Days' End (15 page)

“Very good.” Carl smiled. “Good to hear. What else is going on in your life? Have you been to church?”

“Not this again, Dad. The world is not ending. It’s just a couple of fires. You sound like Chicken Little, for crying out loud.”

“For your information, it’s much more than fires. By the way, did you hear the newest on China? Seems that the meteorite hit a chemical weapons plant just outside Harbin. Of course the Chinese are denying the existence of such a plant, but the fact remains that downriver from Harbin some very bad things have been happening. One might say the waters have turned bitter.”

Alastair sat looking at his father. Although this was a discussion he did not wish to pursue, he could see the sincerity in his father’s eyes. “Go on,” was all he could say. What he’d actually wanted to say was something along the lines of “Let’s get this over with.”

He could see the spark in his dad’s eyes burst into flame.

“We’ve just about covered the third trumpet, or sign, if you want to call it that instead. So let’s go back to the first. The first trumpet is fires. ‘A third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.’ I don’t know how much actually burned, but do you remember the big fires we had in February?”

“Yes,” Alastair replied warily. His eyes were drifting from his father to the clock. How much longer can he ramble on? he thought to himself.

“Just wait, it gets better.”

I hope so, thought Alastair, taking a sip of lemonade.

“The second sign, and I’ll quote: ‘Something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood.’ Remind you of anything?”

Alastair squirmed in his chair. “A great mountain burning with fire” was dangerously close to what had caused the tsunami. Alastair’s pulse quickened and his palms began to sweat. He took a long drink from his glass and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

His father continued. “We’ve already been over the third sign, the meteorite Wormwood and bitter waters. The fourth sign, according to the Bible, is that ‘a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night the same way.’”

“I have no idea what that’s even supposed to mean, Dad.”

“Think back. What has happened recently that cast darkness over the earth?” His father leaned forward, watching eagerly as Alastair made the connection.

“The double eclipse.” Alastair felt like he was going to vomit. His mouth filled with saliva and he was suddenly hot and cold at the same time. He felt his stomach clench and fought the contents of his stomach back down. Wiping the sudden sheet of sweat from his forehead, he set his glass on the table and took a deep breath. It could all be coincidence, or it could actually be the end of mankind. Much to his dismay, Alastair was now being drawn into believing it was the latter of the two.

“The fifth sign is about locusts unleashed to torment mankind, to torture them with suffering like scorpion stings. I know it’s not spot on with the ‘skin condition’ the CDC is talking about, but it’s close enough for me.”

Alastair reached into his pocket and took out his cigarettes. If there was one occasion when a cigarette was necessary, it was when you realize the world could be coming to an end. “Let’s step outside so I can smoke this,” Alastair told his dad as he rose from his chair and grabbed his lemonade. His dad got up and followed him out onto the porch. Alastair leaned against a post, lit his cancer stick, and looked out across the fields. His father sat behind him. Alastair took a deep drag off of his cigarette and mumbled, “I don’t know, Dad. It all seems so crazy. How could this be happening?”

“I don’t know, but it is. We have to get ready.”

“It’s just a book. A good book, but a book nonetheless.”

Carl leaned forward. “It’s not a good book, it’s The Good Book. I don’t know how or why this is happening, but how can you deny what’s been going on? It can’t be a mere coincidence.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It rarely does.”

“I don’t know. If this is what you think it is, what now?”

“Well, the sixth sign refers to…”

“That’s not what I mean,” Alastair interrupted. “How do we stop it? Can we stop it?” Alastair turned to face his father. “Is there anything we can do?”

“I don’t think so.” His father sighed. “As far as I can tell, once it starts it proceeds all the way through. If you want any kind of silver lining, I’ve been studying up on it over the last few months and haven’t seen anything that shows a timeframe. For all I know it could be another thousand years before the seventh sign occurs.”

“I can’t take that chance.” Alastair sat down next to his father. “I need to find Nysa. I have to find her. If the world really is ending, I want to be with her when it happens.”

Carl’s expression was kind. “How do you plan to do that? You can’t just go to Colorado Springs and start knocking on doors. Outside of the obvious fact that the city is too big, if this project is so secret, you won’t be able to just knock and waltz in.”

“I don’t know,” Alastair answered. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “I just don’t know.”

September 11, Grapeland, TX

Alastair awoke. He heard noises coming from the kitchen below so he knew his father was already awake. He headed downstairs for breakfast.

“Good morning,” Alastair said as he entered the warmth of the kitchen, stopping in the doorway to stretch and allow his eyes to adjust to the sunlight that filled the room.

“I was thinking last night before I went to bed,” his father began.

“You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” Alastair quipped. He fell silent at Carl’s deadpan face.

“I was thinking that I want to come with you to look for Nysa. Your mother is already with the Lord waiting for us. If the end is nearing, you are the one I would most like to be with, and who knows, maybe I can help. Can I come?” Carl’s tone was casual, but Alastair detected some underlying emotion, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

Alastair went to his father and hugged him. “Of course, Dad.”

After a moment, Alastair stepped back and turned to help make breakfast. He didn’t want his father to see the tears in his eyes. It hadn’t occurred to Alastair until he hugged his dad that Carl had been alone for all these years. Alastair’s mother and little brother had died during childbirth not long after Alastair was born. The loss had devastated his father, but together they had gotten through it.

After Alastair had left home though, the house had been empty but for his father. It dawned on Alastair that this was a man who was facing the end of the world and just wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with his son when it happened. Alastair was honored and needed a second to pull himself together.

“I was trying to figure out how to find Nysa last night,” Alastair said as he chopped some tomatoes for their omelets. “The only lead I can come up with is the phone number for the lawyer. If we can get to him, we might be able to find out where the facility is located.”

“Give him a call,” replied his father. “No time to waste if we’re right about what’s going on.”

“It’s on my desk at home,” answered Alastair sheepishly.

“After breakfast I’ll call the airport and book the next flight back to L.A. for us. You pack.”

“Are you sure?” asked Alastair. “Today?”

“Absolutely. We’ve got to move as fast as possible. No point in sitting around here to come up with a game plan. We can think it up as we go along. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of downtime in the near future.”

They ate breakfast in silence, each thinking about the road before them. When they finished, they piled the dishes in the sink and went about their preparations to leave. Alastair hadn’t really unpacked the night before, so he did the dishes while his father finished up with the airlines and packed his own bag.

“The next flight we can make leaves in four and a half hours. We’re going to be on it. Let’s go.” Carl walked out the front door. Alastair dried his hands on the kitchen towel, grabbed his luggage, and followed.

The drive and flight were uneventful, with the exception of almost missing the boarding call. They had had to do a bit of running, but in the end they had managed to board. Their pace picked up upon landing in L.A. as they now had a goal, something that could lead them to Nysa.

Alastair drove as fast as he dared out of LAX and up the 405 freeway. As they pulled into his parking spot, Alastair’s pulse quickened, feeling that he was finally doing something, rather than just sitting and watching. He and his father moved briskly up the front steps and to the front door of the apartment. Alastair fumbled with his key in his haste to unlock it. He finally got it in, turned the key, and opened the door. Alastair walked through the living room and proceeded immediately to the desk as his father took a look around the room.

He watched as Carl examined the pictures on the wall of Alastair and Nysa in Venice Beach. Picking up the phone, he dialed the only number he could think of that might lead him to his fiancé.

“Hello, Mr. Stevens?”

“Yes, may I ask who’s calling?”

“My name is Alastair Mann, I’m Dr. Nysa Knight’s fiancé.”

“How can I help you today, Mr. Mann?”

“I know this is an unusual request, but I need to find Nysa. Do you know how I can get a hold of her?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Mann, but I’m not allowed to give out that information. I’m sure she told you that she would be allowed no contact outside the facility until the project was completed.”

“She did,” Alastair replied, “and I wouldn’t call if this weren’t an emergency. I have to see her.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. When the project is complete, I will let her know you want her to call. That’s the best I can do. Goodbye, Mr. Mann.”

Alastair heard the click of the line being disconnected. He set the phone down and looked over at his father.

“No luck, huh?”

“He said he’d tell her to call me when the project was finished.”

“It’s off to Colorado Springs then,” his father replied.

Alastair looked at him questioningly.

“We’re already packed and at least it’ll get us closer to her. I’m not saying we’ll find her right away, but it’ll certainly be faster than looking from L.A.”

They hopped the first flight to Colorado Springs they could find out of LAX. With nowhere to go upon arrival, they checked into a cheap hotel and tried to relax and get a good night’s sleep, for they both knew a long and difficult journey lay ahead.

We should know very soon if the latest attempt was a success. There is still time for setbacks, but with each failure we are a step closer to my goal. Now it is just a waiting game. Despite yet another “accident” that almost ruined them, the excess samples have been taken to the vault in case of a catastrophe. Only at the completion of the project will the samples be destroyed. I have invested too much in their acquisition. Once the process is complete there will be no need for them. The staff continues to be in high spirits as they get closer to the historic moment. Little do they know how historic it will be. The entire world will be aware of their accomplishment. They seem to know I have come to the facility, but I must be careful of who sees me. Some very difficult questions would be asked if I were to encounter the wrong person. For now, I will continue to isolate myself in my suite and bask in the glory of what is to come.

September 15,

Colorado Springs, CO

Alastair and Carl’s first three days in Colorado Springs had been extremely unsuccessful. They had visited the airport to try to get any information that might give them a clue as to where Nysa headed after landing, but found nothing. They checked with the ticketing agents, flight attendants, pilots—anyone who seemed to work in or around the airport. Either nobody knew anything, or they just weren’t saying. Regardless, it left Alastair and his father blindly chasing their tails.

Alastair called his boss at work and requested an extended leave of absence due to family problems that he didn’t care to discuss. Suzy approved his request, asking only that he check in from time to time and let her know as soon as possible when he would be able to report back to work. The work was starting to back up and while it wasn’t causing any problems yet, she could use his help as soon as he could make it back into the office. Alastair had agreed, thanking her for her understanding.

Bad news continued to filter in from around the world. Cleanup on the Eastern Seaboard and across the Atlantic Ocean revealed that the “worst case” estimates weren’t quite bad enough. Property damage and human casualty numbers climbed on an almost hourly basis. The contaminated river in China had devastated cities and villages downstream, the various toxins resulting in countless deaths and illnesses. Last, but certainly not least, the mysterious skin problem in Mississippi, whether of biblical or earthly origin, continued to spread rapidly.

So Alastair and his father continued working the airport. Day after day they left tired and frustrated, having achieved nothing, returning to their small motel to get some rest before repeating the cycle the next day.

September 21,

Outside Castle Rock, CO

Jacqueline had finally felt the baby kick. She’d been waiting impatiently for just that moment. She had immediately called Nysa to come see if she could feel it as well. Although Nysa had felt nothing, the moment was a special one for both of them. Nysa took the opportunity to have some sparkling cider sent down to celebrate the occasion. The two women opened the bottle and made a toast to the little one. They had spent the remainder of the evening laughing and making up bizarre names for the baby. Engelbert Humperdink, although previously taken, had taken top spot on the list, followed closely by Hans von Guber Poopy Pants and Alfonso Rodriquez Gomez Sanchez Domingo de San Francisco.