Эбби Луби - Nuclear Romance

“You’re a good one.”

An awkward silence.

“Lou?”

“Still here.”

“Don’t do anything crazy, okay—like run around outside? God knows what’s in the air.”

He was tongue tied. “You’re sweet to care—not a sentiment I’m used to hearing really. But aren’t you the one who is in the thick of it? Give me a shout later, okay? Gotta run.”

Jen felt like tearing her hair out. She raced through one scenario after the next to rescue her son. She finally called Diana.

“I’m about half a mile from the school but the traffic is completely stopped. What should I do? What should I do?”

“You have to walk here, Jen. The police are here already. When you get here, tell them you work here, show them your ID. They should let you in.”

“Police? Why?”

“Just come. And be careful.”

Jen pulled off the road on to the shoulder. Some cars behind her inched up while other drivers also pulled on to the shoulder and set off on foot. Jen started walking past the line of cars and toward the residential neighborhood that abutted the school playground. As she passed one car she heard short beeps. She turned around and saw a man leaning across his front seat, his head out the passenger window.

“Jen Elery? Is that you?”

It took her a minute to recognize him. It was Ralph Merkin. His daughter Julie was in Ricky’s class, and the two kids sometimes studied together at the girl’s house after school. Jen would occasionally chat with Ralph when she picked up Ricky. Ralph seemed a solitary and quiet man. His sad, deep-set eyes spoke of some kind of pain, and as they got friendly, he told Jen later about the tragic loss of his wife in a car accident.

Jen stared at him and for a minute didn’t recognize him.

“Jen—it’s me. Ralph. Are you okay?”

Her eyes welled up, and she shook her head.

“Jen—here, let me pull over. Try not to panic, okay?”

He pulled his car off the road and got out.

“Please don’t think I’m crazy, Ralph, but is this real? I’ve been having nightmares about this very scenario over and over.”

“Yes, Jen, unfortunately it’s real.”

“I know. I know. I need to get Ricky out of there.”

“Yes. Let’s go together and get both kids. I guess the best way is to walk.”

“We have to deal with the cops.”

“What?”

“I found out from Diana Chase.”

“The police? Why?”

She told him what was going on at school as they walked quickly, single file along the road. They headed for the neighborhood where the backyards bordered a slim swath of forest. A path through the woods would lead them to the school playground.

“How dangerous do you think it is to be out here?” Jen asked.

“It’s hard to know. Radiation is tricky, you can’t see it or smell it. To tell you the truth, the real danger might be a showdown between the parents and the cops. That’s what’s scaring me right now.”

“We must get the kids before they get on those buses and end up at the reception center. Can you imagine little Julie at a place like that?”

He had no idea what a reception center was, but he noticed she was trembling. As they walked down the sidewalk, they looked for a way to get to the forest and then to the school.

“What happens when we get to school?” he asked.

“We get our kids—that’s all.”

Ralph stopped.

“I don’t know about this. What about the other kids? The kids whose parents are stuck at work in the city or caught in traffic? If they see us taking our kids, they could freak out. And how could we just take our kids?”

“If another parent was in our shoes, would they take our kids with them, Ralph?”

“I don’t care what another parent would or wouldn’t do. It shouldn’t matter. If you’re a parent, you watch out for all the kids, you don’t just stop short and do only for your own….”

They stood on the sidewalk face to face. The honking from the main road seemed to be getting louder. Jen was getting anxious.

“Let’s just get closer, and I’ll call Diana and see what the situation is, okay?”

He shrugged, shaking his head. They could see the woods just beyond one of the homes that didn’t have a fenced-in backyard. They had to chance trespassing on someone’s property without troubling the owner or rousing a watchdog. They quickly cut over the lawn of one house to the path where the ground was wet and swampy and partially under water. They stumbled and splashed through, drenching their shoes. At the edge of the forest they could see the two-story brick building. Ralph stopped.

“Call her,” he said.

Jen yanked her phone out and called Diana. She waited, but the call wasn’t connecting.

“I can’t get through. Shit. What’s going on?”

“I bet the whole world is using their cells, and the lines are overloaded. Keep trying,” said Ralph.

For ten minutes Jen kept hitting Redial.

“Nothing! Nothing! I’m just going in!” She was getting hysterical. “No one can keep me from my kid.”

Ralph timidly put his hand on her arm, but she yanked it away.

“Jen. Wait. Let’s talk this through. How are we going to do this?”

“They have to let me in—I’m a school employee. They just have to.”

“You’re kidding. They’re not going to let anyone in—even you. We have to come up with another plan.”

Just then her cell phone rang. It was Diana.

“Thank God. We couldn’t get through, and we are right here in the woods…”

“What do you mean ‘we,’ Jen?”

“I’m with Ralph Merkin; he wants to get his daughter Julie. She’s in Ricky’s class. It’s okay, isn’t it, Diana?”

“You and I aren’t having this conversation, Jen. All I know is you won’t be able to get in the front door.”

“Then just how the hell are we going to get in, Diana? Jesus Christ!”

The woman was losing it.

“Jen. Let me talk to Ralph.”

Jen handed the phone to Ralph.

“Hi, Ms. Chase. Thanks for telling us what’s going on at school. Is there any way we can get in the building to rescue our kids?”

“Look, we never spoke, get it? I can try to unlock the back door in the next ten minutes, but no promises. I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

“Thanks, Ms. Chase. Your secret is safe.”

He gave Jen back her phone. “She’s a good one, that Ms. Chase. We should have no problem if she can unlock the back door.”

“Then what?”

Ralph didn’t answer. He hadn’t considered where they would go, or even a safe place to go. Could they get to their cars and drive far away from the plume? And where exactly was the radiation at that point? If the roads stayed as jammed as they are now, where would a safe place be within walking distance?

“I don’t know, Jen. We’ll cross that bridge….”

The policemen spread out, trying to cover a wider area in front of the school doors. One pressed a walkie-talkie to his ear.

“Can’t get through,” he said.

“What are we supposed to do?” asked a younger cop.

Earlier, when the police were sent to the school, they had strict orders not to allow parents to go inside. It was the law, and they had to maintain order.

But in the last fifteen minutes, a mob of angry parents had marched down the driveway and closed in on the cops who were trying to hold the line in front of the school. If they let them inside, it would be pandemonium, something they were explicitly told to avoid. Why couldn’t parents just drive to the reception center to get their kids?

They needed some direction but couldn’t get through to their lieutenant. Cut off from the outside world meant they didn’t have a clue what was going on. For now, they would just have to hold their ground, no matter what.