“Hey, Colin, we got a signal!” Darius said. “We cleared a portion of the woods.”
“And you’re heading where?” Colin asked.
“Civilization.”
“Well, let me know where that is, I may have to drive down there to get you. I can probably leave.…”
“No, no need. We’ll get back. I’ll rent a car,” Darius said.
“If you’re sure.”
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you know we were fine.”
“And Bret?”
“Fine.” Darius dropped his voice to a whisper. “Bitching.”
“Are you behaving?”
“Yeah, but this morning she claimed I hit her with my erection.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was sharing the blanket. Said I poked her with it.”
“How would she know?” Colin asked.
“That’s what I said. She got pissed.”
“Dare-Dare, just behave and be careful.”
“I will.”
Another exchange and Colin ended the call. He held it near his face.
“You got that proud papa look on your face,” Bruce said. “All is fine?”
Colin nodded. “Fine and safe.”
“Good.”
“Of course.…” Colin sighed out. “Darius is showing her his erection, but other than that, they’re making progress.” He put his phone away, turned and started to walk. “What’s this over here?”
Still spinning from Colin’s comment, Bruce shook his head, snickered and followed Colin.
***
“I’m not understanding why they are sending you down there,” Chuck said, talking on the phone while in the convenience store. “Damn it, I didn’t see mustard.”
“Huh?” Blain asked.
“Nothing.” Chuck found the packet and opened it with his teeth. “Why?”
“Why are they sending me to Texas?”
“Yeah.”
“They aren’t. I asked to go.”
“Okay. Why?” Chuck asked as he walked to the counter and waited for the clerk to ring him up.
“I’m a pretty big news celebrity.”
Chuck paid, all the while bobbing his head and rolling his eyes.
“I have an obligation to keep this ‘end of the world’ thing a secret.”
“When did that change?” Chuck asked.
“When I became part of the survival plan. You and I have book duty this upcoming week. Next week we are water boys. You think if this thing breaks we’re gonna have all that easy of a time hoarding water?”
“No. We won’t. Hoarding laws will go into effect.”
“Exactly. And I want to hoard before that happens. We have a complex to stock. A wait house to get ready. It’s not gonna be long before this thing gets out anyhow. Hell, it’s probably already on the net. But until the governments confirm or deny, it’s purely speculation. And while its speculation, we can prepare.”
“Makes sense.”
“Plus,” Blain continued, “If I find Darius and Bret down there, my resources can help.”
“Okay, you got a point.” Chuck walked outside and to his car.
“Darius and Bret surviving that crash. That’s big news. It’s a miracle. However…I need to get there and I need to cut it off at the pass.”
“Oh, yes, sure, to scoop the story.”
“No man, not at all. To save Darius.”
Chuck laughed. “What? Save Darius? I think he’s fine.”
“You think,” Blain said. “The government, the world, they’re calling this EMP hit a terror attack, right?”
“Yeah.” He opened his mouth to take a bite of his hot dog.
“No one’s come forward. Man, if it gets out that Darius was on a plane, that he had a parachute and he survived, that he saw it coming. How long do you think it will take before Darius…is the fall guy. And all of us…and our little end of the world survival group? Part of his terror cell?”
Chuck had no more to say. He couldn’t even eat. Blain had made a valid point.
***
“Triple Grande latte, please.” Colin ordered his drink, then turned to Bruce. “And you’re sure I can’t get you anything?”
“Nope. I’m good.” Bruce held up a bag. “These books will help me understand the weather and so forth.”
“I could have given you any information you needed.” Colin interrupted his talk, thanked the coffee shop clerk and returned to Bruce.
“In all due respect, as much as that is gonna help with questions, I kind of like to gather my info on my own.”
“Makes sense.”
The newest voice, “It doesn’t to me,” entered into the conversation.
“Bobby,” Bruce said with a smile. “Glad you can meet us. We’re heading to lunch.”
“I’ll pass,” Bobby said, “I just came to get that new rat extermination handbook.”
“Are they back?” Bruce asked.
“Tenfold today.”
“Goddamn it.” Bruce shook his head. “Where the hell are they coming from and why our swamp?”
Colin interjected “Perhaps we should test the water there. See if it contains anything out of the ordinary.”
Bobby said. “It’s river water.”
“Yes, but perhaps there is some sort of gas leaking that is causing a problem,” Colin said. “With all that’s happening with the earth, you never know.”
Bruce added, “Check this out, Bobby. I got some books so we can better understand the temperatures we’re gonna have to deal with. I have this idea about sealing up the lower floors and creating a ventilation system. I’ll get you to draw it up later.”
Bobby nodded. “I still don’t buy this, Dad. An ice age? Snow that’s gonna pile up without warning in twelve hours?”
“We don’t know. We have to take the word of the experts, here. I know that what’s happened to our back yard ain’t normal.”
“And,” Colin said, “there will be some warning on the snow. We’ll see the storm clouds forming which will give us warning to get to the Wait Center.”
“I know, Dr. Reye, you’re an expert and all,” Bobby said. “But it sounds far-fetched. I find it hard to believe.”
“I can see that,” Colin said. “As much as I find it hard to believe you lost your job as a police officer for being racist.”
Bruce nodded. “That is true, though.”
“I’m curious.” Colin tapped his chin. “Was it racist against blacks, whites.…”
Bruce answered. “Arabs.”
“Ah.”
Bobby winced. “Why are you telling him this stuff?”
“Well, son, what difference does it make? We’re all gonna be living together forever real soon.”
“Plus,” Colin added. “I just find it hard to believe because you don’t strike me as a racist.”
“What makes one look like a racist, Dr. Reye?” Bobby asked.
“Being white,” Colin answered then held up his finger when his phone rang. He answered it. “Chuck? Yes. Go on.” All expression dropped from his face. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that. Right away. Thank you.” He hung up the call. “Can you gentlemen excuse me for a second?”
“Everything OK?” Bruce asked.
“Oh, yes, yes. Just a slight change in plans.” He began to dial. “I have to call Darius.”
***
They had just hit a side road and were having a liberal versus conservative bickering session with every step they took when a truck driver pulled over.
He asked if they needed a ride and informed them to ‘hop in’.
They did.
“Whew.” Bret said. “It’s nice and cool in here.”
“Thank you,” Darius said. “We appreciate it.”
“Didn’t expect to see people walking,” The truck driver said. “Not in this area.”
“We didn’t expect to be.…” Darius stopped and answered his phone. “Hello.”
“Who is it?” B
ret asked.
Darius waved her off. “Oh, hey.”
“Who is it?”
Darius ignored. “Yep. We just got picked up. A ride. How do you like that?”
“Darius.”
Darius covered the mouth piece. “Do you mind? Thank you.” He returned to his call, despite her huff. “Battery is almost gone so we have to make his.…” he silenced and listened. “Shit. I didn’t think of that. Yeah. Thanks. Bye.” He hung up.
“I hate when you do that,” Bret said. “Who was it?”
“Colin.”
The truck driver cleared his throat. “So . . . just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing up in these parts. How long you been here?”
Bret answered. “Since yesterday morning.”
“Are you aware of the plane crashes?” he asked.
“Are we ever.” Bret said. “We . . .”
“Saw two go down.” Darius interrupted. “Right in front of us.”
“Hey!” Bret said. “Don’t you want to let him know we . . .”
“Almost got hit with debris,” Darius said. “It was freaky.”
“What were you doing in the woods?” he asked.
“Walking,” Bret answered. “You wouldn’t believe this. We were . . .”
“Looking for the tillandsia recurvata. Which is a moss found in these parts. No luck.” Darius said. “Then we got stuck. Because all the smoke and stuff.”
“It’s been a hell of a tragedy.” The driver said. “Terror attack you know.”
“You don’t say,” Darius said. “Really? Oh my God.”
Bret huffed. “No, it was . . .”
“More than that, yes.” Darius tapped her knee. “You’re right dear. Sad.”
A final grunt and Bret faced Darius “Why the hell are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Stopping me from talking.”
Darius couldn’t tell her that they couldn’t divulge they had survived the crash. He had to come up with something. “Because . . . because . . .”
“Because what?”
“Because you’re being typically female and hogging all the conversation.”
“How . . . dare . . . you. You male chauvinist pig headed liberal!” Bret blasted, and then started into a rant. The driver hunched and winced at the loud vocal explosion that ensued in the cab of his truck.
***
“As a protective measure,” Chuck said to Colin. “It works. But they’re in Texas. How are they going to eat? Get a room? Rent a car? Dead men don’t pay.”
“Ah . . . but they do.” Colin pulled out the keys to his house and aimed the key to his front door. “See, the credit cards will likely be denied if we inform them that Darius is dead. We’ll do no such thing. As long as we don’t try to claim insurance money or sue the airlines, we’ll not draw attention to ourselves. We’re not going to say he’s dead, we’re just not going to tell anyone they are alive.”
“Won’t they figure that out when charges are on his card?” Chuck asked. “I mean, the airline is going to look into every person aboard.”
“And Darius and Bret will not come up as terror suspects. If they come to me and ask, I’ll simply tell them that some thief must have found the card and used it. After all, the plane did drop from the sky. It is conceivable his credit cards flew about.”
Chuck winced, showing his slight disagreement. “I’ll let you handle that and . . . this.”
Colin walked into the house. “Does something smell like it’s burning?”
“Like someone’s trying to cook.”
Colin set down his briefcase and closed the door. “If that’s my maid I may reconsider her employment.”
“No need,” Mrs. Wilson, Colin’s maid, hustled to the door. “I came on to your home because you had no children. It was bad enough when Mr. Cobb moved in, now this. No. They burned ramen noodles. Never heard of anyone who burned ramen noodles. You can send me my check. Good day.” She opened the door and walked out hastily.
“There you have it,” Chuck said.
“I never liked her pot roast anyhow. Burnt ramen noodles sounds better.” He walked to the kitchen.
Chuck laughed, following Colin to the kitchen. He was amazed at the lack of surprise on Colin’s face as Andi and Casper sat at the breakfast counter eating ramen noodles. Luke was nowhere to be found; the kitchen was a mess and Colin just smiled.
He asked Casper if she’d make him some ramen then took a seat at the counter with the girls. He informed them, as if it were nothing, that he needed them to be the best actresses they could and pretend their mother was dead.
***
“Do you think maybe . . . you could have told me?” Bret snapped at Darius. She stopped, fixed her shoe and then her backpack. “Or else maybe we wouldn’t be walking.”
“Oh, okay, let me get this right. I was supposed to stop you in the middle of your sentence and tell you that we can’t say we survived that crash because it would look suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, right.” Darius scoffed. “That’s real smart.”
“Are you saying I’m dumb?”
“You aren’t acting bright at this moment.”
“Asshole.”
“Thank you for that.” Darius shook his head. “I would have thought you would have caught on. Or at the very least, saved your bitching for when we got to town.”
“So it’s my fault that the truck driver kicked us out.”
“Yes.” Darius answered adamantly. “You bitched.”
“You started it.”
“You screamed.”
“You did, too.”
“Listen to us.” Darius sighed out. “I probably would have kicked us out as well.”
“No you wouldn’t have,” Bret said. “Neither would I. I would have told us to quit, or shut up. I wouldn’t have made us walk in this heat.”
“True.”
“We’re both too nice for that.”
“I agree.”
“He wasn’t a nice man,” Bret said. “I could tell.”
“You know what? I picked that up as well.” Darius adjusted his bags. “See, we can agree on some things.”
“I never said we couldn’t. We’re just in a bad spell.”
“Which we’ll get out of.”
Bret laughed.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“I’m just thinking we’re in trouble if we don’t. We’re the future of society.”
“It’ll be a long end of the world.”
“Just like it’s a long hot walk,” Darius said.
“Could be worse. A freak storm could brew.”
They both stopped and looked at the sky.
Sunny.
They walked on.
18. The Purchase
June 16th …
Darius didn’t mean to see her naked. It just happened that way. The plush hotel room had two doors to the bathroom, and Darius wasn’t even thinking they led to the same one. He went in to shower. She was enjoying the bath.
Bret was so exhausted that she just released a slight ‘peep’, slid down in the bath, and accepted his apology. Darius himself didn’t realize how tired he was until the apple he was eating revitalized him.
The shower would do wonders.
After the long walk, they arrived in some small no-name town which had been pummeled into blackness. A nice older gentleman driving a pickup truck – without air conditioning—offered to take them into Austin, or anywhere nearby. That’s where he was headed to stay.
They vowed not to argue and were silent during the ride.
They were off on their calculations of where their plane crashed. They were a bit more south, but not too far south, as the trip to Austin took a couple hours. Highway driving became crowded the further south they rode.
“That’s the only place with power,” the kindly man said. “South Texas. Most folks would think it’s the apocalypse without power.”
“Why are yo
u headed there?” Darius asked.
“See my son.”
As long as the man didn’t mind, they took the ride all the way there. Little did they know how many people would be flocking south.
The only hotel available was one that cost over three hundred dollars a night, and the presidential suite was a grand.
“We’ll take it. At least two nights,” Darius said without hesitation.
He would have paid two grand a night the room felt so good.
Bret didn’t take a long bath. He wanted to tell her that he had heard from Blain who was arriving via chopper – brave man. The bus ride down proved too troublesome and the high-class reporters took the offer of a chopper.
Colin gave Blain the number.
Before Darius could tell her, Bret staggered from the bathroom wearing the thick, huge, complimentary robe and dropped face first on the bed.
She was out in seconds.
Darius let her sleep just like that, on top of the bed. And surprisingly enough, when he woke up the next morning, she was still in the same position. Only her wet hair had dried.
That made Darius laugh.
The coffee pot in the room brewed its last drop and the aroma filled the air. He poured a cup for himself, then one for Bret. Carrying the mug he went into her room, set the mug on the stand and crouched by the bed.
“Wanna get up?” he asked. “Blain will be here shortly.”
Bret’s head cocked immediately as if she was startled that she was sleeping. “Doesn’t he understand we want to get some sleep?”
“Sure,” Darius said. “He arrived a few hours ago and already started things for us. I made coffee.” He stood. “By the way, nice hair.”
“What?”
“I never thought anyone’s hair could look like that, but then again, yours dried in that position.”
“Fuck.” Bret sat up, trying to pat down her hair. “It dried sideways.”
“I’m sure you have fix-it stuff in that diaper bag.”
“I have a brush.” She swung her legs over the bed and grabbed the coffee. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Darius began to walk, but stopped. “Hey, uh, since you and I were clothes-less, I called down stairs; I told them to send something up from the clothes shop. Comfortable. Everyday. Stuff we can sight-see in.”
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