Ping - From the Apocalypse (14 page)

Travis
shook his head and handed her the book. Soon after she started, he leaned on her shoulder, staring ahead of him with a far-away gaze. He stayed that way until Sarah decided it was time to eat.

T
he strange blood rain continued almost non-stop throughout the evening. They prepared dinner on the gas stove, washed up with warm water and spent the night parked sideways in the middle of the highway.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Hotel Parking Lot

(July 31st, Year One, PA)

Late the following morning Sarah fired up the RV and headed for the next gas station which was not far away. She came to a stop and Travis went out to help her fill the tank.

When Kate
had finally made it to a hardware store back in her hometown, she had fastened an electric fuel pump to two hoses, one on either side; and wired the pump to a twelve volt battery. In case she couldn’t find an operable gas station all she’d needed to do was insert one hose into the tank of another vehicle, turn on the pump and the gas would quickly squirt out through the other hose into her empty tank.

She didn’t have a problem at most gas stations for a while but
the grid was out pretty well everywhere now, and the pumps were useless. Instead of using them, they inserted the hose straight into the hold tank — fortunately the caps were rarely locked.

She sat up on her bunk
; watching Travis so eager to learn as Sarah filled the tank, brought a smile to her face. She gazed down at her stomach thankful it was not queasy just yet and remembered how incredibly well she had felt during those weeks with Jack — not frail and ill like now.

“Okay Travis, good job!” Sarah enthused. “Are you ready for our next adventure?” Kate saw her ruffle his hair before they climbed inside.

Travis
sat in the passenger seat, pulled a map from the glove compartment, and listened as Sarah showed him the route. They travelled for a while pleasantly serenaded by music from the surrounding speakers, but eventually there were too many of the dreaded corpses on the highway for Travis who quickly made his way back to Kate, his frightened gaze avoiding the outside.

She read to him
until he fell asleep on her and then Kate gently guided him down onto the seat, covered him with a blanket, and finally walked forward.

“
I don’t mind taking over for a while if you want. I’ve never driven anything like this before, but at least I have my driver’s license,” she teased.

Sarah, who seemed to
be absorbed in the music, peered over at her. “Not unless you really want to sweetie,” she smiled. “Haven’t had this much fun for a long time.”

Relieved,
Kate plopped into the passenger seat and secured her belt. When the music finished Sarah began to hum and tap on the wheel.

“I hope we’re right about this place
,” she said. “But, if not, then, we’ll just move on. We’ve got lots of choices. We could go anywhere at all.”

Eventua
lly they drove up into the hills, where the terrain went from dry and lifeless to a forested area with a refreshing dappling of lakes. Sarah drove down a steep, winding road from the top of a small mountain, and then along a straight patch with green woodland on both sides of the highway.

They passed a
large home that appeared to be mostly windows off in the woods, and then a tangle of crashed vehicles, with bits of metal and glass still spread over the pavement. And then, up ahead on the left, was the tall sign,
Welcome to Moonstone Resort
.

“There it is,” Sarah said, swinging t
he RV onto the side-road which took them deep into the woods. They rocked gently as the wheels traversed the furrowed route and the air was filled with earthy fragrances.

The
hilly terrain curved and twisted, low-lying branches scraping the roof in places, lacy shadows gyrating as the motorhome disturbed the thick foliage. The route into Moonstone continued through the woods for a way and then gradually flattened as it led them out of the trees into the sunshine.

They drove through a
strip bordered by a long line of grandfatherly elms, where on either side, grassy fields spread out towards distant fringes of forest. Glancing back, from her particular viewpoint, Kate could still see a small bit of the highway in the distance.

As they drove out into the brightness she filled
her lungs with the reviving air and abruptly let it out. “Just what we need; that’s fertile land out there. Travis, come look ahead of us.”

The
y had climbed a mildly graded slope where beyond was a shimmering lake lined with cottages on the north shore. Peeking out unobtrusively, slightly back from the other dwellings was the hotel — elegant for such a rustic setting as far as Kate could tell from her viewpoint. Much of it was shrouded among variegated greenery.

“Travis,
do you see that?” The boy leaned against Kate’s lap, his dark eyes dazzled as he gazed out attentively.

Sarah found a space in the parking lot near the reception area and they rushed after Travis past the hotel's adjoining dining room and down the steps of a rocky slope to the lake.

“
How do you like those boats?” Kate exclaimed, trying to keep up with the boy as he ran down to the main dock. From there they wandered onto a small foot-bridge that traversed a trickling stream over to the side entrance of a low building with a flat roof.

“
It’s a gift shop,” said Sarah, her eyes against the window. “I see pool noodles and all kinds of things for playing in the water.”

“
I’m looking forward to a swim,” Kate said, as she gazed across the pristine waters to the reflections along the far shore.

Attached to the gift shop
, a small store was stocked with food, books, magazines and diapers; enough to meet most of their needs for a while. Further along was a rectangular building with large windows and a surrounding deck.

Travis
dashed inside and over to the pool table with Sarah behind him. Kate strolled across the old pine floors and worn carpet to the piano. While Travis and Sarah hit a ping-pong ball back and forth near the stone fireplace, Kate gazed at the sunset over the lake, her fingers moving slowly across the piano keys.

Not
far from the dock she could see a body, a man on his side beneath a tree. Of course they were well-aware there were corpses, judging from the cars in the parking lot.

She stopped playing.
“It’s going to be dark soon, Sarah,” she said. “We should get back to the RV for some dinner. We can explore the rest in the morning.”

“
Well, I
am
starving,” Sarah said, laying the paddle down on the table. “How about you Travis? Are you hungry sweetie?” But he headed out the far door and raced over to a swing.

“Look at this,
” Kate remarked, gazing at the small playground. Sarah pushed Travis on the swing a few times, but before he was barely moving he jumped off, ran up the steps to a tubed slide and disappeared into an attached treehouse covered with a shingled roof.

Kate sighed and gazed at Sarah.
“I like it here. It’s a good place to have the baby and start a future.”

As Travis descended the slide they both ambled closer to the lake
; the sun was low and the water, a kaleidoscope of contrasting colours, lapped gently against the rocks giving Kate a feeling of peace. She filled her lungs with the fragrant air.

“It certainly has
potential,” Sarah sighed. “I’ll give it that. But we’ve got a grizzly job ahead of us, if we want to stay here, I’m afraid.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Proof of Life

(August 1st,
Year One, PA)

At some point while Kate slept during that first night at Moonstone the wind picked up and from her bunk in the RV she heard the welcome sign near the hotel flapping and creaking on its hinges. Something metallic rolled across the pavement, and finally came to a crashing halt. She heard Travis and Sarah toss restlessly.

At around 2:00 am,
Kate stared out a moonless sky, realizing her mind had been working overtime thinking about Jack. She ran her fingers over her stomach but couldn’t detect anything growing in there yet. She was thankful to have Sarah to help with the baby.

If only
their mother had known Sarah had survived — that her little girl had been raised by a crazy woman. Kate wondered what that had really done to her sister; so far it was still hard to tell. She would never take her eyes off her child or Travis — she
was
already a mother, she realized.

S
uch a sweet boy. She could hear him breathing. He’d been through so much and would need a lot of nurturing; but he couldn’t possibly overcome such horrors, not completely. They would certainly do their best for him, he deserved at least that.

Eventually she dozed off again
, waking when Travis cried out in his sleep. Sarah muttered something just after that. Kate rolled over and then onto her back and she heard Snowy cleaning his feathers — he must have been having a bad night too.

At approximately 5
:00 am the three of them sat up all at once. They'd somehow connected telepathically in their sleep and someone, who was utterly confused, had joined them. Travis was trying to convince her she was not having a hallucination and every time she tried to respond he sent her encouraging affirmations. Kate and Sarah did the same.

Three people want
you to join them… three people will teach you how to find your way to them.

Kate was focusing on the woman when her gaze caught a
faint light moving in the sky from the window above her bunk. It was travelling past the stars and seemed to be descending.

“Look,
” she cried, “out my window, quickly!”

“
It’s a plane!” blurted Sarah who was beside Kate on the bunk now.

Travis
pushed his face up to the screen. Then he bolted for the door. “Travis wait! Be careful in the dark,” Kate cried.

They
ran after him in bare feet across the grass, rushing towards the lake where everything was glowing with starlight and the budding dawn.

The object
twinkled brighter as it headed directly over the lake, two lights visible and then three. It swung around to the left in a wide curve and Kate could have sworn she saw the wings tip before it changed direction. High above the trees it gradually flew off, fading into the distance.

“
You see Kate, we aren’t alone — that’s proof of it, right there,” whispered Sarah in awe.

Travis was still gaping
at the sky. It was the first time Kate had seen him smile like that.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

The
Burial Grounds

(August
3rd, Year One, PA)

“Why are you bothering me,” Kate mumbled irritably, sweeping the dead leaves piled high from last winter off the recreation center’s surrounding deck.

“What did you say hon?”

Kate turned to discover Sarah walking towards her.

“Oh
, you scared me,” Kate tittered. “Uh… where’s Travis?”

“
Caught you talking to yourself again,” Sarah said, her eyes softening sympathetically.

Kate
peered at her for a second, and then continued to sweep.

Sarah picked up another broom and pushed some leaves toward Kate’s pile.
“He went straight to his room after breakfast again. Makes as if he’s reading,” she sighed, with a look of concern.

“Poor baby,” Kate
said. “Pretending these bodies aren’t here isn’t fooling anyone. We’ve got to do something about them Sarah — no more excuses.”

They had found exactly two
-dozen deceased residents, most of whom had ended up in the lobby of the hotel, likely on extended Christmas vacations — away from the boy’s sight, fortunately. A few were beneath the artificial tree where they’d either crawled, dropped, or possibly laid themselves down waiting to die. There were only so many couches and chairs, and it was as good a spot as any. Obviously panic stricken, they’d felt safety in numbers and congregated in the most convenient place, the terror and agony frozen on their faces.

T
he staff were still in uniform among the guests — two maids, a waiter, three waitresses, a chef, and two cooks. A man in a white shirt lay half on a winged-back chair; the head and arms had fallen onto the horribly stained ornate rug, which along with the contaminated furniture, would have to go. The sooner the better.

A
few corpses were scattered about the grounds too — like the one beneath the tree noticeable from the recreation-room deck where Kate and Sarah were sweeping leaves. Travis had seen it the evening they’d arrived — the one and only time he’d managed to ignore it, staying indoors the entire next day.

“I guess we start with him,”
Kate said. “Bring the pick-up as far as you can and we’ll drag him over to it. Don’t forget the gloves — oh, and some scarves for our faces, hon.”

Except for
the couple on the second story, the guest rooms were empty. It would have helped if the elevators had been functional, but they’d have to carry the bodies down the stairs. Fortunately there was a good supply of green garbage bags in the kitchen.

Yesterday had been a day of
cleaning, organizing, and making their new home comfortable. It was unanimous that the cottage directly east of the hotel was the nicest. As soon as Travis was fed, and had settled into his room with his books, Kate had scouted the resort with Sarah — going through every dwelling thoroughly, all the way down to the last cabin at the western tip by the bay.

Poor Travis had not
ventured outside since that first night. He knew exactly what they meant when they said they were cleaning up the grounds. Kate had started to be a little more specific but he’d covered his ears and peered into the pages of his book. Once they had taken care of the bodies she hoped he’d feel better.

While waiting for Sarah
to return with the pick-up, Kate swept the last pile of leaves down the steps and then behind the building off into the woods, finally leaning against the broom and gazing into the trees.

She
suddenly stiffened — a particular someone was trying to make contact again — almost the way Travis had done at first, then Sarah, and more recently, the woman they were teaching and encouraging to try to locate them.

But there was a
familiar darkness to this individual, and Kate strongly suspected it was Jack. He’d been trying to get her attention for the last two days and now she was feeling violated by his presence.

“Go away!
” she said abruptly, as if she were shooing away a horsefly. Then shuddering, she closed herself off to him the way she had done before and turned toward the lake, which was sparkling under the August sky.

It
was wonderful here. She looked down at her flat tummy and ran her palm over it. A little person was growing in there — completely dependent on her for everything. Her mother had been the most beautiful woman — Kate remembered the smell of her perfume and the sound of her laughter. She longed for her at times; there had been nobody as perfect — until Sarah had vanished. She’d blamed Kate for that.

Oh,
her mother had never actually said such a thing but Kate felt the guilt in her very core. Her father had done everything in his power to convince her otherwise, insisting she was loved by both of them. Yet, after Sarah disappeared, only
his
love had felt authentic.

She could still remember
the sick feeling when Sarah jumped through the car door, certain there was going to be trouble. Sarah had ignored her warnings and Kate, who had followed her to make sure she was safe, had become distracted by the bubble-gum machine.

But,
how could a mother blame a three-year-old for something like that? She was the adult who was supposed to protect them. How could she?

Suddenly
, as Kate gazed out across the water, a memory surfaced and her breath caught in her throat. She saw her mom sitting beside her on her bed, after Sarah’s memorial service. Kate had been crying, and then her mom had sobbed, “I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive me?”

And then
, anger had welled up inside Kate and she had screamed how much she hated her mother at the top of her lungs, declaring she was not her little girl anymore. She only wanted daddy from then on.

Now
Kate was beginning to sob. How could she have done such a thing? She had never forgiven her. Never even spoken to her again. And then, her beautiful mother had died. Kate had been so cruel. It was her own fault that they’d drifted apart. At the sound of Sarah returning, she quickly wiped her eyes.

T
hey dragged the man’s body out to the parking lot, carried each corpse out of the hotel, and piled them into the truck-bed; then driving around the resort to retrieve the five others, they cleared the last one from the path near the cabin by the bay, hoping nothing had been missed.

As they passed the back of their cottage with the heap of bodies
, Kate prayed Travis would not look out of his bedroom window. They headed up the road towards the highway, not stopping until they’d passed the last of the elms that bordered the road.

“
This is going to be a major undertaking,” Sarah muttered, as they dragged the first body from the truck into the ditch. They planned to come back and bury them as soon as possible.