But the Children Survived (34 page)

He went down the stairs two at a time.  He whistled for Ricky and opened the sliding glass door.  Ricky trotted ahead of him to the side yard to take care of business before joining Jason as he walked down the beach. 

Jason and Ricky walked up to the fence surrounding the backyard.  He looked over the fence and saw Mark and the little girl weeding between the rows of vegetables.

“You have to keep the weeds out or they strangle the plants,” Mark was telling her.  Ricky barked and they both looked up.

“Hey, Mark, how ya doin'?  Can I come in?”  Jason was smiling but he noticed the little girl was frowning at him again. 

“I can't remember your name, but I know you live over there.”  Mark pointed in the direction of Jason's house.  “And you're friends with Justin.” 

Jason nodded.  Mark waved him in and Jason opened the gate.  He let Ricky in first.  When Jason was inside, he closed the gate and stood surveying the garden. 

“I'm Jason.  I watered them for you,” he said.  Mark looked at the garden too.

“Thanks.  I thought they looked too good for me being away so long.”  

“Your friend wouldn't tell me her name,” Jason said, nodding at Mindy.

Mark looked at the little girl. 

“Why wouldn't you tell him your name?”  Then Mark turned to Jason.  “When did you meet her?”

“When Rick and I were on our morning run.  We met her and her dog.”  Jason noticed the female lying by the sliding glass door panting from the heat.  “Hey, Baby Girl.” 

The little dog raised her head.  Ricky quickly walked over to her.  They appraised each other.  A flicker of familiarity passed between the dogs but quickly faded.  Ricky walked over to her and she growled half-heartedly.  Ricky then licked her neck and face and she let him.  They had bonded. 

Well,
they
like each well enough, Jason thought, as he recognized the female as the same dog in the picture with the purple belly.  She had the same pattern on her face.  That would explain her survival during the tragedy.  But how did she end up in Florida?

“Can
I
tell him your name?”  Mark asked the little girl.  She looked down and whispered something Jason couldn’t hear.  Then Mark said, “Her name is Mindy.” 

“Okay, Mindy.  I always like to know the name of a pretty girl.” 

“What do you mean by that!”  Mark's eyes glared at Jason. 

“Nothing buddy, jeez, you two don’t make it easy, do you.  Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you want to have dinner with me.  I have lots of food, and I figured it would be nice to have human company for a change.  No offense, Ricky.” 

Mark looked at Mindy.  She nodded her head once. 

“I guess.  Okay,” Mark said.  “When do you want us to come over?” 

“Half an hour.  We can eat on the deck behind my house.  See ya then.”  Jason whistled for Ricky and he followed Jason through the gate. 

Jason went home and took some hot dogs out of the freezer along with buns.  He put some French fries in the oven and put ketchup and mustard on the table.  He figured this was his favorite meal when he was their age so it must be theirs too.  He forgot Mark's vegan history. 

When the food was ready, he looked out on the deck and saw the kids had already come over.  They were seated on the picnic benches looking at the ocean.  The little female dog was on the bench with Mindy.  Jason opened an extra can of dog food and put it on a paper plate.  Tonight they would all dine together.

Chapter 42

When they were done eating, Jason asked Mark and Mindy to come over to Justin's house to see what the weather satellite was up to.  Mark agreed immediately, excited at the prospect of seeing the inside of crazy Mr. Carson's house.  Mindy held back. 

“Why don't you like me, Mindy?”  Jason asked her.

“I don't know you.”  Mindy looked at the table as she spoke to Jason. 

“Fair enough.  Well then, while Mark and I go check out the satellite, will you watch Ricky for me?”  Jason tried to give her his best smile.  It really bugged him that this kid seemed so afraid of him. 

“I can do that.”  Mindy looked up at Jason.  She wasn’t looking mean now. 

“Good.  Come on, Mark.” 

Jason and Mark got up from the table and walked over to Justin's house.  Mark ran ahead to the house while Jason turned to look at Mindy.  He waved and she waved back.  It was a start. 

Mark was waiting for Jason as he walked inside the house. 

“Up those stairs to the top floor.”  Jason pointed to the back stairs.  Mark ran up the stairs and Jason followed him.  Mark's eyes grew big when he saw Command Central.

“Holy crap!”  Mark exclaimed.  “This looks like Batman's cave.”  He ran over to the computer. 

“Stop!  Don't touch the computer.  I'll bring up the screen.”  Jason walked over to the computer and Mark reluctantly relinquished his seat.  He had a face on.  “Look, Mark.  If you touch something you don't understand, I can't get it fixed.  If you have a computer at home, I'll see if I can hook it up to the modem here so you can check out the Internet, okay?”

Mark thought for a moment and then nodded his head.  “Okay.”

Jason brought up the weather monitor and moved the mouse to show Florida.  He then scrolled down to the islands just below Florida and then over to the east.  Then he and Mark looked at the screen and both sucked in their breath.  The mass of clouds had formed into a huge circular band with a well-defined center. 

“Oh, boy.”  Jason said.  “I think we better get the shutters closed.  That thing is moving fast.  And I also think you guys should move in here for a few days.  It's the safest house here.  You go down and tell Mindy about the hurricane.”

*****

It took some convincing on Mark's part to get Mindy to move into the Carson house, especially if Jason was going to be there too.  She finally relented when the weather turned and it was clear a big storm was coming. 

The Carson house was raised up about four feet.  The basement was actually the lowest floor. It had strong weatherproof shutters and a cement wall that rose up from the ground to help keep the water out from under the house for as long as possible.  It also shielded the pilings from the worst of the storm surge.  Mindy looked at the house once everything was in place and could see it was the best thing to do. 

Jason closed up his house by moving all the frozen, refrigerated, and dog food to Justin's.  After he activated the storm shutters, he shut down the power.  He then did the same at Mark's house.  Mindy and Mark had harvested the vegetables and were bringing them over to the Carson’s.  They then got their clothes, toothbrushes and pillows and brought them over.  The last thing Mark brought in was his laptop computer.

Jason showed Mark and Mindy the second floor of the Carson house.  He led Mindy to Caitlyn's room and Mark to Justin's room.  Jason would sleep in David and Janice Carson's room.  Once they each set up their new quarters, they met in the kitchen to have some lunch before heading up to Command Central. 

Mindy was beginning to warm up to Jason.  She even smiled at him sometimes.  She was given the task of taking care of the dogs for the duration of the storm.  Jason would cook and Mark would clean up.  Jason threw a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven and pulled out some paper plates.  When the pizzas were done, he cut them and placed them in the center of the table.

“Grab what you want,” he told the two hungry kids, who proceeded to grab two slices each.  The kids ate like starving dogs with a meaty bone.  They surprised Jason with their appetites. 

“Slow down, there's plenty.  If you want, I can throw another one in the oven.”  At this rate, the kids would eat Jason out of house and home.  “So, where were you guys?  I went over to Mark's house, but it was empty.”

Mark and Mindy looked at each other.  They weren’t sure how to answer Jason's question.  They knew where they had been, but they didn't know how to explain Jacob Wilmer's underground city full of kids.

“Come on, it can't be a secret.  Mindy, how long were you guys here when we found each other?”

“We came the day before.”  She kept her eyes on her pizza.

“Okay, but where did you come from?”  Jason couldn’t figure out why they were having such a hard time telling him.  Then Mark decided to come clean.

“I was taken from my house last week.  These four guys came and took me to this place in Palm Harbor.  It was some kind of....well, it was...”

“It was an underground city,” Mindy said.  She was looking right into Jason's eyes.  “The people were scientists and they couldn't leave the city unless they put on these suits.  They gave us food and there were these little houses to sleep in.”  That was the most she had said in front of Jason, who was momentarily tongue-tied. 

“They took me too, out of my Grammy's house.  They also took Baby Girl and brought her with me.  They had a big field for growing crops and a room for animals, but they all died except the chickens.  Calvin drove us here because he thought we should be able to live where we wanted to and I have to find my parents.” 

“Wow!  That's the most I've ever heard you say,” Jason said.  “Tell me more about this place.  Did you see where it was, when Calvin was it, when he drove you here?”  Jason didn’t really believe the story, but he didn’t want to insult Mindy or stop her talking. 

“I know where it is.  I took a walk outside one day and found the entrance.  It's off 19 in Palm Harbor.  I remember a sign that said 'Palm Harbor 2' at the end of the dirt road.  I didn't go to the highway, but I think I could find it again if I had to.” 

“Did you live with your Grammy, Mindy?”  Jason asked between bites.

“No, I was staying with her while my parents...” Mindy stopped.  She pulled the brochure out of her pocket and handed it to Jason.

“Where did they go?” Mark asked.

“That hotel; it’s far away.  I think they took a plane.”

“This is in Las Vegas.”  Jason was wiping the last of the pizza from his face.  He opened the brochure and saw the phone numbers written in big numbers. 

“When they come back, they won’t be able to find me,” Mindy said.  She looked as though she might cry.  “I want to go home and wait there.”

The boys didn’t know what to say.  They both knew her parents were most likely dead, but she seemed so sad they didn’t want to make it worse.

“What if we go there every day to see if they came back?” Mark asked.  “And come back here at night?”

“You would go with me?” Mindy said quietly.

“Of course I would, I said I would, didn’t I?”

“Hold on a minute.  Right now you can't go anywhere, not until the storm is over.  But listen to this.  When it's over, we can go in my mom's car.  We may have to steal gas along the way, but we can all go together.  We'll even take the dogs.”  Jason was looking at Mindy. 

“Please, can't we go tonight?  It's not that far from here if we go in the car.  Please Jason, take me over there tonight.”

Now that she liked him, Jason was reluctant to say no.  Instead, he took her upstairs to show her the weather map, which now showed the huge hurricane floating over Puerto Rico headed for Key West.  The thing was out of control and Jason believed it would be here in a matter of hours. 

“Do you really want to risk getting caught outside in that?  Mindy, please, don't make me have to say no.  I really don't want to be the bad guy, but we can't risk all our lives for something…something that will be there in a few days.  I promise you, as soon as this storm passes, we'll go to your house.” 

Jason had knelt down to be eye-level with Mindy.  She had her sad face on and it almost got to him, but not quite.  Jason would have to make sure the locks were secure so keep these kids inside for their own good until the storm passed.  The dogs would have to go to the basement to do their thing.  Jason had brought some sand in for them. 

“Okay.  I'll wait.” 

Mindy went over to Ricky's window seat and sat down facing the window.  She stared out at the ocean, keeping her back to the boys.  Jason went back to the weather map and tried to imagine the size of the hurricane.  He decided it was time to close the last shutter, causing Mindy to get up and go to her room. 

“Can you hook my computer up to the modem now?” Mark was asking.

“Sure, kid.  Give me a minute to close up the house.” 

Jason walked downstairs to the second level.  He could hear Mindy talking to Baby Girl.  He stood quietly listening for a few minutes before going to the next floor.

“Just think, Baby Girl, we can go to my house soon.  I bet my parents will be there waiting for me.  Aren't you excited?  Your eyes look excited.  Baby Girl, I can't wait to see my mom and dad again.” 

Jason felt the full weight of the responsibility he had taken on.  How could he tell this sweet little girl that her parents were dead no matter how hard she willed them to be alive?  He decided to take the coward's way out and go along with whatever Mindy wanted to believe.  It would make his life easier in the long run, and would keep Mindy happy. 

Jason took the stairs in his usual manner and made sure all the shutters were tight and in place.  He checked the concrete wall, and it was also ready.  He then closed the shutters on the first story and went up to check the upper floors.  When he was sure everything was secure, he rejoined Mark in Command Central. 

The barrel of wind and water was wielding its way across Florida, headed to the West Coast and would most likely reach the Tampa Bay area. 

He could hear the wind picking up, and the rain had started.  He imagined what the streets would look like after the storm had passed.  He hoped he could get the car out in a few days because he promised Mindy he would.  No matter what, he would get her to her house; even if they had to wade to a dry street and steal a car, Mindy would go home.