FOUR CORNERS
By
Chapter 2 - TRUCKING GONE WRONG
Cody Macabee woke up. He closed his eyes again trying to make the room stop swimming.
It didn't work.
He also couldn't move. He lifted his head and saw he'd been restrained at all four wrists.
At least he still had all four arms. His double pupil eyes searched around the room.
A hospital.
He was in a hospital.
Cody figured he'd been searched, samples taken, then strapped down.
Wonderful.
He lay his head back, took a deep breath. He had to assume that everything had been taken, and his truck. . .
He gave a heavy, depressed sigh.
It all came back in a rush. Driving down the interstate, he'd hit a patch of ice, the big rig jackknifing uncontrolled, with him fighting it, trying to get stopped, when the truck rolled. He hit his head against something, and was out.
Damn.
Damn again.
This was the last thing he,
or anyone else from
He was grateful for one thing; the liquid he was hauling wasn't flammable. But did any of it leak? They built those tanks to be as bulletproof as possible, but that didn't mean a spill couldn't happen.
Cody shuddered with the fear that what he hauled might get into the water supply. It was extremely toxic, and would burn flesh even if were diluted. He had to call home.
Cody pulled on the straps with all four arms. No good, the anchors had to be welded to the bed, and the straps were new, and he didn't have the leverage. He stopped struggling.
Voices coming down the hall toward him.
The door opened, and the bright light forced him to close his eyes and turn his head.
"Well, I guess you're awake." A man's voice said.
"Do you mind?" Cody said. "I can't see you."
"I guess with those double pupil eyes, you would be sensitive to bright light." The man said.
"Very good." Cody said. "You now have two dollars, would you like to try for four?"
"There's no need to be sarcastic. . ." the man said.
"Being tied down does nothing for my mood." Returned Cody. "Why am I tied down?"
"Well, son, we're not too sure about you." Another man said as the room lights came on. "Here you are driving a truck. . ."
"Not against the law." Said Cody.
". . .you've got four arms. . ." the second man continued.
"Still not against the law."
"We tested the stuff you were hauling'. That stuff was so toxic it'll burn on contact. Where were you hauling it?" The second man asked.
Cody turned to the voice and a craggy face with balding head came into focus. The man the questioning voice belonged to had pale gray eyes and disappearing brown hair that was graying at the temples. "Did it spill?"
"You know that stuff is toxic?" baldy asked.
"Why do you think my company put a disposal facility twenty miles away from the plant? It was a safety measure." Cody said his eyes closing. "Did any of it spill?"
The four people that entered the room looked at each other.
"I'm dealing with assholes here. DID IT SPILL? Do I have to paint a sign for you?" Cody was exasperated. "Lord, wood floats."
"What do you know about it?" Asked baldy.
Cody lifted his head and banged it against his pillow. "DID THAT SHIT SPILL?! THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ASK ASSHOLE!! DID IT SPILL?!?"
The room went silent for a long time. The bald man said; "Look, you have to understand we are curious. . ."
Cody looked as if he was going to sink through the bed. "Lord, they must be government people, that's the only reason why I can't get the answer I need. . . Give me strength, please."
"It didn't spill."
"Thank you. Finally!" Cody said, his body relaxing. "Can we have some names to go with these faces. I figure you've already gone through my wallet."
The bald man looked at his companions, and their looks all said the same thing: Cody would say nothing until he knew who he was talking to, and very little then.
The craggy bald man spoke first. "My name is Taylor, Dane Taylor, Department of Unusual Phenomena. When your accident was reported, and you were found unconscious, I was called in."
There's a Department of Unusual Phenomena?" Cody was incredulous.
"Don't laugh. What with aliens with star bases,
and who knows what, we figure it's best to be prepared."
"That explains why I'm strapped down." Reasoned Cody. "I guess I would fall under your jurisdiction. I really need this like a hole in the head." He thought a moment, then asked, "did anyone other than you and the witnesses see me?"
"The trucker who found you did. Your shirt
had been ripped, and he quite clearly saw your other arms."
"I take my one phone call is out of the question?" Cody asked.
"No, it isn't. But we would like to ask you
some questions."
Cody sighed. "Look, I'm a mutant. I was born this way."
The first man spoke up. "Uhm, my name is Doctor Thurston Harris." He held out his hand then caught himself when he realized Cody couldn't take it in return. "Do you know what caused your mutation?"
"No, I don't." Cody said. "I'm not a scientist." Cody knew he was lying, but it was in self-defense. In truth, he held two degrees in chemical engineering, and one in biological engineering. He most likely knew more than this whole team of experts now in his room.
"You know, Cody, lyings not very good." Dane Taylor said. "While you were unconscious, I looked you up. Three degrees, Two in chemical engineering, one in bioengineering. Why would a truck driver need that kind of education?"
Cody groaned on the inside. He was hoping they hadn't looked him up while he was out. He felt the stares burn into him. "Mind if I plead the fifth for now? I really would like a lawyer present for any questioning."
"Until we know different, you're still a citizen
of the
"Joy beyond words." Cody spoke. "May I make my call?"
""Why not?"
"You think that's wise?" Harris was nervous about Cody as it was, he didn't want to untie him at all.
"A man with three degrees is not stupid. Am
I right, Cody?"
"I don't care to be shot while making a daring escape. Too fifties, and I would like to stretch. I'm staying put." Said Cody.
Harris was not happy. "Are you sure about this?"
"If it makes you feel any better, Harris, I don't trust you either. You look real eager to slice me up."
"Now wait a minute!" Harris started.
"Unstrap him!"
Doctor Harris pulled set of keys out of his pocket, chose one, and then unlocked the straps. Cody got up slowly as Harris quickly backed away. Stopping in mid-rise to allow his head to clear, Cody took several deep breaths, his lungs filling to their limit, then exhaling. He sat up, braced himself with his two lower arms while rubbing his head and neck with the upper pair.
A woman approached him. "You have double pupils in your eyes."
"You have single pupils in yours." replied Cody, removing the hospital robe to examine his sore left side. "Oh, man!" He touched it gingerly, "Barbecued. . ." He looked at Harris. "Where are my clothes?"
"I told you he was going to try to leave!" Harris said moving closer to the door.
"I've got more to fear from you than you have of me. I'd like to walk down the hall like a decent person. Do you mind, you panicky jackass?" Cody said. He slid off the bed and went to the closet. "Thank you, Lord, my bag is here!"
Cody was completely indifferent to his nudity. His every move was economical as he dressed from the undamaged clothes in the tough canvas covered Kevlar bag. Out came the pants (he never did like underwear), then a four-armed shirt.
"Your other shirt wasn't four armed. . ." the woman said.
"How many times in the movies or television do you see an actor were clothes to disguise that he's only playing handicapped? In my case, it's the reverse."
"Aren't you afraid of peoples' reactions?" She asked.
"What's your name?"
"Ah, Doctor Theresa St. Thomas." She said, a bit nervous.
"Well, Doctor St. Thomas, I have been seen,
and there's no way for me to deny what I am, not that I would. I'd prefer that
no one knew, but I have no doubt that I have been seen by more people than you
can keep quiet." He zipped shut the bag, then finished dressing. "Damn."
He turned to
"What do you mean?" Asked
"Don't play stupid. You are waiting for me to be released, aren't you?" Asked Cody.
"Well, yes." replied
"Let's get on with it. I need to make my call." Cody reached into a side pocket of the bag and pulled out a pair of dark glasses and put them on. He opened the door and was grateful for the glasses. Camera flashes went off in his face and there was a woman with her cameraman who stuck her microphone in his face and said; "Katherine McKinley, CNN. Who are you, are you an alien, and are you part of a vanguard of some invasion fleet?"
"Tell me, are you really a journalist, or do you always go around asking silly questions?" Cody asked with disgust.
"Well, let's face it, a four armed man in a trailer truck accident? That is a story, you know." McKinley said. "Look, just a few questions, okay?"
"You know something?" Cody said, "People like you are like alcoholics, one question's too many, and a thousand don't begin to satisfy you."
"Look, I'm just the first, and there a lot more outside." She said as she and her cameraman kept pace with Cody. "You don't realize you can give me an exclusive and get out the back way."
"I can still get out the back way without talking to you." Said Cody.
"Really?" McKinley told him. "I know the guy walking with you is from the DUP. Dane Taylor is one of the best they've got, and if he's here, there's a story. You're it."
A heavy silence hung over the hall as Cody thought
about it. She would have to be right. If there had to be speculation, at the
very least there could be something behind it. He didn't have to tell everything.
He spotted a clock on the wall.
"Let me make a couple of calls." Cody said. "That hand basket to hell is getting hotter by the minute."
"Where are you placing the call?" McKinley asked as Cody fished for his wallet out of his bag.
Cody grinned wickedly and said: "Darlin', that's why you do research."
The first went to his home to inform his father he was all right.
"Pop?"
"Cody, you all right. Boy?" Bodine Macabee asked anxiously as he silently gave thanks for his son being alive. "When we heard about the crash, we feared the worst."
"Well, I'll tell you right now, pop, I ain't doing too well right now. You hear of a Department of Unusual Phenomena?"
"Oh, dear Lord! They got you boy?" Bodine asked.
"I never heard of them." Cody said.
"Boy they were set up after all the stuff
happened in
"Yeah."
"You do that. I'll notify the mayor and Gertie. She'll tell the rest of the town. Any news people there?"
Cody looked at McKinley, a frown forming on his face. "Unfortunately, yes."
Bodine went silent for a moment. "All I can say, boy, is just tell them as much truth as you think you can get away with. Lord knows they're gonna blow it out of proportion any way. . ."
"Tell me about it, pop. I'm callin' the company now." Cody said. "Pray for us, pop."
"Everybody started already, boy." Bodine said as he hung up.
The second call.
"Dave?"
"Cody? Thank God you're alive!" Dave Marcus said. He was sitting at a computer console the displayed a map showing where Cody and the big rig was. The light flashed alternate green/red. . . Signaling an accident, but the rig was intact.
"I don't know how you're gonna feel after I tell just how deep we're in it. I haven't seen the truck yet, but I've been told by the locals that it's still intact. If it is, I'll drive to the disposal site and they'll take it from there."
"Right. Well, my board says the same thing. The sensors say that nothing leaked, although some one took a sample amount from the tank. Probably for analysis. All I can say is be careful, man. That stuff hasn't been neutralized yet, and I don't even want to think of what happens if we get into a disaster situation." Said Dave. "If it were up to me, I'd have you sit tight until we got a team to you." He paused and thought about it for a moment. "I tell you what, sit tight, and don't let anyone near that truck. I'll have a team get to you within four hours to take over from you. They'll have a new tractor to pull it and haul your tractor back to the shop for any needed work. See if you can get a hotel room and call from there. You might want to get some sleep, this gonna be a long one, Cody."
"I know. Tell everyone I'm sorry." Cody said.
"Nobody's gonna blame you. It wasn't your fault." Dave said.
"Yeah, right." Cody said.
The two men let it hang in the air. Thirty years they
kept the secret of
Cody didn't like himself very much now. "Bye, Dave."
"Good luck, we're praying for you." Said Dave.
It took Cody a while to put the phone back since he'd made his calls and there wasn't anything he could do until the relief team got here. Now he had to deal with the reporter, DUP man, and try to find a place to sleep.
He wished he hadn't forgotten the hose for his fan.
To be Continued
This story posted by permission of the author. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.