Upgrade: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Oh My Gosh, Stuff Happens!

Sweet it’s about time I get a go.

         Still Day 1 around 8 P.M.: Rick
         
         It was starting to get late; the sun was going down on another autumn day. The leaves were falling reflecting the sunset, and the sun was falling reflecting the leaves. The wind seemed light as I looked down on the campus grounds. Nature as a whole seemed to be tranquil and quiet. To be honest everything seemed to be too quiet. Every class room, every gym, and every dorm, it all just seemed to damn quiet. Of course everything had sound, plenty of it. I guess my problem was that all my life not much had really happened. I grew up on tales and stories where interesting and amazing things happened. For me there had always been the boring and average. Other than falling in and out of love a few times nothing major had ever really happened to me. I had no sword to pull from a stone, no motherland to save, and clearly there was no princess in another castle. Compared to those stories, life was like eating mash potatoes: bland, boring, and making you want to mix anything with it just to give it some flavor. Compared to those characters I was boring. Well I was good with words and in some occasion’s persuasion. I’ve been asked again and again if I was in some sort of debate class during high school. I’ll be honest I sort of dislike those guys in that group. A lot of them always seemed high on themselves.
         Back to my point: Sure maybe words could move mountains, but to be honest at the time I had no mountains to move. Not to mention I had just gone through a really bad break up, so I was going through love’s sucking chest wound for the time being. Lucky for me I always had Cal to bring me back to reality and pull me out of my self pity. I looked back at my friend.
         “DIE ZOMBIES DIE!” Cal screamed as more muzzle flashes lit up the screen along with the familiar rata-tat-tat of an automatic weapon. A classic big half smile smirk appeared Cal’s face. It was clear he was winning and enjoying himself.
         “Okay man, finish it up,” I said over the noise, “It’s going to get dark soon and I want to get there and get back in time.”
         “Alright, alright,” Cal answered as his eyes lit up from one more headshot, “Saving, Saving, Saving, Saving, and done. Let’s go!”
         I opened up the half-a-closet and got out my favorite coat and scarf; well technically my only coat and scarf but they were both my favorite color of deep blue so it worked. Cal threw on one of his many hoodies and we headed out the door. Of course Cal had to have one of his strange rants on the way down as always.
         “So I’ve been thinking,” Cal began, “The whole men come from Mars and women come from Venus scenario actually makes sense.”
         “How so?” I asked knowing it didn’t matter what I said he was going to keep going on about it.
         “Well for starters both are equally apart from earth, so if both sexes had to leave their original planet it would be the most likely place to go,” Cal answered.
         “Okay I still don’t get why women are from one and men are from the other,” I retorted.
         “Well you can tell just by looking,” Cal answered with the victory shine in his eyes, “See Mars looks like it has been destroyed by war and fighting, which men are known for doing. While Venus on the other hand looks like someone tried to make it look to pretty by mixing a bunch of stuff with the atmosphere they shouldn’t have, or that pollution got out of hand and made the planet a gas ball.”
         “Wow. I’m surprised that actually makes sense,” I said in shock, “Hmmm.”
         We made it to the bottom of the stairs and headed outside towards the parking lot and to our over priced parking spot at the back of the lot. I walked over and inspected my machine.
         She was an older model, the brand unclear but clearly German made based on the shape. It looked like something out of a World War II movie. A pale shade of green glinted off the medal illuminated by the sun. The bike was a gift from my late Grandfather after my car broke down. I had this old heap working with a lot of sweat and a few trips to the junk yard. It was an uphill battle but somehow I got it working.
         “I seriously don’t see how this piece of scrap stays together,” Cal joked, “Maybe the rust works like glue?”
         “Shut up! She runs and that’s all we need,” I said putting the key in the ignition.
         The motor of the bike chirped to life. The entire vehicle shuddered as I pulled on the throttle revving the engine. The muffler shot some black smoke for a second accompanied by the sound of a shotgun.
         “Remind me to buy earplugs!” Cal said screaming. He pulled the helmets out of a side bag and handed me one.
         “What are you talking about?” I asked, “She’s purring like a kitten!” I had to yell over the ear shattering noise.
         I checked the gas; it was empty on the meter. That couldn’t be right, I gave her twenty dollars worth of gas yesterday. I slammed my hand against the side of the gauge and watched it pop up to a more correct amount.
         I headed out of the parking lot and down the hill towards the main exit. I gave a nod at the security guy as I passed. You couldn’t really call him an officer sense he wasn’t trained, didn’t have a real badge, and didn’t have a gun. He pointed at the curfew sign and I gave him another nod and headed down the road.
         There are two ways into the nearby small town of Jenkins. One is a long boring roundabout drive down a highway that slowly goes around the large Missouri hillside. The other goes straight through said Hillside.
         Piper’s Road, also known as The Backroad by students, is a crash course in “turn now or die” driving. Each turn is at least 45 degrees and at the top or bottom of a hill. There are at least 20 different speed limit signs that everyone must follow, or suffer sever consequences of flying off the side of the said and into a deep valley. Except for me.
         I plugged my Ipod into my helmet and set it to some good rock. As we started down the first hill I felt Cal grab my waist in the manliest way possible and yell what probably came out as, “HELP ME GOD!”
         I taped the brake and leaned into the turn as I heard Cal scream over the intro of one of my favorite songs. As we raced down the next hill three birds flew in the other direction. I could feel the wind pushing a little from the North, I adjusted a little to compensate. As I rounded the next corner a white Ford F-150 passed us going probably about 5 miles under his current speed limit. Amateur.
         I was in the Zone. More than that, I was having Fun. It had been a long month. I had lost my job and my girl friend of two years. Life had been pretty crappy for the last couple of weeks.
         Lately though, things were looking up. I had just put in a lot of applications for different jobs, the bike was running kind of smooth for once, and I had met a girl this morning. Yes, things seemed to be getting better. The sad part was, I was just waiting for life to come crashing down on me as it always did.
         I rounded another 20 mph corner going about 35. Cal screamed a bit more and I felt his fingers dig into my side.
         Although Cal always seemed to have his head in the clouds, he always seems to be the one to keep me on solid ground. No matter how bad things get he pulls me out of my funk. We’ve been friends sense we were young, about 7th grade. Sense then we had gone through a lot together. Jr. High, High School and now college. He was there when my grandfather died; I was there when his parents got divorced. We always seemed to have each others backs. We were best friends.
         “I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU…,” I could hear Cal scream over and over as we came over the top of another hill and rounded a corner. Three leaves came close to my face, two on the right and one on the left. I smiled as the hills became more orange from the setting son. We finally made it to the bottom of the last turn. The rest was a straight drive.
         The car in front of me was going too slow. I tried to pass but then a van flew by, making me jerk back into my lane. I felt Cal death grip my sides again. I waited till we hit the bridge and then I made the pass. More complaints came from behind me. From Cal and the slow car.
         We came through the last bit of forest and into the small town of Jenkins. I turned onto Main Street and past the small shops and deeper into town towards the square.
The shop keepers were just starting to turn their lights on. I pulled up to the Gintama’s General. A nice little store, the owner was a nice guy, so we always gave him as much business as we could. I parked near the back of the lot next to a big street light. As I cut the engine with one last bang, I could feel Cal let go and I got some feelings back into my sides.
         We threw our stuff into the side bag and I closed the combo lock on it. You can’t be too careful. Remember, it’s only paranoia if you are wrong.
         “Okay how much money do we have?” I asked.
         “We have about thirty Dollars,” Cal answered looking into his shallow wallet.
         “Okay so just the bare essentials.” I said. It was more of an order. Cal had this thing about buying to much food, and then eating it all.
         “Soda, pizza, soup, coffee, more pizza, bread, peanut butter, jelly,” Cal counted on his fingers as he looked up and swayed his head from side to side on each word. I gave him my “are you serious?” look.
         “Okay. Fine. Pizza, soda, soup, bread and butter,” Cal counted again.
         I continued the look.
         “FINE. PIZZA, SODA, SOUP, AND NOODLES!” Cal yelled his hands up in defeat.
         “Hey man, you know our budget. Besides, do you want to carry that much on the way back?” I asked putting my hand on his shoulder. Cal hung his head low and did his begging face up at me. I tried to ignore it but had to give in.
         “Fine we can get Cheese Puffs,”
         “Yeah! Cheese Poofs for the win!” Cal Cheered as his face lit up.
         Remember, you drop then on the floor, you clean them up,” I said remembering the cheese puff incident we had upon moving into the dorm. I felt my blood pound in my temples immediately regretting my decision as we walked toward the store.
         Cal stopped suddenly and threw his hand against my chest stopping me.
         “Hold it,” Cal said as he spun me around into a game plan huddle.
         “That’s him,” Cal said staring into the ground with a look of Death.
         “Who’s him?” I asked looking out of the corner of my eye.
         “Don’t look!” Cal said pulling my head down, “we don’t want him to notice us. Now slowly, he’s the guy by the shopping cart. Do see him?”
         I looked over my shoulder very slowly this time and saw a huddled old man in rags near a well worn cart filled with odds and ends. He had a long beard and an old cap. He was dressed all in green. He definitely gave off the creepy hobo that will kill and or rape you vibe.
         “Okay, no matter what happens just keep walking. He tried to grab me last time I tried to walk in the store. He might try it again. IF he comes into the store the manager should run him out. Cal said while moving his hands around dramatically.
         “Right, Mr. Gintama,” I answered nodding in agreement
         Mr. Gintama, owner of Gintama’s General, is an older man. However, he shouldn’t be taken lightly. He is built like an ox, his skin is tough and rugged looking, and he is the owner of many well deserved scares. He fought in Vietnam. The old man gives off such a strong vibe you just have to be around him once to get what he’s all about. He’s a man who walked through hell and walked back out. Also, mounted on his back wall is a four foot blade of some Asian variety and a highly automatic rifle. It’s common knowledge that neither of these are for show. They both work. Everyone was pretty sure the gun was loaded.
This was not a man one trifled with unless they were crazy, stupid, or wanted to die.
         “Okay,” Cal said, “Go.”
         We started walking across the lot. I walked with my longest stride. I tried to not make any sound but my shoes still squeaked a little. Cal kept up with me, not making a sound. Cal could always be super quiet when he liked. I guess it balanced out his loud mouth.
         We got closer to the double doors. I didn’t hear see any movement.
         We passed between two cars getting closer to our goal.
         I didn’t hear any movement.
         We made it into the fluorescent lights of the doors. I put my hand on the door handle.
         His eyes were milky white, as if cataracts was starting to take hold. His pupils stared madly into me as he held my arm.
         “Are you ready? Are you prepared? It will begin soon, very soon,” The man asked me as I struggled to pull away. “You need to prepare. You need to be ready. You can feel it too can’t you? You’re one of us?”
         “Yeah…that’s nice. He needs to go now, sir,” Cal said as he pulled on my other arm. We both pulled a lot (Cal more than me, I was stuck in the mad gaze). The old bum’s strength was amazing.
         “You need to get ready now! We are running out of time,” The old man said again. Everyone struggled again but still no change in positions.
         “What?” was all I could say back.
         “Let go!” Cal said clearly angry now, “Let go you crazy bast-“
         Dong. That was the sound the aluminum bat that Mr. Gintama thrusted into the ground made as he suddenly appeared in front of us. We didn’t move an inch as the man lifted the bat over his shoulder with one hand. Damn. I didn’t even hear the door open.
         “Well,” said Mr. Gintama in a monotone voice, “I think that’s about enough of that. Sir, I advise you let that young man go and leave. Otherwise, you may not like the outcome of this situation.”
         Even being polite as he was, Mr. Gintama was terrifying. When he wanted he gave off this feeling of death about him. It was as if darkness came out of his soul and rolled over everything. It was like a fog. You could only notice this man and be afraid. It was clear that deep inside this man was a demon.
         The old man looked at the store owner and lessened his grip slightly, his free hand stroking his beard in thought.
         “Your decision please” Mr. Gintama’s deep voice stated. Not asked, stated.
         The old man nodded and let go. Slowly he turned and walked away. I didn’t blame him. I would not like to see the business end of that baseball bat.
         “Alright,” Mr. Gintama said, “Come on in boys,”
         “What the hell was that?” Cal asked.
         “I don’t know,” I answered. I didn’t know what the old man had meant, but I wanted to know. The paranoia in the back of my head started to freak out. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I walked into the store. I turned around really fast and looked out the door. Left, Nothing. Right Nothing.
         “What is it Rick?” Cal asked, “Is he coming back?”
         “No,” I answered, “No he’s gone, but something’s coming.”
         “Disturbance in the force, huh?”
         “Yeah. One of those.” I said shaking as I closed the door.
         “Crap,” Cal said, “I knew life’s been going to well lately. Oh well, how bad could it-“
         “STOP,” I said holding my hands up, “You know how bad it got last time you finished that sentence,”
         “Get!” Cal yelled. Mr. Gintama raised an eyebrow from behind the counter at us. I sighed and walked into the store towards the noodles.
         “Well, you’ve done it now,” I said shaking my head. I picked out a box of chicken flavor and handed it to Cal.
         “Come on,” Cal said with a smirk, “you are too superstitious.”
         “Really? Am I?,” I handed him a beef flavor box and walked down the aisle, “Every time I get a bad feeling and you say “How bad could it get?” bad, bad, and terrible things happen.”
         “Like what?” Cal asked.
         I stopped and turned to look at my friend. I gave him the look asking him if he really wanted to go there. He gave me the nod.
         “Last time my work caught on fire. The time before that you got hit by a car and broke part of your arm. The time before that a small crop dusting plane crashing into your mother’s house.” I said raising my eye brows at him.
         “No connection at all,” Cal said turning up his nose in total denial.
         “Fine. The time before that you got hit by lightening and almost died. To this day anytime you get next to any major power source or if there is a thunderstorm your eye starts twitching really bad,” I finished knowing I had won.
         “Well…” Cal tried to start, “But…See…”
         “I’ll grab the pizza; you grab the soda and cheese puffs. I’ll meet you at the front counter,” I said walking away with a wicked smile.
         “You may not want to develop that ability to far,” Cal said meeting me at the front.
         “Why not?” I asked
         “You’ll end up like that crazy hobo guy,” Cal said putting on his crazy face.
         “Yeah. Right.” I said adding an overdose of sarcasm. I placed the items on the counter and Mr. Gintama started scanning everything through.
         “So who was that guy?” I asked.
         “Ah just some giant nut,” Mr. Gintama said shaking his head.
         I looked over at Cal. He was thinking deep about something. Then he looked up at me and laughed.
         “Squirrel Attack!” He shouted waving his hands in the air. We all laughed.
         “No, nothing like that,” Mr. Gintama explained, “Just someone who came home from the war and couldn’t readjust to normal life. Some of us moved on afterwards. Some of us didn’t.”
         “Vietnam, huh?” Cal asked.
         “Yeah. Vietnam,” Mr. Gintama said as he stared out the window. Distant eyes remember things I could only imagine. I looked around at the small store. After all the chaos of a war the man still was able to make his own place of peace. Each little aisle set up perfectly. All the little boxes and bags in a row. Every week the trucks come at exactly the same time to drop them off. Every morning turn on the lights. Every evening turn them off. Everything had its own place and time. A life of peace.
         “Well it’s getting late,” Mr. Gintama said with a smile, “You boys better be getting back.”
         “Right,” I said, “See you later Mr. Gintama,”
         “See you,” He said.


Day 1 around 7:00 P.M.: Rebecca
         

         I was in my bed. I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I didn’t want to be with friends, I didn’t want to be with family, and I didn’t want to eat a tub of ice cream. Though, as I thought about it ice cream did start to sound good.
         Still nothing was going to get me out of bed. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself and trying to sleep away last night.
         I heard the door open. Shannon was back from her part time job. Of course she had probably heard what had happened last night from Jean who had heard it from Tammy who had heard it from Jessica who was actually there. Of course by now it had snowballed into one out of proportion story that was about twice as long as what had actually happened. Of course she was going to start bugging me about how I was doing. The one thing I didn’t want to talk about. Of course.
         “Hey,” She said sitting down on the bed beside me, “How you holding up?”
         “Go away,” I said rolling so my back was to her, “please,”
         “No thanks,” She said in a way to upbeat voice, “I think I’ll stay right here. So, you wan’a talk about it?”
         “No damn it,” I said burying my face deeper in the pillow, “Why can’t people get I don’t want to talk about it!”
         “Okay, okay, calm down,” she said patting me on the back, “So, anything I can get you?”
         “A gun and a bullet, or a fast moving train, or a tall building to jump off of would be nice,” I said joking. Or at least I meant to come out as a joke.
         “Okay. How about some pizza?” Shannon suggested, “How does that sound?”
         “Really good right now,” I whispered.
         “You stay here, I’ll be right back,” Shannon said getting up.
         “And get Anchovies!” I yelled as I heard her leaving. I was sitting up. I hadn’t meant to do that. But I was up, so I decided I might as well use the bathroom. I walked into our 4 by 2 bathroom and looked in the mirror. I looked like hell. My eyes were all red from the stupid crying. I leaned down into the sink and washed my face. The memory of last night filtered through my head again as the cold water hit my face. I tried my best not to start crying again. I did anyway. I sat on the toilet holding my knees. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.
         After some time I finally recomposed myself and went back to the bed. I shoved my face into the pillow trying to make myself disappear. No luck. I hate sleeping on my stomach though, so I turned over and looked up. I stared at the ceiling. It was white and blank. I tried to get my mind to match it. Think about nothing. Nothing at all.
         I woke back up as Shannon came back in.
         “Come on, time for food,” She said putting the pizza on the desk next to the T.V.
         “Pepperoni, huh?” I said getting out plates.
         “You can’t go wrong with a classic,” she said smiling, “So, any better yet?”
         “A little bit, the food helps, I’m starving to be honest,” I said biting down into a piece. I could feel the grease go squish off to the side. Just the way I like it.
         “So, I can tell that my story is a bit off so why don’t you tell me what really happened,” she said handing me the cup of anchovies.
         “What’s to tell? We met like usual. He’s moving soon out of state to go to a different collage. He said it was over,” I said throwing the anchovies all over my half of the pizza.
         “Well, that sucks,” Shannon said.
         “Um, yeah, pretty much,” I said glaring at her.
         “What?” she asked.
         “First you act like you are going to help me then you just state the obvious!” I said throwing a pillow at her. She ducked and it thudded a bit harder than I had originally intended on the back wall. It would seem I was still a bit moody.
         “My, oh, my. Aren’t we a bit moody?” she said smiling with her eyebrows rose.
         “Shut up you jerk. I just lost my boyfriend to some building of education in the middle of no where,” I said giving her my meanest face. Just another thing that failed this week.
         “What are you complaining about?” She said smiling a bit more, “You’re cute, semi-smart, and athletic. Now that you’re single you will be beating off with a stick. I’m kind of jealous.”
         “Oh get off of it. You could get a guy if you would just stop waiting around and ask someone out,” I said. Shannon had this thing where she thought that only guys can ask girls out. She totally sets women’s rights back about 40 years.
         “Then how do I know if they like me or are just putting up with me?” she asked.
         “Your tall, blond haired, blue eyed and in general are regularly described as hot. The reason you haven’t been asked out yet is probably because no one can work up the nerve to do it. Shut up with that “putting up with me” crap no one does that but me.”
         “Oh come on, your cute. What are you complaining about?” She said as we both reached for the last piece.
         We both stopped. We shook our hands three times and shot. Paper covers rock. I grabbed the last piece and smiled. I heard Shannon mutter questionable statements under her breath.
         “I’m sick of being called cute. It makes me sound more like your little sister and less like someone you want to go out with,” I said as I chowed on my slice of victory.
         “I’m sure someone will think you are more than cute eventually,” she said smiling way too big.
         “Eventually? That sucks. That is way to long.” I said finishing off Shannon’s crusts, she is a picky eater.
         “I’m sure he’s on his way right now,” Shannon said putting in a movie.
         “Well he sure is taking his damn sweet time,” I scoffed.

ITS STILL DAY 1!!!!!! Almost 7:30pm: Cal

         
         I sneezed so hard my back hurt. It’s good that I wasn’t wearing a helmet like Rick’s or else there would be a big smear on the inside. Which, going on The Backroad, I wouldn’t be able to get rid of till we finally got back to the dorms.

         Oh gosh. Your back. Sorry that was kind of gross. That image. Yeah. Sorry. On the bright side your about to get more plot!

         We were finally on our way back. Of course Rick was driving again. I was hanging on for dear life as usual. For some reason Rick just loves driving as fast as possible on this road. To be honest I would have really enjoyed it. If I wasn’t on the back of a rusty old bike.
         For half a second we went into a turn and I think at one point we went sideways. I heard a sound like something dieing. Oh yeah, that’s me screaming. Right.
         See on cars, trucks, and even roller coasters they all have something to lock you in. On a motorcycle it’s just you and sometimes another person behind you. I grabbed tight as we went around another corner. I did something I shouldn’t have; I looked down over the side of the road railing.
         The hills in Missouri are only called hills because there all so close to each other and we are on what is called a plateau (look it up you lazy bum I’m not going to explain everything to you, this is first person we are talking about here; I’m not all knowing, geez!). When in fact there are 45 degree slopes leading into deep valleys. The only reason you can drive through most of Missouri is because we “resourceful” Missourians got sick of going up and down these hills so we decided to go through them. With Explosives. Yes, we are that cool. As you drive through Missouri you can see the insides of these hills as you drive through them.
         Of course the Backroad isn’t one of these big highways where we blew our way through a hill and then laid down cement. This road started as a common trade trail back in the times of fur traders. We added to it. Another Car went by getting a lot closer than I would have liked. There isn’t much breathing room on this road. Falling down off the side isn’t that great of an idea. Not because of the falling down the hill but falling down into a hill filled with tons of trees. It isn’t just a straight path. If you fall down you will hit something. Guaranteed!
         That’s Okay though we were almost home. Just a few more turns.
         I thought about the old man just then. What was his deal? Drunk? Stupid? Just likes messing with people? Oh well, who am I to judge? I once started murmuring quasi-Latin in a deep voice in Rick’s church to freak out the old people. You should have seen them as they slowly scooted away as I looked over to them.
         What? I was bored. Have you ever been to a Catholic Church? It’s so freaking boring!
Also Rick’s bad feelings had me worried; they were usually spot on (all though I didn’t like to admit it). It all added up to a nice smelly pile of bad luck heading our way. Then again, Rick and I had gone through bad luck before and we always managed to find a way back to normal. We could take anything that life threw at us. How bad could it get?
         I heard Rick yell. I looked up just in time to see a deer in the road. Its cute full black eyes stared at us. It wasn’t just a deer; it was a fracking bambie deer. This left our options low. Rick wouldn’t hit the deer, he just wouldn’t. It wasn’t in his nature. This left us with two possibilities. One: move to the right and get closer to the edge; or Two: We go to the left and then swerve back into traffic.
         At that moment a small U-Haul van was coming right where we needed to be to avoid said deer. I say small in the meaning of small enough to fit on this road. As I watched everything happen the world didn’t slow down like in all the movies. There was no Frame by Frame moment. It all happened very fast.
         We swerved. We hit the rail. We flew down into the abyss.
         We started falling. As we started I knew we were F***ed. The strange part was the only thought I had in my mind was: damn, I’m not going to eat my cheese puff now.
         We rolled. I lost track of Rick; also my limbs.
         My head hit the side of a tree.
         That’s when everything went black.