The Journal of Memories

We spent the night at her house and now we have packed everything up to get back onto the road. Macy was sitting by the door with a bored expression, waiting for us.

I swear that dog acts so much like a person sometimes.

Luna came out of the bedroom with a black and white polka-dot dress on that reached her knees. She was still wearing her tattered hot tops and had more clothes in her hand, “It feels nice to be back in my own clothes... oh yeah! I cleaned all of your clothes last night and they are folded back into the backpack.”

I smiled at her, “Thanks.”

She went to the backpack put her clothes in and threw it on her back, “This thing is getting really heavy.”

I held out my hand, offering to take it but she refused, “At least we have to bike so you don’t have to walk around with it on your back all the time.”

She huffed in agreement and looked down at Macy, “I guess it’s time to get going. The dog is going to get bored to death.”

Her eyes grew dim then bright, “Hold on a second.”

She quickly dashed into the kitchen and return with a box, “They are dog treats. I used to give them to all the neighborhood dogs.”

She took one out giving to Macy, who scarfed it down so quickly, I was surprised she didn’t choke. Luna shoved the rest in the bag and re-adjusted it on her shoulders, “Now we are ready.”

I walked out the door and watched her take one last look around then closed it behind us. She had a sad faced then switched back to her usual smile, “Just had to say goodbye to my old life one last time.”

“You will be back here when this is all over. Trust me.”

She smiled again and we walked down to my bike. Macy, as always, jumped into her sidecar and looked up at us, as if she was saying we could leave.

I swear this dog is human.

Luna jumped on behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist as I started the engine and drove off. I looked back at her, “You better make sure I am going the right direction or we will never get to Times Square by tonight.”

She laughed, “What if I decide to get us lost instead?”

“Well then we will never get anywhere. I can’t read anything.”

She just laughed, “No promises.”

We drove in silence for awhile just enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing past us. Finally we arrived at Times Square. There were holograms everywhere on the sides of the tall buildings. Most of them were of the news about the bombings. We sat in the middle of the car crowded road staring up at the holograms. We were extremely focused on the hologram with the same guy from the cafe speaking.

“Breaking news! The President has ordered the National Guard to move into New York City. Their plan is to safety roundup all of the city’s 8.63 million residents and work with the CDC to find a reversal to the gas. We take you to our correspondent, Olivia Bradley, at the borders of New York City... Olivia?”

The switched then turned to a women with black hair, “Thank you Tod... We are outside of the city and it looks like a war zone out here. The National Guard has put up borders at every major entrance to the city. No one is allowed in or out. They are preparing to move in any moment with the CDC... We have Commander Dale Rodney here to tell us about how they are going to go about this city ‘rescue’... Commander, How are your troops going to round up all these people?”

“Me and my men are going to try and push all these people towards Central Park. When the mass of the population is there we will set up a perimeter and look for any stragglers.”

“Commander, what will happen for those who are unwilling to move?”

“Our troops are armed with a range of non-lethal weapons. If anyone is defiant we will use a necessary amount of force to move them.”

“Thank you Commander and good luck... back you to you in the studio.”

Luna looked over at me, “They want to round us all up.”

My mind panicked.

What will they do when they find out we are different?

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Do worry they won’t get us. And even if they do, there is no point, we remember stuff everyday.”

She leaned into my hold, “That’s my problem. We are different, Ben. When they find out, I don’t know what they will do.”

I squeezed her tighter, “That is why will are going to avoid that at all costs.”

She smiled, letting out a sigh of relief, while I started the bike back up, “First, we have to get far away from here. Hopefully to the edge of the city before they start showing up.”

She wrapped her arms back around my waist, “Agreed.”

We made it the very end of the city where the East and Hudson River connect. The sun was going down creating an orange glow across the water. We both jumped off the bike and looked across at the little island in front of us, there was a big greenish thing with blackened parts to it and it looked deformed.

Luna squinted her eyes to look at it, “What is that?”

Shock.

“It the Statue of Liberty... it must have been hit by the bombs. She is supposed to have a torch and a head.”

I looked over the island more, finding the arm and the torch on the ground next to her. Her head was in the water with only the crown and eyes sticking out.

Creepy.

Her eyes dimmed and went wide, “How many people do you think were in there? All those tourists, their families are probably so worried.”

There was a few people one island shuffling around and some just standing. Probably about one hundred of them.

“My guess would be a lot... Let’s not think about that though. Let’s find a place to stay for the night.”

She looked up at all the tall buildings behind us and nodded, “I know it will suck but I think we should sleep outside... just in case those guard people see us, we won’t be trapped in a building.”

I thought for a second, “Good thinking... our best bet would be an alleyway around here.”

She shuddered at the idea but jumped onto the bike, “Let’s get going then before the sun sets.”

We drove around the block finding a somewhat clean alley.

Well not really clean, but it will do for the night.

We laid out our blankets next to a dumpster to hide us from the street. It didn’t smell good at all but we were going to have to deal with it. I pulled out some treats for Macy and chips for us to eat.

We are running low on food. We are going to have to get some in the morning.

Luna laid back against the building and chuckled, “This reminds of were I slept before I met you... all the dirty alleys and the mobs of people.”

I smiled passing her a bottle of water, “Well here we are, just no mobs of people.”

She happily drank it and her expression changed, “It’s going to take them a while to get everyone in one place. It’s a pretty big city and there is a lot of people.”

I laid back against the building too, “They have a pretty big army and I hate to say it but... I am pretty sure a lot of people are dead. I know we have been ignoring all the bodies but there has been tons of them laying through the streets... I wouldn’t be surprised if half the population is gone.”

She sat in silence for a bit, “I guess you are right... it’s just still hard to understand that all this is happening.”

I reached out grabbing her hand, “I get it... I am having trouble too.”

I looked up as the moon lit up the alleyway, “I have never noticed that you name is the same as the moon’s.”

She looked up too and her eyes dimmed, “Yeah, my mother has always loved the moon. She said when I was born it was a full moon out and it lit up the whole hospital. I have come to love it too. Especially, when you can see the stars.”

I chuckled, “Yeah you don’t get to see those very often in this city.”

She gave me a warm smile then rolled over on her side, “I am really tired. Good night Ben.”

I packed up the bag and rolled over too, “Good night Luna.”

I woke up and peeked around the dumpster.

I swear I heard people running.

Then I saw two people running.

They looked scared and then they whimpered when they stopped in their tracks. Cowering away towards the ground.

What are they doing?

Then I heard yelling.

“Hurry up and get them into the trucks. We need to be back at zero eight.”

I heard a chorus of ’yes sir’s and a group of people in green uniforms marched forwards with guns up towards the two people. One of the people got up and tried running but he was stopped when a shot was fired.

I jumped at the sound and watched as the person fell to the ground. Luna jolted awake, “Ben? What-”

I cut her off by putting my hand over her mouth. I whispered, “I am sorry. Those guards are here. We need to be quiet,” I put my hand down.

Macy woke up two and had her ears perked up. Luna noticed instantly, “Macy please be quiet.”

Her eyes went down and snuggled closer to us.

That actually worked.

I heard the guards again, “I told you to be careful with the rubber bullets! Use pepper spray or tear gas!”

“Yes sir!”

Luna grabbed my arm, “What’s the plan?”

I looked at the bike and the other end of the alley, “I don’t want to leave the bike. Let’s be very quiet and push it out of here. When we get further away we can start it up and get out of here.”

She nodded and we both took a side and started to push. Macy followed close beside us. We made it halfway down the alley until we ran over a bottle with the front tire.

The sound of the metal crunching was the loudest thing I have ever heard. My heart rate sped up and my brain stopped for a second.

“Hey! Who’s down there?!”

I glanced back to see a couple guards with their guns raised to us.

Luna’s eyes grew wide as she looked over to me. Both of our hearts stopped as we stood frozen.

I mouthed one word to her.

Run.