by John O'Brien
Over five hours and not a single car. That doesn’t bode well for help finding us, Sam thought, looking at the stars that seemed so close.
“The stars don’t seem that far away,” Emily stated, mimicking his thoughts.
“They are. You know what is really fascinating? With the light from them taking so long to get here, millions of years in some cases, what you’re seeing isn’t really how it would look at this very moment in time. What you’re seeing is the past.” Sam said.
“So, that’s not how they are?”
“No. Not really. We’re just now seeing the light from stars that may no longer exist.”
“That’s kind of cool and creepy at the same time.”
“How is it creepy?”
“Well, I guess it’s kind of like looking at a real live ghost. It’s not there, but we can still see it. And, what we see isn’t real.”
“I guess I never really thought about it that way. It’s kind of interesting that everything we see is in the past. We see things delivered to us at the speed of light, so close things appear almost instantaneously. But, what we see has already happened by the time it gets to us,” Sam said.
“That’s weird. So, everything I see you do, you’ve already done by time I see it?”
“Yeah, but the time difference for something so close doesn’t really matter. Light travels pretty fast.”
“What about your voice? When I see your lips moving, I hear your words at the same time.”
“Sounds travels much slower than light, but we’re so close that you don’t notice the difference. If you watch someone firing a gun in the distance, you’ll see the gun kick, then see the gunshot arrive seconds later.”
“Oh yeah, I get that. I’ve just never really thought about it before.”
“So, the only moment of reality is inside of you. Everything else you see and hear has already happened.”
“You say the weirdest things sometimes.”
“Only sometimes?”
* * * * * *
The light suddenly penetrated Sam’s consciousness. One moment, he was embedded in his troubled dreams, the next, he was aware that something bright was shining in his eyes. For a moment, he was grateful to be out of his dreams, but that was until the ache of having slept in the driver’s seat hit.
Sam squinted, his eyes adjusting to the glare of the sun peeking over the tops of the tall ridges. Inside the car, it felt too warm and his head ached from the lack of oxygen. Peeling off the sleeping bag, he glanced over at Erin, curled up in the seat next to him. He opened the door. The feel of the cooler air sweeping in was refreshing. Beside him, Erin moaned and rustled as she changed positions.
Sam was disappointed by the lack of interior lights and chime, hoping that the battery might have recharged during the night. Stepping outside and looking at the canyon filling with sunlight, he found that little had changed. He checked his phone, but it was the same as before: no power. His and Erin’s world was reduced to a stalled car in the middle of nowhere. He looked up and down the highway, but didn’t see any of the usual indications of civilization. There was just the gray strip of pavement, extending in both directions before vanishing around curves. The only thing moving was the river as it ran down the canyon.
Well, I guess the cavalry isn’t going to come riding to our rescue. If we’re going to get out of here, we’re going to have to see to it ourselves.
“Erin, wake up.”
His daughter groaned and rolled over, pulling the bag higher over her head.
“Come on, Erin. We need to get up and get going,” Sam said, well knowing the struggle of waking a teenager.
“Just another hour,” Erin’s muffled voice grumbled from within the bag.
“We don’t have that kind of time,” Sam stated, reaching inside to pull the bag down.
“Daddy!” Erin called as the sunlight streamed into her face and she clawed for the cover.
“Erin, we need to get going and I need your help,” Sam replied.
As Erin groggily shoved the sleeping bag down, Sam began rummaging through the trunk. They hadn’t exactly been tidy when putting their stuff back, with food, water bottles, and other gear strewn throughout the space. All of the items had been shoved to the sides when Erin pushed her way into the back seat to get the vehicle unlocked. Sam contemplated replacing the rear light fixture, but ended up only resting the pieces in one corner.
I’ll fix that once we return, he thought, removing their backpacks from within.
Erin appeared, running her fingers through her hair.
“Okay, what can I do, Daddy?’
“Take that loaf of bread and start making sandwiches,” Sam answered.
“How many?” Erin asked.
“I don’t know. Six? No, eight. We’ll have two for breakfast. That way we can eat while we walk,” Sam replied.
“Sandwiches for breakfast? Ewww.”
“What’s wrong with sandwiches for breakfast?”
“Just ewww.”
“Well, I’d rather have omelets, but that’s what we have for now…sorry.”
As Erin took the small cooler and began her preparations, Sam pulled open the floor panel hiding the spare tire. In addition to the tools, there was a small locked case containing his Beretta 9mm. Having it on the trip had both worried and reassured him. Each state they had traveled through was different with regards to their reciprocity, and he had imagined being on the side of the road fixing a flat when a helpful state trooper pulled in behind. However, he wouldn’t be completely comfortable on the road without it, either. Erin was the only thing keeping him going, even though she was a pain to wake up sometimes, and he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Removing the handgun, he shoved it in the rear of his waistband and pulled his shirt down over it. If they were going to be stopped by a state trooper on the way to the houses, he just hoped that the officer would be an understanding one. He had a concealed permit for it, just not one from this state. He pulled the spare mags and placed them in the bottom of his pack. The rest was filled with water, food, and a jacket. In Erin’s pack, he placed lighter items they might need on their long hike down the gorge.
Once Erin was finished, they hefted their packs. Sam again wondered if he should put the taillight back together. They would be gone for most of the day and he was hesitant to leave the vehicle as it was. Unless he had Erin scamper back out through the trunk, he wouldn’t be able lock the doors, thus leaving it open to whoever might come along. He ran through a mental checklist of what they might be able to take, remembering that there were a couple of knives near the driver’s seat. Other than that, he couldn’t think of much that he couldn’t live without. It was certain that the car wasn’t going anywhere in its current condition, unless it was towed.
Meh, fuck it. It’s insured, he thought, closing the trunk and gathering the knives from inside.
Standing by the side of the road, Sam looked in both directions. Now that they were actually ready to head out, he wondered which way would be better. It was a little longer to the park entrance and the rangers, but help there was nearly guaranteed. They’d most likely drive them back in one of their vehicles and provide a jump, although Sam was wondering if that would actually work. Their electronics shutting down at the same time, coupled with the strange clouds overhead yesterday, may indicate something much more than just a dead battery. The nearer houses would be hit or miss depending on how friendly the people were.
He stared in one direction, then the next, hoping that the right answer would materialize in some sixth kind of sense. In truth, he was torn. Logic said head to the ranger station, even though that would take most of the day, but his heart said to head back in the direction they came. It was a battle everyone faced—logic versus gut feeling. A choice where each one seemed right, but with that, each one also seemed wrong.
“Well, which way pumpkin? Ranger station or the houses?” Sam asked.
“The ranches had horses
. Maybe they’ll let me pet them,” Erin responded.
“Okay, horses it is.”
The two started down the highway, Sam periodically looking back at the Challenger parked by the side of the road. It looked lonely sitting by itself, growing smaller in the distance. He knew that it was him feeling that way, being stranded. They rounded a corner and the sight of the car vanished. Erin pulled out her sandwich and began eating. Sam turned to her at the crunch of her first bite, knowing that sandwiches weren’t supposed to sound that way.
“Did you put potato chips on yours?” Sam inquired.
“Yeah. I put some on yours as well. They’re better that way,” Erin replied.
Oh great! Sam thought, pulling his own out to see the edges of chips poking from between the slices.
The sun rose higher, warming the canyon. Together, they trudged along the side of the road to the crunch of gravel under their boots and the sound of the flowing river. A few birds circled high overhead, but that was the only movement. Sam listened for the sound of an approaching vehicle, but heard nothing as they marched around curve after curve. The conversation was sporadic, each lost in their own thoughts.
Erin’s thoughts tended to head toward whatever was nearby, but Sam contemplated their situation, feeling uneasy about events. The highway they walked along was remote, but he couldn’t think that no one traveled it at all. They hadn’t seen anyone in almost twenty-four hours, which didn’t seem right. If the road wasn’t used, then dirt would be spread across its surface, but it was fairly clear. It felt as if they walked into the cave in one world and emerged into an empty copycat of it.
The sun tracked across the blue sky, its reflection gleaming on the river’s surface. Rounding one corner, Sam stopped in his tracks at the sight of a vehicle ahead, parked in the middle of the lane. The sun glared off the windshield, making it impossible to see the interior. Sam held Erin slightly behind him as he examined the scene. He waited for the vehicle to begin moving, thinking that the driver had stopped to send a text or answer the phone. However, the car remained still, with no one emerging from inside.
Well, maybe they stalled as well and the owner trekked back to find help.
Reaching around to reassure himself that the handgun was still tucked into his waistband, Sam cautiously edged forward. He looked to the steeply rising hill on one side and the river embankment on the other, thinking that someone could be hidden by the scattered bushes or behind one of the boulders. He knew that if anyone wanted to exit for any reason, they wouldn’t leave their car parked in the middle of the road. It made him uneasy, but he was reminded that he’d left his car in much the same way.
As he approached, his thoughts wandered to the potential of EMP blasts and solar storms. Although the chance of a solar storm causing something of this nature was low, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. More than likely, if this was caused by something like that, it would be an air burst EMP. That thought was also unsettling. His fears reached out to the likelihood of a nuclear exchange, either large or small. There were so many unfriendly countries with the capability something of that nature was entirely possible. And, with him and Erin in the middle of nowhere, they wouldn’t directly register a nuclear blast.
Okay, Sam, pull your head out. That didn’t happen.
But still, he feared the worst. After all, if something like that had happened, they couldn’t have seen it from inside the cave.
Shaking his thoughts away, he edged to the far side of the road in order to get a better look at the car. Without the glare, he saw the silhouette of someone at the wheel. They didn’t open the door or roll down the window, which is what he would have expected anyone to do. Nearing the side of the vehicle, he saw a man with his hands wrapped around the steering wheel, turning it left and right, making the motions of steering the car. All the while, the man stared straight ahead, not even noticing the two of them approaching.
“Stay here,” Sam told Erin.
“What’s wrong with him?” Erin asked.
“I don’t know, but stay here,” Sam replied.
On the far side of the road, adjacent to the vehicle, Sam stared through the driver’s side window. The man still hadn’t glanced at them, only continued making steering motions. Sam wondered if the man was drunk or drugged; he hadn’t indicated that he’d seen Sam.
“Hey there,” Sam shouted.
The man didn’t respond.
Stepping closer, with one hand wrapped around the Beretta at his back, Sam rapped on the window. The driver slowly turned his head toward Sam, the eyes devoid of any expression. He then turned back to stare through the windshield and resumed the steering motions.
“Hey buddy, are you all right?”
There still wasn’t any response from the man. The driver reached to the radio and began randomly stabbing at the knobs and buttons. The movement became frantic, the knuckles smashing into the face plate. Then, all at once, he stopped and placed his hand back on the steering wheel to resume his “driving.”
Whatever he got into, I hope it wears off soon, Sam thought, backing away from the window, perplexed by the man’s actions.
If he could, he’d have called for help.
“Daddy, that man scares me,” Erin said.
“I thought I told you to stay away,” Sam said, startled.
“He isn’t alive,” Erin stated.
“He’s having a rough go of it, for sure,” Sam replied.
“No, I mean he isn’t alive. He’s not there.”
“What do you mean? He’s definitely on something, but he’s alive. You can see him moving,” Sam said.
“I can’t explain it. Even though he’s moving, he isn’t alive,” Erin insisted.
“Do you mean like a zombie?” Sam said in jest.
“No, not like that. He isn’t dead, but he isn’t alive either. It’s like, well, it’s like he just isn’t there.”
“You’re letting your imagination get the best of you. He’s there, but drugged out of his mind.”
“I dunno, Daddy. It doesn’t feel right.”
“No, drug users seldom do,” Sam stated. “Come on, there’s nothing we can do for him, and we can’t wait around for the drugs to wear off.”
“I don’t want to stay here, even if we could do something.”
With frequent looks behind them, the two set off down the side of the road. Sam sent a silent thought toward the man, hoping that everything came out okay. He would have checked the man’s car to see if it started, but the man might have become unglued and he had Erin to think about. They rounded yet another corner, leaving the man to steer his way through his drugged state.
* * * * * *
Hours and miles later, after endlessly walking beside the road to the crunch of gravel and majestic scenery along the river, the canyon walls opened up and the valley widened. The plain was mostly empty, with copses of trees placed near scattered homesteads. Cattle strolled aimlessly between fence lines or gathered under the meager shade. Most of the homes were near the river, which cut deeply through the prairie. The gray ribbon of pavement stretched ahead in long lines beside telephone poles and their draped power lines.
Seeing a cell tower perched atop a ridgeline, Sam checked his and Erin’s phone, but was still unable to get them to power up. In the distance, the large log cabin homes held the promise of landlines and help. The lonely walk through the canyon, without encountering another soul save for the man drugged beyond the ability to comprehend the world around him, left Sam with the feeling that the world had perished while he and Erin were on their spelunking adventure.
Ahead, the road forked, both branches following ridgelines to the north and south. Across the valley, another line of tall peaks boxed in the valley. Houses, spaced well apart from each other, were set back from the highway near a steep riverbank. After miles of walking, Sam eyed the nearest one. Even though there wasn’t a single vehicle moving along any of the roads, seeing the houses and livestock brought back a sense
of normality.
“How are you holding up?” Sam asked a mostly silent Erin.
“My feet hurt and my legs ache,” Erin responded.
“Think you can keep going for a little longer? That’s the house we’re heading for,” Sam said, pointing.
“I think so. Will we be able to ride back to the car? I don’t want to walk past that man again.”
“Yeah. Once we call a tow truck, I’ll have him meet us and give us a ride back. If not, maybe one of these farmers will be able to give us a ride,” Sam replied, unsure if he was actually answering her question or merely voicing his hope. “And I’m sure that man will be long gone by the time we pass by there again.”
“I can make it, but you owe me an ice cream. No, wait, Dairy Queen, and I get to order whatever I want,” Erin answered Sam’s original question.
“Deal. We’ll stop at the first one we see.”
With the soles of their boots still crunching on the gravel, the two began their walk out of the canyon entrance and onto the plain. The vacant look of the man they had passed continued to haunt Sam’s thoughts. He’d never before witnessed an expression so devoid of emotion. Usually there was a tic of the lips or cheeks, an eyebrow moving ever so slightly, something in the eyes that betrayed thought. But the man had none of those. The orbs didn’t have any fire of life behind their blank look. Erin’s claim that the man “wasn’t alive” made the scene all the more eerie. And coupled with their experiences so far, he didn’t feel completely connected with the world they were walking through either.
It’s probably the stress of having to deal with the car. This area is pretty remote, I’m not too surprised there hasn’t been anyone on the roads.
Fence lines followed the road across from drainage ditches, their tall poles partially hidden by grass. Out in the fields, cows huddled around small copses of trees. The afternoon sun struck the surrounding hills, the rocky peaks of the ridges poking above the mostly wooded slopes.
A gated driveway led to the first house. The long dirt strip meandered across the scrubland, lined with yet more fencing. The ruts, with a raised strip of weeds, looked heavily used. The house and attendant buildings cast long shadows across a dirt-filled yard and a pile of stones gathered to one side. Several vehicles were parked in front, including a tractor and what looked like a modified dune buggy.