Desperate Times (28 page)

They were stopped at the emergency room door,
intensity shining in Dr. Benson’s eyes. Jimmy felt as if a light
had just gone off in his head. “That does,” he said. “I guess I
never thought about it that way. It is up to us
.
”

Jon nodded. “I guess I’ve been too busy
thinking about how we’re going to make it through another day to
even think about the future. You’re right, though. We’ve got to
grab the bull by the horns and make some noise.”

“Exactly!” said Jimmy. “We need a
movement.”

“A revolution!” exclaimed Dr. Benson.

“How?” asked Jon. “They’ve taken away our
telephones, our radios, our televisions and the internet. How are
we supposed to communicate our message?”

“I haven’t figured that one out yet,” said
Dr. Benson sadly, looking out into the gloom. “But I can tell you
this much—they didn’t have those tools when this country was born.
They had a common goal, determination and the Constitution. That’s
all they needed then and that’s all we need now.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Jon.

“There’s no hoping involved. I
have
to
be right. To think otherwise is inconceivable. This is a watershed
moment in our history. Future generations of Americans are counting
on us to do the right thing. We can’t let them down.”

Dr. Benson sprinted through the door first
and Jon followed. Jimmy peered out into the night and followed Jon.
He couldn’t get what Dr. Benson had said out of his mind. Someone
had to get the people organized and focused on the real problem.
Why
couldn’t
it be them? It wouldn’t be long before the
military had nearly everyone locked away in refugee camps. What
then? Jimmy shuddered at the thought. They paused at a garage, the
doors hung open and the dark shadow of a car parked inside. Jon
took the lead and they continued their brisk walk toward the end of
town. Jimmy spotted two more bodies lying in the gutter. He
couldn’t make out anything more than that they were human and that
they were certainly dead. They had probably been shot simply for
refusing to be carted away like animals. Yes, Dr. Benson was right.
They needed a revolution.

President Roosevelt blamed unscrupulous money
lenders and a generation of self-seekers for the economic problems
of his day.

“So,” said Dr. Benson. “Ken and Patty talked
me into leaving Tuscan and moving out here. That was twenty years
ago. I’ve never regretted it. Not until a few days ago.”

Jimmy couldn’t believe the guy was still
talking. They’d traveled at least ten miles and the good doctor had
hardly paused for a breath. They all carried flashlights, but none
were turned on as Jon had decided that it’d be too dangerous. The
night air was still and it seemed that even the crickets had
finally gone to bed. Overhead, the endless constellations looked
close enough to reach out and touch. They took their time, pausing
for a break every hour. They’d lie down on their backs and simply
look up at the stars as Dr. Benson chatted aimlessly about the
past, present, and future. He was a man with a huge vision and as
much as his endless monologue bothered Jimmy, he couldn’t deny that
he now looked at the world and their place in it in an entirely
different light.

“We held out for a few days. I suppose we
were hoping that the government would magically correct itself and
that we’d all be back home the next day. That was damn stupid,”
Benson said, his huge feet clapping against the asphalt. “We were
running out of the basics, the day-to-day stuff that keeps a
hospital running. The trucks simply stopped coming. We tried asking
for help from the townspeople, but they were too busy organizing
their militia. They had good intentions; they just lacked any sort
of leadership. You can’t have an army without structure. Everyone
had different ideas of how things should be run. They fought more
among themselves than they did anyone else. By the time the mob
from the campground broke out, the militia was only a shell of
itself. I would venture to say that only thirty men remained from a
group that had numbered well into the hundreds. They were
slaughtered—brave, foolish men. The mob came in angry waves, like
wild animals. There was no stopping them. They looted every
business in town, taking whatever they could carry.”

“That’s crazy,” said Jon.

“Yes it was,” agreed Dr. Benson. “I sent
everyone home at the sound of the first gunshots. Bobby West and
Dave Miles, the deputies you found, were waiting in the lobby. They
understood how important the hospital was to the town. Good men,
both of them. We knew it was coming. The militia had been stupid,
holding those people at bay. Here were allies who could’ve
strengthened our numbers. They didn’t see it that way; they only
wanted to preserve what they had. They herded them into that shabby
campground like cattle and created a powerful enemy. These people
had nothing to eat or drink and nothing to lose. I met a group of
them as they approached the hospital. I stood under the awning at
the emergency room entrance. There must’ve been sixty of them. That
was yesterday… or was it the day before? Oh well, it doesn’t
matter. I was dressed in the same clothes that I am now and thought
it should be obvious to them that I was a doctor. Foolishly, I
thought that might mean something to them, that they might think I
was important enough to listen to, to reason with. This particular
group of people didn’t see it that way. They had one thing on their
minds: prescription drugs. They put a gun to my head and demanded
that I give them up. I couldn’t believe it. I tried telling them
that we were damn near out of everything, which was almost true.
They didn’t believe that for a second. Half of the group went in
and they all seemed to be carrying guns. A few moments later the
shooting started.”

“Why did they shoot? Was someone threatening
them?” Jimmy asked quickly.

“No way,” said Dr. Benson. “They weren’t
provoked. They started with West and Miles, shot them down where
they stood. They never had a chance. They didn’t stop there. No
sir. They ran from room to room, killing everyone in the hospital
in a complete fit of bloodlust. I thought I’d go out of my mind. I
couldn’t move. There were ten or fifteen guns pointed at me. I knew
I had to talk, or I’d be next.”

“The rotten scum!” said Jon.

“That they were,” agreed Dr. Benson, his
voice just starting to break. “I bargained for my life. I reminded
them of what I represented, someone who might very well save their
lives. I had to drill that into their heads… I thought they were
going to kill me… I handed them over my keys. I was sure I’d be
next. I walked them inside and helped them open up the pharmacy.
Then I simply waited to be shot. They rushed inside and it was a
complete free-for-all. They forgot all about me and went straight
for the drugs. I walked back out to the front of the hospital and
sat down… I had nowhere to go. A while later they began to stumble
out. They were all stoned out of their minds, of course. They
carried out nearly everything we had inside and just continued
walking out of town. I never saw them again. Others showed up; some
even had reasonable requests for drugs. I merely pointed inside to
my ruined pharmacy. Others asked by putting a gun to my head.”

“You’re kidding,” said Jimmy.

Benson shook his head. “I wish I was. The
looting went on all day. There were some good people in those
groups, decent people who had been corralled inside the campground
with everyone else. They tried to help, to console me. By that time
I was a total basket case. Shock, no doubt. I didn’t move. I just
sat there all night like the village idiot, blind to the world.
When I finally snapped out of it, I began to think logically again.
I tried looking at the big picture. I had put my trust into a
government that didn’t give two shits about me. I decided to do
something about it, or die trying. This is our country, not Wall
Street’s, not corporate America’s, and certainly not the crooked
bastards who work for them up on Capitol Hill. Their greed created
this mess. We’re going to take it back. We have to.”

“I can’t say that I disagree with you,” said
Jon. “But how are we supposed to do that?”

“With a grassroots movement,” replied Dr.
Benson. “I’m dreaming here, but play along with me. We need to get
organized. We’ve got to get out and spread the word. There’s
strength in numbers and we need people who are willing to stake
their lives on our common cause. Those people are out there, I know
they are. We’ve got to band together. We need an army and we need
leadership.”

“And who is supposed to lead this army?”
Jimmy asked, wondering what other drugs the doctor might’ve
taken.

“We do.”

“Right,” scoffed Jon. “We’ll just start the
revolution ourselves. Here? Sorry Doc, but that’s crazy. We’ve got
maybe twenty people back at Ken’s. That’s hardly enough to take on
the government.”

“No, the revolution has already begun. The
people just don’t know it yet. That’s why our government is
rounding everyone up and locking them away. They’re afraid, Jon,
afraid of people just like us. They’re afraid that we
will
find a way to organize. You’re not reading me here, boys. Think
about what I’m saying to you.”

“Reading what?” asked Jon. “What do you
mean?”

“What I mean is… I’m starting this thing
right now. I’m trying to recruit the both of you. Together we start
spreading the word. We’ve got to become leaders. Are you with
me?”

Jimmy wanted to laugh, but he didn’t want to
offend Dr. Benson. The whole idea sounded like a fairy tale. Still,
deep down, he knew that Dr. Benson was right. There was strength in
numbers. The Guard would come at some point and try to take them
away. They certainly couldn’t fight them off by themselves. “Sure,”
he said. “Why not? This has to start somewhere; why not with
us?”

“I think you’re off your rocker, but I’ll
play along,” said Jon.

“Good,” said Dr. Benson, smiling with
satisfaction. “We start in the morning, after breakfast, of
course.”

The three of them laughed at that. The doctor
seemed to be talked out for a while. Jon picked up his pace and
soon was just a shadow twenty feet ahead of them. Jimmy strayed to
the far shoulder of the highway with the heavy pack and rifle
dragging at his shoulders. He wanted to think.

They walked along in silence, their steady
breathing and plodding footsteps were the only sounds in the night.
Jimmy thought they must be getting close to the mile-long gravel
road that would take them to the lake. He wondered how Julie was
and how Paula was dealing with the knowledge that Julie was even
there. An owl hooted from deep in the woods. Jimmy lit up a
cigarette without breaking stride. He felt good as he walked, his
muscles felt lean and strong and he felt like he could run for
miles. He thought about that and remembered what the doctor had
given him. He knew he should be exhausted. He hadn’t had more than
four hours of sleep in the past two days. He was glad that Dr.
Benson had given him the pill. He took a deep drag on his cigarette
and let the smoke trail behind him as he walked.

“Stop!” hissed Jon, stopping them in their
tracks.

They were almost within hailing distance of
the house. Dawn was just beginning to spread across the eastern
sky. They’d picked up their pace on the gravel road, all of them
anxious to complete their journey. Jimmy’s shoulders were killing
him and the big man’s breathing had become labored.

“What is it?” whispered Jimmy.

“I heard voices. There’s somebody up
there.”

Jimmy felt his heart drop. Could it be the
Guard? He quickly glanced down to the gravel road and even in the
pale light he could tell that no trucks had come this way for quite
some time. What he did see were footprints. There were too many to
count. Jimmy felt a knot in his stomach and it began to twist.

Jon motioned for them to follow him into the
pines. They moved slowly and they quietly made their way inside the
forest that bordered Ken’s property. “You wait here,” he whispered
to Dr. Benson. He then set down his rifle and discarded his heavy
pack.

Jimmy did the same, removing two clips and
handing one to Jon. Jimmy stuffed his extra clip down the back of
his pants. He prayed he wouldn’t need more ammo.

“Let’s go check it out,” whispered Jon. “The
house is just through there,” he said to Dr. Benson. “If we don’t
come back, try to get to the back wall and tell the guard who you
are. They’ll find a way to get you in.”

Dr. Benson nodded. “I know where the house
is. I’ve been here many times.”

Jon nodded and turned to Jimmy. “Ready?”

Jimmy nodded and they slowly moved deeper
into the woods. They walked twenty feet and paused. They could hear
voices now—lots of voices. They sounded irritated and they were
definitely coming from outside of the wall. Jon waved Jimmy ahead
and they silently walked another hundred feet across the thick bed
of pine needles. Jon held up his hand and Jimmy stopped. They were
directly across from the group now and they could clearly hear what
was being said.

“I say we storm the place,” said an old man’s
charcoal voice. “There are enough of us to do that.”