Читать книгу Ten Days - John Sheppard - Страница 17

It didn’t take Jackie nudging him or whispering in his ear to make Carl aware of the sounds coming from downstairs. He had heard the sounds too. Since the Enemy had surrounded the capital, sleeping lightly had also become part of the new normal.

Carl whispered back to Jackie that she should give him only a couple of minutes, then run and try to gather the kids. He kept a handgun in the top drawer of his dresser and the lock in another drawer, well out of reach for Kelly. A gun was something he had always said he would never have in his house, but the last year or so had changed lots of things.

It was all Carl could do to get out of bed, and retrieve the gun, without making a sound that couldn’t be heard downstairs. The floors in the old house creaked with almost every movement. With his heart feeling like it would beat out of his chest, Carl reached the top of the stairs, eyes straining to make out any unusual shape. There it was, moving in the living room.

As Carl started to raise his gun, “Dad, it’s me!” called out Andy. “What are you doing?”

“Shhhhh, Andy, you’ll wake up the girls!” Carl signaled for Andy to lower his voice as he also called back to Jackie, “It’s okay, hon. Just Andy. He and I are going to talk for a bit.”

With his free hand, Carl motioned Andy to the kitchen as he lowered the weapon and locked his gun. At the bottom of the stairs, he followed Andy into the kitchen. Andy had turned on a few lights, just enough to illuminate the area around the breakfast nook.

As they both sat down, Carl tried to remain calm. “What in the world were you doing, son? I’ve asked that no one be downstairs after the family has gone to bed, unless they turn on some lights.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. I just couldn’t sleep and was afraid I’d wake the girls.”

“So, what’s going on, Andy?”

“I’m scared!” was Andy’s reply.

“Of what?”

“Of dying, the Enemy, of the Option?”

Carl thought for a long moment before trying to reply. “What do you know of the Option?” he inquired. As far as Carl knew, neither he nor Jackie had ever discussed the Option with Andy.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Dad.” There was a real edge to Andy’s reply. “Do you and the other adults really think just because we’re teenagers we haven’t figured it out?”

More silence. Who did Carl think he was kidding? Of course the older kids would have connected the dots. “You’re right. I should have given you more credit. It bothers me that I can’t protect you, your mom, and your sisters.”

Carl thought he could see Andy’s eyes begin to fill with tears. “What’s it like to die?”

As an oncologist, Carl had seen death more times than he cared to think about, yet he really didn’t have an answer. “It’s hard to say. I guess everything just goes dark. I’ve seen some just appear to fall asleep, while others seem to fight it.”

“You and Mom have chosen the Option for us?”

What a question, thought Carl. “Yes, son, we’ve chosen the Option, because it seems to be peaceful. Everything I know about it says that it’s like falling asleep. Originally, it was developed as a method to put large animals down humanely, in the US. Later, as euthanasia became more acceptable worldwide, it was refined for use on humans. I was against it at first, but after Kirkmont I changed my mind.”

Carl couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his son. How do you discuss methods of dying with your child? Yet, it was what the current situation seemed to demand.

Andy appeared to be processing everything. What a task for a young man who had only been seventeen for a few months. Finally he said, in a voice filled with raw emotion, “Dad, my friends and I…my friends…we...we...we, we’ve got to try something else.” Andy was now visibly shaking.

It felt like time stood still while Carl waited for him to calm down. He wanted to just say “No!” to whatever Andy was going to propose, but thought better of it, for now.

Finally, Andy tried to talk. “The guys want to make a run for the port city.”

Carl knew Andy meant Cody and Jimmy. “Huh?” was all he could manage to say at the moment. Cody was Ross and Elaine Holt’s son. He had just turned eighteen, was tall and in excellent shape. Carl also knew the Holts were really experienced in wilderness camping. Jimmy was Glenn and Mandy Moore’s son, and only a couple of months older than Andy. Carl wondered how they were responding to this news. Jimmy was intelligent, thin, and anything but an outdoorsman type.

“We plan to follow the old bike path, traveling mostly at night, Dad. Our thought is to leave sometime this weekend.”

“Wait,” said Carl. “This weekend? Why not plan on sometime next week?” He knew he was only asking Andy to postpone his decision so that he could postpone his own. What in the world would he tell Jackie?

“Can you promise me they won’t be here by then?” Andy challenged.

He was right, thought Carl. All the timelines were sheer guesswork now. As a parent, everything within him was screaming “NO!” A small part of him was saying a reluctant “Yes.”

“What are your plans, son?”

“We’d follow the bike trail at the southern end of the capital; it should take us a couple of days.” Andy was making reference to a bike trail which was actually at the southwestern side of the city. It was built over an old railroad track, so the route was almost straight southeast to the port city. Everyone in the city knew of the path, but few had considered taking it, because it was assumed that it was well patrolled by the Enemy.

“Do you have any idea what they’ll do to you if you’re caught?” It was Carl’s turn to fight his emotions. He quickly formed a visual image in his mind of the torture his son would endure. It was images like that which had convinced him that the Option was the only choice for his family.

“I’m sure, as a doctor,” Andy began hesitantly, “you’re more aware than I am. But I want a chance to live. How many times have you told us about a cancer patient who decided to fight against the odds? Some made it, others didn’t. I just want to try to make it.”

Carl fully understood what Andy was asking; he wanted the same things for the rest of the family, but didn’t see it happening. How do you let your child take such a risk? How do you advise them to just stay put, and more than likely die? “You’ve really caught me off guard, Andy,” replied a very tired Carl. “I need to think about it, and talk to your mom.”

Andy nodded his acceptance and headed to his room. Carl sat at the table thinking. Is this what it’s like when I tell someone they have six months to live? The sense of despair and doom made him feel like he was drowning, with no help in sight. Carl turned off the lights and returned to bed, but found he couldn’t sleep.