Chapter 6: Finding Home
Our luck seems to be wearing thinner and thinner as the days pass, and the same can be said for the warm weather. Autumn is setting in, and if we don't find a place soon we'll be stuck here for the winter. After a few unsuccessful searches, we decided we shouldn't go back for the others until we're sure we can find a place to live. We can't travel back and forth all those miles in the cold, or ask people to live in this toll plaza during the winter. I'm not sure what we're going to do.
"Oh, man! Look at this place!" Gerald exclaimed.
He, Arnold, Misha and Eric were approaching a moderate expanse of large cement and brick buildings clustered together in a labyrinth sort of way. It had taken them some time to get here; the place was surrounded by fields and skeletal houses, and was somewhat concealed in a valley by sparse woodlands. What was more remarkable than the fact that it was still standing, though, was that it seemed to be in great condition, almost well maintained.
They'd soon find out why.
"Ho, there!"
The sudden unfamiliar shout caused all four men to jump slightly. Before they could wonder about it or worry a dragon might have been roused somewhere nearby, a man appeared on top of the foremost building.
Another man came out through the double-door entrance, a Great Dane trailing at his side.
"Hello!" Eric called back, daring to be loud in such an open atmosphere. The man approached them and they met him halfway. He had a wary look about him that spoke of caution and distrust as he ran a hand through the tuft of blond hair on the top of his head.
"If you're looking for someone particular, they're probably here, though I can't make any promises." The man said easily, as though he'd had plenty of practice. The small group looked back and fourth at one another before Eric finally spoke.
"Um, actually, we were looking for a place to stay."
"Well, we've got that too," said the strange man as he turned to head back inside, motioning for them to follow, "Where'd you boys hail from?"
They were still a little surprised to find people living here - and so obliging no less - so it took a moment for them to find their voices confidently.
"New York." Arnold said.
"That's quite a long haul. Look's like you made it just in time-" He paused as they passed through the doorway. "You didn't walk the whole way, did you?"
A guilty silence reverberated through the four men before Gerald spoke. "We rode in a truck part of the way." It didn't bother mentioning how small a part of had been.
The man whistled low as they made their way through the second set of double doors into a long hallway. As they walked they saw relatively clean floors and walls, glass windows forming the wall of what used to be, and appeared to perhaps still be a room full of offices. Anybody who passed them smiled politely. It was all a sharp contrast to the damp caves they'd come from.
"There's plenty of room here, so I'm gonna put you guys in one of the classrooms up in the West end." The strange man was saying as they approached a flight of cement stairs.
A sudden panic came over Arnold. He hadn't climbed any stairs in almost a month. Would he be able to do it?
"Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but just how much room do you have here?" Eric asked.
With this comment, the man paused, much to Arnold's relief.
"Quite a lot. There are a lot of refugees here, but it's a big building, so there's plenty of room for more. Why, there's more of you?"
"Actually, yeah."
"No problem. Are they nearby?"
"About two hours walk from here, at the toll road plaza."
"Seriously? Well, in that case, we have a van if you guys don't want to walk all the way back there. Otherwise you probably wouldn't get back before dark."
"No, that would be great."
"Alright, I'll get someone to drive one of you out if the rest want to get settled."
They all agreed that this was a good plan. The strange man called a small boy over and instructed him to fetch someone specific for him, and off the boy ran. Meanwhile, the small group ascended the stairs while talking. Arnold had no trouble at first; the pain was always bearable. But when they reached the top and he saw that, across a small threshold, there was another wide flight of stairs, he began to feel a little sick.
"It seems kind of dumb that we haven't done this yet, but what's your name?"
"Oh, sorry. Chris Huff."
Each member of the group gave his name in turn except Arnold; no one noticed.
"So how long have all these people been here?"
"The building was locked up for about a year after the first attacks in the U.S. Only one man was here when we came, so fortunately the dragons didn't bother the buildings. Me and a group of guys were actually searching for a rendezvous point and place of shelter for people because they were scattered all over the place. We were finding so many random kids walking the streets that we didn't know what to do with them. Finally we found this old college and rigged it into a type of fortress. You'll see when we get upstairs how we boarded up all the windows on the concourse with sheet metal from the workshop outback. The whole place is loaded with supplies, some useful and some not so useful."
"I don't know," Gerald piped up, "these days anything can be useful."
"Well said." Chris said with a little smile. "Anyway, the whole place is built with cinder blocks around steal supports, so it's practically impenetrable. We think it might have been originally constructed as a bomb shelter or something because half of it is underground."
"Like that hallway downstairs?" Misha asked.
"Exactly."
"Hey Arnold, you ok, man?" Gerald asked, noticing the gray pallor of his friends face and the beads of sweat on his forehead.
Arnold waved Gerald's comment away. "Yeah…I'm fine."
Gerald raised an eye but didn't comment. Misha, on the other hand, did. "Are you sure, Arnold? You don't look too good."
"I said I'm fine." Arnold said, his tone just slightly sharp.
At that moment a young man with a large, curly brown afro approached them with an easy smile on his face.
"Hey, Chris. Someone said you needed me."
"Yeah, we've got some new guests."
The young man smiled and introductions were made, and the awkwardness with Arnold was quickly forgotten.
"They've got a few more waiting for them out at that eastbound toll plaza. I need you to take Eric here and pick them up with the van."
We have now found a new residence at an old community college on the southern border of Michigan. It is a large building that seems perfectly constructed to serve as protection against something like a dragon. The rest of the group has been transported here safely, and we immediately set plans in motion to return to the city for the others. Chris Huff, the apparent person in charge here, strongly advised us to wait until spring. When we explained our situation, however, he and his friends agreed to help us by providing gas and a vehicle to take us as far as the truck we left behind, as well as a few people from this shelter who volunteered to go with. The plan is to take gas to the truck we abandoned, and the driver of the van will pick up Aaron, Jenny and Curly and bring them back here. Eric, Gerald and Misha will be going back to the city, along with two other men. I will not be going with them. This truth is easier for me to write than to do, but though I miss my wife more than the innocence of the life we once lived, I can't in good conscience take the risk. I would be of no use to them.