Escaping Home (19 page)

Mary smiled a little reluctantly. “I guess. If you're gone, there's no need to stick around here.”

Back in their room, Jess lay out on her bed and started thumbing through the books. Mary was reading a romance novel when she looked up and asked, “Hey, how do you think Fred's doing?”

“I don't know. Hope she's all right.”

“Me too. It would be neat to get out of here for a while.” Mary stared up at the ceiling. “I can't imagine riding in a car again, going fast with the windows down and the wind blowing.”

“Yeah, I'd like a motorcycle ride, just for that feeling of freedom, ya know?”

“Ooh, no motorcycles for me. I don't like them, too dangerous.”

“Scaredy-cat. I'd get on one in a heartbeat.”

The rest of the evening was spent reading books and relaxing until they each fell asleep with a book on their chest. The wake-up knock the next morning came early and they got ready for another day in the kitchen. After a trip to the latrine they found Kay waiting for them.

“Good morning, ladies,” Kay said with a flourish of a smile.

“Hey, Kay,” Jess said.

Kay cocked her head to the side. “You feeling better today?”

“Yes. You were right; I just needed to relax.” She turned her head and whispered, “Thanks so much.”

Kay winked at her. “Here's the menu for today. Can you two take care of making the grits?”

“Sure thing; grits are easy,” Mary said.

“Usually, but I think you'll find making thirty gallons of them is a little more work,” Kay said.

“I'll stand here and stir grits all day if it keeps me off that line,” Jess said as she started setting out the giant pots.

They worked their shift, preparing food and cleaning the aftermath. When the last pot was stored, Jess and Mary headed for their room. Jess was looking down at her feet, watching as they pressed into the orange sand.

“Hello, darlin'.”

Jess froze, not wanting to look up.

“I missed you this mornin'. I was really lookin' forward to seeing you.”

Jess looked up at him and he smiled, pushing the brim of his hat up, a toothpick stuck in the side of his mouth. She wanted to cuss him, kick him or claw his eyes out. What she chose to do was just walk by without acknowledging his presence. As she passed him he took the pick from his mouth and reached out and brushed the hair from her shoulder, two of his fingers lightly gliding over her neck.

Jess spun and slapped his hand away. “Don't you
fucking
touch me!” she screamed, pointing at him.

He smiled, replacing the pick in his mouth, and winked at her. Jess was shaking. Now she wanted to kill him. She started to back away, not wanting to turn her back to him.

“I'll be seein' ya,” he said, pointing at her, his hand in the shape of a pistol.

Mary followed Jess, looking sideways at the man as she passed. He tipped his hat to her.

“Tell your friend she should be nice to me. I can make her real uncomfortable around here.”

Mary diverted her eyes and followed Jess into their room. Jess kicked the small table in their room as soon as she entered.

“I
hate
this fucking place! Who does that guy think he is? He's got no right to touch me!”

Mary sat on Jess's bed. “He scares me. When I passed him, he said you should be nicer to him 'cause he can make your life miserable.”

Jess spun around. “Oh, I know what he wants!” Jess jabbed her thumb into her chest. “But I decide who touches me! And he's not going to!”

Jess went to her locker and grabbed the bottle of vodka, ripping the cap from it she tilted her head back and shook the liquor into her mouth as fast as she could.

Mary looked at her wide-eyed. “Where'd you get that?”

Jess let the alcohol burn down her throat, feeling the heat go down to her belly and up to her ears at the same time. She looked back at Mary. “A little bird left it for me.” She put the bottle down on the table and sat down, letting the vodka mellow her fury. She sat staring at the wall, silent, brooding.

“I wish Fred were here,” Mary said. “I hope she's all right.”

Staring at the wall, Jess replied, “I'm sure she's all right. I just hope she gets what she wants out of it.”

F
red was tired. The amount of physical labor involved in this job far exceeded anything she'd imagined. Heavier yet was the mental fatigue. What she'd witnessed was horrifying—the images were seared into her mind; the sounds reverberated. Fred had thought that scavenging meant going into abandoned places and picking through what was there and taking it. In reality, it was going into any place, abandoned or not, and taking everything—by any means necessary.

The truck rumbled into Tomoka State Park, which was empty because the lead gun trucks had already forced out any who were staying here. Fred looked out the window at the pathetic souls walking the opposite way, heading for the gate. Men, women and children lumbered down the road carrying what belongings they could.

As they rode down the shaded lane, they periodically passed one of the security elements stationed on the shoulder who were tasked to ensure everyone kept heading for the gate. When they were stopped for a moment, Fred looked out the window to see a woman with a rolled blanket under her arm, two small children also carrying blankets trailing behind her. What struck her the most was the bloated bellies of the children. She remembered being in school and seeing images of starving Somali children, bellies bloated from malnutrition. She'd never thought it could be a possibility here in America.

She was also struck by their clothes—in particular, how dirty they were. But the reality was that in a world without washing machines and Tide detergent, people were living in their clothes. As a result nearly every person who passed were wearing clothes that were some shade of gray. Fred felt briefly thankful to be in the camps, where at least they could shower.

The truck lurched forward. Fred laid her head back and closed her eyes.

“You okay?” Aric asked.

“Yeah, I'm just tired.”

“We'll set up camp soon.”

The trucks drove toward a point of the park that jutted out into the river. They stopped in front of a building beside the boat ramp. Fred waited for Aric and José to get out of the truck, then took her time climbing out. She stretched and looked around but was startled by the sound of a shot. Seconds later, two men were dragging a body away from the building. They pulled it over to the ramp, leaving a smeared trail of blood, and dropped it into the river.

Aric walked up behind her. “We'll stay here tonight.”

“In there?” Fred pointed to the open door.

“Yeah, better than sleeping in the trucks.”

“I'll sleep in the truck. I'm not going in there.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Why'd you guys make everyone leave?”

“For security, we can't have people all around us.”

“Aren't these the people you're supposed to be helping?”

“That's not our mission. We're out to find supplies to support the people in the camp, not everyone we come across on the road.”

“But don't you think they need help too?”

“What I think is irrelevant. If they want help, they can go to one of the camps and get it.”

Aric walked off, leaving Fred alone. She simply didn't understand the logic in taking from some to give to others. How does that possibly make sense?

Once the area was secured and the guard perimeter established, everyone was given a MRE. Fred took hers to the back of the truck. Menu number seven. She hadn't had this one yet and wondered if it'd be any better than the previous ones she'd had. The source of these was another thing that stayed on her mind the entire trip. There always seemed to be enough MREs for the FEMA folks, though she'd not once seen them hand them out to any of the people they encountered.

She was sitting in the back of the truck eating when Aric showed up.

“Which one did you get?”

“Old number seven,” she said with a smile.

“Number seven—where have I heard that before?”

“It was Mad Jack's mule on
Grizzly Adams
.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that show!” He smiled and climbed up into the truck with her. Fred moved over to make room for him.

“So, you're going to stay in here tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah, I'm not going into there.” She looked at the building. “It doesn't feel right to throw someone out then stay there.”

“It's what we have to do. It's just the way things are.”

Fred squinted at him. “Do you agree with it? Is it what you would do?”

Aric stared out the back of the truck. “It doesn't really matter; it's not up to me. I'd rather be doing this than be like these poor bastards out here scratching around in the damn dirt to survive.”

“So you're here because you have to be?”

Aric looked at her. “I don't have to be. I
choose
to be. It's like they say about elections, choosing the lesser of two evils. Do I think what we do is right? No, not everything, but we are trying to help people in the camps. Plus it's keeping me alive, warm and dry.”

“But what about that guy they threw into the river? They killed him so we could stay here. Don't you think it would have been better to help him than to kill him? I mean, really? Kill him because they decided they wanted his place for the night, one night?”

“He should have left when they told him to. I'm sure they didn't just shoot him.”

“Don't you see the wrong in that, though?”

“I do, but you need to stop asking so many questions or it'll drive you crazy. Just go along with the program. It can get a lot worse on you.”

Fred smiled and touched his hand, which he took as an invitation and ran his up her thigh. Fred caught his hand and smiled. “Easy, cowboy
. That's
not going to happen, but maybe later we can spend a little time together.”

Aric smiled. “Sure, I need to go find José anyway.”

Fred leaned against the side of the truck and looked out. The canvas sides gave her only a small view of the world around her, and from this perspective it looked peaceful. The activity of setting up the camp was done and the noise was winding down. At peace in the back of the truck, she drifted off to sleep.

She woke up to the sound of someone climbing into the truck. It was dark when she opened her eyes, and all she could make out was the uniform. “Aric?”

“No, it's José.”

Sitting up, she asked, “Where's Aric?”

“Don't worry about him. He's busy.”

“What do you want?”

He was close to her now but she could only see the silhouette of his face. “You know what I want. Aric isn't the only man around here.”

The horror of the statement landed on her. “What? No!”

“Come on, it's not like that. I just want to fuck; it ain't like you're a virgin or some shit.”

There was no where she could go. José grabbed her legs and dragged her to the middle of the truck.

“No! Get away from me!” Fred screamed.

José grabbed her by the hair and clamped his hand over her mouth. “You can go along and we can both have fun, or you can fight it. I'm fine either way.”

Fred felt him reach for her pants. She leaned down quickly and bit hard on the two fingers that found their way in. He screamed and tried to pull back. Picking her knees up, Fred kicked him in the chest with both feet, launching him out of the truck. She scrambled toward the cab, pressing her back against it. José landed on the ground with a thud and jumped up cussing.

“You fucking bitch, you bit me!” He drew his pistol and raised it, pointing into the blackness in the back of the truck. “You fucking cunt. I'll kill you!”

Suddenly a hand grabbed the pistol and wrenched it from his grip. José looked to his right just in time for the grip of the Glock to come smashing down on his nose, sending him reeling.

“Fred, you okay?”

“Yes. Aric, is that you?”

“Yeah, it's me. What happened?”

“He was trying to rape me!”

More people ran up, a man asking what was going on.

“José tried to rape one of the women,” Aric said.

“No, I didn't, she just got pissed when I wouldn't pay for it,” José said.

“Liar!” Fred screamed.

Another man piped up, “Take it easy. José, get on your feet.”

Jose climbed to his feet, tilting his head back and pinching his nose to stop the flow of blood. “Damn you, Aric, you broke my fucking nose!”

“You shouldn't have drawn your weapon, or tried to rape her,” Aric said.

The other man asked, “He drew his weapon?”

“Lieutenant, he said he was going to shoot her. I took it from him and gave him a tap on the nose.”

“This kind of shit isn't going to happen on my watch,” the lieutenant said. Turning to two other men, he told them to secure José with flex cuffs and put a watch on him for the rest of the night.

“This is bullshit, LT! I didn't do anything wrong. He's just pissed 'cause he wants in her pants.”

“Get him out of here.” The lieutenant advised two men to watch over José, and instructed Aric to keep an eye on Fred. Once they were gone, he climbed up into the truck with her.

“You all right?”

Fred was quietly crying, her knees pulled up to her chest. “Yes, I just can't believe he thought he could just take what he wanted.”

“I'm really sorry, Fred. Some of these guys are real assholes and are used to getting what they want.”

Fred could barely contain her anger. “Used to getting what they want? Is this what you guys do, go out and rape and pillage?”

“No!” Aric said, the anger clear in his tone. “At least . . . not all of us. I damn sure don't. Do some of these guys? Yes. It's hard. . . . They're lonely and all.”

“Lonely?
Lonely?
Really?”

“I'm not like that. I couldn't . . .” He trailed off. “I couldn't do that.”

“Just the thought of these bastards doing this to women with nothing, no hope, to have the only thing they have left taken from them as well . . . It's just horrible.”

Aric nodded sympathetically. “The camp doesn't seem so bad now, does it?”

“Why? 'Cause they haven't done it there yet? Or they haven't been caught. These type of guys live there as well, and if they'll try it out here they'll try it there.”

“You may think that we just go out raping and pillaging, but it's not the case. There's serious trouble for anyone who does it.”

Fred quietly replied, “I would hope so.”

Aric sat silently for a few minutes. “I'll be outside if you need anything. Don't worry, no one's going to bother you tonight.” He slid his ass toward the tailgate of the truck.

“No, wait. Can you stay here with me, stay tonight?”

“You sure you want me to?”

“I don't want to be alone. Please just stay here.”

Aric slid toward the front of the truck. Fred wiggled around until she was lying in the bed. He lay down behind her, resting his head on his arm, his other on his leg. Fred pressed against him, then felt for his arm and pulled it over her. They lay that way for the rest of the night.

The next morning the sound of cranking engines woke them up. “Oh my God, I'm sore.” Aric said, sitting up.

“Me too. I slept good, but I'm hurting now.”

“Tell me about it. You stay here and I'll go get you something to eat,” Aric said as he moved to the edge of the truck.

“Okay. And, um, Aric?” He stopped and looked back, rubbing his neck. “Thanks for stopping him.”

“Sure, no problem. He's gonna have his ass in a sling when we get back.”

“Good. And thanks for staying with me too. I really appreciate it,” she said then smiled.

He smiled back. “It was good. I like being with you.”

He hopped out of the truck and disappeared. After an uncomfortable night's sleep, she needed to stretch and climbed out of the truck, arching her back and working the stiffness out of her shoulders. Looking around, she saw a man sitting by the building, his hands behind his back. It was José. He looked at her from across the lot and mouthed the words,
I'm going to get you.
Fred turned away and went back to the truck, shuddering.

Aric returned with another MRE. “Here,” he said, tossing the bag to her. “I've got good news too.”

Fred looked at him. “Well what is it?”

He smiled as he cut open his own meal. “We're heading home today. We're done for this trip.”

A wave of relief washed over Fred.” Oh, thank God.”

“I thought that would make you happy.”

“When do we leave?”

“Soon, so hurry up and eat.”

The convoy quickly got road-ready after breakfast and was on the move. Driving out the gate, Fred remembered those poor souls she saw walking out just the night before. They were kicked out of what they called home so the convoy could stay there for one night. To make it worse, at least one of them lost their life as a result. She shook her head at the thought.

The convoy weaved its way through Ormond-By-The-Sea, finally stopping at a gas station. Aric told Fred she could stay in the truck; there wasn't anything for her to do here anyway.

“Fine with me.” Fred opened the door. “You can smell the beach from here. I wish we could go see it.” Aric smiled at her.

Fred climbed out of the truck, preferring to wander a little. She turned to the east, where the sun was still low.
It's just over there: beach, sand, waves and water
, she thought. It would be nice to be there, watching the waves, not worrying about anything. She wondered if she'd ever see the coast again.