A TRIP TO THE STORE
Alister rummaged through the garbage in search of something to write on. He tossed unidentifiable items over his shoulder, which landed somewhere behind him with a wet splat.
When he came across a brown paper bag, he hurried to a wall, flattened out the bag as best he could and pulled the cap off of a Magic Marker he had found moments before.
“Sheriff’s Department. We need you to come to the door.”
Alister pulled the marker across the paper bag and it skipped and screeched and barely left any print in its wake. He shook the marker to try to force ink into the tip and tried to write his message again. It still didn’t leave any lines on the paper.
The darkness in the room added to his frustration, and the urgency made him whine, “Come on.”
“Sheriff’s Department. Open the door or we’ll be forced to come inside.”
They pounded on the door again.
Alister slammed the tip of the marker into the wall and flattened it. He raced the marker across the paper bag and it left thick black lines. He giggled with delight.
“Sheriff’s Department. We are coming inside.”
The sound of the front door being breached hurried the marker across the page and chased away his laugh.
“I won’t give you any more bodies,” Alister said between clenched teeth. “Do you hear me?”
“Alister Kunkle, are you in here?” The man that summoned him approached, and Alister retreated to a sofa in the corner of the room. He listened to the voices of several men as they advanced. Their words were jumbled and too low to decipher.
Although the sofa Alister occupied was in the darkest part of the room, the absence of light wasn’t enough to conceal a thick layer of haze that drifted and swirled about.
“I only want to speak to the person that started to speak to me,” Alister said.
“We just need to ask you a few questions.”
“No, not we. I will only speak to you.”
The officer’s flashlight beams slashed the darkness and revealed many things that moved.
“I’m Sergeant—”
“I don’t want to know your name,” Alister said, and he meant it. “I’m sorry; it’s nothing personal.” He watched the bugs as they crawled and flew and wondered how he hadn’t noticed them before.
Alister raised the brown paper bag over his head and stretched it flat.
The sergeant settled his light on Alister’s sign and then on Alister’s pale face. “Yes, I understand that you only want to talk to me. You can put it down now.”
Alister squinted and turned away from the light. He had become accustomed to living in the dark.
“I can’t—at least not until you understand what it means. It is important that whoever is with you understands that they are not to try and communicate with me.”
“OK,” the sergeant said. “You have my word. No one but I will speak to you.”
“Please make sure they understand.”
The sergeant centered his light on his men.
“Not a word to him. Do you understand me?”
One of the men was bent over a pile of garbage. His eyes were bright red and filled with tears and he was gagging. A rat came into view, and it continued to pick through the waste without pause.
“Yes, sergeant,” the other officer said. His voice was weak and he looked pale.
“Why don’t you both go outside?” the sergeant said. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Alister lowered the paper bag and watched the two officers retreat. He realized the grime that stained the walls and floor had also stained his clothing and skin.
“They’re gone,” the sergeant said.
“Thank you.”
The sergeant nodded.
“I know how bad things must look in here,” Alister said.
“So you understand why I would like to go outside?”
“I do, but what have I done so wrong that you would break down my front door?”
“You stole food last night and threatened everyone inside the store. A witness followed you home.”
Alister scratched his head; his skin felt no different than the mound of trash that separated him from the sergeant. “I can’t remember being in any store recently.”
“Does anyone else besides you live here?”
“No, not anymore.”
The sergeant scanned the room with his flashlight. “How long have you been living like this?”
“Ever since my wife drowned my daughter and then killed herself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
Alister stood, and the sergeant moved his hand to his weapon.
Alister paused. “I won’t cause you any more trouble than I already have.” He placed the paper bag on the seat. “Can we go out back so we can talk?”
“We need to go out front for safety reasons.”
“It is important that you keep me away from other people.” Alister looked away. “I would like to tell you about the strange things that have happened to me. It might help you understand why I live like this.”
“I don’t mind listening to what you have to say, but we should go out front where my partners are.”
“I beg you not to make me do that.”
“It’s for safety reasons.”
“What I have to tell you…” Alister paused and drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry, this is hard to talk about, but it has to do with what made my wife kill our child.”
The sergeant sighed. “OK, we can go out back, but I’m going to have to place handcuffs on you. You do understand that what I see here makes me nervous, don’t you?”
Alister stared at a pile of maggot-infested food. “Yes, I understand.”
Alister turned around and placed his hands behind his back. The sergeant bound his wrists with cuffs and clapped his shoulder. “You lead the way.” He held on to Alister’s arm.
Alister maneuvered through the path, and the sergeant remained close. When they arrived at the back door, Alister stepped outside. He squinted against the raw sunlight and sat on the top step of the stoop.
“I haven’t seen daylight in weeks.” He hung his head between his knees and said, “I wish I had a free hand to shield my eyes.”
The sergeant stood in front of Alister, and his shadow blocked the sun.
“I’ve been living like this so long that I don’t notice it anymore. It’s probably the most repulsive thing you’ve ever seen, but you should know things weren’t always like this. I had a good job and hope for my future.”
“There is still hope.”
Alister shook his head. “The hope that I have is very different from the hope you speak of.”
The sergeant stood still and without expression, but Alister could see the big question mark that hung over his head.
“I knew love,” Alister said. “I even celebrated it. But now I see no worth in it. Self-preservation is overrated.” Alister laughed. “I used to fear death, but now that is all I ever hope for.”
“You don’t need to worry anymore,” the sergeant said. “We are here to get you help.”
Alister knew those words came from a training manual. But he also knew that somewhere behind the badge and uniform was a man that genuinely cared for people.
“Thank you. You’re a good man.”
The sergeant smiled. “I know that you just need someone to talk to so you can work on whatever happened to you.”
“It’s not me that it happened to.” Alister looked away. “Not directly anyway. I’m just an unwilling spectator.”
Alister leaned so that he was out of the sergeant’s shadow. He raised his chin to the sun. It felt warm and inviting, and he returned to the shade.
“I don’t deserve it.”
“Deserve what?”
“Anything good because of what I have done.”
The sergeant’s silence forced Alister to look at him. The big question mark still lingered over his head.
“I am cursed with death and anyone that communicates with me dies. That is why it is so important that you and only you speak to me.”
Alister looked to his feet and flexed his toes. They were bare and dirt was caked between each toe and filled each nail bed.
“I invited this curse into my life, and it has made me endure so much tragedy that I am no longer alive inside.”
The sergeant shifted on his feet. “I’m sorry about the misfortune you’ve had in your life.”
Alister grimaced.
“I’m going to take you somewhere you can get some help,” the sergeant said.
“Maybe I read you all wrong.” He shook his head. “You’re only appeasing me.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
A bird in a tree cawed and drew his attention. A big black crow looked down at him. It began to run back and forth on a tree branch and bob its head wildly.
Alister’s gaze moved down the tree and swept through the yard. The grass was tall and brown, and he wondered what evil lurked in it. The trees were bare of leaves and everything around him looked dead. His gaze moved beyond his property, and everything bustled with color.
The crow cawed again, and Alister looked in time enough to watch it fall from the tree, dead. He stood and the sergeant reached for him.
“Take it easy.”
Alister barely felt the touch over the tingle that shot through his entire body. “It’s here with us.”
“No one is here with us.”
Alister sat again and turned his eyes toward the sergeant. He waited, expecting to see him fall over dead.
“You OK?”
“I’ll be fine,” Alister said.
“You’re making me nervous.”
“I don’t mean to. Can you give me a pen and paper for the ride in?”
The sergeant shook his head. “Why don’t we wait until we get to the hospital before we do anything else?”
“Please!” Alister said. He wiped the tears running down his cheeks on his shoulder. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I have a few things that need to be said, and that will be my only form of communication after you leave me. I’ve already told you I won’t speak to anyone else but you.”
“Very well,” the sergeant said. “I will remove the cuffs when I get you into the back of my car. You can write what you need on the way. Don’t make me regret this decision.”
“I won’t, and thank you,” Alister said, and he smiled for the first time in months. “But please, don’t let the other officers talk to me.”
“I won’t,” the sergeant said, and he escorted Alister through the tall grass and to the back seat of his patrol car.