AWOL: A Character Lost

by Anthony Renfro

  The local news ended and the national news came on. This caught the attention of both guys. They fell into silence, and listened to it for a moment.

  Radio News Caster:

  In foreign news today, The Middle East Nuclear Arms Association has promised a show of power. This rogue group of nations has repeatedly stated that they have the resources to do things to the world at large few have ever seen. They promise that their first show of power will be larger than 9/11 . . .

  Barry turned off the radio, closed and locked the truck. “That’s some scary stuff, isn’t it?”

  “Probably just more smoke signals than anything else, most of the time, that’s all that it is. Those nations over there rarely have the means to do whatever it is they want to do. I think they think bigger than they actually are. Of course, something like 9/11 happens and it does re-adjust your way of thinking.”

  The men started to walk towards the trail, as Danny continued.

  “It is a shame that the world has to deal with groups like this, because the Middle East as a whole is a great place. The Muslim religion has its merits as much as the Christian religion does.”

  “If you say so,” Barry replied, obviously not agreeing.

  “What, do you link the entire Muslim culture in with a few fanatics? We have a lot of allies over there.”

  “It’s just, what I’ve seen and heard really doesn’t seem to equal what you’re saying.”

  “Really?”

  “How about we drop it?”

  Danny and Barry stopped.

  “I’m not sure I can,” Danny replied, not sure he was feeling this run after all. How did he not know Barry had such a one-sided view of things?

  “Look, I don’t want to go into this right now, but I lost a few close friends on 9/11. Ever since then my way of thinking has been kind of skewed. It’s hard for me to see the other side. I’m sure you understand.”

  “I’m sorry, Barry. You never told me about that.”

  “I haven’t told a lot of people, because it leads to a big discussion. I like you as a friend and a potential running partner, so I don’t want my opinions to ruin it.”

  “They won’t. I’m sorry if I seemed a little pushy there for a moment.”

  “It’s understandable. Which way?”

  “I say left,” Danny replied, after checking the trail in either direction.

  “So, walk for five, run for five.”

  “Can you handle it?”

  “I think I can.”

  The two men headed off, and I would like to say the five and five thing worked; but it didn’t. Sure, the walks were easily five minutes long, but Barry had trouble with the running part, which was okay for Danny. He still had tired legs from the 5K, so the longer walk breaks were a welcome change from the pounding strides. Too bad the world as we know it was coming to an end, because Barry really seemed to take to running. If there would have been more days left, more time, then these guys might have been running marathons together and enjoying this sport the way it was meant to be enjoyed for many years to come.

  Danny drove home after that run without seeing anything creepy, and he didn’t see the red haired guy or his shadows either. This was just a normal drive after a run on a Sunday morning.

  He arrived home and pulled the car into the driveway. The car didn’t go into the garage, because his family would be out to church in a matter of hours.

  He shut the engine off and went inside. Barbara was busy getting ready, and the boys were starting to stir. Danny kissed her, they had a brief conversation about the run and a few other non story related points, and then he stepped into the shower as she dried her hair.

  By ten that morning they were all dressed, fed, and heading out to the car to go to church. Johnny was excited to see his friends, but not so joyous about sitting through the service. Michael, like always, had to be pulled out the door, but his parents made him so he had to go.

  Church came and church went. The family had lunch together, and then they were all off to do their own thing, once again.

  The evening arrived – dinner time.

  Johnny and Michael ate supper with their friends while Danny and Barbara relaxed on the couch, watching TV, eating like they did before the kids came along. Neither one was prone to watching the news, but the crisis in the Middle East had them tuning in a lot more these days.

  On the TV, a perky young blonde in her early twenties, obviously just out of school, was busy reading the day’s news stories.

  News Caster:

  In foreign news today, The Middle East Nuclear Arms Association has said their nuclear arms program is fully operational. The world needs to prepare, to prepare for the end. The president had this to say on the issue – “We can’t let rogue groups such as these terrorize our way of life. If they show any aggression towards our nation or others, they will find swift and sudden justice . . .

  “This really sounds serious,” Barbara replied, as she ate a slice of pizza.

  It was supposed to be pizza and movie night for them, but they had gotten stuck watching TV. Danny now wished they had turned on a movie, because he didn’t want to talk about this with Barbara, not after the conversation he had earlier with Barry, before, during, and after the run. He was tired of all the doom and gloom. He just wanted to rest and let his mind drift off into something else.

  “It does, but it’s probably just smoke signals.”

  “Smoke signals?”

  “Most of the time they talk a big game, but nothing comes from it. Our nation and the others throughout the world have too much power to let this one group do what they are proposing to do. Don’t worry, tomorrow or the next day or maybe next month this rogue group will back down. They’ll concede under pressure, and all will be well.” Danny thought of the red haired guy after he said this, and the stuff he had told him. He wondered if this was what he was talking about. Was this the alarm clock going off? Was this the time he should start preparing? Danny tried to push those thoughts away as he got up and grabbed the movie. The idea of the world burning, because of this rogue group was preposterous, and he smiled inside thinking of how absurd it all sounded. He switched the channel off and pushed the disc into the DVD player. The trailers started to play.

  “I hope you’re right, because this just sounds so scary.”

  “Scary people talking scary things will always sound scary. It’ll blow over. Can we go ahead with the movie before the boys get home?”

  “Sure,” Barbara replied, letting the conversation drop. She turned her attention to the trailers on the screen, and let her mind drift into them.

  Danny was glad she did, because he really didn’t want to talk about it any further. He settled in, and got comfortable.

  The movie played, as the evening drifted into night.

  The boys came home on time, and went to their separate corners without saying much.

  Bedtime arrived.

  Danny and Barbara made love and fell asleep on their own sides of the bed.

  The night drifted, ebbed, and flowed towards morning.

  *

  Danny woke about two hours before his alarm clock to the sound of thunder in the distance. Lightning flashed and illuminated the room in a bluish white light.

  He rolled out of bed, stood up, and walked over to the window. The storm didn’t look that bad. The trees were swaying, a little rain, occasional thunder and lightning, no big deal. Then he noticed the strange car in front of his house. It was a government-looking vehicle, black, with four doors. It had “I stick out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood” written all over it.

  Danny knew in an instant why the car was there, so he let the curtain fall back in place. Work was only hours away, and he needed more sleep if he was going to be able to function properly.

  He walked over to the bed and stopped, covers lifted, enough to let in cool air. Barbara stirred.

  Danny let the sheet drop so he wouldn’t wake her. He walked over to the door and th
en out into the hallway, which was dark because they didn’t sleep with lights on in the house.

  Danny stood there a moment, and made sure he was smelling what he thought he was smelling, fresh coffee, and it was coming from the direction of the kitchen.

  Barbara stirred again as Danny retrieved his clothes. He closed the door to the bedroom when he left, and with cautious steps made his way down stairs. At the bottom of the stairs Danny stopped. He wondered how he was going to approach this situation if indeed the red haired guy was now in his kitchen.

  He took a moment to look through the peephole on the door. The black government-looking car was empty.

  “Glad you could join us.”

  Danny jumped when he heard the red haired guy’s voice behind him. He turned and there the guy stood, illuminated by the light coming out of the kitchen, dressed in jeans, polo shirt, and sandals. Danny’s eyes quickly darted from the red haired guy to the other parts of the house that he could see from where he was standing.

  “Yes they are here. Please. Join me for coffee.”

  Danny was so stunned by this blatant disregard for personal space that he didn’t even argue or yell. He just followed the guy blindly into the kitchen, like a dog that’s been promised a treat.

  “I wasn’t sure how you take your coffee,” the red haired guy replied.

  “Just creamer and honey, three teaspoons of the first, two teaspoons of the second,” Danny replied, as he walked over and poured himself a cup. He prepared it as the red haired guy took a seat at the table. Danny noticed the pot was half full, and that the red haired guy was either on his first or second cup of the day. If it was his second cup, then this guy had been here for quite some time.

  Danny took a seat; and, as the storm picked up in intensity, his stunned silence started to pass. Now Danny could feel rage building up inside. He could feel anger at being violated by this man and his shadow people. Then he thought of the government, the U.S. government, his government. He thought about how arrogant it was for them to just come walking into someone’s home. Didn’t the U.S. citizen have some kind of protection against this? Didn’t they have the right to home and personal space? Danny was just getting ready to lay into the guy when the red haired guy spoke up.

  “I see it on your face that you want to yell at me for breaking the sanctity of your home, once again.”

  Danny sipped his coffee, and he let the man speak. The coffee was waking him up and cooling his rage at the same time.

  “I get that, but we need to speak before your house wakes. I don’t know if you know it or not, but the situation in the Middle East has gotten worse.”

  Danny caged his rage and joined the conversation. “I saw it on the news.” Precious sips of coffee, caffeine goodness, he continued. “They promised a show of power.”

  The red haired guy took a sip of coffee, leaned back in his chair, and studied Danny with cautious eyes; and then he said six words that would change the course of human history forever. “The bombings will start this week.”

  Danny stopped his coffee mid sip and swallowed hard. “What?”

  “We don’t know where, but we do know it will happen sometime in the next five days, on United States soil.”

  “I figured this was a bluff. That it would get stopped. Now you’re telling me it’s for real,” Danny replied, scared, scared for his family and himself.

  “I wouldn’t be here if it was a bluff. But don’t be alarmed, we’ve seen this coming for a long time now. We’ve been preparing for it since the forties, just after World War II,” the red haired guy replied, slurping on Danny’s favorite coffee, Seattle’s Best – number 4, always guaranteed to wake you up.

  “But the Middle East group wasn’t even functioning back then.”

  “No, but what we witnessed during that war allowed us to start planning for a third war; and one that we all knew would eventually happen. That day is almost here.”

  “Who’s us?”

  “The world, Danny, every country out there has a group just like mine. A group who communicates and works together to make sure we don’t get blind sided like we did when the Nazis were in power.”

  “You mean through the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Korean and Vietnam War, The Cold War, all of that, you guys have been working together?”

  “We are not involved in politics that lie on the surface, things that keep the world talking. We are deeper than that. We are the people underneath that surface. We are designed to be one unit, and to put aside all differences. We are the people who will prep the world for life after.”

  Danny took all of this in for a moment. “Life after what?”

  “Nuclear war, Danny, but don’t think it will be like the movies portray it to be. There won’t be one side pushing the button and then the other side doing the same. This will be a lot dirtier.”

  “Dirtier.”

  “You know how 9/11 unfolded and the way planes were used as weapons,” the red hair guy replied, taking another sip of coffee.

  “Yes.”

  “We believe or, should I say, we know that this group is planning to do something similar to the nuclear plants in this country and the ones throughout the world. When they say they have nuclear weapons they don’t mean in the traditional sense of big gigantic missiles. They plan to use suicide bombers on nuclear facilities. That’s how they are going to end this current world.”

  “And you guys are going to just let them waltz in here and do it? I thought you didn’t want to get blind sided again, like with the Nazis.”

  “The difference is that this time, we see it coming. That we are preparing for it as you and I sit here.” The red haired guy stopped talking for a moment. Someone was moving upstairs. “Your wife is up. We need to leave before she sees us.” The red haired guy stood up.

  “What stops me from going to the news about this or my blog for that matter?”

  The red haired guy looked down at Danny. “We’ve spared no expense at keeping what I told you a secret. We’ve spared no lives as well. Do you get my meaning?”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “Take it as what you will. We mean you and your family no harm. We need you once the world ends and a new one begins.” The red haired guy paused. Then continued, “this is important, Danny. Probably the most important thing you have ever been a part of or will ever be a part of. You need to take it seriously, because the end is coming whether you like it or not. The good news for you is that you have been given a chance. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.”

  The commode flushed, seconds later they heard steps in the hallway heading towards the stairs.

  “Can I at least tell my wife?”

  The TV turned on in the living room, ESPN came roaring to life, one of the shadow people doing their shadow jobs.

  “Would she believe you?”

  Danny thought of the old guy on the street, the one he kept seeing, and the sign he was always holding. He saw himself standing in that guy’s place as the world passed him by, just another crazy out doing his crazy thing.

  Foot steps on the stairs.

  The red haired guy made his exit as Danny rushed into the TV room and plopped himself into his chair. Barbara appeared a second later, the cushions in Danny’s seat were just settling when she walked into the room.

  “Morning,” Barbara replied, yawning. She made her way towards the kitchen.

  “Morning,” Danny replied, as he got up and followed.

  “Did you make coffee?”

  Danny looked at the empty coffee pot and the table. There was only one coffee cup sitting there. Somewhere in the house a door closed. Barbara didn’t notice. Then a second later a car engine came to life, again Barbara didn’t notice.

  “Just a couple of cups.”

  “Tired?”

  “The storm woke me up.”

  A storm that had since passed leaving only wet dampness in its wake and the occasional clap of distant thunder.

  “I didn’t hear i
t. I didn’t even hear you get out of bed.”

  Danny grabbed some cereal, and made a fresh pot of coffee. “You were sleeping kind of heavy.”

  “I can’t believe its Monday again. The weekend goes by so fast.”

  “It certainly does,” Danny replied. “I’m going to go finish Sportscenter.”

  “Okay.”

  Danny stopped before going into the room and looked at her.

  She turned to face him. “What?” She asked, annoyed and curious mixed and mingled together.

  “I love you,” Danny replied, smiling.

  “Are you okay?”

  “It was just a restless morning.”

  “Keep an eye on the time. I know how that show distracts you.”

  “Okay.”

  “By the way, I love you too,” Barbara replied.

  Danny smiled again, and left the room.

  *

  About an hour and a half later, Danny opened the garage door, and backed the car out and into the street. He stopped there a moment, window cracked just a bit to let in a fresh cool morning breeze, as sunlight permeated the world in a cloudless Carolina blue sky.

  As he sat there, Danny thought that there was something off about that breeze filtering into his car through the half opened window. This breeze just didn’t feel natural. It felt like a foul wind, like a harbinger of something evil. Danny didn’t know why he was sitting here on this gorgeous day thinking this way, but he just was. He shook his head, dusting off the negative cobwebs, and then hit the button on the garage door opener. The garage door closed, as Danny turned on Tesla, cranked it up, and made his way down the road with “Modern Day Cowboy” blasting out of his speakers.

  Danny arrived at the teacher’s lounge around 11:00 that morning. When he walked in, the TV that usually sat lifeless in the corner was turned on; and a majority of the staff was gathered around it.

  “What’s happening?” Danny asked Barry, who wouldn’t normally be in this lounge. In fact, as Danny looked around, he saw a lot of people who didn’t normally come down to this lounge area, and all of them were focused on the TV.

  “Haven’t you heard?”