“I think I’d like to meet sooner than later.”
“Okay. Make it the day after tomorrow at the truck stop.”
“Well, should we pack now? Do you need us to bring anything?”
Forrest laughed.
“What?” she said. “Don’t laugh at me!”
“You can bring the chips and beer.”
“I can’t believe you’re making fun of me.”
“Veronica, I’ve had some time to come to terms with this. And you’ve had an entire month.”
“Well, I’ve been hoping you were full of shit,” she said.
“Oh, you knew goddamn well I was telling the truth. So, are you gonna ditch your old man now or what?”
“No!” she said indignantly. “Hold on…”
She turned to Michael, who was just hanging up with his father. “Honey, he says he can meet with us at the truck stop day after tomorrow. You okay with that?”
Michael crossed his arms and nodded. “Yeah, yeah we can do that.”
“What time, Jack?”
“Make it nineteen hundred,” Forrest said. “If anything comes up, call.”
“Wait, what time is that?”
“That’s seven P.M.,” he answered with a chuckle.
“I’m glad you find this end-of-the-world stuff so funny.”
“I don’t find it funny at all. I think you’re funny. See you then.” He broke the connection.
Michael stood looking at her.
“How’re your folks?” she asked.
“Dad’s fine. You know him. But mom’s already a wreck, worried about my sisters and all the grandkids.” He put his hands in his pockets and laughed joylessly. “I’m not sure I believe this is happening, Ronny. It’s worse than Pompeii. There’s absolutely nowhere to run.”
She shrugged. “That’s why we dig… well, figuratively.”
Nine
Forrest tucked the phone into his pocket and grabbed a pair of ammo cans filled with .223 caliber ammunition for their M-4 carbines, short-barreled versions of the M-16 assault rifle. He carried the ammo into the house and waited at the top of the basement stairwell for Ulrich to come up and get it.
“Got a meeting with that girl from the truck stop day after tomorrow,” he said, handing the cans over. “Her boyfriend’s gonna be there, so I want you to come along.”
“Suppose the guy’s an asshole?”
“Hence the meeting, Wayne. That’s what I’m looking to find out.”
“Just making sure, partner.”
“The meteor’s gone public, by the way.”
Ulrich stopped as he turned to go down. “It’s an asteroid, Jack. Who broke the story?”
“A group of astronomers in Hawaii, I guess. You’d better turn on the TV down there and find out what they’re saying.”
“I’ll tell Linus to watch it,” Ulrich said, heading down. “He likes sitting on his ass.”
After the ammo was stored belowground, Forrest took a break in the house. He was smoking a cigarette on the couch with Laddie at his feet when Ulrich and Vasquez came into the living room and dropped onto a couple of chairs. The sun was setting and pretty soon the five of them would be gathering in the kitchen to make dinner.
“What are they saying on TV?” Forrest asked.
Ulrich rubbed his eyes, fatigued from lack of sleep. “Exactly what Jerry told us to expect—there’s nothing to worry about, they’re gonna shoot it down and the world will enter into an era of peace and prosperity.”
Vasquez chuckled. “And the five of us will be asshole deep in debt for the rest of our lives.”
“We should hope,” Ulrich said.
Forrest pointed at Vasquez, his mind on forty things at once. “What are we going to do about your insulin habit in the long term?”
Vasquez shrugged. “I’ve got a lot of it down there on dry ice. If we keep it cold, it’ll last a long time.”
“But even if you’ve got enough for two years, there’s a limit, Oscar. What do we do when you run out?”
“I guess you watch me slip into a coma and die, Homes. It won’t hurt. I’ll just go to sleep.”
“I don’t like that plan,” Forrest said. “And neither will Maria or little Oscar. Is there a way we can manufacture it?”
“It’s a hormone, dude. Shit, we may not even outlive my supply.”
“For your information, dude, I plan to make it well beyond your goddamn supply, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d like for you to be around when we come back up. Now what do you guys want to eat tonight? I say we grill some steaks and get completely pissed. This is going to be the last sane night on Earth.”
“It’s a damn good thing we’ve finished buying supplies,” Ulrich said with relief. “They’ll put the clamp-down on the food and fuel now. And ammo especially.”
“Yeah, civilians won’t be able to buy BBs after tomorrow,” Vasquez added.
“Which is why we’ve saved the painting and the minor repairs down below for last,” Forrest said. “I think I’ll try getting in touch with Jerry at the Pentagon one last time before he’s up to his ears in emergency protocol.”
“Is there anything more he can do for us?”
“The way I see it, there’s going to be a whole lot of shit being shipped all over hell’s half acre by the government now, which means a logistical free-for-all…”
Marcus Kane came into the room and Laddie jumped up to greet him, wagging his tail. “I’ve seen enough of that bullshit on TV,” he said, rubbing the dog’s ears with both hands. “The President’s calling for a worldwide prayer vigil.”
“That’ll help,” Forrest said dryly. “Anyhow, Wayne, there’s no reason Jerry can’t cut some bullshit paperwork redesignating this site as a government installation long enough to ship us out a truckload of MREs. Maybe even some high-tech comm gear. We’ll all be in uniform when they show up, and I’ll wear my captain’s bars… so long as there’s an officer here to sign for the conveyance, no staff sergeant or even a shavetail lieutenant’s gonna think anything of it. They’ll figure there must still be a missile down there we’re sitting on. G-3 will never catch the glitch before the meteor gets here.”
“Asteroid,” Ulrich said.
“Heavens to mergatroids, if you ain’t the most anal son of a bitch I ever met. What the hell does it matter what I call it?”
“Why can’t you just call it what it is?”
“It can’t have nothin’ to do with wantin’ a rise out of you,” Kane said with a wink at the other two, and the three of them laughed.
“You three can kiss my ass,” Ulrich said, getting up from the chair. “You’ll think meteor when that big bastard slams into our atmosphere. It’s gonna burn so hot that anybody within sight of it’ll be vaporized before it even hits the ground.”
“I got a book downstairs says not necessarily,” Forrest lied easily.
“Well, you can stand up here and let us know then, Mr. Scientist. I’ll pop the hatch and sweep your ashes up after it hits.”
“Will you spread them on the ocean for me?”
“I’ll flush ’em down the goddamn toilet,” Ulrich said on his way into the kitchen. “You’ll get there eventually.”
Ten
Jack Forrest and Wayne Ulrich both stood from the table as Veronica Struan and Michael Porter entered the truck-stop diner. Veronica smiled when she saw Forrest and led Michael by the hand to the table. Introductions were made and everyone shook hands before they sat down. A waitress appeared and took their drink orders, then left them to themselves in a nearly deserted section of the diner.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve got a ton of questions,” Forrest said, mostly to Michael. “So why don’t we let you two begin?”