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About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1979)
in here!” Dale burst into uncontrollable laughter once more. John said nothing. He began to feel sick and he sat down on the floor while Dale carried the remaining body up the staircase. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he studied his bleak surroundings. The place was a hole. A rotten, stinking hole. No wonder the old man died before his extermination time. Dale came back for the gun . “Let’s get outta here, John. We gotta get you stitched up before our next run.” -- “Sold our T.V.,” Dale replied. “They’re saying that everything is safe, that it’s all under control and all that crap. But I know it’s coming. There’s a nuclear warhead that’s on its way here right now and they’re not doing nothing about it! It’s so obvious. . We’ve gotta be next. We’ve got all these powerplants...” “Shut up.” “Huh?” ' “Shut up. I don’t want to hear nô more. The government can take care of itself. I don’t care about their stinking power plants or nothing.” Dale could be that way sometimes. John often wondered how he could be so blind. Dale had a family to worry about. How could he just con tinue to live day to day as if nothing was wrong with the world? traveled as quickly as they ■plumbing. An obviously could along the dark ¡sick man lay on a few alley. Once the word was ¡blankets in the corner. An out, they had to move emaciated woman stood guarding him. Her eyes fast. were menacing and in her frail hand she was clut The Exterminators ching a large butcher knife. John began to inch “Apartment 31—this is his way toward her, con it/’ John said suddenly. fident that his youthful He gave the door a prac reflexes and above- ticed kick that left it average strength . would dangling from one hinge, give him the advantage. and rushed in. A horrible Dale raised his gun. John had hardly taken stench sickened him as he stumbled through the a step when she rushed to doorway. His hand attack him. He tried to groped for a light, switch, dodge the knife blade as it but he found none. In an Sliced through the air him with instant a light shined from towards close behind — Dale’s lightening speed. A loud flashlight.lt swung in a low shot broke the silence. arc across the room and The woman’s body jerked woman’s body stopped abruptly on two The figures that were lying on jacknifed and crumpled to a shredded couch—the the floor. John grabbed only piece of furniture in his right shoulder and felt the room. One of the a strange warm liquid through his figures, a guy, Johrf oozing guessed, turned to face fingers. The cut was deep The truck came to a them. but clean' it could be sewn stop and they stepped out “Hey, we ain’t got no up. fairly easily. He pulled onto the pavérnent. John dope, man ..try next off his shirt and wrapped it grabbed a stretcher arid door,” he said to John. tb slow the bleeding. Dale Dale grabbed a 5mm rifle The guy was obviously said nothing. John knew from the back. They stoned. that Dale would have began to walk cautiously “Where’s Jim Taylor?” rather have shot the down a garbage-filled John asked, expecting no woman in the first place. alley. Together they lifted the answer. body and “How do you get in this “He...his old lady lives woman’s place?” John asked in a downstairs, man. I don’t carried it up the staircase. know where he ,is. Never Dale went back down for whisper. comes through here no the old man, but John “I’m not sure.. .Duck!” decided to drag the body A garbage can full of more.” • Dale was already out to the alley so there ashes came sailing down from a third story window heading for the basement would be less blood on and crashed between stairs. The two men made the carpet. When he Dale was their way down and John returned, them. “Murderers! They’re kicked another door, laugh ling madly. He poin heading for the Taylors!” which separated entirely ted to the man in the cor came a scream from from its hinges. The ner. “Look! Will ya look al flashlight scanned the above ther heads. “We’re right on track,” room—cracked, gray this guy! He’s been dead Dale continued, “just stay walls, no windows, no for at least a week now. close to the wall.” They furniture, no carpet, no That’s why it stinks so bad page 14 Armageddon The arm was really beginning to ache. It was also bleeding quite heavily. They were almost to the top of the stairs when a new sound hit their ears. It was a siren, but a different siren than John had ever heard before. It was louder, deeper, more comman ding. It had finally hap pened. The bomb had arrived. “Get back in the cellar® John heard himself yelling. They turned and ran back down the stairs. John called to the couple they had seen upstairs, but they gave no answer. They were aparently too stoned to care. John tur ned and looked at Dale. Terror had already begun to creep into his normally rational mind. His face was ash-white and his whole body was shaking and trembling with fear. As he looked closer at Dale, John began to un derstand his terror. Dale might never see his family again. Together they lifted the broken door and leaned it against the opening. The bomb did not hit in their immediate location, or at least it didn’t seem so at first. Then, there was a loud explosion that soun ded like it was right on top of them. The basement walls shook, a low rum bling sound took over the building began to fall. They could hear everything above them going at once. Eight stories of brick and mortar began to fall on the ground floor above them, and a landslide of rubfl cascaded down the stafl and filled one side of thl room. The dust was so thick that John found I nearly impossible to breathe. Chunks of plaster and splintereq wood began to fall from the ancient ceiling above them. John beganItq crawl around in hopes of finding a place to escape being crushed. He felt along the back wall of the basement and found a small door. Pulling it open proved to be too hard a task for his one good arm.; He began yelling to Dale for help, but Dale could® hear him. Then suddenly the door gave way as if something had pushed from the other side. John climbed into the small opening. There was hfl dly enough room to move, and he could® close the door. But at least he had more of a chance if he co® avoid being crushed. Two minutes later it was over! John heard Dale’s vol calling him. John starfl to turn around in what® guessed was an old c® or wood furnace when he felt something touch his' arm. At first he thought o| rats, but then, no, lit wasn’t a rat. Though small and frail, John recognij that what was grasping ® trembling arm was al human hand. The Fugitive “Wha...who are you?! John asked. He was surj prised at the shakiness® his voice. “I...I’m Sue...Sus® Holly,” came a wB reply. John climbed out of thl furnace into a roora clouded, ¡with dust. He reached in with his go® arm and pulled out a fif teen-year-old girl who was dressed in dirty rags and looked like she was starving to death. Dale stumbled towards them. “Where’d she cornel from?” he managed to ask between coughs. “She was in the fur nace,” John answered. “1 crawled in there when the junk started falling from the ceiling.” The dust was beginning! to clear, and John glan- clackamas quarterly review
