The outside was a sunny yellow color with white trim. It had a porch in the front with a white banister, and white shutters surrounded the windows. It also had a white picket fence that circled the entire yard. Molly wanted Dug to have as much space as possible to run around in, and that yard did the trick.
Gary approached the house and went inside. He scanned the living room for Molly or Dug, but didn’t find them. Dug always greeted Gary with such excitement when he came through the door – whether he’d been gone ten minutes or ten days. Where were they?
He crossed the dark hardwood floors to the kitchen and searched there. He found it just how he’d left it – dark granite countertops, cherry cabinetry, light stone floors, stainless steel appliances. But it seemed cold to him without Molly.
Gary went upstairs and rounded the corner, searching for his family. He padded softly to the master bedroom. Molly never closed the door when he was gone. She wanted the animals to be able to come and go as they pleased.
He found Molly curled up with Dug and Sally, indulging in an afternoon nap – one of his favorite things to do. It surprised him, because Molly didn’t nap. She said she always woke up more tired than when she lay down. But he didn’t question it in his dream. He simply slipped out of his pants and shirt and sidled up next to her.
She didn’t wake all the way up, but she stirred and snuggled into Gary’s chest as he spooned her. Dug didn’t even raise his head, and of course Sally didn’t acknowledge Gary at all.
He buried his face in Molly’s hair and breathed in her glorious scent. His life was perfect. He had his dream job, flying to exotic locations, he had a dream wife, who was always there when he got home, and he had a dream house. What more could a guy want?
Gary dreamed about Molly all night long. He dreamed about taking her to The Pizza Garden. He dreamed about dropping in on her classes one day. He dreamed about cleaning up the fish tank.
When he woke up in the morning, he realized he’d spent the entire night with her, and smiled. Gary often wondered how normal couples felt, getting to spend every night together. He was gone six months of the year, so their nights together were precious.
He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only six-thirty. He opted not to text Molly yet, because he knew she wouldn’t be up. She liked to sleep as long as possible, and was occasionally grouchy if woken up.
He got dressed and went downstairs to see what the hotel had to offer in the way of breakfast. It wasn’t much: a bowl of apples and a variety of cereals – variety being a choice between Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Flakes – along with some hot coffee and run-of-the-mill creamers. It was enough, though. It was early, and Gary didn’t often like to eat breakfast. He knew it might be awhile before he had the opportunity to eat lunch, so he swiped an extra apple for the road.
While he ate, CNN played on the closest TV.
“Scientists warn of an apocalyptic solar flare that could destroy life on Earth as we know it.”
Gary choked on his cereal, laughing at the sensationalism coming from the television so early in the morning. The media was really getting out of control. They’d lived through Y2K, and even survived the end of the Mayan calendar. Much to the dismay of some of the more radical Christians, the end wasn’t in fact as near as the reporter would have them believe.
“Scientists say the flare could cause a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse that would shut down all electronics and electricity for anywhere between a few months and several years,” the anchorwoman proclaimed.
Gary spied the remote on the next table and retrieved it. He changed the channel while the anchorwoman was speculating about the outright chaos that would follow such an event. It was too early for that kind of propaganda, if you asked him. Gary switched the TV to something a little more palatable at seven in the morning. SpongeBob SquarePants fit the bill. Gary chuckled at the cartoon as he finished off his cereal and prepared to face the day.
The Captain came in just as Gary was finishing up. “Oh, hey Clint,” Gary said.
“Morning.” Clint was a big man, tall and broad. He wasn’t dressed for work yet, and wore sweatpants and a t-shirt down to breakfast. His brown hair was pointing in several directions, characteristic of him at that early hour.
They’d only had a handful of flights together, and in fact they would be parting ways again in Orlando. Clint was just finishing his seven-day stint, but Gary still had four days to go.
Clint didn’t strike Gary as the friendliest fellow, and took a very minimalistic approach to conversation – limiting his responses to as few words as possible to get his point across, and only asking questions or initiating conversation when it was absolutely necessary.
They parted ways after breakfast to get cleaned up, and met in the lobby less than twenty minutes later. The walk out to the crew car was silent, and in fact, the entire ride over to the airport was quiet, save for the classical stylings of Philly’s 101.7 FM. Luckily the airport was only a few miles away.
Really, Gary didn’t mind Clint’s quiet side. It was a hell of a lot better than some of the other yokels who talked non-stop while he was running checklists and trying to concentrate on charts. Given the choice, Gary would pick Clint any day. He was a hard worker and kept to himself. Really, Gary could do worse.
They stopped to get coffee and donuts for the passengers on the way, and then headed to the airplane to get set up.
The Hawker was a small business jet that seated nine people. Gary wasn’t expecting that many people for this trip, but they could take them if they had to. Usually, they only had a handful of some of the wealthiest people in the country occupying the seats.
After cleaning up, running checks, and restocking the bird, they were ready for the passengers to arrive so they could get going.
Gary figured it was a good time to say good morning to Molly, so he sent her a text.
Morning beautiful! Can’t wait to see ya in four days! Have a wonderful day!
She responded right away. Morning handsome! Be safe today and can’t wait to see you too!
It was quickly followed by a picture of Dug with bedhead, and the caption: Dug says good morning. Haha!
Gary smiled. Haha, morning Dug! Gary typed. It was a classic picture, with Dug bleary-eyed, his hair going in every direction imaginable.
Clint walked up and nodded as he made eye contact. “Any word from the passengers?” Gary asked, locking his phone and jamming it back into his pocket.
“Nope.”
“Well, I guess we wait.”
Clint harrumphed at that. Flying wasn’t really the biggest part of the job, even though Gary thought it was the best part. The majority of the workday was spent waiting, a smaller percentage collecting whatever was requested, and an even smaller part actually flying.
So, they waited.
The Blackout is available now on Amazon.
Acknowledgments
Finally. This series is coming to an end. Over a year overdue, The Dead Room Trilogy is complete and I’m so grateful for so many things.
First, thanks to God for, well, everything. Giving me the words to finally finish this book, giving me the means to sit down and do it, and for the amazing year 2016 was that made it seem like it was finally the right time to wrap up Mason’s story.
As always, thanks to my awesome husband who’s there to help out as much as he can. We’ve had a tough transition in the last few months, but he’s still been totally willing to take our threenager on his days off so I could finish this project, and I’m so grateful for that.
And where would I be without my team? This book had a much smaller team than normal, since expenses were tight for the remainder of the project, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less thankful. Cynthia, I love you and your questions! Thank you so much for shining light on areas that needed serious work. You are such an asset, and I hope you see how truly valuable you are.
To my friends and family, you guys are awesome. Each and every one of you chee
rs me on in your own way. From my parents who help out with our toddler, do a last round of edits, or just simply read my books, you guys make this dream happen. And my friends, what cheerleaders you guys are! Always asking me how my books are doing, where I’m at, what I’m working on now. I know it’s just a bunch of gobbilty-gook to some of you, but your support means the world to me.
Lastly, my dear reader, thank you for waiting for this one. I hope it was worth it! 2017 has a lot of fun things in store, so hang on! God willing, you’ll be seeing a lot of me! Until then,
—S
About the Author
Stephanie Erickson is an English Literature graduate from Flagler College. She lives in Florida with her family. Alive is her eleventh novel.
She loves to connect with readers! Follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/stephmerickson, Twitter @sm_erickson, or stop by her Web site at www.stephanieericksonbooks.com.
You can also get the latest news on new releases, contests, free books, and author appearances by signing up for her newsletter here.
Stephanie’s Books
The Blackout
The Cure
The Unseen Trilogy:
Unseen
Unforgiven
Undivided
The Dead Room Trilogy:
The Dead Room
The Dead World
Alive
The Children of Wisdom:
The Fate
The Reaper
The Human
Alive (The Dead Room Trilogy Book 3) Page 18