“I have to go.” I pull away from Mom and meet her gaze. “Shit’s falling apart and Hannah needs me.”
Tears well in her eyes and she looks away. I furrow my brow, confused.
“I thought you guys were in Aspen.”
My dad puts a hand on my shoulder. When I look at him, alarm races through me. Dad is always levelheaded, but his expression right now is tormented.
“Don’t tell me the plane fell through,” I say, feeling sick. “I have to go.”
“You can’t, Pax,” he says softly.
“I have to, Dad. She has no other way out of there. Everything’s shut down. You said it was all taken care of.”
He sighs heavily, and the lines on his face I’ve always associated with wisdom just make him look like an exhausted mortal, not the giant I’ve always relied on.
“I tried. I promise you I tried everything in my power.” His voice breaks and tears flood his eyes. “We can’t get to her, son. I’m so sorry.”
The world around me blurs for a few seconds. I look at the space around me with fresh eyes.
“We have a lot to talk about,” my dad says.
I look at my mom. She’s quietly crying.
“Let me out,” I tell my dad. “I want out right now.”
Everyone around us has cleared out. A drill whirs in the distance. I go over to the SUV and get my backpack out, putting it on.
“Open the doors,” I say.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that,” my father responds.
Helplessness and betrayal propel me toward him. “I’m not leaving her! This is my choice, and I’m leaving.”
“This virus isn’t going away,” he says, his tone level. “A lot of people are going to die, and then there’ll be a waiting period.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? What waiting period?”
He tugs at the tie knotted at his throat, loosening it. “This is the shelter I had built in case of something like this. We’re going to be down here for several months, maybe longer.”
I shake my head, wishing I could go back to my apartment. I thought that was my nightmare, but I was wrong. This is.
“Fine, I’ll stay down here as long as you want, but I need to bring Hannah with me.”
His shoulders drop slightly. “I tried. She’s too far away, and with the way this virus is spreading ... I’m sorry.”
I get my cell phone from my pocket to text Hannah, and the nightmare digs itself deeper into my consciousness.
No service.
“I want out.” I don’t recognize the menacing voice that comes out of me. “I’m going after Hannah.”
“You can’t.”
I scoff, coming unhinged. “She thinks I’m on the way! I’m not staying in here and leaving her to die. Let me the fuck out of here!”
Dad’s tortured eyes meet mine. “I had to do this, and I hope one day you’ll?—”
“Don’t do this.” My hands shake at my sides. “I’m twenty-six fucking years old. I’m not a kid you can control. I’d rather die going after Hannah than hide in here like a coward.”
