Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise

by Jack Flacco

  “You don’t remember me at all?” Mark walked up to Randy and embraced him.

  Randy’s face couldn’t contain his curiosity. Then surprise came to him instantly. He said without flinching. “No.”

  “Jessum High School. You saved me from those bullies that picked on me. Remember? Boy, oh, boy.” Mark released him and pointed at Randy as if to put him on stage for everyone to see. “One afternoon last spring, a group of kids were waiting for me outside the schoolyard. For some reason or other, they wanted to make an example of me for not wanting to share my answers during a midterm exam that day. I’ll tell you, as the first kid was about to put his fist through my face, who shows up out of nowhere? That’s right, this kid here. Randy Morrow. There were five of them. He calls to the one who was winding his fist and said to him, ‘The midterm was only worth twenty percent of your mark. The final is worth forty. Let him go and I’ll share my answers during the final.’ One of them thought it was a great deal since Randy, here, had one of the highest marks in the class.”

  “Go on. We’re listening.” Sunglow said, slipping her gun in one of her pockets.

  “The day of the big exam comes and what does Randy do? He pencils in wrong answers on his paper, shares them and waits for the bullies to leave the room before he fills in the correct answers. They all ended up taking summer school while Randy and I played ball with all of our friends. I can’t believe you don’t remember that.”

  Silver finally put his gun away and walked to the kitchen to grab a few water bottles for their guests.

  “I remember weird things.” Randy said, “I remember the fall and how the leaves changing color made the world a perfect place. I remember rainy days, sitting next to the bay window of our house, watching it pour. I remember the sunset and how nothing in the world seemed more important.”

  “What about people and places?” Sunglow asked.

  “None of it. I’m hoping that one day I’ll remember. For now, Ranger, Matty and Jon are the only friends I have in this world.”

  Silver returned and tossed water bottles to their four guests. Ranger nodded as did Jon who emulated his hero. Matty and Randy both said, “Thanks.”

  With parched lips, Ranger took a huge swig from his bottle, quenching his thirst. He took another then examined the silo. His attention landed on his shotgun lying on the floor next to the parked truck. Seeing how Mark took a liking to Randy, Ranger took a chance by strolling to his gun and picking it up. Mark, Silver and Sunglow stared at him with suspicion, not because they didn’t trust him, but because after months of running away, they didn’t trust anyone.

  For now, the teens didn’t have a problem with Ranger.

  For now.

  * * *

  Later that evening, when everyone had settled into the kitchen for a meal of canned tuna, canned peaches and bottled water, Randy, Matty and Jon sat on one side of the table, while Mark, Sunglow and Silver on the other. Ranger took the seat at the head and moved aside the tuna with a sneer. He never liked it much. He could stomach the canned peaches; they slid into his mouth and coated it with flavor. He wondered why in his lifetime he never had the opportunity to try them. Eventually he also pulled a can of turkey from his own stash of food hidden in his jacket.

  Sunglow had also pushed aside the tuna and gone for the peaches. The rest of them gobbled up their meals as if it were their last. Jon licked his lips and made it a point to hunt any loose bits with his fork. When he finished, he dropped the can on the table. Then, he drained his portion of water and wiped his mouth clean with the palm of his hand. The hunger had left him, and a small burp escaped him to the smiles of those around him.

  Matty ribbed him with her elbow and said. “Don’t start.”

  Jon smiled. He knew he could start an epic burping contest, but he was too tired to think or do anything about it. It would have been nice. At least that was what he thought.

  “How long have you been out on the road?” Mark asked, polishing off his meal.

  “A while. We were coming back from Kansas when we had decided to come back home.” Ranger answered.

  “Kansas? What were you doing all the way out there?”

  “Cleanin’ up a mess.”

  Mark and his friends traded glances as if they had said to one another, “What does he mean by that?”

  They would never know because Ranger and the kids would never tell.

  Studying Ranger, Sunglow noticed the torn flannel shirt and green stains on the front. She couldn’t miss the green stains on his jeans either. In some way, they all had the same stains on them. Even Jon. She said, “I don’t know why we let you in.”

  Silence fell on the table. Had the guests outlived their welcome? Matty shot a nasty look at Sunglow and thought, “We were here first.”

  “Sorry, you don’t understand. I meant, what compelled us to open the doors to you? You could have come in and killed us.” Sunglow said. She then smiled. “I’m thinking aloud.”

  The tension in the room fell and they were back to eating their food.

  “Maybe you saw the good in us.” Ranger’s focus fell on the tablecloth as he traced the patterns with his finger. “You saw we meant you no harm. Simple as that.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Are you all from Katlyn County? Same school? Neighborhood?”

  “I’m from Jessum.” Mark answered. “Silver here’s from Torneo, which is the next town over, and Sunglow—”

  “I’m from Rodward, fifty miles south of here.”

  “Y’all been all over Arizona then.” Ranger said; gaze stuck on the patterns in the tablecloth.

  “Pretty much.” Silver said. “What about you?”

  “I’m from Oklahoma. Matty and Jon from Boston. And you know where Randy’s from.” Ranger scratched the last of his turkey from the can and downed it with the last of his water. “By the way, how did you get in here? I had this secured when we left. I didn’t think anyone could find it.”

  “I knew of it from when I went to school.” Mark said, peeling the label from the water bottle as if he had nothing better to do. “We all knew of the silo. We used to drive here to see how close we could get before the military would shoo us away with their jeeps. After a while, it became a game. Every Saturday night, before heading to the movies, we’d get nearer. We didn’t know how stupid it was to do that until three jeeps, a squad of soldiers, and their weapons confronted us. We could have gotten ourselves killed. Once the change happened, the rot-breeders were the only things on our minds.”

  “What happened to all your friends?” Matty asked.

  “They died.”

  No one said anything. The words lingered. They’ve all been there. Nothing Mark said disturbed them. The stories were the same. They all could relate to one another.

  After Jon pushed his empty tuna can to the center of the table, he ironed the tablecloth with his hands, then asked, “Where did the names Silver and Sunglow come from?”

  “Silver’s my last name. Everyone calls me that.”

  “What’s your first name?”

  Both Mark and Sunglow rolled their eyes. Here it comes.

  “You’ll never know and I’ll never tell. I’ve hated my name ever since I was a kid. Once I knew what it meant, I hated it even more. Thank God for the change. Now, I don’t have to worry about anyone calling me it. Let me tell you something—”

  “We don’t need this story again, do we?” Mark asked.

  “Why not, it’s who I am.”

  “I thought you wanted to forget your first name.”

  Silver thought for a while then said, “You’re right. You don’t need to hear this story again.”

  “But you will tell it to me once everyone’s gone to bed. Right?” Jon asked.

  Silver nodded then smiled with satisfaction that someone wanted to hear his story.

  “And the name Sunglow?” Matty asked.

  “That’s my real name. My parents and I lived in the mountains. We used to live off the gri
d. They homeschooled my two brothers and I. They called me Sunglow because on the morning my mom gave birth to me, the sun lit the room with a warm light. She and my dad noticed it and that’s how I got my name.”

  “Did you know Sunglow is also a color?”

  “I did. Being a blonde doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “Really, how did you mean it, then?”

  Matty shot from her seat and stared at her as if she wanted to kill her on the spot. She answered, “If I meant for it to be an insult I would have called you a whore. But I didn’t do that.”

  Sunglow burst from her chair and swung at Matty from across the table. Everyone scrambled to their feet, jumping in between the girls, ducking shots. Arms whipped and flayed. Bodies scampered about. Ranger though, didn’t have luck on his side. Matty clipped him on his left cheek and left a gash.

  By the time it ended, an invisible line ran down the center of the table. Randy and Jon held Matty on one side of the line, while Mark and Silver held Sunglow on the other. Still dazed from Matty’s shot, Ranger patted the gash on his face with a napkin, staring at her. He hadn’t been mad at her for a long time. If she were his daughter, he would have sent her to her room. That wasn’t what was going to happen.

  “What the hell, Matty!” Ranger crushed the heavy napkin in his hands and threw it on the floor. “We’re their guests. They’ve opened their home to us. This is the way you act with decent people? Y’all need manners from grade school.”

  “She started it.”

  “I’m endin’ it!”

  As Matty caught her breath, Randy and Jon exchanged a glance. They thought the same thing. They thought the silo was their home. The three kids who broke in, leeched their supplies and turned everyone against each other were their guests. Ranger was wrong, and Matty called him on this mistake.

  “Now Matty,” Ranger pushed the two boys aside. “Go shake her hand.”

  “I’m not shaking her hand. If anyone needs to apologize it’s her.”

  “Shake her hand.” Ranger gave her a stern look.

  Matty studied Ranger’s face and saw blood trickling from the gash. His eyes were piercing and water was dripping from his forehead. She knew he wouldn’t let it pass and it would be her downfall if she didn’t reconcile—even if she knew he was wrong.

  “I’m sorry.” Sunglow extended her hand to Matty.

  Shock clenched Matty’s chest. She wouldn’t have thought Sunglow would have apologized. Yet she did and her anger began to melt. Matty drew closer, examining the blonde’s facial expressions. She caught the sincerity in the girl’s eyes and the slight smile. She couldn’t detect anything else. With that information socked safely in her mind, Matty shook Sunglows’ hand. “No hard feelings.”

  “None taken.”

  As they walked away to their respective corners, Sunglow turned around and said, “Now get the hell out of here.”

  “Bitch!” Matty dashed toward her with both fists tightened.

  Without waiting this time, Ranger grabbed Matty and swung her in the air. Everyone jumped into the fray trying to prevent an all-out war. But this time, what no one thought would happen, did. Randy pulled his gun on Sunglow and everyone else pulled theirs.

  Chapter 4

  The radar came to life with a beep. It took four seconds before the next beep filled the silo. Ranger set Matty back on her feet and turned to the control panel that sat next to the kitchen. With guns still pointed at them, Ranger didn’t have time to waste trying to stop another catfight between Matty and Sunglow. His focus landed on the instrument panel.

  Seeing how Ranger’s attention didn’t waver from the radar that continued to emit the incessant sound, Randy lowered his weapon, trusting the others would do the same. He didn’t bother asking permission from the others if he could join Ranger. He just did it.

  As Mark hid his gun in its holster, he lowered his friends’ weapons with his other hand. He thought it wouldn’t have been worth making enemies when they could have been helping each other instead.

  Everyone gathered around the radar, Matty on one side of the crowd and Sunglow on the other. In between, Ranger and the kids stared at the green light as it flashed and beeped. The sound seemed faster since it first started. Ranger counted three seconds between intervals. It meant whatever it was—it was heading toward them.

  “When you let us in, did you turn the lights off outside?” Ranger asked.

  “No.” Silver answered then stretched his hand over to the light switch on the panel.

  Ranger quickly grabbed Silver’s hand and pushed it away. “If you turn it off now, whoever or whatever’s out there will know someone’s in here. Keep quiet and maybe it’ll pass without causin’ us grief.”

  “Is that supposed to reassure us?” Sunglow asked, “Because it sounds more like a death sentence.”

  “Morbid much?” Matty asked.

  “You’re one to talk, you freak of nature.”

  “Said the blonde with the IQ of a horse.”

  “Shut up.” Ranger slammed his fist on the console, “Both of you. We have to see where this leads.”

  The beep’s tempo increased. Ranger counted two seconds between pulses. Only a matter of time before anyone knew who was knocking at the door. He didn’t have the patience to wait around to see what would happen. Unless a tank shelled the entrance, the silo stood solid. Yet Ranger thought they ought to take precautions: No talking. Don’t touch the lights. Check guns for ammo.

  Mark flicked on the monitor to get a better look at the entrance to the silo. All he could see was the gate and the lights overhead. Not much else appeared on the screen. Before he did anything, he thought for a moment. He wondered if Ranger and the others had gone through something like this before. He didn’t have a clue what he and his friends should do. The monitor flickered and the radar didn’t surrender its heartbeat. Mark needed to know if anything he did would make a mess of things.

  When the beep turned to one-second intervals, Randy knew better than to touch the console. He didn’t want to give away their presence by moving the camera. No one needed to know they were there.

  A faint sound above their heads grew in intensity as they drew closer to the monitor. Even Matty and Sunglow tucked their differences away for the common good of the group. They wondered what the wind carried so late in the evening.

  Silver chewed the inside of his lip. He blamed himself for leaving the lights on. Had he flipped the switch they wouldn’t have had to deal with the ground shaking above. He traced his face with his hand, as deep lines crossed his forehead. He should have turned off the lights.

  Although Mark couldn’t keep from watching the monitor, even with the beep striking his ears at a steady pace, he didn’t ignore Silver’s torment. He wanted to assure his friend that everything was going to be okay. He patted Silver’s back. Sunglow, who didn’t like the idea of waiting for the fight to come to her, placed her hand on Silver’s shoulder. She gave him a quick rub and removed her hand. The gestures should have convinced Silver that no one held a grudge for his misdeed. Grudges kill a friendship and the kids learned that early on in their lives.

  Silence overtook the silo once the interval between beeps decreased to less than a second apart.

  Randy’s face turned red hot with anger. After everything he and his friends had gone through, he couldn’t see himself dying in a hole in the ground. He promised himself his friends wouldn’t suffer that same fate either. His right hand slid to his weapon as he observed the monitor carefully. It wasn’t the first time he had to deal with the unknown. Months ago, he had woken up in a dark prison cell realizing he no longer had parents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles to rely on. With only himself to trust, he quickly learned about the change and his knack for killing zombies. It still didn’t prevent his head from swimming with thoughts of what-ifs. What if he hadn’t woken up in that jail cell? Would he be a normal kid who would have died with the others? What i
f he could have remembered what had happened to him? Would he have done things differently?

  Ranger turned off the sound to the radar. He and the kids leaned into the camera monitor’s glass and stared.

  Within moments of Ranger easing from the console to wipe his neck of the stress that had bound his muscles in a knot, a truck came into view of the camera. It parked in front of the gate and waited there with its lights on. Silver wanted to have a closer look. He placed his fingers on the knob that controlled the camera. Apparently, he hadn’t taken Ranger’s instructions to heart. Ranger grabbed the boy’s hand and tossed it aside. No one touched the cameras.

  From that moment forward, the kids placed their fate in Ranger’s hands. He knew best, and he knew what it would take to live through a predator intrusion.

  As Mark stared at the monitor at the unassuming dump truck, he knew it could have easily ripped through the fencing and barrel its way to the entrance of the elevator shaft. He didn’t surrender, though. Not until he got a good look at the occupants of the vehicle.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The driver’s side door to the truck opened and a man stepped out dressed in torn army fatigues. When the passenger door swung wide, that was Ranger’s queue to lean into the monitor with concern. The second and third man who exited the vehicle also wore torn army fatigues.

  Ranger didn’t need an excuse to do what he did next. He leaned into Jon, whispered a few words into his ear while the others watched. The others didn’t know what to make of Ranger’s sudden interest with the console, but whatever he had in mind, they were sure he’d share the news with them.

  Following Ranger’s careful instructions, Jon pointed to a switch next to the gate’s access knob. Ranger was looking for that switch. Hours in the silo with Wildside while Ranger, Matty and Randy went exploring proved beneficial for Jon. Wildside had taught Jon how the console worked and gave him an idea of what they could do with it.

  The strangers, military no less, brought a subtle sneer to Ranger’s face. He knew what he had to do if the strangers proved to become a problem.