The sergeant and another female soldier came walking over as the Jeep rolled away over the terrain.
“We’re on for eleven-thirty,” Sergeant Flynn said.
“Roger that,” said Emory. “What did you tell the lieutenant?”
“What do you think I told him? I told him the astronomer said we should roll due north.”
As they drove along over the rugged terrain, Susan was grinning at Marty.
“What?”
“You liked her.”
He laughed. “Well, guess which one of us she liked.”
Susan’s smile disappeared. “You’re making that up.”
“No,” he said. “Her exact words were: ‘She’s pretty, I’d jump ’er.’”
“That’s disgusting,” she said, crossing her arms and looking out the window.
He laughed some more.
“It’s not that funny, Martin.”
“Well, considering what we’ve been through today, Susan, I’d say it’s just that funny.”
Twenty
The sun was going down, and though most of the adults in Forrest’s flock were fairly inebriated, it was a sobering moment as each reflected that this could be the last sunset they ever saw. They sat watching it, the foundation of all their sunny days and brightest memories, shading their eyes as it faded to a darker orange, many of them whispering for it not to go. Even the youngest children seemed to be experiencing an instinctive sense of loss.
After it disappeared, the mothers gathered their children into their arms and held them tight, telling them how much they loved them and pledging that nothing would ever change that, no matter what the future held. Forrest stood watching over them all with Laddie at his side, a carbine slung across his back: a lethal talisman to ward off whatever evils might come to pass in the following months.
“By the time it gets dark,” Ulrich announced to the group, “we’d like everyone to be inside the house, but feel free to remain aboveground until midnight.”
“I guess it’s time we started moving this party inside, then,” Erin said, forcing herself to cheer up. “Who wants coffee?”
“I’ll help you make some,” Andie said, her gaze on Forrest for a long moment as she joined Erin on her way to the house.
Forrest watched as Joann Parker came strolling gracefully up to him, looking very solemn, leading her five-year-old daughter Beyonce by the hand.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“We’re fine,” she said. “I’d just like to thank you for today. The rest of the world is suffering so badly right now… but you’ve managed to make today special.”
“It’s my privilege,” he said, kneeling to talk to her daughter. “How are you, beautiful? Did you have fun with Laddie today?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling and petting the dog’s ears. “Mommy says you’re an army man. That’s why you have a gun.”
“Well, I’m sort of an army man, yeah. But I only have a gun in case some bears come around and try to eat up all our food.”
“Bears?” she said incredulously, as if the idea of a bear in Nebraska was the craziest thing she had ever heard.
He laughed as he stood up. “Your daughter is apparently unaware of the growing bear population here in the Great Plains.”
Joann laughed, and for a moment she looked as though she wanted to say something more, but she excused herself instead and led Beyonce off toward the house.
Ulrich came over and stood at Forrest’s side. “Did you touch base with Jerry one last time?”
Forrest nodded. “He wishes us luck. He’s back in Havana now.”
They went inside, and the house was crowded even with everyone spread more or less evenly throughout the five rooms.
“Where’s Melissa?” Forrest asked Veronica.
“She’s out on the porch… she’s upset, Jack. It’s been two days, and she hasn’t been able to reach her parents with all the cell phone usage.”
He crossed the house and stepped out onto the porch where Melissa was sitting in a chair. Laddie was beside her, watching the night.
“What’s got you down?” he asked, taking the chair beside her and resting the carbine barrel-up against the railing.
“Can I see that?”
“Not right now. What’s got you down?”
“You know what it is,” she said, petting the dog.
He flicked his cigarette out into the yard.
“You should quit smoking.”
He took the pack from his pocket and set it on the windowsill. “How’s that?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve got like ninety cartons downstairs.”
“So when’s the last time you talked to your parents?”
“The day before yesterday.”
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and grabbing the carbine.
Veronica saw them headed for the basement and started to follow, but Michael stepped in front of her.
“Where are you going?”
She pointed after them.
“You don’t have to be in on every little thing,” he said. “Let her have some time with him.”
“Why aren’t you talking to your girlfriend?”
“I thought I was.”
“I don’t want to dance around this,” she said, suddenly frustrated. “Let me know if you decide to get to know her better.”
“I hardly think you’ve got room to criticize.”
Down below in Launch Control, Forrest sat down beside Melissa, switched on the satellite phone and typed in a number from memory.
“But I thought you couldn’t—”
“Shh!”
The phone rang only twice.
“Jack, is that you?” someone answered over the speaker.
“Yeah, Jerry, it’s me. Thanks for picking up.”
“Has something gone wrong?” Jerry asked. “I didn’t think we were supposed to talk again.”
“I need a favor, Jerry.”
“Another one? Jesus Christ, Jack!”
“Hey, this one’s easy,” Forrest said. “I need you to patch me through to a specific cell phone number.”
“We’re on a military satellite, Jack. There are certain risks involved here.”
“What are they going to do, Jerry? Come and get you down in Havana after the meteor hits?”
“Give me the fucking number, you greedy pain in the ass.”
Forrest gave him the number. “Thanks, Jerry. Godspeed.”
“Same to you, old friend.”
A minute later the line was ringing.
“Hello?”
“Mom!” Melissa blurted.
“Oh, my God, baby! Are you okay? Stephen, it’s Melissa! Baby, we’ve been going crazy trying to reach you! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Melissa said, her voice cracking as she began to cry.
“Take all the time you need,” Forrest whispered, touching her on the head and leaving her alone in Launch Control, signaling Laddie to stay with her. He went back upstairs and out into the backyard, and half an hour later Melissa reappeared to find him at the picnic table smoking a cigarette.
“I thought you quit,” she said, sitting down beside him.
“I started up again.”
She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. “We got cut off.”
“Military satellites will do that,” he said. “They prioritize every thirty minutes. I should’ve warned you.”
“At least I got to talk to them. Thank you.”
“You bet.”
She was silent for a moment. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”
He smiled in the porch light. “Eventually.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“This has happened before, and mankind snapped right back.” He pushed a curl away from her sad eyes. “There’s no reason to assume we won’t make it.”