Black Door - THE GATHERING

As Josh and Dog drove down mainstreet, in the old battered 1953 Ford farm truck , past the bank, Josh stopped the struck. There in front of the bank Mr. Peters was walking repeatedly into the closed doors of the bank, stumbling back and walking into them again and again. Dog turned and looked at Josh and shook his head, the hung his front paws on the widow sill and stuck his head out as Josh drove on down mainstreet. He bounced across the railroad tracks, turned left on the county road towards his family' farm.

Suddenly the radio came on and "People Get Ready" played softly in the background as the "Old Blues Man's" voice spoke to Josh.

"Josh my boy ya have done real good now. My friends have just started on there way here. I want ya to do somethen.
I want ya ta paint ya a sighn and hang it on your gate. You put on it:

'See here, now, have a seat, boy. Trus' me. Anythin' you're on yer way to see'll still be there after you sit a spell and talk to this ol' man.'

You hang that on yur gate and you wait for 'em. I figure ya need to go to town one mo time. ya an my friends gonna need sum walkin' 'round money. So ya go ta the bank there an ya git ya some. Now stealin' is wrong boy, so ya write that bank an I.O.U., ya put your farm up as a gaurentee aginst the loan, then ya sign yur name to it. But don't you go till tomorrow. Then ya don't ever go back to that town there no mo', ya hear me boy, no mo'. There ar things in that town ya don't no way wanna be messin wit."

Josh said "Yes sir." and the radio went silent as Dog barked. bitting at the air.

Josh pulled the truck up to the front of farm house and parked. He had just opened the truck door and dog bounded out running around, wagging his tail and sniffing everything in site. Tim climbed out, walked up the steps and proped open the front door. He then went back to the truck and started unloading the things in back.

"Dog...Dog, come on boy." he called, the dog came bounding around the house. After walking into the barn, Josh painted the sign the old blues man had told him to. He then grabbed a hammer and some nails and he and the dog walked down the lane to the farms gate, there he nailed the sign up, stopped and stepped back to admire his work.

"See here, now, have a seat, boy. Trus' me. Anythin' you're on yer way to see'll still be there after you sit a spell and talk to this ol' man."

Josh had no idea what a sign like that could mean to anyone, but "The Blues Man" told him to make it that way so he did.

"I guess we should eat some lunch. What do you say to that boy?" Josh said to the dog. The dog barked and ran towards the house, stopped a few feet away and looked back at Josh.

As Josh and "Dog" ran back towards the farm house the wind began to strengthen, blowing dust in swirls across the road, front and barn yards. Josh stopped just short of the steps and looked southwest across the field, that bordered the road to town. A dark wall of clouds began to boil in the sky. He looked down at the dog, as a chill ran down his spine and said:



" I think we better get inside, don't you boy." The dog ran up the steps and started pawing at the front door, as the porch swing banged against the house in the wind.

Josh opened the door, he and the dog ran inside and Josh had to use all his weight against the door to close it. Inside the windows rattled from the building wind as rain and small hail stones began to pelt the house.

Then all became erily still and quiet, not a breath of a breeze. "DOG" began barking and winning. He grabbed Josh by the pant leg and started pulling him towards the center hallway and the basement door.

Suddenly there was a roar outside, like a hundred frieght trains and jet engines passing by at once. As suddenly as the storm had come, it was gone. Josh picked himself up off the floor, cautiously walked to the door and opened it. As he stepped out onto the porch and looke towards the road he could see debris scattered across the field in front of the house. Looking further the devistaion seemed to be across the road and towards town. Trees were uprooted, splintered, broken and the field across the road flattened. He looked down at "DOG" and said: "D-d-d--d--dam b-b-b-b-boy it l-l-l-looks l-l-l-l-ike we are l-l-l-l-livin right." He then reached down and patted the dog on the head.

The dog wagged his tail and yipped.



Josh and DOG sat on the step of the porch and looked around. Across the road the fence had been rolled and twisted like a corkscrew. The large oak, that Josh had climbed many times, had an eight foot long 6X6 oak beam driven thru it's trunk, so three feet of it protruded on the other side. A refridgerator sat upright in the middle of the field next to the dirt drive to the house. Josh and Dog just sat and stared as the sun slowly set.

He looked at dog and said "Lets go down and be sure the sign is still up Dog. Then we'll come back and have some supper. In the morning you and me, we'll go to the bank and do what the old black man said. We'll come right back here and wait for his friends." Josh was slowly scratching the dog behind his ear, when he heard the dog say, in his head. "That sounds like a good plan Josh, but after tomorrow I don't think we should go back to town."

Josh stopped scratching the dog behind his ear, starred at him and said "O-o-o-kay J-j-j-j-osh g-g-g-g-get a g-g-g-g-grip. D-d-d-d-dogs c-c-c-c-can't t-t-t-talk. Y-y-y-y-you m-m-m-m-m-must of bb-bb-b--been hit on the head or something."

Josh reached in his pocket, pulled out the old Marine Band Harmonica, brought it to his mouth and began to play The Rolling Stones' song "Waiting On A Friend".

[quote]The outbreak of the virus brought death to the hospital I was resident in. I was visited by a huge, brunging eye in the mirror and the world I saw in that mirror terrified me almost as mch as that eye. It was only through sheer luck and with the help of anotehr patient, my dear friend Sid and a soldier I was able to escape. Not without losing them along the way, though. We got separated and all I remember is heairng gun fire and Sid's voice screaming for me to go. I jumped into the ambulance and took off heading west. Why...I don't know, but all I know is I want to get away from this God foresaken city, that glowing eye and that prison like hospital.

Now, as I travel back country roads, I find myself suffering crying spells as I think of Sid, and the others as they ordered me to escape the madness. All I can hope is that I can reach where ever it is I need to go before the gas tank runs out...and before one of those terrible bloating bodies find me.[quote]

As Jennifer drove along a country road southwest of New York City, the Am/FM radio on the dash suddenly came on filled with static as if scanned up and down the dial. After afew seconds the sound of a harmonica playing a familiar tune started. Slowly she recognized the melody as "Waiting On A Friend" by the Rolling Stones. Jennifer turned to glance at the passanger side mirror and her heart skipped a beat as she slammed on the brakes, causing the ambulance to skid to a halt in the middle of the road. There sitting in the passanger seat was an old grey haired black man .

"Damn woman." he said "Ya might warn abody 'fore ya go tryin' ta throw him out da windshield. ....... Now don't ya fret ther suga' , I ain't here ta cause ya no harm and I sure as hell aint one of dem damned zombies." He sat silently for a few seconds turning a harmonica over in his hand, as the music fadded a little. "You listen close ta dis ole man now. Ya get yur pretty self on ta Antes Fort, Pennsylvania. Don't ya go stoppin' in dat town, ya drives yur self right on through. Thar be tingss in dat town ya not be wantin' ta be messin wit. Ya cross dem railroad tracks and stay ta the country roads and look fur a sighn dat say 'See here, now, have a seat boy. Trust me, Anythin’ you’re on your way ta see’ll, still be there afta ya sit a spell and talk ta dis ole man.' on a fence. Dat fence be in front of a two story farm house. Thar be a young boy and a dog on the front porch. Dey be waitin on ya." The old man then brought the harmonica up to his mouth and began to play "Waiting On A friend" as the harmonica playing on the radio became louder. Jennifer glanced ar the radio and when she looked back the old black man was gone. Slowly the music from the radio faded and static returned.