Ping - From the Apocalypse (18 page)

Chapter
Thirty-Five

The
Fawn

(July 1st,
Year Two, PA)

The day Jack exploded the bomb of his incarceration in Kate’s face back in Florida, the horror of his unthinkable crimes pierced deep into her soul; and it stayed there, growing and festering, alongside her precious fetus.

The notion of such evil from the father of her child was always there beneath the surface as s
he did her utmost to create a healthy existence for all of them. Travis deserved everything she could offer him. And of course, Ben needed his mother. But that morning something had clicked in her.

W
hile Kate steered the motorhome toward the resort’s exit before the others had noticed, the haze shrouding Jack was beginning lift. It was like he was waving his arms through a cloud in front of her as she headed past the sunny fields.

The mammoth size of the RV had always made her nervous; she had never driven it,
but if she needed a place to stay it felt like the safest option. The vehicle rocked over the ruts and bumps of the deteriorating road beneath the string of old elm trees. At the spot where she and Sarah had dumped the bodies during their first week at the lake, she stopped, gazing out at the twenty-four tidy mounds beneath the grass.

They
hadn’t discovered the newly dug graveyard until the day after Jack left Moonstone; and not wanting to dwell on him a minute longer, they’d never spoken about the fact that he’d buried the bodies for them. It was barely even glanced at on their routine trips for supplies, acting as if it didn’t exist.

She continued up the road, d
riving into the densely forested area before the highway, feeling all of a sudden as if a hot-air balloon had lifted her high above the trees.

She
swung right on the highway and let the motorhome rip on the straight stretch ahead, avoiding the mesh of vehicles that had collided in the finishing hours of the plague. The crash of metal was a half-way marker from the lake to the closest town of Hunters Falls — where she was certain to find Jack.

G
azing out from high up in the cab, the faint green-gray hills appeared in the distance. She would finally drive this sucker up that winding slope and over the mountain to the road that would lead her into town. Her mind was now fully receptive. Jack was showing her that day in the courtroom when he’d confessed to his crime.

T
he absence of his mother — who should have been there to vouch for him — was like a dagger in his heart. From early in their relationship, Kate had a vague sense that Jack’s mother had betrayed him; and the truth had finally found its way to her, in a dream. It had taken the morning to sort it out and while preparing breakfast, it struck her so acutely that the hairs had risen all over her and she simply couldn’t eat.

She
quickly pulled her attention back to her driving. The gas tank was still half full. That familiar house with all the windows was in her rear view now. She was doing just fine. Squeezing her fingers firmly around the wheel, she allowed Jack to draw her back into the courtroom.

T
he pictures of Reed — the little boy who’d been murdered — were on display for all to see. Jack was leading her through each moment before he’d broken down and confessed. As the harsh evidence was presented, she felt Jack’s rush of anger and his attempts to remain calm before the jury.

But suddenly
they were viewing something different. Jack’s attention had abruptly shifted to a time, long ago. They were no longer in the courtroom, but, in Jack’s basement. His father had ordered him down there. He was only five. Kate felt the pounding of Jack’s heart. He was always afraid when sent down there. But this time, as he approached that room, Jack sensed it was different.

And he had been tragically
right, for, lifeless and laid out on the cot for Jack’s eyes only, was proof that his father’s dangerous threats had been more than serious. His best friend, Brody, who’d lived down the street was dead because Jack’s father had wanted to be certain he’d been clearly understood. The boy looked just like Reed. The five-year-old Jack would now have to submit to whatever his father wanted of him. If he wanted to live.

The truth
was suddenly dreadfully clear; that man upstairs waiting for him was not his father, or even a man. He had demonstrated it flawlessly. No words were needed after that. There was a look in the monster’s eyes they said it all, each time Jack passed him.

S
obs heaved out of Kate as she held onto the wheel. That was how Jack had learned his evil. It was too much for her to take. Tears flooded down her cheeks and she could barely see the road.

But
he was making her see the picture of Reed again. They were back in the courtroom and it was important that she view it the way Jack had done. The sight of Reed’s dead body up before the jury had unearthed that horrible memory, and for a moment, Jack saw Brody up on that screen. Of all the abuses inflicted on his childhood, that had been the worst. His friend, murdered to make a statement that would keep Jack in control.

Others had most certainly suffered, maybe even died — because Jack had kept that secret; he
was completely unprepared to remember that he was an accomplice. And the scrutinizing eyes of the jury could see his guilt.

It
had been the worst moment of his life, and now, Jack was showing it to Kate. She wiped her tears and gazed at the mountain ahead of her; the road weaving up it through the trees was still a thin grey line in the distance. But, he needed her attention. There was one more piece of the puzzle that he was slipping into place for her.

He was innocent
of Reed’s murder and Jack had snapped that day. But even now, he could not forgive himself for hiding his father’s secrets. She understood why he’d confessed, what had made him think he had committed a crime he didn’t do.

Kate struggled to convince him that
it wasn’t his fault. He’d repressed that terrifying memory to survive. His life was in grave danger, and his spirit had been ripped out of him. He was a child. Even his own mother had betrayed him.

And then s
he shook her head in disbelief. She had done it again, ignored her instincts. No wonder she had struggled all these months, unable to rid herself of Jack. She couldn’t, because she sensed what he’d told her was wrong, that Jack was innately good.

Her dream of the beast
outside her bedroom window. That wasn’t about her vulnerability to Jack. It was about Jack’s vulnerability to his father, the real demon. She had tried to appease the beast in her dream, just as Jack had done in real life.

Now Kate could see an
unruly adolescent getting into trouble, placed into juvenile detention. Jack was showing her the place where he’d finally received guidance, the people who had helped him make it as a doctor; it was a career that he’d loved, caring for sick children.

Kate had wanted to hate Jack — perhaps she had. B
ut now she knew for certain that he was far from evil. Her guilt, for loving him, had vanished. And she couldn’t wait to be by his side again.

Hunters falls was not far
. It was just on the other side of the mountain. And Jack was waiting for her. She glanced in her rear view mirror, wondering if Sarah had decided to follow her. She felt terrible for upsetting all of them, especially poor Travis, and was about to let them know she was okay, when her gaze returned to the road ahead.

R
ambling over the pavement was a fawn that had just come out of the woods, headed right across her path. She slammed her foot down hard. The tires screeched as the motorhome skidded forward. Kate screamed as the helpless animal was struck with a thud and then disappeared beneath her; and she continued to scream as the RV veered to the right refusing to obey the commands of the tautly held wheel and floored brake, sliding off the side of the road and plunging down the steep incline.

***

Jack had a plan, which over the last two months had filled the void of his long-term solitude. He had cleaned the small Hunter’s Falls Hospital thoroughly, organized the equipment, preserved the medications that were still usable, and hooked up several generators. A feeling of optimism was beginning to seep into him.

He leaned back against his office chair, enjoying the luxury of a fan blowing over him, and a hot coffee heated in the microwave
. It would have been a decent morning but he’d become concerned with the feeling he had not handled his telepathy well with Kate.

After
that shark had tried to eat his leg he had changed the way he saw his life. He’d dealt with the wound — sterilized it to the best of his ability, sewn it together with two-hundred and thirteen stitches, and consumed cartons of antibiotics. And then he’s spent much of his time, when he wasn’t physically preparing for his future, honing his telepathic skills, specifically trying to win Kate back.

T
he shark had been a warning that he wasn’t better off on his own after all. Uncultivated as it was, he had a telepathic gift and was going to figure out how to use it.

He didn’t blame Kate for her stubbornness
— he’d been a fucking jerk if ever there was one. It was no wonder she feared him. Only after Sarah had banished him from the resort did Kate open up a little more.

Jack sipped his coffee
. He had just blasted her with the disturbing details of his past. His gates had opened and he hadn’t had any control whatsoever.

But it was too late, he’d done it
, and he could barely believe that she finally understood him — the one person in the world that ever had. She was at that very moment consoling him, happy to be heading towards the hospital. He couldn’t wait to see her. He only hoped that the pain he had caused would heal over in time.

Then
, all of a sudden, her distress hit him. Nearly blinded by it, he grabbed his keys, rushed down the long hallway to the exit, and out into the parking lot.

***

Kate cried out from the excruciating pain of being moved. It had shocked her out of a cold blackness. She was being dragged up a slope.

“It’s okay Kate,
we’re almost there.”

R
aising her hand to her face she tried to wipe the wetness from her eyes, but something stabbed her through the middle so she couldn’t breathe, and then, everything went black.

Chapter Thirty-S
ix

Christopher and Lucy

(July 1st, Year Two, PA)

If Kate didn’t make it through this, he knew he wouldn't try anymore — it would be over for him too, he thought as he checked her pulse again. He jumped in behind the wheel. “Hold on darling. Jack’s looking after you now,” he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm.

Soon
he was racing the ambulance up the mountain. If Kate was losing as much blood internally as it appeared, she was going to need her sister. Though he doubted Sarah would understand exactly what he wanted her to, he decided to try to contact her; she would at least guess where Kate had gone.

He was preparing to do so
as he approached the very top of the mountain in the center of the road. But his heart nearly stopped at the sight of what was barrelling towards him from over the crest. He swerved in the nick of time, avoiding a collision with a massive truck which roared past him blasting its powerful horn.

While
coming to a screeching halt, Jack saw the driver’s arm waving through the cab window in his rear-view as the truck slowed on the steep gradient. He swung the ambulance around and headed towards it.

A
tall guy of medium build with a full head of straw-coloured hair, had jumped from the cab and was striding over to him. Jack stopped and opened his door.

“Are we glad to see you
,” the man enthused, taking Jack’s hand and shaking it eagerly. “I’m Chris. That was a bit of a close call back there, wasn’t it?” he grinned, blowing air through his lips in a gesture of relief.

“Look,” Jack interrupted
, “I don't want to sound rude, but I’ve got a badly injured woman in the back. Her motorhome went off the side of the road down there.” He glanced back at Kate and then squinted into the man’s eyes.

Chris
appeared immediately concerned, gazing inside the ambulance.

“
I think she’s going to need some blood,” Jack continued. “Her twin is fifteen minutes west of here, at the resort — turn left at the sign to Moonstone; first cottage next to the hotel. Can you tell her to meet us at the hospital in Hunters Falls?”

“No problem
,” Chris asserted, already jumping up to his cab.

As
Jack was about to pull away he heard the truck door slam and the man yelling out of his window, “We’re right on it!”

“
Help is on the way darling,” Jack mumbled. “Hold on for me now.”

***

Sarah was pacing back and forth and Travis was following close behind her. They hadn’t heard a thing from Kate, but the motorhome was gone; and Kate had refused to drive it before. She hadn’t even said where she was going.

“She's not okay I'm telling you,” Sarah
said. “We've got to go to her now!”

“It's true!” said Travis
in tears, “I can tell something’s wrong.”

“I'll get Ben in his car seat
,” Rose said, darting up from the table with the baby still in her arms.

Sarah
grabbed Ben’s diaper bag and put the formula they had already mixed up for him in with his clothes and diapers. She slipped on her shoes, dashed down the driveway and into the car, checking her gas as Rose fastened Ben in the back and then jumped inside. Travis buckled up beside Ben.

The
y were all silent, desperately trying to make contact with Kate as Sarah sped up the road. But it was futile.

“I have a
really bad feeling about this,” Sarah mumbled as she turned onto the highway and gazed down the long stretch ahead.

“It’s because of Jack,” Travis blurted.

“We know honey,” Rose replied, reaching back to give him a comforting pat. “Kate is very upset over that man.”

Sarah cringed at the thought of him.
They hadn’t spoken to Travis about Jack since Sarah had run him out of the resort certain it was best not to dwell on someone like that.

“He’s Ben’s father,” Travis stated.

Sarah turned for a moment to glance back at the boy who was fidgeting nervously with Ben’s fingers. “Well that’s true Travis, but—” For a second she wasn’t certain what that was in the distance. “Rose. Do you see that?”

They all stared at the
heavy-duty tractor trailer growing larger as it came toward them. Before Rose could answer, Travis shouted, “It’s the astronaut! I told you he was coming.”

“
Well I don’t know if it’s the astronaut,” Sarah muttered, “but it sure is someone.”

“It's him! I'm telling you,
” Travis insisted, jumping in his seat.

“
Do you really think so?” Sarah began to brake, and the car had barely stopped before Travis hopped out.

“Travis!” she called, but he was already
running down the road. She and Rose rushed out after him as the truck came to a full stop. Soon a tall man and an adolescent girl with long blonde hair, jumped from the cab and started towards them.

“Lucy!”
Travis cried and the two of them embraced. Then they both jumped up and down, giggling.

Rose
gazed wide-eyed at Sarah as the astronaut approached.

“
Well, we finally meet!” he said, striding over to them. “Sorry that it's taken such a long time, but we've had our work cut out. He shook their hands, “I’m Chris,” then pointing to the girl who was still hugging Travis, “and that, is Lucy.”

“
I’m Sarah… this is Rose, and that is Travis.”

His face
suddenly became, almost grave. “Listen, I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but we have a bit of an emergency.”

Sarah gasped.

“I believe your sister’s had an accident.”

“Oh no, please tell me she's okay!”

“I think she needs you right away Sarah. Her vehicle overturned. We passed her fifteen minutes up the road. She was in an ambulance on her way to the hospital in Hunters Falls. According to the fellow driving, she needs your blood.”

“I knew it,” Travis said, heading
back to the car. “Come on — we’ve got to hurry!”

“
We’ll follow you there,” Chris said, rushing back to the truck.

Sarah
sped off, watching the truck in her mirror as it turned and caught up.

“Wh
y did she do this?” Travis sobbed.

Sarah was too upset to speak. The hospital was almos
t thirty minutes away and if Kate needed blood, it must have been bad.

“Travis
,” Rose soothed. “We think maybe this had something to do with her hormones dear. Sometimes when women have a baby their body doesn't like all the changes. It makes them very ill. But that doesn’t happen very often.”

“Oh God, look at that!” Sarah bleated. Just before the incline
going up the mountain there was a dead animal, it looked like a deer, and tire marks… and there, off the road and down a steep hill in the trees was the motorhome.

Sarah put her hand across her mouth
stifling a scream. “Jack must have pulled her out of there.”

“
Oh, my Lord,” Rose gasped. “Oh. But, Jack’s a doctor, isn’t he? We have to trust he knows what he’s doing. Oh, I’m praying for you Kate.”

Sarah was having trouble catching her breath.
“This is all because of him,” she cried. “But she put on such a brave front. Now that I think of it she was pulling further away from us every day. I should have taken her more seriously.”

Travis stopped sobbing to speak.
“It’s all because… none of you know how to ping properly!”

“
Ping?” Sarah said, watching the truck following close behind.

“
Jack was trying to ping Kate,” he wailed.

“
I think you’re right. But, why are you calling it ping?”

“
Because, that’s what it’s called! And Jack is the worst at it.”

That was a strange coincidence. But Sarah had enough to deal with
at the moment. As she turned the corner and looked down on Hunters Falls she could see the hospital near the center of town.

“Please hang on Kate,”
Sarah muttered under her breath. She sped faster down the main street, weaving through the obstacle course of permanently stopped vehicles like a professional racing car driver, and finally pulling into the emergency entrance.

T
he truck squeezed in not far behind her, and they all jumped out, rushing inside the hospital.

“Jack!
Where are you?”

They heard footsteps
and he appeared from around the corner at the end of the hall. “In here,” he beckoned.

He
led them all to Kate’s room but Chris and Lucy stayed outside. From the open window Sarah heard the noisy generator feeding the lights and a fan, which was oscillating and blowing hot air around.

Sarah
rushed to her sister’s side and gazed at her bandaged forehead. There were cuts and bruises on her arms and legs that Jack hadn’t tended to yet. There was blood on the sheets and soaked into a towel. Kate’s eyes were closed and her face all puffy.

“Oh Kate,” she whispered
, taking her hand as Travis and Rose gathered closer. Kate glanced up at them for a second but quickly turned her head away.

“Are you alright,
Kate?” Travis sobbed.

Jack motioned everyone to
follow him back out of the room but Sarah stayed behind for a second. “We’re all here for you sweetie. I'll be back in a minute, okay?” she promised.

Jack was standing in the hall waiting for her. He walked further away from the door and when they’d all congregated around him
, he finally spoke.

“I won't know until I do some tests
but I think she's better than I first thought. She's been in and out of consciousness and for now she needs to rest. It's best to give her some time alone.”

“But
, how bad is the damage — can you tell anything yet?” Sarah demanded.

Jack appeared quite shaken. His
dark hair had a twig in it, his face was smudged with dirt, and there were several scrapes on his arms. “There may be some broken bones, possibly some ribs… maybe even internal damage. I think those airbags saved her though. She bit her tongue pretty bad, which seems to be the source of all that blood — I thought it was internal at first… but she may be lucky.”

“Oh, poor thin
g,” Sarah said taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh of relief.

“Pleas
e do everything you can for her,” Rose said, bouncing a fussy Ben in her arms.

“It's a damn good thing she has you Sarah
, just in case she needs a transfusion. I’ll test all of you later, for future reference. We just can’t afford to have accidents. There’s only so much I can do.”

“
Could you operate if you had to?” Sarah wondered if Jack really was the medical doctor he claimed to be.

“I've got all the equipment
I need, here. There's a supply of drugs as well, but they’ll only be good for a while.”

“
Well, I'm pleased we’ve got someone like you around, Jack,” Chris piped in. He was standing to the side with Lucy who peered at Jack with big, blue eyes. “Considering how few there are of us — we couldn’t get much luckier than having a doctor on board,” Chris said.

Jack gazed
over at him soberly. “I can fix the breaks and the cuts but there’s always a chance of infection. The concussion, we just have to wait.”

“
Poor Kate,” Sarah said. “This wasn’t at all like her.”

Jack
looked down at his feet. “I hold myself responsible for that.”

He looked up at
her, his eyes misty and his voice trembling. “I’ve made quite a few mistakes, I’m afraid.”

Sarah
was speechless. Rose peered over at her with a look of astonishment.

Jack cleared his throat and looked away. “
My telepathy got out of control. I think she's going to need a while to get over that.”

Sarah glared at him.
“What can we do for her?”

“
Nothing at the moment. I'm going to keep an eye on her for a bit. Then I'll put a few stitches in her forehead. If you want to help Sarah, I could use an assistant.”

Jack peered over at Chris and Lucy.
“There’s a sitting room down the hall with a snack machine. I think some of it might still be good. Help yourselves.” He led them all into the room, hooked up a fan, and then left.

Sarah
was still in a daze. She flopped onto the couch and Travis plunked down beside her. Ben had begun to cry, so Rose dug out the bottle of formula from the diaper bag and sat down next to Sarah with him. Returning from the vending machine with several packages of chips and some pop, Chris spread everything out on the coffee table for them. “Dig in,” he said.