Cretaceous Sea

and forth. Joe appeared to be peacefully sleeping.

'Con?'

She looked up at Rick. Tears had made pink trails on her grimy face. Con blinked to clear her eyes.

'Joe's dead,' she said.

34

THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT JOE WAS DEAD. RICK HAD

felt his cooling wrist for a pulse and found none. His bearded face had assumed the rigidity and stillness of sculpture. His voice, so full of humor, was silent. Everything told Rick that Joe was dead, yet Rick's mind could not form a vision of the world without him. For a while, Rick lived in two worlds: the familiar one, with Con and Joe, and the alien one, where Joe lay still in the tent.

Carefully and methodically, Rick built up the fire. He placed a bit of down, a handful of tinder, and a few sticks of kindling beneath some driftwood. He struck a spark with his knife and whetstone and blew softly until the down glowed orange, then burst into flame. When the fire spread to the driftwood, Rick thought, That will make Joe more comfortable. Then he remembered cold no longer bothered Joe, and his eyes filled with tears.

Rick heard a faraway voice. 'It happened so fast,' said Con. 'He opened his eyes and looked right at me, but he didn't see me. He said, 'Nicole, Nicole, it's dark.' He felt about until he touched my face, then he smiled, and said 'Nicole' again. And I said 'Daddy.' And he said 'I love you, Nicole. I never wanted to leave you.' And I said, 'I know. I love you, too, Daddy.' You should have seen his face, Rick. He looked happy. He looked so happy that I said it again 'I love you, Daddy. I love you.' ' Con began to sob. 'He was so happy. You should have seen him. And then... and then his hand dropped from my cheek. At first I thought he was sleeping, but his eyes were open. Then I knew ...' Con dis-solved into tears and was unable to continue talking.

Rick entered the tent and wrapped his arms around Con. They wept for Joe together. Entwined in grief, they also clung to one another for reassurance. Rick and Con were the last two people in the world, and they had just been shown how fragile a vessel is a person's body. Joe's death made the prospect of unbearable loneliness frighteningly real. Each felt they would rather die themselves than have the other leave them.

For a while, they were paralyzed by their sorrow. Yet, as they embraced in the tent, the cold eventually forced them to mind the necessities for living. Rick added wood to the fire and recalled the wood he had left behind when he had run to the tent. That reminded him of the news that he had thought would bring so much joy.

'When I was getting driftwood, I climbed a bluff and spied the sea.'

'The sea?' said Con.

'It's only a day's hike.'

'He got so close,' she said sadly.

'There's piles of stuff left by the tsunami. There must be tons of driftwood.'

'For a signal fire?'

'Yeah,' said Rick, 'a huge one. They can't possibly miss it.'

'If there's anyone to see it,' said Con listlessly.

Rick looked at Con with concern. 'You're not giving up? Joe would have never wanted you to do that.'

'I'm just tired,' said Con. 'I'm tired all the time.'

'I'm going to get the wood,' said Rick. 'It'll only take a minute. Get warm, and things will look better.' The sky had turned gloomy. Soon it would be utterly black. How I miss the moon and the stars, Rick thought, as he headed for his abandoned load. Tonight will be long... He envisioned trying to sleep as Joe's body slowly froze outside the tent.... very long.

When Rick returned, he found that Con had dressed Joe's body in the Tyrannosaur hide.

'Won't we need that for our bed tonight?' asked Rick.

'I made it for him!' said Con vehemently. 'We won't be able to get it on him after he ... after he ...'

'You're right,' said Rick quickly. 'Oh course, you're right.'