Ping Two - Across the Valley Read online

  A pleasant, almost nourishing wave of expectation seeped deeply into her at this sudden epiphany and she wondered how she could have been so thick not to have acknowledged earlier what was happening. It must have been weeks now that amusing tidbits like parts of a song had been arriving mysteriously out of the blue.

  After the plague, when there was nobody left to judge her, it had taken several months for Rose to make the slightest sense of her newly found aptitude, but Travis had been persistent with her. It was fortunate that in her prolonged state of grief, she had taken the gentlest path and surrendered to whatever possessed her at the moment.

  Yet, his pings had been so comforting that soon she had welcomed and then even longed for them, making plans to physically join the boy and the other two more ambiguous entities, which turned out to be Kate and Sarah.

  At that very moment standing with her basket by the vegetable path, she marvelled at the irony of such trust in her instincts: the vaguest and unlikeliest of hopes had yielded some of the most important rewards of her life. She held on to the incoming sensations while carrying her tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions home, convinced she was connecting with a distant being.

  ***

  Lucy fixed her hair, applied a touch of mascara to her lashes, which were too light to see otherwise, and slid on some pink lip-gloss. Christopher was stupid to think she wouldn’t want to have lunch with the strange new Earthling who wished to join their colony; he was a welcome and intriguing distraction from her sudden anguish.

  Of course, she could not be exactly overjoyed that a handsome survivor had found his way to them; her heart had been pierced once too often for that. The dagger of abandonment had penetrated a tough layer of scar tissue this time. But curiosity abetted her, and before she knew it the cabin at the remote edge of the lake was peeking through the thick foliage.

  Dishes clattered and drifting out from the window as she walked beneath it along the side to the front entrance was a familiar, sweet smell. She climbed the rickety paint-chipped steps and before she could knock, Kevin opened the door.

  “Lucy, I’m so happy you came. Come in,” he grinned, with what appeared to be genuine relief.

  His unusual height surprised her as she slipped past him into the musky abode; she had only briefly observed him self-consciously wilting into Kate’s couch last night and he’d seemed much smaller.

  “Well, thanks for inviting me,” she said standing in the main room noting that the place still needed some organizing.

  “Your group all seem great, but I didn’t feel like meeting everyone all at once again, not yet,” he explained. “I’ve been a hermit too long. That’s the problem.”

  “I’m so sorry for what you went through,” Lucy offered. “Can’t even imagine having to do it alone all that time. It is horribly bleak out there.”

  He pulled out a chair for her at a table which was pushed into the corner of the room and sighed. “Man, I never thought I’d see a baby again. That was nourishment for my soul, I’m telling you.”

  Sitting down in the only other chair across from her he gazed at her almost apologetically. “Thought it would be best to get to know you without the others around at first. Hope you don’t mind.”

  Lucy shook her head. “Don’t be silly. Why would I mind? I’m actually quite happy to get away from them for a change.”

  “You are? Oh, um… do you want some coffee?”

  “I’d love some.”

  He brought the coffee pot to the table and his hands seemed oversized as he filled a dainty teacup.

  She smiled at him. “You have to know that all of us are ecstatic you found us. At least it’s comforting to have the few of us together here. To know the human species hasn’t quite fizzled out of existence… yet.”

  “I thought it had,” he confessed, sipping his coffee across from her and then putting the cup down on its saucer. “For a long time I had lost all hope.”

  Lucy hoped her overwhelming sadness wasn’t obvious as she began to explain her situation. “Christopher and I… we haven’t been at the lake that long – arrived the beginning of July – a month and a few weeks now, I guess it is.”

  “You mean you’re new here too?”

  “We were the last to arrive. And there wasn’t a sign of life anywhere on our journeys, not a live soul to be seen.”

  They simultaneously sipped their coffee peering over their cups at each other. He had tired, gray eyes, and a square jaw.

  She shifted uncomfortably and exclaimed, “You have no idea how freaking awful it was watching your Jag pass by me when I couldn’t catch you!”

  Kevin pushed the air through his lips with a sound of regret. “Heard your car broke down. Sorry about that, man.”

  “Don’t apologize. It’s just that I’m not that experienced at driving yet, and it was the worst thing — being totally stuck out there with Ben, too far to walk – creepy beyond words! But I guess you have a good idea of what it’s like out there all alone.”

  He looked down at his cup.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you decided to come back this way. Dumb of us not to have erected that sign before.”

  They were silent again for a moment. He gulped the rest of his coffee and fixed his eyes on a distant corner. His thin, unusually-shaped lips, which he pressed together pensively, added to his charm in an odd way.

  “Drove all the way to New Mexico before I came back here again. Stunk real bad just like everywhere else. But it’s better out this way.”

  She watched him go to the stove, lift a lid, and stack some pancakes on two plates.

  “Sarah gave me the ingredients,” he said, setting their lunch on the table and sitting back down.

  “It’s a staple around here,” Lucy giggled. She suddenly had an appetite and poured on some syrup.

  “Is that how you and Christopher found this place?”

  She looked up at him blankly.

  “I mean, the trash and tire marks,” he clarified. “That’s how I finally clued in there might be people out this way.”

  “Oh!” She swallowed. “You mean… Yes! – it was just like that.” She slid a piece of pancake through the puddle on her plate. “We were travelling around, Christopher and I were together on an extremely important mission which took most of the year. Near the end, we saw just a few signs telling us there must be other survivors. It took us a long while but eventually we found our way here.” She stopped to wipe some syrup from her chin with a napkin.

  “But before that we collected everything we will need for our future and brought it with us.”

  “I heard about that,” Kevin enthused.

  “Did you see the solar panels? There’s more in the truck, along with other stuff. But, lucky us, while searching for a place to settle, we came upon their trail and… yep; we tracked them down and ended up here.”

  He suddenly got up. She watched him pull out some glasses from the kitchen cupboard. He plunked a bottle of red wine on the table in front of her. It was expected, but seemed like a good idea. They clanked glasses.

  There was so much to tell him. He’d heard bits and pieces of their history already, but she thought he seemed confused.

  “Anyway, we eventually ran into Jack on the highway just outside of town. And I mean literally. Almost ran him over with that rig parked out by the hotel! Christopher didn’t expect someone to be driving up the other side of the mountain — in the wrong lane of all things. Did you notice the motorhome down in the ravine off the highway there? Well Kate crashed it just an hour before we arrived and Jack had her in his ambulance ready to take her to the hospital. I guess you heard he’s a doctor. He’s a really nice guy, but has his issues, you know; quite a lot of baggage — worse than the rest of us, I’m sure. Poor guy spent five years in prison and he was innocent. That does something to a person. So don’t take him the wrong way if he seems a little offish sometimes, okay?”

  She told him as much as she could, but it was hard to do it without giving th
em away and she knew a lot of it probably didn’t make sense. There was no way to explain why she and Travis were so close, for instance, and so she hoped he wouldn’t notice eventually. She was certain there were far too many coincidences in her story to be believable.

  Yet Christopher had been right that she couldn’t possibly reveal the truth at this point. In her experience it had been impossible to convince people in the best of times. The truth would only upset the poor man more than he already must have been and he wouldn’t believe her anyway. She had no choice but to embellish a story that sounded feasible.

  But if Kevin was confused, he was doing a good job of hiding it. Her talking had gone on for quite a while and he had kept quiet the entire time, gazing at her a little too intensely and nervously playing with the cork to the wine bottle.

  It was getting hot in the cabin and she brushed her long hair off her neck, enjoying the buzz she was getting from the wine. “Anyway, since Christopher broke it to me that he’d decided to move in with Sarah, I figured it was time to get my own place. And then, when Travis was helping me unpack yesterday we saw your Jag drive past my new cottage. But, what about you darling?” she finally sighed, allowing him to refill her glass.

  The wine had loosened her up in a way that she had really needed and it was wonderful to have someone new to talk to. But it was time to shut her mouth before she really put her foot in it. “Tell me all about your life before the plague Kevin.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The Demon

  (July 27th, Year Two, PA)

  Travis swung open the heavy, ornate hotel door and was immediately assaulted by the stagnant air which smelled like musk. The details of a massive oil painting was obscured in the dimness of the wide foyer. He wandered along a darker hallway toward the dining room where the afternoon light streamed across the tables and onto the patterned rug from a wall of windows and doors that led to the patio overlooking the lake.

  Just before the entrance, a curving open-flight staircase led to the basement. Holding the metal railing he counted each step as he proceeded downward peering through the open risers to the landing below. A steady ticking, like a bomb that had been set to explode, emanated from the wall beside him. He’d heard it before with Jack, who had explained it was only the heat and moisture expanding the wooden beams; buildings can make all kinds of strange noises.

  As he neared the bottom steps a stench arose from the dampness; it was the same putrid odour that had stuck in his nostrils before, reminding him of things he needed to forget. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference. Kate and Sarah had gotten rid of all that when they had first arrived, taking the bodies far away from where they lived.

  They loved him and made certain there were no dead things nearby, only fresh vegetables that might have some bruises, but they couldn’t be rotting yet. He knew the smell came from mold growing in the dark, damp corners.

  He planted his foot on the basement floor and with a dim strip of light from the window just below the ceiling he found his way into the room where Jack had put the first small harvest of potatoes, carrots, and onions into bins. Several carrying baskets had been left on a stainless-steel counter beside an oversized sink and a different, not quite as unpleasant odour drifted out of the drain. He only needed to fill his basket and get back up the stairs.

  As he counted the twelfth potato a creaking groan caused him to turn his head and he immediately saw that the door to the pantry had come slightly ajar. He gasped, not wanting to know what had moved it and gaping at the crack, shuffled backwards until his shoulder hit the cement wall beneath the window.

  By then his heart was hammering in his chest and he wanted to close his eyes and curl into a ball, not certain what he was seeing in the shadows beyond the opening of the door. But something was moving close to his feet. He stared at two mounds, the same tone of grey as the concrete beneath them.

  A couple of rats scurried into the pantry and he took a deep breath of relief, certain they had pushed open the pantry door. After a while he reached into the bin and grabbed a handful of stubby carrots but soon his attention diverted back to the pantry. If there were rats living in there he wanted to see them.

  He crept over quietly, not wanting to startle them and pulled on the brass handle until the door was as wide as it would go, but the light from the window barely found its way to the back of the large storeroom. As his eyes gradually adjusted he realized a framework of shelving lined the three walls not quite to the ceiling; the rats were hiding from him.

  His hairs pricked. Something was taking shape in the corner. Please, let it not be, he prayed, as the tall form faintly materialized by the far wall. He wanted to scream and run, but stared instead at the barely visible feet and then the boney-white hands protruding from the shadows as his gaze moved up to the height of the tallest shelf. Then he knew for certain it was alive.

  ***

  With a few minor stumbles and one that had actually shocked a bit of sense back into her, Lucy had almost made it home. Unfortunately Sarah was outside her cottage unpacking supplies from the car. At least Christopher was nowhere to be seen. She tried to sneak by pretending to be distracted by something up in a tree.

  “Lucy! How was your lunch with Kevin?”

  “Oh! Oh Sarah! You surprised me! I had a wonderful time! And, I’m sure Christopher will be happy to know it,” she beamed.

  “Well, that’s wonderful. Look hon – we’ve decided to celebrate Kevin’s arrival tonight. Rose asked me to send you over there; she needs all the help she can get.”

  “I’d be glad to be of assistance,” Lucy nodded, imagining a giant sinkhole opening beneath the woman, swallowing her whole.

  “Great, why don’t you take this bag along with you then, if you don’t mind?”

  ***

  Travis struggled to his feet so weak in the knees and trembling that he could barely stand. But he had to get away from the evil thing, which he could see even more clearly now, gloating at his terror. It was somehow more tangible than it had been before — when only his peripheral vision could see it and he had hoped it wasn’t real. That thing out in the storm had somehow given it life.

  It was not his imagination. Not his imagination. Not his imagination. He was not safe he told himself as the nasty, eyeless face glared at him with a look of cruel, narcissistic pleasure.

  He would never be safe!

  The others would try to protect him, but Travis knew he was on his own. With this particular demon there was nothing they could ever do to save him.

  ***

  Lucy let herself in through the front door; Rose was working at the stove.

  “What are you making?” she casually asked.

  “There you are my dear. Have you come to help me? Thank goodness for that. Well,” Rose sighed, “I’ve planned a variety of things, first off… Lucy, what in heaven’s name have you done to your knee dear?”

  “Oh. I guess I’ve scraped myself. No matter. Um… where’s Travis?”

  “He – he’s gone to the hotel… for vegetables. I’ve still got to make the soup. Lucy – Are you drunk?”

  “I tripped,” she giggled.

  “So I see. You’ve torn your top too. And look at your elbows! Come here. I’ll need to put something on those. The last thing you need is an infection. Or to fall in the water and drown or something. We need you dear, you do know that?”

  Lucy chortled. “You’re so sweet, but, don’t you realize that couldn’t possibly happen? I could swim this little lake a hundred times!” She slid her rear onto the table and began to swing her feet back and forth while waiting for Rose to return with the Band-aides and some ointment.

  “Well, guess I am being a little selfish… endangering my life when you need me to help propagate our pathetically dwindling species. Kevin is so nice. I’m glad he’s here, cause it’s no secret we could use another male in the genetic mix. Have you ever seen what inbreeding can do?”

  “Hold still dear.”
/>   “Is this better?” She plunked her leg on the table top.

  “I’m going to have to wash that.”

  Lucy tried to focus on what appeared to be quite a nasty gash. She didn’t feel well and gripped the side of the table.

  “Travis is going to be mad at me again. I’m so sorry Rose. Did I tell you how much I love you?”

  She had a strong urge to cry. “Travis didn’t deserve all of this crap Rose.” Nearly falling onto the floor, she found herself staggering through the kitchen to the small back room past Snowy and just making it outside onto the porch before she threw up.

  “Rose,” Lucy called from the couch. She heard them in the kitchen. The woman appeared with her hands full, still speaking to Travis as she approached.

  “There are some cans of fruit in the cupboard beneath you.

  “Feeling a little better dear?”

  Rose put a mug of coffee on the side table and handed her a wet cloth. “For your head.”

  “I’m so sorry for vomiting on your porch,” Lucy sighed weakly and spread the cool fabric over her aching forehead.

  “That’s all right dear. Next time you can wipe it up though. There isn’t going to be a next… is there?”

  “Better not be,” reprimanded Travis.

  “He cleaned it for you.”

  “Oh Travis… please forgive me.”

  “That’s okay,” the boy mumbled, apparently not impressed. He had left his duties in the kitchen to take a closer look at her bandages.

  “I’ll be good. I promise I will.” Lucy took his hand apologetically and peered up at him noting his unusual pallor. His health seemed to be declining lately. She knew something was wrong; he hadn’t been sharing with her — not the way he had always done in the past.