67
Tony Weber lay on his death bed with his cell phone in his hand. He was so confused from the sickness that Tony wondered if he had brought this upon himself, his company, his family, and his nation. His memory was dim. He felt like the devil incarnate. He dialed his son, Carson Weber, and heard him pick up the line.
“Hi, dad.”
“How have you been, Carson?”
“Sick. My wife and kids are sick.”
“Same here,” Tony said. “I think this is my final call to you.”
“I can barely stand, dad. We are all feeling like death is right around the horizon.”
“Sounds very Egyptian, Carson. I read in Reader’s Digest that the Egyptian pharaohs believed that the horizon carried the dead to the west where the sun set across the Nile River. The horizon was a god named Hora. Hora escorted them to the promised land where the dead were always happy.”
“I don’t believe that shit.”
“Me neither. However, I have to admit the ancient history of it is somewhat comforting.”
“I remember when you took me to camp in the mountains, dad,” Carson said. “Those were the best times I ever had. I want to thank you for doing that.”
“It was my pleasure, son. I’m sure I must have enjoyed it more than you. Aw, son, you were so tiny back then. And so innocent and sweet to look at,” Tony said. “You were always such a cute kid.”
Carson looked at his father’s face in the cell phone. He was crying, same as Carson. “You know, dad, I took my sons camping in the same mountains and those same spots where we spent those times together. They are in the living room, dad. Sprawled on the couch. The little guys are spending their last moments probably texting their friends. Maybe they are playing video games. Who knows for certain. I guess they are trying to get one more moment of happiness in before this damned virus kills them and me both.”
“At least we still have cell phone coverage. The lights in New York have been dark for days. It’s dark here now, too. The grid’s down again.”
“I’m operating on fifteen hundred watts of solar panels, dad. Otherwise, I’d be in the dark myself.”
“Always the romantic, Carson. You went for the survivalist schtick hook like and sinker.”
“Yes, I did, dad. I fully admit it. The irony is, that I’m a dead man dying. The investment was supposed to save me and my kids. Isn’t it hilarious?”
“If it wasn’t disease, son, it’d have been something else. I always figured there’d be a nuclear war, and we’d all die of radiation or just explode in flames.”
Carson turned his head and vomited into the bucket he’d placed by the side of his bed. It reminded him of the pukes he’d heaved as a little boy, sick with the flu. His dog, Gander, stood by him. Gander was the best friend, Carson ever had. “I miss Gander,” Carson said.
“Gander was a good dog, son. He loved you totally. Everywhere you went, he was there for you.”
“Yes, he was. I’ll be meeting him soon, dad. Sounds like we will both be meeting him soon,” Carson said. “I figure he’s probably curled up at the gate, waiting for me to tumble out of here and onto the pavement next to him.” Carson felt the tears coming into his eyes. He was losing them all. His wife, his sons, his dogs, his dad, his life, and his memories. “I love you, dad,” Carson said. “Thanks for being here with me. It was nice of you to call.”
“This was the one call I should have made and one of the few calls that I actually did make, son. I’ve had you in my heart from the day you were born, and I still remember when I held your little body in my arms for that first time. Your eyes were so big and innocent.”
“Thanks, dad. I love you.”
Tony heard the connection drop. He knew that the end was nigh. Soon, he’d tumble onto the floor of heaven. Gander would lick him again. His own mom and dad would greet him. A moment later, he was gone. His trip was over. He opened his eyes, and saw Gander’s head lying against his arm. “Good dog,” Tony said. “I knew I’d meet you here.” Then total blackness engulfed him.
His son Carson died an hour later. He was curled up with his boys in his death bed. They’d come to him at their last moments. Soon, they’d all three be with their grandfather and with their dad’s good dog, Gander. They moaned in pain as the darkness gathered about them and death came to stuff them through the bedroom walls where they were about to tumble through into heaven’s elusive and dripping maw.