AWOL: A Character Lost (28 page)

She accepted his arms. “It’s okay. You did what was best.” She closed the door. “Now let’s go home.”

They kissed, and then walked hand in hand down the hallway to the elevators, climbed inside, and joined their sons in the lobby. They then filed into the common area, which was surprisingly quiet, and walked up to the tunnel which led back to their house.

As they walked past the check-in counters that had welcomed them here months ago, they looked into those empty cubicles, the computers now dark and empty, electronic ghosts running around inside of them, memories of the past forever held in their hard drives. The chairs where the people once sat, now pushed behind the desk, and like the desk, all of it, gathering dust.

That strange egg-shaped vehicle arrived, and opened its door to let them inside. The ladder met the platform, and Danny and his family filed into the machine after putting their gear in the small trailer.

“We’ve modified the cars. You will have to operate them yourself now.” Danny watched as the woman leaned inside to a panel. This panel had a screen and a small keyboard underneath it. “Punch in your home address . . .” She punched in their address after she said this. “. . . When you want to go home, hit the go button and the shuttle will take you up to the red phone closest to that address; and when you want to return just type in common area and hit go. It will take you back to this spot.” She looked at them. “Are there any questions?”

“I think we’re fine,” Danny replied.

“Well, welcome home. I hope you enjoy being back.” She leaned out, and backed up, waited for them to leave.

Danny punched go on the key pad. The ladder retreated, and the door closed. The vehicle began to move forward. The woman slowly evaporated into the distance along with this portion of their lives.

The Talls were now going home.

Well folks, welcome back to the future (wait, that rings a bell in my head – I wonder why?) and Danny’s concluding story. I hope you have enjoyed it so far. If you haven’t, then I’m not even sure why you’re still reading this book. You should have put it down a long time ago. I know there must be something you would prefer to be doing other than reading this drivel. I’m not offended, please go off and do your own thing. I understand. For those of you who have enjoyed it and want to continue on, please drop your eyes to the first line below. The end of this story and the end of this book begins there. Thank you for reading. Y our support is appreciated.

*

Danny stood in the shower and let the warm water rush over him, easing his tension and mind. He had so many thoughts racing through his head, as his body tried to relax from the 10 mile run. He rarely ever did that distance, but since he was leaving for his trip he thought today would be the best day to push the limit. Who knew how long it would be before he ran again?

The shower curtain opened, and Barbara stepped in, naked from head to toe with perfect perky nipples that told him exactly how she was feeling. She dipped her head in the water and ran her hands through her wet hair. He stood there and watched her without saying a word. He knew what she was about to do, and then he felt her hand on it. She started to rub and stroke him until he got erect; he kissed her, and she kissed back. Danny closed his eyes and let the rhythm take over. It didn’t take him long before he was finished. Barbara stepped back and washed her hands, as Danny took in deep breaths, enjoying the after glow. He took a moment to watch her shower.

“What was that for?”

“I thought you might need it. You seem stressed about the trip.”

Danny wrapped her in his arms. She accepted this gesture, and they stood there holding each other while the water found its way to the floor below.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Barbara replied, enjoying being close to him and the warmth of the shower.

“I know, but it’s what go us down here and what has kept us safe.”

“We should get out. Water is precious right now.”

“Barb.”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

They kissed, hard, deep, passionate. The shower ended. They toweled off and got dressed.

*

Danny stared down into the lighted tunnel, dressed out in a blue convict suit. In his hands he held a bag that had a change of clothes, toiletries, snacks, bottled water, and a boom box that would play his MP3 player. The monitors in the tunnel were on (as they were most days) showing happy images of nature with soft soothing elevator music to accompany them. This made the tunnel a little less spooky when you were in there by yourself, but he wasn’t by himself. His wife was there, dressed out in her running gear. She was going to do some treadmill miles after he left. Johnny and Michael were also there. Michael wasn’t keen to all this family stuff, all this mushy leaving stuff, but he did his best with it. Johnny, like always, seemed to be indifferent to it all.

“All right guys, one big hug,” Danny replied, as Johnny and Barbara embraced him. Michael stood off to the side, but when Danny grabbed him, Michael gave in rather easily. He was going to miss his dad even if he didn’t want to let on about it.

“I love you,” Barbara replied and kissed him.

“Love you, too.” He kissed her, as she fought back tears. He then looked at his sons. “Take care of your mom and the house. You guys know what to do and don’t forget your school work. I love you.” He let them go, and they all resumed their stance, just beyond the basement door – a new door that could be opened from either side, made completely of metal, with a dead bolt lock. He stepped into the tunnel, gave one last wave goodbye, and then shut the door.

He was now all alone as he walked down to the red phone. Once there, he called a number for the shuttle; and, when it arrived, he climbed on board. He punched in common area on the key pad, waited for the ladder to retreat and the door to close. When the shuttle was ready, he punched go and it began to move. He watched the door to his home fade off into the distance.

*

The shuttle came to a stop. Danny grabbed his bags, and climbed out. He walked past the empty check-in booths, through the noisy turnstiles, and over to the unmarked tunnel. All the doors were open, and the lights were on. He walked down the tunnel by himself, and stepped out onto the metal platform. His eyes scanned the room below.

The place looked like a bee hive or an ant hill – take your pick. There were people, who weren’t flyvers (
driver + flyers = flyvers)
, inspecting the vehicles from nose to tail, making sure everything worked. Some people were going into and out of the office area, mechanics were checking engines and seals, ammunition people were making sure the guns were fully loaded, there were people cleaning these vehicles, and on and on it went. The flyvers of these cars were either in the process of climbing aboard or were already strapped in, being given their last bit of instructions. It was noisy and chaotic; but, like that bee hive or that ant hill, it all seemed to have some sort of rhythm and focus.

Danny was one of the last arrivals, but he wasn’t late. He was on time like he always was for any job he did. He descended the metal stairs as a couple of flyvers appeared behind him on the platform. Danny reached the bottom of the stairs, and he was greeted by the red haired guy who had a set of papers in his hand.

“Good morning, Danny.”

“Morning.”

“I am glad to see you made it on time.”

“As always, I’m never late. This place is super busy today.”

“Well, the supplies are dwindling, but we aren’t at the danger level just yet. What we are doing today is re-stocking our shelves before they get too low. I have you on bread patrol.”

“Bread patrol?”

“D.C. has a factory up and running that is producing bread and other food-based products. They’ve been able to take the home technology, sealing doors and windows with the protective wrap, and put it to use on a gigantic above ground factory.”

“So people are actually working outside in the real world and not underground?”

“Yes. We intended to do it all underground, but someone up there decided to give this a shot and it worked.”

“Impressive.”

“Amazing what we can do when we are trying to survive.” The red haired guy walked Danny over to his vehicle – the cherry red machine that was assigned to him. A number had been painted on the side in soft white numbers – 306. “I’m not sure why I am rambling on about this right now. What we need to do is get you in the car and get you going.” The red haired guy pushed the button on the car door, and it lifted with ease. “Are you ready?”

“Nervous as hell.”

“You shouldn’t be. This should be an easy trip, very routine.” The red haired guy motioned Danny towards the seat. “Climb on in.”

Danny put his bag inside, and climbed aboard. He adjusted the seat, and got comfortable.

“Feeling good?” The red haired guy asked.

“Sure.”

The red haired guy leaned in and punched D.C. into the GPS. The screen lit up, and a soft voice filled Danny’s ears. “Welcome,” it said.

“Something new?”

“We modified it a bit. Thought it might be better to have someone talking to you so you can concentrate on what’s around you. You can turn it off here, if it bugs you too much,” the red haired guy replied, pointing to a small button underneath the key pad. “Just push it again to turn it on.”

“Can you punch in a street address?”

“Do you want to see your house?”

“How did you know?”

“We’ve gotten that request a lot. If you punch in your old street, it will take you there. But make sure if you do that, to punch in D.C. before you leave. These orders are very important, so we don’t need any mistakes. We are counting on you.” The red haired guy handed the papers to Danny, and Danny placed them on a clipboard. He set this clipboard on top of his bag.

“By the way, we put a small sink in the back for drinking and cleaning. The tank should hold enough water to get you to D.C. and back. We also put in a small fully stocked fridge and a two burner hot plate. You probably will not need any of it, but it’s there just in case.”

“You guys always do think of everything.”

“We try. Good luck, Danny,” the red haired guy replied, stepping away.

“Thanks.”

Danny put on his head set, and attached it to the steering wheel. He tested it a couple of times. It worked. He then attached the temperature hose to the dash, just below the hot and cold dial. He hooked it to his suit; and turned the dial to cool, letting his body relax with the freezing air.

A lovely voice filled his ears. “Flyvers, please start your engines, and line up.”

Danny reached over and fired up the engine, as he hit the button to close the door. The car rose up off the ground on a soft cushion of air as the door whooshed into place, sealing tight. He looked across the warehouse, and he saw cars lining up in a double file row. He moved his car over to them, and found his place in line.

“Push your lift button until you are at 6 ft. You will leave together and stop at the first platform,” the friendly voice said. “That will allow time for us to seal the door. When you see the door in front of you open, you will be free to leave. Good luck and safe travels.”

Danny thought of Barbara and his kids as he sat there and waited. His heart raced, and his pulse thumped. He hoped he would see them again. If he only knew what the future held. He would have gone home right now.

The big doors opened, and the flyvers in an orderly fashion drifted out of the warehouse and into a long tunnel that led up to a platform. At this platform they stopped, lined up again, and let the door behind them close. When it closed, another door opened up in front of them. Sunlight greeted Danny’s eyes, the windshield tinted slightly.

The cars started to move; and, when they reached the opening, they started to split up and go in different directions. Most of them were going to D.C., some to Atlanta, some to New York.

Danny made one pass across his old neighborhood and saw that his house was the only one that looked pristine and new. Every other home in the neighborhood was falling into disrepair. Doors hung open, windows shattered, some homes were burned, and some were being destroyed by Mother Nature. Cars littered the streets and the driveways, all in some form of wreckage or decay. It was a sad sight to see this once beautiful place wrapped up inside of so much chaos. The one thing he didn’t see in this ghost town subdivision was dead bodies. Those had been cleaned up before Danny and his family was allowed to return home.

Danny could see an armed patrol float by the house, as he punched in D.C. on the key pad. This armed patrol was a silver robot that stood about three feet tall. It looked like a trash can with two nipples on the front of it, of course, these weren’t nipples. They were guns, ready to fire on a moments notice.

Feeling his family was safe. Danny turned the car towards D.C., settled into his music, and found a good cruising altitude.

While Danny’s car drifted off into the distance, it passed over a small set of bare trees; and, in this set of trees, something strange was happening. A small bud, a pink flower, had started to push its way forward on one of the branches. This little flower reached up towards the sunlight and basked in its glow. The air may have been toxic, but the sun was unharmed. The flower enjoyed this sun, and it grew despite the conditions it was living in. Life had found a way, and it was returning to the Earth. It was only a matter of time before humans were back to where they belonged.

“Hello.”

I was pulled out of my conclusion to Danny’s story by a new voice. I turned back to that part of my brain where, I the author go to get inspiration and create my stories. That voice was coming from inside there. It was in my creative center.

“Hello. I woke up in here, and I’m not sure where I am. Can you help me?”

“Crap, here we go again.”

THE END

I was born in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1972 and grew up in a little town in the Appalachian Mountains called Abingdon, Virginia. In those small town days I fell in love with many things, among them reading. Reading was a way to escape from a town whose borders always seemed to be too tight. I discovered my love of writing in college, under the influence of various Stephen King novels. The first time I read a novel by him, I knew I would need to write for the rest of my life.

I took my time getting through college (10 years, to be exact), leaving and returning several times. I finally earned my degree in Media Writing in 2004. At the time, I intended to make a path in the screenwriting industry. I quickly found that writing screenplays didn’t capture me, so I turned back to writing short stories and novels. In the process, I learned to apply many screenwriting techniques to my writing. Quick, fast, and always moving forward, pumping like a heartbeat – that’s the way I shape my stories.

I also have several other loves, among them running, listening to music (heavy metal mostly), or just spending time with my family. My wife and I live with our son and two cats in central North Carolina. I am a stay-at-home dad, a total role reversal, and the most challenging job I could ever imagine. This gives me not only adequate time with my son, but also some free time to write.