bad road to the dead river - 32. strangers in the night

by nick nelson

part thirty-two of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

anne greenleaf kicked off her shoes and leaned back on the couch in her apartment. two stiff drinks sat on the coffee table between anne and rutherford b hayes, who sat up straight on the edge of a big armchair, looking neither particularly interested nor particularly bored. rutherford’s drink was stiffer than anne’s. anne was determined to get him drunk, and do whatever else it took to get him to tell her who and what he really was. “drink up,” anne invited rutherford. riurherford took a healthy swallow of his drink. if he thought it strong, he did not show it. anne took a sip of hers. “now, rutherford,” she told him. “the time for silly games has past. why don’t you really tell me all about yourself?’ ‘i already did.” “i don’t think so. do you really expect me to believe that a person with no i d, and no memory of who he is, and no luggage , can stay nice and clean and healthy looking in this evil city, just by finding people to give him money every day and letting him sleep in their apartment?. and never have a run in with the police, who are everywhere?” rutherford shrugged. “but i just did, didn’t i?” “with the secret service? they are not exactly the police. i think that is how you slipped up somehow. though i can not figure how.” rutherford looked around anne’s small but tastefully furnished apartment. “this is a nice place.” “yes, it is.” “can i stay overnight?” “of course.” “there you have it.” * grundy turned the key and pushed open the door to his apartment. it was dark except for the light from the television. his mom was watching jerry perkins. jerry perkins was a long running tv show about a bartender who solved murders and other crimes in his time off. “were you worried about me?” grundy asked. “no, i could feel you were all right. you are kind of late, though. anything exciting happen?’ grundy thought of telling her about rutherford b hayes,, which was kind of weird if not exactly exciting, but decided he probably could not get her to understand how weird it was. besides, he knew she really would rather watch jerry perkins. “no, “ he said. “ we just had to wait on this guy. it was nothing special.” he went into the kitchenette and took a bottle of seltzer water out of the refrigerator. the end of "bad road to the dead river"

bad road to the dead river - 31. follow you anywhere

by nick nelson

part thirty-one of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

“hello. do i know you?” pablo asked the young woman he thought might be the long ago joanie. “maybe,” she quickly replied, turning to look him directly in the face. “have you heard me talking? down in the square?” “”uh - no, i don’t tihnk so.” “is this guy bothering you, joanie?’ pablo heard the voice of the neanderthal looking coffee shop manager behind him. joanie! “no, it’s cool, ralph,” she told him. “so where do you know me from, my friend?” she asked pablo. pablo told her as quickly as possible about his meeting with the young woman on the deserted road in the heartland. she listened without interrupting, keeping her blue eyes on his face the whole time. “was that you?’” pablo finished his tale. “do you remember it?” “yes, i remember it. let’s get out of these people’s way here.” she nodded to one of the small tables. a teenaged boy and girl brushed past pablo’s back. pablo and joanie sat down at the table. “i remember it,” joanie said. “i don’t think i would have remembered you. you are all grown up.” “well, i am not a little kid any more,” pablo agreed. “i guess it must be you, how else would you know about it?” “it’s a small world,” pablo said, desperate to keep the conversation going. he had completely forgotten about watching the professor, and his reason for being in the coffee shop. “yes, it is,” joanie agreed. “excuse me while i get myself a cup of coffee.” “all right. hey, it’s on me,” pablo said. he fumbled in his pocket for his two thousand dollar coffee card and handed it to joanie. “here, buy anything you want with this.” “anything? how about a coffee and a donut?” joanie turned the card over in her fingers. “sure.” pablo started to explain about the two thousand dollars but thought better of it. joanie quickly returned with her coffee and donut and gave the card back to pablo. “so, what are you doing here in the imperial city?” she asked pablo. “are you prospering?” “a little bit of this, a little bit of that ,” pablo answered the first question. “how about you, what are you doing?” “saving the world.” “oh,” pablo was a little surprised, but not totally. he had met a lot of people saving the world, in jail and out of it. “i remember you told me you were going to be a soci - soci - something .” joanie laughed. “you have a good memory.” “sure i remember. it was the scariest thing that ever happened to me, and i was just a kid. and you saved me. i remember everything. i’ll never forget it.” “that’s very nice of you,“ joanie said. she took a sip of her coffee. “i mean it,” pablo said. “i would do anything for you!” he blurted out. “i would follow you anywhere.” he looked around to see if anyone had heard him and was laughing, but nobody seemed to be paying any attention, not even ralph, the neanderthal manager. joanie smiled at him, really smiled at him for the first time. “you will have to excuse me but it has been a long time. what did you say your name was?” “pablo.” “it’s a funny coincidence, pablo, but i have been looking for a faithful follower. a true faithful follower who, as you say, will follow me anywhere.” “that’s me,” pablo said. he suddenly remembered mister brown, but decided just as suddenly to forget all about him. “do you have anywhere you have to be?” joanie asked. she had finished her coffee and pushed an uneaten half of the donut aside. “no.” “then come on down to the square with me. i will explain my - our - mission to you.” “that sounds great.” 32. strangers in the night

bad road to the dead river - 30. angel of mercy

by nick nelson

part thirty of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

pablo did not know what to do. suddenly he remembered the phone big chico had given him - given him for just such a situation! in his panic, he had forgotten all about it. pablo reached into his pocket. his fingers found nothing. he tried the other pocket. nothing there either. he started to panic. the back pockets, even though he knew he never put anything in this back pockets. no phone. it must have fallen out of his pocket when he was sleeping in the back seat of the packard. of course! much as he hated to do so, he turned around and headed back to the abandoned car. somehow the sight of the car sitting in the dark road frightened him more than anything that had already happened. he opened the back door of the packard. the overhead light went on, but it was not very strong. the phone was not lying in plan sight on the back seat, or on the floor. he dug his hands behind the seat cushions. nothing. he ran his hands behind the seat cushions again. still nothing. could he drive the car, even with the front tires shot out? he had never actually driven a car before, although he felt he “knew how”. the keys were not the ignition. pablo felt a brief sense of relief that they were not. chico could not blame him for not trying. chico! what would chico think? he, pablo. had been given one simple task - to hold i to the phone, and he could not do it! could he ever go back to the neighborhood? even if he somehow got back to the city? and where was he anyway? and what if the three hundred pound quadruplets, or somebody like them, came back? maybe he had dropped the phone when he got out of the car? he got out of the car again. the phone was not right beside the car, in the dirt beside the door he had first gotten out of. it was dark. trying to find the phone was hopeless. should he keep looking for it, or give up and start walking? while he was trying to make up his mind, wanting to run, but fearful of what big chico would think if he gave up looking for the phone, he saw a small light coming down the road toward him. it was too small to be the light of a car or a truck. it was a bicycle light. the bicycle was ridden by a young girl, a girl just a few years older than pablo. she stopped, and asked pablo what he was doing. pablo told his tale as best he could. the girl did not seem overly surprised at his story. “those clowns,” she said, shaking her head. i don’t think they will really hurt your friend. probably just have a little of what they call fun with him. i doubt if they will actually hurt him.” in his panic about the phone pablo had forgotten all about deano. he tried to explain about the phone again to the girl. “you want to look for the phone?” the girl asked. “all right, i have a flashlight, we can take a quick look.” she produced a small flashlight, got off the bike and started looking around the ground, and under the car. it had been snowing lightly the whole time, and now the snow started coming down a little harder. “this is hopeless, “ the girl said. “even if it is around here, the snow will cover it. why don’t you come with me, you can try calling your friend from there.” “but i don’t know his number, just the number three.” “whatever, i think you better come with me.” “you mean ride on the handlebars?” “ha, ha. no, you are a little too big for that. i will just walk the bike, and you follow me. it is not that far.” “all right.” walking along beside the girl, pablo decided she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. she started talking about herself, though pablo did not understand half of what she said. her name was joanie, and she wanted to be a sociologist, whatever that was… pablo never went back to the north side, or saw big chico or deano or any of the gang again. joanie gave him a few dollars and he caught a bus going east. and he never saw joanie again. * until now? the young woman entering the coffee shop just as pablo got up to leave it looked familiar. she looked like joanie! the girl who had saved him back in east st louis in the heartland on that snowy night... older, of course. as she got closer to pablo, he saw she looked much older. still pretty, but like she had seen a few things. could it really be her? there was no harm in asking. 31. follow you anywhere

bad road to the dead river - 29. east st louis

by nick nelson

part twenty-nine of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

pablo woke up. he had fallen asleep in the back seat of deano’s packard. he sat up. the car had stopped. it was gray and overcast outside. a light rain - or was it snow? - was falling. deano was mumbling to himself in the front seat, staring at the car’s small, cracked location tracking screen. pablo did not say anything, not wanting to annoy deano, but deano, as if sensing pablo’s question , said aloud - “i don’t know where we are.” pablo did not say anything. “the screen says we are in east st louis. but we are not in east st louis,” deano said. pablo looked out the window. they seemed to be on a country road. there were no houses or buildings in sight. pablo had never seen a country road before, except in a comic book or on tv. pablo had a few suggestions, like, “why don’t we just move, and we will get somewhere?” or “maybe we could get out of the car and look around?” but he was afraid to say anything to deano, who might not take kindly to suggestions from a little kid. “this is not east st louis,” deano repeated. the snow - it was definitely snow now - though just a few flakes drifting down. “do you want me to get out?” pablo asked. “get out? for what?” deano asked. “just look around. maybe there is a house around here somewhere. or a farm.” in the horror comics pablo read the “country” was always filled with old abandoned farmhouses and mansions. and the farmhouses and mansions were inhabited by mad scientists or zombies or cannibals. deano just grunted. then, waking from his reverie, he started the car up, and started driving down the “country road” which did not seem wide enough for one vehicle to pass another. they drove about half a mile. the sky got a little darker and pablo switched his lights on. they came around a bend in the road and suddenly another vehicle was in front of them. deano slammed on the brakes. the other vehicle, which looked like a fairly large pickup truck, also stopped. there were about twenty yards of dirt road between the two vehicles. two men got slowly out of the front seat of the pickup. pablo did not like their looks. they looked like twins. they wore wide brimmed straw hats with conical crowns, and bib overalls, and they looked like they weighed about three hundred pounds each. one of the twins came up and looked in the window at deano. “hello, there,” deano said. “we are sure glad to see you.” “you think so?” the twin growled. “who might you be?” “is this east st louis?’ deano asked. “we are trying to get to east st louis.” “this is east st louis,” the twin said. “it is? can you tell me how to get to renaldo johnson’s gym on main street?” “never heard of it.” the other twin spoke up from behind the first one’s shoulder. “i think we have a mis-communication here. are you looking for east st louis illinois, friend?” “yes, that’s right,” deano said. “renaldo johnson’s gym on main street.” “i hate to break your heart, but this ain’t east st louis, illinois, it is east st louis, heartland territory a-2 . you are in the wrong place altogether.” “oh,” deano said. “i guess that explains everything.” “don’t explain nothing ,” the first twin said. “don’t explain why you be going to east st louis illinois. that’s gangster country.” “i don’t know about that,” deano said. pablo had not spoken the whole time and shrank back in the back seat. he looked out the window. two more men had gotten out of the bed of the pickup truck and were approaching the car. they looked just like the first two. now they were quadruplets! “are you a gangster?” the first twin said to deano. “you look like a gangster, from chicago or cicero. driving this here packard, that’s a gangster car.” deano tried to laugh. “you see any machine guns attached to it?” “you got a smart mouth, don’t you, gangster boy?’ the twin pulled the door of the packard open. the first two twins reached in and hauled deano out of the car. the second pair of twins whooped and laughed. the first pair each had one of deano’s arms and dragged him back to the pickup truck. one of the second pair took a pistol out of the big pocket of his coveralls and shot out the tires of the packard. with deano in the back of the truck with the second pair, the first pair got back in the cab. the truck backed up, turned around and disappeared down the darkening road. they had seemed to take no notice of pablo at all. had they even seen him? after a few minutes, pablo got out of the packard and started walking. 30. angel of mercy

bad road to the dead river - 28. a message for renaldo

by nick nelson

part twenty-eight of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

when pablo was growing up on the west side, he dreamed, like most of the little boys he knew, of joining the mob. he quickly found that his dreams were mocked by the bigger, rougher boys, and learned to keep his fantasies to himself. but he never gave them up. he dropped out of school at a young age even for the neighborhood, and began hanging around duke’s barber shop, and al’s pool hall, and mickey’s newsstand. he never said to the cannon fodder he encountered in these places, “i want to grow up to be just like you”, but he became a familiar figure, and became trusted to run the most trivial errands and carry the most trivial messages. it should be noted that like many neighborhoods in the old cities of the inner empire, the mobs were the only law. and order. most of the inhabitants never saw a police person except on television. mayors and governors and presidential candidates would occasionally visit, surrounded by an inner ring of bodyguards who were themselves surrounded by an outer ring of bodyguards. one day little pablo was sitting in duke’s barbershop reading a two year old copy of jungle space troopers comics, when big chico came in to the shop, with his habitual scowl on his face. big chico was a great guy if he liked you and you got to know him but he always had a scowl on his face. chico looked around the shop. he didn’t take his hat or coat off so he was not there for a shave or a haircut. “anybpdy seen marco?” chico growled. “haven’t seen him, “ duke the barber said. the only grown mob guy in the place was deano, who was not all that bright. chico glared at him. “i ain’t seen him either, chico,” deano said. “i can’t remember when i seen him.” “why do all these bums disappear when i need them?” chico asked. pablo expected deano to say something like, i’m here, chico, but he did not. he was either too dumb or too smart to do so. chico thought for a few seconds. “i want you to do something for me,” he said to deano, “sure, chico,” deano replied like it was no big deal. chico took a plain white envelope out of his coat pocket. it was unmarked, sealed, and not that thick - it obviously did not contain a wad of bills. “take this and deliver it to renaldo johnson in east st louis. think you can do that?” “sure.” deano answered easily. “he’s got a gym on main street in east st louis. johnson’s gym. find him and deliver it to him personally. personally, you understand? into his own hand. don’t let anybody give you the runaround.” “i got it, chico.” ”all right.” chico handed the envelope to deano. he glanced over and saw pablo. “take this kid with you. you mind going with renaldo, kid?” “n-no!” pablo squeaked. chico and deano smiled, and duke the barber laughed out loud. “what for?” deano asked. “what can he do?” “i always like to send two people. he can call me if something goes wrong. here, kid.” chico took a tiny phone out of his pocket, and gave it to pablo. “if anything goes wrong, just call me. just dial three .you got that?” “yes, mister cole.” “good. what was the number again, to dial?” “three!” “i see you are a bright kid, can keep a number in your head. i wish all my gorillas were that bright.. all right, get going with deano.” pablo was vaguely aware that east st louis was over four hundred kilometers away. and his mother would wonder where he was. but he didn’t care. this was his big chance! he was determined to make the most of it. deano was waiting at the door of the shop and pablo joined him. 29. east st louis

bad road to the dead river - 27. bad road

by nick nelson

part twenty-seven of thirty-ywo

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

joanie drove the truck across the deserted parking lot and eased it down an unpaved slope and on to the highway. she turned right, heading north. the “highway” was filled with ruts and potholes. there was no dividing line on it. “so is this the barbary coast?” joanie asked ruby, who was riding shotgun beside her. “you could call it that, “ ruby said. “there is no clear dividing line, there’s nothing official.” “this road is awful,” joanie said. “does it get any better?” “no. maybe in a few spots, but this is basically it, except when it is really bad.” “whatever.” “i told you how bad it was,” ruby said. “yes, you did. i guess it just didn’t register.” despite the weight it was carrying in the back - food and water for two days, a few guns, some ammo, clothing and costumes, and big ticket and flabby judy - the truck was bouncing pretty good. “do you want me to go faster?” joanie asked. “a little faster. until it starts to get dark.” “all right.” “when it gets dark, “ ruby explained, “you can get people suddenly coming at you, especially from around bends.” “i see there are no lines.” joanie said. “this is two-way, right?” “oh, absolutely.” “and there are no lights.” ruby laughed. “forget lights. honey, lights and lines are the least of our worries.” they bumped along. after half an hour they had still not seen another vehicle on either side of the road. it started to get dark. “we are making great time,” ruby said. “right on schedule . keep going until it gets completely dark, then i will take over.” joanie wished ruby had not said things were going so well, because it might be unlucky, but she did not say so. * it was completely dark. but ruby had fallen asleep. they had still not encountered any other vehicles, or any signs of life. or any lights by the side of the road. but the truck’s own lights were working, and joanie could see where she was going. she decided to let ruby sleep, and push on. she was not tired, and had no desire to get into the back of the truck. then, finally, she saw another truck up ahead, coming toward her. a much bigger truck than their own, and driving without lights. it was painted a light gray, and was visible enough. joanie slowed down a bit as the big truck passed. she could not see into its cab as it passed. she breathed a sigh of relief. she watched in the rear view mirror as the big truck disappeared. except that it did not disappear. it turned around, taking its time to do so, and then began following joanie and her friends’ truck. joanie took a couple of deep breaths, and speeded up a little. the big truck seemed to speed up too. ruby woke up as soon as joanie touched her arm. she seemed wide awake instantly. “what’s up?” she asked joanie. “it’s dark.” “we are being followed.” joanie managed to not sound panicked. “followed?” rubye looked at the passenger side rear view mirror. “for how long? are you sure they did not just come up behind us?” “they were on the other side. they turned around and started following us.” “are you sure it’s the same truck?” “they turned around right away.” “ahh. i see.” ruby stuck her head out the window and looked back at the pursuer. “what should i do?” joanie asked. “where are we? should i try to out run them?” “no - here’s what you do. floor it, for about two hundred yards. then pull over and stop,” joanie was happy to let ruby do the thinking. she speeded up, and started edging to the side of the road. ruby opened the glove compartment and took out a pistol. “stop here.” joanie pulled over and stopped. ruby got out of the cab with the pistol in her hand. she started walking back to the other truck, which had stopped in the middle of the road, about fifty yards behind, still with its lights off. big ticket got out of the back of the truck, carrying a shotgun, and followed ruby. “what’s going on here?” ruby shouted at the silent gray truck. “what do you clowns want?” 28. a message for renaldo

bad road to the dead river - 26. barbary coast

by nick nelson

part twenty-six of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

“so these friends of yours, who don’t have good looks, what do they have? what do they do?” joanie asked. “big ticket is a strong woman - she picks things up - stuff the marks bring, and challenge her to pick them up. and she’ll fight - fight anything , men, women, animals, anything.” anything? joanie thought. aloud, she said, “and your other friend?” “that’s judy - flabby judy. she’s a fat lady. really fat.” “yes, but what does she do?” “i told you, she’s a fat lady. people pay to look at her.” “why?” joanie persisted. “because she’s so fat.” “they pay to look at her just because she’s so fat?” joanie had a vague memory of reading about such things in the history books she had read in the library back in the heartland, but she never thought they would still exist in the thirty-third century. “that doesn’t sound very edifying,” joanie told ruby. “it’s not an edifying world. especially in the big city, or on the barbary coast.” joanie did not know what to say to that. she took another sip of her cold tea, and asked. “so tell me again what you want from me?” “see, when we get to the city - if we make it to the city - we have to deal mostly with agents, and even if we run into a working crew on the road we have to deal with some kind of boss. now what they are always looking for is good looking young ladies such as yourself. they will at least look at you and hear you out, and when they do, you can tell them you have some pals - like me and ticket and judy - and maybe they could look at us too. that’s all.” “would that work?” joanie asked. “it’s worth a try. of course” - ruby looked straight at joanie - ““we would just be trusting you to speak up for us. the world is filled with schmucks and backstabbers and judas iscariots who would ride with us and then let us down when we got to the city. but i don’t think that’s you. just looking at you, i don’t think you are that kind of person at all. you wouldn’t let a pal down, would you?’” “i don’t think so.” “i know you wouldn’t. say - can you drive a truck? an old-fashioned truck that you have to drive?” slightly bewildered by the change of subject, joanie said, “yes, i can drive a truck. i’m from the heartland, almost everybody in the heartland can drive a truck.” “that’s good,” ruby said. “better and better.” she finished off her coffee and stood up. “well, kid, think about what i said, and i will probably see you around. how much longer did you say you could stay here?” “about two weeks.” “then i will see you again for sure.” and ruby left joanie with her thoughts. that was all kind of interesting, joanie mused . but scarier the more she thought about it - especially ruby’s casual “if we get to the city”. and all that about the agent’s liking her “good looks”. what was she supposed to do with her “good looks”? just get looked at? joanie was innocent, but she was not that innocent. 27. bsd road