Skylight by Kevin Hopkins

Author:Kevin Hopkins [Hopkins, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462107391
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Published: 2014-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

In an effort to reduce the gridlock of eco-refugees on freeways and highways in the Western United States, the President today announced that most of the on-ramps to these thoroughfares will be closed until further notice. Military personnel from Camp Pendleton in San Diego and the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs will be deployed via helicopter to these sites within the next twenty-four hours.

“In addition, under the authority of the Emergency Environmental Response Act, signed into law by the President yesterday, the White House has ordered the temporary nationalization of the country’s major bus lines, and will use these vehicles to ferry stranded travelers to their destinations. An estimated seventy-five people died on Western freeways yesterday, mostly from traffic accidents, untreated medical conditions, and the growing incidence of violence. Henceforth, therefore, military personnel also will be stationed at random intervals along these routes. The President is determined to end this unnecessary loss of life.

“In other news, the US Supreme Court today struck down California’s recently passed ‘Border Security Law,’ which would have banned all migration into the state. The Court did rule, however, that the state could exclude foreign nationals, illegal immigrants, and individuals without proper documentation—”

I reach over and turn the radio off. We’ve been listening to it for hours, and the news is all starting to sound the same. “Looks like you were right,” I tell Santos.

“You’re surprised? I’m just hoping we get there before they start shutting down the side roads. It’s a mighty long trip if we have to walk.”

I nod in agreement, and breathe a silent sigh of relief. Our prospects of arriving in California within a couple of days are actually looking better than when we started. Santos’s trip-routing abilities have proven to be as skillful as advertised. Not only did we reach Durango before midnight, but most of the side roads were moving at posted speeds. Although traffic was heavier than usual, it probably wasn’t that much worse than it would have been at the height of tourist season.

Still, I hardly feel like a tourist. I always drove the entire way on our family vacations, and so I am unaccustomed to riding in the passenger seat, as I have for most of our journey from the Springs. I don’t like being out of control, but I have had no choice but to turn most of the driving responsibilities over to Santos. He seems to know the way by instinct, and makes spur-of-the-moment decisions that would have been impossible to map out ahead of time.

Eventually, I was able to cast aside enough of this discomfort that I could sit in the backseat with Darby for an hour or two. It was the first time I had tried to communicate with her for any length of time since we arrived at her parents’ house. I read her a story and we played cards for a while, but I could tell her heart wasn’t in it. I asked a couple of times how she was doing, and her only response was a tepid “Okay.

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