Dark Road

by David C. Waldron

  Marissa nodded. “All the attention will already be down at the lawnmower and hopefully they won’t even notice us taking off.”

  “Right.”

  …

  Rick Gayle usually didn’t remember his dreams but he typically didn’t wake up directly from REM sleep either. In this case he did both. He’d been dreaming of a backyard barbecue consisting of 1¼ inch thick sirloins, bratwurst, cold beer, and fresh corn on the cob—with fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert. Man he missed ice cold beer...scratch that, he missed beer period! Then some jerk had spoiled it by cranking up the lawnmower next door. How freakin’ inconsiderate can you be? It’s grilling weather; you don’t mow the lawn during your neighbor’s party!

  Then the dream started unraveling, everything except for the lawnmower. The smells went away, the wonderful succulent taste of medium sirloin, and ice-cold beer, and fresh strawberries. And yet still the sound of the lawnmower remained. It was dark because the power was out and had been for months. It was…almost 3:00 am! Who is mowing their lawn? More importantly HOW are they mowing their lawn?

  …

  “Where did you put the mower?” Marissa asked.

  “In front of Rick Gayle’s house.” Dan said.

  “What? Why on earth for?”

  “I don’t know. I got that far down the road and figured I was about as far as I thought I could go and still get back here in time with the mower running and get the garage door open and everything. Then I realized whose house I was I front of.” Dan shrugged. “I wasn’t going to backtrack.”

  “Well, too late now.” Marissa said. She looked out the window beside the door and didn’t see anyone on their street, so they ran to the garage—hearts racing—opened the garage door as quickly as they could, and set off…and made it three whole houses before someone called out to them.

  “Who is that? Who’s that on the bikes?”

  “Really?” Dan muttered under his breath.

  “Just keep pedaling, don’t answer, and don’t look back—and whatever you do, don’t stop!” Marissa said, both to Dan and to Bekah. Her voice was shaking both with fear and excitement. Adrenaline was coursing through everyone at this point.

  “Dan? Is that you?”

  “Seriously?” Dan said loud enough for Marissa to hear.

  “It’s the pull-behind, Dan, who else has one in the neighborhood?” Marissa said.

  “At least they aren’t shooting at us.” Bekah said.

  “Don’t talk like that, dear.” Marissa said.

  “Halt or I’ll shoot!” A new voice from off to the side barked.

  “SERIOUSLY!?” Dan yelped but didn’t stop pedaling.

  They were coming up to a corner where they made the first deviation from their planned escape route. The shout to halt had come from their left and Dan judged that if they turned left the “shooter” would be cut off.

  “Turn left at the corner!” He whispered, loudly enough for his family to hear but hopefully not loudly enough for anyone else.

  Just then, there was a gunshot, and Dan’s heart sank and he almost fell off the bike.

  “KEEP GOING!” Marissa shouted. “He shot up into the air.”

  Dan chanced a look over his shoulder and saw that, at the very least, both his wife and daughter were still riding their bikes. “Jessie, you ok?” He asked.

  “Uh huh.” She yelped.

  I should have gotten gas. I should have stolen an SUV. I should have gotten us out sooner. I should have had an arsenal in the house. We should have been better friends with the Taylors and had him take us when they left. All of these thoughts were running through Dan’s mind at the same time as I can’t go any faster because I can’t leave my eight-year-old daughter behind. I’m a horrible father for even thinking that!

  They made the left turn and nobody fell, and the trailer didn’t come unhooked. To get out of the neighborhood they would need to make the next two rights, and then the next left…and hope they didn’t get shot at anymore.

  “Is everyone ok?” Dan asked. “Bekah, are you ok honey?”

  She didn’t answer at first, and when Dan looked over at her he could see in what little starlight there was that there were tear tracks on her face.

  “Honey, can you keep up for a little longer?” Dan asked.

  She nodded her head and said, “Yeah, Dad.”

  “Just a little further, honey, then we can stop.” Dan said.

  “We have to keep going, I hear running behind us!” Marissa shouted from his left.

  The mower had died about the time that the guard had fired into the air, which was going to draw even more guards. They had to get out of the neighborhood now. Dan was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be pursued outside of the neighborhood, but he wasn’t positive.

  “There they are!” Came from behind just as they were making the first of their right turns, and Dan was the last one to round the corner. No shots were fired and he could hardly see their pursuers. They were falling back and by the next corner should be completely out of sight…unless there were more guards up ahead.

  Unfortunately, it was obvious where they were going, and Dan and his family were limited to using the streets while the guards could cut across lawns. That would be a tricky business in the dark though, even with a three-quarters moon and a few flashlights.

  “Coming up on the corner, turn right.” Dan said and spared a glance behind him. No sign of any guards and he couldn’t hear anything.

  Dan was slowing down to take the corner and that probably saved his life. There was a buzzing in front of him and a ‘CRACK’ behind him, in that order.

  “Is everyone ok?” he yelled, realizing after the fact that he was asking that question a lot tonight.

  “I’m ok.” Marissa shouted.

  “I’m fine.” Bekah said, but she was panting hard.

  “Yes,” Jessie yelled from the trailer.

  “GO! As fast as you can!” Dan yelled. They had one more left turn to get out of the neighborhood and then a couple of blocks on Gallatin Parkway, and then he would feel at least a little safer—that being a relative term.

  Marissa took the lead and Bekah was in the middle. Marissa was constantly looking back to check that she wasn’t leaving Bekah behind and Dan feared she was going to hit some unseen obstacle. This whole excursion was turning into the family bike ride from hell.

  Being in the rear, Dan could hear some faint yelling behind them, but it was muted and getting further and further behind. They made the left turn out of their subdivision without any further incident and went another several blocks before slowing down.

  Dan made a conscious effort not to look at the devastation to their right that had once been shops, and the neighborhood behind it. He had discussed it with Marissa but hadn’t thought to talk it over with Bekah; how do you warn an eight-year-old about such things?

  They were riding three-abreast, with Bekah in the middle, and Dan asked his oldest how she was doing, since she’d had to pedal like mad on her little one-speed.

  “I’m ok. I’m sorry.”

  “Marissa, we have to stop for a minute,” he said as he pulled over.

  “What?” she said but didn’t argue when she looked over and saw Dan and Bekah slowing down.

  “Honey, what on earth do you have to be sorry for?” Dan asked once he was off his bike and crouched next to hers.

  “I don’t want to say.”

  “You can tell me, honest.” Dan said.

  “I’m so scared,” Bekah said and started to cry.

  “Sweetie, it’s ok to be scared. I’m scared half to death right now, myself.” He gave her a hug and the choke-hold she put on him almost toppled them both, along with her bike. “We just have to keep going a little bit longer tonight. We’ll be ok now that we’re out of the neighborhood, promise.” Dan said, as he tried to comfort her and smoothed her hair.

  “Ok, Daddy,” Bekah said as she finally let go, but the tears in her eyes remained.

  �
�

  They had a few maps of both Nashville and western TN, and a Rand McNally Atlas that looked far more used than it actually was. The first order of business was to get far enough away from the neighborhood that they could hole up for the rest of the night and still hope to be somewhat safe. Dan was wracking his brain trying to think of somewhere close by that they could make camp for the night that would be at least a little out of the way and not completely exposed. Where was Google Earth when you really needed it?

  That’s when Marissa came to the rescue again. “I know they are both on the main drag, but let’s see if we can get into either the American Legion Hall or the Community Center. We aren’t going to make it very far tonight and the adrenaline is just about to wear off for both of us.”

  “Agreed, if either one is still standing, and not already occupied, then let’s try. How do we want to go about it?” Dan asked.

  They hadn’t gotten very far into their plans, and leaving all of the sudden had caught them completely off guard. Their plans included being able to load the bikes in just a few minutes, but hadn’t advanced to the point of where to stop each night—or even the first night.

  “You’ll need to be the one to look things over.” Marissa said. “If a woman is checking it out and gets caught,” she paused.

  “It will go badly.” Dan finished. “I get it. No matter how ill-prepared I am to use what we picked up tonight the fact that I’m a man carries weight.”

  “Would you be able to at least act intimidating? Could you, you know, shoot in the general direction of someone if it came to it?” Marissa asked.

  Dan got a little hot under the collar at the implied—implied nothing—direct attack on his manhood. “Yes, Marissa, I think I could point a gun at another person and even pull the trigger if my life or the lives of my family depended on it,” he said in a flat voice.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, but…I’m sorry, I know how it came out, but that’s not how I meant it.” Riding a bike at 3:00 in the morning was not how she had envisioned having this conversation.

  “I hate that I’m going to have to ask you to make sure the stupid thing is ready for me to use though!” Dan snapped, not completely over it.

  Marissa sighed. Dan wasn’t going to let it go. “Well, if you watched me at all, either in the bathroom or earlier tonight, then you know most of what needs to happen.” Marissa said. Better to just move along. “The thing to remember is to not put your finger next to the trigger until you are ready to shoot, ever! You don’t know how hard you will have to pull until you know the gun and you may be very surprised to find that you don’t have to pull very hard at all.”

  “Ok, we should be coming up on the old American Legion Hall in a block or two. Let’s stop for a minute.” Dan said.

  It took more than a minute, but Marissa was determined to show Dan how to eject and load the magazine, rack the slide, load the ejected round back into the magazine, and safe and unsafe the weapon. He did it a couple of times, and realized that it really wasn’t that difficult.

  Then she took it from him, cleared the weapon, dry fired it twice, and handed it back to him empty.

  “Ok, your turn. I’ve cleared it and I have the magazine but I want you to clear it and then point it in a safe direction and pull the trigger.” Marissa said. “And don’t give me any lip about not pulling the trigger until you want to shoot it. At this point, you want to shoot it.”

  Dan did a decent job of clearing the pistol and dry firing it twice and then Marissa turned around, again in a safe direction, and rather convincingly said “What was that?”

  Dan failed miserably. His first instinct was to look into the darkness. He was holding a gun and his first instinct was to peer into the darkness, with the gun hanging at his side.

  “We’ll work on your reactions when we have more time.” Marissa said.

  “I’ve got a feeling I’m going to hate training with you.” Dan said.

  “That’s because you’re not an idiot. I didn’t marry you just for your good looks. Now load the pistol, but don’t put one in the chamber—safe it and put it in your holster.”

  “Yes, ma’am”.

  They ended up riding by the American Legion Hall, as it had been burned to the ground some time ago. It had been an older all-wood building, and either arson or some other fire had claimed it after the power had gone out. They were going much slower by now as well, since Bekah was seriously flagging.

  “I’ll be OK. I’m just tired.” She said.

  “Of course you are, honey, just a little longer.” Marissa said.

  The Community Center was a brick building, or, more accurately, a number of brick buildings. Thus, it was more likely to be both still standing and occupied—by a single person or a group of people. They stopped a half a block away and Marissa got out the shotgun to keep both herself and the kids safe while Dan walked up to the Community Center.

  Dan had only been gone for about ten minutes when Marissa saw him coming back. There’s no way he was able to get there, check it out, and get back in ten minutes, she thought to herself.

  “It’s occupied, but it looks like only the main front building. I say we go into the back to one of the pavilions and then leave at first light. Or, we can look over your shoulder and sleep in there.” Dan pointed at the building they were just outside of the parking lot for, the Golden Arches.

  “Oddly enough, there doesn’t appear to be anyone inside and the windows are mostly intact.” Dan said. “There’s a couple of broken ones, and one of the doors is open, but if someone was inside they probably would have heard us talking and come out by now.”

  “As much as I hate it, cover is cover, and maybe we should just stay here tonight. We’re here, and if nobody is inside…”

  “I’ll go check.” Dan said, keeping his pistol out, and for the first time, chambering a round.

  Chapter Ten

  The restaurant was a mess inside, as it had been looted and raided multiple times over the last couple of months. Dan made his way as quickly as he could through the dining area, while still being thorough; trying not to leave any empty areas behind him before heading behind the counter. He knew that the Community Center was occupied, and that was less than a block-and-a-half away. More than likely, there were other groups in close proximity, and they weren’t the only ones awake. Leaving Marissa and the girls outside was killing him.

  He swept the flashlight back and forth in front of him, hoping that the movement would hide the fact that it was also shaking. We made it all of three miles out of the neighborhood and we could die here—in a fast-food joint, Dan thought to himself. He kept telling himself not to look at any one thing for too long, and to listen as hard as he looked.

  The back had the odor of long-abandoned grease pits, and food that had gone from bad to worse, to eaten by scavengers. There were some mice or rats—Dan wasn’t sure which because he only heard them and never saw them. Dan was also willing to bet there were opossums, skunks, or even some larger wild animals that occasionally or semi-permanently took up residence here.

  The doors had been torn off the storage rooms at some point in an effort to find something useful. From the look of things, they hadn’t gotten away with much and had just made a mess.

  The last place Dan checked was the bathrooms, and he did it after calling Marissa and the girls in. Jessie was asleep in the pull-behind and Bekah didn’t look to be too far behind her, even though she was still straddling her bike.

  Dan had come inside through one of the broken-out doors, but had Marissa and the girls use the doors on the other side after he unlocked them from inside. He was hoping to save both them and the bike tires from the broken glass. He didn’t bring them in much past the door and told Marissa to keep the shotgun out.

  “I’ve checked everything but the bathrooms,” Dan said, “and there are two of them with closed doors. I need you to...” Dan blushed in the dark. “I need you to cover me while I check the bathrooms.”


  If Marissa thought Dan’s pause funny, or cute, or odd she didn’t say a word, she just nodded. “I have buckshot in the shotgun right now, not slugs. It’s been a long time since I’ve used a shotgun and I don’t want to have to aim.” She said. “I’m going to be back here by the girls so the ‘pattern’ will have time to spread out.”

  Dan nodded and started down the hallway towards the bathrooms.

  “Wait,” Marissa said.

  Dan stopped and turned around.

  “How will I know it’s you and it’s safe not to shoot?” She asked.

  Dan came back and whispered into his wife’s ear.

  “Ok.” She said.

  Dan slowly walked to the men’s room and then stopped. Something was telling him to check the women’s room first. He didn’t know why but he just had a feeling. He turned around and walked to the women’s bathroom door, slowly pushed it open, and walked inside with his flashlight and pistol in front of him.

  Marissa looked at Bekah and said, “Honey, if something happens and I have to go in after Daddy, I need you to get Jessie and hide, ok? Daddy said the rest of the restaurant is empty and we can come get you if you have to hide.”

  Bekah swallowed, but put on her brave girl face and said, “OK.”

  “You remember our code word for car-pool pickup?” Marissa asked.

  “Of course, it’s…” Bekah started.

  Marissa put her finger to her lips and shook her head. “Don’t say it. I know it, I know you know it. We’ll use that to let you know it’s safe to come out, ok?”

  “OK.”

  It was about twenty seconds and Marissa wasn’t sure if she had heard something in the women’s room or if Dan had moved something aside with his foot, or what, but now the door was opening. She had her flashlight pointed down the hall so she could see when someone came out.

  “What’s the average wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” She called.

  There was the briefest pause followed by “African or European?”

  Marissa, her senses already on edge from the evening in general, and heightened by perhaps hearing something a few seconds ago put two rounds of 12-gauge 00-buckshot down the hall and the third into the doorway as she was walking towards the restroom.