Rubber City Ruins Read online

  RUBBER CITY RUINS

  Rubber City Ruins

  Copyright © 2017 by Tara Summerville

  All Rights Reserved

  Edited By: Danette Stone

  Dedicated to Zak- my best friend and biggest supporter.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Prologue

  To anyone that’s left:

  There was a virus that came out of nowhere. It came about the same way we all heard about AIDS in the 80’s or the Ebola scare of the early 2000’s. I don’t know you, and I don’t know when you are reading this… but I am just going to assume you know how bad it got. Everyone always gets real paranoid and scared about something that they don’t really understand. And that’s how I felt about HR-0… or Harlow as it was later dubbed. I thought, ‘here we go again with this scary civilization-ending virus’. People bought those stupid paper masks and wore gloves in the grocery stores and blah, blah, blah… the same old dance but with a different name. I was above it all at the time- I was determined to not fall prey to the over-exaggerated hype spewing from the blood thirsty media outlets. But then one of my coworkers called off on a Monday. It was Sheila, and she never called off. I gotta be honest, it was hard not to let my concern show. I kept asking around to see why she wasn’t there and no one really knew. And then on Tuesday Pete had called off. By the end of the week, I was forwarding 50% of the calls to people’s voice mails. Over the weekend, Mom and Dad got sick at the same time and I spent the weekend trying to keep them hydrated. There wasn’t even any time to take a step back and absorb the magnitude of what was happening around me. I remember seeing bits and pieces of news coverage and hearing about how even the President was sick. It was as if the whole world started spiraling out of control overnight. We were the most powerful country on the planet. We had an Army that was fearless and strong. We had boats and subs and drones and guns and bombs… but we were all being killed by some tiny little virus floating in our bodies. Even the President with his bullet proof car and secret service wasn’t safe. Some people thought it was strategic chemical warfare from the Chinese. But how could you ever prove something like that? Why would they want us all to be dead? I guess even in these final days you could still consider me an optimist. I have watched every single person that I love die. For a while I began to wonder if maybe I was a superhero because I didn’t have so much as a sniffle. I began to wonder what it would be like to live in a town where everyone was gone. What would I even do? Where would I go? Would I get lonely? If I was really the last man on Earth, maybe I could live in the White House! Or travel to a warmer climate and just live on the beach! The moment I had begun to well up with a newfound sense of excitement... I threw up my entire breakfast onto my back lawn. I stared down into that brown mucky half-digested oatmeal and realized that I, too, would soon be gone. It was a hard pill to swallow at first, but now I think I have come to terms with it. I will get to see all of my friends and family again. Even as I write this, I can hear the sirens and gunfire in the distance. The power has been cut for a few weeks and I haven’t had any contact with the outside world- I’ve been too afraid and too weak to leave. But I know for certain something terrible is happening out there, even more terrible than this virus. Am I really witnessing the end of humanity? Am I one of the few who gets to see how our story ends? If you are reading this right now, I want you to know that my name is Jim McCaughey and I loved watching the Mets and my favorite food was nachos. I don’t know what the world looks like now, but I want you to know it was a beautiful place. I want you to know that man was

  Chapter 1

  It started with a migraine. While Anna was grading papers one night, she noticed that the words on the paper began to have blind spots. She could surmise what she was reading even through the empty spots, but it was unsettling nonetheless. Eventually, the blind spots would fade, and they would be replaced by a headache that would render her incapacitated. She would curl up in bed, sometimes in the middle of the day, and remain as still as possible until it had passed, which was usually about an hour.

  “My brain is trying to kill me” Anna would say when Rick- her husband- found her curled up in bed with the drapes pulled.

  “Then maybe you should utilize that amazing teacher’s health insurance that the school provides you and go to the doctor.”

  Anna would briefly consider it, but as soon as her migraine had passed she would be right back to grading papers and laughing it off as a ‘slight inconvenience’.

  It wasn’t until she had run her car into a guardrail because the blind spots had become so disorienting that she finally talked to a doctor. She didn’t really have a choice- the car crash had broken her leg and the first thing Rick had said to her doctor was her broken leg was because of her migraines.

  “Migraines can be a symptom of something bigger.” The doctor had told her as he furiously scribbled in her chart. “And how old did you say you were again?”

  “30.”

  “And… any kids?”

  “No. No kids. Unless you count this guy.” She punched Rick nervously on his arm.

  The doctor did not look up from the chart. “30. No kids. Migraines. Are you on any medications?”

  Anna sighed. “Look, I’ll look into the migraine thing some other time. Right now, I’m just hoping you’ll finish casting my leg and I can go home.”

  The doctor looked up from her chart. “It’s protocol. Any medications?”

  “I think the nurse asked me when they brought me in.” The kind and polite inflection in her voice began to fade.

  “Please, Mrs. Kemp. I can speed this along if you are just compliant.” The doctor spit out the words between grinding teeth.

  “No medications.”

  “Not even birth control?”

  “Well, yeah. I guess I forgot my birth control is a medication.”

  “So… you’re 30 and you don’t want kids?”

  “Listen, doc,” Rick stood up, wringing his hands nervously, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m pretty sure the desire to have or not to have kids isn’t exactly medically relevant.”

  The doctor nodded and sat the manila folder and pen on the counter behind him. “You’re right. My apologies. Let’s fix up that leg for you, Mrs. Kemp.”

  Anna had never intended to go back to the doctor about her migraines, but Rick was persistent. He had scheduled an appointment with their family physician and personally drove her. Just as Anna had feared, her family doctor suggested that she get a CAT scan.

  “CAT scans… that’s where they find all the tumors and cancer, you know.” Anna said staring out the window as they drove up I-77 to Akron General Hospital.

  “Yes…” Rick sighed. “That’s where they find that stuff. Wouldn’t you want to know if you had a tumor?”

  “No.”

  Rick laughed. “I don’t know why I suspected a different answer from you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Her focus drifted from the browning October scenery to Rick.

  “You’re a classic avoider. You wait until things become a problem before you fix them.”

  “Like what?”

  “Laundry. Returning phone calls. Washing dishes. Service Engine lights---”


  “No one takes their car to the mechanic when the Service Engine light comes on.”

  “What’re you talking about… everyone takes their car in when the Service Engine light turns on.”

  “I don’t think you’re right.”

  “I’m absolutely right.”

  Anna looked out the window again. “It doesn’t matter anyway. This is the last time I’m going to be out in the world without the weight of knowing I have a tumor growing in my brain.”

  “That’s awfully dark.”

  “It’s true. Nothing will look the same again. I won’t be able to admire the changing leaves without the gnawing fear that the tumor will soon take my vision.”

  “Jesus.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Or,” Rick started, putting his hand on her knee, “this will be the last time you will look at the scenery all doom-and-gloom wondering if there is a tumor in your brain. When the scan comes back clear… and it will… it’ll be like you have a new lease on life. The air will smell fresher. The sky will seem bluer. It’ll feel amazing to know that there’s nothing wrong with you other than your terrible bowling skills.”

  Anna smiled over at him, and then looked back at the window as he pulled off the highway and drove up to the hospital.

  “I didn’t think that I would be back here again.” She said as she fumbled with her crutches.

  “This will be the last time, I promise.” Rick grabbed her purse as she tucked the crutches under her arms.

  “You can’t promise that,” she said, grabbing her purse from his hands. When he seemed genuinely dejected by her behavior, she said, “I’ll have to come back to get this cast off anyway.”

  They walked the rest of the way into the hospital in an uneasy silence.

  Anna sat down in the waiting room as Rick walked to the counter and checked in. He came back with a clipboard of papers. “Do you want me to fill this out?”

  Anna nodded. “Would you? I hate filling out that stuff.”

  “You got it.”

  Anna looked around the waiting room at all of the other people who were presumably just as nervous as she was. An old woman with greasy grey hair patted her purse on her lap, and a very pregnant woman flipped through a magazine with her eyes stabbing through its pages. But she mostly just stared blankly at the television that was playing the local news.

  “Hey Rick look, someone in Boston has been quarantined for that virus HM-something”

  Rick looked up at the television. “Ah, it’s HR-0. And no way it’s here. They contained it in Taiwan months ago.”

  “Not according to this report.”

  Rick scoffed and resumed filling out the insurance documents. “The media is hard pressed for juicy, scary news. They need to boost their viewers… so why not report on some idiot with a bad case of food poisoning in Boston?”

  “Yeah... Probably.”

  “Mrs. Kemp, they’re ready for you.” The nurse said, opening a door behind her.

  “Oh…” She began fumbling with her crutches. “I thought everyone was going through the door up front.”

  “I’m not done filling out these forms.” Rick said holding up the clipboard.

  “It’s fine. You can stay here and fill those out. She shouldn’t be long.”

  “Wait, he can’t come with me?”

  The nurse shook her head. “Sorry, only patients beyond this point.”

  Anna looked down at Rick in a panic.

  Rick stood up and smiled. He took her by the shoulders and said, “You don’t need me for this. You will be just fine. The next time I see you, you’ll tell me that you are tumor free and we’ll go to the Olive Garden or something to celebrate.”

  “If I come back tumor free… I’ll take off the last half of the school year and we’ll go to Hilton Head.”

  “That sounds like a plan. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you in a bikini.” He smiled.

  “Mrs. Kemp, the doctor is waiting.” The nurse tapped her pencil against the doorway.

  “I’ll see you in a little bit.”.

  The nurse took Anna down a dated orange and beige hallway with faded tile floors. At the end of the hallway was an elevator with dark pine paneling and yellow buttons.

  “After you,” the nurse said, and followed Anna inside. “Are you nervous?” She smiled as she pressed B1.

  “A little bit.” Her heart sank as the elevator began to go down. “It’s in the basement?”

  “Yup.”

  “Huh. I guess I didn’t expect that.”

  “And there’s no reason to be nervous. Dr. Moreno is the best.”

  “Moreno?”

  “Yup.”

  “That’s weird. That’s the same doctor that wrapped up my leg after the car accident.”

  “Huh. That is weird.” The nurse was unconvincing.

  The doors opened and the basement was exactly like Anna had imagined the basement of a hospital to look: dark and creepy. The floors were painted concrete that was chipping and dirty. The walls were exposed concrete block and were lined with wire shelves filled with boxes of hospital supplies. Empty gurneys and IV carts and wheelchairs were scattered throughout the hallways and filled up some of the smaller rooms.

  “Are you sure this is the right way? I’m here for just a CAT scan.”

  The nurse laughed. “If I had a nickel for every time a patient asked me that… Don’t worry, hun. This is the right way.” She stopped at a set of metal double doors at the end of a hallway. She scanned her card, and then entered a four-digit code into a keypad. A light above the door turned from red to green, and the nurse opened the doors to expose another set of doors. She pressed a button on an intercom and said, “This is Nurse White, I’m here with the 1100 CAT scan.”

  The light above that set of double doors changed from red to green and Nurse White pushed the door open. “Here we are.” Inside was a small room with a computer monitor on a large desk that was cluttered with paperwork. Over the computer monitor was a window overlooking a larger room that housed the CAT scan machine and nothing else.

  “You can change into these.” Nurse White handed her a thin stack of hospital garments. “I’ll wait out in the hallway to give you some privacy… unless---” she looked down at Anna’s cast, “you need some assistance.”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” Anna took the stack of garments. “I’m a really good balancer. Um, thank you though.”

  There was a brief knock at the door on the other side of the room and it slowly opened. Dr. Moreno walked out with his arm outstretched. “Mrs. Kemp, so happy to see you again.” He shook her hand. “You made the right decision to get those migraines checked out.”

  “If it were up to me I would have let them go. But, my husband is a persistent man.” She laughed nervously.

  “You’re lucky to have a man who cares for you.” Dr. Moreno smiled. “We’ll get you all taken care of today, Mrs. Kemp. If you’ll step this way, we will get to the bottom of those migraines and fix you up good as new.” He led her into the room with the machine. He pressed a button on the side and a long metal slab with a pillow at the end slid out. “You’ll just lay down on this and that’s all I’ll need you to do for today. Sounds simple enough, right?”

  “So… So, I just lie down here?” She pointed to the only thing in the room to lie down on.

  “Yup, right there.” He continued to hold his smile. “Oh, wait… that wedding ring.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going to need to borrow it. I’m afraid that you cannot take it in there with you.”

  Anna reach down and slowly twisted the ring off of her finger and handed it to him. She was filled with an unfamiliar unease as her thumb scanned the now empty space on her hand.

  “I realize this is unpleasant. But if you will just climb aboard, this will all be over soon and we can get you and your husband on with the rest of your day.”

  Anna climbed on and laid her head on the pillow.

  “You all set
?”

  “All set.” Her voice quivered slightly.

  She turned her head and watched him walk back over to the side of the machine and press the button again. With a slight jerk that startled her, she began to slide into the metal tube. Her heart raced and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

  “I know it’s a bit unsettling but it’s only for a little while, ok Mrs. Kemp?” Dr. Moreno assured her.

  “O-ok.”

  “Continue what you were doing… take another good deep breath for me, ok?”

  She inhaled deeply again. And again. Her eyes felt heavy, and she wondered if it was part of the process. Unable to fight it she closed her eyes and let the fatigue completely consume her.

  Anna met Rick in the hospital waiting room just as she had anticipated and hugged him tightly as she shared her good bill of health. Over lunch they planned their winter months in Hilton Head. Anna emailed her boss while they waited for their appetizers, requesting the time off. They bought a giant bag of Halloween candy to pass out for trick-or-treating on the way home. They planned their menu for Thanksgiving when they would host both Rick and her families. They talked about buying more outdoor lights to hang up for Christmas. But they never got to go through with their plans.

  By Halloween, Anna’s brother was hospitalized and she had spent the evening with him while Rick passed out candy at home. By Thanksgiving, Rick had come down with what they all referred to at Harlow, or HR-0. By that point, the hospitals were so overrun with patients that Anna did the best that she could to take care of him at home. He insisted that she put up the Christmas tree and decorations that they had packed away, despite not having the vision to see them. With tears welling in her eyes she hung each ornament on the tree.

  “Stop crying, Anna.”

  She inhaled deeply. “I’m not. It’s just dusty.”

  He died on December 6th, followed by Anna who died on Christmas Day.

  Chapter 2

  The skinny legs of a sparrow darted up and down the branches of a tree that shaded the old Route 585 vegetable stand. He cocked his head from side to side before gliding down onto the old painted picnic table that once displayed local corn and peppers. The bird used its abbreviated beak to sift through dried and brittle vegetable remains in search for a lost seed or nut that perhaps had been overlooked by all of the other birds. However, before the sparrow could conclude his throughout search, he was startled by the sound of an incoming bluejay and flew up to the roof of a nearby trailer. He cocked his head from side to side again as it scanned the ground below, as well as keeping an eye out ahead of him for the whereabouts of the bluejay. He glided its body down to a pile of wet and weathered laundry that was lying a the foot of the trailer stairs. He hopped around on the dense mound, and pecked at pieces of skin that clung to a hand poking out of a sleeve.