The Ending is Everything

by Aaron M. Carpenter

  “We are not sure which way to go. Over,” Alicia said.

  “I think if we just head east we can find a way through. Over.”

  “Blake,” Zero said, but it was the way he said it that got my attention. An alert. A seriousness that made the hair on my arms stand up. “You see them?”

  Thirty yards in front of us, I could see four or five human-shaped shadows approaching the SUV.

  “Alicia, you see the group in front of you?” I said and forgot to say over.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “Do not move or say anything, I will be there in a second. Any sign of trouble and you tell Drew to take off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just go! Hit the gas, everyone get down and go. Over.”

  The men were now within ten yards of Drew’s SUV. They wore beanies and dark clothes. But, it wasn’t the clothes that bothered me, it was the way they were flanking us and the spacing between them. One stopped dead in the center of the road in front of the SUV. One had already passed the SUV, walking down the middle of the road and headed toward the truck. The other two approached Alicia’s window.

  “Take this,” I said as I handed the AR to Ethan. “If you see any trouble, you roll down the window and make some noise so they can see the gun.”

  “Okay,” Ethan said with trepidation.

  “Don’t I get a gun?” Zero asked.

  “You just come and get me,” I said.

  “And me?” Jenna asked, from the seat behind Zero.

  “Just stay down,” I said as I exited the truck. By now, the taller of the two men arrived at Alicia’s window. I walked swiftly, ignoring the guy who was examining the back of the truck, five feet from where I exited the vehicle.

  “You guys need some help?” I heard the tall man ask Alicia in the window.

  “N-no, were okay,” she replied through the window. As I approached, the taller man was tapped on the shoulder by the other man and pointed toward me. The taller man backed away from the SUV and turned to me.

  “Hey. How’s it going?” I said as I approached and maneuvered myself between Alicia and the taller man. I put on a smile, but inside, my heartbeat was pounding a hundred beats per second and my adrenaline was spiking, giving me a sensation I had not felt since Afghanistan. A feeling I had missed.

  “We’re alright. But you guys look like you need some help.” The tall man said, with a thick Spanish accent. I kept my eyes focused on him. But, in my peripheral, I could see the man standing in front of Drew’s SUV and the other guy peeping in on Zero’s truck.

  “We’re just a bit lost,” I said.

  “Where you trying to get to?”

  “Out of here,” I said with extra flummox. “Don’t want to go to one of those evacuation places.”

  “The FEMA camps? Yeah, fuck those places man. That’s smart,” he said and smiled. “So, where you headed then?”

  The man at Zero’s truck had walked around the truck bed and now was on the passenger side, just behind Ethan’s seat. Eyes still on the tarp-covered gasoline.

  “We were trying to get out through Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead, but kept running into the damn police and National Guard.”

  “Yeah, they already started the evacuation east of here.”

  “Is that right? I have a map. Can you show us a way around?”

  “I might.”

  The man at Zero’s truck lifted the tarp covering our supplies and gasoline. I took a step forward, my left hand up in the universal sign for “Give me a sec” and I reached for my map behind my back.

  I did not pull out a map.

  As quick as I could, I pulled my gun, took a step forward and placed the muzzle against the tall man’s forehead. He was over six feet, I was just below, so I had my gun at an angle on his forehead, that if I pulled the trigger, the bullet would explode out the top of his head. I heard the tires squeal as Drew took off behind me. The man in front of the SUV dove out of the way. I saw him out of my peripheral land on the grass by the sidewalk, roll, and back on his feet in an instant. The man at the tarp had pulled out a gun of his own and was pointing it toward me. The man in front of me, the taller man, had his arms raised at his side. Behind him, the other man stood still. To my left, the guy, who was dusting himself off from his dive into the grass, also pulled out a gun.

  “There’s no need for this man,” the tall man said. I usually would not put my weapon that close to another person. Too easy to knock away. But, in this instance, I wanted to intimidate more than execute. I wanted him to feel the nozzle against his forehead.

  I slowly began to walk backward, removing the gun from his forehead, never losing eye contact or my aim.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Tell your guys to put their guns down.”

  The tall man said something in Spanish.

  “Hey asshole,” I heard Ethan say from my right, and the man by the truck slowly lowered his weapon.

  The taller man again spoke Spanish, with a steely voice this time.

  My adrenaline was spiking, and I started to feel lightheaded. I could hear Zero’s truck, slowly pull up behind me, and I continued to walk backward and into the street. Never taking the gun or my eyes off the man in front of me. As soon as I felt the truck behind me, I reached for the door handle with my left hand and with my right kept the gun forward, my eyes never leaving the target. I opened the door and backed into the seat, pressed the button to roll down the window with my left hand as I sat down. Then, also with the left hand, shut the door and showed the gun out the open window. Drew had opened the window in the cab and the big assault rifle was pointed at the tall man.

  “Go,” I said. Zero slammed on the accelerator, and the truck sped away with tires screeching. I relaxed in my seat, with a sigh and Ethan brought the rifle back in the vehicle. The breathing was heavy as if we all ran a marathon.

  “You are one badass motherfucker,” Zero said.

  “I was afraid I was gonna accidentally shoot someone,” Ethan said.

  “Did you turn the safety off?” I asked.

  “There’s a safety?” Ethan said. Zero laughed so hard the truck swerved erratically. “Why did you give me a gun with the safety on?”

  “If you can’t figure out whether or not the safety’s on, it’s probably a good thing it was.” I turned and grabbed the rifle back from Ethan. Jenna sat in shock, wide-eyed and staring at the three of us as if we were lunatics. “You okay?” I asked as I put the rifle down at my feet in the front seat.

  “No,” she said. I nodded and turned back to the road ahead.

  “It’s a good thing they didn’t shoot at us as we left, with all the gasoline in the back,” Zero said.

  Yes. A good thing.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  11/15/2024

  We caught up to the SUV at another cross road. It appeared they were waiting for us. The red brake lights from the Welles family vehicle lit the interior of the truck, like a dark room for processing photographs.

  “You guys okay. Over?” I asked.

  “No. My husband almost ran over a man, who pulled out a gun not two feet from my children. No, I’m not okay,” Alicia said. Her voice was higher pitched than normal. I waited for her to continue. “Was that necessary?” she finally said. I continued to wait. “Blake?”

  “Say over when you finish. Over,” I said.

  “FUCK OVER!” she yelled, causing the walkie to screech loudly in my ear. I looked over to Zero who just raised an eyebrow.

  “Blake,” said Drew, on the walkie. “Sorry about that, we are a little shaken up. Over”

  “I understand. We are as well,” I said. Zero just shrugged his shoulders. “Over.”

  “You could have given us a warning. Over.”

  “No time. Over.” There was a long pause on the other end. I waited patiently. Zero had his arms crossed over the wheel, with his head laying on his arms. I looked back at Jenna who was staring out the window, chewing on her fingernails. Ethan was looking right at me li
stening intently.

  “So, what now?” Drew asked. “Over.”

  “It’s up to you? If you can get us through this, we can continue. If not...” I left the sentence hang. “Over.”

  “I think I can. Over.”

  “Okay then. On we go. Over,” I said.

  And on we went, passing through numerous residential developments. I could see flashing red and blue lights to the north of us and sometimes to the south. It was slow going. At every intersection, there was an unbearably long pause. But, we continued like molasses flowing down a tree. I no longer had any idea where we were. I knew we had passed through Fontana and possibly, Rialto. We must’ve been close to the 215 freeway, with our destination just beyond. The only light and color came when Drew hit his brakes, casting an eerie red glow into the night. Drifting from empty street to empty street. Every so often I would see a light from the inside of a home. It seemed some people were still hiding out.

  “Here we are. Over,” the walkie crackled. It was Alicia again. The road in front of us slowly rose into the air, and there was a red and white glow from both sides of the road below us. It was the 215 freeway. As we glided over the overpass, I could see thousands of cars on the freeway heading south. To our left, white headlights. To our right, red taillights. When we crested down the other side of the overpass, I thanked Drew for finding us a way past the freeway that avoided on and off-ramps.

  “Just a few more streets and then we will turn left towards Lake Arrowhead,” Alicia said. “Over.”

  We passed a stop sign that was barely visible and entered another residential neighborhood. Another stop sign. A right turn and a quick left. We continued.

  Abruptly Drew slammed on his brakes. The red light blinded us momentarily. Zero almost slammed into the back of the SUV. I reached my hand out to the dashboard and braced for the whiplash.

  “It looks like a road block up ahead. Over,” Alicia said. I didn’t respond. I looked to my left and saw a side street. Drew had seen the same thing and turned the SUV north up the side street... which ran right into San Bernardino High School.

  At the end of the street, to our left was the football field and we could see hundreds of people standing around, under temporary lights scattered along the track that ran around the field. To our right, the parking lot and a variety of military vehicles. Multiple helicopters. At least thirty school buses. It was a staging area.

  “I think we took a wrong turn,” Zero said.

  “We need to turn around. Over,” I said into the walkie as Drew kept creeping closer to the school.

  “We know. Over.”

  We kept trying to turn East, but it was of no use. The National Guard had blocked off all routes headed east of the school. Drew pulled over on a side street and stopped. Zero pulled in behind him. It was quiet.

  “What do you thinks going on?” Ethan finally asked.

  “They are probably discussing possible ways we could go,” I said. This night had not turned out like any of us thought. It was far worse than I could’ve imagined.

  Finally, the walkie spoke. “I think... we need to turn back,” Alicia said. “We can’t find a way through, without coming into contact with...” She paused, and I heard her sigh. “We should go back. Over”

  “I think so too,” I said. “Over.” I looked back at my fellow passengers, and while they didn’t say so, I could read it on their faces.

  “You sure?” Alicia asked. “We may not have another chance. Over.”

  “True. But, I don’t think we want to risk it. Not with the way this night has gone. We can go back to my place and try to hide out there. If we keep going, we will end up at the camps for sure. Over.”

  “Okay. Over,” she said, barely audible.

  “We’ll think of something,” I said. “Over.”

  “What?” Zero asked as I put down the walkie and Drew made a U-turn in front of us.

  “I don’t know,” I said, and I didn’t.

  We took the journey back to my house without incident. At eight-thirty in the evening, we pulled into my driveway. A three-and-a-half-hour drive to nowhere. The second time I ventured outside my home since the explosion and both ended up fruitless. Maybe we were meant to stay here.

  “So, what now,” Alicia asked as she dropped down two suitcases in my living room and I lit the candle next to the TV.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “We have a day, or so before we need to be out of here, we can think of something.” I was not sure I believed that, but I was the de facto boss and was trying to give the people what they want.

  “Like what?” she asked. The kids sat on the couch, yawning, rubbing their eyes and kept looking around like ‘why are we back here?’

  “I don’t know,” I said. “We need to think and figure it out.”

  I ended up in my garage, alone, after we had unloaded all the water and food. We stored the excess water jugs and canned food in my garage because it created more space in the house. It also would enable us to ration better. Like a smoker putting his pack of cigarettes in the garage because he was trying to cut back. It usually didn’t work. But, it was a good attempt. I smoked one of those cigarettes from my pack in the garage. It was stale and smelled dreadful. I sat, relaxed, on one of the folding chairs. The garage door was open, so I could see into the night. It was quiet as it had been most nights. But, now I knew what it sounded like did not make it so.

  Sitting in my garage with my stale cigarette it could’ve been any night. I could be going to work tomorrow morning and would be worried about my reports that were due on Monday. Out on the road, you could feel the chaos of the rest of the world. In my home, it felt safe. It was a mirage. A lie. A well-meaning lie. But, that lie had been exposed, and now I worried for the psyche of my compatriots.

  What now? The single question being asked by the group. I could not answer that, and I fear that my experience and knowledge may have belayed a sense of safety. Now, they had seen the truth. The world is in chaos. The power is in the military.

  So, what now?

  “Can I borrow one?” Jenna said, interrupting my thought.

  “Sure,” I said and handed her the pack of cigarettes. I only had three left, and I was not looking forward to the lack of nicotine. Jenna grabbed one out of the pack and lit it with a lighter she provided. We sat in silence for a minute.

  “Would you have actually shot that guy?” she asked.

  “Umm... Not unless I needed to.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing Aaron only ended up with a sore jaw,” she said, with a grin.

  “I am sorry about that.” I took a hit of my cigarette. “I should not have hit him.”

  “It’s alright he had been an ass the whole time. He wanted to just stay in his apartment and said it was dumb to come here and then I made a mistake of telling him about the party.”

  “Why, we didn’t do anything?”

  “True, but I kind of threw it in his face when we were arguing, and I guess he assumed the worst.” That explained the dynamic change.

  “Still, I shouldn’t have hit him.”

  “Whatever. I should have left him a long time ago.”

  “Do you worry about him?”

  “Nah. He is a survivor. I am sure if we end up in one of the camps, he’ll be there trying his best to get on my good side and showing me all the rules and how it all works.”

  “Right,” I said.

  “Do you think we will?”

  “End up in the camps? I hope not. I think we can hold off here for a little while longer.”

  “We may not have a choice.”

  “We always have a choice,” I said and put out my cigarette.

  Back inside, the household began to return to normal, or as normal as when we left three hours ago. The kids were reading The Hobbit, again, or at least looking at the pictures. Zero and Drew were playing cards on the dining room table. Kaitlyn and Alicia were talking on the couch. Ethan was in the kitchen making an updated inventory of our food
supply that was then placed on the fridge with a magnet. He had separated what was inside and what was in the garage.

  As I sat on the couch next to Kaitlyn and Alicia, Jenna went and sat at the dining table with Drew and Zero, everyone stopped to look at me. I knew what they wanted, but I did not have a definitive answer for them. Only the same thought I had previously. Stay here for as long as we could.

  I told them this.

  “Then what?” Alicia asked.

  “Well, we stay here until we can find a road out of here or we go to the camps. Those are the answers right now. The only solutions I can think of. If you have any others, I would be glad to hear them,” I said.

  “We can try again tomorrow, during the day so we can see where we are going,” Drew said.

  “We could,” I said and nodded. But the way I said it, they knew I did not think that was a promising idea.

  We argued like we did a few nights ago, back and forth. To go to the camps. To stay here. To try the roads. The only guaranteed safe place was my home.

  “We need to have one person be a lookout, at all times. From here on out, until we decide what we need to do or the decision is made for us,” I said.

  “Who will that be?” Drew asked.

  “For tonight I will. Then tomorrow, early morning...” I waited for a volunteer. Finally, Drew raised his hand. “Good. This is just a lookout. If you see something, don’t do anything just let the rest of us know.”

  “What if the National Guard comes and tries to evacuate us?” Alicia asked. The question we were all thinking.

  “I will wake all of you up, and we will try to hide. That’s all we can do.”

  “What if we don’t want to hide?” Alicia asked.

  “I know you are upset about what happened tonight. I know it was shocking for me to pull out a gun in front of your children. But, the world has changed. We need to all be on the same page. We all need to look out for each other, or we will end up in one of those camps, or we will be split up and alone.” The thoughts just came to me as I said them. Alicia didn’t say any more.