Shawn Inmon - The Vigilante Life of Scott McKenzie

“Then, we’re going to build our first section for women vets. They’re out there, too, and there will be more coming,” Sam added.

“Of course, of course. That’s all so great. Plus, there are almost certainly more wars ahead.” Scott glanced at Sam. He and Joe never talked about the future in any detail in front of her. “That’ll mean more vets in need of us for many years to come. I’m glad you guys are young.”

“Right,” Joe said. “So, that means we’re going to need even more barracks and individual houses for these people. It’s all coming. We just wanted to let you know.”

Scott had learned to keep his emotions in check. There hadn’t been room for too many feelings in this life he had chosen for himself. Still, a growing sense of satisfaction spread through him. He looked toward the setting sun and said, “Man, I’m glad I wasn’t ten seconds later getting back to the Dakota that night, or none of this would have happened.”

JOE AND SAM’S PLANS for the adjacent twenty acres proceeded apace. No project that large ever happened quickly, but by 2001, the ground had been broken and once again new buildings were taking place.

When Scott was a year shy of the day he had died in his longest life, he went to the doctor to be tested. Sure enough, they found the earliest stages of prostate cancer. With the early discovery, it was treated and Scott was declared cancer free.

Scott hadn’t shared with anyone what the day was that he had died in that previous life, but as it approached, he felt the old stirring to be on the road again. He borrowed one of the Oasis’s vehicles and drove west to the Oregon coast. As the sun set on what had once been the last day of his life, he sat on a rock, staring out at the frothing Pacific Ocean.

Happy emancipation day to me. When I go to sleep tonight, that will be it. I won’t have any idea what’s coming next. No idea what technological advance or earth shaking news is ahead.

He took a deep breath of the immaculate ocean air and held it deep in his lungs.

And that’s a wonderful thing.

The end of Scott McKenzie’s life was quiet and drama-free, especially when compared to the events that had transpired earlier.

The older Scott grew, the more the violence and uncertainty of that part of his life faded into the background.

The last twenty-four years of his life were spent in service to others. In many ways, he became the patron saint of The Rodrigo Hart Oasis for Veterans. He was the constant face of the Oasis, walking the trails with his weather-beaten jo, beating newcomers at pool and rummy, and always having an ear to listen to anyone.

In early 2018, cancer returned to him, this time in a different form. He cooperated with the treatments for a few months because he was enjoying his life so much and didn’t want it to end any sooner than it had to. Scott had little reason to fear death, although he had many questions about what might happen if he died of natural causes.

He got the chance to find out in the third week of September. The new Scott McKenzie Hospital Oasis for Veterans had been open and helping veterans for more than a decade. It was where he drew his last breath.

Scott was seventy years old and was surrounded by so many whose lives he had touched. His sister Cheryl, who he had once done his best to protect from the storms of their childhoods. Jerry and Lynn Werbeloff, who had been his constant friends for more than four decades. Joe and Samantha Hart, no longer young themselves, but still healthy and vibrant.

In addition, word had spread through the internet that the man once called The Angel was in his last days. Hundreds of veterans, many in a much-better place in their lives than they had been when they met him, came to pay their respects.

It meant everything to Scott to have a last chance to see so many of them, but it made it hard for him to focus on the job at hand, which was to die.

Finally, in the early morning of Friday, September 21, 2018, the ward was quiet. Machines hummed around Scott and his room was lit only by the green lights of the machines constantly taking his vitals.

Now is a good time. I’m tired of the pain and ready to leave.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

It’s been a good life.

Scott McKenzie opened his eyes, mostly expecting to see his grandparents’ old house in Evansville.

Instead, he was in an all-white room. Everything around him was blindingly white—the walls, the ceilings, the benches.

“Hello, Scott, my name is Shamus. Take a moment and get acclimated. When you’re ready to talk, let me know.”

Scott rolled his shoulders, flexed his legs. The pain that had been with him since the moment he had been shot in Vietnam was gone. He felt young and vital again.

He kept his own counsel for a few minutes, breathing in and out, peering around at the endless white.

Finally, he said, “Where am I?”

The disembodied voice said, “You are in the Universal Life Center. This is where all new transfers from Earth start out.”

In a blink, a man sat beside Scott. He was slightly round, bald, and had the most devilishly sly eyes Scott had ever seen. Nonetheless, his face was split with a kind smile.

“It’s a bit of a bear, this initial adjustment. I remember.”

“So, you woke up here, too?”

“Oh, yes, we all did, at one time or another.”

“We?”

“The Agents of Karma. We all work for the Karma Delivery Service. We’ve watched your life carefully. I’m here to offer you a position, if you want it.”

The next book in the Middle Falls Time Travel series will be The Reset Life of Cassandra Collins. It is available for preorder here.

Cassandra Collins is born into a privileged life as the youngest daughter of the wealthiest family in Middle Falls, Oregon. She finds there is a price to pay for privilege and safety, though. At the end of her life, she wishes that she had chosen another path.