2000 Ford Escort won't start

I have a 2000 Ford Escort. I drove home from work and stopped at the store on the way. I came out 5 minutes later and the car wouldn't start. The lights don't turn on anymore and none of the indicator lights turn on. The first time I inserted the key, it made the beeping noise that it normally makes, but when I tried to start the car, it started making a "short short short long" beep cycle (or something similar to that). Also, the gas guage indicator pointed off the scale toward the steering column. There is a clicking that seems to be coming from below the air filter and a mechanical "eeeeeee" that seems to be coming form the back of the engine.. The fuses and relays all seem to be good. Can anyone offer me advice what this could be and how to fix it? Thanks in advance for any advice or help.

Have you tried jump starting it?

Sounds like a loose connection at the battery or just a bad battery, try jumping it and checking battery cable conndtion.

Thank you for your suggestions, but the battery is good and the wiring is fine. Use of a different (new, good, etc) battery results in the same symptoms. An additional symptom that I neglected to mention was the inability to move the shifter from the park position. Thanks again.

The only other thing I can suggest is check the ground cable where it mounts to the chassis.