Crash
Chapter 5
~oo0oo~
Flashback
~oo0oo~
"We did not crash," Kate insisted.
"We didn't crash in the conventional sense, but we did crash," Rick replied patiently. "Our ship blew up. We escaped in shuttles. We found a system with a planet we could live on. We all but crashed since we had no fuel to go anywhere else. So we crashed."
"We did not crash. Nor were we hurt in the landing, landing being the operative word here. We're alive and well, and we have a baby," Kate told him.
Rick sighed. "We still crashed. But Alexis will be one soon, and we're almost out of food."
"You're right; we are almost out of food." She could agree to that. "So what are you thinking?"
"We put Lucile to use and have her find us a place to live in the city. Ten million would be the absolute most we would spend. That would leave us with the other ten million." Rick waited for her response.
Kate nodded slowly. "Except only one of us can go. One of us has to stay behind with Alexis."
"If we use the Mosquitoes, yes. But what if we take the boat and take a taxi from there? We'll have to get used to taking taxis once we move, so we might as well start now," Rick reasoned.
"I suppose. Except we need to go into the city to find a carrier for Alexis," Kate told him. "We already have a breast pump and stored milk. We also have a few bottles that you've been using to feed her. Oh, and she needs new clothes. She's outgrowing the ones she has."
"We can still take the boat and do all that," Rick replied.
~oo0oo~
Jason, their real estate agent, took them to the first offering. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. "This is a loft-style apartment. It's wide open. You need to use your imagination and imagine bedrooms and bathrooms. The only thing it has is a kitchen."
Rick and Kate, carrying Alexis, walked around. It really was wide open except for the kitchen. The kitchen was all white. Literally all white. Kate shook her head as she told her husband and Jason, "I don't like it. I don't have enough imagination, and I don't like the kitchen."
"I have more to show you," Jason told them. He didn't even get to the price, which was just short of eight million.
~oo0oo~
"This is another loft-style apartment. You don't need imagination with this one," Jason told them as he unlocked the door and entered. "It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and is 3,600 square feet. Save for the bedrooms, it's wide open."
"This is nice," Kate murmured. She liked the wide-open look and the tall ceilings. Then she saw the kitchen. "Except the kitchen is TINY!" It was almost as small as the one she had now, which was saying something since theirs was very small.
"I have one more I can show you today," Jason told them as he led them out and locked the door behind them.
~oo0oo~
"This one is sort of another loft-style apartment with a twist." He unlocked it and let them enter first. "It's three bedrooms and two bathrooms with a tall ceiling on the ground floor. There are two bedrooms upstairs with a Jack and Jill bathroom. It has a study divided from the living area by a bookcase. It has a fireplace and an open kitchen."
Rick and Kate walked around the place. It was wide open with no furniture. The master bedroom was a little on the small side, but it had a large bathroom.
Kate headed for the kitchen while Rick made his way to the study.
They met up in one of the second-floor bedrooms. "I like it. What do you think?" Rick asked her.
"I love the tall ceilings. The kitchen area is large enough. Two bedrooms are upstairs, and while I'm not happy about that because I'll have to carry Alexis up and down, then block them off until she's older, it's doable."
"We'll take it," Rick told him.
"Terrific!" Jason beamed at them. "The price is just under seven million dollars, so it's within your budget. Come to my office, and we'll write it up and present your offer."
Then Alexis started putting up a fuss. "Right after I take care of Alexis." Kate headed into the Jack and Jill bathroom, changed her diaper, and fed her while sitting on the toilet.
~oo0oo~
One month later, Rick and Kate were unlocking the front door to their new home.
"Now we need to furnish it," Rick said. "How hard can that be?" Kate raised an eyebrow at him, telling him it could be difficult. "It'll be a snap. Just wait and see," he told her.
Together, they went to a furniture store and decided on their furniture. Money wasn't an object since they had about three million to spend, so they chose what they liked. They selected a living room set, a dining table for eight, and an office set. And they chose two bedroom sets, along with a toddler bed. The third bedroom would remain empty for now.
Two weeks later, they stood there watching their furniture arrive until Alexis started to fuss. So Kate hurried into the en suite bathroom, changed her diaper, and fed her.
~oo0oo~
They were back on the island. "We have to blow it up, Kate. We can't leave it for them to find it. We can't leave them the technology. First, we need to get rid of Lucile."
Kate could hardly believe what he said. "You are not going to kill Lucile! She's done so much for us."
"Not that. What I mean is take out Lucile's computer first, then we blow it all up," Rick told her, shaking his head. As if he would ever kill Lucile!
"Oh. Can we take out the medical computer, too? Give her some more space?" Kate asked.
He nodded. "We can do that. The Mosquitoes need to go, too."
"Not the Mosquitoes," Kate complained. "I like our Mosquitoes."
"We can't leave any technology for them to find, so it all has to go," Rick insisted. "Except maybe for the boat. It's simple enough."
"If we must." Kate didn't like it, but she couldn't refute his logic either.
~oo0oo~
Kate stood there holding Alexis, looking at the island. "Goodbye home. You served us well," she told it. "Okay, blow it." Kate turned away; she didn't want to see this.
Rick paused for a minute as he silently thanked it. They spent almost the last year on it. He took a deep breath and pressed the button. Numerous explosions destroyed everything, blowing them to tiny bits.
Kate turned and saw the smoke rising. She felt sad; that was home to her. It was small, but it was home. They had each toured the island numerous times, looking over all the old abandoned buildings.
"Come on, we have a home to go to. A new home." Rick tossed the detonator into the water, never to be seen again.
~oo0oo~
End Flashback
~oo0oo~
"I'm going to go grocery shopping. Mind the store," Rick told Kate.
Kate looked up at him. She was on the sofa, just finished reading to Alexis. "Have you finished the redlines?"
He nodded. "I finished them yesterday. I kept 'Tina' so we'll see what happens."
"Good." She liked the idea of Tina.
Rick waved from the doorway. "Bye, Alexis. I'll be back in a little while. Love you, sweetie."
"What would you like to do now?" Kate asked Alexis.
Alexis thought about that for a minute. "Color?"
"We can do that." Kate found her crayons and both a blank piece of paper and one that had a character on it for her to fill in.
Alexis sat down in front of the coffee table as her mommy gave her the crayons and both pieces of paper. "Have fun." Kate kisses the top of her head and went to the bookcase to find something to read.
~oo0oo~
Rick was back home. "Something's going on outside," he told her and put away his purchases. "I don't know what, but something. The grocery store was busy, really, really busy."
"Interesting." Kate turned on the TV and found a new channel. "They're talking about a rabies epidemic."
"Rabies, what's rabies?" Rick hadn't heard that word before. "Lucile?"
"Rabies. Rabies is a preventable viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system of mammals, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death," Lucile told them.
"It's an epidemic?" Kate asked, not seeing the correlation.
Rick shrugged. "Don't ask me."
They continued to watch when suddenly, a rabid person came charging in and bit the announcer. In twelve seconds flat, the announcer became rabid, and she proceeded to bite someone. Then, the entire studio became infected, running around biting everyone.
"toH!" Kate called out and sat there, transfixed by what she had just seen. ("What the hell!") She pointed at the TV. "wanI'vammo' tlha' nuq?" (What the hell was that?")
"I… Don't… Know," Rick replied.
Kate asked him again. "wanI'vammo' tlha' nuq?"
Rick took control of the remote and changed the channel until he got another news channel. The announcer warned everyone to stay indoors due to a rabies epidemic that was making its way around the city.
Following that announcement, the anchorwoman assured them all their doors were closed and locked, and they would remain on TV for as long as possible. Except that didn't last long. "RUN FOR IT!" They watched as the announcers ran for it, leaving the camera staring at nothing.
But they could hear it. It sounded like a cross between someone growling and someone else hissing. Then there was yelling until they heard and saw nothing.
Rick changed the channel, searching for another news channel.
Then they heard it outside. It was a mix of the sound of someone growling, someone hissing, and a lot of yelling.
Kate went to the window. "I can see them." She saw a mass of people running, followed by another bunch that were also running. The second group looked to be running wild as though they had no idea where they were going.
"Lucile, close the shutters," Rick ordered, and instantly, shutters came down over the windows and the front door, cutting off Kate's view save for her being able to look out the holes in the shutters.
"They look to be everywhere now," Kate said. "They seem to be passing us by. I can't see any of them now." She left the window, joining him at the TV.
"Some channels are showing programming while others are offline," Rick told her.
He didn't say anything for a while, then realized there was something they had to do ASAP, and he looked at Kate. "I want you to go upstairs to Alexis' bathroom and fill the tub with water while we still can. I'll do the same with the one down here."
Alexis was scared. She whimpered, then said, "Mommy?"
"It's alright, honey. I won't let anything happen to you. How about you help me fill your tub with water." Kate took her hand and they went upstairs while Rick went into the one downstairs and filled the tub with water.
Kate and Alexis were back downstairs. "How long do you think the power will last?"
"Hard to say. It depends on how power is generated here. I just don't know." Rick raked his fingers through his hair. "Our roof-mounted emergency generator will last maybe 24 hours since it's meant to work on the condition that power is restored. But if it's not restored..." He shook his head.
Kate leaned back in her favorite chair. "Luckily, we have the shutters."
"And you thought I was wasting my time installing them," Rick chided her.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I was wrong. It won't happen again, so enjoy it while you can."
"Oh, I'm enjoying it, alright." Rick pointed at her smugly. "I. Was. Right."
Kate just shook her head. "So now what?"
"We hunker down and wait it out. Then we decide what to do. There's not much else we can do."
She sighed. "I want to be back on our island right about now."
"Our little residence was barely big enough for us and baby Alexis," he reminded her.
"So there's a flaw in that idea," she responded.
"With limited food and limited fresh water and limited power and…"
Kate stopped him right there. "Okay, okay, I get it."
"Mommy?" Alexis was still scared.
Kate hugged her. "It's okay, sweetheart. Everything's going to be all right. We're just not going to leave here."
Rick wanted to say something but didn't want to be negative and kept his mouth shut.
"We have to keep it to just one meal daily, except for Alexis. She can have two. And limit our baths to sponge baths to conserve water," he told Kate.
She could agree to that. "It's a good thing you just went to the grocery store. We need to cook what we can while we can. And we need to empty the freezer and refrigerator."
"The freezer and refrigerator are on emergency power, but it will only last a day," Rick said. "So we have a game plan."
"And after that?" Kate asked.
"We decide when the time comes," he replied. "Maybe we get in the car and make a run for it. But to where I don't know."
~oo0oo~
The power lasted one week. They were presently running on generator power. The water was still running, so that was a good thing. Rick had to run an extension cord from a powered outlet to the TV. Except there wasn't anything on TV. There was nothing on the radio either.
"Lucile, how long can you last?" Kate inquired.
"I'm fine, Kate. I don't run on house current or generator current. Though my power will run out in about a month."
"That's about the same time we run out of food," Kate said to herself.
Alexis was upstairs in her room. Rick was in his study, and Kate walked in. "Anything?"
He had access to the internet. "No one's talking. There was something earlier in the week but nothing now." He turned off his laptop to conserve the batteries. "How's Alexis?"
"She's upstairs in her room. I think she's sleeping."
"I think I'll go check on her." Rick got up and went upstairs with Kate close behind him.
Alexis was in her room all right, but she wasn't sleeping. She was sitting on her bed clutching Monkey Bunkey tight to her chest. Rick went over to her, sat beside her, and held her. Kate did the same but from the other side.
"There's nothing to be scared about, little love," he assured her.
Alexis looked up at him and then at her mommy. "You and Mommy aren't scared?"
"Not even a little bit," Kate said and hugged her.
"How about you come downstairs and have some cheese sticks," Rick said, and Alexis nodded. "That's my girl! Come on, let's go downstairs." He got off the bed and took Alexis with him. He held her hand and led her downstairs. Once in the kitchen, he gave her a cheese stick to eat.
Rick left her at the breakfast bar and went into the living room, where he sat on the sofa. Kate joined him there. "You're not scared?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, not really. Worried, yes. Scared, no. You?"
"I'm a little scared." She cuddled close to him. "Maybe more worried than scared."
They noticed Alexis standing there munching on her cheese stick. "Come in here and cuddle with me." Rick offered his other side to her by raising his arm. Alexis moved in equally close and continued to nibble her cheese stick.
~oo0oo~
Life continued like that for a while. Kate would occasionally look out the window and through the shutter. "I don't see anything. There's nothing. Just abandoned cars."
Kate came back to the breakfast bar where Alexis was sitting eating. She still had two meals a day. They ate a single meal each day like they had from the beginning of this particular nightmare. At least the water was still running, so they took showers in the light from a flashlight. The power had been out for weeks. Their emergency generator had died on them yesterday.
The freezer was almost empty. Rick and Kate had cooked nearly everything in it before they lost the generator. All that was left was what was in the refrigerator.
"We're mostly down to whatever's in cans," Rick revealed.
Kate looked worried. "That's not meals, babe."
"No, it's not, but we won't starve," Rick told her.
"Lucile has about two weeks of power left to her. After that, she loses power." Kate didn't want to say die. Not in front of Alexis, who was still eating.
"Once she loses power, we'll have to make a run for it," Rick said quietly.
Kate stared at him. "Run where?"
"I've been thinking about that," he mentioned. "If we go north, we'll run into small towns eventually. Maybe they're better off than the city is. Somewhere where they plant their food or can."
"Based on the number of abandoned cars just outside, that might be wishful thinking," Kate told him.
Rick sighed. "It's just an idea, Kate. I'm not even sure how much gas is in the car."
Suddenly, they heard Lucile making an announcement. "I have a ship on my scans."
"A ship, what kind of ship?" Kate questioned her.
"Correction. I have three ships on my scans now: a cruiser and two destroyers."
"Space ships? Whose ships, Lucile?" Kate needed to be careful.
"They dropped out of FTL at about the gas giant. They appear to be our ships, Kate."
"We're saved!" Kate was ready to celebrate. "Can you contact them?"
"I will attempt to do so," Lucile responded, and the others waited for her to say something.
"They say they are here to find out what happened to the colony ship we were on. It seems only now have they decided to come looking for it."
"We're really saved!" Kate couldn't believe it. She was going to get to go home!
Lucile was quiet for a short while. "They are asking if we are all that remains of the ship's compliment. I told them yes."
"Can they send down a shuttle and pick us up?" Kate held her breath while she waited for an answer.
"They say they will do so once they are in orbit," Lucile told them.
"We're saved!" Rick spun Kate around and kissed her. "We're going to have to switch to our language. I hope I remember how."
That got Kate to burst out laughing.
~oo0oo~
The ship was in orbit and was sending down a shuttle. "Hurry up," Rick called upstairs to Alexis and Kate.
That got them downstairs. Kate picked up her carry-on bag, a small one with Alexis' clothes, and Alexis had her little backpack. Rick was carrying his carry-on and the computer that housed Lucile. She had released the shutter at the door for them.
"We go outside and go up the stairs to the roof." He looked at Kate and Alexis. "Nice and quiet-like. Ready?"
"Ready," Kate replied and took Alexis' hand.
Rick opened the door and didn't see anything. He peered down the hallway, and it looked clear. "Go, go," he whispered to them.
They reached the door to the roof only to find it locked. "Damn, it's locked. Here, take Lucile and my bag. I'll be back as fast as I can."
He returned to his door, went inside, and found a knife. Then he picked up two and went back.
Once he was with them again, he used the knife to try and break the lock off. All it did was break the knife blade. He used another one to start digging at the lock's hinge.
"Hurry, Rick," Kate whispered, "I think I hear something!"
"Got it!" He dropped the knife and picked up Lucile and his bag. Kate opened the door and took Alexis out with her.
"Someone's coming. Where's the shuttle?" Rick asked her.
"It's not here…" She looked around frantically, then thought she saw it. "Here it comes. I think." Kate looked at it. "It's a flying saucer. A real flying saucer." She was amazed at what she saw.
It quickly landed, and down came a ramp. "Go, go!" Rick urged. "They're coming!"
A man in a uniform stood at the opening. "toH, haMlet, naDev yIghoS," he called out and met Kate and Alexis, and then Rick. After that, he closed the door and raised the ramp. ("Hurry, let's go.")
Kate found a space she didn't recognize. "Huh. It looks like there's been a design change."