Major Frost was standing there; bullhorn in his hand. Behind him were two armed soldiers and an army Hummer. Robert watched as one of the soldiers walked over this his Bronco, reached in and turned the keys, killing the engine.
“Come on out boys. We need to talk.” Major Frost said, with a large grin growing on his face.
Chapter 6: Town Meeting
1
With a piping hot cup of coffee in his hand, Paul Landry stood in the kitchen of his neighbor Roy Benton’s house. He was fully dressed, waiting for Roy to gather the rest of his things. Paul was an entire country away from his brother Robert. The distance could be felt and measured, longingly fearful, a void of complete helplessness.
“How are you on your coffee Paul?” Kirsten Benton asked, Roy’s wife. She was still wearing her night-time flannel and looked as though she hadn’t slept. Not surprising under the circumstances.
The morning hour had barely come, dawn was only a waking infant, and the red sky was chasing the darkness of night out past the mountains. Paul’s head buzzed and stung from lack of sleep. Having the entire family share his youngest son’s bedroom had allowed them to rest, but Paul and Ruth were up almost as soon as they had fell asleep; Paul to attend the meeting and Ruth to see him out of the house. The boys continued to sleep in childhood bliss which both parents hoped would last more than a few hours. The time of the morning was so early that Paul didn’t even want to look at a clock, although he was glad the night before had come to pass. Fear had disillusioned them that night. Fear and uncertainty, both of which were looming over the small logging town of Green Falls, Washington.
“The coffee is great, thank you Kirsten.” Paul replied.
“No prob Pauly-boy.” Kirsten always said that, it was her little joke over the years. It was nice to see she still had a sense of humor through all of this.
“I don’t have to go to school today, right Mom?” Alexis asked. The nine year old girl had just walked in from out of the darkness of the hallway. She was fully dressed, as she might actually be going to school that day. Alexis’s red hair was almost blinding, exactly like her mother’s. Paul observed that watching Kirsten and Alexis stand next to each other while holding conversation, was like watching two lit matches dance side by side. He remembered telling Eddie that once and laughed into his coffee mug.
“What’s so funny over there mister?” Kirsten questioned.
“Huh? Oh nothing.” Paul said.
Alexis walked over to Paul and looked up at him through her tiny wireframe glasses.
“Are Eddie and Shawn okay?” She asked Paul. The simplicity and sincerity in her voice almost broke Paul‘s heart right there on the spot.
“Of course they are Lexis. I think we’ve decided to have you guys stick around here while your dad and I go off to that town meeting.” Paul said, and then turned to look at Kirsten.
“We talked it over again this morning and we think it’s better to keep the kids away from the meeting.” Paul told Kirsten.
“I know, Roy said you guys had talked it over. We agree, because if it turns into a shouting match, that’s no place to have them.” Kirsten said.
“Yeah, I think Shawn is already a little too scared.” Paul said.
“So are they coming over here?” Alexis asked excitedly.
“Yup, you guys can spend the morning together. Right here.” Paul said. Alexis smiled and then went racing out of the kitchen. In her excitement, she almost ran into her father, at the last second sidestepping him and saying “Sorry Dad! Eddie and Shawn are coming over!”
A smile fleeted across his face as he turned to watch his daughter race by; the normalcy of her behavior allowed him a brief reprieve from the gravity of the last day. .
“Morning Paul.” Roy said. He was holding a few rolled up blue prints in his hand and had tipped them in Paul’s direction with the greeting.
“Good morning, what do you have there?” Paul asked.
Roy Benton bent down to kiss his wife on the cheek and placed the rolls of paper down on the table. Kirsten went over to the counter and poured a fresh cup of coffee for Roy.
“These, my friend, are blue prints. Evacuation and contingency blue prints, to be exact.” Roy said, sounding proud. He immediately sipped his coffee as Kirsten handed it over to him.
“Evacuation and contingency? Are you serious?” Paul asked.
“Yes.”
“Well where did you get those?”
“The internet.”
“What makes you think the town or the Mayor doesn’t have a plan?”
Roy gave Paul a condescending look.
“Paul, you really think that old bastard has ever thought of anything that doesn’t involve his immediate well-being?” Roy said. And he had a point.
Green Falls mayor Tim Schacht was an old-timer for sure. For the last thirty years, he had been mayor. No one ever really ran against him, the town was just too small for an election process it seemed.
The mayor, for the most part, did do enough to ensure the town of Green Falls functioned smoothly. There wasn’t a whole bunch to do as acting Mayor in order to accomplish the task, but Tim Schacht was more or less competent. Truth be told, Tim was only interested in one thing--hunting. As long as all of the town’s ducks were lined in a row, all local government officials were pulling their duties, and the townspeople were content with street cleaning or snowplowing policies; that meant Mr. Mayor himself could disappear off on a hunting or fishing trip. The sad part, or positive part depending on how you look at it, was that Green Falls had never needed to deal with evacuation or contingency plans. Paul wasn’t sure what to expect anymore.
“I’m just bringing alone these blueprints as a precaution.” Roy said, and then finished his coffee in one big gulp.
“Good idea, you know how these people look up to you Roy.” Paul began, “They’ll be looking to you for answers I bet.”
“Yeah, well I don’t really have any of those do I?” Roy said; sounding a little defeated.
Kirsten walked back over to the kitchen table, gathered up empty cereal bowls and took them to the sink. Stopping to lay a hand on Roy’s shoulder, she smiled at her husband and said, “They can’t expect you to have the answer sweetheart, but at least you have something for them to consider”
“Speaking of answers,” he said to his wife “did you find anything?”
“I scoured the internet just twenty minutes ago, nothing new at all.” She said.
Paul finished his coffee, and brought the empty cup over to the sink.
“I know. Ruth has been trying the internet none stop.” Paul said.
How are they?” Kirsten asked, concerned.
Paul inhaled deeply.
“She can’t get through; she’s been at it all morning.”
Although Paul was definitely privy to a shit ton of insider knowledge, the last call from Robert surely proved that, he and Ruth had decided that morning to not say anything right away to the children (including Alexis). Paul was going to fill Roy in on that whole mess during the car ride to the town meeting. While the children played in the Benton household, Ruth was going to discretely tell Kirsten the story.
Roy walked close to Paul, looking him directly in the eyes, face to face.
“Did you bring your piece along?” Roy whispered.
Paul had not brought along his gun. After last night’s debauchery of fear and misinterpretation, Paul felt it best that he store his handgun away again.
“No, I’m not carrying Roy. It’s a fucking town meeting.” Paul said, rather disturbed by Roy’s question. Roy backed off a ways with his hands up slightly.
“Ok man, no biggie.” Roy began, “But I’m bringing mine, in case.”
Before Paul could shake his head in disgust, there was a knocking at the back door. Kirsten rushed over, peeked out, and quickly opening the back door.
“Come in, come in.” Kirsten said.
It was Ruth and the kids. Ruth had dressed them ready for th
e day and was carrying their winter jackets as well. The brisk January day promised a high temperature of no more than 45 degrees. Ruth, dressed in jeans and a large Virginia Tech hoodie, looked worried and pale. No doubt her parents and family in Wisconsin were on her mind. Paul couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of losing control.
“Hi Ruthy.” Roy said, succeeding in trying to sound cheerful.
“Hey, boys; Alexis is in the living room. I think she’s trying to play monopoly by herself.” Roy added. Eddie and Shawn immediately raced off to find Alexis. Shawn was holding tightly onto his plush wrestling doll, it was acting as his safety blanket. Kirsten took the boys’ jackets from Ruth and offered her a cup of coffee.
“No thanks, it’s prolly best I avoid the caffeine rush.” Ruth said, with a grimace.
Kirsten put a comforting hand on Ruth’s back.
“It’ll be alright. Do you want to try and call them again from our house phone?” Kirsten asked. Ruth looked to her with teary eyes. “Ok. But I’m telling you, all it does is ring.” Ruth added. Paul walked to his wife and put a comforting arm around her.
“How about their cell phone?” Kirsten asked.
“My mom has one, but that keeps going straight to voice mail.”
“You know there is a really good chance your folks went to a safe zone. Like what Robert’s going to do.” Paul said.
“That’s right. Speaking of which, how is Robert doing out there? Have you heard from him lately?” Roy asked. Paul and Ruth looked at each other and Roy knew something was wrong.
“God, what is it?” Roy asked.
“I’ll tell you on the ride over to the town meeting.” Paul said. “Things might just be a lot worse than we all originally thought.”
2
As Paul and Roy left the house, Paul told his sons to be good for their mother and Kirsten. Ruth had again tried to call her parents in Wisconsin and, once again, all she got was an earful of a dozen rings. She had comforted herself by believing they had left for safe harbor; rejecting the idea of anything else.
A light drizzle had started to fall on them as they walked down Roy’s long driveway. Roy’s gray driveway was starting to turn black with the precipitation falling down on it. Living in Washington State for some time now, Paul was no stranger to rain. Roy’s Nissan X-terra was parked facing out, close to the street and once they reached it, Roy opened the car door to the back seat and threw in his pile of charts, maps, and blueprints.
“Paul you gotta tell me what you know, is Robert okay?” Roy asked, as he slammed to back door closed.
Before Paul could reply, Glen Fry and Warren Blakely popped out from behind the SUV; out of nowhere it seemed, startling both Paul and Roy. Glen and Warren were talking a mile a minute and both were holding hunting rifles.
“Roy, now see here, what have you heard since morning?”
“I haven’t seen no frequent news. We at war?”
“This town meeting really going to help?”
“We need answers more than anything, I think.”
“Billy close to county line says he seen a big ole army truck rolling around.”
“I’ve got rations to last my family two solid months.”
“Well I’ve got ammunition to last a lifetime.”
“Oh please, now you’re talking like a dim-wit.”
“Don’t test me Glen, not today.”
“Warren, you sorry son of…”
“Guys!” Roy yelled, ending their bickering. Paul had known Glen and Warren since he had moved out west. Both men were long-time residents of Washington state and very much fit the bill of what people refer to as mountain folk. They were good neighbors though, but they always seem to argue with each other.
“Warren, explain that part about Billy Hawkins again.” Roy said.
“Oh well ah, I phoned Billy up at his gas station. You know the one he owns way up near city limits.” Warren started.
“Yeah, of course.” Roy said.
“Well, Billy-Boy says that at 5:30 this morning two big ole army Hummers came cruising on by. He said they kept to the main road, like they was staking out a claim.”
“Or circling our town.” Paul said.
“Exactly.” Glen added.
“Ok, have you guys been talking to anyone else?” Roy asked.
“Yeah sure, a few people.” Warren said.
“Has anyone in town seen an army presence?” Roy asked.
“Not to my knowledge.” Warren answered. “Me neither.” Glen added.
Roy took a silent moment to think. For the first time that morning Paul was able to fully hear the rain. It was a beautiful sound to him.
“Listen guys; don’t tell anyone this new information please. I’ll add this to my list of things to bring up during the meeting.” Roy said although he was sure everyone in town knew about the army trucks already. In this small of a town, news and rumors spread like hot butter.
“Ok Roy.” Warren said.
“Sure thing, boss.” Glen added.
“Your families okay?” Roy asked.
“Yep, I got Suzie parked behind our front door with the 12-gage.” Warren said proudly.
“Same here, Marge and the kids are watching over my house.” Glen added.
“Good, why don’t you two ride with us then? But please, store your rifles in the trunk.” Roy said. “You couldn’t have picked a more concealable weapon?” He then asked them.
“Oh we did.” Both Warren and Glen said, as they lifted up their shirts to reveal both had Berettas holstered at their waists.
“Jesus.” Paul said in disbelief. Roy chuckled at him.
“Alright, everyone get in. We’re going to be late.”
The sound of a woman screaming from down the street halted all four men. Glen and Warren grasped their rifles tightly as they all looked in the direction of the scream. Another scream came and since it was from around a bend in the street, they couldn’t see exactly what the commotion was.
“HELP!” the woman screamed again.
The men took off on foot, racing toward the cry for help. As they turned the corner, they saw an older woman wearing a blue bathrobe. She was running away from a disheveled looking man who was stumbling down the middle of the street, wearing only one shoe. He had a black leather jacket hanging from one arm; the rest of it was dragging on the ground. His face was covered in a wet mess of dark hair.
“That’s one of them sons of bitches!” Warren said aloud.
Glen Fry and Warren Blakely raised their rifles and took aim.
3
“Imma put one right between his eyes!” Glen Fry yelled aloud, the crosshairs of his scope fixed dead center on the man’s forehead and his trigger finger was itching hard. By now a few people had come out of their houses to see what all the commotion was about.
“Don’t fire!” Paul yelled at Warren and Glen.
“Are you kidding? Look at that bastard! He’s gotta be one of them things the news stations were trying to tell us about!” Warren shouted back.
The older woman being chased had run onto a nearby lawn. She had regained her breath and now watched; becoming one of the spectators of the scene.
“We don’t know anything for sure god damn it!” Paul yelled back.
“Paul’s right, let’s just give this guy some room before we go putting a hole in his head.” Roy Benton said. Glen and Warren listened to Roy and took their fingers off the triggers of their rifles. They did not, however, remove him from the sights of their scopes and remained ready to fire.
“What’s going on here?” An old man asked from the sidewalk, behind Roy.
“Nothing, just go back inside. We’ve got this taken care of.” Roy said to him, the old man shrugged him off and stayed where he was, watching.
The shambling man was now barely moving forward. When the woman he was chasing had run off onto a neighbors lawn, he had slowed down greatly. Now he was just swaying back and forth.
“Just look at this fuck!” Warre
n said.
Paul wasn’t sure this was part of the disease that was sweeping the country. The stories Robert had told him already all came rushing into his head at once. Was this one of the infected? Already all the way here in Green Falls, Washington?
The man’s hanging leather jacket got snagged underneath his boots as he was swaying back and forth. He tried to take a step forward again but he fell down hard on the ground. His face hit the pavement and made a loud slapping sound.
“Christ.” Glen said under his breath as he cringed slightly.
Keeping his gaze on the stumbling man, Roy slowly began to approach him.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Paul asked and then began following Roy, instinctively. Glen and Warren also began to follow.
“Someone’s gotta check to see if this man is ok.” Roy said.
“Okay? He ain’t ok, are you fucking serious?” Warren said.
The man on the ground tried to pick himself up. He had got himself about halfway up before his arms failed him and he hit the ground again.
“Guys, have any of you ever seen this man before? I haven‘t.” Roy asked.
“Nope, never.” Warren replied immediately.
“No, I’d remember seeing a leather jacket like that. It’s a beauty.” Glen said, sounding honest. It was indeed a very expensive jacket the man was wearing; half-wearing by that point.
“I really can’t say that I have, Roy.” Paul said, confirming that this man had to be an outsider. In a small town like Green Falls, if four people didn’t know who you were, there was a good chance that no one did. At that moment the man on the ground started to moan rather loudly.
“Oh shit!” Warren shouted. The four of them were now almost right on top of the wayward man. Glen and Warren still had their rifles fixed on him.
The moaning continued and the man began to try and bring himself up to his feet again.
“Alright man, we gotta do something here.” Glen said.
“Put a bullet in him, that’ll do it.” Warren fired back.
“No!” Roy hollered.
“This man is a danger to us all!” Warren yelled.
The Dead Divide Us Page 10