Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set

by Rashad Freeman

  “You’re talking like this is over. We’re gonna be okay, Cindy. We can make it there in two days, that’ll be plenty of time. We’re gonna survive this.”

  Her eyes started to water and she wiped her face. “I, I know, Max. It’s just, it makes you think you know? There so many things I wish I could take back. But I can’t and I want you…I want you to,”

  “You’re not trying to leave tonight, are you?” Jake shouted as he barged in the door.

  “No…it’s too dark now. We’ll head out first thing in the morning,” I replied.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Max,” Cindy said then headed out of the door.

  “Wait,” I called after her.

  “Go ahead and finish in here. I know you have a lot to do.”

  She left the room and Jake took up the chair behind my desk. He spun around a few times then stopped and started to look around.

  “This is where you worked, huh?” he asked.

  “Yep, sometimes in Peachtree, but most times here.”

  “Crazy shit, huh? I mean, you knew the world was going to shit and you didn’t tell anyone.”

  I stopped what I was doing and cocked my head to the side. I couldn’t tell if he was asking a real question or trying to be a smart ass. I got my answer soon enough.

  “Just think of how people would’ve spent their time if they knew. It’s a good thing you kept it all to yourself. I mean…I could’ve visited my parents for instance. Did you know they were gonna come down last year for Christmas?”

  “No…no I didn’t know.”

  “Yeah, I told them not to worry about it. That I’d come see them this year. Then this year rolled around and I just didn’t have time. Funny, I would’ve made time if I knew. How do you think Chicago is doing?”

  “Jake, I don’t know.”

  “Probably the same huh? They’re probably dead, my whole family is probably dead. My parents probably roasted to death in their sleep. My sister…you know she got a full-ride to the University? She probably fell in a fucking hole during her economics class. Top-secret huh…thanks, Max. Thanks a lot.”

  “It’s not my fault you didn’t see your parents, Jake,” I replied, trying to let him vent.

  “Yeah, yeah it is. You knew…for years you knew and you said nothing. What kind of fucking friend does that?” he shouted.

  “Don’t do this,” Brent suddenly said from the door.

  “Do what? Tell him how he fucked all of us over? We all feel the same way. I’m just the only one with the balls to say it. Somebody needs to tell him the truth.”

  “The truth?” I scoffed. “Jake, the truth is, you didn’t see your parents last year or the year before that or that. Not because of me, but because you’re a shitty person. You’re an asshole and a terrible son. Don’t blame this on me.”

  “Fuck you, Max!” he jumped to his feet and shouted.

  “Fuck you!”

  Brent rushed into the room and jumped between us. He held his hands out and looked back and forth like he wanted to cry.

  “Stop this!” he roared. “This isn’t gonna help anything. We’re all scared.”

  “I’m not scared. I’m pissed,” Jake shot back. “And don’t act like you’re not. You were our friend, Max…our fucking friend!”

  “We’re friends, we’re all friends,” Brent pleaded. “This isn’t worth it.”

  Jake glared at me then turned to Brent and grunted. With a clenched jaw, he stormed out of my office and slammed the door behind him.

  “He didn’t mean any of that,” Brent said once he was gone.

  “Yeah, he did.”

  Brent frowned. “He didn’t. He…he just doesn’t know how to deal with it. He’s scared and has a lot on his mind.”

  I didn’t reply. For all I knew Brent and Jake had been bitching about me every free moment they had. To be honest, I didn’t know which was worse, being stabbed in the back or the idea that maybe he was right.

  Brent gave me a thoughtful glance then patted my shoulder. I’ll leave you to it,” he said then left.

  I sat in my office alone for half an hour before I finished grabbing what I needed. When I made my way back to the boardroom, Cindy was already asleep on the floor. I’d pulled some blankets out of the supply closet and created makeshift beds. All of the supplies we’d taken from home were lost in the last quake, even my gun. That was something I wanted to replace immediately, but at least I was able to scavenge a few things from the center.

  Everything at the moment just felt surreal. I was just reacting and I knew sooner or later the shock would wear off and I’d be left to deal with reality. It seemed to be much of the same for everyone else, but Jake had cracked. I couldn’t blame him, it was more than anyone should ever deal with. But a lot of what he said, he’d been holding back for a long time. I didn’t think our friendship would ever be the same.

  The next morning I woke up and it was still dark outside. To my surprise, after taking a trip to the basement I found that the electricity was still working. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, but I smiled every time I got to enjoy a little piece of normality.

  Yawning, I lifted myself onto my forearms and cracked my neck. I nudged Cindy and she rolled over and sat up.

  “Time to get moving,” I whispered.

  She groaned. “I was hoping yesterday was all a dream and I was gonna wake up in my bed.”

  “I don’t think we have beds anymore,” I laughed.

  She made a painful smile and lowered her head. I threw an arm around her then gave her a kiss on the cheek

  “It’ll be alright, you’ll see.”

  “You keep saying that,” she snapped. “But how? How will anything ever be alright again?”

  “We’ll make it to Wyoming and we’ll be together,” I replied.

  “What then, Max? What do we do then? You said the world is ending. What do we do in Wyoming? How do we survive and even if we do what kind of life will that be?”

  “It’ll be life, Cindy,” I said and grabbed her hands. “It might not be the life we had, but it’ll be life.”

  “Yeah, a wonderful fucking life,” Jake croaked as he sat up.

  I grumbled then kissed Cindy again and tossed the sleeping bag off of my legs. I reached for my shoes then stopped as my stomach twisted and roared like an angry lion.

  “When was the last time we ate?” I mumbled.

  It had to have been the day before yesterday. We’d been running and scrambling to stay alive and the thought of food hadn’t crossed my mind.

  “I’m hungry too,” Cindy added.

  “There’s a vending machine in the break room and the fridge normally has all types of stuff,” I said as I headed toward the door. “You coming?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Me too,” Brent joined in.

  Jake didn’t say anything, but begrudgingly decided to follow the crowd. We headed down the hall and into the break room. In silence we gorged ourselves with all of the junk food we could find and a bowl of spaghetti I found in the refrigerator. I suspected it couldn’t be more than a week old.

  “So when’s the next meal,” Brent joked.

  I laughed and leaned back in my chair. It looked like no one wanted to move after finally eating. I was headed into a food coma myself and was happy to have time to just relax.

  “We should probably pack this stuff to go. Those tubs of preserved lasagna are gonna get old quick,” Jake said. It was the first time he’d spoken without being a total asshole.

  “Good idea,” I replied.

  He looked at me and made an odd face then started chewing the inside of his gum. Brent cleared his throat and Jake sighed.

  “Okay, okay,” he said in a strained voice. “Look, Max, I was wrong about what I said. I know this couldn’t have been easy. I’m just pissed, dude…not at you, but the situation. I’m sorry I took that out on you.”

  I stared at him for a moment. Deep down I knew Brent had talked him into apologizing and he probably did
n’t mean a word he said. But for now, it was best we got along. There was no telling what was waiting down the road for us.

  “Don’t worry about it, man,” I replied with a grin.

  “One big happy family,” Brent laughed.

  “Guess so.”

  We sat around in silence for a few more minutes then I got up and started throwing things away. I looked around the break room one last time and took a deep breath. I couldn’t believe all of this was happening. It had been more theoretical to me than anything else for so long, a countdown clock to something that would never really occur. But here I was and the world outside was dying.

  “Let’s get moving,” I said.

  CHAPTER 13

  THE BATTLE BEGINS

  I hummed a tune my grandma used to sing as I zipped down the road. The cabin was quiet, too quiet for me and I’d come to fear silence. Everyone else was asleep and as the sun reached its highest point I was starting to feel optimistic.

  “You want me to drive?” Cindy whispered.

  “What? I thought you were sleeping.”

  “I was, then that awful humming woke me up.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She laughed. “I was joking. Where are we?”

  “Just inside of Tennessee.”

  Cindy sat up and stared out of the window. “What’s that?”

  “What?”

  “That…that black thing across the road.”

  I squinted and focused my eyes up ahead. There was something dark stretched out on the road, taking up both lanes.

  “I don’t know,” I replied and started to slow down.

  Suddenly there was a thud against the roof and I jumped. Another one followed then something dark splattered and rolled off of the windshield.

  “What the hell?” Cindy shrieked.

  Something else banged into the hood and a staccato of thuds sounded off of the car’s metal roof. I swerved out of panic, but quickly corrected then slammed on the brakes, sending the car swinging across the road like a happy dog’s tail. In a cloud of eviscerated rubber, we finally came to a stop on the shoulder.

  “Birds,” Cindy mumbled. “Those are birds.”

  Sure enough, there were birds scattered all over the road. Mounds of black and red, clumps of feathers, dripping with thick, sappy goo. They were falling from the sky, raining down on us like hail, like kamikaze pilots.

  “What’s going on?” Brent asked in a groggy voice as he rubbed his eyes and sat up.

  A triplet of clunks rattled the car and Brent shuttered. He jumped to the side and landed on Jake then started to shake him.

  “Wake up, man!” he shouted.

  Swallowing, I grabbed the handle and pulled it toward me. I cracked the door and Cindy suddenly grabbed my arm.

  “Don’t go out there,” she said with a shaky voice.

  “It’s just birds,” I replied.

  I stepped out onto the road and the first thing I noticed was the foul smell in the air. I could taste it in my mouth, like spoiled eggs and battery acid. Coughing, I covered my face and grimaced.

  The next thing that hit me was the heat. It’d been around sixty-five when we left Calhoun, but it had to be closer to eighty now. I pulled off my jacket and laid it on the hood.

  “Dude, what are you doing?” Brent poked his head out and asked.

  “It’s a pile of dead birds.”

  “So what. I can see the damn things falling from the sky.”

  “It was a flock…they’re gone now.”

  Brent opened the door and walked out. He stared up at the sky then looked down on at the scattered ravens that littered the road like dead leaves.

  “Gas maybe?” he said. “Smells like it right?”

  “Maybe…normally wouldn’t make it up that far though. I mean these things were flying when they dropped dead.”

  I turned and looked back where we had come from. The empty road spiraled into the horizon and vanished. The sun was starting its descent and the bleak sky looked like a depressing painting.

  “They’re stiff,” Brent said in shock.

  I turned to find him holding one of the dead birds, poking it with his finger.

  “Don’t touch the damn thing!” I shouted.

  “Why?”

  “We don’t know why the hell they died. Could be anything, some kind of weird disease, maybe even bird flu.”

  He nodded and dropped the bird. With a disgusted face, he brushed his hands against his jeans. I didn’t think that was gonna do much.

  “You’re the smartest dummy I know,” I told him.

  “I think it’s the other way around.”

  “Nah, I meant it the way it came out.”

  We both laughed. It was good to laugh, good to feel normal, even if for only a fleeting second. And that’s all it was because our grim reality was everywhere.

  “We’re gonna hit the city pretty soon,” Brent said lowly.

  “Yeah…I know. That’ll be good since we need gas.”

  “What do you think it’ll be like?”

  “Hopefully it’ll be okay. We haven’t seen anything out here yet. Just be prepared for panicked people everywhere.”

  Brent sighed. “Yeah…yeah that’s what I’m worried about.”

  I shrugged then started to head back to the car. As I closed the door I turned the AC down and leaned my head into the cool air.

  “What’s up with you guys?” Brent asked.

  Cindy was staring forward with an angry snarl on her face and Jake was glaring out of the window like a homesick puppy. I looked at each of them then to Brent. He threw his hands up on confusion.

  “Everything okay?” I turned to Cindy and asked.

  “I’m fine…just tired.”

  “You sure? Did I miss something?”

  “I said I’m fine.”

  “So, it’ll be dark in a few hours. What’s the plan for sleeping?” Brent said, changing the subject.

  “We’ll figure it out when we get to the city.”

  “Shooting from the hip…I like it. Don’t get us all killed, Max.”

  I looked back at him and flipped up my middle finger then cranked up the car. “Put on your seatbelt asshole.”

  It took another two hours before the landscape changed again. The wide sweeping grasslands started to give way to traces of civilization. Up ahead I could see a city in the distance, but as the sun started to fade the glow from the fires twinkled like a warning sign to stay away.

  “What is that? What’s going on up there?” Jake asked.

  “We just need to find a gas station and get to the highway,” I replied. “We keep going through the night.”

  “So, no sleep then? Great.”

  “You’ve been asleep the whole-time, Jake. Shut up!”

  Cindy sat up in her seat and glared out of the window. She didn’t say anything, but I could feel the sense of terror, radiating from her like a hot oven. Or maybe it was my own fear I felt. I stared ahead to the burning city and I knew right then the rest of the world was no better.

  “There’s a gas station,” Brent snapped. “Over there.”

  Up ahead to our left were two small, white buildings connected by a carport. Underneath that was a total of three gas pumps. It was barely noticeable, but it would work.

  It was on the outskirts of the city and looked to still be running. I slowed down and pulled up to one of the pumps. I could see an elderly man standing inside with a nervous look on his face. As I stepped out of the car, he moved toward the front door and the shotgun he was holding came into view.

  “Max,” Cindy warned.

  “I see him. It’ll be okay.”

  I slowly stepped out and held my hands up slightly. I moved from around the door and pointed to the gas pump.

  “Hey…we don’t want any trouble. We just need gas,” I said loudly.

  The man pushed the glass door open and leaned his head out. He had to be in his seventies. His head was completely bald and his thick, white ey
ebrows flared out from under his black, horn-rimmed glasses.

  “Go away!” he shouted back at me and took a few steps out of the door.

  His bloodshot, eyes scanned the lot from side to side. He looked frazzled, and jumped at the sound of his own footsteps. With his free hand, he took a handkerchief from his jean pocket and wiped his forehead.

  “Please…we’re almost out of gas. I have money. We just need to get back on the road. We don’t mean any trouble.”

  “Ain’t got no more damn gas. Whole city is dry. Now get the hell out of here before you bring them back.”

  I scratched my head and groaned. There was no way the whole city was out of gas and we couldn’t afford to leave a working gas station with an empty tank.

  “Sir…” I started. “We, we just need a little gas. Please, we’ll be quick.”

  The man cocked the shotgun and pointed it across the lot. I felt my balls shrivel and I took a step back.

  “I said get the hell out of here! Don’t make me tell you again,” he growled in a raspy tone.

  I thought about pressing my luck further, but he looked like he was about to accidentally shoot me. Getting gas wouldn’t do us any good if we were all dead and without my gun there was nothing else I could do.

  “Okay, okay. We’re leaving…we’re leaving,” I replied.

  I got in the car and quickly pulled back onto the road. The city was maybe ten minutes further and we either needed to find gas there or we’d be walking to Wyoming.

  “What was he talking about?” Brent asked. “Bring who back?”

  “I don’t know. He was crazy.”

  “Well that’s a given.”

  “Well, I try to avoid reasoning with crazy people.”

  The gas needle hovered dangerously over empty. We had to find gas and soon. I sped up and felt a sense of anxiety as the city came closer. It was worse than I imagined and I could see why the old man was so afraid.

  “Do you really think there’s no more gas,” Cindy asked me.

  “There has to be,” Brent jumped in before I could reply. “It’s only been two or three days. That guy probably hasn’t left his little shop in a week. Probably lives there with his sister. That’s how all these backwood assholes are.”