Page 52 of Into the Mist

Sim shook his head slowly. “I really hoped there were a hundred plus folks up here who survived the bombs and such. Damn, just damn.” He and Hilary led the way with Mercury and Stella, still holding hands, following slowly.

“I knew it was probably gone,” Mercury said softly as she wiped at her nose again. “But I had some hope.”

Stella squeezed her hand. “I know. We gotta tell Jenny and Karen—and Imani. Shit, shit, shit, I’m tired of giving good people bad news.”

“We can grow things,” said Mercury. “I’m going to hold onto that.”

“Right there with you, girlfriend,” said Stella.

Mercury paused long enough to turn and face her best friend. “I don’t care where we go, but wherever we end up from today on, wehave to make the world we live in better, kinder, more fucking reasonable than the one that exploded yesterday. If we don’t, none of this—none of these deaths—will have meant anything.”

“Agreed. One hundred percent agreed.”

Sim got comfortable at the coffee table Mercury and her friends had been using as a dining table. Imani and Jenny were helping Tyler board up the last of the foyer windows while the three housekeepers, Mary, Rachel, and Veronica, collected all the fans they could find and positioned them so that they blew air away from the foyer—just in case the green fog descended on the lodge. Karen was assisting Gemma as she changed Marge’s bandages. While Stella disappeared into the kitchen to make a plate for Sim, Mercury gathered her three friends, who threw the trucker curious glances but followed her to their bedroom suite.

Mercury closed the door softly behind them and turned on the little bedside lamp. Then she faced the women.

“That man’s a trucker,” she said without preamble. “He’s been in contact with other truckers. I’m just gonna say this fast and get it over with. Tulsa is gone. San Diego and the entire West Coast of California is gone too.”

“Oh!” Karen sat heavily on the bed and clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and as tears leaked down her cheeks, she prayed softly.

Jenny’s face had blanched a sick, curdled milk color. “He’s sure?” she asked.

Mercury nodded. “Yes, one hundred percent sure.”

Jenny sat heavily beside Karen. She stared up at Mercury with eyes that were glossy with tears that stubbornly refused to fall. “My mom. My dad. My sister. They all live in Jenks. They’re dead, aren’t they.”

Jenny didn’t phrase it as a question, but Mercury answered her. “They are. Jenks is basically Tulsa—like Bixby, Broken Arrow, and all those other suburbs. Remember how much damage the bomb did in Portland? Nothing surrounding it could’ve survived. It has to be the same in Tulsa. And even if some people survived, like around my parents’ place east of Broken Arrow, we have to be realistic. There’s really no way we can get from here to there—not somewhere that’s several days drive away.”

“I know… I know…” Jenny’s gaze slid from Mercury to the embers in the fireplace. She stared as tears leaked from her eyes, down her pale cheeks.

“I hope it was fast.” Imani’s voice was whisper soft. “It was early. My babies are good sleepers. They were probably in bed with their daddy ’cause they always climb in bed with Curtis when I’m gone.” Her gaze met Mercury’s. “Please let it have been fast. Let them all have been curled up together asleep.”

“They were,” Mercury said. “I’m going to believe they were.”

“I—I have to get some air.” Imani turned and quickly left the room.

Mercury stared at the closed door. “I don’t know whether I should go after her or let her have some time alone.”

“Do both.” Karen looked up as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan. “Give her a little time, and then go after her. And I’ll pray for her. I’ll pray for all of us.”

Mercury nodded. “We definitely need all the help we can get. I wanted to tell y’all the news in private, but Sim—that’s the trucker’s name—is going to talk to everyone after he gets done eating. Thought you’d like to know if there’re any questions you want to ask him.”

“I wonder how the rest of the world’s doing.” Karen spoke to her clasped hands.

“Bad. He said he hasn’t heard anything from anyone east of the Mississippi. I think we need to focus on here and now if we’re going to survive this and build a new life for ourselves,” said Mercury.

“Why? What for?” Jenny asked as she looked up at her friend and mentor. “Who’s left alive to care?”

Mercury squatted in front of Jenny. “We are. We’re alive. We’re healthy. We can build a world where this never happens again.”

“I’m not sure I have the energy,” said Jenny.

“That’s okay. You’re not gonna have to do it alone.” Mercury pulled the younger woman into a hug.

Sim put away a huge portion of reheated breakfast casserole and three big mugs of coffee. As he ate, Tyler gathered anyone who had been strong enough to leave the foyer infirmary, and by the time the trucker belched and wiped his beard free of egg debris, everyone in the cannabis-perfumed room was watching him expectantly.

“Damn good food,” Sim said as he stretched.