Alone (15 page)

Ralph’s periods of lucidity gradually lengthened until by the sixth day, he awoke completely clearheaded. He was sore and it hurt to move, but he knew that he was on the mend. He was just going to have to take it easy for the next little bit. Jason sat beside the bed and whined. Ralph staggered down the hall and began to fix something for himself and Jason to eat.

“Come on boy. Let’s get some hot food in our bellies for a change.” He said as he began to cook.

Jason danced eagerly around and Ralph opened a can of food for him.

“Here, have some of this first.” He said as he filled Jason’s bowl. He noticed that Jason’s water dish was also empty and he refilled it. Jason has relieved himself on an old rug by the kitchen door. It stank and Ralph threw it into the back yard.

“Had to go somewhere didn’t you boy?” he asked as he watched Jason wolf down the canned dog food.

When his meal was finished cooking, he gave half to Jason and sat down at the small kitchen table to eat. It was delicious. He spent the remainder of the day resting, though he did manage to check on the livestock and give them some food.

Two days later saw Ralph slowly maneuvering the truck and flat bed into the barn. He had managed to put the truck in park and kill the engine when he got home, but he was never able to recall the trip back. He slowly and carefully unloaded hay and within the week, he had the flat bed unloaded and unhitched from the truck. At first, he could barely move a bale of hay but by the end of the week, his pain had lessened and he was able to carefully unload the trailer and truck. Now that the trailer was unhitched, he decided to make another trip to the scene of the attack.

“Come on Jason. Let’s ride!” he called over his shoulder. He grabbed his rifle and opened the driver’s door of the pick up.

Hearing that, Jason scrambled to his feet and raced across the yard. He whined with joy and jumped into the truck as soon as the door was opened enough. Together they drove off.

At the neighbor’s farm, only a few scraps of fur and bone were left of the bear he had killed. It had provided a feast for the local wildlife. It had left lasting scars on Ralph and they would ache during cold weather for years to come. Of the two cubs, there was no sign.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The time rapidly passed. At first Ralph had tried to keep track of the days, but the struggle for survival had take precedence and he no longer knew what month it was. The snows melted and the weather warmed. After the last frost, he planted a large garden. He continued to hunt and replenished all of the supplies that had been used during the winter.

He finished the books he had taken from the library and decided that he needed to make sure that he would have a dependable source of power.

One book had explained about solar power and he decided to mount some solar panels to the roof. Unfortunately, there were none in town or the outlying areas. He finally found an article in a popular science magazine that spoke of a supplier of solar panels. Their factory was about 300 miles away. Ralph decided to pay it a visit.

“Jason.” He said one evening. “I think it’s time we took a trip.” Jason looked up from chewing on his teddy bear and cocked his head. When Ralph didn’t speak again, he turned his attention back to the ragged bear and chewed some more. Ralph gazed into the distance and wondered if the trip was such a good idea. He was spending a lot of time keeping the generator topped off and there were several maintenance checks he had to do weekly on the turbine. He thought solar power would greatly reduce his dependence on the other two methods he had of generating power. “Yeah.” he said aloud. “Let’s take a trip.”

He made a list of all items he needed and searched the town for a larger truck to haul the solar panels back in. He settled on a rental truck from a moving company. He loaded some supplies, his siphoning tools and guns aboard. At first Jason didn’t seem to like the truck, but once they were on the move, he settled down to watch the landscape pass by. They frequently had to detour around wrecks. In some places on the interstate, the pile ups were so large that they had to back track and find another route. Slowly but surely they traveled across country. Many roads were blocked by fallen trees and in a couple of places they found that the road had been washed away.

After working several hours to clear a large tree from the road, Ralph wiped the sweat away and sat wearily down.

“Jason. I’m getting too old for this manual labor.” Jason looked curiously at him for a minute and then laid his head upon his paws and closed his eyes.

“You don’t have to agree so quickly.” Ralph said

Ralph imitated the dog and soon both of them were sound asleep. Ralph awoke with a start. Jason was standing stiff legged beside him, facing away from the truck and growling. The sun had just set and the light was rapidly dimming. Ralph looked toward where Jason was staring, but could see nothing. He slowly rose and carefully made his way to the truck. Jason stood his ground and continued to growl softly. Ralph reached the truck and slid inside. Holding the passenger door open, he gave a soft whistle. Jason immediately whirled and raced for the truck. In the brush beside of the road, Ralph could see something move. It was big whatever it was and it was coming straight at him.

“Jason!” Ralph yelled. Jason leapt for the truck and flew inside. Ralph slammed the door and caught a glimpse of something big race across the road. It slammed against the side of the truck and Ralph was shaken by the force of the blow. With trembling fingers, he turned the ignition and the engine caught. With a shout, Ralph dropped the truck into gear and sped down the road. In the last vestiges of light, he saw something in the middle of the road. He heard a tremendous roar and then it was out of sight.

Shaken by the encounter, he nevertheless pressed on. After traveling two more days, they reached the city. It took several more hours to locate the address and then break into the building. He opened the loading dock and backed the truck inside the warehouse. He shut the door and began his search. There were solar panels stacked and ready to be shipped on shelves through out the vast building. Ralph loaded several into the truck and then gathered other items he would need. The truck was about half full when they pulled away from the building. They spent the next week roaming the city and filling the remainder of the truck. The city was deathly quiet and it seemed as if the very air were thicker here. Ralph spoke in whispers if he even spoke at all. The oppressive silence wore heavily on him and his dreams were interrupted by nightmares. Ralph wanted to leave this place, but he knew that this would be his last chance to find items that were unavailable in the small towns around home.

Even Jason seemed to feel depressed. He no longer roamed the area searching for new smell. He stayed near Ralph whenever they were about and at night pressed against him when they slept. Hurrying thru his list, Ralph struggled to finish as quickly as possible. He had tried to search during the night, but quickly discovered that if the day was bad, the night was a hundred times worse. Every shadow seemed to be some hideous monster lurking at the edge of his vision. After a few hours of being constantly on his guard, Ralph was tired and irritable. He quickly decided that he was not accomplishing anything productive and went to find someplace to sleep. They had been staying in different hotels as they traveled around the city. On one day of searching, Ralph gathered several bags of books from the library and found a pet store, where he took every chew toy and can of dog food he could find. Early one morning, with the truck now fully loaded, they started back home. As they left the city and they could once again see the sky, the feelings of oppression lifted. Jason perked up and sat watching the scenery pass. Ralph began to whistle.

“Boy I sure am glad to get out of there. Feels like a weight’s been lifted off of me.” He said as they sped toward home.

Jason glanced over at Ralph and barked. “You too, huh?” Ralph said in response.

Ralph had planned on returning by a different route, but changed his mind and decided to retrace his steps and get home as soon as possible. He was nervous at being away this long and he felt uncomfortable in an area he didn’t know. He got the distinct impression that someone was watching him. Someone or something. He drove late into the night and avoided those places that he knew were blocked. When they finally pulled into the yard, they had been gone 2 weeks.

Jason had enjoyed the chew treats and wolfed down the canned dog food. They settled into their normal routine and the days passed.

During that summer, Ralph added the solar panels to the roof of the house and barn. When he finished with that, he decided to bury the water pipe for the generator below the frost line to prevent it from freezing again. By the time that was finished, the garden had been harvested, new hay cut and the days grew shorter and colder. Ralph decided to call that year, the year of the big trip.

Winter passed uneventfully, and soon the snow melted away. The days grew warmer and longer and spring was upon them.

One day, early in the spring, Ralph noticed Jason acting strangely. He continually sniffed the air as if he were searching for something. About midday, while Ralph was cleaning out the stalls in the barn, Jason trotted off into the woods. He was gone over night but returned the next day. Ralph had taken to placing snares around the farm, to catch the rabbits that were everywhere and he found several snares torn out of the ground. After about a week of this, he watched a strange dog sniff across the field beside the house. It approached a snare and then pounced upon the luckless rabbit that had been caught. It easily pulled the snare from the ground and within seconds had made off with the rabbit. Jason had sat beside him and watched the entire thing.

“Jason.” Ralph said as he looked down at the dog.

“Why didn’t you chase him away?” Jason looked up when he heard his name and then plopped down to roll around in the grass.

“I can’t let that dog take our food.” He said.

He decided that as much as he hated to, he would have to kill the dog to stop it from pilfering the snares. For the next couple of days, he watched for the strange dog to show back up. On the fourth day, he spied the dog creeping around the edge of the woods. He stepped into the barn and retrieved the high powered rifle that was standing by the door. He raised the weapon and peered thru the scope at the strange dog. His finger slowly tightened on the trigger and then he spied Jason rapidly approaching from across the field. He didn’t want to shoot with Jason in the area, so he moved his finger from the trigger but continued to study the dog thru the scope. He saw the dog stiffen and then begin to wag its tail. Jason entered his field of vision and approached the dog. The two sniffed at each other, and then Jason sat down while the strange dog worried a small rabbit from the snare. He was absorbed in watching the strange dog and when he swung the scope over to Jason, he was astonished to discover several puppies crawling over Jason.

“Well. I’ll be.” He said.

Gradually over the next few weeks, the female gradually lost her fear of Ralph and allowed him to approach. She would not let him touch her, but she did permit his presence. The pups were quicker to accept him and soon followed him around the farm. There were seven of them and the little round bundles of fur were a joy to watch.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In mid summer, the weather grew increasingly warm. Rainfall was scarce and the ground dried out. The small creek dropped to a trickle and Ralph was concerned that the well may go dry.

Late one afternoon, a lightning storm passed thru the area. It brought wind and lightning, but no rain. The lightning struck a building in town and Ralph saw the rising column of smoke. He jumped into the truck and raced toward the town, but there was nothing he could do. The fire quickly spread until the entire town was aflame. All Ralph could do was watch as his former home was destroyed. With the dry wind blowing, the fire quickly spread into the fields surrounding the town. Ralph spent two sleepless days fighting the fire. He cut a fire break on the side of town near his home and worked to keep the fire at bay. On the morning of the third day, a light rain began to fall.

Ralph staggered across the field. His clothes were filthy and he was covered with soot. His eyes were bloodshot from the stinging smoke and he had coughed so much that his throat was sore. He made it home and dropped to the sofa and slept. When he awoke, he showered and went outside. He called for the puppies but they did not come. He walked around the barn and discovered the carcass of one of the horses. Lying near the horse was the broken body of the female dog and her puppies. Jason lay a little further on.

“Jason.” Ralph cried as he stumbled and fell on his knees. At first glance, he knew that Jason was dead. He was covered in blood and didn’t seem to be breathing.

“Oh Jason old boy.” He cried as he leaned over. Tears filled his eyes and his sight blurred. How long he leaned over Jason he didn’t know. He gradually became aware of a strange whistling sound. He looked around and it dawned on him that the noise was coming from Jason.

“You’re alive!” he exclaimed. Jason opened his swollen eyes and stared at Ralph.

Gently, Ralph gathered Jason in his arms and carried him back to the house. There he checked over his injuries and cleaned him up. He placed Jason on a clean blanket in the center of the bed. He tried to get the dog to drink some fresh water, but Jason was too weak. Ralph sat by the bed and watched. He realized that the light was fading fast and he had sat by Jason all day.

“You’re going to be all right.” He said as he lightly stroked the dog.

Jason whined and opened his eyes. He looked around and then attempted to rise. Ralph gently held him down.