Chapter 6

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

A little over two hours later, Darien, Claire and Hobbes had stopped for a brief break. The mountain view they had on their trip was a beautiful back drop. Darien had picked up a couple of those disposable cameras and snapped off a few shots. He even took one of Claire and Hobbes standing together with their arms around each other. Hobbes smiled, "Fawkes, who's going to develop those?"

Darien looked at the camera and waved it in the air, "I don't know, maybe someone will be able to one day. I wanted to at least document our adventure along the way. You never know." Darien stuck the camera back in his jacket and they started their journey again. They continued east on I-40 until they reached I-25 to finally head north towards Santa Fe. They still hadn't met anybody along the way and that was fine as far as Hobbes was concerned.

Two hours later found them in Santa Fe for lunch which consisted of what they had for breakfast. They continued on I-25 north to Springer, New Mexico for another two hours on the bikes. Claire was impressed that Bobby only kept them riding for two hours at a time and worked in these little breaks for them. Darien joked that they would probably find trouble in Springer because of the name.

Claire had taken a picture of Darien and Hobbes going at it under the sign proclaiming the town's name. They stopped by Springer Lake and sat down for a few moments and checked the bikes before moving on to Pueblo, Colorado for the night.

A little over two hours later found them in Pueblo, Colorado. Instead of a motel this time, they opted for the great outdoors. The area they found was just too tempting to pass up. They set up camp near a spring and Darien decided to do some fishing. He had taken a fishing rod that you put together and he eagerly started fishing. It had taken Hobbes and Claire no time at all to set up the tent and Hobbes had a fire going. All they needed were the fish.

Hobbes leaned up against a tree and Claire sat between his legs. His arms were around her and she rested her head on his chest. The two dozed off in that position and Darien came up from behind them whistling while he carried his catch. He stopped and gazed at them, he held up the fish, "Well, I guess I'm not only the hunter but the chef as well."

Darien gutted and scaled the fish, and then he placed them on the frying pan. He was glad they picked up the grill to place over the fire and the pans. At least now they can eat something other than boxed or canned food. He also boiled some water for coffee and tea.

Claire and Hobbes woke up to the smell and sounds of frying fish, "Mmm…that smells good, Darien," Claire struggled to get up and Hobbes pushed her up.

"You two looked comfortable so I didn't want to wake you up, besides I don't think you guys dreamed at all." Darien turned the fish over.

"We don't have the intense dreams that you have, my friend." Hobbes bent down next to Darien, "Nice catch there, partner, but do you have to fry them with their heads on?"

"Hobbes, this is how you keep the flavor of the fish." Darien noted as he poked the fire to spread it out evenly under the grill.

"You watched Food Network a lot didn't you?" Hobbes smiled.

"Well, I don't care, it smells wonderful, very nice work Darien in catching us dinner." Claire said as she clapped.

Darien stood up, "Ugh…me, great hunter." He then banged on his chest and let out a Tarzan yell.

The birds flew out of the trees when Darien imitated Tarzan. Hobbes looked around, "Well, king of the jungle, you think maybe you could keep it down."

"So, what will be on the menu for breakfast?" Claire asked. She took out the plates and the utensils they nabbed at the camping outlet.

"Uhmmm…probably fish." Darien tested the fish to see if they were done.

After dinner they cleaned up and made sure the fire was out. They huddled in the tent, Claire sleeping in between the two men, but closer to Hobbes than Darien. The three of them drifted off into dreams.

Claire was no longer in a cornfield, in fact there was no field at all. It was a road. She walked up the road and saw house after house. Claire was in a residential area. She heard the guitar and looked up to see the old black woman sitting on a different porch. Mother Abigail rested her guitar on her lap and smiled at Claire, "We've moved on child, found myself in Boulder, Coloraido, I did," the old woman said mispronouncing Colorado.

Claire looked down and thought to herself, "Boulder…" She looked up, "We're not that far, we're in Pueblo now."

Mother Abigail clapped her hands together, "I reckon so, child…I reckon so." The look on Mother Abigail's face changed from joy to seriousness. She pointed to the figure standing not far from Claire, "Get hence ye back, creature of darkness."

Claire turned and saw the dark man standing in the shadows with glowing red eyes. When he smiled, Claire could almost see his teeth. She turned to Mother Abigail, "What does he want?"

"What he's always wanted from the beginning of time, child, to be God."

Claire turned around quickly and the figure was gone, she walked up to the porch and sat down with the old woman. She liked it better with Mother Abigail.

The sun rose up and the light hit Darien right in his face, he'd been facing east. He sat up shaking the early cobwebs from his head. Another night of dreams, this was usual for him. He'd had them ever since Kevin put the gland in, but lately they had taken a turn into the really creepy genre. He thought his dreams would rival 'Tales From the Crypt' or even 'The Twilight Zone'.

Hobbes and Claire woke up shortly after and the three of them stared at each other until Hobbes broke the silence, "Guess we just need to travel to Boulder now."

"How far away is that from here?" Claire asked unzipping her sleeping bag.

"I'll look, but it looks like the first group met up with her and they moved on already," Hobbes slipping out of his sleeping bag.

They took down the tent and packed it away along with the other equipment. They ate a quick breakfast and cleaned themselves up. There was excitement in the way they moved, they were finally going to get to the bottom of this mystery. Hobbes checked his map, "According to this, we're about two and a half hours away. We travel on I-25 North and then on US-36 West and we'll be in Boulder by noon."

"How will we know what house is hers?" Claire asked looking at the map.

"Something tells me, we'll know." Hobbes said. He believed that. The three hopped on their bikes and headed north.

Mother Abigail knew that even more were coming today, but she seemed to know some of the people when they came up to greet her. Those were the ones that she knew would be called, just as she was called. There was one she was real interested in and she would know him when she saw him. Still, they came, in large groups or in small groups, didn't matter, they still came. How many would there be altogether? She didn't know, but she left that up to God.

Darien stopped his bike and looked out over the cliff. Claire and Hobbes stopped next to him and saw the sight before their eyes. A long line of motorcycles, cars and pick-up trucks formed down the street for as far as they could see. It resembled an infantry on the move. "It looks like a parade," Darien noted in amazement.

"Good Lord, all those people survived?" Claire asked. She couldn't believe what she was looking at.

"What are we waiting for, lets get down there and join in on the fun." Hobbes turned his bike around and headed towards the group going to Mother Abigail's.

They quickly caught up to the group and were welcomed to join in. As they drove down the street, they looked around at all the cars and motorcycles that were in this parade of sorts. Hobbes thought to himself, 'If there are so many on this side, how many are on his side? And why would anyone want to join that freak?'

The parade came to a stop in front of a peaceful house. Darien, Hobbes and Claire got off their bikes and had to walk up the street a bit before reaching the house. Hobbes and Claire had to walk fast to keep with Darien's long strides, he certainly was anxious to see the old woman.

Darien stood at the entrance to her yard and saw her sitting up on the porch. He was frozen in his tracks, "She's real."

Mother Abigail saw him and motioned for him to come, he was the one. The crowd walking up to her stopped when she told them to move a side. Darien walked between the crowd with Hobbes and Claire next him. "Darien, so good to see you," Mother Abigail said holding out her arms.

Darien walked up the steps, "How do you know my name?" Darien said as he hugged her. He could feel the love coming off this woman and it nearly caused him to start crying.

"No matter, invisible man, no matter," Mother Abigail whispered in his ear.

Darien backed away from her stunned and saw the smile on her face. She knew about the gland. Everything he dreamt about her was real. He watched as she turned towards Claire and Hobbes.

"Come here, child, and bring your man." Mother Abigail said to Claire.

Claire looked at Hobbes and smiled. They took each others hand and went up the steps to meet Mother Abigail. She hugged Claire first then Hobbes. There were some people standing behind Mother Abigail and Darien had already started to introduce himself.

"Howdy, I'm Ralph Brentner, this here is, Nick Andros, he doesn't talk or hear, so you'll have to look at him when you talk." Ralph said in a southern drawl.

Darien shook his head and Ralph continued, "This is Nick's friend, Tom Cullen."

Tom stuck his hand out gleefully and Darien took it, "Howdy, mister…" The big man said as he shook the life out of Darien's hand.

Darien smiled and put his hand on top of Tom's, "Whoa there big guy, I only have two…I'm Darien Fawkes from San Diego." Darien still couldn't believe what was happening. The old woman was real, which meant that the other guy was real too.

"I know, its hard to believe isn't it…that all these people can have the same dream." Ralph commented. "We met up Mother Abigail yesterday and brought her here. Ever since then, people have been streaming in."

The introductions continued when Hobbes and Claire came up. Nick wrote out a note and handed it to Ralph, "Nick here wants to know, what you all did before the flu?" Ralph looked at the three, "It's okay if you don't want to answer, it's just a conversation starter."

Hobbes looked at Nick, "Its okay, Fawkes and I were Agents and Claire was a scientist. We worked for the government, but not with Captain Trips."

Tom's eyes lit up, "You were secret government agents, like James Bond!?!…M-O-O-N that's spells 'secret agent'…laws yes."

Darien and Hobbes smiled at Tom. Darien took out his badge and showed it to Tom, "Here Tom, here's my badge. Have a look."

Tom took it enthusiastically and showed it to Nick, "Nick, look, real secret agents, isn't that just the limit?"

Nick read the badge, 'Department of Fish and Game?' He stared at Darien. 'What kind of a government agency was that?' Nick thought to himself.

Darien saw the questionable look on Nick's face and smiled back. He was going to let Tom believe that he was some big time agent. Right away Darien knew that Tom was a child in a grown man's body. Tom had the innocence of a child and Darien was not going tell Tom that he was not FBI, after all, Darien did work for the FBI for a couple of days. So, he really wouldn't be lying. Darien wondered if Tom was alone those first few days and how he survived on his own.

Darien, Hobbes and Claire had lunch with Ralph and the others. They talked about their past and Claire was asked if she would meet with George Richardson, the only MD in town. Richardson had arrived earlier in the day and he was already at the hospital. Claire agreed to meet with him after lunch.

One of the first things that needed to be done was to clean out the hospital and get it up and running again. Everyone that was already in town or coming in would be asked to help with the clean up in different parts of the city. It was tough work, but they had to do it if they were going to get any sense of normalcy back in their lives.

After lunch Darien went out to talk with Mother Abigail. He was pleased to see that no one was coming up to meet with her. Darien pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, "Mother Abigail, how did you know about…you know." Darien pointed to the back of his head.

The old woman laughed, "God knows all, Darien." She looked at him intently, "We are all called to do His will and that means you."

"Mother…I'm not…" Darien paused, "I'm not worthy, I've done things…I mean, why me?"

"Don't matter, none of us are worthy, Darien. But the important thing is, when He calls, you answer. You were given a gift that no one else has and you've done good by it." Mother Abigail picked up her guitar and started singing.

"I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

Later on that afternoon, Hobbes had found a house to live in and Darien decided on the one next door. Claire came back from meeting with Dr. Richardson and she had agreed to help out until hopefully more hospital personnel would show up.

Hobbes showed her the house and she liked it a lot, she had also decided to move in with Hobbes. Luckily for them, there were no occupants in the house. Claire figured that the people either had moved out or left for the hospital and died there instead of at home. After getting themselves settled they had gone back to Mother Abigail's house.

Mother Abigail sat and sang for awhile. Darien and Tom were playing a game of hide and seek. Tom couldn't figure out why he had trouble finding Darien, "Boy, Darien, you're really good at this. I can never find you."

Darien wrapped an arm around Tom's broad shoulders, "Well, Tom, when I wanna be, I'm practically invisible."

"Will you teach me how to be a secret agent like you?" Tom asked with a child like excitement in his voice.

"Sure Tom, in fact," Darien pulled out his badge from his back pocket, "I don't think I need this anymore, besides its time for me to pass this on to a new agent." Darien clipped the badge holder on Tom's shirt; he stood back and saluted Tom, "You are now Secret Agent Tom Cullen of the Boulder Free Zone." Darien smiled at how happy Tom was and he caught Darien in a bear hug. "Hey Tom, I can't breathe…" he gasped.

Tom put Darien down, "Sorry, I forget sometimes that I'm strong. I always forget stuff." Tom kicked some dirt with his shoe.

Darien patted him on his shoulder, "You wanna know a secret?"

"Laws yes!! M-O-O-N that spells 'secret'." Tom bent his head so he could hear Darien's secret.

"One time, these bad guys had me, Hobbes and another agent pinned down, we ran out of bullets because I forgot to bring extra clips for the guns. So you see I forget things too."

"Whoa…how did you get away?" Tom asked.

"That I'll tell you another day, Tom," Darien turned his head towards the road. He heard the hum of cars and more motorcycles coming down the road. Mother Abigail put her guitar down and got herself ready to meet more people. Darien went inside and told the others that they had more company.