Run, Kevin, Run!!

As I sit trying to breathe quieter than the spider crawling across my dirty leg, I noticed a light shining through the cracks in the floorboards of the old barn I had called home over the past six months. I followed the beam up to get a glimpse of the full moon shining through the cracks of the partially rotted roof above. A billion-candle watt lantern could not cast a glow as hypnotizing as this September harvest moon. It seemed a million miles away, yet I found myself walking through its shadowed craters. I had to. I was strolling almost weightless through its silty recesses to distract myself from what was happening around me.

Distractions had become my hobby over the last couple of years, dare I say obsession, more like a lifestyle. You see, staying distracted kept me sane in a world that had become insane. This ultimately led to my solitude.

l will get to that in a moment, for now, I needed to focus on the footsteps I heard approaching. I had noticed the vehicles racing up the dusty road, which had become my early warning alarm system. A long winding road that left a dust cloud visible from anywhere in the barn, should anything be approaching on it.

Now as I lay buried in hay, hiding in the loft, my mind raced to make sure I had covered my tracks. Any sign of life and they would search until they found me. I had hidden all my food, buried the fire pit, stashed the water in the old, rusted propane tank out back, wiped away all my footprints and hidden anything that resembled human life. Leaving them to see only what I wanted them to. It was all in the details, the details and the distractions. My main distraction now was to throw a rotting carcass, the leftovers of what was once a proud and majestic skunk, into the middle of the barn floor. Now he was as repulsive to look at as he was to smell. I heard them all curse as they hurried out of my safe house upon encountering his morbid remains.

After ensuring they had left, I hurried down the ladder and scooped up my weapon of mass destruction, put it back in its burlap sack and buried it for future use.

I then crawled to the creek to wash myself and soak my hyperactive senses away. This was my first visitor since I had arrived.

I happened upon this fortress out of sheer luck. After leaving home, it took me about three months of continuous running before I stopped looking back. Then probably another six months of searching to find this hidden gem. It had everything I needed to survive. It was remote, secure, and unassuming. There was a river full of fish, plenty of fresh water, surrounded by wildlife, and far enough away from civilization to make me feel safe from those who had been chasing me, for what seemed like an eternity. I would be quite satisfied to live here alone for the rest of my life, rather than have them force me to follow their rules and be poisoned by their so-called medicine! Who are they to tell me what I had to put into my body? I might have considered it if they administered it in a more humane manner. It all seems so barbaric to me.

I tried to remember a time when my life seemed normal. The changes started so rapidly; nobody was prepared. We heard about the first few cases of the virus on the news. Next thing you knew people were fighting over the last few rolls of toilet paper in supermarkets. It started in China and quickly spread throughout the rest of the planet, to places that I have never even heard of. People were advised to stay in their homes, not to go to work or school. Not to see their family or friends, and to follow all the rules. Masks became fashionable attire and were mandatory anywhere in public. Everything was so uncertain, then just when things seem to be getting back to normal another “lockdown” would occur. Soon vaccines were tested, then offered to the public. In many countries people lined up to take them, they were even rewarded with prizes and gifts. Those that did not comply were considered rebels. Made to feel like outcasts, shunned by the rest of society. It all seemed like some sort of Sci-fi movie.

Things returned to normal for a very short while, until the “deadly strains” arrived, I lost track of all the different names given to them. Soon masks were replaced with full body suits doused in antibacterial spray. Instead of recommending we stay inside, it became law; food and water was delivered to your door by the government. Just to go in your own backyard was a treat. After a few years, vaccinations became mandatory for everybody. Refusal was illegal, and those that refused, were imprisoned, taken away to be isolated in Greenland.

Most of the world was the same. Those that did not get the shot became criminals and eventually were hunted down and vaccinated right then and there. Well, I did not want to move to Greenland, or get that toxic goop stuck in my arm. I was angry and figured the choice should be mine to make. So, I ran away, took off to live in the wilderness.

Health officials formed “Vac Squads” and they were soon roaming everywhere, following any lead, no matter how remote. Once vaccinated you got a permanent bright orange ear tag in your left ear, so it was obvious for the rest of the population to identify that you were safe. It even glowed in the dark. No tag and you were to be reported, avoiding the next Zombie apocalypse.

So here I was now, alone, no luxuries, no social media, no one to share with, no one to hold, touch or love. Surrounded by wilderness. A foreigner in a foreign land.

I was in control and would not have it any other way.

After waking the next day, I decided to lay low in case they were still out there. No fire, no swimming, constantly on red alert, nibbling a few berries celebrating my freedom by hiding in the tall grass. Every sound seemed to echo through my eardrums to my fast-beating heart where it grew louder, like a runaway train. The day seemed to last forever. As dusk approached, I stealthily made my way back to the barn. The stench had been cleared and replaced with the familiar smell of decay, wisdom, and history.

I crawled into the loft where the creaking voices of the old wooden structure quickly lullabied me into a deep slumber.

I was awoken by the snap of a few twigs that I strategically placed just before the entrance of the main door. “Could they be back?”, I murmured to myself. Was it another Vac Squad, or some less frightening animal, like a cougar or grizzly bear?

The barn was big enough that it would take them some time to find me hidden up in the loft, and just broken down enough to inform me where they were. The ancient timbers would creak if touched, climbed over, or stepped on. The hinges would creak in pain if used in the slightest manner. Then they would have to risk climbing the thirteen-rung ladder without crashing to the floor.

Then again it could be a racoon? A very big racoon.

Suddenly, I could see a light shine through the floorboards, like a lighthouse scouring the Bay. Then another - less visible through the exterior wall, finally another, less faint, down below.

I needed to distract my mind, so as not to panic. It had helped me survive this long.

Gazing around at the roof above, I never truly noticed the enormity of this ol barn, and all the creatures it housed. So many silent characters parading in the night, invisible during normal circumstances, now darted, crawled, or slithered aimlessly. Emerging under the glimpses of light cascading through. Some of the spider webs were so large, they could be cut down and stretched out to use as hammocks. I saw a bird fly by the open loft door, or maybe it was a bat? Then another, and another.

The whispering voices became louder and louder. Just like that I snapped my mind back into red alert mode. I had to rely on my senses now, to escape yet again. I knew then that I would have to leave this loft for this to happen. What had become my fortress of solitude, now became my prison. I had to devise an escape plan- and fast.

I could start to hear the voices more clearly now, I thought they were speaking in some sort of code. I heard a female voice say “next”.

“Who’s next? What’s next? Am I next?” I thought to myself.

I began to wish that I were more prepared than I was, though I had thought it through numerous times. I had set a rope beside the loft door for this very occasion. I would tie it off and climb down, and race into the river. I would need a distraction first. If I just ran for it, they would hear me for sure. I had to be stealth and think very quietly.

I got to my knees, crawled-slowly a few feet away to grab a pail lying close by. Those few feet seemed to take a lifetime, and probably took a year off my life due to the stress. I picked it up and headed back to grab the rope.

There it was again “next”, this was a different female voice. What was going on down there?

I tied the rope off and lowered it skillfully to the ground, snatched the pail and flung it as far as I could down the throat of the barn. I slid down that rope quicker than Spiderman could ever dream of. Before my feet even hit the ground I was already sprinting to the tall grasses, ready to dive into the river. Had they seen me? Not yet? Best to lay low-for now.

That is when I heard it clear and concise. “Kevin, Kevin, get up!” They knew my name, but how? The voice sounded so familiar. A familiar tone that resonated through me, warm and comforting, yet touched my every nerve. I crouched lower in the grass timing my break for the swim to safety.

Like a NASA countdown it began in my brain….5-4-3-2…. Then it happened - a hand was on my shoulder, then another.

“Kevin, wake up” said the voices. I felt the hands more firmly now, not a grasp but a warm embrace. “Kevin, come on, we’re up next” came the all too familiar tone of my Mother. “Um, what, what, umm” I murmured as I awoke in the office chair.

“Kevin, wake up” I heard more clearly now. Opening my eyes, realizing it was just a dream.

We stood up and walked slowly into the Doctor’s office for my first Covid vaccine. There, we were greeted by a young female nurse with way too much make up on.

She asked if I was ready for my shot, and if I was nervous? I never even got a chance to open my mouth when my Mom burst out “He has issues with things like this. It makes him so nervous. It has taken me everything I had just to get this booked. Luckily, he’s learned to distract himself when he gets nervous.”.

“Thank you” the nurse said impatiently. “Are you ok if I begin, Kevin?” she continued. “This will be over very quickly.”

“If only I’d have jumped into that river”, I thought to myself. Nodding politely.

I had run out of distractions.