Alone (4 page)

“It was no trouble ma’am. Just doing my job. You folks just be careful.”

Ralph and Mandy walked around to the front of the house with the Sheriff.

“Sorry again Sheriff.” Mandy said.

“Please call me Ted.” He said as he stuck his hand out.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ted. My name is Mandy and this is my husband Ralph. We are the Bannisters.” Mandy said.

“I’m starting a delivery company here in town. We’ve been staying at the motel while we searched for a house.” Ralph explained.

“I’ve seen you around town.” Ted replied. “I need to get back to the office. I suggest you folks do your house hunting in the daytime. Have a nice evening folks.”

Ted got into his cruiser and drove slowly away.

“I think we better do what the sheriff says.” Ralph said as he glanced back at the house.

“Shame. I kind of liked this one.” He said as he got into the car.

“Don’t worry honey, we’ll find the right one.” Mandy said as she got in beside him. They drove back to the motel.

“She was right as usual.” Ralph thought. They had found the perfect house by the following week. Ted had stopped by Ralph’s office and mentioned a house that wasn’t on the market yet.

“The owner is a friend of mine. His company is transferring him to Florida and he needs to sell in a hurry.” Ted had given Ralph the name and address and when Mandy saw the house, she announced “This is it.”

A month later, they closed the deal and moved in.

CHAPTER FOUR

Standing outside of the Sheriff’s office, Ralph remembered his last meeting with Ted, about 2 weeks ago. Ralph had delivered a package to the office and Ted had told him it was a new set of radios. The old ones didn’t have much range and these new ones promised to reach several miles. Ted went on and on about how he was trying to update the police department. He was proud of the crime rate and was quick to point out that it had declined since he had been in office.

Ralph knew that since the sawmill had closed, a lot of people had moved out of the area looking for work. The trucks no longer rumbled thru town delivering logs or transporting sawn lumber down south to the furniture factories. The county, which had never been what one would call overcrowded, was sparsely populated. Ralph knew that this was an election year and Ted was running for reelection. It had taken him almost half an hour to escape from the office.

“We’ll never know if the radios worked or not.” He said to the empty air. Jason wandered around and stood by the old pickup truck waiting on the ride to continue.

“Sorry, buddy. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get that old truck running again. We might as well start walking home.” Ralph said as he watched the dog. He turned and started back in the direction they had come. Jason stood by the truck and whined softly, then trotted after Ralph.

As the pair made their way down the street, thoughts raced thru Ralph’s mind. He stopped outside the shoe store and sat on the bench the old men used for checkers. A light breeze sprung up and played with his hair. The wind made a low keening as it raced thru the empty streets.

“Jason.” he said.

He was talking out loud more for himself that to Jason, but Jason listened as if he understood every word. He trotted over to Ralph and sat beside him.

“Jason, we’re alone. I’m not sure if this is something local, but I don’t think so. The news station was international. No jet trails in the air. Something has happened and everyone is gone. Everyone except me. And you too, of course. With a rush, concern for Mandy and the kids overwhelmed him.

“Mandy.” he said in a low moan. Jason leaned over and laid his head in Ralph’s lap. Sobs erupted from Ralph and he buried his face in his hands.

He sat and wept. If whatever had happened here had happened everywhere, then the chances were good that they were gone like everyone else. There was no way he could be sure. He couldn’t cross the Atlantic to see. With a jerk, he jumped off the bench and looked around. He could call!

“Come on boy!’ he shouted as he ran into the shoe store.

Heading through the empty store, he opened the rear door. It was marked employees only, but he didn’t think anyone would care. There on the small desk was a phone. He pulled his wallet from his pocket, removed the scrap of paper on which he had written his in-laws’ phone number and picked up the phone. Closing his eyes, he brought the phone to his ear. He heard a dial tone. “All right.” He said. With a grin, he began to dial. His hands shook and he had to try the number several times before he entered it correctly. He waited patiently as he heard several clicks. The phone rang and rang and then was picked up. He heard his mother in law begin to speak.

“Hello. This is Marjorie.” The heavily accented voice said. Every time he heard it, he couldn’t help but think how snobby she sounded. He knew that it was unfair to judge someone from the sound of their voice but in this case he was correct. Mandy’s mom was a snob. She traveled in a certain circle and anyone not in that circle, she considered beneath her. And Ralph, in spite of being married to her daughter, did not travel in that circle and never would. Marjorie tolerated him, barely, but would never warm up to him. Every time she spoke to Mandy, she regaled her with stories of Mandy’s old girlfriends and how much better they were doing. They had all married in the proper circle and were actually quite successful.

“Marjorie, thank God.” he said “Is Mandy there? Something has happened and I need…”

The voice on the other end continued uninterrupted. “I’m terribly sorry, but Colin and I are out. If you would care to leave us a message, we will give you a ring as soon as we are able.”

With a sigh, he began to hang up. Suddenly he brought the phone back up in time to hear a loud beep.

He spoke rapidly into the phone.

“Mandy, darling if you get this, please give me a call. Something has happened here and I’m terribly worried about you and the boys. Call the minute you get this. I love you. I’m in town right now, but I should be home in an hour or so. Please call as soon as you get this. ”

He hung up and with a heavy heart, walked out of the shoe store and down the street. He had a feeling that he would never see or hear Mandy or the boys again. He wished he had traveled with her. He would gladly put up with Marjorie and Colin if it meant being with Mandy and the boys again. He shuffled along, tears running down his face. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings. His mind raced from one terrible thought to another. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not come up with a rational cause for what was happening.

He lifted his eyes and saw that they were passing the local country radio station.

“I’ve got an idea Jason.” he said. He made a beeline for the door and together they entered the building. After searching the hallways, he came upon a small room full of equipment. There was a large microphone sitting on a table. He walked over to the microphone and tapped his finger against it. He couldn’t tell if it was working or not and then he noticed that the needle on a small dial moved each time he touched the microphone. He assumed that this meant he was broadcasting. He started to speak and then walked out of the room and into an office across the hall. There he found a small radio on the desk. He turned the volume up to full. Still nothing.

Leaving the door open, he went back into the room with the microphone. He propped that door open with a trash can and leaned over the mike.

“Can anyone hear me?” he asked. He heard his voice blast from the other room.

He kicked the trashcan out of the way and let the door close. He began speaking into the mike.

“Hello. My name is Ralph Bannister and I am speaking from the local radio station downtown. If there is anyone out there, please call the station.”

He looked all around for something with the station telephone number on it, saw it written on some notepads and leaned over the microphone, “The number here is 555-1500, if you can hear my voice, please call 555-1500.” He repeated the message over and over. After several minutes of waiting, he changed his message. “If you don’t have a phone and you are in town, please blow your car horn or come to the station. I will be waiting outside the front door.”

Ralph repeated this message several times. After about 5 minutes, he left the building and stood out front.

“Maybe someone heard it.” he said.

He peered intently up and down the street but saw no one. No horn broke the silence. He propped open the front door so he could hear the phone if it rang. He sat on the curb and Jason sat beside him. The pair stayed there for about fifteen minutes. At last, Ralph rose to his feet and dusted off his rear. Jason stood too and the pair stepped off the curb together and headed out of town. Ralph stopped and listened every few minutes, but there was nothing but silence. Shaking his head, he gave up and plodded on.

Jason padded along beside him. After a while they came to the local car lot.

”Jason old buddy.” Ralph said looking around.

“How about you and me getting us some new wheels?” He said as he walked into the lot.

Together they strolled around the lot. He entered the showroom and searched the small offices there. He found the key board in one of the offices and looked thru the selection. He knew that he wanted to get a four wheel drive pick up. He had the feeling that the road crews wouldn’t be keeping the highways clean come winter. He found several keys and took them off of the board. He left a note on the desk, just in case.

He included his address and phone number. He didn’t really think it was necessary, but he hoped that he got a call or the sheriff visited him when he got home.

He and Jason searched the lot until they found a suitable truck. Ralph tried the keys until he found the proper one. Each key had a tag with writing on it, but he had been unable to decipher what it said.

“Eureka!” he said as he turned the key and the engine started.

Jason stood looking at the strange truck. He seemed to be saying “Hey, this isn’t mine.”

“Come on Jason, let’s ride!” Ralph called as he opened the passenger door. Jason gave one more puzzled look around and then bounded into the truck. It didn’t really matter that this wasn’t the same truck, as long as he could ride.

They drove slowly up and down the streets of town. They saw signs of something abrupt happening. Once Ralph knew what to look for, he found evidence everywhere of some sudden occurrence. Here a car backed across the road into a tree opposite the driveway. There a bicycle lay with a bag of spilled newspapers. Whatever had happened, it had taken but a split second. All around were signs of lives interrupted with no warning. Passing by one house, he saw smoke coming from a window. He stopped the truck and ran to the house. The front door was ajar and he rushed inside.

“Fire!’ he shouted. “Everyone get out.”

The house was full of black smoke. Ralph stumbled around, shouting at the top of his lungs.

But there was no one to hear him. In the kitchen, a pot of something had boiled dry and then caught fire. He turned off the stove and placed the pot in the sink. He turned on the tap and water gushed out but then began to slow until there was just a trickle.

He stared at the faucet for a few seconds. Blinking his eyes against the stinging smoke, he went back outside. Jason still sat in the truck waiting. The smoke smell clung to Ralph and his eyes burned.

Ralph stood by the truck and thought.

“If this has happened everywhere and for the sake of argument, let’s assume it has. Then sooner or later the power will fail, just like the water has. We need to get a generator.”

Ralph looked down at his watch and realized that it had been over an hour since he called Mandy. In the message he left, he had told her that he would be home in an hour. He could either rush home now and wait or call again. He removed the folded piece of paper from his wallet and looked around. The house he had just left was still full of smoke. He glanced around and saw that the house next door had only the screen door closed in the front. He walked over to the house and rang the doorbell. When he didn’t get an answer, he leaned over and yelled into the house.

“Hello! Is anyone there?” No one answered.

He opened the screen and stepped inside. The television was on in the front room and the screen was filled with static. He saw a phone on the end table and crossed the room to it. He called Marjorie’s number again and listened to her voice. When the beep sounded, he spoke into the phone.

“Mandy, babe if you tried to call, I haven’t made it home yet. I didn’t bring my cell phone with me. I’m still in town and I have another errand to run before I head home. I should be home in another hour or so. If you get this, call and leave me a message and let me know that you and the boys are all right.

I’ll call back as soon as I get home. I love you.”

Ralph set the phone down and sighed. He glanced around the room and then left the house. Jason sat in the truck looking all around and he barked when he saw Ralph coming toward him.

“Sorry boy.” He said as he got into the truck.

“I just had to try again. Now let’s see what we can do about getting some back up power at home.”

With that in mind, Ralph set out across town. He found generators at the local department super store. He wandered the empty isles. He realized that all of the food in freezers would soon spoil after the power went out. Looking at the small generator, he left it there and headed to the front of the store.

“Jason!” he called. “Let’s go.”

Jason came bounding down an isle, holding a stuffed bear in his mouth. Together they climbed into the pickup and drove off.

Glancing at the fuel gauge, Ralph realized that he needed to fill the tank. He stopped at the next convenient store and filled the truck with gas. He grabbed a couple of candy bars from the store and they headed down the road.