Somebody That I Used to Know

I’m sitting in the backseat, looking up at the black sky. It’s a cloudless night yet there are no stars and the moon is nowhere to be found. It’s as if someone switched them off.

Amy’s sitting in the front seat, turning the stereo dial, trying to find a radio station and despite being over twenty miles away from the city, there is no signal. It’s only static that’s coming through the speakers and it’s frustrating to the young, technology addicted girl.

“UGH! Why isn’t this stupid thing fucking working!?” Amy shouts angrily.

“Hey… watch your language…” Andrea retorts back in a sleepy voice. She’s been trying to catch some shuteye but with Amy, it’s impossible.

“Oh shut up and go back to sleep.” Amy grumbles and finally turns off the stereo after repeatedly hitting the face of it. She crosses her arms and glares out the window.

“I’m so bored!” She huffs, sticking her hand out of the open window. The air is still humid and sticky, and there’s an underlying smell to it but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is.

“Me too.” I pipe up, suggesting, “Let’s go for a walk.”

“But you heard the army guys. We’re supposed to stay in the car.” Amy replies, turning around in her seat to look at me with her pretty blue eyes.

My shoulders shrug as I reply, “So? They haven’t been ‘round here since supper time… over four hours ago.”

Amy still doesn’t look convinced that we should go outside. “Look! Those guys up there are grilling burgers like as if they’re at a football tailgate party.”

She bites her lip and glances over at Andrea. Andrea’s eyes are still closed but she opens her lips to speak.

“Oh, go on, Amy. You only live once.”

The young blonde is already out of the car and closing her door by the time my fingers reach the handle to open it. I climb out, close the door and stretch my body once more. Bones crack and pop from being seated for so long.

We hear Andrea lock the doors once both of us are outside and I chuckle at Amy as she starts knocking on the window.

“Oh leave her alone. She deserves some rest.” I grab Amy’s hand and pull her away from the red Ford Fiesta.

“Evening ladies!”

I jump out of my skin and Amy starts laughing her ass of at me as I look over to the open door of the RV. There on the steps is the owner, sipping on a mug of something.

“Good evening, sir.” I smile back. I consider leaving it at that but the old man looks starved for some company so I decide to stay and make small talk.

“How has your day been?”

“Pretty great! I managed to fix up my radiator this afternoon and now I’m just waiting for this to be over so I can get to my hotel room.” He replies with a kind smile. He looks happy that someone is talking to him.

“Hotel room? But you have an RV!” Amy says, confused.

“Ah, yes. Well you see -” He stops mid sentence, “Sorry I didn’t quite catch your names.”

“I’m Daisy and this is Amy.” I stick my hand out and he shakes it.

“You two are sisters, right?” He asks and we both shake our heads.

“Nope! She’s just some hitch hiker we picked up in Florida.” Amy informs the old man and points to the car parked behind his RV. “My sister Andrea is in that tiny ass car behind you.”

“Ahhh, right! Well the three of you could pass as sisters anyways.” He chuckles, “Oh and I’m Dale, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Dale.” Both of us blondes chimed together.

“Are either of you girls interested in some freshly brewed tea? It’s just orange pekoe.” Dale asks as he stands up with his now empty mug and turns to go inside of the RV. “But between us, I have some amaretto and grand marnier to turn it into a hot toddy.”

He stops and turns back, “Your old enough to drink, right?”

“She’s not but I am.” I quickly speak up before Amy can lie. I can feel her glaring at me as we enter the mobile home and I glance back to stick my tongue out at her. Amy flips me the middle finger as we take a seat at the built-in breakfast nook. Dale sets down two very pretty, floral patterned cups and immediately it hits me. His wife must be gone and so he travels alone in this big RV. Poor guy…No wonder he looked so desperate and lonely sitting on the steps.

Dale delicately puts down a teapot with the same floral design as the cups followed by a small carton of milk and a sugar bowl.

“Help yourself, girls. I’ll be right back with the amaretto.”

He disappears into the back of the RV and Amy steals the moment to whisper, “I thought we were going to go for a walk!”

“Later, Amy.” I murmur back just as Dale reappears holding two bottles of booze. “I don’t know why the amaretto isn’t open yet. I could have sworn it was.”

I smile as I pour half a cup of orange pekoe. “Oh, well better late than never.”

“Very true, Daisy.” Dale says and hands over the bottles. “Go ahead and mix your drink -”

He stops and the RV falls quiet. The windows are thrown open and we can hear the people outside. Some begin shouting about something and that’s when my ears picked up the noise of a whining engine above us.

“What the hell is that?” Amy asks, pressing her face against the RV’s window, trying to see what the sound is coming from.

Dale’s eyes are wide and he stares up at the roof of the RV. “That’s… that’s a bomber jet…”

“A bomber what?” Amy asks as her eyebrows knit together and she looks over at the worried old man.

‘Whump, whump, whump.’

In that split second, I saw fear in Dale’s eyes.

“And that… that’s a Chinook.” Dale murmurs and sets down his mug as he races outside. Amy and I quickly follow in his footsteps. We find Andrea standing outside in a crowd of people who are staring up at the sky, watching as fighter jets and helicopters rapidly approached the city.

Against the black sky, I can see something being dropped by one of the jets and once it hits the city, all hell breaks loose. Amy grabs my hand and yanks me toward her sister who is already running with the crowd. We trail behind her into the woods and lose her momentarily in the rush of people trying to see what’s happening in Atlanta. We find her, standing on the edge of a cliff with numerous others.

Explosions are going off and flames are engulfing the city. Around us, people start screaming and crying. Another bomb is dropped and Amy lets out a small, strangled sob. She lets go of my hand and she latches onto her sister, crying into her shoulder. Andrea hugs Amy tightly with one arm and her free hand grabs mine and squeezes, reassuring me that she’s still there.

We’re complete strangers who met over ten hours ago and here she is, comforting me because she knows that my only sister lives in Atlanta. She knows how excited I was about finally going home after being away for almost four weeks… and now, it’s gone. Everything that I once knew… it’s all gone.