Hell Revisited (Hell happened)

by Stenzelbarton, Terry

  Jerry shared the story of his dad, and how when other farmers in the area were selling out to big corporations, he refused large sums of money to move off the land he loved.

  “I was eight or nine years old at the time. I was thinking it would be great to be rich and move to the city. I didn’t like living away from all my friends and having to ride the bus to school everyday.

  “But my dad really loved working the land and growing things. He and my mom talked about it for a long time. I don’t remember how much they were offered, but mom said dad would never have to work again.

  “I remember my dad saying ‘I work because the work I do means something.’”

  “That’s when I knew I wanted to do what my dad did. He was a hardworking man who got up early every morning and worked hard every day.

  “I still miss him.”

  There was moment of silence around the fire as everyone thought about their fathers.

  Eddie seldom heard his best friend’s dad talk about his parents. He’d seen pictures in the old farm house, but had never really looked at them. He had always been more interested in playing video games and having fun with Randy. When he worked for Jerry on the farm, he did a good job, but only because he wanted to continue working with Jerry and Randy, not because he wanted to be a farmer all his life.

  He was seeing the man now as someone other than just Randy’s dad.

  “You know,” Eddie said, “I knew someone like that, too.

  “My dad was never around when I was growing up. To me he was just a name on my birth certificate. My mom had a lot of men come through the house, but none of them were thinking about being a dad to me.

  “I guess I was 13 when I was first allowed to stay at a friend’s house. My mom was going out of town for the weekend with some guy and my friend said I could stay with him. I really didn’t want to because of the chores I’d have to do, but I sure as hell didn’t want to stay in our trailer by myself.

  “The first night, we had been told to move some cows from one pen to another. One of the cows wouldn’t move and I punched it in the neck.

  “My friend’s dad hollered at me. He hollered at me because I’d lost my temper and he hollered at me because I was abusing his animals. I didn’t even know he was watching.

  “Later that night, my friend and I were sitting in a tent outside the house. We were talking about his dad hollering at me when we heard the old man come out of the house.

  “He came up to us and told his son that his mom wanted him for some reason. My friend went in the house and I was there with this guy who had really screamed at me. I thought he was still mad and I was a little afraid of him and hoped he would go back in the house.

  “Instead, the man squatted down so we were eye-to-eye and looked right at me. I can still remember what he said. He said ‘Eddie, if you are going to be hanging around here, you’re going to have to follow the rules here. My son seems to like you and I don’t choose his friends for him. On this farm, we do what is right, even if no one is looking and we don’t abuse animals.’

  “I was a little shocked,” Eddie continued, “because I thought the guy was going to tell me to get off his property right then and I wouldn’t have come back. But then he said ‘You’re welcome here, but be prepared because I’ll treat you just like I treat my own son.’”

  “After that, the man went back inside. I sat in the tent by myself thinking that he was the kind of dad a kid needs.

  “I kept coming back to that farm. Jerry never tried to be my dad, but he was always a father figure to me. He’s the reason I’m here now.”

  Other stories were shared, mis-steps made during childhood, bad decisions made while growing up and funny stories about friends and family.

  It was a good feeling, Jerry thought, to have people of this caliber with him. He knew what type of personality of man was drawn to people like Cheryl and he told himself he’d take any one of these people for any dozen of the kind who would follow Cheryl.

  * * *

  The RV was still running in the morning. Amanda slept a dreamless sleep and only woke up briefly when Chopper moved positions. She got out of bed and looked out the windshield. The sun was already up and she could see the desolation around her. The temperature gauge on the dash showed 38 degrees outside, so she put on her new clothes and jacket before letting Chopper out.

  She walked around in the chilly air while Chopper went about his business. The HUMVEE had dew on the windows but nothing had been disturbed. There were birds overhead making noise, but otherwise the only sound she could hear in the parking lot was the RV. Feeling cold, she went back inside and sat in the driver’s seat so she could watch for Chopper’s return. There was an owner’s manual and a sell sheet on the dashboard.

  Reading the spec sheet, the RV she was in was considered a Class C mini-motorhome. She read that the reason for the two propane tanks was because it had a small furnace which heated the living area. It also had a refrigerator and small water heater.

  Taking the manual with her, she walked around the RV and checked out all the accessories. This RV would be better suited for driving across the country than the HUMVEE. She hadn’t given it any thought last night, but she would be driving on interstate in the states and not the rugged country of Alaska and she might as well take this instead of the HUMVEE.

  She went back up to the driver’s seat and read more through the manual. The HUMVEE had been a horse and she’d hate to leave it behind, but driving the RV would be more comfortable. It also had a 55 gallon fuel tank and according to the manual, this model averaged 14 miles to the gallon on the highway. That was about three times better than the HUMVEE and she would only have to fill up once a day at most.

  She saw Chopper come running in a lazy lope across the parking lot. His tongue was hanging out and she could tell he found some mud. Where ever he’d been he’d been having fun. He ran around to the side door.

  Instead of letting him in, she met him at the door. From the HUMVEE she got the two dog dishes she’d made him the previous day and filled one with food, which he dug into like he was a starving third-world dog, and then filled his water dish.

  While he was eating and drinking she walked around the RV, checking tires and looking under the hood. It was brand new with less than 200 miles on it. She already knew the HUMVEE was a solid vehicle, stout and ready to go another 3,000 miles, but if she moved into the RV, she was taking the risk it might break down. While she could probably fix it, she didn’t have any tools with her and she wasn’t an RV mechanic.

  She’d have no trouble driving the RV, in fact it would be easier. It wasn’t as loud as the HUMVEE and it did have a nice CD player and sound system. She didn’t have any CDs, but she was sure she could find some, probably in the store she’d broken into the previous night.

  When she asked Chopper, what he thought, the dog looked at her and went back to finishing off his breakfast.

  She left the door open for him when he was finished eating and started moving everything to the RV. She really liked the HUMVEE, but having an inside bathroom and a nice bed to sleep in every night was the kicker.

  She fired up the stove again and tossed four sausages into a pan. While waiting for them to heat, she found a towel to wipe Chopper’s feet when he climbed up the steps. Using a fork, she rolled the sausages around and moved her clothes and the food into their proper places in the RV. She wanted it to be orderly and nothing moving around as she drove.

  When the sausages were well done, she sprinkled cheese over them and turned the heat down so the cheese would melt, not burn.

  While she waited, she finished bringing in everything from the HUMVEE. The last things she brought in were the radios. She had to really work to get the Army radio out of the HUMVEE, but it had a small tool kit stored underneath the radio itself.

  It took her less than 15 minutes to transfer the radio to the RV. Since she didn’t use the passenger door, she ran the coaxial through the door frame to the anten
na she bolted to the mirror and called it good. She wasn’t sure why she hooked the unit up after her breakfast, but four of the people she knew who survived the plague had been military. This model of RV also had a 40-channel CB radio installed. Once she got on the road, she’d have to give it a try. There were three power ports on the dashboard, so the GPS and Army radio both had power when she turned them on.

  She realized the M-60 machine gun would not be something she could reasonably use, so took the firing pin out and left it on the HUMVEE. She didn’t want someone else using it.

  The last thing she did was pump as much fuel as she could from the HUMVEE to the RV. She figured it was more than 35 gallons in total and that would allow her more than 500 miles before she needed another fuel up, but she’d try to fill up every other break just to be on the safe side.

  She left the keys in the HUMVEE and a note saying she was traveling to Alabama. She didn’t think anyone would ever read the note, so she signed it “A Survivor” and left it on the driver’s seat. She kissed her finger tips and pressed them to the steering wheel and said “Thanks truck. You did good.” She closed the door and she and Chopper boarded the RV and got back on the road.

  She wasn’t in a hurry; there was no time-table she had to meet, so she stopped one more time before getting back on the highway at the mini-mart she’d broken into the previous night. She and Boomer went inside, this time scaring some small furry critters. Amanda went to a circular rack and grabbed all the CDs, even the ones of artists she’d never heard of. She also loaded more dog food into the RV and the three remaining five-gallon water bottles they had in the store.

  Behind the counter she found a new 17” laptop setting on a stack of milk crates. She picked it up and put it in the truck as well. She liked to write and even if there wasn’t an internet anymore, she would enjoy writing again.

  On one more look before getting back on the road, she found travel-size toothpaste and tooth brushes. She was brushing her teeth before she even left the building. When she was done brushing and spitting, she told Chopper it wouldn’t hurt if he tried brushing more often. The big dog just looked at her and sniffed at the spot she’d just spit on.

  The mountains were on both sides of her RV as she drove out of Bozeman and into the farming land of Billings Montana. The monotony was relieved by the CDs she was able to play. The temperature climbed to the mid-50s in the early afternoon and she turned up the sound system in the RV as loud as she could stand it. Her dad used to bitch at her and tell her she’d go deaf listening to music so loud, but now she didn’t think it mattered anymore. She listened to a Taylor Swift album, followed by Lady Antebellum, Jessica Price and Adele. It was something to change what her brain was used to listening to.

  She listened to a complete rap album for the first time in her life and then a classic hits collection. The miles seemed less dreary than her trip across Canada with the music playing. Chopper would spend time with his head out the passenger window until slobber was flying out of his mouth. He’d then pull his head back in and go back to the living area and lay down on the floor to nap.

  The first day in the RV, she stopped every hour for rest breaks for her and Chopper. She stopped the RV in the middle of US-212 and let the dog run until he was tired. He seemed good with it. Wyoming was as empty as any place she’d ever seen in her life. It was wide open space with low mountains off in the distance. She’d seen a few cars and semis wrecked along the way, but the music had her in the mood to just drive and not stop to refuel.

  Amanda eventually stopped for the night in South Dakota. She came across a large truck stop in Belle Fourche. There were dozens of trucks and two cars parked around the station but she could see this was like all the other small cities and towns she’d passed through that day.

  Dead.

  There was a supermarket across the road from the station and she and her dog walked over to it in hopes of finding a wider variety of supplies. Halfway across the road, however, Chopper stopped.

  Amanda encouraged the dog to follow her, but the hackles on his back and low growl made her stop. She looked at the store and couldn’t see anything, but Chopper refused to budge any closer to the store. There were six cars in the parking lot, but Amanda didn’t see any movement. Looking closer, she saw one of the front doors had been shattered outward.

  Chopper had his head down, ears back and muzzle twitching, looking like he was prepared to attack. Amanda put her hand on his head and backed away. Chopper followed slowly, but kept looking back at the supermarket as if expecting something to come out.

  Back at the service station, the station itself showed it had been locked up before the last man had left. She saw small animal prints, but nothing large enough to be a threat to her and Chopper. The dog stayed near her and sniffed at every print. She walked around the station twice before deciding to break in.

  It was more difficult this time because she didn’t want to damage the front end of her RV. She found a breaker bar in the saddlebag of one of the rigs parked at the station and a pair of work gloves. Chopper never left her side and he seemed on edge, but he wasn’t as nervous as he’d been going over to the store.

  Inside the convenience store she found more canned food and dry goods to supplement her food supply. She wished for some fresh food, like the steaks her dad used to cook on the grill with foil-wrapped baked potatoes, a nice fast-food hamburger with tomatoes and no lettuce and a side order of fries would have been good too, but the food she found wasn’t terrible.

  The electronics section of the store got her a splitter for the power ports on the RV. She remembered the laptop she’d picked up which she’d play with tonight. She was interested in starting her journal.

  With everything she thought she’d need for the next week, Amanda organized the interior of the RV and re-fueled it from the semi parked in front of the gas station.

  Chopper was fed and watered and stayed outside the RV and paced in front of the vehicle, always keeping a watch on the store across the road. There was something unseen over there that bothered him so Amanda chambered a round in the 30-30, but made sure the safety was on. She placed it on the dashboard.

  The Valtro PM5 Shotgun had its magazine in but she didn’t chamber a round because she kept it near the door and didn’t want Chopper to accidentally knock it over and discharge a round. The Baretta she kept in the sleeping area.

  The sun was just setting when Amanda finished her chores around the RV. She read through the owner’s manual and learned about the septic system and how to maintain it. She emptied the water in the fresh water tanks and refilled them with water from the Culligan bottles in the store so she had good water from the sink. She had a quick shower just to test the hot water heater in the little RV and it made her feel 100-times better. The clothes she put on were all new, some still in the packages until she opened them.

  Refreshed and everything put in its place, Amanda looked out at the twilight through the windshield. Chopper had lain down in front of the RV and Amanda could see the big dog was keeping a close eye in the direction of the store. There was something about it that fascinated or bothered him.

  The sun was well below the horizon and reflecting off the clouds in hues of amber and maroon. After two minutes of looking, Amanda decided it wasn’t even close to being as majestic as the sunsets in Alabama.

  Not feeling tired she decided to install the CB and antenna. Like the Army radio she installed under the dash, she checked all the channels in vain hope of hearing anything. All she heard was static. After 20 minutes, she turned the squelch until the static was gone and tossed the microphone onto the dash.

  She also opened the laptop and plugged in the charger to the power port. The laptop must have been new because there were no passwords and only the administrator log in. It had an open source Office Suite installed and a few other programs which looked like inventory and accounting, but it was the word processor program she wanted.

  She started her journal, beginn
ing with her flight from Fort Wainwright. She’d written about two pages, getting to the parting of destinations with the captain, when she heard Chopper’s bark.

  Amanda looked out the windshield, but in the darkness it was hard to see. She started the RV and the headlights came on.

  Chopper was looking as vicious as she’d seen him this morning. He was angry and she saw in the distance what had upset the dog. Coming out of the store front were a pair of the ugliest looking people she’d ever seen. They looked in her direction and then hid their face, like the intensity of her headlights bothered them.

  They came running in her direction, heads down, but with intent.

  “Chopper!” she hollered at the dog. “Get in here!” With the dog standing in front of the truck, she couldn’t drive away and she didn’t think she’d get away backing up. The monsters were running with gound-eating speed she’d never seen except in cartoons. “Chopper!” she hollered again, glad she’d left her window open for him to hear.

  The dog hesitated after the first yell, but not the second. He ran to the side door and was in the RV even as Amanda was putting it in gear.

  The beasts coming at her were wearing ripped and tattered clothes. One had socks and she didn’t know why she noticed it. They looked like malformed body builders with elongated arms, legs and foreheads. Amanda had seen enough movies and read enough books to know these things were coming for her and they didn’t have her best interest in mind.

  Not even waiting to close the side door, she accelerated out of the parking lot. Supplies that weren’t stored securely crashed in the living area, but Amanda didn’t care. She’d take care of them later.

  She was out of the gas station parking lot and onto US-212 like a NASCAR driver headed to the checkered flag. Her foot was all the way to the floor and from the passenger window she could see the two beasts cutting across the parking lot. Their speed and agility were amazing but the RV wasn’t made to accelerate like a sport’s car.