by J N Wood
‘Yeah it’s me. I’m back.’
‘Are you okay? You look hurt.’
‘I’m fine. Have you seen Joanne?’
‘Your Joanne? No. She went to her mum and dad’s place weeks ago.’
Well done Jo. That was probably the safest place.
‘That’s good, I think. How are you doing? Is Margaret okay?’
His eyes instantly teared up. ‘We lost her Chris. The virus got her.’
‘Oh I’m sorry Stan. I really am.’
He forced a smile, wiping his left eye. ‘I know you are Chris. I know you are. We had fifty three years together. Did you know we got married when we were both eighteen?’
‘I did yeah. You told me before.’
‘Of course I did.’
‘Hey Stan, would you mind calling the police and telling them you made a mistake?’
He looked confused for a second. ‘Oh I haven’t called them. It’s pointless nowadays. I say, can you not get in? I still have a spare key for your back door.’
I’d honestly forgotten about that.
‘Yeah I lost my keys. That would be brilliant. Thanks Stan.’
He waddled back into his house, his legs not being as mobile as they once were. He reappeared with my key in his hand, offering it to me. I tried to take it from him but he held on to it.
‘You get that Joanne of yours and never let her go. Do you hear me? Never let her go.’
‘Thanks Stan. I’m planning on doing that.’
He let go of the key and turned back to his house. ‘Glad to see you back. Where did you go on holiday? Was it Scotland?’
I spoke to him about my holiday plans at least three times before leaving.
‘No I went to America.’
‘Ooh very nice. I hope you had a lovely time. Goodnight Chris.’
He closed his back door behind him.
I took a deep breath, unlocked the door and stepped inside my home. I pressed the light switch but nothing happened. Using the torch on Jack’s phone I entered the kitchen. A hand written note was on the fridge, under a magnet. It was Joanne’s handwriting. A sob from deep within me caught me by surprise, briefly taking my breath away.
Chris,
If you ever read this, I’ve taken Ted and gone to mum and dad’s.
Love you lots.
I miss you more than you would believe.
Jo.
I clutched the note to my chest and leaned my forehead against the fridge. Tears flowed down my face, so much so they dripped from my chin.
After I’d sorted myself out, I walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. On my sofa in my living room.
Joanne isn’t here, but I made it home. I actually made it.
Right, come on Chris. Quick shower and I’ll get straight off.
I climbed the stairs. The only photos that featured both of us were normally up on the staircase wall. They were all missing.
My reflection in the bathroom mirror was scary. I’m surprised Stan recognised me. I placed my hands on the edge of the sink and stared at my face. It wasn’t long before I was crying again.
Fucking hell Chris. Pull yourself together.
I stripped down and had a very cold shower. As cold as it was, it still felt amazing to be in my own shower.
Afterwards I got dressed in my own clothes for the first time in ages, and then laid down on my bed.
Just ten minutes and I’ll go.
DAY FIFTY THREE
Chapter 31: The End of Baseball
Oh for fuck’s sake. I fell asleep
I rolled out of bed and went downstairs, grabbing a quick glass of water on my way through the kitchen.
It was six thirty so it wasn’t surprising nobody else on the street seemed to be up. Not that I’d be able to tell with all the windows boarded up.
I’m pretty sure the things I’m assumed were homeless people on the side of the ring road were actually dead bodies.
Today as I drove past them, none were moving, and all were completely wrapped in a black material. They must have been left there for the body disposal crews.
There were thousands of them.
To make the whole scene even more bizarre, the ring road was busy with traffic. It was mostly delivery vans, but I did join a few other cars.
I took the back way to Jo’s parent’s house, avoiding Harrogate. The small villages I passed through were quiet at the best of times, so I didn’t see many differences.
An hour later and my heart felt like it was almost in my mouth. I was only a few minutes away.
I turned a bend and spotted something new. A fence made out of corrugated iron had been built along the side of the road. It was topped with barbed wire. If I remembered correctly, it was the farm next to Jo’s parent’s farm.
The final turn before taking the drive down to Keeleigh Farm was up ahead, and the new fence was still there. I took the turn and drove along the road, still the fence continued.
I could see my in-law’s wooden sign, hanging from the former gate post at the end of their drive. But now there were two large gates behind it, made of the same material as the fence. I stopped the car outside, pulling off the road slightly.
Grabbing The Smasher first, I got out of the car and walked over to the rusty gates. I gave it a little shove. It didn’t budge. I knocked my bat against it.
‘Hello,’ I called out.
I stepped backwards and tried to find a way over. The fence and the gates were about eight or nine feet high, but the barbed wire looked vicious. I didn’t fancy grabbing a hold of it. If I climbed on top of the old fence post and covered the barbed wire with something, I could probably climb over.
‘Can I help you?’ a voice called out.
I looked up to find a head had popped up above the fence. A stubbled face looked down inquisitively at me.
‘Erm yeah. I’m looking for Keeleigh Farm.’ I pointed at the gates. ‘I’m pretty sure it used to be down there.’
‘What do you want with Keeleigh Farm?’ he asked, already seeming bored with the conversation.
‘I’m Joanne’s husband Chris. I think she’s here.’
‘Grant and Jocelyn’s daughter?’
‘Yep that’s my wife,’ I told him.
‘Jo’s husband is in America.’
‘Not anymore.’
‘Two minutes,’ he said, and then dropped back down behind the fence.
What the fuck is this?
Five minutes passed and I was still stood waiting, but then I heard a voice I recognised.
‘Why haven’t you let him in?’ Graham, Jo’s brother asked.
‘I don’t know him,’ Stubble said. ‘He could be anybody.’
‘Who’s he going to be?’ Graham asked.
I heard bolts being unlocked. Then one of the gates opened out towards me. The curly haired, big bearded younger brother of Joanne stood before me.
The sight of him was one of the most welcome things I’d seen in a long time.
He laughed and stepped towards me, wrapping his arms around me. He squeezed me tightly, and unbeknownst to him, very painfully.
He stepped back and looked me up and down. ‘We thought you were dead. We thought everyone was dead in America. You look kind of dead. Are you okay? What happened to Jack?’
‘He’s fine. I’m fine. Is Joanne here?’
‘Of course she is. Your parents are here too.’
‘What?’
‘Of course Joanne is here,’ he repeated.
My eyes were filling up with tears. ‘My parents as well?’
‘Yeah they got here the same day I did. Jo asked them if they wanted to come down here when it started getting bad. I saw them this morning talking to Mum and Dad, so they’re about somewhere.’
‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ I told him.
‘You must have a bit of a story. I see you’ve brought a souvenir home.’ He looked down at my baseball bat.
I lifted it up a little bit. ‘Yeah kind of.’
‘Get in here,’ he said, and then pointed behind me. ‘Is that yours?’
I turned around, confused. ‘Oh the car. Yeah it is now.’
‘Give the keys to Danny, he’ll bring it inside. Hey, did you hit a deer or something?’
‘Not exactly. He was bigger than a deer.’
He smiled uncomfortably. ‘Let’s get you to Jo. She’s gonna be so happy. She’s been telling everyone you’d come back. I’ll be honest, I think she was the only one who thought that way.’
I handed the car keys over to Danny as Graham guided me inside. The field within, normally full of sheep, now looked like a building site. Timber framed houses in different stages of construction filled the space.
‘It’s all changed around here,’ Graham told me. ‘Keeleigh Farm has become Keeleigh village. We now have a population of one hundred and thirty two.’ He pointed to the field on our right. ‘We’ve got seventeen houses going in here. I reckon they’ll be finished within the month.’
‘Graham!’ someone called out.
We both turned to see a tall man walking out from behind one of the half finished houses.
‘Hold up Graham,’ he said.
Graham looked to me and raised his eyebrows. ‘Sorry Chris. One minute.’
‘I’ll go and find Joanne,’ I told him.
‘No wait Chris. I’ll take you.’
Fuck’s sake. I’ve only come half way around the world to get here.
‘I need a hand installing that staircase,’ the tall man said. ‘Do you know when you’ll be free?’
‘Sorry Clive,’ Graham said. ‘You know Jo’s husband Chris.’ He gestured to me. ‘He just got back.’
Clive and I looked at each other blankly.
‘He’s back,’ Graham repeated. ‘Give me half an hour yeah?’
‘Okay,’ Clive said, looking confused. ‘Don’t be long though. We need to get it done pretty sharpish.’
‘I’ll try,’ Graham replied.
We set off walking down the lane again.
‘We’ve put one field aside just for solar panels,’ Graham told me. ‘We’re hoping to be self-sufficient in two months.’
‘Yeah good for you,’ I said.
‘So how did you survive the first few days? How did you get out of America? How did you get back to England? Did Jack and his wife, what’s her name, Ruth? Did they come back with you? Sorry, that’s a lot of questions.’
‘It’s quite a long story to be honest with you. I will tell you but let me speak to Jo first. Okay?’
We reached the end of the drive and entered the gravel yard. Graham stopped and pointed towards the stables, a big smile on his face. ‘Of course. I can wait.’
Joanne, my Joanne, was stood by one of the horses. She looked like she was instructing how to saddle a horse. Three people stood nearby, watching what she was doing. My dog Ted was being a nuisance, flitting between everyone’s legs.
I froze, unable to move. Graham may have said something and I didn’t hear. Maybe Jo just sensed me, or she happened to look in my direction.
Our eyes met and she screamed. The saddle slipped off the horse and dropped to the ground. The horse sidestepped away from her.
‘Chris,’ she shouted, and just stood there staring at me. Then she was off, running towards me and shouting my name again.
Ted dropped down onto his belly, staring at Jo and barking at her. Then he spotted me and stood up, his tail straight up in the air. He gave me two warning barks before his tail started wagging. He joined Joanne and ran towards me.
I still couldn’t move. I just watched her running towards me. The sensation I was feeling was beyond words. Everything I’d wanted to achieve was happening here and now.
I’d always hoped, but thought it was all beyond my reach.
Just as Ted overtook Joanne, I let go of my baseball bat, the tip hitting the ground first. It slowly toppled over, coming to rest at my feet.
I stepped towards Joanne, towards the rest of my life.
THE END OF
THE ROAD TRIP AT THE END TRILOGY