kitchen—with a piece of plywood shaped into a wooden key. Spiffy, I thought and grabbed the keys to the Chevrolet. As I turned to walk back outside, I could hear a creaking chair and slow dragging footsteps to follow. I froze.
I slowly turned around and walked toward the noise—through the kitchen and into a large living room where there was a series of furniture and a large entertainment center. An old, withered, man in boxers and a white t-shirt was advancing toward me. His old dusty slippers were dragging against the dark wood floors.
“You finally came,” he croaked.
“Uh, sorry, but I’m going to borrow your Camaro for a while. So…” I started to say but I stopped. He was still advancing.
“You finally came for me!” he said louder.
“I…I’m sorry…I just…um…what?” was all that came out of my mouth.
“Oh angel, take my soul,” he said. What the hell is wrong with this guy?!
“I’m just going to leave now,” I told him, pointing toward the door with my thumb.
He took off his shirt and pulled down his boxers to where they lay around his ankles. “Now! Take my soul and set me free!” he yelled.
“What the hell!” I yelled and jumped backward—ready to run—but I tripped and fell over a recliner. The old man jumped on lurched on top of me, hugging me, and screaming, “Take me! Take me!”
“Get off me, you crazy bastard!” was all I could yell. He started grabbing my face, and all I could think about was where have his hands been?! I put my hands on his shoulders and threw his naked body off of me. I got to my feet, but so did he. He ran for me screaming, “Please!” Instinct took over—I grabbed his head when he approached and I directed him into the wall. His naked body lay limp on the cold wooden floor. I could only stare with wide eyes—I stared at the old man for several seconds before I turned and walked for the garage. I paused and stared at the keys in my hand before hanging them back up on the key holder.
Walking down the driveway, Alyse approached and asked, “What took so long?” She took notice of my wide eyed expression and asked, “What happened?”
“No keys,” was all I could say, and I started walking back toward the school.
“OOO-kay. Well, my parents and the rest of the crew are heading toward Austin now.”
The school was back within our sights when we heard a monstrous vehicle accelerating toward us. Alyse and I turned around to see a 1968 primered Shelby GT500 KR. Oh my God, I thought, as Gabriel pulled up next to us.
“You kids need a ride?” he asked and revved the engine. Alyse put her hands up to her ears, and was mouthing something to me but I couldn’t understand. We got into the car, and Gabriel sped off toward the school.
“Where’d you find this beast?” I asked him.
“Old man Mangram,” he replied. “I remember him working on it before I enlisted. I guess he finished.”
He pulled up next to my Mustang sitting next to the three Humvees, and we all piled out. Chris walked up, holding a plastic bag full of oranges, after Gabriel cut the engine.
“That was Mr. Mangram’s. Why didn’t I think of going for that one!?” Chris exclaimed, handing Gabriel the oranges.
“Excellent,” Gabriel said, examining the bag of fruit.
“Everybody ready to go?” I asked Chris.
“Yeah,” he said pointing at his crowd of followers behind him, “We’ve just been waiting for you.”
“Good. Let’s get out of here,” I said and got into the Mustang. Alyse got into the passenger seat holding a large brown paper bag.
“Our goodies,” she said—it was filled with snacks and a radio. Gabriel walked up to my window. “We’re going to stop at the gas station at the corner of the street—Chris says it’s still working. After that, it’s smooth sailing…or should be.” I nodded in response.
“You get one?” I asked him, holding up walkie-talkie.
“Yeah, it’s in the car. Each driver has one,” He walked back to his car, and fired up the engine. I followed him out of the school—the three humvees close behind me. Chris was driving the lead truck, and I couldn’t tell who was following him.
Alyse was shuffling through the collection of burned CD’s she found on the floor board. “Let’s see what we have to listen to,” she said after pulling out a random CD and sliding it into the player. Taylor Swift’s country music started blasting through the car’s speakers, and I slumped down in my seat. This is
19. His Home
Gabriel, along with the rest of the crew, followed Alyse and me to the old gas station at the corner of Longleaf Drive and Pine Forest Road. There were only two functioning pumps, so Gabriel and I went first and made room for the other vehicles. But first, Chris had to go inside the raided convenient store, go behind the counter, and ‘unlock’ the gas pumps for our use. Gabriel, Alyse, and I stood in front of the store as the rest of the trucks were being filled.
Gabriel checked the contents of the store and called for Chris.
“Chris, take inventory of our food supply. We may need to stop somewhere, and fill whatever empty space we have left in our cargo,” he told him and Chris complied.
I was staring upward, admiring the sun, the marshmallow clouds, and the bright blue sky. I haven’t appreciated the weather much lately. Though that’s most likely due to the face we’ve been in Europe for quite some time. It always seemed as if rain should have been pouring from the sky. “70% chance of rain with a 100% chance of gloomy,” is what the weather man most likely said every day. But not here.
“Didn’t you guys live close to here?” Alyse asked Gabriel and I. I looked over to Gabriel, who was a little blurry after staring at the sun, and he nodded silently. “Why don’t we check it out?” she asked. “There could be something there we could use.”
“Well…I dunno,” I started, “the soldiers may be here in a minute, and…”
“Let’s go,” Gabriel said. I shrugged at Alyse as Gabriel walked toward Chris.
“We’ve only got about two full duffle bags of snack cakes and crackers to split between all of us,” Chris said with disappointment.
“Go to the Wal-Mart on Mobile Highway, and fill any sort of cargo space with food. We will meet you there,” Gabriel instructed him. “Paul, Alyse, and I will be making a pit stop of our own,” he answered Chris’ concerned look.
Chris rallied the troops and led the three Humvees on a mission to collect food. We then got into our vehicles and drove up the road to home. Weird that I call it home to be honest. I never really considered it home. Once mom, dad, and I left for Texas, Gabriel and his fiancé moved into the house. Since mom and dad couldn’t sell it, Gabriel jumped on the opportunity to take it off their hands. It was cool to keep it in the family. Though I suspect it was where she’s buried—probably the reason why I was feeling so anxious.
The nerves were still hitting me by the time we pulled up to the front lawn. The house sat on a steep hill; leaving the driveway a tough one to climb. The house itself was pretty plain Jane. The grass was brown, the dark red bricks, along with the grey roof, were beginning to get moldy, black patches here-and-there, and the windows were covered in grime. Other than that, the house was in decent shape. Except for ‘The Army’s Property’ being spray painted on the roof.
“It’s not a bad neighborhood,” Alyse mentioned as she did 360 degree turns to view her surroundings. Each of the houses looked identical, and were in matching shape as our house. Again, except for the spray painted message. We followed Gabriel through the unlocked front door and into the tiled house. I walked through the house wondering how many people had been through here to take furniture, valuables, or any other items they wanted. The house was nearly empty with a few family photos and unwanted furniture.
“Is there anything we can take?” I asked Gabriel, but he was already on an unstoppable path to the backyard. Oh God…she’s back there, isn’t she?
“Wow,” Alyse said as she stared at an old picture of Gabriel and his girlfriend; whom he would
later pop the question too. “She is very beautiful.”
“I know,” I agreed.
“And he looks…” she started to say but got lost in trying to describe his face.
“Happy?” I chuckled.
“Yeah…” she whispered. “It’s so weird to see him like this,” she added.
“That’s the only Gabriel I know,” I said. The picture was taken in front of the old oak tree behind Pine Forest. He looked as he did in his Hall of Fame photo. I noticed dry blood on the gold frame, and I get a strong feeling in my gut that tells me Gabriel shouldn’t be here.
“Wait here,” I tell Alyse and slowly shuffle toward the back sliding glass door. On the other side of the glass door was a freshly filled grave. Gabriel stood next to it, his back facing me, staring up at marshmallow clouds. I slowly opened the door, stepped outside, and silently slid it shut again. That’s when I saw blood and chunks of skin plastered on the walls in one specific area—an area the size of a fist. And I remembered Gabriel’s bloody knuckles when we met him at the tree. He must have come here before going to the school.
I walk next to him and stare at the fresh grave. “Did you finally bury her?” I asked hesitantly.
“I buried her the day I saw her,” he said. “But the bastards dug her up…and left me a nice note.”
Oh shit. “What did they do?” I asked with surprise.
“It doesn’t matter,” he croaked. “You remember her, don’t you?” he asked.
“Of course I do.