Mark Tufo - The End Has Come and Gone

"Gary!" I shouted. I had awoken Travis, although the fact that he slept through that caterwauling was impressive.

“… from the..." Gary trailed off as I shook his shoulder. "Hey Mike," he said with a large grin.

"Having some fun there brother?" I asked him.

"Who doesn’t love a good love song?" he asked in response.

"Depends on who is singing it," I barbed back.

"I guess that's true," he answered, thinking about it. I could tell though that not once did he question the validity of his rendition, "What's up?"

I started flipping through the atlas and alternating between road signs trying to find out exactly where we were. After a few moments of quietude, I could tell Gary was getting antsy to start up his song. I had to stop him before he got going, at all costs.

"All right, in about another fifty miles we'll be coming up on Route 77. I want you to take that heading south. It looks like eventually in South Carolina it will hook up with 95 and then we can take that into Florida ."

"Mike," Gary said in all seriousness. "We could have saved a lot of time if we had just taken 95 all the way out from Maine ."

He was right and I regretted my poor decision, because in all likelihood people I loved would suffer because of it.

Travis stretched and groaned. "Wouldn't have found the kids then," he said, rubbing his eyes.

Out of the mouths of babes, although who was I kidding? At 17 years old, he was bigger and faster than me. "Good point," I told him. If all else completely went to hell , which was a more likely scenario, we had at least saved those kids and I could go to my beratement from God knowing Tracy was safe.

Gary nodded his head once and went straight back into his song like he had never missed a beat.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Alex and Paul

The furniture store proved to be worth its weight in gold after Paul and Erin had tried to go home , Asheville , North Carolina was a vast wasteland. It looked like the entire region’s National Guard had decided to make their final stand here. The only thing that stood taller than ten feet was the church in the center of town. Like a stalk of corn in the eye of a tornado it stood, righteous and untouched. At least it looked that way. The small caravan pulled up to the stairs that led to the massive oak doors to search for signs of life.

"Are you sure about this, Paul?" Erin asked her spouse as he started to ascend the stairs.

"I was until you asked," he responded back.

Mad Jack was following behind, struggling to hold up a box that was roughly the same shape and size of a 25 inch old school television and looked twice as heavy.

"What is that thing and do you want some help with it?" Paul turned to ask.

"I'm good," MJ puffed out. "Is she watching?" he asked in between heavy breathes.

"April?" Erin asked. "You know giving yourself a hernia to show off in front of a woman is not appealing," she told him.

He shrugged with a grimace.

"Are you sure you don’t want any help with that thing?" Paul asked, smiling.

"This thing you refer to..." MJ took a breath, "is a prototype."

"A prototype? It's not going to blow up is it?" Paul asked, grabbing Erin 's arm and pulling her a few steps away.

"Blow up? Why, do you know something I don't?" MJ asked in alarm. He looked like he was about to place his burden down and make a run for it.

"Is it a bomb?" Eddy asked, following the trio.

"He wanted to come with you guys!" Joann yelled from the cab.

"Shhh, Auntie Jo!" Eddy yelled back. "They don’t know I'm here!" he yelled.

"It is most certainly not a bomb," MJ said, addressing Eddy. "And all indications are that it most likely will not blow up," he finished, looking at Paul and Erin.

"Comforting," Paul said sarcastically as he headed back up the stairs.

The huge door swung open effortlessly as Paul pulled on it, the all too prevalent waft of death his only reward. "Does it suck that I've smelled worse?" he asked a rapidly greening Erin . She did not respond as she moved off to the side in pursuit of more breathable air.

"That wouldn't happen to have a fan?" Paul asked as he stepped away and tried to help MJ carry the box up the last few stairs.

"Is she watching?" MJ asked.

Paul wanted to tell him that he was pretty much a shoe-in with April considering that he was the only available male in their party, but it seemed important to the kid so he played along. "Yeah, she sure is," Paul said with a wicked smile.

"I've got it then," he said as he marshaled his reserves and hefted the box the rest of the way.

"Good, ‘cause that thing looks heavy," Paul said under his breath, while also giving his balls a necessary adjustment from the mere thought of carrying whatever the hell was in that thing. Add to that fact that he would have to holster his pistol to help out and he couldn't find any plusses.

Paul held the door as MJ got one foot in. He went immediately to the right and out of eyeshot of the semi and damn near smashed the container in his haste to get it out of his overtaxed arms.

"Heavy?" Paul asked sardonically as he placed a handkerchief over his face. MJ could only manage a weak one fingered response as he leaned over to catch his breath. "Gotcha," Paul laughed.

Erin had secured a scarf around her mouth and nose and now was at the entry way to the church. Paul admonished himself again for his lack of caution. ‘One of these times this is going to bite me in the ass, literally.’ He quickly did a visual sweep of their immediate surroundings as MJ fiddled with some switches and dials. Paul just figured it was all for show as MJ caught his second wind. Eddy slammed into Erin 's legs in his rush to get in and check out something new. Joann was right behind him and scooped him up in her arms, all too aware of the danger that could be behind that door.

Eddy stopped squirming when the stench invaded his nostrils. He now looked more eager to remain with the rest of the troupe in the truck.

"Paul, is this worth it?" Erin asked, watching as Eddy and Joann descended the steps much more rapidly than they had ascended them.

Paul had stopped listening the moment he spotted the altar. It wasn't that he was ignoring his wife; it was that his senses could only handle so much input at any one time. A high pitched squawk from MJ's box brought him out of his self-induced trance. "MJ you s cared the hell out of me!" Paul said, rubbing his ears.

"Sorry, just calibrating," MJ said, not really sorry. He was used to apologizing for experiments gone awry and had learned long ago that appeasement was sometimes the bastard brother of technological advancement.

Erin gave a deep scowl to MJ who did not even look up to acknowledge the slight, which made Erin even madder until she followed her husband's line of sight. "What is that?" she asked, trying to catch up to Paul.

"It's people," he answered, never breaking stride.

"You sure?" she asked, her own steps faltering.

"I mean, it has to be, doesn't it?"

"Why are they all piled up like that? Paul we should go, there's nothing we can do for them now," Erin said, reaching out to grab his sleeve.

"Maybe it's religious. Some sort of sacrifice?" Paul answered more to himself than to Erin ’s query.

"MJ, maybe we should go," Erin begged, looking back towards the door. An even louder box squawk was her only response from that direction. She was halfway through the large church and Paul was halfway again that much closer to the alt a r. “Paul, please!” she near silently screamed.

He turned to her and pressed his index finger to his mouth to quiet her.