AWOL: A Character Lost (20 page)

Barbara started to leave. Danny stopped her. “Shouldn’t we talk more about this?”

“I’ll take a half day, and we can talk more when I get home.” She made her way towards the stairs and climbed them.

Danny stood there dumbfounded as the phone rang. It was Barry. They talked a moment as Danny listened to Barbara getting ready for work. Barry and Danny decided to go for a run the next day before either one of them had a class to teach. Danny hung up the phone and decided to leave Barbara to her “getting ready for work” business. What he had just told her was a lot to take in, and maybe she was just not sure how to process it. Maybe she was up there right now thinking it over; or maybe she was calling the loony bin, asking the men in white coats to put the nets over him. He shook the thoughts away and turned on the TV. He took a seat, and flipped channels. Lucky for him there was something else to watch instead of the news, because that was just too depressing.

Barbara was out the door an hour later with a promise of an early return so they could talk more. She wound up working overtime and coming home after Danny had gone on to teach his class. Barbara found only a baby sitter (someone to just kind of keep an eye on things, the boys were almost too old for one) and a cold dinner waiting for her when she arrived.

Danny finished class; and, when he came home that night, Barbara was already in bed. He didn’t want to wake her, so he undressed and slipped beneath the covers beside her. She did not stir, didn’t even bat an eye, she was out cold – after dinner Barbara had polished off an entire bottle of red wine. What Danny had told her earlier had affected her all day. So when she got home, the first thing she thought of was that bottle of red. Getting drunk was the easiest decision she had made that day. Michael slept, got up to play video games, listened to some music, and watched a couple of movies. He spent most of the day in his room, barely eating anything. Johnny returned that afternoon from school, played with the kids in the neighborhood, did his homework, took his bath, and then fell asleep like he always did.

That was their day that day, and as night pushed on towards morning the world was ticking closer to its last breath. Death would come for it soon.

*

Around four o’clock the next morning, Barbara slipped out from underneath the covers in order to get a glass of water. When she returned, Danny was wide awake. This was the first real chance they had to talk since the previous morning – the morning Danny told her everything, and she had laughed at him.

“Why didn’t you take a half day yesterday?”

Barbara jumped, nearly spilling her water. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked across the room to the window. It was a thick black night, like a rich dark chocolate with only slivers of moonlight peeking through the clouds.

“Why did you let Michael stay home? I know he wasn’t sick.”

“Don’t change the subject. Tell me, why you didn’t come home early?”

Barbara thought about her answer for a moment, took a few sips of water, the cotton mouth feeling started to pass. She reached over and took Danny’s hand and held it. “You sounded like a crazy person, like one of those doomsday prophets who stand on the street corners and spout out things about the end of times. I was scared and afraid. I couldn’t face you, so when they needed someone to stay late. I jumped at the chance.”

He squeezed her hand. “There’s no reason to be afraid. I haven’t been out on the streets waving signs or blogging about it if that is what you’re worried about.”

“Your blog. I forgot about your blog.”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t written anything in it. I was told not to.”

Barbara finished her water as distant thunder rumbled. She lay down beside Danny, and he welcomed her into his arms.

“Who told you not to?”

“I told you, the red haired guy.”

“Do you just follow him blindly? Do you do just what he says to do?”

“For now, yes, he’s holding all the cards.”

“This, if it is true, and I’m not saying it is. This is so much bigger than you. Shouldn’t you tell the world about it? Warn them in some way.”

“My wife doesn’t believe me. Hell, sometimes I don’t even believe it myself, so how am I supposed to convince the world? They would just shun me like you did.”

“I didn’t shun you babe. I didn’t know how to process it. I worked late because I didn’t know what to say to you. I couldn’t have spent that much time together with all the stuff that was in my head.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Danny replied, listening to the thunder.

“Can you?”

“Did you tell anyone at work, because I told you what could happen if you did?”

“That my husband was talking about the end of days? It didn’t come up.”

They laid in silence for a moment, the thunder rumbling, drawing closer.

“Why don’t we just leave it here for now?”

“It seems unresolved,” she replied, snuggling in tight against him.

“For now I think it has to be. I’ve told you all I know, and it’s up to you to get on board with it or not.”

She let that conversation drop and moved on to another subject, her son. “Why did Michael stay home yesterday?”

The truth didn’t seem to be that important, and Danny didn’t feel like Barbara really needed to know her oldest had been out all night. So, he lied. “He was just feeling under the weather. He needed a day to sleep in.”

“Is he going to school today?”

“Yeah, I wrote him a note. Now, I need to get some sleep. I have a run today with Barry.” Danny closed his eyes.

“I love you,” Barbara replied, trying to end their conversation on a good note.

“I love you, too.”

They fell asleep in each other’s arms as the distant thunder continued to rumble, drawing closer with each clap.

*

The next morning, the boys made it to school, Barbara made it to work, and Danny met Barry for what would be their last run together. In fact, it would be the last time they would ever see each other.

How did the run go you may ask?

Unimportant details, sure, but for those mildly curious, Barry hung in there for more than five minutes this time during a couple of the run segments. They wound up doing thirty minutes just like this:

Segment 1 – walk 3 minutes-run 7 minutes

Segment 2 – walk 4 minutes-run 6 minutes

Segment 3 – walk 6 minutes-run 4 minutes

In the parking lot, after their run, they saw a large group of people gathered together; and the looks on their faces, their reactions, said something big was happening. Danny and Barry went over to check it out.

“What’s going on?” Danny asked a young woman who was wearing tight running clothes that showed off her muscular body.

“It’s Japan. They carpet bombed the entire island.”

“What?” Danny asked, the words barely falling out of his mouth.

“The first bomber went off in Nagasaki, and then it just spread from there. City by city, bombs just started going off from the bottom of the island to the top. No one had a chance.”

Danny and Barry both stood there, stunned from this sudden and surprising news. Neither one of them had bothered to turn on the radio or watch the TV this morning, even though they both had their chances. They had been so concerned with the run, it was all they could do to get dressed and get out to the Tobacco Trail.

The woman kept talking as the crowd huddled around the lap top in the center of the group. “Japan’s nuclear facilities are the biggest concern. Many of them are in jeopardy; and, if they melt down, not only will the island glow, but they are predicting the nuclear cloud will spread across Asia, to Europe, and eventually to the states.”

“I guess it’s starting,” Danny replied, without thinking.

“What’s starting?” Barry asked.

Danny turned to look at him, as Barry waited for an answer. Danny wanted to tell him everything. To tell him to go home and get prepared, but he didn’t. He just shook his head and left it at that.

“I can’t believe they can’t get these guys. How can they have an army of bombers big enough to do this? Enough to set alight two cities and an entire island. It is impossible in today’s technology. We monitor them way too much. I know we do. Hell, they even monitor us most of the time,” the woman replied.

“They must have deep roots,” Danny replied, as he watched images of Tokyo burning. Skyscrapers were engulfed from top to bottom; buildings had crumbled to the ground. Whole blocks, like L.A. and Paris, were completely wiped out. Homes and lives were turned into hell’s inferno, and the fire crews were doing their best to contain it. They were failing miserably.

“You know parts of Paris are still burning. The fire crews were stretched so thin that they ran out of man power, and then they ran out of water,” the woman replied, shaking her head.

“I heard yesterday that they have just now opened the L.A. airport,” Danny replied, thinking of the red haired guy, thinking how good it would feel to punch him right in the jaw. Shadow people or no shadow people, he might just have to do that when he saw him again.

“Who is next, I wonder?”

Danny looked at Barry after he said this and thought about saying “the world” in response to that question, but he thought better of it. “We should get home. We both need to get to work.”

“Who wants to work after all of this?”

“I know how you feel Barry, believe me, but even if we don’t go to work, we need to get home. Our families need us now.”

The two men left the group and walked over to their respective cars. They said good bye to one another and planned to do it again soon, even though Danny knew, there wouldn’t be another time. This was it. The world was about to burn.

When they went to shake hands, Danny grabbed Barry and hugged him. Barry, in a manly way of course, returned it. Danny then slid inside his car; chucked back a couple of tears, fired up the engine, waved to a still confused Barry, and started the long drive home. While he drove, he couldn’t help it. He had to listen to just a little bit more of the news.

Radio Newscaster:

. . . The situation in Japan is the latest in what is being called Hell’s Trilogy. The Middle East Nuclear Arms Association, responsible for it, is saying that the next time they show their power the world will suffer like it has never suffered. The President, when asked why he hasn’t been doing more to stop this group, had this to say. “We are pooling all of our resources together. Nations are joining nations throughout the world in order to bring this group to justice. We are sparing no expenses; no price tag is too high for the capture and destruction of this rogue group of terrorists. We will stop at nothing to make sure this group is brought to a swift and abrupt ending.” Strong words indeed from the commander- in-chief. The Radio Newscaster paused. “This just in, one of Japan’s nuclear power plants has just exploded. Massive fallout is predicted . . .

Danny shut off the radio. That was enough news for him. He drove home in silence. This time he saw no old man or signs warning him of imminent doom.

Nuclear war was now at hand.

*

Danny pulled his car into the garage and turned it off. He sat there a moment and just cried. He cried for what he knew, for what was about to happen, for his family, friends, for the world at large, for all the lost lives, for the destruction of the very fabric of the day to day life he loved to live, and he cried, simply, because he just needed to cry.

The passenger side door opened, and someone slid in and sat down beside him. Through blurry eyes Danny turned to his right and stared at the red haired guy, government stooge, harbinger of doom.

“You’ve called in sick for the day, I assume?’

“How did you know?” Danny asked.

“You have just the one class today, nothing tomorrow, and Friday you’re off. If you call in today, then that means you are done until Monday. Makes perfect sense, just take some time to get the old head straight, get the mind clear.” He tapped a finger on the side of his head as he said the last part of that statement.

“My wife and I have an anniversary dinner planned for Friday evening.”

“I want you to enjoy yourself that night. Take in the world, the sights, and the sounds; because when we all go underground, it will be sometime before you have the chance to have a date night like that again.”

“Is there no way to stop it, no way at all?” Danny asked, tears subsiding, anger and the hope of punching this man in the face starting to return.

“As we speak, two more nuclear plants are exploding. There’s no hope for Japan or the world at large. It’s only a matter of time.”

The cold nature of that statement, the government sounding answer, it was the final straw. Danny could take no more, so he lurched towards the red haired guy; but the seat belt, still snug in place, stopped him. He sat back against the seat hard and punched the dashboard instead, punched it over and over again, punched it until his right hand started to hurt.

The red haired guy made a small gesture to the shadows who had started to move in when Danny had his fit of rage. They slipped back into their dark hiding spots, and waited.

The two men sat there a moment.

Danny cooled off.

“I thought it would be three warning shots? Japan has gone nuclear. That means you lied. It was two warning shots, and not three,” Danny replied, rubbing his throbbing hand.

“It was meant to be three Danny, but they got lucky with Japan.”

“What would you do if I told the world? If I went on every news broadcast, my blog, you name it, and just spouted out what I know. What would you do then?”

“The time to do that has passed?” The man paused smugly, one that said I know it all and you have to follow my lead. “I suspect you told your wife, and she didn’t believe you.”

“Yes,” Danny replied, argument won by the red haired guy by hitting the eight ball right into the corner pocket.

“If she didn’t believe you, then what makes you think the world at large will? You will only attract the supermarket crazies who read the tabloids and believe those lies.”