Into the Apocalypse

by William Dunaway

  Lulu handled the death of someone she knew better than you’d expect from an eight-year-old. For the first few days though, every afternoon she’d act pretty depressed as she would think about how Carmen would always take some time to play hide and seek or tag with her after lunch. For the most part, though, she seemed to handle it better than some of us.

  Mia changed after this. Carmen had been her best friend for years. Then you couple it with the worry of not knowing how her family was doing being from a big city like Detroit, it changed her whole perspective. Mia and I could usually talk about anything, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Kim tried talking to her, but they would usually break down crying, which didn’t help the situation. After a few days, Brandy started talking to her, and that’s how we found out that something just wasn’t right with Mia. All she would talk about was figuring out a way to find her family.

  That made us all think about our families. Kim was already worried about her family in Iowa and Arkansas, but the worry for Anna and Phil intensified after this. Her knowing they were only 50 miles away actually made it more frustrating. I knew part of her wanted us to try and find them, but with me being down and the mental state of everyone, she knew it wasn’t possible or even realistic.

  Red had been studying the ham radio book, and with the help of Jake, they built a very effective shortwave outside antenna and placed it on a 50-foot tower that Jake had up. He had already made contact with several ham radios throughout the Midwest and one in Florida. Normally, there wouldn’t be any problem picking up ham radio operators but finding hams that had survived the EMP and that had a power source, was turning out to be difficult. He was learning more every day though. His goal was to find radio operators in the states where everyone’s families were located but also to contact Australia somehow to check on his own family.

  Angela also changed, but it was for the good. She never left their bus without carrying her handgun and even agreed to Lulu learning how to shoot the .22 rifle and pistol. She also was a big comfort to all the women. If she even suspected someone needed something, she was right there to help.

  Paul and Mike handled it by working. Paul didn’t have much time to get to know Carmen and Mike kept any feelings he had to himself.

  Unfortunately, the guys have seen death too many times. They all handled it just like we did in the past when a fellow soldier fell, with private grief and honor. As sad as her death was, in their eyes, she died a warrior.

  To me, my military side thought exactly the same way. That side of me was very proud of Carmen. As far as the rest of me, I really cared for Carmen. I don’t expect anyone to understand, but she’ll always be a part of me, and the loss of her was haunting.

  I’m sure some judged us for our strange relationship, but I don’t care. The funny thing is the person that understands it the most is Kim. We both agree that if we had never met her, we wouldn’t think someone like her could possibly exist. She was gorgeous, sweet, giving, very intelligent, and most of all, she lived with honesty and honor. Most people that had her looks, money, and career, would’ve been a spoiled, self-centered elitist snob but not Carmen.

  Some will judge her for having feelings for a married man,… but she never acted on it. She was honest with Kim, and she took only what was allowed. She couldn’t help the feelings she developed for me, but she stayed disciplined and did the right thing. I know in my heart that God didn't judge her for it.

  If there was a song that described Carmen the best, it was “Close to You,” by Karen Carpenter. “On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair with gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.”

  ****

  Mike, Tag, Jake, and his son Ben had started building more permanent roadblocks on both ends of our road. They cut several large logs and along with the vehicles, built quite a barrier.

  On day three after the battle and the funerals, word came down from the west barrier that there was a man with his two daughters requesting help. Mo went up to talk with him and after about 15 minutes, Mo returned to talk it over with everyone, so we called a group meeting.

  Mo said, “His name is Santiago Garcia, and he has two little girls with him, Sofia, who I think he said was 7 and Isabella that’s 10. I think he’s looking for a place to stay. He said that he’s a roofer but has worked in construction in the past. To be honest, they act as though they haven’t eaten for a while.”

  Tag spoke up, “We could sure use someone else that knows his way around with a hammer.”

  “Wait, before anyone says anything else, I need to tell you, he was working in Pine City. He …….” Before Mo could complete his sentence, Wit jumped in, “Oh hell no.”

  Brandy remarked, “Oh, I agree with Wit. How can we trust anyone from Pine City.”

  Mike jumped in, “We can’t take the chance, he could want revenge. To hell with him!”

  “What about his little girls? We can’t turn them away.” Angela replied.

  “It would give Lulu someone to play with here on the farm. Right now, someone has to take her down to Jake’s, or Jake has to bring his kids down here.” Kim stated.

  Mia didn’t say a word, and I was just sitting back listening. Paul finally spoke up, “I understand both sides of the argument but with the two little girls, I think it would be the right thing to do. If it were only him, I would say give him an MRE and some water and say good luck, but with the two little girls, that changes things.”

  The discussion kept going on for a while, and finally, Kim looked at Mia, “What do you think?”

  Mia, with a distant stare, answered, “I don’t know what to do. Whatever you guys think.”

  Finally, I spoke up, “Listen, my instinct is to say no. I told you guys that we were going to have to make some horrible decisions. This is the perfect example. I agree with Mike; we don’t know his real intentions."

  Kim looked at me with a look I know all too well, “Vince, can I speak to you for a minute?” as she turned and walked into the kitchen. I sighed and followed her. I looked at her with suspicion, and she grabbed my hand, “Vince, we’re talking about two little girls. I know what you think of anyone from Pine City, and I understand why but remember how we talked about the conflict inside of you between doing what you know God would want you to do and what your survival instincts tell you to do? I think this is one of those decisions. You know what the Christian thing to do is.”

  “But what if he’s here for revenge?”

  “Do you really think he would have his daughters with him if he was going to do something that could get them killed? Go talk to him. It sounds like you have two choices, to take a vote or you have to make the decision yourself. Talk to him face to face. You read people better than anyone I know. I know you, if you just say no without meeting him, later on when your head is straight, you’re going to think about turning these two girls away, and it’s going to haunt you.”

  I stared at her for a minute and then smiled and squeezed her hand lightly, “Ok.”

  Kim kept me balanced in life. The times I didn’t listen to her, I would usually regret later.

  We walked back into the living room, and everyone was still discussing it.

  “Mo, let's go talk to him. Tag, you come too just in case we want you to figure out if he really knows anything about construction. Mike, keep an eye out in case this is some type of distraction. I also want a strong appearance when we get back. Someone on the tower and a couple of patrols, in case he’s here just to scout us out.”

  We jumped in the jeep and drove up to the west barrier where Len Akers and his sons, Phillip and Harold were standing guard. As I walked up, I noticed Phillip, who received a flesh wound during the firefight, seemed to have full mobility of his arm. He had it wrapped with a bandage, but it didn’t seem to be bothering him.

  “Phillip, you know you could be at home resting that arm?”

  “No, I’m fine. If
I was sitting in the house, I’d just be staring at the walls, thinking about how it hurt. At least out here, I have other things to think about.” He replied with a chuckle.

  “The heck you would. If you weren’t up here, I’d have you out doing something.” Len commented.

  I laughed and then walked over to where Garcia and his children were being watched by Harold.

  Mo introduced us, “Mr. Garcia, this is Vince Johnson. Vince, this is Santiago Garcia and his daughters, Sofia and Isabella.”

  I shook Mr. Garcia’s hand and then smiled at the girls and said hi. You could tell they were scared and looked hungry. I asked them, “Are you girls thirsty?” They glanced at me and then looked at their dad for approval.

  “It’s ok. Go ahead and answer.”

  Before they said a word, I told Tag to bring over three bottles of water. Tag handed them to the girls, and before they would take them, they looked at their dad again.

  Again, he said, “It’s ok.”

  Both girls said thank you, and the older girl took the lids off the bottles, and they both started guzzling it down.

  Santiago instructed, “Now, not too quickly girls. Take your time.” He then looked at me, “It’s been a day since they had any water.”

  “When’s the last time you guys ate?”

  He got a guilty look on his face, “It’s been a couple of days.”

  The older girl, Isabella, spoke up, “It’s been longer than that for daddy. He gave us his food and told us he wasn’t hungry.”

  “Well, we can fix that. Why don’t you all come down to the house and we’ll fix you something to eat. Would you like that girls?”

  This time without looking at their dad, they both nodded their heads yes enthusiastically.

  “Oh, I can’t thank you enough. I’ll work for the meal. I’ve been so worried about the girls.”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  I got on the radio and called Kim and told her to prepare some food for three. I looked at Santiago, “I hope you understand that we need to pat you down for any weapons. Under the circumstances...”

  “Oh, I understand, and I don’t have a problem with it. I’ll tell you that I have a knife on my belt under my shirt but I don’t have a gun or anything else.”

  I had Tag pat him down, and Tag took the knife and told him that he would get it back. We then gathered everybody up and headed to the house.

  Kim, hearing that they may not have eaten for a while, fixed soup, as it would be the fastest to warm up and it would be lighter. When people haven’t eaten in a day or two, they have the tendency to eat too much and too fast, and it can make them sick. She also got out some of the homemade tortillas that Angela had made and warmed up some canned chicken and made a form of Quesadillas.

  As we were getting out of the jeep, Santiago looked over at the garden and asked, “Is that your only garden?”

  “Yes, why?”

  He made a scoffing type noise, “Lebowski made it sound like you guys had at least a 10-acre garden. All his lies got so many killed and injured, … I hope all of you folks came out of it ok.”

  Anger came over my face, and I responded, “We lost one.” and I walked towards the house. Santiago could tell it was a sore subject with me and he looked at Tag as though he was saying he was sorry. Halfway into the house, I stopped and turned and asked sternly, “How did you escape being hurt?”

  He looked at me with a bit of shock, “I wasn’t part of the raid. I wouldn’t have been. I know what kind of man Lebowski is, and I know you can’t believe a word he says. But even if you did have a huge garden, it would’ve belonged to you.

  That piece of trash Avery came to the house we were staying in, but I had the door locked and didn’t answer. I had the girls hide, and then I stood behind the door, in case he busted in, but he didn’t. I promise you, I would never be a part of anything like that.”

  I stared at him for a minute with what had to be an intense look, but then I could just tell that he was telling the truth.

  “Come on in. Let’s get some food in you.”

  The girls held on to their father's hands, and you could tell they were a little scared. As we walked in, Kim and Angela greeted them and took them to the dining table. As soon as the girls saw the food, their fear seemed to disappear.

  The girls started to dig in, but quickly Santiago asked, “Girls, aren't you forgetting something?”

  They immediately bowed their heads, and they said a prayer together. They were obviously Catholic as they said, “Bless us O Lord and these your gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

  It was surprising to me as they said it with real meaning. I guess I was so used to hearing Kim’s family, who is Catholic, and they ramble through it a mile a minute. You could barely tell what they were saying, but Santiago had obviously taught his children how to pray with meaning. That was good to see, and it meant something about his character.

  Kim then pulled out three Ensure Nutritional Shakes that she had cooling off in the refrigerator. It wasn’t until that point that Santiago noticed that we had electricity. He sat for a second and started to form a question but then he acted as though he just noticed the sound of the generator and went back to eating. Obviously, he had been scared for his children’s sake, and things were just now slowing down for him, where he was actually noticing more.

  I told everyone that I’d be back in a minute and I gave a sign to Tag to stay and keep an eye on them. That was the amazing part with the guys. After all these years, we were still able to communicate with one another, almost in silence. That’s one of the many reasons we were such a good team while in the Army and why I thanked God for them being here now.

  Mo, who was standing out the back door waiting on me asked, “Well?”

  “Let’s walk around to where Mike’s at.”

  We walked to the platform in front of the house where Mike was keeping an eye on the area.

  Seeing us coming, he climbed down from the platform and asked what I thought.

  “What do you guys think? My mind is all jacked up right now. Don’t hold back, let me know what you really believe.”

  Mo immediately opened up, “We need more people, and he seems like a sincere guy, plus, if you take into account the two girls, it’s hard to turn them away.”

  “We do need more people, but we can’t forget he’s from Pine City. Do we even know how long he has lived there and how he was involved in the attack? If you want my opinion, we need to find out everything we can about him before we even consider it.” Mike added.

  “I agree. He says he wasn’t involved and seemed sincere and I plan on having a long talk with him….. Mo, why don’t you talk to Jake and ask him to come down here. He knows most of the people around here and while you’re doing that, I’ll have a heart to heart with him and then when Jake gets here, maybe we’ll be able to figure out if he’s lying to us at all.”

  Mo agreed and walked over and jumped into the jeep and Mike climbed back onto the platform.

  I walked to the fence in the backyard where the horses were standing. I know this is ridiculous, but they just stared at me, like they were asking me what I was going to do. As I took turns rubbing on their necks, my mind wouldn’t quit thinking about if I made the wrong decision, someone could get hurt or killed. After standing there for a good fifteen minutes, I finally said a silent prayer. “Lord, please help me to make the right decision. I want to do the right thing. I know I need to show compassion and we do need the help. Have you sent them to us or is this just someone that needs our help? Show me the way, please. I want to do the right thing, but I won’t let anyone else get hurt because of my decisions. Please show me what to do.”

  I slowly made my way to the house and then right as I was entering the back door, it hit me how to find out his real intentions. It was going to be taken wrong by the others, but I had to find out the truth. With what I was about to do I needed to be alone wi
th Santiago because I didn’t want anyone else to jump into the conversation.

  As I entered the house, I could hear that Lulu was there and her and the two girls, who had finished eating, were talking up a storm. As I looked around the corner into the kitchen, I could see a smile on Santiago’s face as he was obviously happy that his girls had someone to talk to and most of all, they had a full belly for the first time in a couple of days.

  “More coffee?” Kim asked him.

  “Yes, please. I want to thank you for the meal. I was really worried about the girls. Ever since my wife died…” and he started to tear up.

  “I’m so sorry. If you don’t mind me asking, how long has it been since your wife passed?”

  “Five months ago,” as his tears kept coming.

  “I can’t imagine how hard it has been on the three of you. Again, I’m sorry.”

  He then acted a little embarrassed and then slowly smiled while wiping the tears from his face, “I’m the one that’s sorry. I apologize. I’m just not quite over it yet.”

  About that time, I made my presence known in a strictly business type tone, “Santiago, why don’t you and I have a talk.”

  “Sure.” He said but then acted puzzled wondering what to do with the girls.

  Angela spoke up, “Don’t worry about them, Lulu will keep them entertained.”

  “Yeah, do you want to go out and play in the backyard?” Lulu asked excitedly.

  The two girls showed some excitement but then looked over at their dad and asked, “Is that ok, daddy?”

  “Yes, but stay in the yard.”

  He followed me into the living room. Kim started to follow, but I held up my hand telling her to stay in the kitchen. Tag knew to stay close but also gave us some privacy.

  I stared at Santiago just long enough to make him uncomfortable. When I noticed him start to squirm, I said, “You know Santiago, we lost someone very special to us because I tried to do the right thing and didn’t kill Lebowski when I had the chance. Now, I take it that you want me to allow you to come into our group and take a chance that you’re not up to something. Right now, all I care about is the lives of everyone here, and I’d give my life to save every one of them. To be honest, the lack of trust I have for strangers right now, well, I wouldn’t even be talking to you if it wasn’t for your two daughters.”