Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

“I’m looking for my brother Alan.” The neighbor only slightly recognized him, but more so he saw the family resemblance.

“Have you seen him?”

“No, haven’t seen anybody, but I just got home last night. Haven’t seen anybody around here since then.”

“Thank you,” Haliday said. “I’m going to go in and check it out.” They walked around to garage and he tried the handle, but it was locked. It seemed the whole house was locked up. He went to the Tahoe and grabbed a pry bar. He used it to force the garage door open.

Once inside he called out to see if anyone answered. There was no answer at all. He started to do a search of the house and started by the kitchen. He walked in and looked around. He spotted some paper on the table under a glass. He picked it up and read it. He didn’t know what to make of it.

Waited for the kids to walk home from school. Then we waited as long as we could. Packed up what we had and went to Ken and Barb’s. We’ll stay there as long as we can. Hope you make it there. We love you.

He assumed Nancy and the kids were here and left the note for Alan.

Haliday was glad the kids got home ok and they went to stay with someone, but he had no idea where that might be. He looked around for an address book, but figured there wasn’t one. She most likely kept it all in her phone and on her computer like everyone else these days. Nothing he could do here. If it had been close he would have picked them up, but he had no idea where they were.

He went in the garage and looked around. He spotted a five gallon can of gas that was almost full. He went and dumped it in the Tahoe. He went back in the garage and walked over to Alan and Nancy’s Harleys. He pulled the fuel line from the tanks and emptied them into the gas can and dumped that in the Tahoe as well. He got about an extra 10 gallons total, which was good enough.

He loaded everyone up and looked around. People were just standing there. To him it almost looked like the zombie apocalypse. These people looked that far out of it. Unshaven facial hair, unwashed hair, dirty clothes, dirty faces, blank stares and that look of despair. What the hell were they waiting for? These were upper middle class, who thought they were immune to disaster and probably counted on a government rescue. Wait until the lower class gets a hold of them. Wait until they turn on each other.

He was thinking about the note saying the kids made it home from school. Since Kayla was in college he hadn’t really thought about that. He wasn’t worried about the junior high or high school kids. What the hell did they do with the smaller elementary school kids? Did you turn loose a 5 or 6-year-old? Hell, a 7 or 8-year-old? That was scary to even think about. In some areas they needed buses to get home.

He guessed that they might have food for a while at the schools, but eventually that would run out. What about the staff? How long were they willing to stay and watch them if that was even the case. Would people be able to walk there, pick up their kids and make it home? With so many people relying on two family incomes to live, he wasn’t sure how many would have been close enough. He didn’t really want to think about it.

Mike said, “Hey, we going to get back on the road?”

“Oh ya, I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Nothing really.” There was no sense in sharing his concern with the rest of them; there was nothing they could do anyway. The thought of kids in school or abandoned haunted him a bit. It was time to get home now though. He pulled out of the neighborhood ready to get home.

“Listen Mike, what do you say we run the highways as far as we can go?” Mike asked if that was risky.

“Well, it’s the quickest way to get back home and there might be some issues, but look at it like this. We’ll be clear of Detroit, so we are avoiding that sewage dump. I figure we have an hour and a half using the highways or four if we use the county roads and smaller streets.

“I think it’s worth the risk. Too many little cities on the county roads, the gas mileage sucked, and the highways should be clear of people as they most likely found their way into the neighborhoods and I’m betting we only have to dodge cars. I’m tired, I’m sore, and I want the hell out of this damn truck.”

“Do it Dad,” Kayla said.

Linda said, “Whatever Mike thinks is good with me.”

And Mike said, “Ya, let’s do it.”

He knew the way home from here and he was ready to get there. He dreaded making this call. Everyone was still listening and waiting for the report when he came back on the air.

He had dumped the radio protocol long ago and as long as he didn’t reveal last names or locations, no one knew who they were, where they were, or what their plans were. Everyone else understood this as well, so he just clicked the mic and laid it all out there.

“You guys out there?” He got the two responses. “Ok listen. Alan’s house was empty. It appears Nancy was home and the kids made it home ok. They waited and then packed up and went to a friend’s house. No idea who, no idea where. There’s no sign of Alan, he might have made it home and then went there later, I don’t know.”

Bev asked him if he checked the area.

“No, not at all. I kept an eye out for his truck around the general area as we drove in, but we are getting back on the road now.”

“Can you just look around a bit more?” she asked.

“No.” He left it at. She didn’t argue the point either. She knew it would be a losing battle with Roger. Roger understood the endgame more than anyone else here. He was thinking about his brother in Missouri and sister in Texas, wondering how they were doing right now.

It was late afternoon now and would be dark in a couple more hours. On the highways there was the occasional vehicle, but not many. He did notice a couple people looking through cars and just figured them to be looters. He kept telling himself, just three lousy days. The zoo gates opened and the animals were set free.

After dodging the cars for about an hour he was heading north on one of the main roads called Telegraph and hung a right on Square Lake road. This would dump him onto I75 for about a mile where he would pick up 59 East back toward his house. He couldn’t help himself; the hospital was too close to pass up. He could hang a left, pass by, then within another five minutes jump on M59 directly.

He passed the hospital slowly. It was just a big dark building lurking there as dusk set in. In another 30 to 45 minutes, it would be totally dark. He looked at all the buildings on the property and it was clearly evident they had been ransacked a long time ago. He had no idea who was left in the building and he didn’t care. No doubt the residents of this place they called Ponticrack had done a thorough job taking what they wanted.

He popped up unto 59 and headed east. It was like déjà vu. He remembered all of the cars being here and the trip he made with the old man within just an hour of the event. He was passing by the little strip mall and saw that the grocery store had the windows broken out and just as he predicted, it was completely empty.

He pulled into the parking lot and slowly drove by. Definitely empty. He drove by the pizza joint and noticed it too was empty, nothing at all, not even the pop. He pulled out onto the road and started to head for home. Just another mile, that was it. They would be home, they would not be there long, but it was still home.

Kayla screamed out, “Stop Dad, stop!” He hit the brakes hard. Max had taken up residence on the center console and tumbled forward. He looked up at Haliday, who just smiled. They had a love-hate relationship, they loved to hate each other. What was it he missed? He started looking around.