulled a diesel SUV up to the curb in front of the house.
“I just want to fit everyone in the same vehicle,” Robby said. “If we go electric, we’ll have to take two.”
“It’s okay. You can admit defeat on this one. I don’t mind. Did you hear about Merle’s discovery? Mike has been producing a super fuel. He thinks it’s going to last nearly forever.”
Robby picked up the bags and hefted them down the walk. Brad followed behind.
“Actually, I think we have to start thinking about the long term,” Robby said. He hefted the bags up into the back of the vehicle.
Brad leaned against the side. It wouldn’t do any good to get in yet—the kids would want to pile into the third row and Brad didn’t want to get climbed over. Romie always took the passenger’s seat, claiming that her legs were too long to fit in back.
“You’re team solar. You don’t think that the sun is a long-term bet?”
“Solar panels are getting harder to find and they’re beginning to fail. I don’t have a way to manufacture new ones.”
“Ah.”
“And, speaking of which, how long do you think we’re going to be able to find tires that are still fit to drive on?”
“Long enough for our lifetimes, that’s for sure,” Brad said. “Probably for Janelle’s lifetime too.”
“Probably,” Robby said. “And her kids?”
“Yeah, okay. So you’re going to get into horse breeding?”
“I guess,” Robby said.
He went back up the walk to the house.
“Kids!” Robby yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.
It was starting to get hot out. Brad was beginning to regret having come out to the car so soon. It could take Robby twenty minutes to get the kids in gear, and Brad was standing out in the sun waiting.
Romie came out with a cooler in her hand, bouncing against her hip.
“Did the kid grab my bag?”
“It’s in the back already,” Brad said.
“Do you mind if I take the passenger’s seat?”
“Of course not. I thought you were going to drive.”
“Nope, Robby changed his mind.”
Brad smiled. It was still amazing to him how normal their lives were despite how abnormal the circumstances. They could be living on the edge of a volcano, dressed in coconuts and palm fronds and they would still all act the same.
Romie eyed him as she stepped down off the curb and began to round the vehicle.
“What are you so smiley about?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Brad said. “Road trips are fun, don’t you think?”
“They are under better circumstances.”
She opened the door and put her cooler on the floor before climbing in. Romie had a particular way of maneuvering into an SUV. She reached in to grab the handle over the window, and then swung herself onto the seat. She claimed that it hurt her back to bend while she stepped up.
Brad was about to get in just so he could find some shade from the sun. The kids burst through the door and ran down the walk. They were already climbing over each other before they even dove through the vehicle’s door. Brad let them get settled before he slid himself in behind Robby’s seat.
Romie angled her seat back as Robby got in.
“Everyone have everything?” Robby asked.
“Yes,” the kids said at the same time.
“No bathroom breaks. Anyone have to go?”
“Dad, we’re not five,” Jim said.
“I warned you.”
Robby started the car and they began to roll. Brad watched through the windows as the houses disappeared. It didn’t take long before they were leaving the pocket of civilized world again. The lawns were only mowed and the trees trimmed until they got to the bridge. After that, the road was carved out of pure wilderness. Everything had grown up and nature encroached on both sides.
“Are we going to stop in Albany?” Jim asked.
“Shh!” Janelle said. She had a book in her lap and she was concentrating on the text.
“Curiosity is the ore from which knowledge is forged,” Jim said.
“Let’s play the No Questions game until Albany,” Romie said. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
Brad caught a glimpse of Jim over his shoulder. The kid had slumped back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. Jim hated the No Questions game. It was something that Romie had invented years before when the kids were annoying her.
“I sure do hope we stop in Albany,” Jim said, hoping that his father would respond.
Robby glanced back from the driver’s seat and smiled at his son. “I assume you’re thinking that the rumors of a pack of stray dogs is true.”
“Have you…” Jim started. He caught himself. “I bet it is true. I saw a video.”
“That was raccoons,” Janelle said as she turned the page on her book.
“I don’t think it was,” Jim said. “Dad, is…” He stopped himself again.
“Brad would know if we’re stopping in Albany. He is in charge of our route.”
Instead of asking, Jim tapped Brad on the shoulder.
“I believe we are stopping there. According to my information, the Bissell Bridge is our best route. Then, we will be heading west and north toward Albany.”
“Perfect,” Jim said.
Romie adjusted in her seat and said, “How in the heck you think you’re going to catch a stray dog is beyond me.”
“Ha!” Jim said.
“Shhh!” his sister said.
“You lost the No Questions game.”
“I did not,” Romie said. “It was a rhetorical statement.”
The car fell silent.
Brad shifted in his seat, thinking maybe he could get a nap in. It occurred to him that he should have offered to drive. Robby had been driving all night and had only gotten a few hours to nap before they left. He hadn’t even thought to offer—Robby almost always drove. He had great eyesight and was really good at seeing potential obstacles before they became an issue. Besides, Robby would tell one of them if he needed a break. It wouldn’t be long before Jim would be asking to drive. That idea jolted Brad back awake
.
“You can get out, but do not go far,” Robby said to his kids.
Romie got out and stretched her legs. She was drinking an iced tea that she had brewed at home and brought along for the trip. She was the only one who would drink the stuff. To Brad, the tea was so old that it tasted like dust.
“I’ll drive the rest of the way,” Brad said as he got out. “You must be exhausted.”
“Thanks,” Robby said. He was over at the tanker, pulling the nozzle from the side of the truck. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”
Brad looked at the tanker and wondered if the fuel was treated with the additive that Merle had found. He figured it wasn’t—Mike was a cautious man and he was probably still testing the stuff before he released it out into their supply.
“So, you don’t think it’s worthwhile trying to come up with a way to manufacture our own solar panels?” Brad asked.
Robby was looking off down the road.
“Jim! Don’t go far, I said,” Robby yelled. He turned back to Brad with a tired smile. “I’m not sure it’s worth it. I have to run the numbers, I think. We rely on electricity for a lot of things, but there are a lot of ways to generate electricity. Based on the number of people we need to support, it might make more sense to focus on wind or hydro. It’s a lot easier to build a generator than it is to heat up silicon to twenty-five hundred degrees. We’re not going to run out of wire and bearings any time soon.”
“I see your point,” Brad said. “But I’m not sure you’re right to believe that the solar panels will necessarily breakdown. If the plastic goes bad, or the insulation on the wiring shorts out, we can always replace that. The panels themselves are built to last.”
“We are reliant on electricity,” Robby said.
Robby let off the valve as he heard the fuel bubbling up the fill pipe. He shook the nozzle before he coiled the hose back to the tanker.
“Kids!” he yelled. “We’re leaving.”
Robby turned up the road again. It was empty. The kids had disappeared.
“Damn it,” Robby said.
Brad drove the SUV up the street, following Robby on foot.
“He’s too permissive,” Romie said. “If it were just us, those kids wouldn’t have dared to run away. They know he’s not going to punish them in any way so they walk all over him.”
“They’re kids, Romie. They have little impulse control and they’re fascinated by everything around them. Curiosity is a natural consequence of intelligence. You probably didn’t have to worry about that growing up.”
Romie’s hand swatted his arm.
“I’m not kidding,” they heard Robby shout at a nearby building.
The SUV rocked and bucked over a broken chunk of pavement.
“Do you mind?” Romie asked. Her eyes were closed. She stabilized herself in her seat.
“You would hate it here,” Brad said. “Trees busting through the walls and roofs of buildings. Every door is wide open. Half the power lines have fallen down.”
As if to punctuate his point, the vehicle jostled as it rolled over thick cables.
“This is as far as I can go,” Brad said. “I’m going to get out and help Robby look.”
“You’re both being stupid,” Romie said. “The kids will come back. They know where we were parked. By trying to chase them, you’re just going to confuse the situation.”
“What if they need help? What if a door closed behind them and they’re locked into one of these buildings?”
“Then maybe they’re not as smart as you think they are,” she said. Romie opened an eye and gave Brad a look.
“I’ll be back,” Brad said. “Honk the horn in a five minutes if we’re not back.”
He left the engine running.
Brad took his cane, but didn’t use it. He could walk okay for a decent stretch if he really focused. The payment would come that night when he would be too sore to get comfortable in bed.
“Robby?” Brad called as he rounded the rear of the vehicle. Robby had followed a line of trampled grass that led up to the front of a bakery. The awning above the glass doors had collapsed. Brad couldn’t read the faded name of the place.
“Robby!”
Robby put up a hand to tell Brad to stay put. Some amount of Romie’s attitude crept into Brad. He moved forward anyway, even though Robby’s hand told him not to. Brad used his cane as he stepped up onto the uneven ground.
Robby crouched as he approached the front of the shop. Brad heard a bark from inside the collapsing store. As he moved forward, Brad shook his head and realized that he should have known. If there was a dog within five miles, the kids would find it. Even though they didn’t have any dogs of their own at the moment, they were always watching neighbor dogs if anyone in the community needed a sitter.
Robby ducked under the awning and slipped into the dark store.
“Wait!” Brad heard one of the kids say from inside.
Brad bent over and tried to see inside the dark store. He could make out Robby, crouching a few feet away. A blurry shape of a kid moved in the dim light.
“Leave them alone,” Robby said. “We don’t have time to tame and catch them.”
“But they’re puppies,” Janelle whined. She was at Robby’s side. “They want to come with us.”
“No, honey, they don’t,” Robby said.
“You don’t understand,” Jim whispered.
The boy was creeping forward on his hands and knees. Brad finally saw what Jim was approaching. An adult dog, it must have been the mother, was standing between Jim and an overturned table. She wasn’t growling or barking, but her stance suggested that Jim should back off.
“They’ll be here when we come back through,” Robby said. “They’re probably not even weaned yet.”
“Dad, these dogs are special,” Jim whispered. He was still creeping forward. “She can levitate.”
“Jim, we’re leaving. We have important business in Donnelly. We’ll figure out this dog thing later,” Brad said, after clearing his throat.
For a second, the dog turned to him. Brad had been speaking with authority—trying to use his most-serious voice. At least the dog had understood who was in charge. Jim didn’t seem to care.
“This is too important,” Jim said. “This is a discovery. I’ll stay here.”
Robby said something in Janelle’s ear and the girl began to move toward Brad. With his daughter on her way out, Robby went for Jim.
To his credit, when Jim saw that his father was coming, he stopped resisting. He gave up his advance on the frightened dog and allowed Robby to pull him back by his arm. Soon, everyone was headed toward the door.
Brad kept his eyes locked on the mother dog. She watched the humans retreat and she took a step back toward the overturned table. Brad heard a whimpering from back in the corner and affirmed his suspicion that her pups were hidden back there. As she began to fade into the shadows, Brad saw her move over the table to her den.
The others were already crawling under the awning and coming out into the sunlight with Brad.
From the SUV, they heard Romie’s voice over the sound of the idling engine.
“Let’s go,” Romie shouted.
Brad took over the driving. Behind him, Robby stretched out in the seat, trying to get comfortable enough to take a nap. Jim was leaning over the seat, talking fast.
“…and she didn’t have to jump or anything, Dad. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anything like it. She simply floated up over that table when she came out to defend her den. Janelle and I heard the puppies and we went in to try to find them, but she floated out to stand us down.”
“Jim, I’m very tired and I would like to get some sleep before we get there.”
“This is important, Dad. Tell him, Janelle.”
“I didn’t see it though,” Janelle said. In the rearview mirror, Brad saw that Janelle was back to reading her book.
“I understand that it’s important,” Robby said. “Write down e
verything you remember and we’ll talk about it tonight.”
“I can’t,” Jim said. “Brad took away my tablet.”
“Then write it on paper. You still remember how to use a pencil, don’t you?” Robby asked.
“Huh,” Romie said, barking out a laugh.
Brad smiled. He tapped Romie’s elbow. When she opened her eyes, he handed her the map that he had annotated. With an annoyed grunt, Romie straightened her seat up and unfolded the paper, trying to orient herself.
Romie shook her head.
“My mother used to call Triple A before we took our summer trip each year. They would send us maps like this, all highlighted. What a pain in the ass.”
“Shh!” Janelle said from the back.
Romie sighed and shook out the map again.
Chapter 23: Mike
“You coming?” Mike asked.
Sariah was in her office, at her desk. She had a notebook in front of her and she was focused on what she was writing.
“Hun?”
“Yeah?” she asked, turning to him as she tilted up her reading glasses.
“Are you coming to this meeting?”
Her shoulders fell.
“You know how I feel about it,” she said.
“But I value your opinion. We all do. You don’t have to say anything tonight. But later, if we need perspective, it will be useful if you have all the same information that I do.”
Sariah shook her head. For a moment, Mike thought that she was going to turn him down. Over the course of months, her quiet musings had turned into theories, the theories had turned into a framework, and then her whole approach to living had flipped. Mike still loved her, but he barely understood her anymore.
“I’ll come, but I don’t believe that anyone values my opinion, Mike. And, if there’s such a thing as luck, and I firmly believe that there is, then you’re inviting the worst luck possible to this meeting.”