As the moon rose over the treetops, the shadows of the jungle receded farther

into the gloom from which they had come.

Survivors, Part 3

Approx 1,141 words

©2004 by W. E. Lopez

Maggie found steaks in the freezer of the casino restaurant, which still held a low temperature even though the power had been off for at least twelve hours. By the time Don had awkwardly finished filling the gas tank on the motor home, she had an excellent dinner on the table, despite being handicapped by a broken arm.

Don was famished and would have eaten fried shoe rubber with equal gusto. “Do you remember what room you were staying in?” he asked Doris.

“Yes, sir. Room 324. Why?”

Don politely ignored her question and asked Maggie if she could keep the children entertained for a few hours while he attended to a chore. Sensing what he had in mind, Maggie agreed.

With his meal finished, Don moved the motor home to the far end of the casino where it would be shaded from the afternoon sun and poked around the casino until he found the maintenance office and acquired a shovel. The north side of the casino had a grassy area he felt would be suitable and he set about digging a grave for two bodies. The afternoon was sweltering and three hours later Don was thoroughly soaked, but he felt the single grave was adequate.

He had saved the dismal task of locating and preparing the bodies for last. Helen and Mark Driscoll had been sleeping when the event happened. Don didn’t know what to call it, so he just called it the event. Everywhere they had been, corpses littered the scene. Most had simply collapsed and died. The unfortunate ones who had been driving had run into accidents, many had been burned. Don didn’t even want to think what may have happened at the airport, but surely that was one of the causes of the numerous fires. Aircraft may have been taking off, or landing, when the event happened, only to come crashing to the ground with a dead hand on the controls. He wondered how many of the passengers might have survived the event, only to perish in the final catastrophe?

Perhaps it would have been better to end that way… Don wasn’t sure.

He used a luggage cart to move both bodies, one at a time, to the impromptu grave after having wrapped them in linens from the maid’s closet. When the bodies were neatly arranged, he went back to the motor home.

“As the moon rose over the treetops, the shadows of the jungle receded

farther into the gloom from which they had come. Hansel turned to Gretel and remarked, ‘That old witch will never bother little children any more,’” Maggie was saying.

“Good!” Mikey cheered. “Tell us again how Hansel and Gretel kicked her into the oven, Maggie. That was cool!”

“Hansel and Gretel in a jungle?” Don asked. “I don’t remember the story that way,” he chudkled.

“Well, I just wanted to keep their attention, Don. The kids enjoyed it more the way I told it.”

“Yeah, Don,” Doris said. “Maggie must know every story that’s ever been told. She’s a great baby sitter.”

“I’m sure she is,” Don agreed. To Maggie he said, “I think we’re ready now; do you feel up to this or would you rather wait here?”

“I’ll go with you,” she said. “Come, children, we have to do something now.”

Doris and Mikey followed without question. Don led the way into the evening shadows. As the moon rose over Las Vegas, and the shadows retreated into the dark neon corpse of the city, Don thought this occasion might signal a new beginning, just as Maggie’s fairty tale to the children. How many were dead? How many had survived? He had no way of estimating yet, but he would take care of the small family he had inherited as well as he could.

The four of them stood next to the grave. Doris looked down and said, “This means we won’t see mommy and daddy again? Why, Maggie?” she asked.

“Because a lot of people died this morning, Doris. We don’t know why, but God must certainly have a lot of children who need taking care of. He knew Don and I would take care of you and Mikey, so he took your parents to help him with all the other children.”

“It’s not fair,” Mikey said. “We need mommy and daddy too!”

“Life is seldom fair, Mikey,” Don said, “It just goes on from day to day, and we have to go on, doing the best we can. Maggie and I can never take the place of your parents, but we’ll take care of you and keep you safe. I promise.”

Mikey still looked petulant, but Doris wiped a tear from her eye. “God couldn’t have picked two better helpers,” she said. “Does that mean we call you mommy and daddy now?”

“You can if you want too,” Maggie said. “But that will be up to you. Or you can simply go on calling us Don and Maggie like you have been.”

Doris reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, something she must have seen in a movie, and tossed it into the grave. “Rest in peace, mom and dad. Don’t worry about us, we have Maggie and Don to look after us, but we’ll never forget you.”

“Amen,” Mikey said, adding a small handful of dirt as his sister had done.

Maggie took the children back to the motor home and Don finished the task of burying their parents. When he finished, he went to the casino swimming pool, stripped off his clothes and washed the dirt and perspiration from his body and then dressed and returned to the motor home.

The sun had just dropped below the western horizon as he entered. “I couldn’t get anything on the radio,” Maggie said, “so I’ve been playing Go Fish with the kids. I got the cards from the casino.”

“I guess the power must be out at the radio and TV stations too,” Don said. “With no one to monitor the controls at the power company, a lot of grids must have failed when cars crashed into power poles, or circuits over loaded and failed all over town. I’ve seen whole cities erupt into riots when there have been power failures. Remember the east coast blackouts? That’s why I want us to get away from here. There’s a road leading away from the Interstate just over there,” he pointed to the west. “I think we’ll drive in that direction for a few miles and find a quiet place to park for the night. No use calling attention to our selves, do you think?”

“For once, I’m inclined to agree with you, Don. All this death and chaos gives me the willies. A nice peaceful spot to camp for the night sounds like a very good idea to me.”