Counting Down (15 page)

“Hey Abby, it’s me Alex. Can you hear me?”

Abby’s eyes flew open and she tried to sit up in the bed.
Her head swung from side to side madly. “Where’s Kyle?”

“Hush, lie back. You need your rest.” Alex attempted to push her back down into the bed, but she fought him even in her wounded state.

“Where is he? Is he okay? Did he find the dog?” There was a touch of panic in her voice as she scanned the eyes of the men above her.

“I’m here.” Kyle stepped through the curtain. “I’m alright and so is Daisy.”

He saw the relief play over her face, watched the light within her brighten. He kept his eyes fixed on hers for a moment, hoping she might be able to sense how he felt. Kyle had a few answers now, understood some things better. He knew suddenly that together they were stronger. And there was no way that didn’t mean something.

It was only by touching him that she was able to garnish more information about the tornadoes and warn everyone that they were coming so quickly. And he had felt her dread before she could speak it. When their eyes had met he sensed right away that something bad was about to happen.

They were connected for a reason and he wanted to carry out that purpose, no longer fighting what he inherently knew was meant to be. Yes it was fast. Yes he was scared. But none of that mattered when he looked into her eyes.

Jim touched his niece’s shoulder gently. “Kyle carried you back to the shelter. Don’t you remember, Kiddo?”

“It’s kind of fuzzy right now, but it’s clearing up a little. I think I was knocked out by a flying piece of wood or something.” She paused, thinking back. “I remember being carried into the shelter but I wasn’t sure if that was real or not.”

“It was real.” Kyle smiled at her then looked away to the other men. “I think we should wait it out for an hour or so then check to see if it’s all clear. Tornadoes are short lived. Well usually anyway. Not sure what to expect right now. Hopefully we can get up top before nightfall. We still have to pack up our clothes and things before we’re stuck in here.”

Alex nodded emphatically. “Yeah, fresh underwear is a good thing. Plus I need my toothbrush, my gel, my cologne.”

Jim looked up from the blood stained cloth in his hand. “I hate to break it to you Alex, but if I have to smell you bathed in that shitty cologne of yours for the next month or so in these tight quarters, I’m going to beat you silly with something blunt and heavy.”

Abby laughed. “Seriously Alex. It’s the apocalypse. No one’s going to care if you smell like designer fragrances or not.”

“Okay, point taken. No cologne. How about skin care stuff? You don’t keep a face like this without a daily regime.”

The other three rolled their eyes with a simultaneous groan.

“What? Everyone should moisturize.”

Wednesday, December 19th 2012, 5:15pm

S
urprisingly, the tornadoes hadn’t left too much damage in their wake.
There were missing shingles, destroyed fences, an AWOL chicken or two, and a couple of holes in the roofs. Other than that, the farm was intact.

Kyle had always been fascinated by how that happened. A tornado could rip through a town destroying one home but leave the one beside it completely untouched. Maybe something or someone was smiling down and wanted to give them a break before all hell actually broke loose.

Kyle was grateful for that break and planned on taking advantage of it. It was his last night of life as he had always known it, before everything changed forever. He knew they would all be stuck in a bomb shelter for some time and he wanted everyone to enjoy these last normal moments doing whatever made them happy. Kyle was hoping to spend them with Abby. He was saying just that thing to Jim as they stood in the grass outside the Yellow House. Abby and Alex were packing up, readying whatever they would need to take with them into the shelter when the time came.

“Are you asking my permission to take my niece on a date?”

“Well, not really. I mean, yes I would like to spend some time with her in a date like way tonight, but I’m not really asking for permission. Just thought maybe you should know out of respect.”

“Okay. Wait. Are you trying to tell me you’re going to have end of the world sex with my sister’s daughter?”

Kyle’s eyes widened and he shifted on his feet uncomfortably. “Whoa, back that train up buddy. I’m not saying anything about sex. Of course, such things are often the product of two adults spending time together. Especially two people who are attracted to each other. So, I’m not ruling it out as a possibility.”

Jim took a breath, looked at Kyle sideways for a long moment. “I can’t really blame you I guess.” His expression softened. “If I had it my way there would be a woman by my side too. It would make the whole end of days scenario so much more pleasant.”

Kyle studied Jim’s face. “So you’re not upset?”

“No, I’m not upset. If it makes you two happy who am I to say? I’m more jealous than anything.
Well, not of you with Abby.
That’s just weird. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah I know what you mean, buddy. So, we’re good then?”

Jim nodded. “Yup. All good. But what am I supposed to do with Mr. Hair-Care in there while you guys are doing the romance thing?” Jim gestured towards the house where Alex was probably packing his fancy shampoos and conditioners into his own personal, metro-sexual end of the world survival kit.

“Maybe you could cook up some of that pizza you’ve got stored in the freezer and watch old reruns all night. Or, to keep you both happy, why not settle him in with the first season of your show? Let him drink a bunch of your beer while you wax all meaningful about the intricate relationships and metaphorical struggles that come with being a Good O’l Boy. That should keep him entertained and you sane.”

Jim raised his eyebrows. “Not a bad idea. Or I could force him to help me work on the General. Not that he would have any idea what to do. But at least he could hand me a wrench when I needed it.”

“Now you’re thinking.” Kyle put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Whatever it is you decide to do just make it worthwhile. We’ve got a limited amount of time left on the surface and everyone should be enjoying themselves whenever possible at this point.”

Jim nodded. “Well, have fun on your date. Be a nice guy and treat her right. Because if you don’t, I know where you hid that shotgun.”

“No you don’t.”
Kyle grinned. “Enjoy your pizza party.”

“Yeah, can’t wait.” Jim sent him a sarcastic smirk before heading towards the Yellow house.

Kyle found Abby napping on his couch with the Poems of Oscar Wilde resting open on her chest. He could see white cords coming from her ears, connected to the green cell phone slash mp3 player that had slipped from her hand onto the cushions. Her mouth was open a bit and her reading glasses had fallen down on her nose an inch. For a moment he debated about
whether or not to let her rest
but shrugged that idea off quickly. She might have a concussion and there would be plenty of time to sleep below ground anyway.

He touched her ankle, gave her a little shake. “Hey Abby. You wanna wake up now? Get something to eat?”

She moaned a little and opened her eyes slowly, pulled the buds from her ears. “Do you have any aspirin?”

Her voice was soft from sleep and he could see she was groggy.

Kyle noted the wound on her head and saw that the swelling had gone down leaving only a small mark above her right eye. “Yeah, we’ll get you some of that and some diet coke to go with it.”

At that Abby brightened and sat up straight on the couch. “Sounds great. What’s for dinner?”

“Well I thought I might cook. But I have to warn you. I can only prepare one thing that makes for a suitable dinner.”

“Let me guess, spaghetti?”
Abby smiled at him with raised eyebrows.

“That’s a typical guy thing, isn’t it?” He motioned with his head for her to come in to the kitchen.

Abby stood, pulled the glasses from her face and stretched her limbs a little before responding. “Pretty much. At least for a guy like you.” She set her stuff on the coffee table and followed him.

“What’s that mean? A guy like me?”

“Well you’re not really the aspiring chef type
, though I imagine you could cook anything you set your mind to
.
Mostly, I’
d figure you for more of a burgers and hot dogs on the grill kind of guy. And I’d be willing to bet you make a mean pan of scrambled eggs with toast
and bacon
, but that’s where the breakfast menu ends.”

Kyle nodded then grinned slightly as he pulled out the one big pot he owned to begin filling it with water. “Am I that transparent?”

“I have a sense for these sorts of things.” She tapped the bridge of her nose with her index finger. “But I know how to cook and I’d rather starve then do it. So who am I to talk?”

Kyle grinned to himself. Of course he already knew she despised cooking. That part of her hadn’t changed in centuries.

She took a soda from the fridge and sat down at the table. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about some things, while we have a second.”

“Okay, but we need to make a deal first.” Kyle put the pot on the stove and leaned against the counter. “We talk about apocalyptic sorts of things only until dinner is ready and then the topic’s officially off limits.”

“You’ve got it.” Abby nodded then continued her thought. “I was thinking about the prophecy or whatever it is.”

“Prophecy is probably pretty accurate.”

“Okay, well the first passage has already come to pass, right? Blood rain, land swallowed by water, etcetera.” He nodded and she went on. “And the last stanza just speaks of the aftermath of everything, so I think we should take a look at the second part.”

“Right, well bright red burning heavens and copper hue over the Earth, check. The sky has been weird looking for a couple days now. That leaves a day of darkness and some kind of new moon appearing that will break up and fall.”

“Right, and since the other parts of the prophecy have proved pretty literal, shouldn’t we assume that tomorrow is our day of darkness and something looking like the moon will appear in the sky and fall to Earth?”

Kyle poured jarred tomato sauce into a pot. “Well could it be a new moon like as in the phase of the moon?”

“I don’t think so. The moon is about half full right now so it must be something else. Something more ominous, I’m sure.”

“So let’s count on no sun tomorrow and possibly objects falling from the heavens.” He leaned against the kitchen counter again and sipped on a beer.

There was silence between them for a time while Kyle prepared dinner and Abby simply watched him. He felt her eyes on him, silently enjoying the sensation as he worked.

With the cooking almost done she got up to set the table, put out bread and butter, and get fresh drinks for them both.
She sat back down just in time for the spaghetti to come off the stove.

“So,” she began. “Now that dinner is ready, and the end of the world is no longer a conversation choice, let’s talk about us.”

He looked up from pouring tomato sauce over pasta, cleared his throat before speaking. “Us?”

“Yeah, you’ve done a
one-eighty
since the attack of the killer tornadoes.” They sat down to eat and Kyle looked at her questioningly
before she went on
. “I mean, last night and this morning things were weird between us and you seemed pretty intent on giving me the cold shoulder.” She paused in twirling spaghetti around the twines of her fork. “I think something changed in the barn but I didn’t expect spaghetti dinners just yet.”

He buttered a piece of bread. “Yeah, well I guess you could say I figured a few details out and now I have a better understanding of everything.”

“What exactly prompted this dramatic change in attitude?”

He took a second and a forkful of spaghetti to organize his thoughts. It was hard for him to talk about how he felt so he settled on something more tangible. “I didn’t know about the tornadoes but you did. And I felt the doom vibe the moment our eyes met but not before.” He turned thoughtful. “And when I brushed against your arm you got some kind of flash, didn’t you? You suddenly had more information to work with.”