taking?”
Glenda gave him Hanna’s prescriptions—her puffers and pills and so forth—and as he took the information down, she felt suddenly safe in a way she never did with Gerry. She could sense Neil’s masterliness, and the overall command of his personality. Neil was going to pull it out of the fire for her.
Neil was the alpha male, the king of the tribe, whereas Gerry had always been the quieter one.
“I’m going to have to drive manually,” she said.
“That might pose a problem,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because we’re getting reports of widespread erosion. No plants holding things down. Greg says a lot of landslides everywhere, especially up in those mountains, and no road crews are going out for repairs.
So you may have to feel your way along. Some roads are bound to be impassable.”
“But one charge should do, right? It’s not more than four hundred miles. And my car’s got an upper limit of four hundred and fifty per charge.”
“It depends on how far out of your way you have to go. Do you have a map? Like an old paper map?
Or do you keep everything stored online? Because the satellite feeds can’t provide maps to your car anymore.”
“Gerry’s got some old maps downstairs.”
“He’s still collecting maps?”
“Mainly old ocean maps. But I think he has some of the area.”
“Take them, just in case. You might end up on back roads.”
She had her kids pack in a hurry because she was afraid Buzz might return at any minute.
She tried to fone Gerry because she wanted to tell him where they were going, not Coral Gables but Marblehill, but she couldn’t get through.
“I don’t get it. I got through just a while ago. Now there’s nothing. And the sky’s still open.”
“Mom,” said Hanna, “things are breaking down everywhere. The shroud might be open, but do you think the people who run AT&T Interlunar are actually going to their jobs anymore? They’re just trying to stay alive, like we are. This is the new Stone Age.”
“Hey, it’s the new Dark Age,” said Jake, and laughed at his own joke.
She thought she might leave a note for Gerry, telling him where they were going, just in case he came back, and just in case their fones stopped working for good, but realized that if she left a note it might be a signpost to Buzz and he would follow them.
She and Hanna had a big fight about it.
“Mom, we have to leave a note.”
“We can’t leave a note.”
“But if we don’t leave a note, how’s Dad going to know where we are? He thinks we’re heading to Coral Gables.”
“If we leave a note, Buzz will see it, and he’ll come looking for us. He’s been down to Marblehill before.
He knows how to get there.”
“Jake,” said Hanna, “you should have shot him while you had the chance.”
“You try shooting someone,” said Jake morosely. “It’s not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of guts.”
“Guts that you don’t have.”
“Mom, will you tell her to fuck off.”
“Jake, do we have to use that kind of language?” asked Glenda.
Hanna frowned. “Shut up, Jake. Mom and I are having a serious discussion.”
“We’re not leaving a note, Hanna.”
“Then how’s he going to find us?”
“He’ll figure it out. He’s a pretty smart guy.”
“You don’t even want him to find us,” said Hanna. “You’re thinking this is your chance to finally get rid of him.”
Glenda’s anger flared and, in her worn-out state, she felt tears threatening. “How can you say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“It’s not true. We may have had some pretty rough fights—”
“You know what will happen to Dad if he can’t find us? He’ll die. He won’t know where we are, he’ll think we’re dead, and he’ll die of a broken heart.”
“Hanna, listen to what I’m telling you. If we leave a note for Dad, Buzz will break in, see it, and come after us. I killed his brother. He’s not going to forget that. It’s not like I keyed his car, or egged his house, or butted in front of him at the bank. I
“That fone’s a hunk of junk,” said Jake. “You should have rented a better one.”
“With whose money, Jake?”
“I’m leaving a note,” said Hanna.
“No, you’re not.”
“We could leave a note with a clue in it,” suggested Jake. “Something only Dad would understand. We wouldn’t have to spell out that we were going to Marblehill.”
“And what if he doesn’t get the clue?” said Hanna. “You’re such an idiot sometimes, Jake.”
“Come on,” said Glenda. “We’re all tired. And we’re frazzled. Let’s just get to Marblehill. Don’t you want to go there and see your cousins? Didn’t you have fun there last summer and the summer before?
And Uncle Neil is bound to have a fone, and a much better one than this. So let’s just forget about the note. Let’s pack, get in the car, and go to the nursing home so we can recharge. Before Buzz comes back.”
She watched her daughter every step of the way. Hanna sullenly disassembled her clarinet—doctor- recommended for her asthma—in the light of one of the flashlights and put it into its case. She then packed some makeup, and a bag full of clothes, commenting on how Melissa and Ashley were going to make fun of her cheap, bargain-brand clothes, and finally finished by taking five puffs of her inhaler.
“Honey, don’t overdo that stuff.”
“Mom, fuck off.”
Glenda didn’t punish Hanna for saying this. She just went through the motions, and started packing.
Hanna broke down and cried, even though she was zoned out on her bronchodilator. She came into her mother’s arms, and told her she was sorry for saying fuck off. But that didn’t stop Glenda from checking Hanna’s room one last time for a note, and checking it thoroughly.
She at last got into the car with her kids, like they were going on a summer vacation, and as she headed out on the road, she looked up at the sky. And saw that the Moon had finally disappeared behind the western edge of the shroud’s toxic wound. She felt lonely then. She didn’t know if she was ever going to see Old Hill again. She didn’t know if she was going to see North Carolina.
But most of all, she didn’t know if she was going to see Gerry again.
PART FOUR
24
Glenda saw the blaze a mile down the road, and knew that Cedarvale Nursing Home was burning.
The flames raged among the tall, dead trees, and they were thick and orange and capped with plumes of dark smoke. She was afraid the road to the underground garage might be blocked, that a recharge would be impossible, and that their plans for driving to Marblehill would come to nothing. But as she got closer she saw that
