“I’m Eb.” He extended his hand. “And this is Ada.”
“George. I’m George and I’m so glad to see you. I didn’t think anyone was left in the world.”
“Are you the only one?” asked Ada.
“Here. Yeah. In Vegas. I don’t know. But I do know everyone around here either died or left. I was in my room when the news said to stay inside. I didn’t think that many people were exposed to it, but everyone I spoke to got some sort of rash or sick.”
Ada nodded. “It’s caused by a fungus and when the spores are active they spread. That’s what happened. We saw your post.”
“Thank God. I just wanted to go home but when I realized I should have just taken any ride, it was too late.”
“You didn’t think of hitting valet parking?” Eb asked. “Find some keys. Find a car?”
“Um… no. I don’t even know what’s going on out there.”
“It’s bad,” Eb replied. “I know you wanted to go to Flagstaff. We’re not sure if it’s okay, but we can try to take you there. We’re from Griffin.”
“I appreciate it. I do. Let me grab my stuff.” He took off darting into one of the fast food restaurants.
Ada turned to Eb. “Should we drive around looking for people?”
“I don’t know. Maybe drive slow and beep the horn to draw attention. Who knows I… can you…” Eb pointed back. “Can you wait for him? There’s something I want to see.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” Eb turned to his right and headed toward a staircase.
Ada watched Eb leave. She had no idea what he was doing. She waited for George who took a few minutes to gather his things.
“Where did he go?” George asked.
“Up.”
“Shit.”
“What?” Ada asked.
“Everyone is dead up there. I wouldn’t go up there.”
“George. Wait here. I’ll be back.”
“Didn’t you hear me? It’s dangerous.”
Ada lifted the spray bottle to her pack. “I’m armed. I’ll be right back. I promise.”
It was strange, there were lights on and she could hear the struggling sound of the escalator as it battled the growing fungus that clung to the railing. Like Eb, she took the stairs.
It brought her to a set of glass doors and she entered into a wide, bright lobby.
The roped-off areas used for check-in had toppled over. Abandoned luggage was strewn across the floor with paper and other garbage. The main doors of the hotel were shattered and the glass looked like someone had dumped an ice machine.
It wasn’t silent and that surprised her.
Blings and bleeps along with music carried to her. She realized once she entered the casino that most of it was flowing from an automatic sequence on each video slot machine. A sequence that showed the biggest hit one could get—a way to entice players.
And people still played as long as they could, literally.
They slumped dead at the machines, credits still on there.
The carpet beneath her feet felt strangely damp as she walked.
“Eb,” she called out.
“Over here.”
A little farther and she found him. He was seated at a slot machine, one with pyramids and Egyptian symbols on it. His hand touched the button and the reels spun.
“Eb, what are you doing?” Ada asked.
“So close to a bonus,” he said. “I had a twenty in my pocket.”
“Eb, sweetie…”
“Shit.” He hit the button and shook his head. “So close. Did you see?”
“No. We have to go.”
“I know,” Eb replied. “I just know if I hit max bet I’ll hit the jackpot.”
“Eb, honey… did you honestly just come up here to gamble?”
Eb’s hand slid from the machine and he turned slowly to face her. “No, I came up here to experience this one more time. Because it’s done and it won’t be long before it’s all gone. Nothing left to see.”
“We don’t know that, Eb.”
“Yeah, yeah, we do. Ever see the movie or read the book by Stephen King called The Langoliers?”
“Yes, what’s that got to do with anything?” Ada asked.
“Everything. We’re living it. Only instead of some mysterious thing eating up our yesterday, this fungus,” Eb said, “is eating up our tomorrow.”
Steven was his name. The first airplane survivor, the one to peek through the window and stumble out. He cried out in pain, sitting up as he did so in the fourth pew of the small church.
“It’s okay,” Art told him. “It’s a muscle spasm. I promise they’ll stop once we get you hydrated. Cass?”
Cass had been looking at those they brought in, their makeshift beds in a house of worship. That had to afford them some peace, she hoped. “Yeah, I’m sorry.” Carrying a bottle of juice, she hurried over to Steven.
“See if you can get him to sip,” Art said. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” It was no secret Cass was out of her element giving care to people. “Can you sit up some?” she asked Steven and then helped him.
“Sorry. Thank you.”
“It’s okay.” She held the bottle near his mouth. “We just need you to drink.”
“I… I conserved mine,” he said, cringing as he drank. “They passed out everything to everyone and we were in charge of our own rations. It wasn’t much.”
“The heat had to be unbearable. It’s a miracle you survived that.”
“It was hot and then they opened the door and it helped. We hoped the night air would, you know, cool things. It didn’t. But…” He took another sip. “By the time we woke up yesterday morning the door was covered.”
“And it wasn’t covered when you went to sleep?”
He shook his head. “It got worse during the day.”
“Can you excuse me?” Cass asked, making sure he had the bottle of juice well in his grip. “I’ll be back.”
She backed away, heading toward the aisle.
“Cass?” Niles called out. “Where are you going?”
“There’s something I need to do. I’ll be back.”
When she heard Steven say that door was covered overnight, it made Cass worried. The fungus was consuming everything. If Griffin managed to remain unscathed, there would be nothing left in the world to take. No resources to run to. Nothing. She went into some weird flight or fight mode, or more so like a panic shopper and she knew what she had to do.
She stepped from the church. The squad car was parked in the middle of the street, the trunk was open, but she didn’t see Kit.
She crossed the road and walked into the one truck stop called The Trading Post. A little store and restaurant. It was where she’d grabbed the juice for the airplane people.
There were a lot of items in there, but Cass went into the back of the diner to the kitchen. She peered around, she didn’t know exactly where it would be, but knew it was there. It had to be.
She found it next to a small back office marked, ‘manager.’ It was the pantry.
Inside was her jackpot. Large cans of produce, boxes of pasta and rice, cases of water, cereal. Figuring she’d start to her left, she loaded up her arms with boxes of pasta and carried them outside.
As she approached the squad car, grateful the trunk was open, she saw Kit walking toward her. He had something in his hand but she couldn’t make out what it was. She basically just dropped the pasta into the trunk, then arranged them in a flat manner to add more items.
“What are you doing?” Kit asked.
Cass jumped. “Oh, sorry. Getting supplies. There’s more in there.”
“That’s a good idea,” Kit said. “Get what we can. Surplus.”
“This place is untouched.”