AWOL: A Character Lost

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AWOL: A Character Lost Page 22

by Anthony Renfro


  Danny took off his shoes and walked the stairs quickly, but quietly. At the top of them he stopped. He stood there a moment and just prayed.

  He collected his nerves and walked over to Johnny’s door. He peeked in and found Johnny sound asleep on the bed, one leg hanging over the edge, head cocked in a position no person should be able to sleep in. Satisfied, he gently shut the door. Johnny kept on sleeping.

  Danny turned and walked over to Michael’s door. He placed his ear against the wood and listened for sounds of breathing. He listened as the world ticked closer to extinction. He listened, he hoped, he prayed.

  Danny reached down and turned the handle.

  The door clicked open.

  Fingers crossed.

  He trained his eyes on the bed. There was a shape there, and that shape wasn’t moving. He inched into the room on burglar’s toes making his way over to the bed. He looked down at the lump and pushed down on it. His hands went all the way to the mattress, and came back up. He flung back the covers and turned on the light. Where Michael’s head should have been laying were two pillows, cool, and un-slept on. Michael had not been home all night.

  Danny looked at the clock and sighed, took a hard seat on the bed, and cried. When the tears passed, he decided it was time he put his plan into motion. The night was wasting away, so he needed to get started. As he left the room, he hoped and prayed Michael would stumble in before whatever was supposed to happen today happened. If not, he was going to have to make one tough decision, one that he wasn’t sure he was ready to make.

  Danny went into the master bedroom, and made his way over to the night-side table. He leaned down, and reached under it. He pulled down the syringes that he had taped there. The tape made a ripping sound as it peeled away from the wood. He hadn’t even thought about taking the tape off before Barbara went to bed. He was glad that she was now on the couch, because that ripping sound might have woken her up.

  Shots in hand, he grabbed a couple of band aids, and made his way to the hall closet. Two suitcases were waiting for him there – one for him and Barbara, the other for the kids. He had packed these bags yesterday, just after the house emptied out, before he went to work on the wall. He had placed them back in the deepest parts of the closet no one ever went into. He wasn’t sure what they would need on the other side, but he did know that they would need to travel light.

  He took out the suitcases (packed with clothes) and two large plastic bags, stuff he had bought at the superstore yesterday, tooth brushes, tooth paste, deodorant, Barbara’s favorite shampoo, and things like that. He separated them out, and put them inside their respective suitcases. He then closed them up, all the while listening for any signs of movement in the house, any signs of Michael coming home. While he worked, the house stayed silent.

  He placed the suitcases at the top of the stairs and then crept over to Johnny’s room. He took out one shot, loaded it, and then walked up to where his second born was sleeping. Danny uncovered a leg (the boy so deep in sleep he never moved) and slid the needle into flesh. Danny watched the liquid go inside of his boy, and then when he was sure it was empty he removed the needle. He placed a band aid over his boy’s leg and patted him lightly.

  “Sleep tight, Johnny. Daddy will be back soon.” He left the room and loaded the next shot; carefully he put it into his pocket. He grabbed the two suitcases and made his way down the stairs. He placed the bags near the basement door and stopped, someone was behind him.

  “Danny,” Barbara replied, yawning. “Did you find Michael?”

  “No,” Danny replied, turning around, trying to stay calm, trying to stay focused.

  “I tried your cell, but I got no response.”

  “I turned it off.”

  “Why?”

  “I just wasn’t thinking.”

  “Should we keep looking?”

  “He’ll be home soon, and we will deal with him then. You should get some rest.”

  “Rest? How can I do that?” She trailed off, and looked around him, to the suitcases by the door, which Danny was trying to keep out of her view. “What’s with the bags?”

  “None of your concern,” Danny replied, eyes flipping to the clock. He had no idea of when the first bomb was supposed to go off, but it was close to 6:00 A.M. Night was quickly becoming the morning, and no one was in the tunnel.

  “You know I love you, right.” Danny pulled out the shot. He would have to do this while she was awake. He hoped she wouldn’t struggle.

  “Is everything okay?” She could tell by looking in his eyes that he wasn’t all there. That something just wasn’t right with the man she married, the man she knew so well.

  “I’m okay. We will all be okay. I promise. Do you trust me?”

  Danny reached out and put his arms around her, but this hug felt unnatural, almost like he was attacking her. She tried to push him back.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing, I promise.” He pulled the shot up and went to ram it home.

  Barbara was quick, quicker than Danny realized. She saw the shot and panicked, pushing Danny back and away from her. He grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her back to him. She might have been quick, but he was stronger.

  Michael stepped into the house just as his dad pushed the shot into her arm. The liquid rushed into her body as she fought him, but it was no use. The liquid acted too quickly, and her eyes closed. Danny let her gently slip down to the floor.

  Michael went from rebellion to protection in a matter of seconds. This was his mom after all. He rushed down the hall and tackled his dad. The two of them bounced off the wall and onto the floor, as Barbara went into a deep sleep.

  Danny got up; and he saw Michael in a sitting position, a little stunned. He took out Michael’s shot and loaded it, as his son was gaining comprehension.

  “What the hell is that?” Michael asked, as he saw that his dad had plans for him as well. It didn’t take Michael long; he got up and took off before his dad could reach him.

  Danny went after him.

  The clock clicked over to 6:00 A.M.

  Morning had arrived.

  It was now an hour and a half before the Apex nuclear plant was set to blow.

  Danny’s plan was more than changed by now. He had hoped to be sitting in the tunnel, family asleep beside him, door closed, waiting on it all to end by this time. Instead, he was chasing Michael into the kitchen, as his wife slept in the hall, and his other son slept upstairs.

  “Michael, you just don’t understand,” Danny replied.

  “Get away from me with that thing,” Michael replied, flinging whatever he could at his dad – chairs, silverware, a toaster oven from the counter. Nothing stopped or slowed down his father.

  “Please stop. We can both make this easier on ourselves, if you just stop for a minute,” Danny replied.

  Michael wasn’t listening as he headed off to the living room with his dad hot on his heels. Through the living room they went with Michael throwing whatever he could at his dad – a remote control, pillow, a couple of vases, but nothing worked. His dad was still determined to jam that needle into him.

  Suddenly, they both stopped, and while they stood there in a stand off, Michael realized that the front door was now his only option. If he could get to the neighbors, he would be safe. Michael wasn’t sure who would be up at this hour on a Saturday, but if he beat on enough doors, he was sure someone would eventually answer.

  Of course Danny had thought of Michael heading out the front door, so when Michael threw the last pillow on the couch at him, Danny went one way and Michael the other.

  Danny got to the door first, and blocked it.

  6:13 A.M.

  “Michael, you don’t understand.” Danny held out his hands in a stop motion as he talked to his son. Both of them stood there with sweat on their bodies, their clothes damp, breathing heavy.

  “What did you do to mom?”

  Danny decided he wouldn’t be able to out chase his
son, no matter how good a runner he was; but maybe he could explain it all to him. Maybe if he just told his son what was about to happen, Michael would understand.

  “Sometime today the world is going to change.” Danny watched his son close, watching for any sign of movement, anything that said his son was going to bolt. “You know all the stuff you’ve seen on TV about the bombings.” Michael nodded his head. “You were right. You and your friends were right.” Danny looked for recognition in his son’s face as he continued. “I’ve been told that today the world will cease as it currently stands. That mankind will be brought to its knees by nuclear war. I don’t know what time it will happen, but I have somewhere safe we can go, somewhere for you, for your mom, for Johnny. I had to give them this shot (Danny held up the one in his hand) so I wouldn’t have to go through what I’m going through with you. Time is precious and very urgent Michael. If you trust me, and you will help me, you won’t need to get your shot. I could use a hand getting everything downstairs, a lot easier with two than one. What do you say?”

  Michael just stood there, didn’t say a word, and then ran for the stairs. Danny had one chance to catch him and that was it. If Michael got past him and up those stairs he could get into his room, lock the door, climb out the window, and then be gone. Danny would have no choice, but to take the remainder of his family to safety, and just pray that Michael wouldn’t suffer.

  6:20 A.M.

  Danny managed to grab Michael with a fingertip. This fingertip hooked into the back pocket of his son’s blue jeans causing the pocket to rip an inch or two. It was only a tiny grip, and Michael was a strong kid, stronger than Danny realized. The pocket ripped free a couple more inches, Michael inched forward, but Danny had him, and he knew it. He pulled his son back to him just as the pocket ripped clean, and fell to the floor.

  Danny slipped a firm arm around his son’s waist, and held him tight. His son fought and kicked, but it was no use. Danny shoved the needle into Michael’s arm and comforted him as he passed out.

  6:25 A.M.

  Danny stood there a moment holding his son’s lifeless body, stroking his hair. “I’m sorry; I wish it would have been easier,” he replied, as he put his son on the floor and checked to make sure the front door was locked. It was.

  Danny then put his plan into motion.

  6:27 A.M.

  He hurried over to the basement door and opened it. He turned on the light and grabbed the bags. He hoisted them up and made his way down the wooden stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he stepped onto the basement floor and walked over to where the armoire was sitting like a giant wooden guard. He put the bags down, and loosened the muscles in his arms.

  6:30 A.M.

  Danny went to one side of the armoire and put his back against it. He pushed. It didn’t budge. He pushed again, and it still didn’t budge.

  6:32 A.M.

  Danny walked around to the other side of the armoire to see what the hang up was. He looked down at the floor, and he saw that there was a large crack stopping the furniture’s forward progress; and the legs, the ones that helped it stand up right, were stuck. When Danny had pushed this armoire over on Thursday, he had managed to slide the two legs right into this crack without realizing it.

  6:34 A.M.

  Danny lifted up the behemoth piece of furniture with all his might and somehow managed to get both legs unstuck. He took a second to catch his breath.

  6:35 A.M.

  Danny found his breath and pushed. The furniture moved with ease, and Danny moved it completely out of the way.

  6: 40 A.M.

  Danny grabbed the suitcases and picked them up. He walked a quarter of the way into the dark tunnel, his shoes slapping on the metal as he went, and placed the bags there. He then stepped back into the basement, and walked over to the crawl space. He opened the door, and peered inside. He had purchased four sleeping bags at the superstore, along with several flashlights and a lot of non perishable food. He tossed the sleeping bags one by one over to the tunnel entrance. Then he retrieved the large cooler full of water, granola bars, pop tarts, dried fruit, and meat in a can that wouldn’t spoil. He put the cooler in the tunnel and laid out the sleeping bags. Once all of this was done, he went back to retrieve his family.

  6:55 A.M.

  Danny picked up Barbara, and he carried her towards the basement door. She was heavy dead weight, but not too bad.

  6:57 A.M.

  Down the stairs they went with cautious gentle steps. When Danny reached the tunnel, he stepped inside and placed her in one of the sleeping bags. Barbara didn’t stir, as he covered her up. She just lay there lifeless. Danny kissed her. “I love you, be back soon.”

  He made his way back up the stairs and grabbed Michael, who was about as heavy as his mom. Danny’s back complained, but he pushed on.

  Down the basement stairs again and across the basement they went; and, just like his mom, Danny placed his first born inside a sleeping bag, and covered him up.

  7:03 A.M.

  Danny hurried out of the tunnel and up to Johnny’s room. This involved not only climbing the basement stairs, but the stairs in the house as well. Danny didn’t mind because the last piece of the plan was about to fall into place.

  7:06 A.M.

  Danny hoisted Johnny off the bed, and found the last member of his family to be carried, was the lightest. He was glad it worked out that way. He carried Johnny out into the hall and stopped.

  7:08 A.M.

  He took a moment to look around at all they had been fortunate to have since they had gotten married, and then he realized something, something a woman would see and a guy would not. He had forgotten the pictures. The one thing he needed to bring that wasn’t a necessity was the pictures. If he lost their wedding photos or the kid’s baby pictures or all of the clicks they had taken of each other throughout the years, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself. He was also pretty sure, no, he was confident; Barbara would never let him live it down.

  7:10 A.M.

  Danny took Johnny down to the tunnel and placed him inside a sleeping bag. His family was now safe in the tunnel, but Danny had to make one last trip into the house. He had to retrieve as many pictures as he could, even if they were going to clean the house of radiation once it was all done. Who knew what that stuff would do to pictures and delicate things like that? It was better to be safe than sorry.

  7:14 A.M.

  When Danny reached the first level of the house, he ran into his office and grabbed his gym bag. He emptied it out and quickly went about the house collecting every picture and photo album he could find that would fit into the bag. Once he was done, he hoisted the bag over his shoulder and made his way down to the basement stairs.

  He descended the stairs and made his way over to the tunnel. Danny stepped into it and placed the bag of photos on the floor.

  7:26 A.M.

  He took one last look at the room and the world around him. He took one last deep breath of clean fresh air, one last look at the sun pressing on the windows, one last look of everything.

  7:27 A.M.

  Danny grabbed the door and pulled it away from the wall. He eased it down to the point where it almost clicked closed, and stopped. A sliver of light was peeking in, almost trying to get in as if it wanted to help shut out some of the darkness or maybe it just needed to get somewhere safe.

  Danny hesitated no longer.

  He pulled the door closed.

  The lights came on above, startling him, as the door locked into place with a rush of air, sealing it tight.

  Danny took a seat, and waited. His eyes were heavy, sleep comes easy.

  The TV’s pop and come to life.

  A test pattern emerges, a silent image on the screen.

  7:30 A.M.

  CHAOS

  The bombings spread from coast to coast, up and down the continental United States into Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Hawaii, Alaska, Russia, China, throughout the Asian countries, Europe, Au
stralia, and New Zealand. On and on they went until every continent except for one was covered in some form of chaos. The only exception was Antarctica. For whatever reason, taking the time to bomb such a small place really seemed unnecessary. Would it surprise you to know that Antarctica was once on their list, but that it was deemed a waste of time, and a waste of a bomber? There was nothing on that frozen piece of land worth destroying.

  These suicide bombers targeted anything that made the human population function. They blew up cell phone towers, TV stations, power plants, water plants, electrical plants, and sewage plants. Maybe the world could have recovered after that day if that was all they attacked; but once the nuclear plants started to melt down the human population was officially doomed.

  Now, I’m not saying the entire population above ground was wiped out in the bombings, but those that did survive were sent back to the time of the caveman. People were forced to live and survive on what was left of the world, choking and dying all the while on toxic air full of radiation.

  The Middle East Nuclear Arms Association completely wiped them selves out in the process of carrying off their master plan. Every member (including their leaders) went out in a blaze of glory on that Saturday.

  *

  Danny was awakened by sounds coming out of the TV. He looked up at the screen in front of him and down the tunnel. As far as he could see, the rest of the screens were showing the same thing. It was a news channel, one he had never seen, showing a whole city block in Wisconsin in ruin. Danny thought the city was Milwaukee, but he wasn’t sure of it. As he sat there and watched the screen, he started to see more footage and more breaking news as more reports started to come in. Then all the TVs went black after the last report, somewhere in Tennessee.

  He sat with his back against the cold metal wall and stared at the black screen for a moment, its silent darkness popping with the sounds of gentle static. His eyes felt heavy –like concrete was placed upon the upper lids. He held them open for as long as he could and then dozed again. He dreamed of simpler days with his kids, days of running in the fresh air, and all the benefits his current life once had to offer. It was peaceful in those dreams, peaceful and inviting. He didn’t want to wake up, but it was Barbara stirring, coming to, that forced him to wake. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her, realizing that he could feel fresh air flowing in from the three slot vents above him. When he looked down the tunnel he could see these vents, like islands sporadically placed, inches below the spot where the roof met the wall. He hadn’t even noticed the stale air this morning when he had placed his family in this metal tomb, but he did notice the fresh air now, because it cooled and dried his warm moist skin. He looked down at his watch (which he used to use when he ran) and it read two in the afternoon. He couldn’t believe he had been against this wall for at least seven hours; it was a long time to sit and sleep.

 

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