Torn (23 page)

“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 t
hink it will take before D
arius…is the fall guy. And all o
f 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 th
at 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.

“Ten
fold 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 som
e sort of gas leaking
that is
causing a problem
,” Colin said. “With all
that’s happening with the earth, y
ou 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, “t
here 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 office
r
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, so
n, 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
w
hen
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?” Bret 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 clear
ed his throat. “So
. . . j
ust out of
curiosity
,
what
are you guys doing up i
n thes
e 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 hi
m
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 c
ome up with something. “Because
. . .
because
. . .
”

“Because what?”

“Because
you’re
being typically female and hogging all the conversation.
”

“How
. . .
dare
. . .
you. You male chauvi
nist
pig headed liberal!” Bret blasted, and then s
tarted
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,” Chuc
k 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
l
ike
ly be denied if we inform the
m
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
t
ell anyone they are alive.”

“Won’t they figure that out when charges are on his card?” Ch
uck asked. “I mean, the airline
is going to look into every person
aboard
.”

“And Darius and Br
et 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 ma
id,
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 r
amen 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
.