Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

“No, not really, a drop in the bucket considering,” he answered back. “About two month’s worth of canned goods and dry goods.” Still it made him angry. He peeked in the garage, but didn’t comment.

He called for a meeting. Everyone gathered around. “Look,” he said, “this hasn’t gone as planned and it’s probably not going to be any easier. This is what we have to accomplish in the morning and through tomorrow night.” He laid out the objectives and asked if there were any questions. No one had any. He wandered off to his bed and crashed hard. Morning would be here soon, and then it was back on the road.

Haliday got up and walked out into the living room. Everybody else was already up. He looked around and they all looked at him. He went back into the bedroom and put on some clothes. He was used to walking around either naked or in just his underwear, thank goodness he had his underwear on. He looked down at his cat, seemed like he had made a friend with the mutant dog. “Romeo, you’re a traitor,” he said. Bev’s cats could have cared less about the dog.

When he walked back out into the living room, he could see them cooking breakfast and could smell fresh coffee in the percolator. David said, “Nice bruise I saw there, how did that happen?”

Roger said, “Long story. Thank goodness for body armor.” Blake was at the griddle making pancakes. There was a pitcher of Tang too. This kid may be alright if he stays away from Kayla. Everyone ate and then enjoyed some coffee before getting to work.

He called Dawn, but Diana answered. “You guys ready to go,” he asked.

“Pretty much, I guess.”

“Well, get started as soon as you can. It’s going to take you guys a little bit longer to meet us at the first checkpoint. Do the same thing, use tight security. Is your mom able to drive the ranger ok?” She said she could with no problem. “Ok then, let me know as soon as you guys head out.”

Haliday asked David to get the Tahoe hooked up to his trailer. David couldn’t figure out why Haliday wanted it in front of Kayla’s bedroom window, but figured he was just tired when he had asked or maybe it was closer for loading. He had the biggest trailer out of the group. He had a 7X16 dual axle, with extra height and a ramp door. “Put it right at the walkway with the ramp on the cement. That will make it easier to load.”

David looked at him and told him there wasn’t much and they could have it loaded up in 10 minutes. “I don’t think so David. Just do me a favor and do it please.” David and Kevin went outside and got it hooked up and moved. They then backed the Cherokee up to the garage door, but didn’t open it or connect the other trailer yet. They just wanted it ready.

David said “Ok guys; get the stuff in the garage into the trailer.” “No, no, no,” Haliday interjected. “There’s a specific loading plan I have in mind. This way everything will fit.”

Bev said, “Roger, in case you forgot you don’t have much to load.”

“Ya, that’s what you think?” They all looked at him.

“Listen up, this is the drill. Linda, Kayla, you guys will stand guard on the trailer and in front of the house and door. One on each side, make sure you can see each other and up and down the street and around the sides of the house. Mom and Sarah you do the same thing, but in back.” He gave them each a plastic whistle he had bought at a novelty store for two bucks a dozen. “Whistle if ya need us.

“Dad, I want you up in the front of the trailer to direct the load. No heavy lifting, just observe and instruct. I don’t have an AED and we can’t deal with heart problems.” Rich had stents put in years back and had suffered a heart attack then. “The rest of you will form a bucket brigade, and I mean that literally.” David and Kevin came back in. He stationed them between the front door and just inside Kayla’s bedroom. Sarah’s daughter just stood and watched.

Haliday walked over to Kayla’s closet. It wasn’t big, it was just a typical wall closet that spanned the width of the wall and was about two feet deep. He knelt down off to one side, moved a bunch of various items and grabbed the edge of the carpet and pulled up hard. Under the carpet there was a small hatch about 24X32 inches. He had cut a small finger hole in it and managed to pull it up. He reached down and hit a switch and it lit up.

David was there in the room with him. “What the hell is all that going on down there?”

Roger just looked at him and smiled. “Well, put all your eggs in one basket and you’re screwed if you trip on your way to the market. I planned on possibly tripping, so I built this. It took time to do it without anyone knowing, but when it was done it worked like a charm.”

Haliday’s house sat on a Michigan basement. It was only a little more than six feet deep and looked more like a crawl space from the road. But it was all concrete floor and cinder block walls. In the back of the house was a large half door to access it. You opened that door and took a couple small steps down and you were there. The furnace, hot water heater, well pump, sump pump and water softener were down there.

When you looked around you saw a square basement. Cinder block walls, waterproofed, with one inch foam insulation glued to the walls. It was solid all the way around. You could peel off the foam and scrape the waterproofing, but you still had cinderblock. No big deal. Why the builder had never gone another two blocks to make it a full basement though, he never figured out. Haliday was the second owner and didn’t know why it was never done, except maybe the water table was too high.

Haliday’s house however had a unique shape. When you approached it there was an attached garage on the left that jutted out, Kayla’s bedroom on the right that jutted out, and the walkway to the porch which was in the middle. Kind of a “U” shape. There was no crawl space under the garage for obvious reasons, but there was under Kayla’s room.

He had started in her room by cutting in the hatch access and reinforcing the joists. Then he would bring cinder blocks and mortar through the garage and down the hatch where he sectioned off the area under her bedroom. After going in the main section and applying the waterproofing and insulation along with a few small touches, it looked completely natural.

The hatch being in the closet was in a space no one walked on so it would not have that flexing give that most floor hatches had. Being a typical high school girl, no one wanted to go near the closet anyway. Too much teenage girl stuff lying around. Haliday didn’t like going near it. He never cleaned it because it reminded him of Kayla, and he would glance in there when he was missing her.

With this being done, Haliday had a cache right at the house that was 10X12 and a bit over six foot deep. This was loaded with buckets upon buckets of food and cases of food and other supplies. He never stored water because he backed a small lake and would filter it or filter water from the sump. He was still on well and could power the well pump too.

He had gone with square buckets to save on space. Round buckets were cheaper, easier to get, but square really saved space and made a big difference. He did have some round ones too, but not too many. He jumped down into the crawl area. He looked around. Everything was still here. This was great news.

He climbed out and David asked if everything was ok. “Ya, I just need one of the kids down there lifting instead of me. I won’t be able to do it.” He switched places with Blake. “You’re going to earn your keep today, Blake.”

“I don’t mind Mr. Haliday.” He preferred being called Roger, but wasn’t going to let this kid get too comfortable too quickly.