Escaping Home (3 page)

She didn't say anything else, just tightened her grip around me. As we approached our gate I could see Sarge and Thad down at the barricade. Mel asked to be let off so she could start dinner, and after she hopped off, I headed down to see them.

“What's up?” I asked as I coasted to a stop.

Sarge leaned back and said, “We need to figure out who's gonna relieve us. We've got to keep this thing manned.”

“I can come back later. Danny would probably come too.”

“Sounds good. You an' him be here at twenty hundred; I'll have some of the boys relieve you guys later tonight. Keep yer eyes open, bring yer NVGs and keep an eye out. Them bastards are prolly gonna try somethin' soon enough.”

“You think so?” I asked.

“I think we need to plan on it,” Thad added.

“If they do, we need to be ready. Go tell Danny to stop by Reggie's place to pick up some radios I've got. We'll keep one here from now on. If anything happens, whoever is here will call for help an' we'll come a-runnin',” Sarge said.

“Sounds good to me. I'll go tell him. We can charge the radios at my place,” I replied.

“Good. On that note, you need to start thinking about what it's going to take to get that solar power system moved. We'll need it at the new location.”

I hadn't even thought about this yet. It wouldn't be physically hard, but it was a kind of psychological hurdle. By taking it down and moving it, it meant that moving was a permanent deal.

“Also, you gotta bring your rig down to Danny's in the morning so we can load up his stuff first. He's got a lot of things we can use,” Sarge said.

“Sure thing, no problem.”

I looked over at Thad, who was quieter than usual today. He was fishing around his backpack and pulled out something.

Sarge leaned over and asked, “What'cha got there, Thad?”

Without looking up he answered, “It was my boy's.” He pulled out a Transformer.

Sarge stiffened. “I'm sorry, buddy. I'm not going to tell you I know how you feel, 'cause I don't. In my line of work a family's a hard thing to have. I didn't want to leave a wife an kid behind if anything ever happened to me.”

Thad rubbed his thumbs over the toy, then looked over at Sarge. “It ain't no easier the other way around.”

I really felt for him. I couldn't imagine it, losing my family in front of my eyes. I remembered how often he had spoken of his wife and son on our walk home. But what could I say? There just aren't words for some things.

I patted Thad on the back. “I'll see you guys in the morning,” I said.

J
ess lay on her bunk, trying to sleep. Mary had given up her attempts at conversation, but other women kept chatting. After counting sheep, counting backward and counting the cracks in the ceiling, Jess knew that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, so she got up and headed to the door, feeling restless. As she stepped outside, she was met by a security officer, who looked at her sternly and said, “We're locked down; you have to go back inside.”

Jess reached into her pocket and handed the man a little slip of paper that allowed her to visit her brother. He looked at it and appeared unsure what to do. “Uh, I don't know, you're supposed to be locked down.”

“I'm going to the infirmary. It's not like I can go anywhere else.”

The man looked at the paper again, then back at her. “Your brother?”

“Yeah, he's been in there since we got here.”

Taking another look at the paper, he handed it back. “Go ahead.”

She thanked him, stuffing the paper into her pocket as she walked away. She took her time, just enjoying the freedom of movement, but not straying from her course as that would certainly bring trouble. There was still a lot of activity in the camp, though she couldn't identify what the DHS officers were doing. When she reached the infirmary, the usual orderly was sitting at the little table inside. Recognizing her, he quickly waved her through. Jess walked down the ward to her brother's bed and sat in the chair beside it.

“Hey, it's me. How are you today?”

There was no response. Jess looked him over and grabbed his hand.

“Some of the bandages are gone; you must be getting better! Before you know it you'll be out of here.”

She looked at her brother's face.
And then what are they going to make you do?
she thought.

She lifted the blanket to look at the wound on his stomach, the worst of the visible wounds. The bandage looked fresh, though there was already fluid coming through it. She lifted his hand to her face and kissed it, seeing all the little cuts and scratches. His fingernails were still dirty.
At least they could have cleaned them,
she thought, before looking down at her own nails.
I could use a manicure too
. A little laugh escaped her.

She stayed there for a few more minutes, just watching him rest. “I know you need your sleep. I'll see you tomorrow.” Jess laid his hand on the bed and left, returning to her tent.

Mary was up when she got back. “Enjoy your nap?” Jess asked as she flopped down on her bunk.

“Yeah, I'm just bored to death.”

Jess looked around the tent. “I know, this place is starting to get to me. I'm about ready to get the hell out of here.”

“Me too. I don't think they'll just let us stroll out the gate, though.”

“Me neither.” Jess let out a sigh. “I wonder what we're doing tomorrow.”

“I hope it isn't firewood again. I'm about sick of that saw! They work us like damn slaves.”

“I know we came here by choice and I don't mind doing my part, but it's a little ridiculous, cutting wood, filling sandbags, doing all this work.” She paused in thought. “It reminds me of some of the stories from my history class about prisoners of war and what they were made to do.”

“
Line up for inspection, line up for meals, line up for roll call!
Ugh. I didn't think about being like a prisoner, but I
do
feel like I'm in grade school again,” Mary said.

Jess looked at her. “Yeah, they treat us like children, incapable of doing anything for ourselves.” She stared off into the distance. “I never thought of that till now.”

“It's almost as if they want us totally dependent on them.”

Jess was zoning out for a few minutes when a loud voice interrupted her thoughts. “Hey! What do you think all the shooting was about?” a woman two bunks down from Jess asked her bunk mate.

“I don't know. It reminded me of everything we just left,” her friend replied.

“Well, at least there's food here,” the first woman said.

“That's true. Have you seen anyone else from the neighborhood?”

“I have,” the first woman said. “I saw Mark.”

A cot squeaked as the woman shot up. “Did he see you? Did you talk to him?”

“We did, he asked what tent we are in. He said he would drop in and check on us.”

Jess closed her eyes, trying to sleep as the two women continued on about this Mark fellow. And as if by magic, a few minutes later, there was a quick knock at the door and a uniformed man entered. Unlike the other agents that performed security functions and wore black uniforms with the Department of Homeland Security patch, this man wore a green uniform with a gold sheriff's star on his chest.

The women beamed as he approached. “Mark!”

The man sat down on the foot of her bunk. “How are you guys? When did you come in?”

“A couple days ago. We finally got assigned to this tent. It's actually kind of nice,” one of them said.

The man smiled. “Yeah, we're trying to keep things together as best we can.”

“What was all that shooting about earlier? Is that why we're locked down?”

“Yeah, some trouble outside the fence. Everything's all right, though. You ladies don't have to worry.” The man paused for a moment. “Was there anyone still in the neighborhood when you guys left?”

“The only people we saw were Morgan and his bunch,” the first woman said.

“Yeah, and he's brought other people into the neighborhood. They're staying in Pat's house,” the second woman said.

When Jess heard Morgan's name, her eyes opened wide.
Could it possibly be him?
she thought.

“That damn Reggie is with them and some huge black guy I've never seen before. But what really bothers me is that Danny and his wife threw in with Morgan,” the first woman said.

“I know. I can't believe Danny would do that; he's such a nice guy. Morgan has always been a pain in the ass,” the second woman said.

“Well, we'll be paying Morgan a visit soon enough. We have to disarm him and his friends,” Mark said.

Now Jess was sure they were talking about the same Morgan. To know that she was so close to them, knowing that they were in trouble filled her with a profound feeling of dread.

“Do you think he had anything to do with the shooting outside the fence?” the second woman asked.

“I doubt it. Whoever was doing all that shooting had automatic weapons, and I seriously doubt Morgan has that kind of hardware,” Mark said.

“Well, something needs be done about him. I heard he shot Pat and her family for no reason.”

Jess watched and didn't see any reaction from the man in response to the woman's statement. But she felt she knew Morgan well enough that if he'd shot somebody, there was a reason behind it. The fact that these women believed that Morgan would act in cold blood rubbed her the wrong way.

Before he left, Mark told the women that he was keeping them off of the worst work detail. In a hushed tone, the man went on to explain that the camp was situated on a bombing range and that one work detail involved the removal of unexploded ordnance. There was one bomb disposal unit at the camp that consisted of three men, and they could not do all the work alone, so the most undesirable refugees were being used to perform this dangerous task. He told them there had already been fatalities, but it had to be done so the camp could expand and take in more refugees.

After the man left the tent Jess rolled onto her back, her mind racing. A strange feeling of exhilaration ran through her. Morgan and Thad and Sarge were so close, but she knew it was impossible to escape with the camp security being as tight as it was. However, she knew in her heart that she couldn't stay. Jess looked over at Mary, who was napping in her bed. She knew that Mary would certainly want to get out if the chance ever arose and decided she would tell her about Morgan the next morning. Jess finally drifted off to sleep with a little assurance that hope still existed.

A
t precisely 2000 hours Danny and I were at the barricade. Danny had stopped by Reggie's house and picked up the radio. One radio would be kept at the barricade at all times now, and Sarge and his boys would have the other one with them down at Reggie's house. If anything happened, we would call them and they would be ready to respond to any event. Danny told me that we would be relieved around midnight.

It was a quiet and clear night—and kind of boring, to be honest. From time to time Danny or I would take the night-vision goggles and look up and down the road, but we didn't see anything.

Across the road from the barricade heading due west was an open field, separated from the road by a barbed-wire fence. The pasture is about sixty or seventy acres of hay. On the other side of the hay field sat a house, and all my times at the barricade the house always appeared unoccupied just as it did this night. It was just something else to look at in the darkness besides the road and the fence. There was no foot traffic on the road, no people, no vehicle traffic of any kind. At one point, off in the distance three or four shots rang out, echoing out into the darkness. We both listened for a minute to see if there would be a reply, but there was nothing.

At midnight, Jeff and Ted came driving up to the barricade in one of the buggies, leaving it in the brush, because as we had discussed before, it was a bad idea for anyone to see one of these things now. We were not sure if the DHS folks had gotten a look at them during the firefight, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

“You guys our relief?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, we drew the short straw,” Ted said as he stretched.

“Let the old man know that we have to dig a grave in the morning before we come down,” I said, heading for the ATV.

“Really, who?” Jeff asked.

“Old man Howard and his wife.”

Jeff looked stunned. “Both of them? How?”

“They OD'd. I assume she gave him a shot, then one to herself.”

“A shot of what?” Ted asked.

“Morphine. Doc left it with them. He was in pretty bad shape; they couldn't keep his wounds clean.”

“Dammit, he should have known better than to leave that shit with them,” Ted said. In the faint moonlight, I could see that he was shaking his head.

“I think he did it on purpose. He kinda said so.”

“I guess I can see it. With that leg he was certain to get an infection. Probably a better way to go than from waiting for it to rot off.”

“Yeah, I guess. Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Take it easy, fellers.”

Danny and I climbed onto our machines and headed home for a few hours of sleep, leaving Jeff and Ted to keep an eye on things.

The next morning, I woke up at five. The good ole days of sleeping in till nine were long gone for me. Mel was still asleep and I didn't bother waking her. After strapping on my hardware I went out on the porch and waited for Reggie.

I heard the tractor in the still morning air long before I saw it. Danny was on his Polaris behind the tractor as the two of them passed my driveway heading for Howard's.

Danny stopped beside me. “What up?”

“More buryin',” I replied.

“Yeah, gettin' a lil' old, huh?”

“Gettin' a lot old, brother. Let's go get it done.”

Reggie was already at work on a hole when we joined him. Danny I got ready to go inside to retrieve the bodies. Pausing at the door, I pulled a couple pairs of latex gloves out of my pocket and handed a pair to Danny. He took them and looked at me. “Is it that bad?”

“Yeah, it's pretty nasty.”

The smell inside was worse than I recalled—beyond disgusting. I pulled out one of the bandannas and tied it around my face, trying to filter some of the stench. Both Howard and his wife were in rough shape. A puddle of discharge from Howard's leg stained the carpet in a thick pool. He was already a big man and was now starting to swell. It was a major job to get his body out of the chair and onto a sheet spread on the floor. Lifting the ends of the sheet we skidded the body toward the door. Thankfully Reggie had pulled the tractor up and had the bucket sitting on the porch. Howard's wife was a small woman, but the way she fell on the sofa had her body in an awkward position, and rigor had set in. We finally got her onto the sheet and were able to carry her out the door and set her in the bucket.

As Reggie drove to the hole with the bodies, Danny and I sat on the porch. We needed a break. We weren't talking, just sitting there in silence when Danny suddenly reached back and slammed the door shut. He was shaking his head with a look of disgust on his face.

“I can't stand that smell. This is fucking horrible,” Danny said.

“I know, man. I never imagined it could get like this.”

“We took so much for granted,” Danny said with a sigh, then a little smile split his lips and he looked over. “Life used to be so easy. We looked forward to the weekend, maybe a little fishing or some time on the river in the kayaks. . . .” He trailed off, and then looked back at the house.

“We're gonna have to burn this place. Can you imagine what it'll be like in the summer? Just a breeding ground for disease.”

I hadn't thought of that, but he was right. We walked over to Reggie to tell him the plan.

“At least that's done,” he said.

“Not quite,” Danny said.

Reggie looked at him uncertainly. “Are you telling me that there's there someone else in there?”

“No, but we've got to do something about the house. It's pretty bad in there,” I said.

Reggie looked from Danny to me. “What do you guys want to do?”

“Burn it,” Danny said.

Reggie was surprised by the statement. “You really think we need to do that?”

“If we leave it like it is, it will get really bad when it warms up, spreading disease and who knows what,” Danny said.

Reggie thought about it for a minute. “Couldn't we just pull out the furniture and stuff?”

“You need to go take a look,” Danny said.

Reggie ambled over to the house and seconds later came out coughing, holding a hand over his mouth. After catching his breath he said, “You're right. We can't leave it like this.”

“I saw a kerosene lantern in there, still has fuel in it. We could use it to light it,” I said.

It didn't take long for the flames to spread from the sofa where I poured the fuel and lit it. We stood back watching as the flames grew in intensity. In just a couple of minutes the entire mobile home was a roaring fireball, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky. Almost about the same time several ATVs came flying up the drive. Sarge and a couple of the guys were looking at the house, then at us.

“What the hell happened?” Sarge asked as he walked up.

“We burned it,” Danny said.

Sarge looked back at the house, then back to us. “Why? Thought you were going to bury 'em.”

“We did,” I said, pointing to the gravesite. “We burned it to keep disease from spreading.”

“Was it that bad?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, it was worse than bad,” Reggie said.

“It was a smart move. I'm sure there was a lot of body fluids an' all. It would have gotten really bad once it warmed up,” Doc said.

“All right, then, it's done. Now, fellas, we got work to do,” Sarge said. “There's a lot to move, more than you probably think.”

“With all the strange shit you want, there is,” Reggie joked.

“You'll thank me later, I assure you.”

“Yeah, those cabins were rather sparse; getting them up to speed to live in is going to take some effort,” Danny said.

“You guys think I wanted a bunch of stuff? Well, I bet your ladies are going to come up with all kinds of stuff they need,” Sarge said. “Just wait, you'll see.”