A Town Called America (20 page)

The weather had turned to rain, and the winds were picking up steadily. There was a storm coming and no sign of shelter. Tired, wet, and cold, the four made their way toward a gas station up the road. The sign they saw had read,
LAST STOP FOR GAS TWO MILES AHEAD
. Those two miles seemed like twenty, as they walked having no idea whether the gas station would still be standing, but in the end, to their luck, it was.

The gas station was basically a shack. The windows were boarded shut, as was the front door. Trees and vegetation had all but swallowed the building. The gas pumps were completely gone, and it appeared the place had been abandoned long before the government collapse.

Approaching the gas station, they peered skyward toward a giant wooden sign thirty feet in the air, dead center in the broken-concrete parking lot. They could just make out the words
RON
’
S STATION
. Searching the behind the dilapidated structure, Robbie found the entrance to a storm cellar under a pile of branches.

Working together in the rain and wind, they quickly removed the branches from the entrance. There was no lock, and the double doors were rusty but easily opened. They made their way down the steps and closed the door behind them. At the bottom was another door, also unlocked, which led to a dark room with a strong musty smell that made them all want to gag.

Through the darkness they couldn’t make out much of anything. They all sat down in a circle in the far-right corner of the room. In the pitch black, they went through their bags, looking for a match or anything else they could use to start fire. Robbie found a half-full pack of cigarettes but had lost his only lighter close to a week prior. Rick had a lighter, but it had gotten wet, and he was unable to use it. Chris had nothing, and Billy was still searching through his bag.

“Ah, I found it,” he said, as he pulled a small pink lighter from his backpack.

“You mother!” Robbie said to Billy. “I haven’t had a smoke in ages because I couldn’t light one, and you’ve had a lighter this whole time?”

Chris sat and listened to the bickering; Billy and Robbie were going at it. Billy tried to explain that it was the only lighter they had, and they needed to conserve it. Acting hotheaded Robbie didn’t accept Billy’s answer.

Within a few minutes, both had stood up and were screaming at each other. Then, in the darkness of the room, with his right fist clenched, Robbie took a swing at Billy. Unable to see in the dark and enraged, he swung as hard as he could and hit Chris’s left eye.

Robbie didn’t know Chris had stood up in an attempt to separate them. Chris put her head down and called him a stupid ass. “I can’t believe you hit me!” she exclaimed.

Rick stood up and grabbed Robbie from behind, pinning his arm behind his back and slamming his head against the wall. “Have you lost your mind?” he said, holding Robbie there. Subdued and unable to move, Robbie yelled out repeatedly that he was sorry and that it was an accident.

“What the hell were you thinking, boy?” Billy asked.

“Let him go, Rick!” Chris said abruptly.

“Chris, he hit you.”

“I know what he did. Just let him go.”

“So this is OK? He can do whatever the hell he wants with no consequences?” Rick snapped back. “What is it with you and him? Is there something I need to know? You’re always defending him. Why?”

“You’re hurting me,” Robbie said, as Rick pushed him harder against the wall.

“You don’t think I see how you look at her?” Rick asked him venomously. “News flash, friend: she’s mine. If you ever hurt her or try to move in on her, I’ll end you. You got it?”

“What are you saying, Rick?” Chris said. “I’m your property now? What I am is grown, and I’ll be with you if I choose to be. If I wanted to be with someone else, I would be. I hope you can understand that. Now let him go!”

Rick let up on Robbie’s arm, releasing and pushing him away. Chris ran over to Robbie. Standing in front of him, she reached out and touched his face. “Are you OK?”

“Screw you, Chris,” Robbie spat out. “Why the hell would you tell him? I know you did. That’s the only reason he’d think something was up between us.”

“
What
?” Chris asked.

“You know what. Why did you have to tell him about us at my house by the lake?” Robbie said, walking out of the cellar and into the storm.

“What the hell is he talking about, Chris?” Rick said, looking at her through the darkness.

“Rick, there’s never been anything between Robbie and me—I promise you.”

“You’re lying Chris.”

A single tear fell from Chris’s eye as she silently walked out into the night.

“Go then. Run to your new man. Damn!” Rick yelled.

A few seconds later, he ran outside to look for Chris. “I’m sorry, baby,” Rick yelled out into the night.

Now drenched, Rick felt defeated and abandoned. He lay down on the wet ground, pulled his coat over his head, and fell asleep. Billy, having started a fire in a small woodstove that sat at the back of the cellar, sat in the empty room, not knowing what to do about what was happening to his family.

After some time had passed, Billy also went outside. A slight mist had formed just above the ground, and the rain was still falling steadily. The only sounds were of the wind blowing against the trees and the raindrops hitting the wet pavement. He saw Rick on the ground and helped him stand up. Rick was shivering, his wet clothes clinging to his body. Both went inside to sit by the fire and take in its warmth.

For the rest of the night, neither said much, but both worried about Chris and Robbie.

“Billy, what have I done?” Rick asked.

“You’re human, and people make mistakes. Chris loves you, and you know it. We’re all under a lot of stress. Hell, just look at everything we’ve been through.”

“I know, Billy but…but what if they don’t come back?”

“Rick, that’s not going to happen.”

“Do you think Chris and I are over?”

“Ricky, listen. Robbie was talking about having seen her undress—that’s all.”

“What do you mean? I thought they—”

“Nope, it’s nothing like that,” Billy replied.

“Well, I feel stupid now,” Rick muttered, sipping on some coffee Billy had made. The two men sat together quietly, hoping Chris and Robbie would return soon.

THIRTY

A
fter Robbie left the cellar, he angrily walked up the road. He hadn’t traveled far when he saw something in the distance, perhaps four hundred feet away, on the side of the road. It appeared to be a barbed-wire fence with towers far off on the right and left. Unsure, as the rain and darkness made it difficult to see clearly, he took one knee and peered out, trying to figure out what he was looking at.

Only a few minutes later, Chris caught up with Robbie and knelt next to him.

“Hey, I’m sorry about all that back there,” Robbie said without looking at her.

When Chris looked at Robbie with a half smile, he knew they would be OK.

He stood up and made his way through the field of knee-high grass. Chris, following him, asked, “Is that what I think it is?”

“I think it’s some kind of military base, maybe National Guard. It’s too small to be a regular army base.”

As they walked closer to the fence, they saw it was made of chain link, which the plant life had overtaken. The weeds were growing up the fence, almost reaching the top, near the razor wire. About forty feet away was a guard tower that barely stood, as the roof had collapsed, and the support beams looked as if they were about to give way as well.

To the right they saw the same thing: another tower that was on the verge of collapse. It appeared that it had caught fire at one point, as the outside was stained black, with just the base still standing fifteen feet above the fence. Looking beyond the fence, through the fog they saw a large field of overgrown grass and weeds. Only one building stood, a four-story concrete structure with no windows and only one large bay door. A single stairway led to the roof of the building.

Chris and Robbie stood looking through the fence, debating what this place might be. Although Robbie initially had suggested it was a military base, as he looked at it more closely, he wondered whether it was an old jail or prison.

“Should we go get Rick and Billy?” he asked Chris.

“Hell, no,” Chris responded. “Let Rick cool off for a while. This is all you and me.”

They moved through the grass and weeds toward the tower on the right until they were directly under it. Examining the area, Chris found a small spot under the fence that had been washed out from years of rain; it was just big enough to crawl under. After doing so, Robbie and Chris, covered in mud from their faces to their feet, looked at each other and laughed.

“Come on. Let’s go check it out,” Robbie yelled to Chris, as he was practically sprinting toward the building nearly in a sprint.

As Chris caught up with him, they slowed to a walk as they approached the building. Standing just outside the inner fence, they agreed it wasn’t a prison or a military base. Unsure what it was, they moved around the fence line until they reached an open gate. The sally port was set up so those entering could walk through one gate, which would then lock behind them before they would have access through the second gate. Chris and Robbie felt excited to be able to explore something new. The possibility that something of value could be inside made them even more eager. Their hunger, anxiety, and the stress of constantly moving had taken their toll, and this was an opportunity for the two of them to get away from it all, even if just for a short time.

They made their way up the stairs, which now were nothing more than rusty metal. After climbing up four stories, they reached the
roof. It was a square structure, completely flat on top, with no railing. The only things they saw on the massive roof were a few air-conditioning units, a giant
H
in faded white paint, and a small room that was the only visible entrance to the inside of the structure. From the top of the roof, looking out over the horizon, they saw nothing except fog and rain for miles. The door—twice the size of a regular door—was hanging by only two out of the three hinges. It was evident that at one time someone had used some kind of explosive to gain entry, as the frame around the door as well as the door itself were badly bent and twisted. Looking past the door and peering into the darkness, Chris and Robbie saw a ladder that descended into the darkness below.

At the top of the ladder, they were out of the rain, which had been steady for hours. They peered down into total darkness. With no lights, not even a match, Robbie was having some reservations. He told Chris he had a bad feeling about the place.

In the cellar Rick and Billy continued to talk about what had happened, and Rick now understood what Robbie had said. He felt stupid for thinking Chris would have cheated on him. He just wished he could apologize to her.

After Rick had dried his clothes next to the fire, he and Billy went looking for their friends but soon returned to the cellar, as the rain was coming down harder. They continued to wait for the storm to pass or their friends to return.

Chris and Robbie descended into the depths of the unknown. They climbed down four floors when they reached a catwalk, but the ladder continued farther down, with no sign of stopping. They were standing on the metal catwalk in nearly total darkness; the only glimpse of light came from a crack beneath a door ahead them.

Chris, who had stepped off the ladder first, slowly moved forward on the catwalk. Using the handrail as a guide, she made her way toward a faint red
EXIT
sign.

“We need to get out of here,” Robbie whispered. “We can’t see anything and we don’t know what the hell this place is.”

“I really want to see what’s behind this door.”

Robbie wasn’t leaving Chris alone, and knowing she was a stubborn woman, he gave in. In the darkness Chris felt her way to the steel door and turned the metal handle counterclockwise. It spun freely, and the door opened, echoing throughout the building.

Robbie followed Chris as they stepped through the threshold. Inside they saw a single blue button flickering on some kind of control panel. Every few seconds it flashed just brightly enough for them to see a panel filled with knobs and switches.