Thud! TJ awoke with a pillow to his face. “Mmmm,” he moaned.
“Let’s go TJ,” Steve said. “I want to be on the road before sun is up.”
“This is cruel to wake me up before the sun is in the sky,” TJ complained.
“I know right? Steve, what’s the rush?” Kyle asked.
“I just want to get home.” Truth be told Steve had a feeling that something bad happened back at home. He wasn’t one to be ruled by his feelings, but he just could not shake this one. “Besides we have been here all week and I am ready for my bed.” There, he thought, that gave them some truth.
“Ok,” TJ replied “but you’re buying lunch since you woke me up so early.” He was then struck by a rolled up sleeping bag.
The ride back from the cabin was mostly in silence. TJ’s head bobbed and weaved for most of the three hour ride. Kyle did his share of snoring. Steve liked the silence; it gave him time to reflect on their trip to the mountains.
It was a scouting trip for their movie, Shoe. They found all the locations they wanted to shoot the film and marked them. TJ then began working on the story board. It had been a productive week and he was looking forward to getting the rest of the “Usuals” up there to began filming. This would be their best film yet. They had completed five films now and one had almost won an award last year.
Steve smiled, thinking about their first film three years ago. They were thirteen and his older brother, Mark, had been director and writer. It was their first major film shoot complete with lights and onsite shooting. Now they were scouting out for there new film, the biggest of the projects yet.
Timothy’s dad had written the script and it was a very promising one. After they had read the script they re-wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote it again; adding a thing here and removing something there until finally they believed they had a winner. They thought for sure they would finally break into the Indie film festival and get recognized. They were now in the production faze. Timothy or TJ as everyone called him was the sound man and storyboard artist. Steve was the main character and Kyle was the muscle, well, the grip or best boy.
They were on the main highway to town now and the sun was finally up. Goshen, was a small farming town in Colorado east of the Rockies. A place where everyone knew each other and everyone liked it that way. Kind of like Mayberry, Steve thought. Still, while he loved the town he wanted to get out to see other states, other countries. Not that he wasn’t grateful for living in a small town, it was just that he wanted to see what else was out there.
A bright red sign pulled him away from his musing. He had never seen the sign before, he took his foot from the accelerator to read: WARNING. ROAD CLOSED AHEAD. NO DETOUR AT THIS TIME (QUARANTINE IN AFFECT FOR THE TOWN OF GOSHEN)
Steve’s heart sank. Is this some joke? he thought. “Guys” he said.
“Guys, wake up,” he said with a little more urgency.
“What’s up?” Kyle asked, groggily.
“Something is wrong. TJ wake up!” Steve said, striking TJ on the shoulder with his right hand.
“What is it?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know” Steve replied.
“It is so hard to get some sleep around you guys,” TJ said with a yawn.
“The sign back there said the road is closed and Goshen is under quarantine,” Steve said, trying to keep his voice from quavering.
“ What?… you’re joking,” TJ said.
“TJ, I’m very serious,” Steve was about to explain when they crested a small hill and ahead the road was barricaded. “ See.”
TJ sat up straight, “What did the sign say?”
“Warning. The road is closed. There is no detour and Goshen is under quarantine.”
“ Quarantine from what?” Kyle asked.
“It didn’t say. Should we turn around?” Steve questioned.
“No. If my family is in trouble I am going to find out what is going on,” TJ said. “How about your cell phone, Steve?”
“Yeah,” Steve pulled the jeep to a stop about fifty feet from the barricade. He pulled out his phone, pushed the ‘on’ button and… there was no signal. He put the phone on the dash. “What now?”
“We could go back to the highway and come in from the east,” Kyle suggested.
“That would take almost three hours,” TJ said. “ I say we go around the barricade and see if there is someone ahead to tell us what is happening. “
“What if we get in trouble for passing the barricade?” Steve asked.
“Look, our families are over there and if they are being quarantined I’m sure the authorities will understand us wanting to get back to them,” TJ said.
“I guess your right,” Steve said hesitantly.
Steve turned the jeep to the right of the road and drove around the sign.
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