A Long Road Back: Final Dawn: Book 8 (19 page)

     “I don’t know. It depends on how many people we have to plan for. Obviously, if we’re expecting a hundred people we’ll need much more supplies than if we’re expecting fifty. I’d like to bring in another generator, since our primary is getting pretty old. And we’ll need to scavenge some additional RVs off one of the abandoned lots in San Antonio and haul them up here.

     “We’re talking lots and lots of food and water and diesel fuel. Hannah is going to crunch the numbers and tell us in the next couple of days how long she expects a freeze would last, if Cupid 23 does hit. She said she doesn’t think it would be as long as it was before, but still likely to be four to five years. She says she has to come up with a formula that calculates the meteorite’s velocity and size and physical makeup and such. All that scientific stuff gives me a headache, but she was in on the estimations for Saris 7 and they guessed the length of the chill pretty closely.

     “Once she crunches her numbers and decides how long we’d be in here, we can get a ballpark figure for how many people you guys and Lenny can bring in. Then it’s just a matter of determining how much we’ll need for each person for each month we’ll be here, and including a big fudge factor for error. Piece of cake. I’m glad Hannah’s doing it and not me.”

     They walked through the first of the two vapor barriers and the air suddenly grew stale. There was a very faint scent of livestock and their droppings, another vague scent of diesel fuel.

     But nothing like the smells that greeted them on the other side of the second barrier.

     “I’m glad you have these in place,” Glenna remarked. I’d hate to have to live with this smell every hour of every day.”

     But Mark only heard half of her comment. He took off like a shot toward the interior of the livestock bay. Glenna and Marty, caught off guard, were but a split second behind him, after they saw what he was running for.

     Hannah, lying face down and apparently unconscious, on the mine’s floor.

     “Oh, my God! Honey! Honey! Wake up!”

     He rolled her over. Her eyelids were half open, the eyeballs rolled back into their sockets. It was a macabre sight, as though she were staring at him with the whites of her eyes.

     And she was completely unresponsive.

     Mark was trained in first aid and was even certified by the American Red Cross in CPR. Back before the world went dark and cold.

     But now, when the victim was Hannah, the love of his life, he panicked and seemed to forget all his training.

     Luckily Glenna, who’d been a licensed vocational nurse many years before, sprang into action.

     “Marty honey, call over the radio. Tell them to send Debbie over. Mark, lay her flat. Then find something to put under her feet.”

     While giving instructions, she already had her fingers on Hannah’s carotid artery, counting the beats of her heart.

     She watched as Hannah’s chest rose and fell, trying at the same time to gauge her rate of breathing.

     Satisfied with both, she raised her eyelids to check her pupils.

     “She’s a bit pale, but not in shock. Let’s keep her feet elevated and find something cool for her forehead. Mark, can you get a wet washcloth or rag to dab her face with?”

     “I’m on it.” He was up and running, then paused just one second.

     Marty had been trying unsuccessfully to raise someone on his hand-held radio.

     “The portables won’t reach outside the mine, Marty. The walls are too dense. You’ll have to run back to the security center and use the base station.”

     Marty didn’t have to ask where the security console was. He’d seen it during the tour, adjacent to the lounge. He was off like a bolt of lightning, right behind Mark. They were on two separate but equally important missions.

     Glenna was temporarily left alone with Hannah, running her fingers through her hair and trying to coax her back into consciousness.

     Debbie was pushing forty, and had the few extra pounds of weight that many women her age just can’t seem to get rid of. But she fairly ran through the tunnel and was there within five minutes.

     By that time Mark was back at Hannah’s side, wringing cool water upon her face.

     Hannah was starting to come around, but had yet to open her eyes.

     As Debbie took a knee beside her, Glenna gave her a preliminary assessment.

     “Pulse is a bit fast, about ninety. Respirations about twenty. Pupils normal, abdominal pliable. She’s starting to stir. I think it’s just exhaustion. She’s been through a lot lately, and I think she’s just pushing herself too hard.”

     Debbie poked and prodded, confirming everything Glenna had already checked.

     “What did she say before she passed out?”

     “We don’t know. We left her here to rest while we walked through the mine. She said she was tired and for us to go on without her.”

     Hannah opened one eye, then the other. She groggily asked, “What’s going on? Debbie? Did I faint or something?”

     “Let me ask the questions, honey. How do you feel?”

     “Weak. Dizzy.”

     “Are you in any pain?”

     “My legs hurt. But they’ve been hurting since the crash.”

     “Any chest pains? Abdominal pains? Headache?”

     “Not really.”

     “What’s the last thing you remember?”

     “I was walking toward the main tunnel to see if Mark and the others were coming back yet.”

     She looked at Mark and asked, “How long have I been lying here?”

     “I don’t know, honey. Just a few minutes, I think.”

     She looked back at Debbie.

     “Can I sit up?”

     “Yes, if you’re up to it.”

     “I think I am.”

     While the team was tending to Hannah in the mine, Frank Woodard was on the ham radio, talking to her doctor at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio.

     “I was afraid she was going too fast, too soon. I’m dispatching a van to pick her up. Tell her husband to get her ready. We’re bringing her back her for a few more days of bed rest, and we’ll run some more tests on her while she’s here.”

     Frank said, “I’ll tell them. But she’s not gonna like it.”

     “I don’t care. Tell her to get packed.”

-37-

     Things weren’t going well for the group at the compound. Sarah was still in a coma at Wilford Hall. Hannah was on her way there as well for additional tests. Bryan and Mark, the two brothers who’d done all the work to prepare the mine the first time, were where they belonged, at their wives’ sides.

     Then the two men who could make things happen in their absence took a pass.

     “I’m sorry,” Marty said. “I consider you good friends. You were always good to me. But the fact as I see it is you’ve got enough people to restock your mine and to make it operational again.

     “I owe my allegiance to the people of Eden now. I took an oath to protect and serve them, and I take that oath very seriously. I think I can serve them better by opting out. I mean, if I help you get the mine back together and restock it again, you’ll let me bring a handful of Eden’s residents in at best. The rest will be left to fend for themselves, as they had to do the first time.

     “I think I’d be serving them more by working with them to protect them all.”

     “But how?”

     “The old prison in Eden. The one Castillo and his men were locked up in before that idiot warden let them out. It was made to keep people in. But it’s equally effective in keeping people out.”

     Mark and Marty had shaken hands and wished each other well. Mark didn’t try to argue because he had other things on his mind. Mainly, Hannah’s well-being.

     Marty did offer one concession.

     “As I see it, the key to restocking your mine is the gathering of materials. There’s plenty of what you need on area highways, but you need trucks and drivers to go and get it. Those two Kenworth tractors I saw in your mine are top of the line. That means you just need drivers. If you identify a couple of your men who have a little bit of sense, I’ll take them out with me. I’ll teach them how to secure their loads and what to check to make sure they don’t kill themselves or somebody else. I’ll teach them how to latch onto a trailer and how to make minor repairs. I’ll teach them how to tow a trailer without wiping out everything in their wake, and how to back it safely. Then you can turn them loose to start gathering your stuff.”

     “I understand, Marty. And I respect your decision.”

     “Thank you for the offer, Mark. I hope this doesn’t damage our friendship.”

     “Not at all.”

     “I’ll mention your offer to Lenny, and will tell him you extended the offer to him as well. Lenny has always been like a slower little brother to me. Not too bright but fiercely loyal and a good and decent man. I expect he’ll pass on your offer as well and will throw his lot in with me and the people of Eden. But I’ll give him the option of joining you.”

     “Fair enough. And thank you.”

     The two parted ways as Mark crawled into the back of the van with Hannah and prepared to leave for the long drive back to San Antonio.

     Glenna walked back into the big house with Marty, and paused just inside the doorway to watch the van exit the gate and drive away.

     “Marty, please tell me what you told him was true.”

     “What do you mean, honey?”

     “I just don’t want you turning down these people on my behalf. Because I’m claustrophobic, and said I didn’t think I could live in the mine. They’re good friends of ours, and they took me in and made me feel like I was a part of their family. Now it’s their time of need, and I don’t want you denying them because of me. It wouldn’t be fair, or right.”

     “I meant every word I said. They’ve got the people they need to do what they need to do. They’ve got the equipment to do it. Yes, their lack of drivers will slow them down a bit, but I’ve offered to help them in that regard. The people of Eden, on the other hand, would have little chance of survival if she’s right and the world gets cold again. Those people are the ones we need to help. Not a group of people who already have the capability of helping themselves.”

     “What about me and the kids? What can we do to help?”

     “Well, I suppose you can start by praying that Hannah’s wrong about the whole thing. She seemed pretty adamant about it, but scientists are people too. They make miscalculations and mistakes just like the rest of us. Let’s hope she’s flat wrong about this.”

-38-

     Marty told Glenna he needed to speak to Frank about his murder case.

     “Why don’t you give the kids a little bit longer to play with their friends? Go and help console Debbie and Karen. They looked pretty distraught about Hannah going back into the hospital. Also, I want to talk to Brad before I leave. Mark said he’s one of their truck drivers, and I want to let him know I’ll help train some additional drivers if he can choose some men he thinks can handle it. I don’t want to try to train somebody who doesn’t have the capacity to handle it.”

     “How long do you think you’ll be, honey?”

     “Shouldn’t take long. An hour or so, maybe. I just want some tips from Frank on how to proceed with my investigation. He’s been doing this a very long time, and I’m hoping he can tell me where to start.”

     “Okay. Come and get me when you’re ready.”

     Marty found Frank sitting at the console in the security control center, his usual favorite place to pass the time. He wasn’t on shift. David was manning the desk. But Frank had been a cop for too many years to give it up easily. It was in his blood. He’d rather waste his off-duty time at the desk than watching old movies or reading.

     “Oh, there you are, Marty,” Frank said. “I was beginning to think you were going to leave without saying goodbye.”

     “No, I’d never let you off that easy. Besides, I’ve got this whole murder thing to tell you about.”

     Frank rolled his eyes and did a spot-on imitation of a character in an old mobster movie.