The Event: The Beginning

by Lee Thomas

  "So far they've been all clear.” Dave told me as we met up in the middle.

  "Good. The first floor was clear and is secure, but the windows and such aren't boarded up yet. I told everyone to keep the blinds closed for now, but I would like something done with the big windows in the lobby." I told him. The other men came up from the end of the hallway once they finished the rooms and told us they were all clear. "Let's go find some way to secure those lobby windows then, and then we can all get some sleep in peace. I told everyone to start finding rooms on two so maybe we can leave the ground floor empty just in case."

  We made our way downstairs as there was only six floors and I verified Jeff's team was finishing up that floor now. We met the others coming up the stairs to floor two and waited until the stairs cleared, then finished heading down. In the lobby people were still lugging in supplies, some of them obviously very sleepy. I sympathized with them as it was a little after eleven at night now. Once the last people were in, I had Jeff, Roger, and a few others go with me to check the vehicles for anything we might need tonight, then shut them up. We didn’t lock them as it would take too long to figure out which keys went where in the morning. As we came back in, I made sure the doors were shut and locked, and we began the process of blocking them up.

  They all had a keyed lock that we turned, but the glass could easily be broken and the building entered that way. We closed all the blinds and kept our lights away from the windows as much as possible, but I still wanted more security. We moved some of the tables from the lobby and the conference table to the big windows and set them on their sides so they blocked as much as possible and set chairs behind them to keep them up. Once we did as much as we could do, I set four men as guards and told another four to find a room to sleep down here to relieve them later so everyone could get some decent sleep. I headed upstairs to talk to Michelle and the girls before finding my own room.

  I knocked on the door and Michelle answered. She was alone as the girls decided to have their own rooms. We made small talk for a few minutes and then I left her to get some sleep. I checked in with the girls, and they were already pretty much asleep, so I left them alone. After talking with a few more people, just to be sure that everyone was okay, I then headed downstairs to find my own room. I wanted to be close just in case anything happened since I felt it was my responsibility to keep them safe.

  Since the four relief guards had went down the left hallway to stay fairly close, I choose the right hallway so I could have a little quiet, and think. I opened the door, walked over to the blinds to shut them. With no light on inside I could see the surrounding area fairly clear since the stars were out and it was fairly clear. With nothing moving, I closed the blinds, and the curtain. I set my flashlight on the table facing away from the window and started taking my weapons and armor off, setting everything down on the desk neatly so I could grab it quickly if needed. Since there was no running water, no one could take a shower or use the restroom, but we had water on the RV's for that.

  I decided to not stay dressed, so I stripped and put on the shorts I slept in when around others. I laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over me. Thankful for a real bed for a change, I fell fast asleep.

  Chapter 6

  May 5th, 2018

  I was shaken awake by Michelle. She was standing by the edge of the bed and had a cup of coffee, by the smell of it. I sat up and threw the covers off, swinging my legs over the side and sitting up.

  "Everything's fine, I just thought you would like to get up finally. It's almost noon.” she told me, handing me the cup.

  "Why did Jeff let me sleep so long?" I asked, a little grumpily as I didn’t feel like I had the right to sleep so long if everyone else was up already. She had left the door open and I could hear kids playing down the hall, probably in the conference room.

  "He told the others who were up that he made the decision to stay here for the day, and most likely overnight again so we can sleep in a real bed one more time, so no one was to disturb you. He called it an 'executive decision'." She told me as she sat in one of the room’s chairs. I mulled that over as I sipped my coffee. I knew we had some, along with bottled water, but to get it hot someone either had to be using pots in the RV's or build a fire inside and use a camping pot, which I knew we had several of also.

  "How are the girls holding up? They seem fine, but they don't talk to dad much anymore.” I asked her. The youngest was seventeen now, and even before the world went to hell we weren't as close as we used to be. Typical teenagers, dad just wasn’t cool anymore. I finished my coffee and sat the cup on the desk. We talked about the girls and about how we would live when, and if, we found the ship. She then got up to leave, and I changed back into my jeans. I pulled my shirt on as I walked out of the room. I heard the kids down the hall and smiled as I turned and headed towards the lobby. There were several people sitting around chatting, laughing, just having a good time and relaxing. It was good seeing people just hanging out, being normal for a change.

  I walked around the lobby talking to people, trying to relax. I was glad we had made it this far, but I knew we still had a ways to go. I thought about the people we had lost, and wondered how many more we might lose before getting to safety.

  Though they tried to not look like it, I could tell several men were standing guard. I was glad of that, and at whoever had the foresight to make sure that happened. I decided to go walk around and see how secure we really were now that it was daylight. I checked all the outside doors and then decided to go outside. I walked back to the lobby and saw that someone had unblocked the doors so the sunlight came in and we had access. I made my way down the hallway once I saw some people dragging extra mattresses into some of the rooms.

  "What's going on here?" I asked as I stepped into the first room I came too.

  "Blocking the windows off so nothing can see in and light won't shine out.” said Ethan, one of Leni's friends.

  "The mattresses are coming from six, and five if we need more. No one is sleeping that high up, so it seemed like a good idea. Don't worry, we are leaving room to still look out from.” Alan said. Once they had the mattress placed and the dresser up against it to hold it up, they both started walking out. I followed them out of the room and headed upstairs. I wanted to go to the roof and look around, see what I could see from there.

  I could hear voices on the second floor, kids running around up here, people talking. I smiled and kept climbing the stairs. I finally made it to the sixth floor, but this staircase didn’t go to the roof. I assumed then that I would have to find a maintenance area to make it all the way to the roof. I walked to the end of the hallway to start my search. I looked out the window at the end of the hallway and saw all the way to the restaurants across the road. It was a fairly clear day without very many clouds so it was quite bright. No movement was seen except for some animals, what appeared to be a fox or dog, and a few birds.

  I turned and walked down the hall, looking at the doors, trying to find one that wasn’t a regular room. The maintenance room was about three quarters of the way down the hallway. I opened it and shined my light around. There was a shelf with cleaning supplies, a mop bucket, floor sink, and some breaker boxes close to the door. I propped the door open with the mop handle and continued on. Further back the room opened up a little and I saw a workbench with tools on it and a pegboard with even more tools, as well as parts and tools in boxes and tubs under the bench. I turned a corner and there was a metal staircase. I walked up it and into what was apparently a machinery level between the top floor and the roof itself.

  There were pipes running every which way, water heaters and heating and air conditioning units. The air was very musty up here, stale, like it hadn’t been opened or ventilated in quite a while, which was probably the case. I saw sunlight barely streaming through from the end of a short walkway, so I headed that way. It was an air vent that was mostly closed, so I pulled the lever down and opened it all the way. There was an i
mmediate in rush of air, and the sunlight poured in. I turned and looked, now that I could see a little bit better. I made my way back down the walkway between the machinery, and followed it as it turned. There was another short walkway off to the right about twenty feet which ended in another air vent. I opened that one also and a small breeze filtered through the entire floor. It also made it easier to see.

  I went back to the main walkway and turned right, away from the stairs. After about another twenty feet or so was a short set of stairs which lead to a steel door. I assumed this was the way to the roof. I went up the stairs and pulled the lever to unlock the door. Opening the door, I had to squint from the sudden sunlight streaming in. I pulled the lever back to the closed position so it wouldn’t shut all the way and accidently relock on me, then stepped out onto the roof. The wind wasn’t too strong up here, probably due to the rooftop ac units, heaters, and satellite dishes scattered all over. Plus the roof on either end was raised, so it made for a nice windbreak.

  Walking over to the west edge, I saw I was on the same wall as the window I looked out earlier as I was looking at the restaurants. Not seeing anything different from earlier, I moved to my right and saw all the way to the highway. No movement that direction either except trash and the dogs again. Nothing unusual, nothing that seemed threatening, so I moved again. I couldn’t really get to the east side of the building, so I headed over to the south side.

  Looking down, I could see that Jeff had backed the rig up near the door, and the RV's had been arranged into a circular pattern around the rig, in such a way that it would be easy and quick to get everyone out. I then lifted my head and looked out. There was a large, empty lot directly across the parking lot of the hotel, and then a Shell station. Without binoculars I couldn’t make out details over by the gas station, but it appeared there was movement there. I turned my head to the east and I was pretty sure that was a few deer I saw standing in the open grass.

  By this time I guessed it was about one or so, so I decided to head back down. I left the door propped open so air would circulate through the machinery room and made my way down the staircase to the first floor. People were still just wandering around relaxing. I saw Dave and Roger at a card table and I waved for them to follow me. I grabbed one of the men standing guard and asked him to find Michelle and Jeff, Christy and Shayne, as well as Val and Vince and ask them to meet us in the conference room. I led the rest to the conference room and we set up a table and chairs while we waited for the others to show up. As they came in, I waved to the chairs and they sat.

  "Thanks guys, I wanted to talk to you real quick. For starters, thanks for letting me sleep Jeff, I needed it." I started, with a nod to Jeff. He simply nodded back at me in response. "I do like the idea of staying here for a day, relaxing, taking a breath. While I am concerned about getting to the base and hopefully safety, I don't want to push these people too hard, either."

  "I have heard some of them talking, and there are a few that don’t understand why we don’t stop more. They seem to be under the impression that we would be sight-seeing or something. The RV's are cramped, which I know you know, and even with some people riding in the cars, space is an issue.” Val told me. I knew she could get people to talk to her, and I valued her opinion of others. She was a pretty good judge of character.

  "Food supplies have been an issue too. Canned food we have plenty of for now, but fresh meats and vegetables are hard to come by. The fish we caught in the lake are long gone.” Vince told me. I had asked him to keep an eye on our supply levels while we were on the road.

  "The gas cans in the rig are all full now, thanks to that last station we hit. We managed to fill all the vehicles, including the truck, plus fill all the spare tanks.” Jeff informed me.

  "Most of the kids are scared, not understanding what's going on. The parents are also frightened, but as you can see, they are trying to hide it.” Christy said. She was like Val in the aspect that people felt they could talk to her. I knew between her and Val I should be able to keep an eye on the emotional health of the group, and also know if anyone was going to dissent or cause problems.

  By the time we had met and talked it was about three in the afternoon. I decided to break up the meeting and let everyone go about their own business. Hungry, I went in search of something to eat. I remember Dave had said something about combining all our food into one spot to keep better track of what we have. I was pointed towards our 'kitchen' and found someone running it. I was given some food and went back to my room to eat and think.

  We had been on the road now for five days. I had hoped to get to the ship in no more than four, but the slower pace has allowed us to scrounge for supplies more, and get a better feel for the abilities of the group. Now, another day on the road, staying at the hotel for another day and night. At least people could relax somewhat, stretch their legs, and not be cramped up in the vehicles for a while. I decided to lay down and take a nap so I could help with guard duty later tonight. I nodded off, but was interrupted around seven.

  "Hey, we're getting a poker game started, want to join us?" Jeff asked me as he shook me awake. Glaring up at him just made him laugh at me. Grunting in response, I swung my legs out of bed and sat up. Playing poker did sound fun, something normal. We had several sets of poker chips as I myself had brought two, and numerous decks of cards. We had also brought board games for the kids. We also had video games like playstations and x-box’s, but with no power they were useless right now. The ship would have power though, if there was a carrier in port. I slipped my boots back on and walked out into the hall with Jeff.

  People were milling about, talking and laughing. Some were taking several tables and chairs for the game into one of the conference rooms. I followed Jeff to one of the tables and sat down. We played several games, and it seemed like a normal atmosphere for a while, shouts of the winners, groans of the losers, just people relaxing, forgetting for a time the situation we were in.

  I took my leave of the game around eleven and went to check on the status of the guards. I figured I would relieve someone so they could go play, if they hadn't already had an opportunity. I went first to the front doors, but those guards had already played, and had only just come on duty. I went then to the other side of the lobby to the back doors and the two there weren't interested in playing cards, and said they hadn't been on that long either. Next I just wandered from one end of the hall to the other, checking on people, making sure the windows were secure, and no light was getting out.

  With the knowledge that the ground floor was secure and watched, I decided to make my way up to the top floor to get a birds' eye view of the area, see if anything was moving at a distance. Stepping out into the top floor, I could hear sounds coming from down the hall. Drawing my sword, I slowly made my way towards them as they got louder, then softer. The closer I got, I realized it was a woman moaning. As I got within what I thought was three rooms of where it was coming from, it was apparent that I didn’t need to check on the safety of the girl, as the man with her was doing a pretty good job of that already. I sheathed my sword and made my way back towards the maintenance room to access the roof, smiling and shaking my head.

  The wind was blowing, but not too hard as I walked through the machinery towards the roof hatch. Propping the door open, I stepped out into the dark, silent night and headed for the edge. I started on the south side, as that's where our vehicles were parked. Glancing down, nothing was moving around the vehicles that I could see, so I looked up and out. The field was also empty, and it appeared there was nothing all the way to the gas station in the distance. After watching for about 20 minutes, I then went to the road side which was towards the restaurant and the service road. Again, I saw nothing moving except the occasional bit of trash the wind picked up. A slight sound from the wind was all the noise there was as well. All was clear on the north side facing the highway as well, and I finished my view on the east side, even though the roof made it difficult to see anything that
direction.

  As I stepped back out into the hallway, I turned to my right as I heard a door close. The man and woman who had just come out stopped short on seeing me, and both looked embarrassed.

  "Sorry, we didn't think anyone would be up this high.” the man said as they started walking again and passed me.

  "No worries, from the sounds of it you both had fun anyways.” I ribbed them as they passed me. The girl turned even redder and the guy just grinned and kept walking, even though he was red-faced too. Their steps quickened until they made the stairs, and I heard them walking down fairly quickly until the door closed behind them. I laughed to myself from their embarrassment, then slowly made my own way down the stairs. By this time it was after midnight so I made my way back to my room and tried for some more sleep.

  Chapter 7

  May 6th, 2018

  I opened my eyes to a sliver of light coming in through the window covering, and the smell of coffee in the room. I turned my head towards the smell and there was a fresh cup on the nightstand. Someone must have obviously just left it, and the closing of the door is probably what woke me up. I threw my covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Reaching for the cup, I decided on not putting my boots on yet and just took the cup with me as I stepped out into the hall. People were milling about the lobby, loading things into packs and boxes, checking straps and contents. The front doors and back doors were all open, allowing in light and fresh air. I nodded to the ones who noticed me as I sipped my coffee.

  After watching for a few minutes, I stepped back into my room to get fully dressed and pack my things. Since I hadn't brought in much more than my sleep clothes, armor, and weapons, it didn't take me long to pack. I finished my coffee and opted to not take the cup as it was one of those disposable kind that don’t wash very well, so it wouldn't be of much use after another cup or two. I took my bag out to my RV and loaded it up, politely declining the ones asking to assist me. Some people seemed to have the idea that since I was unofficially in charge of this group that I was unable to carry my own things, or protect myself. While I appreciated the courtesy, as I would probably do the same thing if someone else was in charge, it was getting rather old to be on the receiving end of it.