by D. Gideon
“When did you know? When did you know?”
“When were you going to tell us?”
“Get back here, Wilhelm!”
The five Deputies around Dotty sprang into action. Three of them raced into the crowd, shoving people aside to get to those who had fallen. The one from Virginia sprinted for the back corner of the stage, where Sheriff Kane was helping Ms. Stapleton and Bill navigate the jump to the ground. The one that had insisted Dotty stay, one of the Deputies from Wicomico, spread his arms wide as fleeing people ran past. Like a herd of stampeding cows, they simply flowed around him and Dotty.
An engine revved and a patrol car with full lights spinning nosed around the back of the stage. The Mayor was in the backseat, face and hands pressed against the side window.
“There he is! He’s in there!”
A few people broke off and lunged for the car, but Frank saw a clear path and took it. His tires tore up chunks of grass as the car shot across the park. Tires chirped as he made it onto Market Street, turned hard and accelerated north.
“He’s getting away!”
“City Hall! They’re taking him to City Hall!”
“Get him! He’ll answer for this!”
A large contingent of the crowd broke off and started running for town. Bart, the man who’d complained about his Disability payment, was among them. As the first of them flowed out of the park, between and over the vehicles parked on the shoulder, car alarms added to the fray.
Sheriff Kane, Bill, and Ms. Stapleton appeared at Dotty’s side, breathing hard.
“Thank you for keeping her safe, Deputy,” Simon said, nodding towards Dotty. He pointed at the man’s Wicomico County patch. “Could I trouble you to drop Ms. Stapleton here at her offices on your way back to your station?”
“What about all the stolen goods we found in her car?” the Deputy asked.
“That’s Dominion’s problem. We’ve got bigger things to worry about, and you have to get this information back to your Sheriff,” Simon said.
“Yes sir,” the Deputy said. “I just need to get my partner. Give me a minute?”
“Sure thing,” Simon said, and the Deputy jogged off. The bulk of the crowd had scattered. There was still a cluster at the front of the stage, trying to help people who had been pushed under it. Others stood conferring with neighbors in small groups, or looked around, lost as to what they were supposed to do next. One by one, the car alarms were being shut off, and Dotty could hear the shouts of the crowd reverberating off of the buildings as they moved further away, into town. Simon’s deputies had followed them.
“Sheriff Kane, you’ve got some answering to do,” Dotty said, hands on her hips.
Simon nodded. “I know I do Miss Dotty, but it’ll have to wait. You two need to get home. I’ll stay here with Ms. Stapleton.”
“I’m staying until I see her get into that Deputy’s car,” Bill said. “I made her a promise.”
“You can go, Father,” Sharon said. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have said it, but he just kept pushing. He wouldn’t take the damn hint. And I was pissed off to begin with.”
“A lot of people are at fault,” Dotty said. “If you’d gotten word to all of the counties as soon as you knew how bad it was, we wouldn’t have been here tonight. We could’ve already been working on a solution. But the Mayor’s to blame for this, too.” She pointed a finger at Simon. “Your Undersheriff can’t just go around snatchin’ people up because King Kenny tells him to.”
Simon made a face. “Trust me, Wilhelm and Frank both have an earful coming from me. I knew they were going out to Dom headquarters, but I didn’t know Kenny had ordered Frank to bring her back here by force. When they sprang that on me, I had to go along with it and show support. You can’t have the Sheriff and the Mayor having a screaming match in front of the public.”
“Maybe that’s what they needed to see,” Dotty said. “Now they think you’re part of this whole mess of deceiving them.”
The sound of glass breaking caused them all to stop and look towards the center of town.
“Should you go?” Dotty asked, eyes wide.
Simon shook his head. “I have to talk to these other deputies. My boys can handle it, and if they can’t, one more body won’t help. I was just hoping to avoid this.”
“They’d have still done this, no matter what you told them. The people were too angry and desperate at this point,” Bill said, shaking his head. “I just dread seeing what the town’s going to look like in the morning.”
“I live in Cambridge,” Sharon said. “Things went crazy there this morning, and they didn’t even have a town meeting. As soon as people figured out the banks weren’t going to open, all hell broke loose. That’s why I was getting those supplies. And after seeing those prisoners…I’m getting my kids out of town before it gets worse.”
“What prisoners?” Simon asked.
“A big grey prison bus on Route 50 out by Salisbury, offloading a bunch of people in scrubs,” she said.
“Might have been a chain gang,” Bill offered. “Most of the labor cleaning up trash on Route 50 comes from the prisons.”
“Not wearing chains, and running away from the bus like their ass was on fire? I don’t think so, Father,” Sharon said. “I saw that and said screw the speed limit.”
The Deputy from Wicomico County returned with his partner. “Got all the civilians out from under the stage. Some of them will have bruises, but no serious injuries,” Roundtree, the one who had protected Dotty, said.
“I appreciate it,” Simon said. “Say, one question…your local lock-ups. What color are the prisoner uniforms?”
“Kind of a drab green for the females and classic white and black stripes for the males,” Roundtree said. “Why, what’s up?”
“Ms. Stapleton believes she saw prisoners being released from a bus by Route 50 earlier today,” Simon said. He looked at Sharon. “Does that sound like what you saw?”
Sharon shook her head. “No, these were bright red. Some kind of letters stamped down their pants legs.”
“Somerset has red uniforms,” Roundtree’s partner said. “I used to work at the detention facility there. All red, males and females both. You probably saw a clean-up crew for the highway, ma’am. Nothing to worry about.”
“That’s not what this was,” Sharon insisted. “They were running away, and the guards with guns weren’t doing anything.”
The three deputies exchanged glances, and looked over their shoulders at the other deputies from out of town. They were still standing by the stage, talking with a few stragglers from the Town Hall meeting.
“You heard anything about orders coming down to release lower-security prisoners?” Simon asked, but the two Deputies shook their heads.
“We’ve been at Dominion all day,” Roundtree said. “Yesterday, too.” He gave Ms. Stapleton a meaningful look, and she pretended not to notice.
“Okay. Thanks for the help, gentlemen. I appreciate it. Get Ms. Stapleton back to her car, and keep yourselves safe,” Simon said.
The Deputies left with Sharon, and Simon blew out a breath, looking towards town. From the sound of things, there was blatant vandalism going on. More car alarms were honking in the distance, interrupted by the shatter of breaking glass and heavy banging.
“I guess I should’ve taken that crowd control equipment when the Feds offered it, but with a town this quiet there was no need for it,” he said.
“Should’ve, would’ve, and could’ve,” Dotty said. “Ain’t none of ‘em got any place in the here and now. Make the best of what you’ve got, Simon.”
“What Ms. Stapleton said about the prisoners worries me, Sheriff,” Bill said. “Can you reach out to the Somerset warden, see if maybe there’s been a mistake?”
Simon nodded to the two Somerset deputies, walking back towards him with the deputy from Virginia. “I plan on getting some info on that right now. You two get home, and Dotty, tell Thomas I’ll have a deputy swing by and p
ick him up at seven in the morning. Be careful…and lock your doors.”
Chapter 15
Tuesday, September 4th
Snow Hill, Maryland
It took Seth and Lily Miller about fifteen minutes of waiting in line at the roadblock from Route 113 into Snow Hill proper before they were allowed into town. There had been one car already sitting there when they pulled up, the driver gesturing wildly out the window to the uniformed Deputy questioning him. Finally, that driver had been convinced to leave. He pulled back on to 113 and continued south, his car coughing and sputtering. Seth showed his and Lily’s driver’s licenses to prove they lived in town, and with a wave of a flashlight from the Deputy, his partner—who had no uniform—moved the sawhorse blocking their way and let them through.
Just past the roadblock the McDonalds was dark, its parking lot empty; same as the little row of stores beside it. That was no surprise; they hadn’t seen a single store open all the way from Rehoboth Beach. At least these still had their glass windows. Driving slowly, Lily noted aloud that some of the houses had weak candlelight inside; any light through the windows at all made them easy to pick out.
“I don’t know if it would be better to let light show or not,” Seth said. “On the one hand, it says there’s someone to rob inside. But on the other hand, it says this house isn’t empty, go find an easier one to rob.”
“You don’t think it’s going to be like Berlin, do you? I mean, not here, right?” Lily said. They’d been forced to detour off of the highway into Berlin to get around an accident with a tractor trailer blocking the intersection. Power and telephone lines had been tangled all around it, stretching across the lanes. Berlin was about twice as large as Snow Hill, with many chain restaurants, pharmacies, and even a shopping center. As they’d driven through, they’d seen houses with broken windows, open doors, and belongings scattered on the lawns.
“You know what they say about assuming,” Seth said, touching Lily’s leg to get her attention.
She looked over and gasped at what the edge of the headlights revealed. “Oh my god. Why would there be police tape at Food Rite?”
“Maybe Dotty will know,” Seth said. “I’m just hoping our house is still standing, after what we’ve seen. If those old lines caught fire like the ones we’ve seen…”
“It’s still there. It has to be,” Lily said. “Thomas wouldn’t have let it burn.”
At the corner of Market and Washington, Seth slowed to manipulate the truck between big rolling trash bins lying on their side in the road. Three people ran across the road in front of him, and he slammed on the brakes.
“What the hell?” Lily said, but Seth shushed her with a wave of his hand. He turned off the truck’s air conditioning and lowered the windows.
They could hear shouts bouncing between buildings. It sounded like a large crowd of people, closer to the river; maybe one or two streets over. The three that had run in front of them had been heading in that direction.
A crash of glass sounded from the next block up, followed by cheers and laughter. A siren chirped twice, and Seth could see police lights further down the road. Nearby, there was a heavy, hollow thud, and the sound of something large being dragged.
Seth flicked his high beams on, and caught sight of the same three people pulling more city trash cans out into the street. They dropped the cans on their sides, trash spilling everywhere, and took off again.
“Seth…” Lily said, voice low and full of warning.
“Yeah. We’re going,” Seth said. He gunned the truck, knocked the trash cans out of the way, and shot up Washington Street towards home.
Thomas was standing on the sidewalk when Seth whipped the truck into the driveway, stopping just short of putting the bumper through the nose of Ripley’s VW Bug. Seth opened his door and yelped as nearly fifty pounds of fur tried to launch into his lap.
“Hi Jax. Yes, I missed you too, sweetheart. Daddy’s home.” Jax made little whimpering and whining noises as she tried to lick his face, back paws scrabbling on the running boards.
“Okay, okay honey, get down. Good girl. Down,” Seth said, and Jax finally dropped back to the ground, barking to let everyone know the good news. She ran around the back of the truck, tail wagging furiously. A moment later, Seth heard Lily’s soft oof and pleased murmurings as the excited dog welcomed her home.
“Grams! You might want to come see this,” Thomas called, then limped forward on a crutch and extended his hand. “We weren’t expecting you home for a couple of weeks.”
Seth shook the offered hand and pulled Thomas into a hug. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you, Tom,” he said. “I was so worried our old houses wouldn’t be here. Any idea what’s going on in town? We saw some teenagers dragging out trash bins, police lights, shouting…it sounded pretty bad.”
Thomas frowned. “Grams says the townsfolk are goin’ crazy, now that they know the power’s going to be off for a few years. The trash…I think that’s some kids we had some trouble with a few days back. Probably taking advantage of the rioting by the park.”
“Hold on a minute. Did you say years?” Lily said, stepping around the back of the truck. Jax trotted between them, huffing and butting into their legs for attention.
“Yes ma’am. Dominion Power rep just announced it at the Town Hall meeting in the park about an hour ago,” Thomas said, catching Jax’s head with his free hand and rubbing it before she could knock him over.
A screen door banged shut and they heard Dotty give a whoop in excitement.
“I won’t get a word in edgewise now,” Thomas said, grinning. “I’ll go make some coffee.”
“Oh, coffee. You’re a lifesaver, Thomas,” Lily said, hugging him. He chuckled and limped off towards the house as Dotty came around the truck, arms held wide.
“Y’all give me a hug,” Dotty said, embracing Lily. “I’ve been prayin’ for ya. Did you have any trouble gettin’ home?”
Seth bent down to hug the little woman. “Not too much trouble. We made it, that’s what counts.”
“Have you heard from the kids?” Lily asked, her voice anxious.
“No sweetie, I haven’t,” Dotty said, taking Lily’s hand and starting for the house. “Last I heard from Corey was Friday morning. He let me know him and all the other boys that went to Philly made it back to the university.”
“We need to go get them, Seth,” Lily said. “After what we’ve seen?”
“I don’t know where we’d get the fuel, and they could be anywhere between here and there,” Seth said. “They might still be at the university, they might have gone to a nearby friend’s house.” He stepped up onto the porch and held the door open.
“Before y’all go runnin’ off again, I need to tell you about what’s been going on here. And there might be things you want to do. I’ve been moving anything valuable into the cellar while it’s dark and folks can’t see me doin’ it,” Dotty said.
“Jewelry, stuff like that?” Lily asked.
Dotty shrugged and stepped inside. “Them folks in town are breaking windows and looting, so I figure I should take down anything I don’t want stolen.”
Lit candles guided them through the living room into the kitchen. Tom was spooning coffee grounds into Dotty’s old percolator.
“It’s a good thing your gas stove still works,” Tom said. He lit the range with a match and set the percolator over the fire. “Grams was able to save all the food in the freezer by canning it, and lots of chicken from Farmer John’s, too.”
Dotty sat in one of the kitchen chairs and pointed to the refrigerator, with its doors cracked open so it wouldn’t get musty. “I had to throw out most of your condiments, Lily.”
“I don’t care about some ketchup,” Lily said, pulling a chair around and sitting next to her. “I’m worried about this power being out for years announcement, and the kids. If they know about this, why haven’t they come home?”
“Maybe they don’t know,” Seth said, leaning against the cou
nter. “I talked to some of the power guys that came out to look at the boardwalk lights. If anyone would know the power was going to stay out, it would be them. They didn’t say anything like that.”
“Or they just weren’t telling you,” Dotty said. “We just found out tonight.”
“Plus, it’s hard to drive home when the Bug’s sitting in the driveway,” Tom put in.
“You know Melanie would rent a car,” Lily said. “Hell, she might just buy one.”
“Not without power,” Dotty said. “I saw folks leave an entire cart full of food at Abe’s when they couldn’t pay with their card. Frozen stuff, too. Just walked out and left it.”
They all stayed silent for a minute, thinking. Seth looked around the room, one eyebrow going up when he saw all of Lily’s laundry baskets lined up against the back wall. It looked like they had full garbage bags in them.
“Dotty, what’s that?”
“I did that,” Tom said. “Grams had me line the laundry baskets with trash bags and fill them with water. I closed up the bags so dust and stuff couldn’t get in. Filled the tub upstairs, too.”
“That one’s for toilet water,” Dotty said. “These down here I’ve been using for cooking and washing dishes.”
“Water,” Seth said softly, walking to the back door. He looked past the deck out to the garden Dotty had set up, and tapped his fingers on the screen door frame. A bobbing light caught his eye, and he cocked his head to look. Dan Riggs, the neighbor on the other side of Dotty, was walking out to his pool with a bucket and a flashlight.
“Seth, what is it?” Lily asked.
“I’m thinking I wished we’d bought property on the river,” he said. He turned and leaned against the frame, crossing his arms over his chest. “If they’re right about the power, then without water, we’re shit out of luck.”
Chapter 16
Tuesday, September 4th