Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

He took the back roads like they used to do when heading to the track. They were able to avoid all of the traffic that way and he knew other than Hillsdale, there was nothing out there. Hillsdale itself was easy enough to get through, just a few lights and stop signs was all. They drove along and made it through with no problems.

Since this was farm country, there were a lot of tractors on the road compared to by the cities. A lot of them loaded up with household goods, Haliday wondered where they were going. No telling what people were doing, hopefully they were banding together. Hopefully people were figuring out they needed each other to survive.

He popped back up onto US12 and looked down the road. This really didn’t seem too bad at all. He looked at Mike. “I’m going to run US12 down a ways and then head north. Ann Arbor is going to be in bad shape and we can’t get that close.” They made it over to 52 and headed north. Haliday kept glancing at the binder. He was close to where he needed to head east, but also had to skirt around a lot of populated areas.

Everything considered, he was doing quite well on the travel time. At this rate, it would be just about three hours tops. He started paying attention more closely to the homes in the areas he passed. He could tell who had fireplaces and who didn’t. Just how much firewood they had would be another question. These people were used to having fires once in a while for atmosphere or romantic settings and not for heat. The homes were not designed to be heated with the fireplaces around here; just not efficient enough.

He always liked the idea of a fireplace, but the practicality of a wood stove for heating was better. Unfortunately he never got around to putting one in. He bought one, but it sat uninstalled in his garage. The stove was one thing, but when he went to buy the hearth stone and wall board along with pipe and roof vent, it got expensive and he always put it off. Three years now actually.

He had gone as far as to even stack free wood when he got it. He had about three full cords which would have been enough for the winter. He was sure the neighbors would use it. Someone would use it for sure, but not him. It would disappear very quickly. Hungry people are one thing, but cold and hungry is another.

They pulled over so he could check the maps and come up with a route. He wanted to avoid Howell and started laying out the route. “Write this down Mike.” He spit out the instructions and Mike wrote them down. “You might have to call out the directions as we go, ok?” Mike said “Ok.” The ham went off.

“Roger, it’s David, we have a problem.”

Haliday said "Hey, nice to hear from you brother. Been a while. Actually, a couple of months." That was the conversation where David had said a couple weeks worth of supplies was plenty. Bet he thinks differently now, he thought. "What’s going on?" Haliday asked him. David went on to explain the situation.

“We got to your house without encountering any trouble. When we got there though, we noticed someone had worked a hole through one of the windows in back. It wasn’t a very big hole, though. We checked the door wall to the deck and sure enough it was open. We went inside to check it out. Everything is gone.” Haliday had to think about this a minute. “Damn,” he said.

“David, is my cat ok?”

David said, “Yes, he was under the covers on your bed. Looks like his food and water is still ok. Roger, aren’t you upset?”

“Yes I am, but what am I going to do about it right now?” he said. “Is everything gone?”

David said, “Yes, cupboards are empty, closets were searched, attic was checked. It looks like it’s all gone. Not sure what you had though. Safe in the bedroom was open and guns are all gone too.”

“I have those with me,” Haliday answered.

Haliday was ticked off now that he thought about it. “Hey, David, anything else missing?”

“Wait a minute I’ll go check.” Haliday forgot he was running back and forth to the truck to use the radio. David came back and said, “No, just looks like your food. That’s all. Everything else was turned over and searched.”

Haliday responded, “Ok, get the garage opened and get the trailer inside. Go get my trailer from the back of the yard and put it in the front yard backed up by Kayla’s window and then put the Cherokee in the garage too. Wait for us there. Couple more hours I’m thinking.”

Haliday said, “Keep a watch out Mike, I’m going to dump those cans of gas in, I’m running low.” They threw 20 gallons in and left it at that. Haliday figured it was enough to get back. What he forgot to ask David was if the gas in the garage was gone. No sense in worrying about that either though, if it’s gone it’s gone. They got back on the road. Haliday looked at the map. They would actually be passing by the hospital. How different it was only 72 hours ago.

Randy and Kevin loaded up the shotgun and took a pistol as well. They headed off to check Sarah’s trailer. Elizabeth gave them a hug and asked them to bring back her daddy. The trailer park was only four miles away and they took off to check it out. When they got there, they found the door wide open and windows broken.

They walked inside and then immediately left. The whole place had been stripped. Literally stripped. There wasn’t any food left, dishes were scattered and broken all over the floor, the furniture was gone, clothes were tossed all over the place, even the TV and DVD player were gone, along with the stereo. That hadn’t taken long at all.

On the way to the Cherokee they noticed a lot of people were watching them. This made them really nervous. They noticed that a few of them started walking their way, so they hurried up and got back in the vehicle and took off quickly. They weren’t going to hang around and answer questions or risk losing the Cherokee.

As they left the trailer park, they passed by a group of people who were sitting outside drinking beer. Randy noticed the couch they were on had been Sarah’s. There was no shame. Those guys didn’t care. In another couple of days they would. Once food was gone, they would change their behavior drastically.

They arrived back at Roger’s and parked the Cherokee in the garage. When they walked inside, Elizabeth ran up to them. “No daddy?” she asked. Sarah went up to her and told her daddy was probably very busy trying to help people and might not be home for a long time. This was her way of finally giving in to his fate.

Rich had turned on the 12V light system Roger had installed. They straightened up the house a little. Next they worked out a watch schedule. It would require two people on guard at all times. With the break in and all of Roger’s food preps gone, they took no chances. They expected the looters to return.

Bev called Roger on the radio. “I have a big favor to ask.”

“Go ahead Mom.”

“Is there any way you can stop by and check on Alan and the family?” Alan had a wife Nancy and two children. A boy Matthew, 12 years old and a girl of 9 named Theresa. Haliday looked at the binder. It would take him about 25 miles out of his way. Away from the direction he was heading.

“You guys going to be able to keep the house secure until I get there?”

“We should be able to.”

“Ok, I’ll drive by the house, but that’s it. I’m not searching the state. I’ll call when I get out of there.” Haliday slammed the mic down. Oh sure, why not a city tour looking for family and friends. Nobody took this preparedness serious! But now of course it was his job to save them and the world.

Dawn called him next. “What do you want us to do?”

“How safe is it there?”

“Well, there’s not much going on.”