Jacqueline Druga - Under the Gray Skies

Whatever front rolled in, did so fast, and with a vengeance.

It was completely clear why Callie’s orders were changed.

It was change, or die in the weather. That scared me.

Driving was dangerous, it worked in our favor that there were no other cars on the road.

I thought about stopping. In fact we discussed it. However, we weighed our options. While I feared driving in the storm, I feared stopping more. We stood a chance of not only pulling over, but freezing over.

We pushed on.

It was still early, we made good time up to that point and only had a hundred and fifty miles to go until we reached Madison’s home. Even at a much slower pace, barring any problems, we would get there before dark.

The drive was silent and slow. My hands hurt from squeezing the wheel and my back ached from being tense and leaning forward the whole ride.

But we arrived.

We passed the abandoned camp just before we hit town. It had been abandoned so fast the tents still remained. Most of them had blown over and were frozen. They didn’t even move with the wind. Tables, chairs and cots were scattered everywhere.

“They just pulled out this morning,” I said. “Didn’t they? Isn’t that what Callie said? They were pulling out this morning?”

Del shook his head. “I don’t know. Kansas was pulling out. Maybe they left yesterday. It had to be. This didn’t hit that fast, did it?”

It was at that moment I saw the look on Madison’s face.

She looked worried.

“They left,” Madison said. “They had to have left. I’ll kill him if they didn’t.”

I looked once more before we drove beyond the camp. “I’m willing to bet they did. We’ll go in the house, look for a note or something, and then move on.”

Madison nodded.

Something was different when we drew nearer to her neighborhood. There were cars parked. While there was no sign of people, there also was no sign of any rush to leave. Could they all have walked to the camp? Was that possible?

Madison’s street was no different. After following her directions of, ‘turn here, no turn up there’ we arrived on her street. It looked as if everyone was just settled in for a cold winter’s night.

“Last house on the end,” she said. “Oh, God, they haven’t left yet.”

Sure enough, there was a SUV in the driveway.

“Maybe they took the military bus,” Del said. “I know Bruce is good with cars, but if the cold got his, he probably took the boys to the camp.”

I parked in front of her house.

“He boarded up the living room windows,” Del said. “Probably sealed off a room. They weren’t like that when I was here.”

Madison grabbed the door handle. “Then they’re still in there.”

“Madison, wait…” I tried to stop her.

When she opened the door, a gust of cold blasted in and she wheezed loudly, closing the door quickly.

“Cover your mouth and face,” Del instructed. “Lacey, leave this running. We can’t take a chance of it not starting.”

Madison zippered her coat as far as she could, took a deep breath and opened the door.

She was filled with enthusiasm to run to the house, convinced that Bruce and the boys were there.

I hoped they weren’t. If they were, they needed heat, and I didn’t see any smoke to indicate there was warmth in the house.

I stepped out last, just about the time Madison made it up her walk and to the front door. Del was right behind her. It was hard to focus. My eyes watered immediately and the cold was biting against my skin.

Keeping my hand over my mouth to filter the air, I walked up the path.

The front door of the modular style home was locked.

“I’ll go around back. See if I can break a window and get in,” Del suggested and walked away.

Madison bounced from heel to toe, from the cold and nerves.

I looked at the house. It felt still. That was when I saw the front window, although boarded up was open. A circle was cut into the board, the size of a dryer vent hose.

“What is taking so long?” Madison asked.

“It’s only been a minute.” My eyes stayed focused on the hole.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

She looked at the window. “Oh, he made a vent. Bruce is so inventive.”

“There’s no steam, smoke or heat coming out,” I said.

“The room is small. To conserve, he probably just doesn’t have it on now. Good call.” She walked over closer to the window.

“Good call on what?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

Madison leaned closer to the circle. “Bruce!” She screamed into the hole. “Bad Bruce. Caleb! Mommy’s here. Open the door.”

While she called into the hole, the front door opened.

I thought, when I heard it, that everything was all right.

Until I spun around and saw it was Del.

He looked at me and shook his head.

What? Why was he shaking his head? Were they not there?

After a second I realized that look on his face wasn’t because they weren’t home.

“No.” I said softly.

“Oh, good, you got the door.” Madison reached for the screen porch door.

“Madison,” Del said softly. “Don’t go in there.”

“Why not? I have to go in,” Madison said as if he were silly. “I have to see if they left word.”

“They didn’t.”

“I don’t understand,” Madison said. “It’s cold, step aside.”

“Madison please.” He held out his hand to her. “Don’t go in.”

“Are they there?”

“They are there.” He lowered his head.

“Then I need to go in.” She rushed inside.

Del raised his eyes, they were glossed over. Immediately my insides shook and a sickening knot formed in my stomach.

“No,” I said.

Del nodded.

I backed up and a range of emotions swept up my body causing a burning sensation in my chest. I wanted to vomit. My heart broke for Madison. How did it happen? Del had just seen them. They were fine. Madison was so hopeful and optimistic. It couldn’t be. No way.

Maybe he was mistaken, maybe he was wrong maybe they were sleeping… I thought, staying positive, until I heard the long, gut wrenching cry from Madison.

A single scream that was mixed with a sob deep from the soul. That scream said more than any words, it struck more than any physical blow. I knew at that instant, her journey had come to an end… Madison’s family was dead.

Sorry wasn’t enough. There wasn’t a strong enough word in the English language to describe what I wanted to convey to Madison. The last thing I wanted to do was go into the house and see, but I had to, for Madison I had to go in there.

Without a doubt, I believed Bruce was waiting for her. Madison was absolutely correct when she said he was resourceful. He had a plan.

He sealed off the living room, lined it with insulation and built an impressive wood burning heater. He created a vent system using a hose that went to the hole in the window.

But something went wrong. Something very simple went awry.

It was a heartbreaking scene. Bruce was on the reclining chair with a blanket and the two boys were on the sofa. Each taking an opposite end. All of them looked peaceful, as if they were sleeping. Eyes closed, resting position, completely unaware that every breath they took was killing them. The house was cold and their bodies were frozen, they weren’t decomposed and looked unlike any bodies we had seen.

From what Del and I determined, the back hose on the makeshift heater was knocked off and Bruce and the boys passed away in their sleep, more than likely from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The cat, we believed was the culprit. It was the only explanation because Bruce and the boys were across the room from the heater and the gray and white cat lay dead a few feet from it.