by Knights, BJ
When Jim got out what he saw made his jaw drop. Thousands of tents spread across the desert with thousands of refugees wondering around. There were medical, water, food, and sanitary stations set up sporadically throughout the camp. Soldiers patrolled through for security with automatic rifles at their shoulders as tanks roamed the perimeter with guard towers high above the ground.
Coyle was pushed into Jim as the soldiers who helped them out of the truck shepherded them into a tent with the words “Registration” labeled across the front. As the two stood in line Coyle looked around. “What is this place? Where the hell are we?”
“We’re definitely not in Phoenix. We’re somewhere on I-10 Westbound, most likely by Joshua Tree National Park judging by our drive time and the rock formations.”
Coyle slowly turned to Jim who gazed around the surroundings. “You know sometimes your Eagle Scout shit comes off as condescending.” Jim’s eyes squinted through the corner of his eyes at Coyle. Coyle shrugged and said, “Judging by your know-it-all-ness.”
A heavyset woman at the registration table called for the next person to move forward and Jim stepped up.
“Name?” She asked.
“Jim Farr.”
She jotted down his name on a clipboard. “And your city and state of residence?”
“San Diego, California,” Jim said. He leaned in closer as the woman continued writing his info, “Hey, do you have a Samantha Kearny that checked in here?”
Without looking up she told him, “We have an updated list of folks that have come through here posted on the main board behind this tent every hour. You can check for your friend’s name there.”
Jim wondered off around back as Coyle stepped up to the lady who again kept her eyes on her clipboard. “Name?”
“Coyle Wain.”
“Residency?”
“Yes, Bumfuck Egypt?”
The woman slowly raised her head and Coyle looked at her innocently. “Oh, you mean my previous residency. I thought you were talking about my current location.”
Around back Jim ran his finger down the list of refugees that had arrived. The name wasn’t on the list. Jim’s heart sank to his stomach. He sat there and wondered what had happened in Phoenix? Why had they taken him here? Was Phoenix even there anymore?
Jim wondered through the crowds as Coyle caught up to him. “Hey, so be careful about cracking jokes. The people around here don’t appreciate good humor. I almost got thrown in tent jail.”
Coyle saw the worry in Jim’s eyes for the first time since they’d left San Diego. He grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face him. “Jim, what’s up?” The dust, stress, and long days soaked through Jim’s face. He looked at Coyle with an aged face that didn’t he didn’t recognize.
A woman who was carrying some blankets noticed Jim and Coyle out of the corner of her eye and did a double take. She stepped closer to get a better look and then shouted his name.
Jim spun around and squinted into the glaring sun shining at him. He saw the outline of the woman moving towards him, but couldn’t quite make her out.
“Jim!” she shouted, even louder the second time. Samantha ran into a sprint and threw her arms around him and she started crying. She buried her face in his dirty shirt and he held her tight. She pulled herself off him and wiped her face. “We weren’t sure you made it out or not,” she said with breathless relief. Jim wiped a tear from her cheek. “I was going to say the same thing about you,” he said back.
Coyle looked back and forth at the scene unfolding before him. “I helped get him out.” Samantha turned to face him and Jim introduced them. “Coyle this is my sister Samantha. Samantha this is my friend Coyle.”
Coyle stuck out his hand and Samantha instead went in to hug him. “Thank you,” she said. Jim pulled her off once when he saw his friend’s much too satisfied smile. “He didn’t help me that much. How’s Annie?”
“She’s fine, but she’s having a hard time adjusting with all of this.” Her eyes started to well up again. “We don’t know where Matt is.” She covered her face with her hands and her shoulders started to shake. Jim took her in his arms as she cried, and then gave her a minute to compose herself.
Jim looked at her, “What happened in Phoenix?”
Samantha tried to gather her thoughts as she went over the events of what happened since the attack in San Diego. “We saw it on the news and I tried to call you, but I couldn’t get through. Then there were more reports of attacks happening in New York and D.C. The next day we got some alerts that there were some gas leaks happening all around Phoenix and with all the other attacks that were going on the army started evacuating the parts of the city where it was happening.”
She continued as they walked through the crowded green and beige tents going up around them. “Thank God I was keeping Annie home that day for a doctor’s appointment. I tried to get a hold of Matt, but he left his cell phone at home before he went to work. We were evacuated here before I could get a hold of his office.”
Jim put his arm around her as he walked. “I’m sure he’s ok. They probably have dozens of these camps set up around the city.” She nodded her head in silence and rested her head on his shoulder as they arrived at the tent.
Samantha pulled the tent flap open and said, “Annie? Uncle Jim’s here.”
“Really?” an excited child’s voice said from inside the tent. Suddenly, Annie came rushing out and jumped into Jim’s arms as he lifted her up in the air. She screamed and laughed as Jim let out a groan of how heavy she was getting. “What have you been feeding her? She’s a tank!” He held her in one arm and she kept her skinny arms around his neck. He kissed her on the cheek. It was the first time Samantha had seen her daughter smile since they got there.
The four of them walked into the tent and Annie sat in Jim’s lap while Coyle and Samantha sat across from them on the other cot. Jim tickled Annie who kept squealing for him to stop, then would tickle him back and keep egging him on.
She finally wiggled down off of him and ran back into the corner where she had a coloring book with a few crayons that they were able to scrounge up and pass out for the kids in the camp. Jim smiled as she went to work on her sunflower and then turned his attention back to Samantha and Coyle. “So what else do we know?’
Samantha shrugged. “That’s it really. There hasn’t been much communication about what’s happening outside since we got here. I’ve heard a couple things trickle in with new people showing up, but all the stories don’t mix. Someone heard there was a nuclear attack, someone else thinks we’re being invaded, another person said they saw aliens. The only things I know for sure that happened were the events I told you about before we got here.”
Jim nodded his head. Coyle raised his hand trying to enter the conversation. “Um, how long do we have to stay here?” Samantha looked at the two of them as she spoke, “They said we shouldn’t be here longer than a week. They’re working on checking any contamination issues that may happen, but as soon as it’s cleared they said we can go back.”
Annie piped up from the corner and frowned. “I’m going to miss karate practice. I was supposed to get my green belt this week.” Jim smiled over to her. “Don’t worry. We can still practice. I’ll show you some moves. Coyle can be our practice dummy.” Jim’s grin widened as he looked at Coyle who squinted back at him and Annie screamed, “Yay!”
Jim and Coyle went to set up their tent, and after a little haggling with the coordinator to get a tent right next to Samantha and Annie’s, they sat outside and had lunch as the bright desert sun shined down on them. Jim wasn’t sure when he would get to go back home to San Diego, or even if he would ever get the chance, but he knew that if he didn’t he’d be okay starting over. As long as he had the friends and family around him that he cared about, he was sure that everything would be okay. At the time, he had all that he needed, and believed that together, they could make it through anything. They meant the world to him, even Tigs.
&nbs
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