End of the Road

            The dirty gray pickup truck lumbers along the highway. The day is almost over and the last hour of daylight forces the men inside to don their sunglasses and adjust the sun visor. The air is still as warm as summer but the wind howls and wails around them to signal that fall has arrived. Inside, Billy takes a big bite of beef jerky and continues to talk in spite of the food in his mouth.

            “Yeah, I figure that in the event of societal collapse the first people who are gonna get killed are the ones that panic, ya know? That’s why when the panic begins, ya gotta already be out of the city.” The pine trees whiz by the passenger window. The bed of the truck is an assortment of black plastic trunks, duffel bags, coolers, tarps and olive drab canvas. In the back seat sits a small boy appearing to be interested in the conversation. After a short silence Larry takes a long drink from the canteen in his hand and starts to respond.

            “It seems a little arrogant to think that on principle alone, you’re going to outrun the legions of people trying to flee the city. What makes you so special? You watch the news? You’ve read a book or two?”

            Billy scowls, “More than a book or two… What do you think then? Try to escape at the same time as everybody else?”

            “Of course not, the trick is to be prepared for the panic. Be prepared to fortify your own home with goods from the local hardware stores or neighbor’s houses that have been abandoned. Then, scatter clothing and useless possessions around the front yard to give the appearance that it has already been looted. Park the car facing out in the garage and start packing for the eventual time when you’ll have to abandon your own home.” Larry finishes talking and takes another swig from the canteen, for a moment the only sound that can be heard is the engine roaring along the asphalt.

            Billy asks, “How is that different from what I said?”

            “Because you think you’re somehow going to know information before everyone else.”

            “And you’re saying they won’t give us accurate information? That sounds like them.” Billy takes a bite from his beef jerky and shakes his head in disapproval.

            “No, what I’m saying Billy, is that they’re going to tell you to stay in your homes, to stay calm, and that everything will be taken care of for you. Then, when "the powers that be" realize the severity of the situation, they won’t be able to help anyone. Even if they try to evacuate, there won’t be enough time, and even the people who run will likely die trying to make it out. That’s why I say to stay home… at least until the panic is over.”

The boy finally speaks up, “Larry, Where are we?”

“We’re going to the forest, buddy! You wanted to see the forest, right?”

The boy squints to look out the window, “Yeah. How much longer until we get there?”

“We’re already here,” Larry gives a reassuring smile and the boy quiets down for a moment.

Billy nearly chokes as he swallows a large chunk of preserved cow flesh. Larry looks away and tries not to let on that it bothers him. Larry digs deep in his pocket and retrieves a pack of menthol cigarettes and a lighter. From the pack he pulls his last cigarette, places it in his mouth, and takes a long slow drag. He replaces the lighter in his pocket and opens the pack once more, as if to search for any cigarettes he may have missed.

Through a thick cloud of smoke he mumbles to himself, “Shoulda planned better.” He throws the empty pack to his feet and cracks the passenger window.

Larry takes the cigarette from his mouth and returns to his conversation with Billy, “So, where were you planning to go?”

Billy looks slightly surprised by the question but quickly has an answer, “Oh, um, my aunt. She’s got a cabin in Utah. I figured what I would do is pack up Isabella and my little girl and head up to stay with her. It’s kinda far out of town so I think it’s pretty safe.”

“Pretty safe? Does she have a generator?”

“I think so,” Billy scratches his head as he thinks over the question.

“You think so? How much land is it on? Can she see neighbors? Are there any gun stores in town? How does she get her water, from the city or a private well? How long would it take you to get there if the roads are closed? Are there any other routes you could take? Is the area prone to natural disasters like floods? Is it above the freeze line? You should make a list of questions for next time you’re up there.”

“Yeah… Yeah, that’s a good idea!” and a long silence passes between them.

Larry gives a proud self congratulatory smile and says, “That’s the only kind I have!”

Billy continues to think to himself for a moment before speaking again.

“What about you? Where are you going?”

The pickup leans around a mountain curve and they zoom past a vehicle broken down on the side of the road.

Larry says, “See that? No food, no water, they didn’t even have tools. Who goes out on the road with no tools? What if something happened?”

Billy feels bad for the family stranded on the side of the road now almost a mile behind them. “Maybe they just don’t have any use for tools. Maybe they wouldn’t know what to do with the tools even if they had brought them along. Not everyone knows how to fix a car, ya know.”

            “And whose fault is that? They brought their laptops, their DVDs, their footballs and Frisbees, they brought their bathing suits and night gowns and all their money, but they never learned how to turn a wrench or swing a hammer?”

A tense moment of silence sits still in the pickup truck as it zooms through the cool mountain air.

“I don’t want to live in a world where jewels are worth more than tools,” Larry says coldly. Billy takes his eyes off the road to look Larry in the face. Behind his sunglasses, Larry’s eyes are closed. He thinks of the multitude of hours he’d spent working on cars with his father on the side of his childhood home. He feels the heft of a flashlight in his hand as he searches for a 7/16” socket wrench or a nut which had gotten lost while along the way. In a flash, he’s returned.

“In any case, back to what you were saying. I’d head to this little cabin I know in Show Low. I’ve got forty acres up there and if I can, I’ll build a house on that land before the panic. Even if I can’t though, I know an old man with a little cabin of his own. He’s completely off the grid up there. Has his own well with fresh water, his own big generator that would power just about anything, and great big underground fuel tank from before there were roads in the area. To this day in fact, you can only get there if you can manage to follow the little signs he’s put up in the middle of the desert.”

“Wow. How did you meet that guy?” Billy suddenly looks away from the road at Larry many times, as if to see if he’s telling the truth.

The boy turns to look at Larry as he begins to speak. “He’s my neighbor. He owns the twenty acres next to mine. Says he was in the Army like me, except he fought in World War II. He told me that he and his brother graded the roads themselves back when they were young men. That man must be eighty years old but I swear Billy, that guy still carries an old revolver around everywhere he goes and still works full days to keep his lands working for him. I suppose if I ever end up on that land, the air and water might be really bad. People may start to turn on one another. I may not be able to count on his help.”

Billy grimly nods his head in agreement. The last sliver of sunlight slowly fades away and both men remove their sunglasses. Larry folds his visor up and Billy decides to do the same.

“When are we going to be in the forest?” the boy asked again.

“Don’t you see the trees,” Larry asked in response.

“Yeah?”

“That’s the forest!”

Billy impatiently returned to conversation, “So you were in the army, right? So you must know something about guns?”

“Yeah, of course I do. I was a rifleman.”

“Okay, so I don’t have a lot of money but I think I might need a weapon to protect my family when everything falls apart. What do you think I should try to get?”

“It really depends on what you think you’re going to need it for. For example, I chose an M4 carbine battle rifle- like what I carried in the service. The ammunition would be fairly common for that caliber of weapon and it’s the preferred choice for shooting zombies at medium range… plus parts are easy to find.”

Billy’s face was suddenly filled with surprise and concern, “Zombies? You did all this planning because you think it’s going to be zombies? Doesn’t it seem more likely that it’ll be governmental collapse, or famine, or some super disease, or nuclear war, or some kind of 9-11 style terrorist attack, or some chemical they’re putting in the food?”

“They? Who are they, Billy? What do you think it’s gonna be?”

Billy got a very serious look on his face and even slowed the truck slightly to add to the gravity of what he had to say, “The Illuminati.”

“The Illuminati? Like from that Dan Brown book? You’re saying that they are controlling everything and they’re going to cause a collapse anyway? Why would they do that?”

“They’re doing everything behind the scenes: the stock market crash, the housing market, you name it! They need to crash the system to regain control. The governments are becoming too big and powerful; the Illuminati need to crash the system to gain total control. You never know who might be working for the Illuminati and you never know what means they may use in order to enact their plans for control. The Illuminati utilize technological resources to control the world flow of information. They want you gone? You disappear. They put you on the most wanted list, the cops take you away, and you’re never heard from again… Zombies are just crazy.”