She thought he was being selfish. Inhuman. And she was right about him, that was the hell of it. There was an animal side of Thomas willing to share food with everyone in the neighborhood if it meant Skylar would sleep with him. That he would consider sacrificing the life of everyone in this house for a half-hour sexual fantasy made Thomas feel exactly like the monster she believed he was.
On top of all that, he enjoyed being around her! What he wouldn’t give to relive the airport scene, when their easy camaraderie had melted the tension of an anxious first meeting. If not for the end of the world, everything might have been different.
Now, it was Monday evening, and the mood in the house was dark. Skylar was upstairs with a book. Natalie remained in the bedroom, mysteriously mute. Thomas himself had passed much of the day building an inventory of the safe room and preparing estimates on how long their group of six could expect to survive on the current food stores.
Ironically, out of everyone in the house, Seth and the twins seemed most at ease. It was two days now since Thomas had admonished them for going outside, and he assumed Seth would be tempted by the bright sunshine to give it another go. But somehow this had never happened, which was the lone bright spot in an otherwise awful afternoon.
Yesterday Skylar had mentioned a love of Asian food, so Thomas was boiling water and chopping onions for tonight’s dinner of curry and rice. Yes, it was a cheap ploy to earn her approval, but what did he have to lose? And so far it appeared to be working, because a few minutes ago Skylar had finally come downstairs. She was sitting on the sofa, reading, of all things, Alas, Babylon.
When he was done with the onions, Thomas walked past the kitchen table, where Seth and the boys were playing Sorry!. Through the back windows he could see clouds of smoke against the setting sun.
Thomas heard a knock then, quick three raps, that he recognized immediately but refused to acknowledge.
“Someone’s at the door,” Skylar said from the living room. “Maybe you ought to answer it.”
“I’ll get it,” said Seth.
“Seriously?” Thomas replied. “I will answer it. And please be quiet. Just like when Matt was here before.”
He knew who was at the door. Even when the electricity was on, Larry preferred to knock. He was the kind of man who considered himself more cultured than most, when really his personality was adolescent and celebrity-obsessed.
“Hi, Larry,” Thomas said as the door swung open. “This is some crazy shit, isn’t it?”
Larry smiled his typical creepy smile. He was a physicist and had been one of the leaders at the particle accelerator in Olney before it was destroyed. Today, he worked for an overseas corporation with a German name Thomas couldn’t remember.
“Crazy?” Larry said. “Do you say that because of the improbable supernova? Or because this reality is so similar to your new screenplay?”
Thomas didn’t understand how a person could effect a manner both erudite and slimy.
“I don’t know how the government plans to respond, but if they don’t come soon I’m afraid—”
“You know there won’t be a response,” Larry said. “It hasn’t been that long since we talked about this. Don’t you remember?”
One night several months ago Larry had lured him onto his patio, which was how Thomas had come to know the man’s role at the particle accelerator. Larry had also told stories about his years in Los Angeles and all the celebrities he met while working as a science consultant. But Thomas didn’t remember talking much about his work.
“Maybe,” he said. “I had just finished another draft of The Pulse, so it’s possible I—”
“I’m not surprised you prepared for an event like this,” said Larry. “You were pretty spooked by the idea.”
Thomas remembered drinking a lot of scotch. Possibly more than he intended.
“Anyway,” Larry whined, “if you’ve invited a family to stay in your house, you must have put away more food than I thought.”
“A family?”
“They seemed like nice people. Seth and his two young sons. I’d love to say hello.”
Larry grinned.
Now here was Seth, yanking the door farther open before Thomas could react.
“Hey, Larry.”
“Hello, Seth! Oh, it smells good in there. What are you guys cooking?”
Thomas was so furious with Seth he could barely think straight, but it was the wrong time to let emotion get the better of him.
“We do have a little food,” he said to Larry. “But we are being frugal with it, because who knows how long this will last?”
Larry’s creepy smile widened, stretching from ear to ear, as if it was in danger of splitting his face in two.
“Maybe we should invite him for dinner,” said Seth inconceivably. “I bet he’d enjoy some curry.”
“Yes, I would,” replied Larry. “And it would be lovely to speak with Skylar again.”
The words Skylar who? arrived at his lips, and it was all Thomas could do to contain them.
“Let him inside!” trumpeted Seth, who grabbed at the door, who exhaled a sour cloud of whiskey breath.
Thomas jerked the door away.
“So now you know,” he said to Larry. “There are six people here, including two children. Six people I have to figure out how to feed.”
“So you have enough for six but not seven?”
“What I mean is we’re on our own. Everyone is.”
“But everyone didn’t prepare for the apocalypse the way you did. I can’t believe you would decline to help a hungry neighbor.”
“It’s only been three days. Surely you’re not out of food yet.”
Larry stepped forward. The smile on his face faltered into a grimace. It was horrifying.
“Even if I can survive on Bisquick for another day or two, I’m still going to run out. I walked to H.E.B. after the rain yesterday and the place looked like a bomb went off. What do you expect me to do?”
“I don’t know, Larry.”
“You expect me to stay home and starve while you get drunk and make curry for your celebrity girlfriend?”
“I expect you to take care of yourself. The way I’m taking care of my guests and myself.”
“I’m not the only one around here who’s running low,” Larry countered. “Maybe I should tell everyone in Lakewood Village about your little party.” “Get out of here,” Thomas said. “And don’t come back.”
Larry leaned to one side and pretended to look beyond him.
“Give Skylar my regards.”
“Get out,” Thomas said and shut the door.
When he turned around, Seth and the boys had disappeared. Thomas marched into the living room, where Skylar sat alone.
“So you went outside?”
“Yes, I did. What are you going to do about it?”
“That’s a mature response. You realize your pointless act of rebellion will probably get us killed.”
“What’s so pointless about talking to a neighbor?”
“I told you what he was like! What would you have done if he attacked you? What if he tells someone else and a bunch of skeezy men show up here?”
“You mean you wouldn’t protect me?” Skylar said, and pretended to theatrically fan herself. “What will I ever do without a man?”
“Not this shit again. That isn’t what I meant.”
“You act like you want the best for us, but you don’t include us in a single decision.”
Thomas balled his fists and walked in the direction of the kitchen, where he was greeted by the sour smell of onions and a pot of water rapidly boiling itself away. He switched off the gas and stomped into the hallway. When he barged into the bedroom, looking for Seth, he discovered Natalie on the bed, writing something.