Robi’s head lowered. “And she only has enough energy for one person.”
Jeb nodded. “Unless Dr. Avers can get the other to hang on for six to eight hours. But, I doubt that. They’re both bad. And the problem is this. One of them is your father …” He looked at Robi then to BJ. “And the other is your mother.”
Robi grabbed BJ’s hand and rushed to get by Jeb.
He stopped her. “No.”
“I have to get there.”
“You will,” Jeb said. “But not until Martha makes her choice. You can’t be there to influence. She knows nothing. And especially as leader you can’t be there when she picks the one she’ll heal.”
Robi’s entire body trembled, her hand shot to her mouth and her eyes watered. “I know my father, Jeb. I know him. If by some chance Martha picks him, he’ll never forgive himself. My father would want this woman to be picked over him. He would. I have to ensure it …” Robi tried to push forward.
Jeb blocked her. “No, Robi. Martha will choose. She doesn’t know people, when she is in healer mode, she knows healing and energy. She will choose. We’ve gone through this before when she had to pick between people. We have intervened before and it wasn’t smart. It’s best that Tate bring her in and let her go. It’s her choice now.”
“There is no choice!” Robi screamed. “I know my father. He wouldn’t want a choice.” Her hands waved out in her emotions as she spoke. “I have loved him and had him my entire life. This boy …” She swung out to BJ. “Needs his mother.”
Jeb’s hand shot to his face, dragging the fingers over his skin. “And we don’t know who she’ll choose.”
BJ puckered, swallowed and obviously tried to keep his emotions in check. “Robi,” he squeaked out. “If Martha doesn’t choose my Mom, then it means eventually she won’t make it anyhow. Right?”
Airy, Robi turned to BJ and laid a hand on his face. “Oh, my God, you are so strong. Your mom is going to be so proud.”
BJ turned to Jeb. “Can I see her?”
He gave only a single nod and reached for the door.
<><><><>
The off white summer dress looked as if it was worn by a small child in the 1940’s. It was simple and plain, only a ribbon graced the front. Tiny, no taller than 36 inches and weighing no more than twenty five pounds, Martha walked into the room where they were holding Gene and Lucy.
Both lay on a hospital cart, covered, intravenous in their arms, neither moved. Gene was on her left, Lucy on her right, and with hands behind her back, Martha walked inside stepped directly between the two carts.
She looked at Gene, he was sleeping, then she turned her head to Lucy. Her eyes parted, then opened. They were glossy and red. Her swollen lips puckered and then Lucy focused on Martha and tried to smile.
“Hey …” Lucy said weakly. “How are you sweetie?”
Martha smiled and walked to Lucy. Reaching up to Lucy’s hand, Martha placed a lilac within her grip.
“For me?” Lucy asked.
Martha rolled Lucy’s fingers over the flower.
“Thank …” Lucy coughed. “Thank you.”
Martha produced a bright smile, then peered over her shoulder to Gene. She stepped back, taking in the sight of both severely injured people. After placing her hand over her own heart and closing her eyes, Martha made her choice.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Before they even reached the triage area, Robi saw the two medics wheeling the hospital cart. They were moving it to a special room so Martha could do her healing. She needed peace and quiet to lay with the person.
Before they even moved the cart beyond Robi and BJ, Robi knew. She sighed out in both relief and sadness, turning to BJ and whispering, “I’m sorry.”
“I kind of knew,” BJ said. “I’d like to go see my mother now. If that’s okay and go with her to the main sector.”
“Yes. You do that.” Robi laid a hand on BJ’s face. “Maybe, maybe she’ll make it until Martha rejuvenates.”
“Maybe.” BJ turned, stepping from Robi’s touch.
Her hand slid down his face.
Jeb walked up to her from behind, laying his hands on her shoulders. “You Okay?”
After brushing her cheek against his hand, Robi nodded. “Yeah. I … I know he’s out. I know … he won’t know …”
“Go see your father. Go.” Jeb whispered in her ear.
Reaching up, Robi gripped his hand, kissed it and without looking back, followed the cart which held both her father and daughter.
<><><><>
A simple butterfly bandage was all Reese needed, and he did that himself. He washed his face and refused any medical treatment. His crew needed it more than he did.
Reese felt a tremendous amount of guilt over being the one who was barely inured.
Thaddeus had been thrown a great distance and suffered a head injury. They believed he’d recover. Kip was pinned and lost his right arm and both his legs were crushed. They expected him, too, to make a full recovery.
But Gene and Lucy. They were pretty much dying.
Gene never woke up, while Lucy slipped in and out of consciousness. They were holding on to each other when the laser seared right through Lucy into Gene.
They moved Gene to another room and told Reese he could speak to Lucy before the transport arrived.
She was cleaned up some when he walked in the room, the entire right side of her face was a raw abrasion. Machines beeped and clicked around her.
Her eyes were closed and Reese didn’t know if she were sleeping. He reached down to touch her hand and saw the flower crushed with in her grip. Quizzically he raised his brow.
“Don’t touch my flower,” Lucy said. “A little girl gave it to me.”
“Very … very nice of her.” Reese cleared his throat. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better. They have me pretty drugged. How is everyone else?”
“They’ll be just fine. So will you.”
“You’re lying.”
Reese lowered his head. “I believe you will be. You have to hold on, Luce. Just hold on for six hours. Please.”
“I can’t make you any promises.”
“I …” Reese paused and shifted his eyes. “Then how about him?” Reese stepped back exposing BJ who had just entered the room.
When last Lucy saw him he was just a boy. Now he was a teenager, but he still had the same face. She saw her son.
First she whimpered and then Lucy began to cry.
BJ rushed to her side. “I knew it. I knew you’d come back.” Lowering his head, he held it tight against Lucy’s uninjured cheek.
“You’re all I needed to see. You’re all I needed to see.” Lucy closed her eyes. She tried to touch her son, but her hand would barely lift.
She breathed heavily, emotional breaths that filled the room. No longer was she struggling with her life, she didn’t care about that. She took in the feeling of his tears mixing with hers.
Dr. Avers’ entered the room with two men. “We have to move her now. The tube is here. I want to get her to the main sector and try to stabilize her.”
BJ lifted his head and nodded.
“Don’t go,” Lucy whispered to BJ. “Please.”
“I’m not leaving your side. Not at all.” BJ gripped her hand as they started to move the cart.
“Reese.” Lucy called out. “Reese.”
“Right here, Luce.” Reese stepped forward.
“If anything happens, watch him for me.”
Reese sniffed hard and stood straight. “With my life.” He reached down for her hand. “It’s been an honor. I’ll see you soon.”
Lucy slipped from his grip as they moved her away, BJ right at her side.
Reese stood there.
In a new world, a new time, a new way of life. He stood there alone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Drones,” Tate said just inside the tunnel entrance of NV 5. “They had to be.”
“Why now?” Jeb asked
. “All these years, they’re flying now?”
“Maybe the next wave arrived.” Tate suggested. “Who knows?”
“You found nothing?” Jeb asked.
“Bits, pieces, no biological signs. The miniscule parts are being sent to Mas. And it isn’t much. Then again, we blew the fuck out of them.”
“Good.” Just as Jeb answered, he saw Reese approach. “Colonel. Glad to see you moving about. How are you?”
“I’m good thank you.” Reese reached out his hand to Jeb. “We never were introduced.”
“Jeb Hoyt and this is my brother Tate.”
Reese shook Tate’s hand. “Thank you both for all that you did.”
Tate replied. “It not only is our job, it was a privilege.”
“Colonel,” Jeb said. “Transport will be leaving shortly to take you to the Main sector. This is just a leg. I’m sure you have a lot to take in and have a lot of questions.”
“I do,” Reese said. “One of which is have you had any luck finding Dr. Hawk?”
Tate glanced at Jeb then to Reese. “I went out there myself. Me and a few others looked. Nothing. We found … this…” Tate reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bag with a cell phone in it. “I have no clue why he had that.”
Reese smiled and pulled the phone from the bag. “It was one of five.”
“Five?” Jeb asked.
“That’s our Dr. Hawk.” Reese opened the phone. “When we were at a Walmart, this was the only one he managed to power up.”
Tate extended his finger to the phone. “He took some really cool pictures with this.”
Jeb smacked his brother’s hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You went through his phone?”
“Well, yeah, why not?” Tate shrugged. “You have to see this picture he got of New York. Man, I wouldn’t have thought it …”
“Enough,” Jeb halted him.
Reese waved out his hand. “No, it’s fine.” he paused and ran his thumb over the screen of the phone. “Mr. Hoyt.”
“Which one?” Jeb asked.
“You.” Reese said peacefully. “I know I am supposed to go to the main sector. I realize your men did a thorough job. But I need as a commander and a friend, to look for Hawk. I won’t feel right if I don’t.”
“I understand,” Jeb nodded. “Absolutely. We’ll hold transport for you.”
“Thank you.” He put the phone in his pocket and faced Tate. “Can you take me to where you found the phone?”
There was no hesitancy on Tate’s part, he lifted his weapon, grabbed one for Reese and opened the security wall.
<><><><>
“Right here.” Tate pointed to a section behind a small rock formation.
In a crouched position, hand to the sand, Reese squinted to the sky and peered around. “I landed over there.” He pointed to the left. “Hawk was next to me in the jeep.” He stood, brushed off his hands and walked straight.
“The blood.” Tate said.
“Excuse me?”
“Over here.” With an ‘up’ to his voice, Tate moved quickly and straight ahead. “You said landed and were thrown east over there. Well … here.” He looked left and right, then snapped his finger. “Here.” A jot and Tate stopped. “Blood. We thought it was yours.”
“No.” Reese stood above the darkened area of sand and dirt. It was obvious, even dry, that is was a small pool of blood. “It’s not mine. The others were over by the jeep, this has to be Hawk’s blood.”
Tate scratched his head. “So he wasn’t disintegrated like we thought. We thought maybe the beam fried him into dust and his phone was just tossed.”
“No.” Reese bent down. “This has to be his blood. Footsteps?”
“One in the blood.” Tate pointed. “Again. We thought this was you.”
Reese examined the footprint. “This is small. I’m pretty big guy. You honestly thought it was mine.”
Tate snorted. “Well, you know, I can’t assume you have big feet.”
Reese grumbled. “Okay, well, this is a start. Phone. Blood. A footprint.” He exhaled and looked around. “Now where the hell is Hawk?’
<><><><>
His body was chilled and there was a slight humming sound, they were the two things that made him open his eyes.
At first things were blurry, then the cold gray and blue room, almost metallic, came into focus.
Hawk tried to move but his body felt heavy. Where the hell am I? he thought. Aside from the low hum, the room was nearly quiet. He could hear someone making noise. He tried to see where they were. Lifting his head, David peered down to his nude body. “Oh, great, no wonder I’m cold.”
He was just about to rest his head back, when he noticed the fluorescent green substance on his thigh. It was thick and square. It looked gel like. Specks of lights darted through. Another such patch was on his chest. Lifting his arm, he touched his forehead. One was there as well.
They didn’t hurt; in fact, they were cool, almost tingling.
How did he get there? He had to be in an SC medical facility.
He was in the jeep, they were being attacked. He remembered hearing a loud crack and that was the last thing he recalled.
The room was not like any place he’d ever been. It was simple. The lights were low, but not too dim. Accessing his whereabouts, he caught a shadow on the other side of a separator wall.
Someone was moving.
An arm wearing gray coat. Then a white glove extended placing down two phones.
“Hey, those are mine!” Hawk yelled. “I’m naked here, can I have a blanket?”
No response.
“Hello!’
The figure stood up.
Thinking. Thank God. David laid down his head and closed his eyes. Until he heard footsteps.
Then he looked.
He wanted to scream. But he didn’t. In fact, it took everything he had not to react or show shock or fear.
The figure was obviously a woman, the formation of what appeared to be breasts gave that hint. She wore a gray jacket. Her features were humanoid, yet she hadn’t any hair. In fact, from what David could tell, she didn’t have skin. Human skin, that was. Hers was smooth, sliver with a tint of olive. It looked wet. She looked reptilian, was extremely thin and had to stand close to seven feet tall. She removed her glove, and her hand was more fingers than palm. They were thin, narrow and pointed. She touched his head. They were cold and slimy. It sent a chill through him.
She moved his hair aside and reached above him, then said something in a language. Her language,
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand you.”
Pulling, down this object, she held it over his legs and depressed a trigger. An icy cold mist blasted him.
“Uh!” David shrieked in surprise and from the cold.
She paused, looked at him, then continued to spray him.
“Oh, God,” David said. “Tell me I’m not being seasoned. Tell me I’m not lunch.”
Again, she paused and looked at him. Only this time, David could have sworn she smiled.
She reached into her coat pocket and placed a cell phone next to his hand with a nod.
“Oh, I get it. ET phone home. Yeah, I’m the ET here, right.”
She tilted her head and blinked.
“I appreciate the gesture, but trust me. I tried. I got one phone to power and get a signal and this isn’t the one that …” David stopped. As she returned to her misting of him, he lifted the phone. Not only was the phone powered, it also had a full signal.
But what good would that do him?
At that moment in time he was at the hands and mercy of some being. He hadn’t a clue where he was, but he was certain of one thing.
He knew for sure he wasn’t in SC.
EARTH ABOUNDS
Chapter One
NV 5 (Nevada Section 5)
There was a spot of blood on the screen of the cell phone, and Colonel Reese Gray wiped it away with his thumb.
David Hawk’s blood.<
br />
The desert air whipped against him. A forceful air, hot and dry, taking a bit of his breath away, then again, it could have been emotions.
Reese was confused. Internally, he suffered a potpourri of feelings that he was trying so hard to decipher.
Reese was a strong man both physically and emotionally, but he was close to breaking.
Keep it in check, he kept telling himself. Keep it in check.
Standing in the middle of the Nevada desert, he knew that he alone wasn’t going to be able to make heads or tails out of the situation, nor would he find his friend. Although a couple of weeks earlier, David Hawk wasn’t a friend. He was a coworker, a crew member on the Galaxy with Reese. The Galaxy was a space craft, sent to orbit earth carrying not only a skeleton crew from NASA, but four civilians who had won a space lottery.
Four days in space.
That was it, but when they returned they not only got caught in some sort of worm hole, they landed five years later on a desolate earth, a planet void of hydration and life. Void of people … that they knew of. But a trek across the country, following the trail of family members, brought them to Nevada. They were in search of a survivor complex known to them as So-Cal or SC.
During this trek, he lost two crew members, but the six of them that remained bonded and became friends. Now they were torn apart by tragedy and circumstances, inches from the victory destination of SC.
They saw the entrance and then they were attacked. Reese tried to recall the details, but they were vague. He hoped they came back. He wanted to remember every single second.
Driving full speed across the plains to the entrance, something from the sky fired at them. The people of SC came to their rescue, but it was too late. Even the residents of SC hadn’t a clue what had attacked them. It was a new kind of attack.
The Last Mile Trilogy Page 52