Caleb by Jeff Menapace

Author:Jeff Menapace [Menapace, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mind Mess Press
Published: 2021-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

25

Nick had good timing. Caleb had just swallowed his last pinch of fries (Quarter Pounder with cheese already gone, five big bites tops) and chased it down with a slurp of Diet Coke (the Diet Coke mitigating the gut-busting food, as it should), when his cell vibrated.

“What’s up,” Caleb answered.

“Still on the road?” Nick asked.

“I think so. Then again, I could be in somebody’s field, for all I know. Black as tar and nothing but farmland for the last eight zillion miles.”

“Told you it was out there. Just don’t fall asleep at the wheel.”

“I’ve had enough caffeine to make Colombia jittery. Plus I got a nice little hit of adrenaline at a McDonald’s a little while ago.”

“Anything we need to know about?”

“Naw,” Caleb said, amusing himself with the kid’s speak. “It was nothing.”

“Dawn should be on you soon. That’ll make your life easier. Especially when trying to find Noodle. Like I said, it’s like a town from the Old West. A ghost town even—sort of appears out of nowhere, like a ghost.”

“That’s not what ‘ghost town’ means.”

“Whatever. Just wanted to give you a ring to see how you were holding up. Thomas and Faye have a good signal on you. When you get into town and find a place to crash, hit us up and we should be able to get an eye in the sky or two to watch your back.”

“When are Thomas and Faye going to let the fab four ‘accidentally’ find out where I am with their shitty frequency call?”

“Fab four?”

“Why not?”

“Fair enough. I’m not sure yet. Better you just find the place first and get settled in. Survey the place yourself for a bit. Shouldn’t take long, given its size.”

“Yeah.”

“How you holding up?”

“You already asked me that.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Don’t make this fucking weird, Nick.”

“I’m not making anything weird. I’m just—I don’t know. Forget it.”

“I’ll call you when I’m settled in at Noodle.”

“Talk to you then.”

Caleb hung up. Grabbed his Diet Coke from the cup holder and slurped up the last of it, straw gurgling as it went from liquid to air.

Nick was right; dawn was close. In fact it was here. Arrived eerily quick too. One minute black, the next gray. Soon the horizon was a dusty orange. And damned if the smallest of towns didn’t suddenly appear on that horizon, just as Nick had said it would. Like a ghost. He smiled at the thought.

The town sign was upon him as sneakily as dawn had managed, as sneakily as the town on the horizon had managed. He stopped the car.

“Welcome to Noodle,” the sign read in bold, cracked lettering. And then beneath that, in smaller print: “We Don’t Have Noodles.”

Caleb liked it already. He wondered whether he’d die here.

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