Read Dystopia: The Long Road Online
Authors: DJ Cooper
John replied, “No, you didn’t want to come help, you’re choosing to stay. We’ll be right back.”
John and Matty took Kimmie up to her apartment to find Jenny in bed sleeping. He ordered her to get up and start packing a bag for each of them, while he began to bandage Kimmie's arm. Looking over he could see Jenny adding lingerie and dresses and gasped, snapping at her he yelled for Matty to come show her what to pack.
Jenny began to cry, saying, “What’s wrong, John why are you yelling at me?”
John stopped what he was doing, he hadn’t realized he was so harsh with her. She was sleeping and had no idea what was going on.
John walked over and hugged her saying, “I’m sorry Jenny, and I didn’t mean to be so harsh. Things are not going good in the neighborhood and I want you and Kimmie to come with me for now.”
She nodded and asked what she was to pack, John told her to have Matty help her that he would know what she should pack for each of them.
The girls grabbed the food Kimmie had just bought along with the feminine products from the bathroom. As he was watching John realized he had not stocked such items for Amy. Hurrying the girls out he said he had to make a stop at a store on the way. All the girls in the truck whined it was too crazy and they were scared. John and Matty looked at each other, Matty rolling his eyes.
Matty would be ten in October, he was small for his age but very quick with the wit. Matty was a good looking boy with dark hair and dark eyes and could win you with a smile.
John remembered hearing Matt say that he had been hoping to get him to grow over the summers and vacations he got to spend with him. It was hard because he was always fighting with Dez, Matt’s girlfriend, about not wanting to eat what she cooked.
Matt and John had talked on many occasions about how Matty treated Dez and believed it was Rita’s doing. John admired Dez because she put up with Matty’s attitude and was always good with him. He silently wondered how he would get through even a day without smacking the daylights out of Rita for all the trouble she had caused them, and the certain problems she will make for him before this was all over.
Making numerous stops along the way, John was able to get a large amount of both tampons and feminine napkins for all the ladies. He also picked up a number of jars of both peanut butter and jelly because that was one of Matty’s favorite things to eat. He also got more saltines because they would last better than bread for him.
When they arrived at the house, Amy was standing out front waving to John. He knew this was not like her and worried something was wrong. Hopping out of the truck and practically sprinting to where she was, he looked quickly in all directions before speaking. Panting, he said,
“What’s wrong? Are you OK?”
She said, “Of course I am silly, I just wanted to tell you to park on the other side of my car because Mark and Renee are going to be here in a few minutes.”
John sighed, saying, “Oh good, I’m glad they decided to come right away.” Amy looked at him quizzically asking,
“Why honey, what is going on?”
She began to feel alarmed and looking toward the truck she noticed Rita getting out. With daggers in her eyes, she looked at John and said,
“And what is
that
doing here?”
John told her to relax, that it was a necessary evil for the sake of Matty and he would explain later.
“The End is now the Beginning”
“War is a way of shattering to pieces… materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and… too intelligent
-George Orwell
The small group sat around the table after dinner chatting and drinking coffee with various conversations going on, Kimmie was playing cards with Matty while Jenny stared at the TV.
John rose and started speaking, “We need to get the sleeping arrangements worked out.”
Before he could finish speaking Rita said she was not comfortable and wanted the room for her and Matty, which John quickly vetoed.
They had a guest bedroom and two sleeper sofas; he assigned Mark and Renee the guest room. Rita would have the full size sofa while Kimmie and Jenny would share the queen. He handed out pillows, comforters and sheets and showed them how to open the sofas.
Matty frowned, saying, “Do I have to sleep on the floor?”
Rita scowled at John, “I guess you’re just a kid, you can handle the floor.”
She had an uncanny knack for saying exactly the wrong thing. John, giving Rita a disgusted look went to Matty knelt down smiled at him a devious smile saying,
“Bud, you get the best bed in the house.”
He looked over glaring at Rita with a look of victory, as he led Matty to an area in the far corner, where he unwound a hammock and attached the loose end to a hook on the opposite wall. Matty giggled with excitement exclaiming,
“This is the best bed ever! Thank you Uncle John.”
Hugging John tightly he ran and scrambled into his hammock and immediately got it swinging.
John and Amy wished everyone a good night’s sleep and said they would discuss things in the morning. After everyone had settled in Kimmie got up and went over to Rita’s bed. She sat on the edge of the bed as Rita rolled away from her. Kimmie had heard her quietly crying and come over; she tried to act like she felt bad for Rita. No one liked her, no one really ever had. She had a miserable disposition and was always saying horrible things about Matt. She hated Dez and tried at every turn to make Matty hate her. Kimmie had been subjected to her harsh words on more than one occasion, so even she did not know why she went to comfort her.
She asked her what was wrong, trying to sound kind. Rita snapped back,
“What do you care?”
Kimmie’s tone got sharp when she said, “You know what? I don’t, forget it. I just thought you might like to talk about it. Good Night!”
Rita rolled over slightly and said in almost a whisper, “Why do you talk to me? With everything that is going on, why did John even bring me with him?”
Kimmie looked at her quizzically saying, “Because you are Matty’s mother, and whether we like it or not he needs his mother and would not have left without you. You really don’t matter, but for him it has to be don’t you understand anything?”
Rita began to speak when Kimmie cut her off. “You could give people a try and instead of being a perpetual bitch try being kind to another person. I came over to see if you needed to talk and you snapped at me. Rita no one hates you, they hate the way you act.”
Rita sniffled and said, “I know… I know I do it too but it just comes out. I was mean to Matt but all of you really have no idea what really happened, you would only listen to him.”
Kimmie reached out and touched her arm saying, “Just try not to be so bitchy, and maybe you will make it through this.”
Rita felt a horrible fear, but nodded and thanked Kimmie for the chat and saying, “I will try and I know John is just trying to keep us safe. You have been kind and I haven’t, I’m sorry Kimmie. I really am.” Kimmie smiled a little and headed for her bed. The smile left Rita feeling uneasy, it was a crooked smile with some kind of knowing look in her eyes.
She had hated Kimmie because of a lie she had told Matt about her. Kimmie never liked her and tried to break them up so she told Matt that Rita had cheated on him. The truth eventually came out, but not before Rita had found out many ugly secrets and lies about their whole relationship. She hated anyone associated with Matt and didn’t trust any of them. She wanted to keep Matty as far away from them as possible and acted like a bitch to do it.
The next day they everyone was to stay at the small farm except John, who wanted to see if things had calmed and the banks had opened. He exited the long drive, not seeing anything out of the ordinary he headed for town. He drove slowly trying to establish some kind of indication of the state of things, as he entered the town square he found himself staring at something that looked like a scene from a movie. Auburn was a smaller town on the outskirts of Worchester keeping them for the most part away from the city issues. It was a quiet town like one might see on a New England postcard. When he saw that most of the store windows on Main Street lay in shards on the sidewalk, he was in a kind of shock. A car was burning in the square while two others were on their sides. There were a few people walking around trying to gather up things with looks of shock or disbelief as well.
Making a left onto Second Avenue would bring him to the police station and hopefully some answers. He carefully drove along, dodging debris, trying not to damage things that were strewn in the road, when he noticed Ole Ben. Ben was, as near as John could tell, the oldest guy on earth. He was a stout man with a deep laugh and prickly whiskers. John remembered as a kid every time Ben would see them he would give them “whisker burn” as John called it. He pulled over to talk to Ole Ben asking,
“Ben, what happened here?”
Ben looked up at John and waved saying, “Hey there young man, we had a bit of a ruckus around here last night I guess.”
John asked, “Do you know who did all this?”
Ben nodded with a look of sadness said, “Young’uns, some of them gang types. There were about fifteen or twenty of them, rolled in here last night. Hollering from their car windows and throwing things like it was one of them crazy parties they like. They broke all the store windows and took all kinds of stuff.” John shook his head in disbelief and asked,
“Did the police catch them all?”
Ben shook his head saying, “No, they took shots at the police cars, had them pinned down a while. Then they jumped into their cars and hauled ass outta here.”
John waved saying, “I’m going to head on over to the station and see if I can find anything out.”
Ben waved back and said, “Careful, I don’t know if they are still lurking around or if they headed back to the city.”
John made his way to the police station. He noticed as he was pulling into the lot that a number of the police cars had bullet holes in them. All of this seemed surreal; it had only been two days since the banks had not reopened. John entered the police station apprehensively, not sure what he would find.
An officer at the front desk asked him, “Can I help you?”
John replied, “I was hoping to find out what happened here.”
The officer shaking his head said, “There was a group of looters that came through here last night, raising hell all over town.”
John asked, “Was anyone hurt?”
The officer shook his head “No” and asked, “Are you a resident of Auburn?”
John said, “Yes, I live about 5 miles up Sandy Lane.”
The officer asked, “Was there any trouble out that way?”
John said, “No, it was quiet.”
The officer nodded and just grunted saying, “Listen, you should make sure to keep your doors locked, I don’t think we have seen the last of this bunch.”
John didn’t want to give away any details about his location or supplies so he thanked the officer and headed home. When he got there Amy was in tears, while Kimmie had been trying to comfort her. John asked,
“What’s wrong?”
Kimmie said, “Its ok, she and Rita had some words is all.”
John was fuming mad and started for the house, when Renee stopped him saying,
“No, John we all handled it. Amy just needs a bit to calm down is all, she’s fine.”
John looked back at Amy and she nodded in agreement. Everyone went inside to hear the news about town. Renee made some coffee while John began to explain to them what had happened in town. Everyone sat gasping with horror on their faces and Amy began to cry again. John eased everyone’s fears telling them they were safe where they were and not to worry. Deep down though John knew that was not true, they would eventually move out further and further. Looking at his group he knew keeping everyone safe for any time would be impossible. Mark could shoot, but was the only other person who was trained to use a firearm; the ladies had never even touched a gun before. He went to bed that night with heavy thoughts and fears for them all in the future.
“
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
-Thomas Jefferson
September 20
th
The group sat around the television, having coffee and watching the news. It was shocking that the country had completely gone to chaos in only three short days. It seemed that the bigger cities like Los Angeles and New York were in chaos. Most, if not all larger cities in the country had plunged into riots and looting.
John told everyone that they were to remain inside unless he or Mark was with them. He issued Mark a Glock 9mm for a sidearm and Mark already had his 20 gauge. The girls were all talking when John interrupted them saying,
“Listen up ladies, I know none of you have ever handled a gun but you’re going to have to learn to at some point. Right now is not the time because we don’t want to go making gun shots for people to find us. It will have to be something you are going to need to get comfortable with.”
Rita immediately started complaining her and Matty would do so such thing.
To which John said, “You will when the time comes I guaran-damn-tee it.”
Most of the day was spent doing minor chores and milling about the house. John was outside listening to NPR taking care of chickens when something struck him.
The radio mentioned a small snippet about FEMA setting up camps to help house the refugees from the cities. It said they would be going door to door to requisition needed supplies in areas where much of the looting had occurred.
John hurried to the house and without saying a word to anyone he went to his closet and gathered all of his bug out gear and a number of guns. He sent Mark to the storage cabinet and told him to take out all but one box for the .9mm guns and to bring along his 20 gauge. He said nothing to the ladies, but shot Renee a look that he hoped she would understand meant to keep them all there.
The two men went out into the large barn where John slid a large feed trough out of the way revealing a trap door. This had been an old cistern that John had uncovered and kept dry for use as a root cellar. They placed all the firearms, ammunition and emergency bug out gear inside the old root cellar. John gathered up some of the antique tools he had hanging on the walls and placed them inside as well.
Mark never said a word, but looked at him quizzically. John looked at him and put his finger up to say shhhh. They moved the feed trough back and covered the area with hay. When they had come out of the barn Rita was standing next to the truck demanding to know what was going on. John looked at Mark and said to her,
“I was a little concerned about space in the house so to open up some closet space I moved all my hunting stuff out here.”
Rita replied, “Well, I don’t want Matty getting into any of those guns, are you sure they are locked up?”
John said, “Sure, come take a look.”
He went to the side of the house where a mud room was located but no longer accessed the house. He unlocked the door to show her inside saying,
“I like the idea of keeping these locked up.”
She snorted in disgust from the odor coming from a few of the hides inside and turned and headed for the house. She stopped and turned, looking from John to Mark asking,
“What was going on in the barn?”
Mark quickly replied, “That dang goat kicked over the water bucket again.”
Rita looking satisfied said, “Oh, well, that’s all just gross.”
John and Mark lingered to lock up the mud room, Mark motioned John to the field for the goats and said,
“Ok John, out with it, what was that all about?”
John replied, “I heard on the radio about FEMA taking stuff for refugee camps and I wanted to get some stuff tucked away.”
Mark looked confused and asked, “why would you think they would come take our stuff?’
John shook his head and said, “Because I have a small farm and a while back, I read someplace about the plans in the event of an emergency they would be looking to the farms to supply the camps.”
Mark replied, “Do you really think they will?”
John said, “I do.”
Mark asked, “Why then did you only hide a few guns and your hiking stuff, and not everything?”
John replied, “Because they know I have guns and other things, if I hid it all they would look further and find the stuff I hid besides this.”
Mark asked, “Do you think we have anything to worry about? I know you talk about this stuff all the time, but I never really believed it.”
John replied, “I hope not, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Mark, do not speak of this to anyone, I don’t know who might say something if they come looking and I believe the less the girls know the better off we are for now.”
Mark agreed that was a good idea and told him he would not say anything. They walked back to the house chatting about other things to be done tomorrow when Amy came running out of the house with John’s cell phone. Shouting, she came running over, “It is Matt; he says he needs to talk to you right away.”
John took the phone saying,
“Hey there guy, what’s up?’
Matt wanted to know about his family and Matty; John assured him they were fine. Telling him, he had been checking on them and went over and got Matty along with Kimmie and Jenny when it all started. He told him his parents were fine too. Mark could hear Matt’s tone was urgent, although he couldn’t hear what he was saying. John just made affirmative responses, “uh huh, uh huh.” John said,
“Ok theah guy, I will tell the others and we will prepare to head out as soon as possible. Would you like to talk to your dad? He’s right here.”
After the news this morning I fear it might not be possible to get near them.”
John agreed and told him he had already marked out some routes on the maps and they could go over them and revisit the options, they agreed they would wait before they told the girls what the plan was. John asked Mark,
“Do you think we should tell them we are headed to Matt and Dez’s place? Maybe not till the last second just in case we do get some visitors. We don’t need any attention drawn to our leaving.”
Mark agreed this was the best idea, especially given all the grief Rita had already caused and that Amy will likely not care for the idea of a road trip.
It was only five o’clock so John decided he would head to town to see if he could find anything left in the stores they might need for the trip. He took Rita and Kimmie with him to keep Rita and Amy apart.
When they got to town there was a roadblock with what looked like the National Guard standing in the road. As they approached, they were signalled to stop. John rolled down his window and asked,
“Is there a problem here?”
The guardsman asked, “Where are you going?”
John replied, “We were going into the grocery store to pick up a few things.”
The guardsman said, “The grocery store has been closed do you have any other business in town?”
John said, “I have a friend I was hoping to check up on. Ben, he lives over the pharmacy.”
The guardsman responded, “All residents of the affected town have been relocated to the refugee camp in Devons. If you have no other business here, do you require assistance? I can have a truck follow you to pick up the residents for the refugee camp if you are unable to care for yourselves.”
John looked shocked and said, “No sir, we are fine, the ladies here just wanted some chocolate is all. Can I turn around right here?”
The guardsman consulted with another who scurried off to a tent nearby, looking to John and saying,
“I need to see your license, sir.”
While fishing it out of his pocket John asked, “Is everything ok? We didn’t know this area was cordoned off.”
The guardsman looked at his license and made a note on a clipboard saying, “You’re fine, we just wanted to know who would still be in the area. Travel is restricted during this period of Martial Law.”
John was shocked; he had not heard anything about the declaration of Martial Law. He looked at the guardsman and asked,
“Can we go home now?”
The guardsman was preparing to let them go when the other one came back with a man in a suit. The suit looked like it was big on the man, who was older with a slight limp. He walked determined with his dark eyes piercing the windows of the truck clearly assessing any threats. The man approached the truck and wanted to know what kind of supplies they had at the farm. John told them just the usual farm stuff, explaining he was basically a hobby farm not one of the big farmers.
The man said, “Sir, we will need to come and take an inventory to assess what may be needed for the refugee camp. You’re free to go, someone will come by tomorrow.”
Before John could object the man turned and walked away. John started to say something to the guardsman who put his hand up to be silent and waved them to leave. John looked at the guardsman who shook his head “no” looking in the direction of the suited man, as if to say that it was not a good idea to object. Tipping his head sideways, and motioning silently, suggesting, for them to leave quickly.
On the way back to the farm John was agitated and was cursing under his breath at how they thought they could just do anything they want, and who do they think they are?
Kimmie interrupted his cursing asking, “John, is something wrong?”
John looked at the girls who both had looks of fear in their expressions. He had not realized that they had no clue what this meant.
He softened his look and tone, saying, “Kimmie, this is not good at all. Do either of you know what this could all mean?”
Both girls shook their heads “No.”
John said, “When we get back to the house we are all going to talk about this. I don’t want you to worry about it right now, but there are some things we will all have to be aware of and think about.”
They drove back to the house in silence, John was deep in his thoughts and both girls were watching the houses go by.
Turning into the driveway John said, “Kimmie, will you get some coffee going and Rita can you please gather everyone to the table? I will explain what some of the things that are bothering me about all this are then, Ok?”
Both girls nodded and upon exiting the truck each went to the task that John had asked of them. John sought out Mark, who was in the large barn tending to some of the animals.
Mark saw him headed for him at a trot and yelled out, “Hey John, what’s up?”
John walked up to him, saying, “I think we have some trouble coming, we need to sit down with everyone and have a talk. Let’s go inside.”
Mark followed John inside where everyone was sitting around chatting with Kimmie and Rita. The girls had already told of their encounter with the strange man in a suit.
Mark and John came in and Amy asked, “What’s going on?”
John said, “I see you girls are pretty much up to speed on what happened in town. The guardsman said the area was under martial law and while I don’t know what agency the man in the suit was with I have a pretty good idea.”
Mark asked, “Do you think it is FEMA?”
John replied, “That’s exactly what I am thinking.”
Renee asked, “Is it true they want to come out here for stuff?”
John said, “The guy said he wanted to take an inventory of what we had here.”
Jenny said, “I don’t understand why?”
John said, “They think they can just commandeer whatever supplies they think they need for the refugee camps.”
Kimmie asked, “What is a refugee camp? Is it for the bad people who made the mess in town?”
John said, “No, they put all the people from town in the camp.”
Mark sighed, saying, “John you’ve been saying stuff about this for years. Is this what you were talking about when you talked about FEMA camps?”
John nodded his head saying, “This is very bad, think about this, it has only been a couple of days and, other than the banks not reopening everything feels fine, right? If they had a place to house all the residents of the town capable of handling it, when did they build such a thing?” Why would they want to house American citizens in it instead of the criminals who messed up town? Why not just bring aid to the town instead of herding everyone off to a camp?”
There was absolute silence as John continued, “I think we have to assume they know something we don’t. When they come tomorrow, if they ask, all of you were here for our harvest weekend. If they want to know why you are still here, you tell them when the banks did not reopen we decided to extend it because of the trouble in town. I don’t think they will check yet so if they want to know we are all family here.”
Rita said, “Won’t we be safer in the camps?”
John looked at her and as gently as he could and explained, “It is not a camp that wants to help you. They say they do, but what they really want is to control you. In all likelihood they would put Matty in a kid’s tent and make you work all day for the camp.