Prizrak — Roleplayer Guild

Lori Gosse

1 month before

“What am I going to do with you Lori? I'm sorry that came out wrong. Just tell me what happened so I can help you. Please talk to me Lori what can I do to make this right?” 

Lori just sat at the sheriff's desk, too exhausted to speak. Her head was hung low, clasped in her hands. She was struggling to slow her breath as her anxiety took over what little of her sanity she had left.

“Lori? If you need to see a doctor let me know. This can wait.”

Lori was too hysterical to respond so the sheriff motioned for one of his officers to go and get some help. 

“Hey kid, you’re going to be alright.” The man got up from his seat and sat next to Lori placing his arm around her shoulders. “You’re going to be alright…” His attempt to soothe the poor girl was cut short by the sounds of an argument outside his office. “Stay put I’ll be back.” When the sheriff got up and opened the door out into the hallway Lori could hear the irate yelling of her mother supposedly chewing out one of the officers but Lori couldn’t make out what she was saying. Once the sheriff shut the door all she could hear was muffled yells. Eventually the door swung open and Lori’s mother tried to rush in after her but one of the the officers tackled her and drug her out of the room kicking and screaming about how she wanted to kill Lori. Now with the door wide open Lori could hear the argument roaring outside.

“God dammit woman you’re not making a very good case for yourself! Can you get through your thick skull how stupid it is to threaten someone in a police station of all places!” 

“Carl I don’t give a damn! That bitch in there is an insult to my family and I want her in jail!”

“For what! Petty theft, vandalism, loitering? Your daughter ain’t no saint but she doesn’t deserve jail time.”

“She isn’t my daughter! As far as I’m concerned my daughter never existed!”

“Seriously!? What would Ray think of you treating his baby girl like this. After all he did for you two this is how you choose to pay him back?”

“Don’t you even dare bring Ray into this!” In a fit of unbridled rage Lori’s mother slipped loose from the restraining officers grip and reached for his sidearm. He regained control of the situation in time and took her down to the ground hard, while he was doing so multiple other officers rushed over and helped restrain her.

“I’ve had about enough of this, lock her up and I’ll deal with her later.” Carl took off his sheriff's hat and wiped his brow before heading back into his office and quietly shutting its door knowing loud noises bother Lori. “Kid I’m so sorry you had to hear that. You doing alright? How’s you oma and opa?

Lori mumbled a response threw her hands. “They’re doing good.”

Taking this as an opportunity to distract Lori, Carl carried on with the conversation. “That’s good. Vinny still doing contracting? I haven’t seen him in awhile.”

Lori managed to answer. “Ya, he is. He’s been busy lately. A lot of people getting work done lately.”

“That’s good. Keep the old man busy so I don’t have to visit him.” Carl cracked a smile trying to lighten up the mood.

It seemed to work as Lori let out a smirk, but Carl couldn’t be sure if it was genuine or not. “You want to listen to some music? If there’s one thing I know about you it’s that you like your music.” Carl got up from his seat and headed over to his little radio that sat on his windowsill, it’s antennae fully extended pointing southwest towards the nearest tower. He clicked the dial on the radio turning it on and spun the dial through the static. “105.5?”

“Sure, it’s not like we have any other station around here but Mega Rock.” Lori was feeling a little bit better but she was still beat. Now she just sat back in her chair trying to stay calm.

“Sounds good to me.” Carl tuned the radio to 105.5 and after a brief moment of silence Rebel, Rebel by David Bowie started playing. “Oh wow that’s weird. Of all songs to be playing right now. You want me to change the station?”

“No, Diamond Dogs was a good album. We can listen to this.”

“Alright if you insist but I don’t want to hear you complain when this old devil dog starts dancing.” Carl started to sway his hips a little bit before Lori started laughing.

“That’s going to be hard to get out of my head, and it’s not because I don’t want to.”

Carl just chuckled and sat back down across from Lori. “You think you’re ready to talk now?”

“I guess…..” Lori’s demeanor started to change again. She seemed scared and Carl wanted to figure out why. 
“Lori you know you can trust me. What happened?” Carl laid his hand on Lori’s causing his sleeve to roll up revealing his tattoos from the corp. They reminded Lori of her dad and his tattoos, and how quiet he was. How he would just sit there and stare into space, like he wasn’t actually there.

“Mom came out to the farm. At first I didn’t know it was her because I was upstairs, but it didn’t take long until I started to hear yelling.”

Carl could see that Lori was starting to get distressed again. “Hey don’t worry she’s not going to bother you for a good while after today. Just what did she want?”

“Something about money. She said she wanted the money oma and opa owed her. I don’t know what they owed her though. Once the yelling got too bad I put my headphones on and I didn’t hear the rest. I kept them on until I seen the police cars outside, sorry.”

“That’s fine. I’m sorry that I didn’t have you bring your walkman with you. I totally forgot about it, it’s been awhile. You’ve grown a lot since I seen you last, you’re dad would be so proud of you.”

That last remark seemed to strike a nerve with Lori and she got a little defensive. “Would he really? The only memories I have of him are horrible ones.” Lori fished her dad’s dog tags out from her shirt and rubbed them between her index finger and thumb. “But I still miss him.”

“I do to kid, believe me, I do to.” Carl took a moment to reflect on all those years he spent with Ray. They were as thick as thieves growing up, boy did they raise hell. Although just like Lori he had his bad memories to. Memories from the war, they were never right since then, no one was. “I’m sorry you couldn’t see Ray….uhm your dad before the war. He really did love you, but the war changed him. It changed all of us, but it really got to him. I know for sure he wouldn’t like the way Rebecca has treated you.”

“Is that why he watched her beat me? All he did was……” Lori caught herself and then like a dam of emotion bursting at the seams she let loose. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.” She choked her words out between sobs as she remembered the note she found in her lunchbox at school the day her father killed himself. 

Lori my beloved daughter it’s with a heavy heart that I write this for you. As you know I haven’t been the father you deserve since I came home. The war left scars on me that I can never share with you, and it’s not fair to you that I let them hurt you. But I won’t make excuses for myself. I’ve been too weak to protect you, the most precious thing in my life. I only hope you can forgive me for what I have done, and what I’m about to do. I love you Lori, and I always have.

Your Father

Carl started to tear up as well. He remembered the day Ray shot himself, he responded to the call and he stayed to clean up the blood. There were a few times after that day that Carl thought of doing the same, but someone needed to stay and make sure Lori was taken care of. It’s what Ray would of wanted.

“Lori. I hate to say this but you need to get away from this town. These people don’t understand you like I do, and your oma and opa do. I’m afraid that if you stay here you’ll end up like me or your father.”

“Where do I go? I’ve never been outside the state before. What about oma and opa? Are they going to be okay without me? What if mom goes back to their house and hurts them.”

“Don’t worry about them. Rebecca is going to be spending a lengthy stretch in Muncy so she won’t be bothering anyone but her fellow inmates for a long time. Hopefully that will drive some sense into that thick head of hers. As far as where you can go. I’ve been in touch with some people with the Forestry Service out west they are looking for people to help man fire towers.”

Lori perked up a little bit when she heard about the fire towers. She had seen the news, the weather was getting pretty wild out west. Supposedly it’s a record year for heat. “You think I can go?”

“I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t. I could get you a ride out there, and I’m sure your oma and opa wouldn’t stop you. They’ll miss you but they understand that you’re a young woman now that has to start making decisions that are in your best interests.”

“Then I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t go. How soon can I leave?”

“I’ll need to get a hold of my people and see if there is still a place for you, and then arrange a ride for you. Give me a few days, I’ll get a hold of you when I’m ready.”

Lori got up from her seat and composed herself before leaning over the table and hugging Carl. “Thank you, this means a lot to me. Can I go home now?”

“Of course. Do you need a ride?”

“No thanks. I’ll manage, see ya.”

“See ya kid.”

As Lori walked out the door of the sheriff's office the officer Carl sent for help came back with one of the local doctors. They both stood dumbfounded as Lori walked past them. Eventually the officer piped up. “Is she going to be okay sir?”

“I don’t know. Just let her go today, she’s been through enough.”

1 week later

Lori had been on edge since last week. She couldn’t wait to hear from Carl, she talked it over with her oma and opa and they agreed that it would be best for her to get out and experience life for herself. She had her hiking bag packed, and said her goodbyes now all she had to do was wait.

Until she heard the popping of gravel underneath truck tires. She jumped out of her bed in a frenzy and ran to the window in the hall closet so she could see who it was. Low and behold it was Carl, he was in his 68’ Dodge Power Wagon and as far as Lori could tell he was out of uniform. Regardless she quickly threw a top on, slipped on a pair of pants and ran downstairs to meet him. 

Carl wasn’t even halfway to the house from the gravel parking space in front of the barn when Lori made it out of the house and onto the porch. In her excitement she forgot about her leg and sat down rubbing it in an attempt to soothe the pain. But her focus was on Carl so she got back up and greeted him.

“Hey Carl! What brings you all the way out here?”

Carl greeted Lori with a big smile, and a hug. “Hey kiddo, you’re looking good today. You feeling better?”

“I’m alright. My leg’s bothering me today but I’ll be alright.”

“That so, it been bothering you much lately?”

“No, it’s fine. I just ran out here in a hurry and I shouldn’t of. As long as I pace myself I’m fine. You didn’t answer me though. What’s up?

“I thought I would come out and tell you that the Forestry Service is still looking for people out in Oregon and they’re more than happy to take you. That is if you’re still interested?”

“Interested!? I’ve been packed and ready to go for a week now. Did you figure out how I’m getting out there?”

“I did. It’s rather convoluted but it will get you there the quickest. I can get you on a flight out of DuBois’s airport that will take you to Pittsburgh, from there you’ll get on another flight to Salt Lake City and then to Salem. Once you’re in Salem I can’t guarantee anything unfortunately. The situation is constantly changing over there. I don’t know if any of the roads leading to Santiam State Forest will be open. If you have to walk it’s 25 miles at most to the park. Once you get to the park follow the map or the signs to Tower Duniway, they’ll be other volunteers waiting for you there.” Carl took a minute to catch his breath before continuing. “Now with all that being said are you still game? I don’t want to push you into something you’re not sure of.”

“I’ll be alright. I’m almost certain I can manage. When does my flight leave?”

“At the end of this week. I’ll pick you up and take you to the airport. So make sure you have everything you’ll need and you’ve said your goodbyes. Oh and before I forget and leave here without giving you these, come here.” Carl motioned for Lori to follow him over to his truck where he pulled out an olive drab sea bag from the bed of his truck. “I managed to gather up some of your dad’s things from your moms house. Technically it’s theft but who’s going to arrest me?”

Lori’s eyes got to the size of saucers at the sight of her dad’s sea bag. She was content with his dog tags but she always wondered what else he had stashed away that her mother wouldn’t let her see. “What’s inside it?”

“Why don’t you open it up and see?” Carl handed Lori the bag and she quickly sat down in the grass with it and rifled through it. His dress blues were packed inside, along with his set of OG-107’s. His winter jacket, and a load of assorted other accessories, like medals, patches, a compass, canteen, and utility cover. “Wow all of this stuff will be really helpful out west! Thanks so much for this. I’ve always wanted this stuff.”

“That’s what I figured. You always were a girl after your father’s heart. You want to head into town for some ice cream or something? I haven’t got much to do today.”

“Sure! Let me get my shoes on. You think Whistles is busy? Wait, dumb question of course they are. But it’s worth the wait. Either way I’ll be right back.”

The day of

Lori’s flight had touched down just a few hours ago and she was already walking to Santiam. She must of been a sight, with her father's olive green combat pants loosely hanging off of her lithe frame. His shirt tied around her waist, sea bag over her shoulder, and utility cover concealing her greasy hair. 

“I haven’t even been walking for 2 hours and I’m already drenched in sweat. This ought to be interesting.” 

Regardless of the heat Lori kept roughing it. Avoiding the obnoxious honks of lonely men trying to pick up a pretty girl along the way. Her walkman helped drown out the noise, and her extra batteries insured that she would be able to block out noise for the foreseeable future.

By time she had gotten to the parking lot where she was to meet the other volunteers Lori was beat. Even after drinking countless bottles of water the heat still sucked all the life out of her, fortunately it looked like someone had already beat her here and set up a tent. So she headed towards the tent waving to the obviously exhausted mug peaking out from the entrance.

“You got room for one more? I got water?”
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