The Ending is Everything

by Aaron M. Carpenter

  I was maneuvered to my red couch and told to lay face down. Specialist Graves began rubbing an ointment on the wound, that he said would numb the area. He had a small flashlight in the crook of his arm, shined on the back of my head.

  Sergeant Jones said, “The gun safe? What’s the code?”

  “Zero. Three. Two. Four. Seven. Nine,” I said. They had me in a precarious position.

  “Your mom’s birthday or something?”

  “My dad’s,” I said, and the sergeant just nodded and left us.

  They gave me three staples for the wound in the back of the head. Even with the numbing solution, it still hurt like someone using a stapler on your skull. Specialist Grave put a bandage over it and then he gave me some painkillers.

  “Nice couch,” he said. As he got up.

  “Thanks. It was my mothers,” I said, standing up and rubbing the back of my head.

  “Have someone take those out in two weeks.” Then he turned, grabbed the medical kit and left.

  Over the next half hour, we packed up our clothes and bathroom supplies and loaded up Zero’s truck and Drew’s SUV. Everyone kept asking me if I was alright. To the point, it became annoying.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” I told Kaitlyn as she was trying to get a look at my head wound. “Seriously, I’m fine. Make sure you gather everything you need. Concentrate on underclothes and put on one heavy-duty jacket.” I told everyone the same thing, “as many pairs of underwear and undergarments, toiletries, as possible.”

  Eventually, we were ready to go. I packed a backpack and a rolling suitcase. The same driving situation as the other night. I had made sure we had everything we would need in a prison camp before we were to leave.

  Oh, and the National Guard stole my guns.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  11/16/2024 - 11/17/2024

  I felt a cold surface against my check. A vibration rattled throughout my body. A low murmuring sound was coming from some far-off place. Two people talking, although they seemed miles away. And a relentless throbbing in the back of my skull.

  My eyes opened. I was in Zero’s truck, Jenna was in the cab with me, and it took a few seconds to remember what had happened. The pain killers the National Guard supplied must’ve knocked me out. Out the window I had been leaning against, I saw a red sedan in the next lane over. Two children were asleep in car seats, in the back, a female sleeping in the front. I turned to Jenna and saw she was staring off into the void out the other window.

  “How long do you think this is gonna take, we’ve been sitting here for an hour?” Jenna asked Ethan, who was seated in the front passenger seat.

  “What time is it?” I asked. My mouth felt dry, and I was not sure I said it loud enough for the other passengers to hear me.

  “Blakey, you’re awake?” Zero asked.

  “I think so.”

  “How you feeling?” Jenna asked.

  I turned my head her direction, and it felt like my skull was full of sand. “A little groggy.” She nodded and put her hand on mine and squeezed. “Where are we?” I asked.

  “At the top of the Cajon Pass. We’ve been sitting here for over an hour,” Ethan said.

  I looked around more clearly this time. In front of us were red taillights. Behind us white headlights. I saw Drew’s SUV clearly behind us, but could not make out any passengers with the headlights blinding my view. We were at the top of the Cajon Pass, on our right was the famous Summit Inn. Rebuilt a few years back, after a forest fire wiped it out. Now, it was black and closed for good.

  The red tail lights were heading off to the right just past the Inn. I could see lights from an Army truck shining down the empty road at us, like the waiting eyes of a monster hiding under the overpass. The left two lanes were full of stalled cars, and a barricade was placed at an angle to force us off the freeway at this exit. The interstate past that point was inky black. This was where we were to get off.

  Ethan turned to me. “It was just like you said, all the exits ramps were blocked by police cars or Army vehicles. We only had one way to go.”

  I nodded. “How long has it been like this?” I motioned my head to the traffic getting off the freeway.

  “We’ve been sitting here an hour. But, up until we got here, it was smooth sailing.”

  “Finally,” Zero said. I looked up and saw a few red brake lights flicker off and move at the top of the exit. “Looks like we are moving.”

  The cars in front of us began to slowly merge and move onto Exit 138. It was automatic. No wondering which way to go. The Army had every way, but one, blocked off. As we passed by the Summit Inn and a gas station, the road curved to the right. At a stop sign, we turned left but did not stop. Just a slow crawl to our destination.

  I looked behind to make sure Drew and the rest were behind us. They were. The last thing I wanted was for us to get split up and never to find each other wherever we ended up.

  I removed my heavy gray jacket but left my trusty black sweatshirt on. Everyone was wearing heavy wintry weather clothes before we left and looking around the truck now, I saw everyone had stripped off the jackets except me.

  “Any idea where we’re going?” Ethan asked Zero.

  “None. I’ve never been around here before,” Zero said.

  After the stop sign, we slowly made our way to the overpass and crossed over Interstate 15. I looked to my right and saw, to my surprise, way off in the distance a haze of light on the dark horizon.

  “Look, the power must be on out there,” Jenna said, pointing to the north.

  No automobiles littered the freeway to the north, beyond the off-ramp for Exit 138. There was the horizon with its faint glow that we could not see beyond as the road rose to its summit before heading into the High Desert.

  We continued our slow crawl through the desert. Passed an RV camp, with no RV’s and a few commercial buildings on the left as we turned north running parallel with the freeway. We turned back west at one point and headed into a small valley that housed a few ranch-style homes, barely visible in the dark. No one was home.

  “Where the hell are they taking us?” Ethan asked to no one.

  On the evacuation map, it showed the camp right off the freeway. Twenty minutes after exiting the freeway, on little desert roads, we still had not reached the destination.

  At a couple of points, I thought maybe we could make a run for it. Ridiculous fantasies of heroic escapes flashed in my mind like a movie projector projecting images one frame at a time. I never presented these fantasies out loud as a real alternative to our fate. That and the fact at every quarter mile or so, I saw a military vehicle blocking all other roads or just sitting on the shoulder watching all the cars drift pass.

  As we began to wonder if this was all some cruel joke, we saw a light in the distance. Immediately, everyone in the car was at attention. The truck slowly cruised to the top of a small ridge, and the camp was below us.

  “Holy Shit!” Zero said.

  Across the desert valley as far as the eye could see was the evacuation camp. A sprawling city, miles in length. It appeared to have no end. Two chain-link fences surrounded the camp. Every hundred yards, portable high powered lights provided light. The tents looked like thousands of black Legos organized neatly on a dirt playground.

  “How many people are here?” Jenna asked.

  “I have no idea,” I said.

  Zero guided the truck slowly down the gravel road to the entrance. At the entrance, heavily armed vehicles and military personnel on each side, the outswing gate was open to allow the new arrivals to enter. As we passed through the gate, a soldier pointed us to turn right. Not that we needed to be told, we were following the vehicles in front of us.

  As we traveled further down the road between two chain-link fences, there was enough room for two cars abreast, Zero said, “It’s like parking at fucking Disneyland.”

  “Except cheaper,” Drew said, and Zero gave a hesitant laugh.

  After five minutes
, traveling on the dirt road, we reached the north-east edge of the camp, and then we saw another Army personnel pointing us to turn left, and we exited through a gate in the outer fence. Now we were outside the camp again and only had the outer fence on our left as we entered the desert parking lot. A vast and endless row of vehicles.

  We kept trudging along passing rows upon rows of cars that lead without end into the dark desert. By now, it was after midnight, and I could feel the drugs wearing off. My head began to throb where I had three staples in my skull. I thought about taking another pill, but I wanted to be aware of what was to come. On my left, out my window, I could see little of the camp, except for the outermost tents. They appeared to be standard issue military tents, but it was hard to identify since the camp was in darkness, except for the lights, every hundred yards. I made sure to count the lights as we passed.

  After, what seemed like another mile, we were told by a waving soldier, to turn right, between a row of cars and found our parking spot. Which was just desert, but the vegetation and landscape had been removed.

  “Twenty-four,” I said as we parked.

  “What?” Zero asked, and Ethan turned to look at me.

  “Twenty-four lights since the entrance to our parking spot.”

  “Okay?” Zero asked.

  “Just in case we need to find your truck. Now, we have a starting point.”

  Jenna was gathering up her coat and preparing to exit the vehicle. I put on my thick coat as well. The SUV had pulled into the spot next to us, and I could already see Kaitlyn and Alicia helping the kids, who were rubbing their eyes and yawning, exit the vehicle. Drew had already opened the back hatch.

  I stepped out of the truck and was hit with a frigid blast of air. If I thought it was cold in Rancho, it was freezing in the desert. I pulled the beanie down lower over my head and went to the back of the truck and began to unload the suitcases and backpacks.

  Once we were all set, we started the long walk back to the front entrance. There was no question which way to go as there was a stream of people all heading the same direction. We walked along the edge of the outer fence. No one said a word. After about ten minutes we came across another soldier motioning all the pedestrians to enter through a gate in the outer fence and onto the road that wrapped around the whole complex. We could now see clearly into the camp as we walked along the outside of the inner chain-link barrier. It was deathly quiet, except for our footsteps and the electricity pumping through the large lights.

  In front of me was Alicia carrying Jane. Alicia and Drew would pass her back and forth once each got tired. At one point, Kaitlyn offered to volunteer, but Jane started screaming, so back to Alicia she went. Natalie walked, holding hands with either Kaitlyn or whoever was not holding Jane. She was wearing a thick pink coat with a hood, that had a white puffy ball on top, that bounced as she walked.

  Behind me was Jenna, Zero, and Ethan. Zero was wearing a sweatshirt, that had a picture of a unicorn holding a football that said, “Fantasy Football.” He didn’t play fantasy football, he thought it was funny. Ethan was talking quietly. He had no beanie on, just a red hoodie. I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation as we walked. Thankfully, we had backpacks and suitcases that could roll. Otherwise, carrying all our clothes this far would’ve been painful. It still was tiring trying to get the bags to roll on the desert dirt, but at least, we weren’t carrying a forty-pound suitcase.

  “Who are the soldiers in blue?” I overheard Zero say behind me. I turned and looked into the camp. Two people wearing blue jackets and black khakis walked the perimeter.

  I turned around and said, “FEMA.”

  “What are they doing?” Zero asked.

  “Looks like they are patrolling. Having FEMA personnel patrol the inside of the camp, makes people feel safer than having the Army do it.”

  “Are they armed?”

  “I can’t tell, but as far as I know, they shouldn’t be.”

  We kept walking until we hit the northeast portion of the camp. By now, my toes felt frozen, and I could tell everyone else was feeling the same way. We were ushered into the camp at the gate in the inner fence, by another soldier. We had caught or been passed by quite a few other people taking this long trek. A line of misery had begun to form.

  Inside the camp, we passed straight rows of tents, stretching beyond view. Between each row was a small path, just large enough for a vehicle to pass. At the end of each row was a sign posted into the ground about four feet high. On each of the signs; a letter and a number. As I looked, I saw one that read: B4.

  Eventually, we came to the end of a line of people. At the front of the column was a tent, much larger than the sleeping tents that made up much of the camp.

  “Now it is like Disneyland,” Zero said behind me. It had been a thirty-minute walk from the truck to the front of the camp and the intake tent. I felt tired and cold. I kept trying to make sense of what I was seeing. The other soon to be tenants, in line with us, appeared as surprised and unhappy as we were. Children crying, hushed whispers laced with bitter resentment. Some spoke with quiet awe. Aaron was right about one thing. This was completely different than the camp I was stationed at three years ago. This was at another level. The size was almost incomprehensible. How did this function? I tried to concentrate, but all I wanted to do at this point in the night was get to the tent and go to sleep.

  It was another half hour before we finally entered the intake tent. Just after one in the morning. In the center of the tent were two foldout tables, each with two soldiers conducting the intake, with a laptop in front of them. Standing behind them at the back, FEMA volunteers were gathering the new arrivals and guiding them out into the camp.

  Drew, who was at the front of our group motioned me forward. “You wanna talk to them first?”

  “I don’t think it matters,” I said. “As long as we all stay together.” I could see a pleading in his eyes to take control. Jane was whining in his arms. “But, sure, I’ll go first.”

  As the group in front of me parted, I walked up to the desk, and my companions followed. The young man at the laptop had to be barely eighteen, bright blue eyes and eyebrows thicker than the head on my hair.

  “How many in your group?” he asked, without looking up.

  “Umm, nine.”

  “Each tent can hold only five people. Three cots. Two doubles.”

  “That’s fine as long as we can be next to each other.”

  “No problem,” he said, “And your name is?”

  “Blake Anderson.”

  “Is this your family?”

  “No. Friends.”

  “Fine. What’s your occupation?”

  “My what?”

  “Occupation. What did you do to earn a living?”

  “Oh, umm. Business Analyst.” That technically wasn’t true. But, it was close enough.

  “Your address?”

  “Eleven-twelve Seagull Drive. Rancho Cucamonga. California. Nine-One-Seven-Three-Nine.”

  “Thank you,” he said while his fingers flew over the keyboard.

  “Are you connected to a network?” I asked. I was curious.

  “Just to the central hub here,” he said, finally looking up.

  “Not connected to the outside world?”

  “No,” he said, and I nodded. “Your housing is in section, CD. Tents thirty-six and thirty-seven. In the center of each section is the mess hall. It’s not really a mess hall, basically just a bunch tables where we serve the food and water. That’s also where you’ll find a few porta-potties and the shower stalls. Breakfast is served between seven and ten. Lunch eleven and two. Dinner four to seven.” He reached under the table and handed me a printed ID card. It had my name, tent number thirty-six, height, weight (I didn’t provide), an unflattering picture (taken without my knowledge) and previous address. “Curfew is at ten. All persons must be in their tents by ten. Please keep that on you at all times. Present it at the mess hall as you get food between the time
s printed on the back. Only one serving per meal.”

  “Do you know when we can get out of here? We have family in Utah we’d like to get to, at some point,” I said, even though I knew it was a longshot that this guy could know such a thing. But, I thought I would ask.

  He looked up at me, studied me for a second and said, “I really have no idea. But, I can put that in the system here, so the big bosses know you have someplace you can go.”

  “Thanks.”

  He nodded and typed the information into the laptop. Or at least appeared to, he could have been pretending for all I knew.

  “Next,” he said, and I stood off to the side and waited as my companions went through the same questions and the same unflattering pictures. Drew had to hold the children up and point them at an unknown source for their snapshots.

  Once we were all processed, we headed to the back of the tent and the exit. There we were greeted by a FEMA volunteer. “Hello, my name is Jill, and I can show you to your tents,” Jill said. She looked to be about seventeen and as bubbly as a cheerleader. Blonde hair and a permanent smile on her face. This night had officially entered the surreal.

  Zero looked at Jill and said, “Why hello Jill it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Hi, and your name is?”

  “Jason, but all my friends call me Zero.”

  “Zero? That’s a strange name.”

  “It sure is.”

  “What section are you in?”

  “Oh, we are in the lovely section called,” Zero pulled out his ID card, from his front pocket. “Section CD.”

  “Well, that’s a long walk from here, we better get going.”

  “That sounds great.”

  Jill ignored him and opened the flap and led us into to the camp. Alicia gave Zero a dirty look as she walked by, while I couldn’t help but smile.

  After another long walk, pulling along two suitcases, as Drew and Alicia both had to carry the kids, which meant every ten minutes or so, we had to stop and let them catch their breath. The paths between the tents were composed entirely of desert dirt, but every now and then you would stumble on a rock, that had yet to be cleared. It was hard to see anything as we walked, besides Jill’s little flashlight lighting the way. Once we were in the heart of the camp, I couldn’t tell which way was which. Like being in a casino. But, she knew where she was taking us.