Renewal 2 - Echoes of the Breakdown Read Free Page A

intently now. “What did they say?”
    “They said the guard outside the gate tried to keep people from leaving, some people got shot. Then the guardsmen inside the gate got swarmed by the angry mob, some more people died, but eventually the guard was overrun. When the outside guard saw that, they took off, towards the highway. People grabbed the guns and gear off the dead soldiers, and most of those people left too. The man said that there were some fights among the remaining people over scraps, flashlights and whatever else, but eventually the only people left were the ones who had not been fighting at all. Right now, they are huddled in the front lobby of the building, waiting for help. When the man was done with his story, he handed me this...”
    Arturo carefully pulled a big combat knife from the back of his belt, in a nylon sheath. “The man said he wouldn’t need it. I asked him if he was sure, and told him that he might need it himself before the night was over. He said, ’Son, I’m dying of cancer. I’m on my way back from my last family visit to my daughter in Kentucky. I’ve got no fight left in me.’ I looked at the woman, thinking that she might have a different opinion, but she just said, ‘I’m with him.’ I thanked them and started looking for a way out. I know the lady was watching us when we escaped through the fence.”
    Dad looked at the knife and knew it was from the soldiers. “I wonder how the old man ended up with that knife.”
    Arturo shrugged and said, “Hard to say. Maybe he found it while everyone was fighting.”
    “Maybe,” Dad replied.
    The sun was starting to sink behind us, and Dad was thinking about setting up camp. He got us up and back into our packs. We still were amazed at how heavy they were.
    “Arturo, you and your boy want to camp with us tonight? Safety in numbers.” Dad said.
    “Yes, David, I would appreciate that very much.”
    “Great. We can probably spare some food for you. I want to get farther from the main road first, just in case.”
    “Good call, I think.” Arturo looked west, shading his eyes from the sun.
    We hiked about a quarter mile across another fallow pasture and into a larger patch of woods. We kept going until we were well inside, under the canopy, deep enough to keep the undergrowth down. Dad found a flat spot among the trees and set his pack down. He had to help mom get her pack off, and then they both helped us to do the same. We crunched around on the old oak leaves until we found a place to lean the packs against the trunks of the trees. My dad started digging through the various packs until he had unearthed the tents,  sleeping bags, and other gear Tommy and I didn’t really recognize.
    Arturo helped Dad with the tents, which kept the ‘no-words’ to a minimum. They discussed the situation as they worked, and seemed to come to easy agreements on how the camp should be set up. Dad apologized for the lack of extra sleeping bags, but offered Arturo his and Mom’s ground pads for the night, along with a couple of emergency blankets. Arturo told Dad that would be more than enough in the mild weather.
    Mom was trying to arrange some kind of dinner, and failing miserably. Dad had always done our camp cooking during our twice-yearly state park campouts. Dad rescued her as soon as the tents were set up and Kirk was on the bed-making detail for us kids. Arturo and Jimmy would share the tent with our folks that night. Dad set up two tiny camp stoves between the tents, threw stainless steel pots on each, then dumped a dry mix of some kind in one, and a different dry mix into pot number two. Both pots received a long splash of water from a plastic bottle, and a quick stir before Dad set the tops on both of them. He pulled a squashed loaf of bread out of Lucy’s pack and spread peanut butter on half the loaf.
    He handed these out in rapid fashion and announced, “No need to wait. Eat up!”
    That first round of peanut butter bread lasted all