“How do we make this mean something,” Owen said. “How? Our father is dead, how does that mean anything but a fucked up situation?”
“I can’t argue that,” Gene said.
“I know what Uncle Gene means,” Gabe said. “It means we don’t waste living. We won’t. We won’t. But right now, I can’t think of anything but how much I am gonna miss him. I can’t leave him. Not here. Not like this. Not yet.”
“Then you won’t. None of us will.” Gene pulled up a chair and indicated for Owen to sit. “We’ll all stay as long as it takes.”
He looked around the small room and found another chair for himself. Grief was a process that didn’t wrap up when the person was pronounced dead.
There was no time frame that was acceptable.
He knew eventually, and not long from that time, they’d leave the room and face moving forward.
The first initial threat, the eruptions were over.
That was done.
Other natural phenomenon were occurring, none that were a threat to where they were.
The hardest part for everyone was still ahead.
That was moving on. Gene was confident that as hard as it was to believe at that moment, he knew eventually, Owen and Gabe, like everyone else that survived, would move forward. They would just do so in a different and seemingly empty world.
TWENTY-TWO – FAR FROM OVER
Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Support
Owen closed the back hatch to the truck, while Gary double checked the cords that secured his father’s casket. The air force had given them one. His father always wanted to be cremated but since that wasn’t an option, they decided to take him back home to Roselawn Cemetery and bury him next to his parents.
It wouldn’t end there. They had to find their mother, and Gabe wanted to locate Shawna.
Fort Collins was a two hour drive, it would still be morning when they got there.
“Go on,” Gary told him. “I have the tarp. Check in with Gabe and we’ll head out.”
“Thank you.” Owen looked around. It was hard to believe they were still inside and underground. There were trucks and jeeps parked about, even a small plane.
Leaving Gary to place the tarp on, Owen walked over to where Gabe and Delaney finished loading the second truck.
Standing nearby were the Colonel and Gene.
Owen gave a swat to Gabe’s back. “Almost ready?”
“Yeah, we just loaded all the tools in.”
Owen looked over at Delaney. “Thank you for coming with us.”
“I want to help and wouldn’t want it any other way,” Delaney replied.
“Gabe, we haven’t talked about it,” Owen said. “What next, I mean are we coming back here? We staying there, going somewhere else?”
“This is going to take us all of today,” Gabe replied. “I’d like to come back, but …” he shifted his eyes to Delaney. “I made a promise.”
“Cleveland?” Owen asked.
“Yes,” Delaney answered. “My brother is already headed there for me. I’m going to meet him.”
“Hey,” Gabe said. “We already took one plane. I know Mr. Stewart’s plane is in Fort Collins. We can take that, fuel up along the way. Then like I said, come back or go wherever Uncle Gene is.”
“Actually,” the Colonel approached with Gene. “We would love to have you here. We need to have search and rescue and can use some pilots.”
Gabe laughed. “Dude, this is the air force here. You need pilots?”
“Did you …” Gene spoke up. “Did you just call this man, ‘Dude’?”
“I did.”
“It’s fine,” The colonel stifled a smile and waved out his hand. “We don’t have as many pilots as you would think here. I know you’re dealing with the loss of your father, and I am sorry for that. Just give it some thought. We need rescue teams. There’s a lot of area out there that needs covered, areas where we don’t know whether anyone is alive or not. For a while, East of the Mississippi is a no fly zone.”
“Wait.” Owen rushed forward. “What do you mean it’s a no fly zone?”
Gene explained. “The oceans rising have created massive storm surges. It’s bad. At least from satellite images.”
Owen looked at Delaney then back to Gene. “Her brother is going to try to get to Cleveland to find her family.”
“The brother in Clarksville?” Gene asked. “I know the town is hunkering down. You may want to try to give your brother a call before the lines go down. And they will.”
“Thank you, I will.” Delaney stepped away.
Gabe exhaled heavily. “So there is no way to get her to Cleveland to find and bury her family?”
“Not safely,” Gene answered.
“Even our most experienced pilots,” the Colonel added. “Would be grounded from flying over there.”
“For how long?” Gabe asked.
Gene shrugged. “We don’t know. Days or weeks. It’s hard to tell. It’s all unpredictable now.”
Gabe looked defeated as he faced his brother. “I promised her.”
“We all did,” Owen replied. “And we’ll keep that promise. Just not today or tomorrow.” He saw Delaney approached the truck again. “Did you get in touch with him?”
“No.” Delaney shook her head. “I’ll keep trying though. I wasn’t even able to get through.”
“The storms may have hit,” Gene said. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Yep.” Delaney nodded. “Well, we better get going. Long day ahead of us.” She didn’t seem upset, but it was obviously a front as she walked to the front of the truck and got in the passenger side.
“I feel bad,” Gabe said.
“Don’t,” Gene told him. “There is nothing you can do. Let’s go bury your father.”
Like Gabe, Owen too, felt bad for Delaney. They were leaving to bury their family to have resolve, until
