Bay View Road

Mint Green’63 Buick Riviera.
Right off, it was a beautiful day. It was one of those days where
everything seemed to fit right into its own place. There was not the
chirp of a bird, or the rustle of a leaf that didn’t sound in perfect
harmony. The sun filtered through the thin leaves of the oak and cedar
trees surrounding the house and let the ideal amount of warmth onto the
property. Before Clive moved out to the country, he had worked as a
mechanic in the big city about an hour away. But that life got too
hectic for Clive after he turned 60, so he retired to the country, and
began living off of the small crops he farmed and his monthly Social
Security check. The antique car club nearby was an unexpected bonus.
The country life wasn’t easy, it still took loads of daily work. But it
was the kind of work that Clive had always dreamed of - outdoors where
he could finally enjoy the peace and solitude of the natural world.
Every so often, Clive would leave his new natural world to reminisce on
his old life of fixing cars. He did this by internalizing the many cars
that drove down the road that Clive’s house overlooked.
Cherry Red ‘65 Ford Mustang
Clive loved the old mustangs, and this one was particularly nice. Clive
loved their shape and style. Especially the shape of the front of the
car, and how the top of the hood went out a little bit further that the
rest of the car and came back in to form a smooth connection with the
rest of it. And the arc of the car was beautiful as well. The front was
elevated a small amount more than the back, and the hood had this
perfect curve to it. It was obvious that the driver cared about his
car, and had kept it clean and running smooth as long as he had had it.
It also looked as if the car had just been washed and probably waxed,
and the rims had also been polished.
Watching and identifying old cars was his favorite pastime. He would
watch a couple cars go by while he did his daily chores, but usually
watch most of them later in the evening. Just as the sun was getting
ready to set, Clive would pull up a chair on his deck which overlooked
the valley, pour himself a refreshing glass of homemade, ice cold
lemonade, and watch the cars drive down the road.
Chrome Blue 1958 Chevy Impala
Cars. Old ones, new ones. Relating the old to the new and seeing how
cars of the same brand evolved into the next model, until the present
day model. And besides the sport of knowing everything he needed for
this game, he simply loved how the car looked as it coasted down the
road, which connected two highways. Especially right before the sun was
setting, the sun reflected off the top of the car in a manner that
overjoyed Clive.
Watching the old Impala go down the road, actually made Clive a little
angry. Cars used to be so beautiful, and every car was different. You
could actually tell the Fords from the Chevy’s, and each year’s model
was its own. Now it seemed as if each car was just repackaged each year
with a couple of minor safety and technological modifications so that
the company could call it “new”. Not to mention that they looked like a
damn electric shaver.
Clive watched as the car finally became too distant to truly watch, and
leaned back in his chair. He gazed up into the sky and examined the
different pigments of light that were intertwined in the cloud above
him. The yellow seemed to fade into orange, which then led into red,
which then changed suddenly into a opaque purple. Clive allowed himself
to doze for a short while before he got up to get ready for bed.
* * *
The buzzer sounded at precisely 7:00 am, every day. This gave Clive
enough time to shower and get ready in a comfortable amount of time
before he began his day’s work. Today, Clive ate some wheat bread with
Jam, a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, and the other half of the
grapefruit, of which the first half he ate the day before.
       Clive went out to the well he got his drinking water from and
filled a pail to take back inside. Clive never liked the taste of “city
water,” and had decided to drill a well for a purer taste.
After Clive finished his breakfast, he began his work around the house
and yard and watched as the fog lifted from the valley. His favorite
road was now apparent, and was ready for the cars to start coming
through on their way to work in the city. He kept up his work and every
couple of minutes would look for a car. It seemed like the roads were
empty today. No cars had come by and it was already 8:30. Clive
shrugged it off, maybe there was some “city holiday” today.
At sunset, Clive sat in his favorite chair, on his deck, with his glass
of lemonade and wondered why no cars had driven by all day. Although
Clive had no real connections with the outside world, he didn’t
remember any holidays around this time of year where people actually
got work off. He wondered if maybe there had been some National
disaster like 9/11 or an assassination, but ruled those options out as
paranoia.  Clive tried to forget about it, and once again lay back in
his chair and allowed himself to doze a little before he went to bed.
***
Clive’s alarm sounded at 7:00 once again, signaling that it was time to
get up. Clive took his shower, put on his clothes and headed into the
kitchen to eat his breakfast. He put some coffee into a filter and
started up a cup of coffee as he prepared the rest of his breakfast. He
had the same thing today that he had most days--toast, oatmeal, and
grapefruit-a particular combination that he thoroughly enjoyed.
       After breakfast, Clive began his normal household chores before he
headed outside. His work outside entailed clearing brush within a
certain distance from his house, which was a fire hazard, mowing his
lawn, and watering his plants.
       Holding the hose about four feet away from his strawberry and tomato
plants, Clive gazed out at the road, being careful not to over-water
any plant. Still, no cars passed through the valley, leaving Clive
completely and utterly alone. The first day had been odd with no cars.
It was a different silence than he was used to. But now, on the second
day, Clive didn’t mind the new atmosphere; he actually enjoyed the
peace and quiet. Instead of sitting on his porch at the end of his day
watching the cars go by, Clive sat in his chair with his eyes closed
and listened to the trees sway above him. Then opening his eyes, he
would watch as the birds flew over the valley or hopped from branch to
branch on the trees in front of him. That night, Clive went to bed
feeling more relaxed than he had ever felt before.
       As time passed, however, Clive began to worry. It was the seventh day
with no cars, and Clive was becoming seriously frightened. He had even
brought out his radio, one of the few electronic things he owned, and
kept it on at every waking hour, hoping to hear some sort of emergency
broadcast or something that would fill him in on what had happened. He
had no telephone, no T.V., no computer, and no way to contact the
outside world, and wondered if something was wrong just in the
surrounding area, or if it was the whole country, or even the whole
world. He had always loved being trapped in his bubble, but for the
first time, Clive felt truly isolated, and he was terrified
Clive sat on the deck with a glass of water and gazed out across the
valley. No cars. Nothing, nothing was there. There was not even the
slightest hint anywhere of what was going on, nothing in the sky, no
smoke, nothing. Clive chewed on the cuticle of his middle finger
vigorously as he shook his right leg up and down and wiped away the
beads of sweat dribbling down his forehead. He soon switched to the
ring finger however because he had already drawn blood from his index
and middle finger.
The radio that sat beside his left elbow on the table shot out a
continuous stream of static that created an eerie tune around him.
Clive stared blankly at the radio for a few minutes and then slowly
reached his hand out for the dial. He twisted the knob to the right and
continued past the local stations of his county. The static encompassed
most of the dial until his got over 1.052. Then a voice came through
the speaker. It was hard to make out because most of the sound coming
from the speakers was static, but Clive was able to tune out most of it
and listen to the voice.
“CHHHHH…I repeat, highway twenty CHHHHHH… is now closed by federal
CHHHH… in order to quarantine the town of CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH… it has been
reported CHHHHHH…their water supply has been compromised.”
The word “quarantine” rang out through Clive’s head and he jumped out
of his chair. He ran inside to get his gallon jug from the kitchen, and
ran back outside to fill it up in his well.
Clive hopped into his green ‘64 Ford pickup truck and started the
engine. He had to see what was going on in town, and the highway was
closed way before the road got to his house. How could they not have
told him? Quarantined? This was serious. And what exactly did “the
water supply has been compromised” mean?
It started to rain as Clive pulled out of his long driveway onto the
road his house overlooked. The road was close to the ocean, and the
ocean breeze blew through the valley, creating a fresh feeling that
Clive loved. The rain became harder as Clive made his way down the
road. In his mind he imagined exactly how he looked from his deck as he
drove down the road. He could see the grey sky reflected off the roof
of the pine green F1. And he knew exactly how the water would look,
shooting out from between his tires and the road and leaving a trail of
dryer cement for the rain to fill again.
Clive was getting closer to the town now and was coming up to the first
traffic light. The light blinked yellow on both sides of the
intersection, which made no sense at all. He stopped and looked both
ways before crossing the street. Looking ahead, he could see that every
other traffic light leading up to the town flashed yellow as well, and
the ones in between them were off completely.
Suddenly the rain pounded the top of Clive’s car and was so thick that
Clive could not see past two feet in front of him. Clive pulled over to
the side of the road and waited for the rain to ease up. Lightning
flashed in the distance and a few moments later the sound of thunder
ricocheted through the sky above him. Clive put his head on the wheel
and breathed deeply. He felt nauseous, and turned on the AC to give him
some air. Clive looked as far as he could see in front of him, and
wondered what would happen next.
***
       As the rain began to let up, Clive continued his way into the town and
was now approaching the downtown area. Both sides of every street he
drove by were absolutely deserted and there was not one car in sight.
Clive looked to the sides of the main street and noticed that the rain
gutters were all overflowing and the water that poured out of them had
an odd shiny color running through it-the kind of color that gasoline
makes when it is mixed with water.
       The main street that went through the downtown soon morphed into an
inclined windy road that ran along side the massive cliffs overlooking
the Ocean. The road soon flattened out and began to descend, allowing
Clive to see a huge portion of the road in front of him, which to his
great surprise was entirely lined with cars. Every square foot of the
road that Clive drove past for about a mile was covered with car, but
every car was empty.
       Clive stopped the truck, leaving it double parked on the right side of
the road and walked along the strip of cars, trying to find any clue of
what was going on. Clive noticed many pairs of footprints spread
throughout the mud, making there way from the road to the other side of
the cars. He stepped to the other side of the cars and followed the
prints to the edge of the cliff, hopping over the metallic barrier
guarding it. Slowly, Clive peered over the edge of the cliff