The cat’s ears bent back and she stepped away from Carson and then she hissed at him.
Jack grabbed the cat and pulled her away from the table.
“She’s had a rough day; I’ll take her out of here,” Jack said.
Anderson looked at Carson’s pale face. “Are you all right Doc?” Anderson asked.
Carson coughed into his hand, “Excuse me, no I’m not. I was on call for 24 hours before all this started. I’m afraid I am quite fatigued. I’ll pull through though.”
“You should rack out while you have the chance, Doc,” Anderson said. “You never know when you’re going to get another chance.”
“If you don’t mind I think I’ll take your advice and go lay down for a bit. I’ll be in the office in hanger two if anyone needs me.”
Chapter Ten
Rex walked across the tarmac of the airport to his parked truck where Ginger and Alison waited. Carl’s red SUV sat beside the black Dodge but the family was nowhere in site. Ginger and Alison were sharing a bottle of water in the back seat of the truck with the doors open.
“How did it go cowboy?” Alison said.
“Slightly better than totally fucked,” Rex said, “Got any more water?”
“Sure do,” Alison said. “Grabbed one for you just in case.”
Ginger opened the cap to the bottle and handed it to Rex. The water was warm, but he gulped it down till it was empty.
“You finished that pretty quick,” Ginger said.
“Yeah lot of hot air in that room, I never did like meetings,” Rex said. “The short version is Sulla deputized me. I’m not sure he has the power, but I don’t think anyone cares. The plan is that we’re going to fly out, hopefully before we all die. We may have to go steal some planes if the military decides to leave us hanging. By the way, I have news for you Alison; how do you want it?”
Alison wiped her palms on her jeans. “Just give it to me.”
“I saw your husband, and he’s headed over to hanger two to take a nap in one of the offices. I didn’t come across his friend, but I’ve heard he brought an assistant.”
“Alison,” Ginger said, “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to let him know what a piece of shit he is for leaving me out there to die, while he saved his slut.
“Do you think he might react violently?” Ginger said.
“Our marriage is messed up, but it’s never been like that,” Alison said.
“I’m still going to send Rex with you,” Ginger said. “He can at least be in earshot. I'll stay here and watch the stuff.”
“Thanks Ginger, but I don’t want to leave you here by yourself,” Alison said.
Ginger waved at a group of people walking toward their trucks. “Nonsense, here comes Brandi and her parents right now.”
“I guess that settles it,” Alison said. "Rex, if you don’t mind, I’m ready to get this over with." Rex and Alison walked down the tarmac past rows of parked cars approaching hanger 2 in the distance. Refugees milled about their vehicles trying cell phones or exchanging stories with one another.
"There is a suite of offices in the back of the hanger," Rex said. "He's supposed to be set up in office seven. I’ll wait outside a short distance away and give you some privacy, but I will be fairly close just in case."
"Holy cow, Rex, is that you?" a girl shouted from behind a parked car. "It is you, I’m so glad to see a familiar face," the girl said. He stopped and saw a girl with blonde hair and black lipstick running toward him with out-stretched arms. She threw her arms around him and squeezed. "This must be your wife. I'm Mazie. I met Rex at the Casino yesterday up in Erie."
"Actually,” Rex said, “This is my friend Alison. My wife Ginger is back that way watching our gear."
Go figure Alison thought, I am on the way to deal with ending my marriage and some gothic chick is holding me up.
"How did you end up here?" Rex asked Mazie.
"I was heading back to school in Kentucky. I drove south along Interstate 79 and the highway was blocked off near Cranberry. There was a big traffic jam, but I managed to squeeze my car through to get to a smaller back road. I heard on the radio this morning that the airport here was safe, and I found it with my GPS."
"Rex," Alison said, "I’m going to head over to the hanger, you can catch up when you get a chance. It sounds like your friend here might like to join our group at the trucks."
"Could I?" Mazie said. "Because that would be great, I've been freaked out all night. Let me grab my stuff from my car, and I can follow you to your truck."
"That’ll work fine," Alison encouraged Rex.
Might keep him out of trouble if I decide to shoot my bastard husband, Alison thought. She turned and walked in the direction of the hanger leaving Rex and Mazie behind.
Maybe everything will be ok, she thought. I’ll enter the room and find him thrilled to see me, and it’ll have all been a misunderstanding. Fat chance, she conceded to herself. I’m that girl who the other wives whisper about when they gossip. They feel sorry for me, but that doesn’t stop them from giggling. My life was supposed to be different, but can I stop loving him, she wondered. No, I cant, he’s my husband, and I committed my life to him.
I can’t be that girl; I should just walk in, pull the trigger and leave. Why’d you do this to me, Carson, she thought. I gave you everything in my life, but it wasn’t enough. If only I could run from this and drive away, but where could I hide from the pain? It hurts to breathe, she thought. Please heart, stop beating and spare me.
Alison found that she was standing in front of office number seven inside hanger two. She wiped the sweat from her trembling hands and reached out to the door. Her fingertips found the metal of the doorknob cool to the touch. She closed her eyes and waited, feeling the metal gradually warm from her fingers.
Carson’s heart raced as he finished off Kimberly’s young body underneath him on the desk. I love it, Carson thought. These young girls just need constant gardening.
He hadn’t been feeling well when he headed back to the office, but Kimberly insisted she could make him feel better. Come to think of it, he thought, I do feel better. Carson massaged his arm near the area where the girl at the hospital had managed to bite him. The bite was small and he had cleaned the wound thoroughly the first chance he had.
The light fever could just be a normal infection setting in, Carson thought. It’s possible I’m immune and a vaccination could be derived from my antibodies. That would be awesome, he thought. I could set myself up with a whole harem of girls in the new world if that happened. If it turns out I’m going to die from this, then I am at least going to go out nailing every piece of ass I can manage.
“Carson,” Kim said, “do you think we can get married?”
It’s what they all want, Carson thought; commitment. I sort of committed to Alison, and if the world was a better place she might be here with me. It’s a shame I didn’t get to give her the diamond necklace I bought for her birthday.
“We don’t need to talk about that right now.”
“You don’t think she could still be alive?” Kimberly said.
“No, she was waiting for me at the mall when it got hit. Let’s not think about that. Here, I bought you a present. I was saving it for you as a surprise.” Carson pulled a small square box out of his pocket.
“I managed to hang on to it all through the hospital,” he added. Carson removed the necklace from the box, “Let me put it on you.”
The door creaked open behind Kimberly. Alison walked in and the door swung closed behind her. She pointed a silver revolver at Carson. “Let me help you two with that,” Alison said. Kimberly scrambled for her clothes and pulled them over her exposed body. “I want to hear you try and explain this to me. Go ahead and try.”