Electro

by David Lisenby

  “You want one?” she heard one of the boys ask and she turned to look back at them. One was holding a Pepsi out toward her.

  “No thanks,” she said. “We’ve got plenty.” She turned away and started walking back toward the house. She could feel the boys staring at her. She turned around and looked at the passenger, staring coldly into his eyes.

  “You boys best be getting’ on your way,” she said coldly. “Wouldn’t want anything to come between you and your pretty truck.”

  Both boys stopped laughing and looked at the pint-sized little girl who seemed to be threatening them. “What you tryin’ to say, little girl,” one of them asked.

  Click-click. The unmistakable sound of a Remington 12-gauge pump shotgun being loaded could be heard distinctly from the direction of the house. Both boys looked beyond the girl and saw the burly man standing in the doorway with the barrel of his gun pointed right at them.

  Bailey stood there with a sweet smile on her face as the smoke from the tires of the pickup drifted her way. It didn’t take long before the truck faded out of sight around the bend.

  “That,” she finally said. She turned and walked through the muddy driveway, back to her perch on the lone stool that sat on the front porch. “Man, if that had been a Dr. Pepper I would have snatched it from that boys hand.”

  A light rain began to fall.

  Chapter 12

  Oh my

  It was somewhere near midday when Bobby Jones blinked open his eyes. The first thought that came to his mind was how much his head ached. He wasn’t fully aware of where he was or what he was doing there, but he knew right away that he wasn’t sitting on his porch rail at home sipping on a nice, hot cup of strong coffee. That is exactly where he wished he was, though.

  His muscles were sore from lying in the same position for who-knows how long. He wormed his way back and forth until he was able to remove the object that lay beneath him – a little red satchel. Turning it over he could clearly see the red cross.

  First Aid!

  His fingers were swollen, but he was able to pull the zipper of the case open, praying under his breath that there was some morphine, codeine or other pain reliever in the kit. He was disappointed when all he could find was two packets of Tylenol.

  Tylenol? Really?

  “Oh, well,” he said out loud. “Better than nothing.”

  Bobby tore open both packets with his teeth and poured all four caplets to the back of his throat. A drink of water would probably make swallowing them easier, but that thought came a little bit too late. He swallowed dryly.

  As he gingerly turned his head his eyes fell upon the lifeless body of the pilot, still hanging from his seat. Bobby looked into the man’s empty eyes. They were so hollow. His focus changed; to the shard of wood that penetrated from the dead man’s forehead. A single drop of blood had dried at the tip of the shard.

  The scene before him didn’t look real. More like the handiwork of skilled make-up artists in Hollywood, the injured man mused to himself. Even as they were surrounded by grey, that one drop of blood shined deep, deep red. And those eyes … they were dead as hell but the irises were still just as blue, if not more so.

  The air was warm around him. His thoughts were becoming a little clearer, reminding him that the plane he had been riding in had fallen out of the sky. He remembered that the electrical system had apparently shorted out and the small twin-engine plane had lost all power. The pilot, a man he had flown with numerous times over the past year, had really done a great job finding a place to glide the plane to for their rough landing. Had it not been for the unexpected deer blind, they both would have likely survived the landing with no injuries.

  Fate had other plans, though.

  Now Bobby was lying here with unknown injuries and a throbbing headache. “Well,” he thought, “at least I’m alive.”

  Barely.

  With little success, Bobby tried to move himself to a better position to kick the door open. He made a couple of feeble attempts before giving up, at least for the moment. His legs weren’t working that great. Neither were his arms. His hip ached almost as bad as his head. He could see that his right arm was streaked with several cuts and scrapes as he reached over and slowly slid the window on his side of the mangled plane open. The cool breeze was like a breath from heaven.

  “Maybe I should get a little more rest before I find my way out of here,” Bobby thought to himself. He was surprised to realize that he was quite comfortable in this position. He laid his head back down on the roof of the overturned plane and quickly faded off to a deep, restless sleep.

  - - -

  Bailey watched the light rain fall through the window at the front of the house. She was so bored. It had to be near three o’clock, but who knew for sure? She was more curious, though, and decided that she was going to walk into town to see if she could find out what was going on. She asked Bear if he would go with her, but he said he was going to go take a nap. Damn, that boy sure liked his sleep.

  She put on her tennis shoes (with no socks) and put her hair up in a pony tail. With a wave to her mom, Bailey went out the front door and headed east. She didn’t have to walk far before getting the scare of her life; a cottonmouth snake was lying in the road and she never saw it until she was right on top of it. Well, she saw it but had thought it was a fallen limb. She nearly pee’d herself when it coiled up less than three feet away from her.

  Crap!

  The snake held its ground and didn’t move in one direction or another. Bailey gave it plenty of room as she crossed all the way to the other side of the four-lane highway to go around the hissing serpent. She knew that she better pay closer attention to where she was walking. There was no telling what she may find that wanted to hurt her. The thought sent a chill up her spine. Or was it that dang snake?

  About a half-mile into journey, Bailey rounded the curve that led to the outskirts of Silsbee. She could see a couple of people walking around the nursery on the left. She didn’t recognize them, and as she got closer she saw that it was two men. She didn’t recognize either of them. One of the men glanced her way and said something to the other. He then turned and both men were looking at her.

  “Hi there,” the first man smiled at her. “What’s a pretty girl like you doin’ wanderin’ around this part of town?”

  Bailey didn’t answer, she just kept walking toward town.

  “Why don’t you come over here and have a couple drinks with us?” the second man spoke as he took a step in her direction.

  “I don’t think my daddy would appreciate me talking to strangers,” Bailey said as she quickened her pace. “You’ve heard of him, haven’t you? He’s the Chief of Police here.”

  She wasn’t sure if the men fell for her bluff until they both took a step backwards. “We didn’t mean anything,” the first man said defensively.

  They bought it.

  “We was just bein’ hospitable,” the second man said, his palms facing her as he shined a fake smile.

  “No harm done,” she smiled back at him. “My daddy will be happy to hear that. What was ya’ll’s names? I’d like to tell him how nice ya’ll are.”

  Neither of the men answered as they turned their backs and walked away from her. One of them bumped into a potted tree and almost fell over it as he turned. It was funny seeing the tough guys turn into wimps right before her eyes.

  Feeling confident that she didn’t have to worry about the men, Bailey slowed her pace a little. She could hear several generators running in the distance. There were a lot of dogs barking. Up ahead there were a couple of people standing on the side of the road talking. Two people passed by on dirt bikes, not slowing down much as they whizzed by.

  She heard glass breaking. She looked ahead and to the left and saw a youngish man kick his way into the liquor store. In just a minute he came back out with both hands full. He looked around and then ran across the road and was gone, somewhere into the woods.

  On a side road, j
ust to the right of where the thief disappeared, she could make out something coming up the road. When it got a little closer she could see it was a roly-poly fat man with a bushy red beard and red hair putting toward her on a mini bike. She had to do a double-take.

  Bailey started giggling but caught her breath when a tall, lanky man appeared from the woods, jumped over the ditch and dove head first into the fat man. Both men tumbled onto the ground. The mini bike somehow stayed on its wheels and continued up the road, with no rider, for another 20 feet before it slowly stopped and gently lay over on its side.

  The lanky man jumped up off the road and started limping toward the mini bike. The fat man teetered from side to side, waving his arms and legs wildly. Obviously, he was trying to get up but couldn’t even get off his back. The skinny man hobbled up to the mini bike, picked it up and pushed it a short way before plopping his skinny butt onto the seat; about a foot lower than his butt was when he was standing up.

  Bailey started giggling again as she watched the scene before her. The skinny man rode the mini bike up to Lindsey Road and leaned into the turn. His bloody knees were literally higher than his head and she could see a trail of water fly into the air as his right foot skimmed the road throughout the turn. Then he was gone. Out of sight behind the trees.

  Her attention turned to the fat man who was still lying in the road. He stopped teetering and waving his limbs. Instead he started kicking the pavement and slapping it with both hands. He looked like a little fat kid pitching a fit. Finally, he stopped. He just laid there.

  Oh, my.

  “This is too much,” Bailey said aloud. She shook her head as she started walking toward Silsbee once again.

  A few minutes later she had reached the first red-light in town. It was strange to her how there were no cars, no lights, no people, no nothing. All the windows at the convenience store on the corner were broken and there were things thrown everywhere. She walked up to the store to get a closer look.

  Stepping through the doorway she could tell that somebody had trashed the place. Bad. The cash register had been ripped off the counter, leaving shredded wire poking through a hole in the counter where it once sat. All the cigarettes that were kept behind the counter were gone. She looked toward the cooler. Not a can of beer to be found. But there was a 16 oz. can of Dr. Pepper there on the top shelf.

  Yes!

  It was lukewarm, but that was Bailey’s third most favorite kind of Dr. Pepper; cold, cool, and then lukewarm. She stood there and drank the whole can. She grabbed another for the road. As she walked by the chips she grabbed a large bag of Doritos. She held them up in the air toward the counter and said, “Put these on my bill,” as she walked back out the door, into the parking lot and then back to the intersection.

  Up Knupple Road a short way was a substation for the volunteer fire department. There were a couple of trucks parked there and the bay door was open. Bailey figured that if anybody could tell her what was going on it would be a cop or a firefighter. Since there were no cops in sight (thankfully, since she just committed shoplifting), she decided she would see if anyone was at the substation.

  It didn’t take but a couple of minutes before she was standing by the open bay door. “Hello,” she shouted into the building.

  “Hey there,” came a response from somewhere in the darkness. “I’ll be right with you.”

  Bailey stood patiently. She could hear what sounded like boxes moving around and then the same voice say, “Got it.” A few seconds later a grey-haired man came walking out from the shadows. He was tall. And he had a very friendly smile on his face.

  “You really think it’s safe for you to be out and about all by yourself, young lady?” the man asked. He sounded very fatherly.

  “No, sir,” she answered honestly. “I had to try and find out what’s going on. Nobody knows what happened. Do you?”

  “We have a pretty good idea,” he said as he looked at the old radio in his hand. “Apparently we were hit by some sort of electromagnetic pulse. It pretty much wiped out all electronics. Our entire electrical grid. Cars. Cell phones. Home Appliances. All dead.”

  “But I saw a couple of guys in a truck just a few minutes ago,” Bailey said.

  “It was an old truck,” the man said, “wasn’t it?” The young lady nodded her head. “Older vehicles that don’t have a computer chip weren’t affected. That’s why I came here to get this old girl.” He was leaning against an ancient looking fire truck, rubbing the front fender like it was his favorite dog.

  “How long will it last?” Bailey asked.

  “No telling,” he answered. “It’s not going to be anytime soon when they get the electrical grid up and running again. As far as the other things … well … they’ll probably never work again.” He could see the concern growing on the girl’s face.

  “Look here, pretty girl,” he said. “You should really go home and be with your family right now. Everyone is going to have to pull together to get through this. Your family is the most important thing. You need to be with people you know and trust. You can’t trust anyone more than family… except for God, that is. You do have a family, don’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered. “I think.”

  “Well, you better head home then,” the man said. “I can take you if I can get Ol’ Betsy started.” He reached down and grabbed the keychain off his belt loop. Bailey could hear the jingle of the keys echo in the room.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I just live up the road a bit. I think I’ll just walk up the tracks. It’s closer that way.” She figured that would be a good way to bypass the two men at the nursery from earlier.

  The man at the substation watched as the young lady turned and started walking away. Just then she stopped and looked back at the man.

  “You have a bottle of water my mama can have?” she asked. He walked over by the door and opened a blue cooler, reached in and took out a bottle of water and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked back up at him, where he repeated the action.

  “Take two,” he said, “they’re small.” He smiled at her. She smiled back and nodded before turning around and walking away as a light rain began to fall.

  Chapter 13

  Lady luck

  Arlene was so glad to be in dry cloths. This was the first time since yesterday that she was dry (for the most part). Lynette, her new best friend, had given so much of herself. She even gave the weary travelers an umbrella each. With the on-and-off rains, those umbrellas were a gift that would keep on giving. She had renewed Arlene’s faith in humanity.

  As they walked down a road leading to the railroad tracks, Levi was impressed that the people who lived along this path seemed to be much less intimidating than the people they had run into earlier. It was as if the kindness of one lady had changed everything. Arlene sure seemed to have a new pep in here step since she got a change of clothes.

  There were houses on either side of the road. The people who lived in those houses were going about their daily lives as if it were a lazy Sunday afternoon. Of course, nobody had electricity, gaming systems or cell phones to keep them entertained. They were all outdoors or in garages with the doors wide open. The smell of bar-b-que filled the air.

  Over to the left were three young children playing in the rain; splashing happily in the ditch. To the right was a young couple sitting on their porch. It looked like the blond-haired lady was breast feeding an infant while her husband (boyfriend, baby daddy, whatever) was sitting on the arm of the chair with his arm around the lady. The way he looked at her and she him made it obvious they were in love. Even in this situation.

  Levi and Arlene came to the end of Lindsey Drive, where it intersected with a farm-to-market road. The railroad tracks ran parallel with the road, but a large ditch (full of a rapidly flowing water) prevented them from getting to them. There was a road that crossed the tracks about a half-mile up the road, so the pair took a left and headed that way.

  After about an hour of wal
king, Arlene and Levi had learned more about each other. It was amazing how much more a person is willing to talk when their belly is full and they are actively working toward a goal. The rain had stopped, but there was no telling for how long. Levi carried the cooler of goodies Lynette had given them and Arlene clutched her pocketbook, ever at the ready to pull out her pistol in case anyone tried to rob them again.

  In the distance the walkers could see a train ahead of them on the tracks. There was no light shining from the engine, which most likely meant that it had no power either. Dogs barked. Generators hummed. Motorcycles and atv’s whined in the distance.

  “I wonder if my Gator will work when I get home?” Levi asked. “I could give you a ride home if it does.”

  It was probably about the same distance to Buna as it was to Caney Head and they both knew it. Their paths would have to part relatively soon, which they both dreaded.

  “Maybe you can get it started and come for a visit,” Arlene said. “I’ll cook you a great dinner and let you meet my daughters.”

  “If they’re as pretty as their mama I’d be honored,” Levi said with a wink.

  When they approached the train the two talked less, choosing instead to focus on their footing in the large grey rocks that lined the sides of the railroad tracks. The further they walked, the higher the tracks were elevated above the wooded area on either side of it. Walking on the embankment was challenging, to say the least.

  There were 43 cars, including the engine, the pair had to go around. Arlene counted.

  When they were finally able to get back onto the tracks they were happy. The terrain between the tracks was much more conducive for walking on than that outside them. The crossties almost made it pleasant to walk. Arlene and Levi made a game of it, stepping on every other crosstie as they carried on.

  Around a sweeping curve they walked. Just out of the curve the pair came to a bridge on concrete piers. The elevated tracks crossed over Village Creek at this point. The creek was high. They stopped on the bridge and watched the muddy brown waters flow beneath them.