Alone (9 page)

Ralph stopped at a drug store on the outskirts of town. He reloaded the riot gun from the spares he carried and got a box of pistol shells from the glove compartment. But the pistol was gone, dropped during the fight. Clutching the shotgun and wearing nothing but his underwear, Ralph made a slow inspection of the drug store. He could see nothing of danger there.

They limped in side the store and Ralph searched for something to put on the cuts. He cleaned the wounds with hydrogen peroxide and the applied a liberal amount of first aid cream. He bandaged the larger cuts and then rummaged thru the pharmacy. He located penicillin and took a large bottle. He took a couple of the pills with some flat soda. He didn’t know what kinds of diseases rats carried, but he was sure they carried some. He also poured hydrogen peroxide on Jason’s wounds. He gathered more antibiotic cream and bandages and returned to the truck. He had no idea what he could give Jason and he drove around to the vet’s office. He found several drugs there, but didn’t know which to use. He decided to take them all and he also took every book he found in the office. They headed back to the farm and when they arrived, Ralph jumped straight into a hot shower. He felt filthy and his skin crawled when he thought of the rats. He finished the shower and lay on the bed. He quickly drifted off into sleep.

He had recurring nightmares that evening. He awoke several times and tossed and turned in his sleep. Ralph and Jason remained close to home over the next several days. Ralph continued to take the penicillin and he read the books from the vet until he found an antibiotic mentioned. He found the drug and began giving it to Jason and neither seemed any worse after their ordeal. Ralph unloaded the books he got at the library and removed the dead rats from the truck.

Their wounds gradually healed but Ralph knew that he would never be the same. The horror of that day would haunt him the rest of his life.

CHAPTER EIGHT

After reading the books, Ralph decided to try to make a home generating station. He spent a couple of days digging a pond for the small creek above the windmill. He placed a gate in the fence and hauled a small backhoe/dozer to the farm. He dug as deep as he could reach and when he finished he had a large cavity that quickly filled with water. He scoured the town and got all of the PVC pipe he could find. He started at the pond with 4 inch PVC. He capped one end of a section of pipe and drilled several ½ inch holes through the pipe. He cut the pipe so that it was just long enough to reach the surface of the pond. While digging, he had inserted a piece of pipe through the side of the pond and he placed an elbow on the end and secured the drilled piece to that. He continued down the hill with the 4 inch PVC until he reached the windmill. There he reduced the pipe to three inches. He continued running the pipe and periodically reducing the diameter until he reached the farmhouse. The pipe was now ¾ in diameter. He installed a valve and made sure that it was open. He went back to the pond and uncovered the holes he had drilled in the end of the pipe. He watched to make sure the pond didn’t drain. After a while it appeared that the water level remained constant. He was removing less water than was flowing into the pond. The stream continued to flow out into the woods only slightly diminished. He walked back down to the house and saw that the water flowing out of the pipe was under quite a bit of pressure and flew across the yard. He shut off the valve and walked the pipeline again and checked for leaks. He found none. Again at the pond, he fashioned a cover for the pipe end. He made the cover out of several layers of screen. This he placed over the end of pipe and secured it with a worm clamp. This would hopefully keep debris from entering and possibly clogging the pipe.

He returned to the house, made a meal and went to bed. The next few days saw him finding a generator to create the electricity, a turbine for the water to turn and batteries to charge. After working steadily for a week, he was finally ready for a trial run. He checked all his connections and then opened the valve. Water began flowing and the turbine slowly began to turn. Faster and faster the blades spun until they were just a blur. He sat watching the turbine turn and reading voltage on the gauge he had added. According to the books, he should now have more than enough power to supply his needs. He cut off the gasoline generator and as silence descended, threw the switch connecting the house to the turbine. Lights blazed from inside. He marveled at the sight and a feeling of pride swept over him.

The greenhouse was finished; he now had electricity and had a back up generator, just in case.

He had made a lot of progress and was finally able to slow down a little. It was late one afternoon about a month after the rat battle that Ralph found the root cellar. While moving some large boxes from the pantry, he had uncovered a trap door. It had been hidden beneath a throw rug. The rug was there when he found the house and it was one of the few items that he kept when he cleaned the house. He raised the door and looked upon shelf after shelf of canned fruit and vegetables. There was a short ladder descending into the cellar and he cautiously stepped down. A bare bulb hung from the ceiling and when he pulled the attached string, harsh glaring light filled the small room.

“There must be hundreds of jars down here” he thought gazing in awe. Each jar was precisely labeled with the ingredients and the date it was canned. As he looked around he discovered that every can was less than 1 year old. A large bin rested on the floor and was full of potatoes and carrots. They were old and didn’t look very appetizing, so he decided to get rid of them. He hauled all of the vegetables out of the bin and dumped them into the truck. He had wanted to set some rabbit snares and he decided he would use the old vegetables as bait and snare a portion of land. He noticed that the ceiling of the root cellar was equipped with several hooks. As soon as he saw that, he remembered the meat he had stored at the super store. The hooks would be perfect to hang the smoked meats from. He decided he would try to make another trip into town tomorrow and bring back the meat and anything else he thought he might need. He could pick up another pistol and maybe a couple of rifles while he was at it. All night he worried about heading into town and what he would find there. He and Jason had stayed away from town after their last ordeal and he didn’t want to face the rats again. He finally fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of rats. Once during the night, he cried out and Jason padded to the bed. The big dog sat watching his master and protecting him. Ralph mumbled and his breathing eased. Jason sat by the bedside until dawn lit up the sky.

The next morning he was somber and quiet. He knew that the trip was necessary but he dreaded heading to town. He had dreamed of the rats several times since the last visit to town.

“OK Jason. Let’s do this before I lose my nerve.” He said as he opened the truck door. Jason glanced warily around and then deciding that all was good, hopped in.

Slowly Ralph drove the truck into town. He and Jason scanned the streets looking for anything different since their last visit. The streets were deathly quiet. No sounds echoed thru the streets. Not even the song of the birds. It was eerie and uncomfortable. Jason kept his speed down. It felt like he was driving thru a mausoleum. Jason’s ears were perked up and he whined deep in his throat.

“I know boy. I feel the same way.” Ralph said and he leaned over and touched Jason.

Together they continued down the street. When they reached the other side of town, Ralph breathed a sigh of relief. Once out into the open, the suffocating feeling had lifted. The sun was shining, and the insects were humming.

They pulled up to the super store and got out of the truck. Everything appeared normal. Ralph could see the piles of stuff waiting just on the other side of the door. On the way across the parking lot, Ralph had detoured over to the spot he had dumped the food. Empty and torn boxes lay everywhere. Something had found the food and had eaten it all. Ralph steered the truck back out on the parking lot and headed for the main entrance. He pulled the truck as close to the door as he could and he hopped out with Jason right behind him. Together the walked over to the door. The shovel was still in place. Ralph removed the shovel and began to pull on one of the doors. It had been a while since they had been used and they were very stiff. As it slowly began to open, Jason stopped and peered intently at the door. When Ralph didn’t stop, Jason jumped up and grabbed his hand. Ralph staggered and looked at Jason.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked as Jason walked slowly around, nose to the ground.

“You’re starting to creep me out, boy. What is it?”

Jason abruptly stopped his sniffing and dropped low to the ground. He peered at the glass doors and then froze.

Ralph watched and when he saw Jason freeze, he instinctively did the same. Together man and dog stared into the dark recesses of the store. Ralph strained to see or hear anything. Just as he was about to move, he heard it. A faint whisper. So slight that he started to ignore it, but then he saw Jason tense. He had heard it too. A feeling of dread came over him and he began to slowly back away.

“Jason” he whispered, “Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t know what’s in there but I don’t think I want to find out either.”

Inching away from the doors, Ralph tried to move as little as possible. He had the feeling that something was watching him and he was afraid that if he made any sudden moves, it would attack. He wasn’t sure the flimsy doors would keep it contained, whatever it was.

Jason remained frozen to the spot, the muscles in his back tensing. The hair on the scruff of his neck stood straight up, giving him a hunchback appearance.

“Jason.” Ralph whispered. “Come on.” Ralph continued backing away. All his attention was riveted on the dimly visible interior of the store. The daylight only penetrated a few feet and beyond that circle of light all was darkness. By straining, Ralph thought he could see something moving at the fringe of light. With his hands behind his back he felt for the truck door.

Ralph backed into the truck and with his hands still behind his back he fumbled with the latch. He opened the door, moved forward to allow it to swing open and then backed into the passenger side of the truck. He never took his eye off of the store. When he was behind the wheel, he started the truck and put it in gear. Holding the steering wheel in one hand, foot on the brake, he leaned forward and grabbed the doors inside handle.

“Now Jason!” he called. In a blur, Jason came out of his crouch, turned and leaped into the truck. Ralph closed the door, barely missing the end of Jason’s tail. Jason barked as if to say, “Let’s move it!”

Ralph agreed and had already moved his foot from brake to gas. The truck shot forward with a roar and the smell of burning rubber filled the cab as the truck squalled across the parking lot. He glanced into his rear view mirror and saw something inside the store. Something had rushed the doors and then finding them gone had not pursued. He caught a glimpse of some dark massive thing peering thru the glass and then the truck was barreling down the road.

“What was that?” he asked shakily.

Jason was staring behind them as if he were waiting for some evil monster to come racing after them, but there was nothing behind them. After a minute or so, he turned toward the front and gave a couple of barks.

“You said it buddy. I am not going back there. Whatever that was, it can have the meat. I just want to get out of here.” Ralph wiped the sweat from his forehead and then gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Not wanting to have to drive through the dead town again, Ralph took another route around the outskirts and headed down the road away from home.

“We will go over to Pistol Pete’s sporting goods and take the long way home.” Ralph said. He looked at Jason while he said it and when Jason didn’t seem concerned, he relaxed. He had come to rely on Jason’s keen senses and after today, he knew that he would pay close attention to whatever Jason did.

After driving another 10 minutes, he pulled up at Pistol Pete’s. It was a dilapidated old building with plywood cut outs shaped liked animals nailed all across the front of the building. The store sat on an empty stretch of highway. A large open lot was beside the store with more animal cut outs placed here and there. Ralph had been here a couple of times and was somewhat familiar with the place. The owner was a very heavy man named Fred. Ralph had asked why the place was called Pistol Pete’s if his name was Fred.

“Cause Firearm Fred’s didn’t have no ring to it” the man had answered in a wheezing breath. “That and the fact that the name was already up when I bought the place. I figured it would cost too much to rename the place and have a new sign painted.”

The man’s breath had smelled of whiskey and cigarettes. He wore a dirty tee shirt and jeans. His large belly spilled over the tops of the jeans and hung below the bottom of the tee shirt. He was a dirty man and locks of greasy brown hair hung around his face. He had sat on a bar stool behind the counter and followed Ralph’s every move as if he expected Ralph to steal everything in the store. Mandy had accompanied him the first time and when they left she swore that she would never return.

“That man was undressing me with his eyes the whole time we were in there. He gave me the creeps and he made my skin crawl. All I wanted to do was leave. I’ll not go in there again. If you come back here, you come alone big boy.” She had said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

True to her word, she had never returned. Ralph had stopped by once or twice since then, but each time he visited, he was the only person in the store and he just felt too uncomfortable.”

“I’ll buy my stuff somewhere else.” He told Mandy after his last visit.

“I always get the feeling that I’m disturbing him. Like maybe he has someone tied up in the back and has been torturing them and I’m keeping him from it. That may is a few fries short of a happy meal.”