Read Ping - From the Apocalypse Online

Authors: Susan Lowry

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Dystopian, #Psychics

Ping - From the Apocalypse (15 page)

BOOK: Ping - From the Apocalypse
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Chapter
Twenty-Eight

One
Talking Bird

(
October 13th, Year One, PA)

 

It was a warm fall morning and they’d decided to make breakfast outside.

“Well Travis,” Kate said, wiping the grill with the one brand of vegetable oil they’d been able to find that hadn’t gone rancid yet, “you were trying to tell me something the other day, weren’t you
?”

He peered up at her curiously
, as she dropped three small circles of batter from her spoon onto the grill in a triangle, then made an upward arc beneath them for a mouth.

“Is this how your mom did it?” She poured more batter on top of the face she’d made, forming a medium-sized pancake.”

Travis nodded.

“I think our telepathy sessions are really coming along. I would never have imagined that you could communicate such a thing. Learning a skill really isn’t all that hard when you love it, is it sweetie? Sarah and I have been working so intensely on it, but it hasn’t felt like work at all. And you, my boy, are an excellent teacher. Okay, want to do the next one?
Careful you don’t burn yourself.”

While Travis quite creatively formed a face out of batter, Kate decided to see if he would understand something more complicated than she’d tried before. She sent him a message to go inside and set the table. He smiled, handed her the spoon and trudged across the deck into the cottage.

She was thinking how truly amazing this was when Sarah arrived with a second box of books from the car. Yesterday, they’d made a trip into Hunters Falls for the sole purpose of acquiring educational materials for Travis. To the delight of all of them, both the bookstore and the library were completely free of corpses.

“These are the ones he can put on his bedroom shelf,” Sarah mumbled, using the box to hold open the screen door.

“I've got some homework for you Travis — reading to do in the evenings before it gets dark,” Sarah said, as she lifted the second box and was about to go inside.

Kate flipped the third pancake and glanced over to find Snowy hovering in the doorway. He had flown from
Travis' shoulder. She watched as he escaped outside and began to fly around in circles, chirping excitedly. Travis rushed after him, but the Snowy flew higher, searching for a place to land in the trees.

“Oh no,” cried Sarah, “I forgot you had him out of the cage. Sorry Travis.”

“Snowy!!!” Travis screamed.

Kate
gazed at him.


Come back here Snowy!” Travis yelled, as Snowy looked down on them from a high-up branch, tweeting enthusiastically.

Sarah’s jaw
dropped and she glanced at Kate.

“It's okay,” Kate s
miled. “I'm sure he’ll come down when he's hungry.”

The three of them star
ed up at him for a while.


Guess he likes it up there,” Kate said. “I don’t know about you guys, but, I’m getting a sore neck. We might as well eat. We can sit outside and enjoy this weather. He’s got a birds-eye view of us Travis,” she chuckled.

Travis
huffed, and went back into the cottage, returning with the placemats and cutlery he'd already put on the kitchen table. Sarah held out a plate for Kate to load up with the pancakes. She gave Sarah a look and headed over to the picnic table with them.

Travis was securing
the napkins beneath the cutlery. She put her arm on his shoulder and peered into his eyes. “Do you realize what you did a minute ago?”

He
grinned shyly.

“You talked. You even yelled! We
both heard you,” she beamed. Sarah came over and they gave him hugs.


Well don’t stop talking now sweetie,” Sarah laughed. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Can you say some
thing else?” Kate coaxed gently.

Travis gazed up at the tree.
“Snowy, get down here!” he yelled with startling volume.

Kate and Sarah
looked at each other and giggled.

While eating
their lunch Snowy landed in the centre of the picnic table and soon began to strut from plate to plate, finally biting into Travis' pancake. He shook his head, sending a large, syrupy crumb from his beak onto Travis’ chin.

Wiping it off, Travis muttered,
“Stupid bird.” Then he licked his finger.

“What?”
He blinked at Kate and Sarah.

They both
burst into such loud laughter that Snowy took off again, ascending high into the branches.

After eating,
Travis sat out with a book under the shade of the umbrella, waiting for him to come down, while Kate and Sarah began their research on midwifery up on the veranda. It must have been an hour later that Snowy fluttered down to the boy’s shoulder. “Finally hungry are we?” Travis said, heading into the cottage.

 

Later that day, Kate was busy at the kitchen counter preparing dinner. “Kate?” Travis said, so unexpectedly from behind her that she jumped.


Oh, I didn’t know you were there,” she laughed, not letting on that Jack was bothering her again, trying to contact her each time she let her guard down. She quickly shut him out, but his persistence was getting on her nerves.

“Sorry,” I just wanted to tell you something.

“Well what sweetie?” she said, sitting down at the table.

He sat down too and peered at her
with his bright eyes which were such a deep brown they were almost black. “I’m going to be eight soon.”

“You are?”
He had a way of touching her heart and she felt her lips form a smile.


On Halloween. Do… do you think we could have a party?”


You know what — Sarah and I were planning to get one of those gas ovens. The portable kind. And what better reason to make a trip into town. We’ll have a cake. And candles.”

Travis grinned.
“And Halloween candy?”

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

Space Pilot

(April 3rd, Year Two, PA)

 

As Kate waddled into the bathroom, she could hear laughter emanating from the lake and realized she’d slept in even later than usual. Her body was demanding an incredible amount of rest. Examining her ballooning abdomen in the mirror, she rotated to the side, quite certain the baby had dropped.

She cupped her palms around the bottom of
it and gently felt for the head. The kicking had seemed to be higher up, but, what was she going to do if it was actually breach? A trained midwife might be able to turn it, but all the reading in the world couldn’t give Sarah the experience that would require.

A
nother trip back to the library in Hunters Falls might not be a bad idea. The dozens of books on childbirth and midwifery stacked on the table had been extremely helpful, but there were medical textbooks that might have information that could save the baby’s life.

V
aginal births were sometimes not possible. Sarah couldn’t perform a C section from a manual. And while her sister had reassured her repeatedly that everything would work out just fine, they both knew the risks.

Jack had
been bugging her more than ever lately — as if she didn’t have enough problems. He was well aware the baby was due. Imagining him around Travis made her want to sob. But she had to be strong for the sake of everyone. Her worry was that he was making his way closer to them.

She snapped back into the moment
at the sound of the screen door squeaking open and then slamming shut. “That water was freezing,” Sarah said, chuckling as they both came inside. “Look at your blue lips; your teeth are chattering.”

Travis
, wrapped tightly in his towel, nearly bumped into Kate as he rushed to his room to change. “Oooh, your skin feels like ice,” Kate exclaimed. “Put on something warm. As soon as I have my breakfast we’ll start our lesson.”

“Okay,” he chirped before he closed his door.

“How are you feeling today?” Sarah said, on her way to her room, her eyes on Kate’s stomach.


Well, I guess it’s normal to be tired. Take a look Sarah. Do you think the baby is lower?”

Sarah stood back and scrutinized Kate’s belly. “Don’t think so.
I’m headed out to the garden in a bit. Thought some fresh salad would be nice for lunch. Enjoy your lesson with Trav.”

 

Kate fell back against the pillows she’d arranged on the couch to support her back. “We’ve only got a chapter left on this one, Travis. But there are quite a few more on the subject. If you’re interested.” The book rested conveniently on her belly.


I am interested. Space travel is amazing,” Travis said, his big eyes blinking at her earnestly.

N
ow that they were reading about the shuttle, Kate thought he was getting a little obsessive about it. She was raising a future geek. But an adorable one.

S
he laughed. “I think you might have been an astronaut in the old world, if you could have.”

He grinned
, and Kate began to read. But after a moment he put his hand on her arm and peered up at her pensively.

“What is it darling?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but; you know the plane we saw,” Travis said.

“You mean the night
we arrived at Moonstone?”

He
shook his head soberly. “An astronaut was flying it.”

She
gazed at him.

“I think it was a space shuttle,” he confided.

Sliding down a little ways, she stuffed another pillow behind her neck.


Oh Travis… you’ve got space shuttles on the brain.” She chuckled and held her belly. “Look your making the baby jiggle. I feel like Santa. I think you’re even more amusing than Sarah lately. Which is quite a feat — considering the things
she
comes up with.” She sighed and rubbed his knee affectionately. “Don’t tell her I said that, okay?”

He rolled his eyes and s
he realized he wasn’t amused. With a deep breath through his nostrils he pinched his pink lips together, crossed his arms, and turned away.


That’s a good thing hon. I wasn’t making fun of you, honest.”

The perfect little arcs over his eyes pushed together and creased as he
gazed back up at her. It seemed he was beginning to tear up.


I didn’t mean to upset you Travis. Why am I getting the feeling you're serious?”


Because I am being serious,” he huffed.

It was difficult to tell sometimes. The things he said were often profound, too advanced for an eight-year-old, who
se appearance was far younger than his age. “Try again then. I — I must have misunderstood you.”

“The
astronaut and Lucy. They’re going to be with us soon,” he said impatiently.

Kate wriggled back and forth trying to get the kink out of her back while she spoke.
“Are you telling me, that, you’ve been communicating with someone other than the woman? People Sarah and I don’t know about?”


Yes,” he said, squeezing his lids shut in apparent distress. Tears spilled down his cheeks and he covered his face.

“Why are you crying?”

“It was supposed to be a secret. But… I—”

“Travis,
you
do
know you can trust me,” she said, gently. “We don’t need secrets, do we?”


I know… it’s just that we can't bother them right now. But I wanted you to know that Lucy is on her way.”


Lucy?”

“I
asked the astronaut to help her, because, she was in trouble again — this time she wouldn’t listen to me.” Travis sobbed.


I think maybe Sarah should hear the rest of this story too Travis.” She could hear her out on the veranda and not wanting to take the trouble to get up, just raised her voice. “Sarah! You need to come in here and listen to what Travis is telling me.”

“What's wrong?” Sarah said
, rushing into the house with her hands full of clothes that had been drying in the sun.


He says he’s been in touch with more survivors. Tell her honey. It’ll be okay.”

Sarah sat down on the other side of Travis.

“Lucy was going to die, just like—” He put his hands to his face again and began to sob. “She wouldn’t even talk to me anymore.”

“But now she’s okay,
” Kate said gently.

Travis nodded. He peered at Sarah and then back at Kate.

“She told me to leave her alone. If it wasn’t for the astronaut…”

“The what?” Sarah
, raised her brows.


The astronaut. He… he was sick like us, but when he was a little better, he came back to earth. In his space shuttle. And then he heard me, but — he didn’t know it.”

“Like we did
at first,” Kate mumbled, astonished that this was actually making sense.

Travis was still sobbing.
“I had to make him find Lucy. She was dying. But, he understands about me, now — she told him everything.”


Does, this Lucy, know you — like, a friend?” Kate stuttered.

Travis blinked up at
her and slowly nodded. “More than that. She didn’t live very far away from him. I went in my room every day and tried to show him the way.”

Kate and Sarah gazed at each other.

“So you were able to guide the astronaut to Lucy’s house without him even knowing it?” Sarah said.

“Uh-huh
…” Travis said peering over at her.

Sarah shook her head, still grappling
with this incredible news. “But, why didn’t you tell us? We could have gone to find her ourselves.”


Because Kate is having a baby,” he steamed, apparently frustrated this wasn’t obvious. “And Rose needs to be able to find us. And, I just knew the astronaut would find her, anyway.”

Far-fetched
as his story was, Kate believed him; she couldn’t have travelled in her condition, it would have been far too risky. “Well, that is wonderful Travis, but, why wouldn’t they be willing to talk to us?”


Because, they are busy,” he huffed.


Doing what, sweetie?” Sarah said softly, rubbing his back.

“I don’t know!”

Sarah stared out the window for a second, and then back at him. “Are you seriously telling me he landed from outer space?”

He nodded affirmatively.
“And, Lucy told him to fly over the lake that night. Remember?”

Kate was biting a ragged nail.
“But… that couldn’t have been a space shuttle darling, it — it would have had to have been a plane. I don’t think space shuttles can do that, do you Sarah?”

She shrugged her sho
ulders while shaking her head no, as if she really had no clue, but was trying to figure it out.

“Oh,” said Travis. “Maybe.
But they
were
flying a long way that day. And they have a long way to go before they get back here. We should get another cottage ready for them. Like we did for Rose.”

BOOK: Ping - From the Apocalypse
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