AWOL: A Character Lost (25 page)

“As I’ve explained to Danny, what we’re doing down here is a continuation of the human race. We had to be selective or else we wouldn’t be able to survive. We would run out of supplies.”

“Go fuck yourself! I don’t want to hear about the things that help you sleep at night.”

“Barbara,” Danny replied, surprised at her tone in front of the kids, actually surprised by everything she had just done in front of the kids.

“Fuck you too, Danny.” She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face. “Don’t talk to me.” She walked off, trying to do what she could to calm down.

“I’m sorry, Danny. This isn’t the first time this has happened today. We have a grief center set up over there if she needs it.” He pointed across the room to a small area, where there were several tables and chairs set up like an office. Currently there were only workers in orange jump suits behind the desks, no one in the chairs in front of them. “It hasn’t been that busy, if you can believe that.” He paused, and continued. “I’m sorry about your wife. I was hoping it would go smoother for her, and for you.”

“I guess it’s to be expected; she’s been through a lot today, we all have,” Danny paused. “One quick question before I go.”

“Yes.”

“Why are you showing all the negative stuff on the televisions? Shouldn’t it be more pleasant? It probably would help with the grief we all are feeling.”

“We want people to know reality, to know what is going on above. We think it is better to do it now, than try and do it later. Today is the day to grieve, and the days to come will be days of healing, but we first must deal with the negative. That’s the only way we can move forward.”

“Tough love, guess that makes sense. I better get to my family and get us checked in.”

“Take care, Danny, glad you made it. Hope it all works out for you.”

“You too, and thanks” Danny replied, as he walked off to be with his family. When Danny reached Barbara, he put his hand on her shoulder; and she pushed it away. He didn’t force the issue, just let it drop. “We should get our gear and go find our room,” Danny replied, trying to get them moving.

Barbara was still not talking, but she did want to get a shower and get away from those awful images. When she finally turned away from the TV, they were showing a woman running down the street on fire, screaming silently as she melted into human ash right in front of her eyes.

*

The double doors slid open, and Danny led his family into the place that would be their new home. He took a moment to look around.

There was a large round check-in area in the center of this room. There were at least 10 people inside of it, sitting around the edges of the circle, clicking away on computers, checking people in. The people behind this round desk were all wearing light blue jump suits.

The lights above were small and non-fluorescent, the floors white marble with flecks of gold, and there were living plants, lots and lots of living plants, everywhere. Their green leaves and bright flowers providing comfort in such a trying time. There were no windows in the lobby, just blank white walls with images of the tropics in portraits tacked up on them. To the right and the left, the lobby opened up into large hallways, where people were moving into and out of.

Danny made his way to the counter when one of the clerks became available, an older lady, about 60, with round black glasses, and a happy smile. While Danny checked in, Barbara took the kids (with their bags in tow) over to a large board sitting on a stand. This board had a diagram of the place on it and all the amenities it offered. The ground floor (where they were right now) had a pool, a spa (complete with massages, saunas, and anything else you would need to de-stress), a laundry room, and a children’s play area. There was also a small lounge/bar area for drinks only; and, what they couldn’t know, by looking at this sign, was that on occasion, small events were planned to be held here, provided by local Raleigh area musicians and comedians. Above this ground floor area were the rooms, laid out just like a typical hotel.

Danny walked over to his family with four keys in hand, finished with the check in process. These keys looked like small plastic credit cards. “We are in room 306,” he replied, handing the keys out to each one of them. “Hold onto these; you’ll need them.”

“I’m not sure Johnny and Michael need one,” Barbara replied, thinking like a mother.

“We all do,” Danny replied, as he looked across the lobby to the row of elevators. There were six of them, busy with people and activity.

Barbara let the argument drop, as Danny led them over to the elevators; and, as luck would have it, one of them was free. They climbed on board, and Danny punched the number three button. The button lit up, the doors closed, and they began to climb.

When they reached their floor, Danny and his family filed out one by one. They were now standing in a small area, which held a mirror on the wall, a couch and several chairs. The carpet beneath them was short and white. Again, there were no windows, just white walls with more tropical images.

Danny led them out of this space and into a long corridor, with that same short white carpet. The motif on these walls wasn’t tropical. It was pictures of serene mountains. Some showed winter’s harsh embrace, some showed spring’s pleasant thaw with many flowers in colorful bloom, and some showed images of the fall with the leaves of the trees alive with color.

Danny counted up the rooms as they walked, and found the one they were looking for. It was a white door with a brown circle in the middle of it. Inside this circle, the room number was laid out in big gold numbers. He took out his key, slid it into the slot, and pulled it out (I know that sounded dirty, keep your mind clean folks, I know it’s tough). The lock popped, and Danny turned the handle. The door opened, and swung inward without a squeak.

The inside of the place was small, about 1000 square feet. To the left was a small kitchen with a tiny fridge, stove, coffee pot, and microwave. To the right was a small closet complete with hangers, an iron, and a small ironing board. Further in, there were three doors, one on the left, and two on the right. The one on the left held the master bedroom while the two on the right held two small rooms for the boys.

The master bedroom had enough room for a double bed (white pillowcases on the pillows, white sheets, and bed spread) two beside tables (with an alarm clock on one of them), and a dresser for clothes. There was also a small closet, a TV/DVD/Blu-Ray player combo in a bracket on the wall, and a small bathroom with just a toilet, sink, and mirror.

The boy’s rooms held a single bed (white sheets, bed spread, and pillowcase), a TV in a bracket, and a video game system that would play not only games, but DVDs, Blu-Rays, and CDs. There was also a small closet in each room along with a night stand beside the bed.

At the rear of the apartment, just beyond the hallway with the three doors, was a large common area, which was split down the middle. The dining room area, held a small table with four chairs. The living room area had a couch and chairs to sit in, and they were all gathered around a coffee table. All of this furniture was pointing towards a TV/DVD/Blu-Ray combo, sitting on a TV stand. On the living room side, there were also two computer terminals, complete with keyboard, mouse, and a tower. There was also a closed door, which held a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower. There was no tub. One other feature of this room was a window, the only one in the whole apartment. It was made up of multi-colored stained glass with a light behind it. This light would be adjusted to simulate, morning, day, and night.

The motif of this apartment was very simple. Short white gold flecked carpet throughout, no hard wood floors, somber brown walls, and pictures of tropical locations.

There were small non-fluorescent lights in the ceiling above that lit the kitchen, hallway, rooms, bathrooms, and common area.

Danny took one suitcase and the bag of pictures into the master bedroom. The other suitcase he put into Michael’s room. The cooler parked itself right inside the kitchen, next to the fridge. The sleeping bags went into the hallway closet.

“Michael and Johnny, the suitcase is half and half. You need to split it up and get unpacked.”

The boys did as they were told, Johnny with exuberance, and Michael as somber as ever, going along with everything, but not sure he wanted to.

Danny went into the master bedroom and opened up the suitcase he had brought for him and Barbara. He started to unpack.

Barbara stood at the door and stared at him. “How can you be so casual about this?”

Danny looked up from the open bag. “Are you going to be mad at me the whole time we’re down here? I’m doing the best I can, and I did the best I could.”

“I’m going to go get a drink. Don’t follow me.” She left the apartment with a slamming of the door, deciding to skip the shower for now. She just couldn’t stand being around Danny at the moment. She needed time to think, time to wrap her head around things, time to just be mad.

Danny sat down on the bed, tears building up behind his eyes, but before they could fall he heard Michael and Johnny talking loudly in the other room. He went out to see what all the fuss was about as he chucked the tears back to where they belonged.

“That’s mine.”

“No, that’s mine,” Michael replied, as he held up a small square device that played music.

“That’s Michael’s.” The boys looked at their dad. “I put Johnny’s underneath his favorite shirt. That way they wouldn’t get mixed up.”

Johnny dug in the suitcase until he found what he was looking for.

“I loaded up each of them with music both of you would like. I also grabbed some video games, DVDs, and CDs for both of you. I hope I got the right ones.”

The boys turned back to the suitcase, and Danny helped them sort it out. When they were unpacked, he decided to go find Barbara.

“Okay, guys, I need to go find your mom. Johnny, take your stuff to your room and settle in.”

“Okay dad,” Johnny replied, taking his stuff into the other bedroom.

Michael was fumbling through his musical choices when Danny sat down on the bed beside him. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. You’re in charge; no one is allowed to leave the apartment.”

Michael didn’t acknowledge him.

“Did you hear me?”

Michael nodded. Danny took that as a yes and didn’t push it any further. He stepped out into the hallway, and stopped. “The food and drinks in the cooler. Go easy on them. That’s all we have for now. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Danny left them alone and went to find his wife.

*

The lounge/bar area was big, but not enormous. With a concert in here, it could probably hold five hundred people maybe a few more maybe a few less. The floors were polished wood, the walls plain white with tropical images painted on them, the ceiling low with small lights buried in it. The bar itself was a typical bar with a wood counter and bar stools in front of it. All forms of liquor could be found on the shelves sitting on a mirrored wall behind this counter. Spread out in front of this bar were a lot of tables, some with two, some with four, and some with six seats. The tables and chairs matched the room’s design, very basic, nothing fancy, fake leather padding for the seats. Little lights sat on top of each table with tiny shades over them. There was a window in here with blue stained glass and soft lights behind it, as well as a large TV, which was currently showing a fish tank full of exotic fish. A stage sat in one corner, large enough to fit a six piece band.

“Lest we not forget, we are underground; and the world is burning above us,” Danny thought, as he stood in the entranceway, and scanned the room.

The doors he had his hands on were solid glass with a palm tree image upon each one of them, the handles, basic gold plating, and the frame a dark mahogany wood. There was no one at this door to seat you. It was a seat yourself kind of place. In fact, the only people working that Danny could see were the bartenders. There were two of them, and they were moderately busy. One was a woman easily in her early twenties, blonde hair, nice body, even through the blue convict suit Danny could tell this. The other was a guy, had to be late fifties, gray hair, beard, wearing the same blue convict suit as the woman.

Danny’s eyes moved from them to the room, still scanning, still looking – found her! Barbara was sitting at a small two seat table with the red haired guy. Danny walked over to them and stopped at the edge of the table. They looked up at him and Danny down to them.

“So nice of you to join us,” The red haired guy replied, just as pleasant and official sounding as always. The guy was currently trying to fit in with the crowd by wearing jeans, tee shirt, and tennis shoes. As Danny stood there, the red haired guy stood up so Danny could sit down. “I won’t keep you from your wife. Please, take a seat.”

Danny did. “We ran into each other in the hallway, and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

“Are you?” Danny aimed this loaded question right at Barbara.

“We’ve talked. He’s very convincing.”

“Tell me about it.”

“No. We’re not doing that. You don’t get to come down here and start talking chummy. We’re not back to that point yet.”

“I’ll leave you guys to talk.” The red haired guy made his exit, leaving Danny and Barbara alone, word daggers were about to start flying.

Danny looked at Barbara’s drink, scotch on the rocks. He wasn’t sure why she loved that drink so much, but it was her drink of choice. “Do you want another?”

Barbara looked at her glass. “Sure.”

Danny got up and walked over to the bar. While he stood there, he watched the other people getting drinks; and he noticed none of them were paying for them.

“What’ll it be?” It was the woman asking him the question.

“Scotch on the rocks, and a beer.”

“Brand of choice?”

“Corona.”

The woman retrieved the order and handed the drinks to Danny. He took them and walked back to the table. Barbara had just reached the end of her drink when he arrived. “This is like an all inclusive resort, like Sandals; that was a nice trip.”