Electro

by David Lisenby

  He wasn’t completely aware of what was going on in world politics, but he had been hearing the term “Russian collusion” ever since Trump became president. Is this what they were talking about? Had Russia turned against America because of President Trump? What the hell does “collusion” mean?

  The more he thought about it the more Levi wanted to get out of Beaumont. The way he saw it, if the Russians had detonated an emp then that had to just be the beginning.

  Everyone knew that the port of Beaumont was an important port for the U. S. military. That would make it a great strategic target for the Russians – or anybody else that wanted to hurt the United States militarily. That thought was enough to send chills down the spine of the man who was soaked to the bone.

  His pace quickened.

  After a few minutes of trudging through the rain Levi decided he would stop for a smoke break. He eyed an awning at a new car lot and decided that would be as good a place as any to stop. He walked over to the car lot and joined a couple of other men (apparently salesmen) who were standing under the awning in their dry suits. They nodded in his direction as he walked up but seemed more interested in their conversation than in greeting a stranger.

  Levi kneeled on a knee and removed the cigarette box from his shirt pocket – the very wet cigarette box. Yep. He pulled the cigarettes out one by one. They were all soaking wet.

  “Shit,” he said aloud. The two men looked over at him. In unison they looked down at his discarded cigarette box. Levi looked at them.

  “Want one of these,” one of the men said as he extended a pack of Kool in his direction. Levi really didn’t like menthol.

  “Sure,” he answered as he walked over and grabbed one from the pack. “Thanks.”

  A couple of flicks later and his Bic fired up the cigarette. Levi took a slow, yet deep draw from the cigarette and inhaled slowly. As he slowly exhaled the smoke from his lungs he stepped back from the two men to allow them their space.

  “Mr. Waycace thinks it was a solar flare that fried the electrical grid,” Levi overheard one of the men say to the other. “He said that sort of things happens every now and then and that the earth is overdue for a direct hit.”

  “Nah,” said the other. “That’s just another one of those liberal conspiracies the mass media shoves down the mouth of the American people so they can suck up more money from the taxpayers to do studies and shit on. A lot like global warming. We know that’s fake.”

  “Bob says it’s the North Koreans,” the first man countered. “That meeting with Trump went really well for Kim Jong Un, but after all those additional sanctions were implemented and he didn’t get anything for releasing those remains of the American soldiers, he thinks Rocket Man decided to send up one last rocket. Imagine, a little bitty nation like that able to bring the greatest country ever to its knees with one little missile.”

  “Fake news.” The second man responded. “You’ll see. The electricity will come back on shortly and all of this will be forgotten about tomorrow. EMP? Solar flare? I think it’s all just failed equipment or human error.”

  Levi noticed a lull in the conversation and felt the two men looking at him. He looked up and, sure enough, they were looking his way.

  “What do you think?” one of them asked, nodding in his direction.

  “Well,” he said, “I think my truck stopped running just like everyone else’s. I think my cell phone is fried, just like everyone else’s. I think everyone has a theory, but nobody knows what the hell is actually happening. I think the rain sucks and I think that a menthol cigarette is better than no cigarette at all. And I think you guys can stand her all night contemplating the fate of the world, but I am going to get back on my way to Caney Head.”

  Levi stood up, flicked his spent cigarette butt out onto the soaked parking lot and stepped into the rain. “Thanks for the smoke, boys,” he said as he waved over his shoulder and continued his journey east.

  The two men in suits stood silently as they watched the stranger in Wranglers walk out of sight.

  Levi decided he would get back up on the freeway to walk on so he could avoid any more “stimulating” conversations with folks he didn’t know.

  He had thought he was confused before but was more confused than ever after listening to what those two men had to say. There were so many possibilities and he had no idea what to believe. He knew the best thing he could do was keep walking and stop thinking. He didn’t get paid to think; he got paid to do. The only thing he could do at this point was to walk.

  So he did.

  It wasn’t long before Levi was walking in the dark. He moved to the side of the road. Not because he was afraid of being hit by a moving vehicle; he had to use the shoulder to get past the line of vehicles that had stalled during the busiest part of the day for traffic.

  “If this wasn’t the worst case of traffic jam ever,” he thought to himself, “I will eat my hat.”

  Levi really wanted to get home, but he knew that he still had about 30 miles to go before he got there. That wasn’t really that far … if you’re in your truck. Walking, on the other hand, 30 miles is a long way. He could probably get there by mid-morning if he walked all night, but his steel-toed boots were sure getting heavy with every step he took. He was beat. He was cold. He was hungry. He didn’t want to stop. He knew he had to, though.

  He reluctantly walked off the freeway and started looking for a place to spend the rest of the night. People were already skittish, so he figured he better find a spot that wouldn’t be an encroachment on anyone else’s space.

  Up ahead he spotted an abandoned building. He recognized the place as an old car lot where his cousin had bought a used car a couple of years ago. The people that owned it were good people. He felt a pang of sorrow that the place had closed down.

  “Such is life,” he thought as he approached the building. He walked up under the canopy of the building, seeing that there was no furniture inside through the large front window. There was a barricade enclosure around the property, making it obvious that the building was not in use. He decided he would check and see if there was a back door that may give him access to the garage area.

  Rounding the corner, Levi noticed a little indent in the building. A couple of garbage cans in front of the small, covered area made it obvious that there was no door there, but at least it could be a dry place to catch a nap. He tilted one can to the side and stepped under the tin roof.

  “Oh, what a relief it is,” he said softly to himself as he no longer felt the rain upon his cap or shoulders. He took a small step and felt something stir under his foot; probably a small animal. He knew right away he had assumed wrong as he felt hard steel being pressed forcefully against his groin.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” he heard a staunch, firm female voice say. Lightning struck in the distance, temporarily lighting up the sky and the recesses of the little alcove. He didn’t see anything in that short burst of light other than a shiny silver pistol pointed right at his family jewels.

  He didn’t move a muscle.

  - - -

  After plugging in a fan and aiming it toward the hospital bed, Harold sat beside his mother and held her hand as they talked about his concerns with the power outage. She was aware of that her O2 concentrator wasn’t working. Neither were the cell phones or, apparently, vehicles. Kay had tried her laptop, but it wouldn’t come on.

  “So, what do you think caused it?” Alice asked with concern in her voice.

  “I really don’t know, Mom,” he answered. “I’ve been afraid that some terrorist group or one of those crazy dictators would detonate a nuclear bomb over Kansas and knock out our power grid for a while now. It wouldn’t take a very big bomb and there are a lot of crazy rich people out there who have way too much power.”

  “I know that you grew up to be someone who prepares for the worst,” said Alice. “I just thought it was because you were raised in the Mormon church.”

  “That may have a little to do
with it,” he replied. “The older I get the less faith I have in mankind, though. This world is such an evil pace. People just don’t seem to care about others anymore. We’ve pushed God out of our country and out of our lives. We’re going to pay for our mistakes. I guess my rose-colored glasses have faded to grey.”

  “Don’t let the rest of the world get to you, Son,” Alice said softly as she squeezed his hand. “You’re a good man. You have God in your life. He’ll take care of you. He’ll take care of us.”

  “I know he will,” Harold said. “I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about me being able to take care of you. You’ve got just one bottle of oxygen after the one you’re using right now and probably have enough insulin left for about five days. What will we do after that’s gone?”

  “Oh, don’t worry too much about that,” Alice said. “I have God in my life, too. He’ll do what’s right by me. It’s all up to Him; not you.”

  The door creaked open a little and Roxie peeked inside. “Want a cup of coffee?” she asked.

  “I think we’re out of sugar,” Harold replied with furrowed brows.

  Roxie lifted her had through the door. She was holding an unopened bag of sugar. She was smiling big.

  “Sure,” he said.

  After Roxie backed out of the doorway and closed it shut Harold looked toward his mother. “So that’s how you know when I come in the room.”

  She smiled. “You’d be surprised what you can learn if you just listen,” she said with a chuckle. “That’s why God gave us two ears and just one mouth.”

  “Point taken,” Harold countered.

  “Besides,” Alice added, “you’ve learned a lot in your lifetime, but how to be quiet about doing anything was not one of them.”

  “Uh,” was all he could come up with. They were silent for a few seconds before both of them started laughing simultaneously.

  “Go on and drink your cup of coffee,” Alice finally said. “I think I’m going to turn in a little early tonight anyway. I feel completely worn out.”

  “Probably from thinking up new ways to harass me,” Harold shot back. He could tell that their conversation had taken a mental toll on her and he suddenly wished he had listened more and talked less.

  Harold rose and made sure the water bottle was within his mom’s reach and walked across the darkening bedroom. He opened the door and turned to look at his mom lying on the bed. He was worried about how this was going to affect her.

  “I love you, Harold,” Alice said without opening her eyes.

  “I love you too, Mom,” he said sincerely. He listened to the soft creak as he slowly closed the door behind him. He leaned his head against the door jamb, closed his eyes and silently said, “Jesus, please take care of her.”

  Harold returned to the dining room to join Kay and Roxie at the table. A cup of steaming coffee was at his seat and a full sugar bowl sat beside it. He looked up at Roxie and smiled. A little. More like a grin. She and Kay both laughed.

  The three sat at the table and talked by candlelight. The talked for hours, plotting out a game plan for the next morning when they would have enough light to get something accomplished. It was decided that Roxie would stay the night and see what tomorrow brought when it came.

  It seemed much later than 9 o’clock when they finally talked themselves out, but they decided it was time for a little shut-eye. Harold went out and refilled the fuel tanks on the generators and made sure they were secured to their anchors under the shed in the back yard. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?

  With that task complete Harold returned to the dryness inside the house and put Kay to bed. He checked to make sure that Roxie was comfortable in the spare bedroom and then went and lay down next to his wife.

  “Is everything going to be ok?” Kay asked in the darkness.

  “We’ll be fine,” Harold replied. “God’s got this.”

  The two kissed goodnight and lay in bed holding each other tightly. Eventually the rain tapping on the window panes and the hypnotic hum of the electric fan lulled them both to sleep. It was a restless sleep.

  - - -

  The seconds that ticked by seemed like hours for Levi as he stood there doing the best impersonation of a statue he could. He felt the cold steel press snugly against his jeans. Another flash of lightening revealed an icy cold stare on the face of an older, yet oddly attractive lady. In another situation the stirring in his Wranglers could very well be caused by her intense green eyes instead of the handgun mashing solidly against his rain-soaked jeans.

  “Look, lady,” he finally broke the deafening silence between them. “I’m not going to hurt you. I was just looking for a dry place to rest for a while. I didn’t know you were in here and I certainly didn’t mean to step on your feet.”

  More silence.

  A few more seconds slowly passed before he spoke again, “You mind? I was hopin’ to have a kid or two sometime in the distant future, but if you shove that pistol any harder into me there won’t be a chance in hell of that happenin’.” Levi paused for a second before adding, “Please.”

  The solid-built man stood there shivering. When he spoke Arlene could tell that he was trying to sound menacing, but she could also tell that he was just a scared kid by the lilt in his voice. In another situation she may have been intimidated by him, but in this situation, she felt no real threat from him. From what she could tell he was a good-looking young man who obviously took care of himself. He would be the type of boy one of her girls would be attracted to. Probably all of them.

  She eased the pressure on the weapon she held in her hand. Slightly.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Levi said as he finally took a breath.

  “Would you mind removing your filthy boot off my foot?” Arlene asked coldly. She was amused at how quickly he shuffled off her aching foot and backed completely in the other corner of the little alcove.

  There were a couple of minutes of awkward silence between the two strangers as they shared the small space of the alcove. The sound of the falling rain and occasional bursts of lightning and thunder played in their ears. She sat there in her corner rubbing her recently injured foot. He stood in his corner wondering if he had made the right decision to stop at this place.

  “You can sit down if you would like to,” Arlene offered. “I don’t guess there’s any reason we can’t both stay under this cover for a while.”

  Levi was relieved to hear those words. He really didn’t want to get back out in the weather to find another place to dry out a bit. Slowly he slid his back down the brick wall, careful not to let his clumsy feet step on the lady again. He really didn’t want to piss her off.

  A short time passed in silence. The thunder and lightning slowed down but the rain remained steady. The two strangers sat in their respective corners immersed in their own thoughts. Out of the white noise arose a sound that Arlene immediately recognized from her medical studies as borborygmic. It was a rather long, lingering noise that eventually subsided.

  “Sounds like the thunder is moving further away,” Levi said in a guilty tone of voice.

  “Sounds like somebody’s hungry to me,” Arlene replied.

  More silence.

  Levi jolted up to his feet with complete surprise as he heard the lady suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. Out of nowhere. What the hell was wrong with her? Then it hit him. He had been so focused on her beautiful green eyes for it to register earlier, but this lady was wearing scrubs. Red scrubs. Everything fell into place. This was the crazy lady from the freeway.

  No way.

  Levi stared out into the cold, dark wetness and the feeling of dread overcame him. He had only two options at this moment; get out into that rain again and find a safer, quieter place to rest or stay here in this little alcove with the crazy lady. He knew that his best option was to suck it up and be on his way. He was just about to leap out into the dreadful weather and move on when the laughter subsided.

  “Would you like a Sn
icker bar?” Arlene asked breathlessly.

  “Wait a minute,” Levi thought to himself. “That changes everything.” He pondered the offer before him and made the executive decision to calm down and see how things worked out here. He slowly leaned back against the wall. “I know I’m going to regret this,” was his final thought before he slid back down to a sitting position.

  Watch out for her damn feet.

  ‘Sure,” Levi responded pleadingly.

  He could hear the lady shuffling around in what sounded like a plastic bag just before he felt something hard and firm press against his left arm.

  “Not that freakin’ gun again,” he thought. Wait, this wasn’t as cold or as hard as the gun. He reached up with his right hand and grabbed the king-size candy bar from the lady. His fingers grazed hers. “Hmmmmm,” he thought. “Not as cold as I imagined.”

  He opened the crumpled candy bar like a kid opening a present on Christmas morning. He hesitated only slightly before taking his first bite.

  Oh. Em. Gee.

  Tastegasm!

  Arlene’s face reddened in the darkness as she listened to the young man eat the Snickers bar. If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn there was something sinful going on in the alcove. “That young man must really like chocolate,” she thought with a chuckle.

  Levi knew, without a doubt, that this was the best candy bar he had ever eaten. Bite after delicious bite. He savored the flavors as an alcoholic would enjoy a drink of his favorite whiskey. Only this didn’t burn going down; it felt silky smooth. Snickers had certainly captured the essence of Yum.

  Before he knew it, he had eaten almost all the candy bar. A tinge of guilt overcame him. “Where’s my manners?” he asked aloud. “You want a bite?”

  “No,” she replied. “You go ahead.”

  He did. He made short order of the remaining candy bar. He then subconsciously reached up to his shirt pocket for a cigarette. Nope.