Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

Diana and Dawn both looked at each other and backed away from the window. Dawn aimed her pistol toward the window. Diana saw the figure getting ready to climb on the roof and she turned on her flashlight. All they saw was the figure try to climb unto the roof, heard a man yell and then tumble down into the bushes below.

Diana thought it was actually amusing, but Dawn reminded her someone just tried to break in. They didn’t go near the window in case someone shot at them. The nails had done the job. They didn’t plan on sleeping tonight now, just planned on getting ready to go.

It was almost five in the morning now and almost 72 hours since the EMP hit. The weather had started to turn colder. That was what you got in Michigan. 70 degrees on one day and 40 the next day. This close to winter, there would be far fewer warm days and they would have to prepare for that. It was almost a blessing it happened now and not in the dead of winter. Traveling in snow would be very difficult.

Everything was packed and ready to go now. They triple checked everything and did a walk through of the house four times, making sure they had taken what they wanted. Karen stood there and cried. This had been their home since her divorce years ago and they had made it their kingdom. They had folk art, knickknacks and reminders of their Norwegian heritage and they hated to leave it. All three of them cried and couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

They went into the garage where the ATV was waiting. The sun would be rising and people would be getting up soon and they wanted to be out of here before it became apparent they were leaving. Diana opened the garage door and Dawn pulled the ATV out into the driveway and then backed up to connect the trailer to it.

Diana and Karen kept their eyes open for trouble. Dawn then pulled forward and they closed the garage door and put a few padlocks on it. With no one here, it was just a target eventually anyway; no sense in trying to make it Fort Knox.

Dawn made Diana walk out by the street and check that area out. Diana protested, but Dawn just looked at her and said go. She walked out, looked around and looked across the street. The guy with the old car that broke down had come outside and was watching them intensely. Karen climbed in the front seat next to Dawn and they pulled out toward the street. At the end of the driveway Diana jumped into the back seat and they slowly moved out into the road.

As they were pulling out Dawn looked at her neighbor and flipped him the finger again. He returned the salute promptly and all three of them noticed his hands had bandages on them. Diana said, “That prick tried to break in last night. We should have shot him. He’ll be breaking in as soon as we are gone.”

Karen said “Let him, nothing left but a drum full of water in the basement.” The rest was just memories that they had to take with them in place of the physical items.

As they travelled east a bit they only got a few strange looks, but they still maintained a vigil to keep themselves safe. They would have to snake through some neighborhoods to avoid the main roads and populated areas in order to end up about 18 miles north near Metamora. Here they would stay until they got word to move to the next point. There weren’t a lot of people where they were heading and it was harder to get to than where they had been. It was far more rural.

What a sight this thing was. This double seat ranger towing this small 5X8 single axle trailer loaded to the hilt with who knows what inside. Actually it was a large amount of food and water and their personal items, which was not much at all except for Diana’s. Diana had packed like it was the end of the world. In a sense it was, but there was a lot she wouldn’t need. Business attire wasn’t on this year’s post apocalyptic fashion runway.

The ranger was pretty much stock, except for the engine mods to make it run and the tires. The tires had been changed from their beefier off-road rubber to a set more suitable for pavement. They could always change them out if the need to remain off pavement was needed. The trailer was just a plain trailer with added locks. In a pinch they could sleep inside if they emptied it and were in a safe location. They were on their way; Dawn called Roger and told him.

About the same time over at Haliday’s parents, they were all sleeping. Randy was supposed to be up keeping watch, but he fell asleep. He was jolted awake by a pounding on the door. He went over and asked who it was. He heard a familiar voice, “It’s Uncle David, let us in.” Randy wasn’t sure what to do. He heard his uncle say “Hurry up Randy, Bobby is hurt.” He opened the door and David, who was carrying Bobby, rushed into the house.

“Go get grandma,” he said. Randy just stood there looking. “Go now.” Randy closed and locked the door and ran to get Bev. Bev came out into the living room to find Bobby lying on the ground bleeding from his head. David was trying to hold a t-shirt against his head and Bobby just screamed in pain. Bev told Randy to go into the basement and bring up the plastic container marked first aid. Rich and everyone else got up at this point after hearing the screaming.

Bev grabbed a blanket and put it under Bobby’s head. "What happened?" she asked. David was shaking. He was a big guy, not really in great shape, and the incident had taken a toll on him. He had halfway carried Bobby about a quarter of a mile as fast as he could. He was breathing heavy, he was frightened for his son, and what he was saying didn’t make sense. No one could really understand him at the moment, he was winded.

Bev moved the t-shirt and looked at Bobby’s head. Most people would have fainted, but after six kids and the accidents they had growing up, it was almost normal to her. “David, don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks, he’ll be ok.” She put the t-shirt back. Randy had come up from the basement with the large container. Bev looked at David and told him he would have to hold him still. She told Randy and Kevin to help him.

She went over to the sink and used a bottle of water to wash her hands. She took another bottle over to where Bobby was. “Put him on the coffee table,” she said. They put him on the coffee table and she pulled up a kitchen chair next to his head. She put on a pair of latex gloves. “Ok, hold him down.” She removed the t-shirt again and took a flap of skin the size of an orange peel and lifted it up and poured water over it rinsing the area well.

She placed it back and held it there. “Rich, go wash your hands and come back and put some gloves on.” Rich did as instructed and came over. “Hold this in place,” she said. He held the flap of skin down, but didn’t watch what was going on. Bev pulled out a suture kit and stitched the flap in place. “It’s not going to win awards, but it’ll have to do.” She covered it with a clean dressing. She dug out some antibiotics they had bought on the net. He’ll need to take these just in case of an infection. "Now what happened?" she said.

David had caught his breath and began to tell them how he had made it home and waited to see if his girlfriend would show up. Bobby had actually said she would go to grandma’s house because it was closer. It made sense, so they set out for the house. They had stopped in the evening behind an abandoned shop and took a nap and rested. When they woke up they started out again. They ran across a woman walking down the railroad tracks about a quarter mile away from here.

This woman looked like she had been through the ringer. She was maybe in her fifties, thin build, oversized clothes on, missing some teeth, ragged hair. When they encountered her, Bobby had said, “Look Dad, I think she’s a bum.” The woman had started walking up to him screaming and yelling about being called a bum and David told her to back off. He wasn’t armed and had no way to defend them. He tried to walk away, but she kept telling them, “You ain’t no better than me now, you gonna learn life’s hard knocks now.”