David placed his duffle bag into the passenger seat of his old Lincoln. Throughout the years, his Towncar had been through it all with him. Six years in the infantry. Numerous girlfriends in different states. One wedding and honeymoon. Two kids. Uncountable road trips. The engine coughed to life and the brakes squealed slightly as he pulled out of the driveway. To mask this constant annoyance he switched the cd player on. “Pass the Patron” by 50 Cent instantly began. He made sure to crank it up only after he left their neighborhood.
Calera at 10:45 pm was a quiet place on a Thursday night. David crossed the railroad tracks and came to a stop at the main intersection. Adjacent to it was the police station. One of the benefits of living with Gisele’s parents was that they lived only a quarter mile from the police, which helped to keep the shittier people out of the way.
The light finally switched to green, and he continued on. Five miles later, he eased the land yacht onto highway 65. “Payback” skipped several times until Dave gave the radio a wrap of his knuckles. Traffic was non-existent as he passed the Jemison and Clanton exits. As he approached the Prattville exists he spotted a sign which read:
‘Caution: Prison Work Release Program. Drive slower and do not accept rides from strangers in this area.’ Dave checked his watch and gave the Towncar a little bit more gas.
The North Avenue exit made its slow way towards David as he switched off the cruise control and slowed the car onto the exit ramp. As he passed the entrance to the Montgomery Zoo and reminded himself that after the bills were taken care of, he would take Gisele and the boys there later in the month. Two intersections later he was pulled into the Hanes Distribution Factory. Chris greeted him as he pulled up to the guard shack.
“Hey, David. Just to let you know, Jimmy from first shift got caught listening to internet radio on the computer inside, so the plant manager doesn’t want anyone using the internet for anything.” Chris said.
“How the fuck am I supposed to do my College classes then?” David replied.
Chris shrugged as he raised the gate to allow David’s car in. The long front parking lot was largely vacant with the exception of the cluster of night shift vehicles parked closest to the main employee entrance. Slave entrance, David thought to himself, but then again $14 an hour was a lot more than the measly $6 he was pulling in. The Towncar pulled into the closest open spot. David shouldered his pack, heavy with books and thermos. George looked up from his thick book to greet him and buzz him in. George was former military as well and seemed to be the only guy on the roster that really got it. Currently a reservist, he too was in a similar boat as David, though he took regular deployments every other year to keep himself going.
“So here’s the rundown.” George began. “Jimmy from the weekday morning shift was caught tying up bandwidth while on shift. Not really a big deal, but the plant manager’s supervisor came down on him about it, so technically we are not to use the computer here for anything other than Guardspointe business. Beyond, that I truly don’t give a shit. If you have any movies with you, watch them in the DVD player. Only use the net sparingly for email or Facebook, but don’t leave it running for too long. The VPN has been removed so no Netflix and definitely no porn. Any questions?”
“Nope. Sounds better than what Chris was saying. So I can do my classes?”
“Yeah, just try to limit your time online.”
With that, he collected his gear and was out the door. Quick. To the point. Efficient. Always had his gear ready an hour before his shift ends. David settled in and began the customary paperwork. After thirty mind-numbing minutes, he filed all the documents in the ever-cluttered folder and began his coursework for the night. After another half hour, he took a break to use the restroom and make his rounds.
The factory itself was approximately a quarter of a mile long and about a tenth wide. Row upon row of massive pallet racks reaching across the floor and all the way to the ceiling. The workers loaded the individual boxes from the conveyor belts to the empty pallets. The loaded pallets are then wrapped in cellophane and picked up by surprisingly technical forklifts. The forklifts, which can rotate the loads 90 degrees rack the pallets until they are ready to ship. The pallets are then lifted out of their racks and toted over to the back of semi-trailers. David waved to the workers as he passed by. Once he was approached by one of them, thinking he was from human resources. David laughed at the memory of it. The southern half of the factory was walled off and considerably quieter than the rest of the floor. David often imagined that he would be attacked by zombies or something along the lines of Jigsaw while in this area. Sometimes he found the idea funny, but other times he actually gave himself the chills.
Rounding the last turn he spied a bunch of factory workers hovering around a single worker. At first, he thought there was going to be a fight, but as he approached, he could see that they were listening to the worker’s phone. The crew eyed him suspiciously, so he didn’t bother to ask them what was going on. On his first week, he had reported on much more out of place activities but were largely ignored. $6 an hour was not worth the effort if they weren’t fighting, gambling, or stealing.
David regained his seat in the security office. Opening up the computer’s web browser, David logged into his email and scanned the subject lines. After a couple replies, he switched to his online college and checked the messages. Today’s assignment was easily accomplished and he was switching to Facebook soon after.
After a few pages of mindless postings and funny pictures from Giselle, a post caught his eye. A barrage of solar flares was supposed to strike the earth early in the morning, causing massive blackouts and phone disruptions. The post was by CBS news who claimed that the source, though frantic, was an accredited physicist who claimed that the US Government ordered that the information suppressed. Additionally, the government planned to adjust the moon’s orbit to absorb most of the solar radiation. While the waves may be absorbed, the effects of the moon’s altered orbit may cause irreversible damage to earth’s ecosystem. Before he could read anymore, the browser’s error popup forced him to reload the page. When the page loaded again, the post seemed to disappear.
James C Gilliam 