Darla drew in a sharp breath and then sucked her cheek against her teeth. “He has a point, Lucy,” she interjected. “I think you’re forgetting what you know to be true here. Nebraska could be dangerous.”
Lucy looked down at her plate. “We don’t know the truth. None of us know.”
“Well, I’m beginning to think that the truth isn’t going to help me,” Ethan replied. He clattered his fork against his plate and reversed his chair away from the table and wheeled himself back into the den. They watched him go and then turned back to their breakfasts, each of them waiting for someone else to resume eating first.
Lowering her voice, Darla leaned in and narrowed her eyes. “You’re just going to show up in this town in Nebraska and knock on some doors until you’re reunited with your family? That’s not a great plan.”
“I don’t have a plan,” Lucy said in a small voice. “But I don’t want to sit here at the house waiting for us to run out of the meals my dad left and not doing anything to try to find the people I love. I’ve already done that. I just stayed at that stupid school waiting for someone to come rescue me.” She looked at everyone and put down her fork. “No more. This is something we can do. No more waiting around, I’m done with that.”
The fire popped.
“You know you can’t risk Ethan’s life by asking him to go with you,” Darla said with her mouth full. “Eat the pancake, Teddy.” She looked at Lucy and raised her eyebrows in expectation of a reply.
“We can’t just stay here. So, then what?” Lucy asked and she turned over her shoulder toward the den. She pushed her chair back away from the table and started to make her way to Ethan.
“Right,” Grant answered. His voice was strong and confident. “Well, that makes it easy.”
Lucy paused and turned to look at him. “What?”
“Lucy and I will go,” he said to Darla.
The offer hung in the room, palpable and tense. Everyone collectively held his or her breath.
Then Darla looked thoughtfully toward the ceiling and then back toward Grant. Her eyes went between the two of them, assessing. Finally, she assented. “It’s not the only way, but I suppose if you’re hell-bent on going…it is the best way. You can drive once you get out of the city. Gas is an issue because you can’t pump without power…but cars should be easy to come by.”
“But you just said—” Lucy started, but Darla raised a fork at her.
“Look,” she interrupted. “I’m not going to tell you not to take a risk. And I think you’re crazy, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want some answers. I lost the love of my life and everyone on this planet I cared about with the exception of my son. You think you can do this? Then go.”
“Is this happening?” Lucy asked and she took a step forward. “Everyone is okay with this?”
Shrugging, Darla looked over at Teddy. “I’m not leaving my son. And I’m not taking my son. Your brother can’t travel. Neither of you should go alone. If Nebraska is in your future…then this has to be the way. I don’t think it’s safe and I am petrified about what’s waiting for you there. But if you want to go, I’m not going to stand in your way.”
Inside the den, Ethan flipped through records. Lucy entered and stood near the doorway, the sounds of the others clearing breakfast dishes in the background.
“You know what shocks me most of all?” he said with his back still turned to her. “Why would Dad just walk away from the life he built here? Why leave this heirloom? And his wedding pictures,” he nodded toward an album on the edge of their father’s work desk. “How could he risk losing us?”
Lucy sat down on the couch and leaned her head back—she stared at the white ceiling and the overhead fan above them—the blades decorated with some flowery design that had always looked like an abstract drawing of an owl’s face. She turned to face Ethan.
“I’ll ask him that. When I find him. He’s got to be out there Ethan…I believe that. I think he wants us to find him.”
“And you really want to do this?” Ethan asked.
Lucy exhaled out her nose. “This is our family. Our mom. And I can do this. Please trust me.”
“I trust you. But it’s scary…to let you go. What if you—” he couldn’t finish his thought.
Teddy swooped into the room and made a leap to the couch. He jumped and jumped until Darla came in and swung him off the leather and planted his feet on the ground.
“Legos?” she suggested and he rushed away, shouting about building an all-blue spaceship. Grant came in and sat by Lucy and he gave her a reassuring smile.
Pushing her back against the bookshelf, Darla crossed her arms. “We heard before the communication ended that the bridge is down between here and Washington. Car backup along all major highways will be impossible to navigate. You could walk out…but Grant is a living testament that you might still run into Raiders…who knows what type of people are lurking at the major entrances and exits to the city.”
“Sounds lovely,” Grant said. “What if we head north?”
“Fine. But still I-84 is a traffic jam up the Gorge. You’re walking out of here and that alone carries all sorts of risks,” Darla explained as she rubbed her temples. “Too bad you can’t just fly out over the wreckage. Land yourself beyond the miles of corpses and cars.”
“What if we could?” Grant asked, alert and looking between everyone, his eyes flashing with excitement.
“Fly?” Darla laughed. “Oh yeah?”
“Well, more like float,” Grant replied and he smiled.
From Up Above Tours was family owned and operated for thirty years. Grant’s uncle was a commercial pilot frustrated by an aggravating schedule that kept him away from his wife and young children and Grant’s aunt was a strong woman with an entrepreneurial spirit and unstoppable business acumen. For years they ran sunrise hot air balloon tours over the Willamette Valley, storing their massive equipment during the off-season in Grant’s family’s storage barn on their large lot with acreage. Abandoned and ready for flight, just miles from Lucy’s home, were a collection of hot air balloons. Grant’s aunt and uncle kept the balloons in trailers next to the stables, where Grant’s horses grazed and slept.
“Horses? You have horses?” Lucy asked and she raised her eyebrows with a knowing look.
“Don’t say it…just don’t. I think the point’s been made.” Then he frowned as he remembered. “Had horses, though. We lost two the night before everything. Not all of them. But if it was just a precursor to everything else then I doubt I have any horses anymore.”
“Wait, wait,” Ethan turned to Grant. “So, you can fly these things?”
“Yes,” Grant replied quickly. Then he shifted his eyes to Lucy and lowered his eyes. “I mean…I’ve helped fly them. I work every summer with the company. Setting up the balloons, assisting with flights. I can do it. I know how. I’ve done it a hundred times over the years.”
“But you’ve never actually flown one solo?” Ethan wheeled closer and looked at Grant incredulously.
“I can do it,” Grant said, his eyes lighting up, moving between each of them – eager to convince. “I’ll need some extra hands, but I can fly us out over the wreckage. Right? That’s all we need?”
“How far do they go?” Lucy asked, imagining a stress-free ride through the skies all the way to Nebraska.
“Depends on how much fuel we take, which balloon, which gondola. I think I can get us like fifty miles. But maybe more, I can push it to more.”
“That’s all?” Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not even a start to the trip.”
“Well, I don’t want to walk fifty miles instead if those are our options,” Grant replied.
“Where will you go?” Ethan asked.