"But you’ll still be you!"
"I can’t be. I won’t be. I’ll lose everything that made me…that changed me…since then. All the times you were a nosey pain in my ass," she smiled. "Shep…Shep being, being disappointed in me that day…feeling guilty about what I did to Trevor. I mean, who would you be if you had never met Jon? Or if you had never known Richard the car salesman."
Lori cast her eyes to the ground.
Nina went on: "I just wanted to say…I just want to tell you thanks for being my friend. I know what that means now. Just that, well, I’m going to forget it tomorrow."
Lori reached over and gave Nina a hug.
"This sucks. You know that? It sucks."
"I know. Listen to me; Trevor is going to need you. He’s going to need his friends."
"But-"
"No, listen. It’s going to be tough for him. Not just tomorrow or the day after that. The months and years after that. You know he’s a good man. You also know he’s in a tough spot. I’m just saying, don’t let him be too alone."
Lori did not understand what Nina meant. Certainly Trevor would try and win Nina again. How could he not?
Nina changed the subject: "So you’re thinking a girl, huh?"
Lori wiped a tear away, "Yeah. I mean, yes."
"Pick any names yet?"
"Catherine."
"Catherine. Catherine Brewer. Has a nice ring."
"Yes," Lori agreed. "Yes it does."
Nina smiled, put a hand on Lori’s shoulder, and then walked away.
Lori thought to herself, Catherine Nina Brewer.
That has an even better ring.
– "Do you understand?" Trevor asked Jon Brewer.
He did not understand. He did not get it.
"I thought you loved her. Was I wrong?"
"I do, damn it. Don’t make this any harder."
"I don’t get it, Trevor. Why?"
They stood together in the empty living room in the estate.
"Listen to me. You’re not dumb, Jon. You know there’s a lot of crazy shit at work in…in ‘all this’. Right? Things aren’t all straight up and forward, right?"
Jon nodded.
It had been tough enough to deal with the idea of alien monsters and armies invading the Earth, let alone Trevor Stone’s strange ability to command dogs and summon knowledge he should not have. Accepting Trevor’s post-Armageddon abilities without giving them much consideration always seemed the easiest route. Yet there could be no denying that Jon’s friend-the one-time car salesman-had a direct line to forces of some greater magnitude.
"This is killing me, do you understand?" Trev closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "But this is how it has to be. If not, then everything could unravel. That’s not my choice. Do you hear me? But this is how it has to be."
Jon repeated Trevor's strangest directive to date: "No one is ever to tell Nina about the relationship you two had. It is never to be spoken of. It never happened."
"And if they do?"
"Treason," Jon spoke the ugly tasting word.
"Your wife is going to be a hard sell on this."
"Shep may be harder. He said he never saw Nina as happy as she was with you."
Trevor raised a hand.
"Stop. Just stop. I can’t hear that now. It’s done. It’s over. Tomorrow is a new day."
Jon saw the anguish in his friend. He did not know why things had to be like this; he could not understand it. What grand plan did this serve?
He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
"I’m sorry."
"We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?" Trevor said.
"Wow, yeah we have."
"We have much farther to go. Much, much farther."
– The last night arrived. Trevor and Nina had the mansion to themselves
Shep had left for an all night poker game and the Brewers found a new home on the far side of the lake. Dante, in the meantime, did not say where he went but Trevor suspected he stayed with Kristy Kaufman for the night.
Trevor had secured a couple of prime cuts of beef, fresh vegetables, and a bottle of wine.
After dinner, they sat in the living room and dreamt of a normal world for themselves. A world without Armageddon.
"And where would we have lived?" Trevor asked.
"Hmmm," she smiled. "Well, Philly of course."
"Because that’s where you worked?"
"Well, I mean, I was a cop you were-"
"A car salesman. I know, I know."
"Philly is a great place. Lots of things to do. We could go to the zoo. Catch a Phillies game. Stroll through the museum."
"Now that’s a funny image," he laughed. "You and I, strolling through the zoo. After all we’ve seen I think a couple of giraffes would be kind of anti-climatic."
"This is a different world," Nina whispered. "A world where I’m not a soldier, and you’re not a leader. It’s a dream world. We’re we could just be together. No responsibilities."
He put his hand on her cheek.
"That’s a lovely world. A wonderful dream."
She wrung her hands.
"And after tomorrow, you get to dream it. I won’t remember enough to want to dream."
"Memories make us who we are. Take them away, and you change the person. But I’ll still…I’ll still…"
"Don’t say it. You won’t like me at all. Promise me; promise me you’ll try. Promise me that you’ll try to make me remember the dream."
"I promise."
They both knew he lied. A lovely lie, nonetheless.
Trevor pulled the necklace holding his secret key from around his neck.
"When did you get that?"
"I always wear it. It’s always with me."
"What? How come I've never seen it before?"
"Because it's my key. No one else's. Come with me. I want to show you something."
He led her to the basement.
"I think you need to know something about me. About me and, and ‘all this’."
They followed the stairs into the basement. The armory door stood locked. The plasma screen TV off, the bar dusty and on the pool table sat quiet, a full rack waiting to be broke.
He maneuvered her toward the small door under the stairs.
"Trevor," she hesitated. "You don’t have to do this."
"I don’t want to have secrets from you. I want you to know it all."
Nina took a deep breath and kissed his cheek.
"Okay then. Show me."
He opened the door and clicked on a solitary bulb that shined on a dingy little chamber surrounding a utility cabinet and a hot water heater. Trevor slid that cabinet to the side, revealing a small gray door.
Stone slipped the key from the necklace into the lock. It clicked. He grabbed the iron knob and turned it, eliciting a squeak. The wooden door opened to a dark entrance.
He took her by the hand and they carefully followed a tight stairway down.
Nina heard a low hum in the air that grew louder as they descended into a dimly lit space.
No stone, no concrete, only walls of earth. Old tree roots poked in from the ceiling.
"Where are we, Trevor?"
"Now that’s a good question. I suppose we’re under the mansion."
"You suppose? Where else could we be?"
Trevor walked to a plain wooden table. An oil lamp and a pack of matches waited there.
"I suppose we could be…somewhere else. I honestly don’t know. I do know there’s nothing to be afraid of. Do you trust me?"
She nodded.
He lit the oil lamp. The soft glow of the flame bounced off the dirt walls.
"Look at this."
At the far end of the room sat an old wood and iron chest. Trevor walked to that chest. Nina stood a pace behind.
He reached over and, with two hands, pulled open the heavy lid. As it opened, a blue/gray light streamed out from inside, first in streaks then as a glow.
Trevor stepped back. Nina stepped forward.
She raised her hand to shield her eyes as the glow rose out from the box like a balloon lazily drifting into the air.
Nina blinked rapidly as her pupils adjusted to the sudden influx of light. After a few seconds, she dropped her hand and stared at the object.