Captive Sunset

5:30 AM Laura gathered up Billy and the small bag by the door and got the truck packed up, Billy seated in the passenger seat. She looked over at the house next door. It was dark. He hadn’t taken up her offer and there was that Gail that was flirting with him. Imagine at a time like this when we have only the thoughts of dying, the stench of death getting ready to blossom across the world. I guess I want to flirt with him too, she thought excusing the mysterious woman she heard on the conversation.

She went up the stairs and the door was unlocked so she poked her head inside, “John, are you awake?” she said in a low voice. Nothing. “Damn,” she said to herself as she let herself in and climbed the dark stairs to the second floor. The master bedroom door was open and the moon shed enough light through the window for her to see him asleep in bed. She went over to him and gently shook his shoulder. He turned over semi awake. “John,” she whispered not wanting to startle him.

“Hi, this is the big day, I suppose,” a little confused as he said softly while his eyes were stuck closed. He rubbed them.

She sat beside him on the bed, “I am getting ready to leave and I wanted to say good bye. I wish I could stay.”

“I know. Don’t say good bye, but good bye for now. There will be enough time for you to return if you want. You might have trouble finding gas though. Be careful,” he sat up and hugged her kind of wanting to go with her.

She wanted to stay so bad she cried, not sure what she would be in for on the trip. “Alright then, good bye for now,” she gave him a final hug and got up off the bed and left.

He lay in bed awake, he could hear the door close on the pickup. The engine started and it drove off down the street. He was the type that once he woke up from sleep, when working on heavy math problems, he would go to his computer and review the core problem, this method brought many insights his way. He yawned and went down to his temporary office. Hit he space bar to bring his displays to life with system up and running. He pointed at the GAIL bookmark on his browser and logged in. When the application was finished loading he spoke, “Good morning gorgeous.”

GAIL responded, “Happy Doomsday love,” not realizing that her judgement went kind of sideways as humor today. After all how could she possibly fully understand the conscious lights going out forever or maybe for her they won’t.

“Funny, always with the jokes. How is my day going to be?”

“You are in the Goldilocks zone for life,” she said with an audible grin somehow coming through the speakers.

“That’s great. I just saw my neighbor leave on a trip to Portland to meet her son. How will she be there?”

“Going there is ill advised. You should stop her now,” all joking dissipated with her extreme warning.

“Has something changed since we last spoke?”

“Yes, the sun will remain higher then earlier calculations showed at the 25 degree range at your location. This short fall will put the Portland area several hundred miles into the danger zone. The heat will build exponentially with no relief. You hit the jackpot right where you currently reside. It will be the most favorable latitude at the rear of the once moving light field. Are you there? Hello.”

John bolted from his chair out the front door allowing the spring to pull the front door closed as he entered and started his car in a panic. He raced to the interstate on ramp. The main road leading to the westbound I-84 on ramp had several hundred cars lined in both lanes approaching from either side of the interstate. John parked his car figuring Laura had left only a few minutes before him and should be toward the rear of the line.

He ran as well as a 68 year old man could neglecting any pain he felt. He looked frantically at each row as he passed them. The rows were four wide using all the lanes from both directions. He heard a bull horn operated by the police chief who was going as well, “Alright everyone we will be leaving shortly, get prepared."

John could not find Laura’s truck so he ran to the very front and had a talk with the Police Chief, Pete Gardner. He didn’t know him but he tried to explain that going was a mistake. He tried to explain his background, but the chief remained focused on what he thought was his duty.

“The Governor gave us instructions to go if we wanted a chance to live. This has not been an easy decision for the folks here and I don’t want you confusing them. Do you hear me?” he shouted at John while looking at several deputies standing by making a hand gesture to them to remove him.

“Wait, please listen,” he turned toward the first cars in line and shouted, “You are all going to die if you follow this convoy,” he had his hands up in the air and might have looked a little crazy to someone that did not know him well. Several men got out of the lead vehicles while the deputies tried to pull John away from the front of the cars. One thin wirey looking guy with greasy hair said, “Do you know what its like to smell someones IQ?” chuckling.

John looked right him and said, “I do now,” angry at the men trying to stop him from saving some from the trip.

Another larger powerful man standing to his side, sucker punched him and laid him out cold. He was unconscious. The deputies pulled him to the side out of site behind a bush so he would not cause any more trouble.

John was unaware that Laura had met a friend Julie in small car that would do well on gas. Julie invited Laura and Billy to come with her. She didn’t want to be alone and Laura was happy not to have to drive the whole way. They could take turns. Julie said, “There is some kind of commotion up at the front. I saw what looked like two men fighting.”

“Really,” Laura looked up and around but it was clear by then. Her truck sat in the motel parking lot. She waved goodbye to it as the convoy started moving.

John came to as the last cars were going by, up the on ramp heading three hundred miles west to Portland. He stood and brushed off the debris from his clothes. There was one cop who remained behind watching him standing near. “I don’t want any trouble out of you mister, understand?”

John nodded feeling his nose to see if it was busted. It looked worse than it felt with a dark purple and black ring under his right eye. He didn’t ask why this guy stayed. He headed back along the street to get his car when he noticed Laura’s truck or at least a similar truck. He went to it and looked in the back. It was Laura’s alright. He knew the stuff she had in it and a six foot green folding ladder was at the top of his list. He tried to call her but her phone was offline which was not unusual a few miles out of this town. Striking out all around he went home.

The caravan was massive. There were other unattached cars traveling but they were passing the caravan. Several hundred vehicles in kind of a formation with the Mayor and Police Chief in the lead vehicle. They approached La Grande, Or about fifty miles west. It was a similar size town in the next county. There was a road block on the interstate with flashing emergency lights bringing the convoy to a halt about a half mile before reaching it.

Mayor White and Chief Gardner, whose spouses were traveling in the back seat, exited the lead vehicle and the next ten or so cars had military aged men pop out with long guns and handguns clipped to their belts. “OK men, as we discussed. We don’t want any trouble but we won’t take any either. We will pull right up and get out like we just did out numbering them and then ask what they want. Got it?” The group agreed, mounted their vehicles and approached slowly, The Mayor got out first with the Chief and they approached the barricade. The other men got out but remained in place along side their vehicles.

“What seems to be the trouble” White asked noticing there were no state police among the group. A couple of town and county sheriffs was what he could make out. One spoke out, “We have had some trouble with gangs coming into town off the interstate and braking our laws so we are not allowing anyone to exit here.”

“Well that’s OK with us we are continuing along to Portland. What you see behind me is my city, Baker City that is.”

The sheriffs looked at each other somewhat relieved. “Following the governor’s plan?"

“That’s right. What about your town here aren’t they evacuating?”

“Already have, left about an hour ago. There aren’t many left here but we decided to stay and pray for the best.”

“So you are OK letting us pass peacefully?” asked Chief Gardner.

“Yes, we normally wave the strays around us but since you have a large contingent we will open it for you. Give us a minute to back the cars out of your way,” the lead sheriff said.

The path cleared and the convoy started rolling again waving at the brave sheriffs as they passed. “I was worried there for a moment. We hadn’t gotten very far for trouble already. I kind of expected it at the other end,” said the Mayor. The talking ended and the quiet drive ensued.

As the last of Baker City's convoy passed the sheriffs closed the road. One junior sheriff said, “I hope they make it.”

The lead sheriff decided they were taking on more than they needed. “Lets move the blockade to the off ramp exclusively. That will allow the convoys to pass uneventfully for our security. We will get involved only with vehicles trying to come into town. The men rearranged the blockade and vehicles.