Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“GET THE FUCK OUT!”

The driver didn’t have to be told twice. Wiping a glob of bloody spit from his cheek along with a chunk of something Manuel didn’t dare try to identify, he jumped out of the cab like it was on fire and ran screaming down the street. Richard climbed into the driver’s seat and realized he had one more task to attend to before he could drive away.

Beauford was still sitting in the back of the truck, the rear doors wide open, inviting him to disembark. The man was too terrified to do anything but tremble in fear.

“Get out of the truck, Beauford,” Richard said calmly.

“Richard, what are you doing? I don’t understand.”

“Oh yes, almost forgot. Before you go, Beauford, I need you to do something for me.”

“Richard, this doesn’t make any sense! Why’d you do it?”

“Beauford! Be quiet and listen to me. OK, very slowly, with the thumb and index finger of your left hand, I want you to reach across and slowly take out your taser and toss it up here to me.”

“Please don’t hurt me, Richard. Please.’

“I’m not going to hurt you, Beauford. I’m sorry I had to break your nose. Now, do like I told you, nice and slow.”

Beauford smiled at the apology. He knew Richard didn’t mean to hurt him.

“Beauford, you’re not going to try and shoot me, are you? You’re shaking so bad I promise you’ll miss and things won’t go well for you.”

Beauford did what he was told and tossed the taser into the seat next to Richard.

“Good, Beauford. Thank you. Now, toss the restraint key and your smartphone up to me. And Beauford, before you leave, grab some gauze out of the container to your left.”

Beauford tossed the cuff key up and Richard caught it. He dug for his smartphone and tossed it behind Richard’s chair. “Gauze? Why do you need gauze, Richard?”

“No, Beauford, you need gauze. Your nose is still bleeding. You know why I had to break your nose, right?”

“Huh?”

“Beauford, if I didn’t break your nose, they might have thought you helped me escape. Now you can tell them whatever story you want about how you tried to stop me.”

“Richard, why are you doing this? I don’t think a jury would even convict you.”

“I appreciate that, but I have something that can’t wait. Goodbye, Beauford.”

Beauford climbed out of the truck and nursed his broken nose.

Richard Dupree shifted the gear down into drive and turned the ambulance around, facing north. He started down the empty road toward the mountains on the horizon.

He was a free man.

Hurricane Maxine made landfall on the eastern edge of Galveston Island at 3:52am local time. The Category 5 hurricane didn’t break any of the records set the previous month by Hurricane Luther. She did, however, come very close. Unlike Luther, Maxine did not make landfall and then go back out to sea only to return to shore. Once she came ashore, she took her sweet time traveling to Houston. She slowly churned water from the Gulf of Mexico and brought it along with her for the trip, flooding the entire area from Galveston all the way into Houston. Winds in excess of one hundred ninety-five miles per hour brought Galveston Bay spilling into the Greater Houston area. Torrential rains flooded South Texas for the better part of twelve hours. Where Luther was a wrecking ball to the state of Florida, Maxine was like a fractured dam spewing water down on the state of Texas.

Chief Maxwell Harris had spent a good portion of the night filling sandbags to keep the rising water out of his command post at the local high school. He had a stack of sandbags three high at both doors leading into the locker room. He thought it would be sufficient but soon realized he needed to double the height. It was a risky decision, given that he had to venture outside to fill up the sandbags.

“Is it going to be enough?” asked Elizabeth.

“I think so; let’s just hope the gym can withstand this bullshit. If it blows away we might be treading water in here.”

“I hope you’re exaggerating,” Dr. Stone said.

“Maybe just a little. If this continues, the water could get up to our waists.”

“This is a nightmare. I’m betting most of the town is underwater,” Elizabeth stated with a worried look on her face.

“Not just the town, most of the region. I can’t imagine what it’s like out there or how we’re going to get to safety.”

“You’ll think of something, you always do,” Elizabeth stated.

“How are you feeling?” Max sat down next to Elizabeth.

“Very sore. Breathing is still hard.”

“Bruised ribs tend to have that effect on people.”

“Yeah, I figured that out pretty quick.” Elizabeth sat up in her cot and fixed her hair.

“I know this isn’t really the time or the place, not sure if it will be for a long time, but I was just wondering how you felt about everything I said earlier.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know … something. You change your mind about me? Think I’m a reckless asshole who murdered two innocent people?”

“Max, honey, stop. You didn’t murder anyone, it was an accident. I’m sure you’ve done a fine job of torturing yourself. Explains a lot about you, why you always taking the path of least resistance. You have to move on with your life and make a difference. You can accomplish anything you put your mind to.”

“I love you, Elizabeth.”

“I love you, too.”

“Too soon?”

“Not soon enough. Get over here and kiss me.”

Max leaned over and placed his hand on the back of her head. He very slowly pulled her in and gently pressed his lips to hers. Elizabeth giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know. I was trying to make up a joke about this being our first date.”

“You mean you couldn’t think of something clever to say? I’m shocked. Am I that good of a kisser?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m pretty doped up on pain meds. Don’t know how you manage to function on these things.”

“You’re just a lightweight. I prefer to think my kisses distracted you.”

“Sure, keep thinking that, stud.”

Max got up from Elizabeth’s cot and turned on his flashlight. He checked on the other occupants of the locker rooms. Very few of the adults were sleeping; the children were more fortunate. Max shined his light out into the gymnasium and saw several inches of water. The damaged portions of the ceiling allowed water in like a faucet.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“What?” Max turned around to see a very solemn Kathy standing there.

“Chief, don’t tell me what I want to hear. Tell me the truth.”

“Kathy, I know as much as you do. Charlie is a sharp guy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he climbed into a boat and tied it to a stop sign. You want to know my honest opinion?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a very good chance that he is dead, but we don’t need to think like that. Does us no good worrying about information that we don’t have. I think it’s safe to say that a great many people are dead. The only thing we need to concentrate on is keeping each other alive. We’ll deal with the rest when the time comes.”

“I know. I’ll do whatever it takes. I gotta say, Chief, you’ve really impressed me during all of this. I thought I could say I knew Maxwell Harris. Seems like I’m meeting him for the first time.”

Max smiled. “Thanks. I’d forgotten who I was. I’d pretty much given up on doing anything with my life. I just wanted to be left alone and coast my way through. I guess it took a life threatening disaster to open my eyes and start living again.”

Kathy smiled as they both stood in the doorway, not really knowing what to say. She decided to change the subject. “Looks like the wind is starting to calm down.”