Chapter 4

After the girls had pulled out their sleeping bags Pat went into the restaurant and loaded up a cart with lunchmeat and rolls and potato salad and took it into the lobby. The girls dove into the food like they hadn't eaten in days.

Pat walked out of the room and made his way to the phones. Pauline was right behind him. She watched as he dialed the phone.

"Who are you trying to call?" she asked.

"My mother lives in Oregon. I'm trying to see if whatever is happening here is happening there."

After a couple of minutes Pat hung up the phone, "No answer. My brother is in the Air Force in Germany. I'll try to get in touch with him."

After several minutes Pat hung up the phone again. He looked at Pauline and shook his head.

Pat looked at the motel stationary and saw the phone number for the corporate headquarters. He dialed the number. The phone ran for a long time before he hung up.

He handed the phone to Pauline, "Is there anyone you want to try?"

She shook her head, "Are we the only ones on earth?" she asked, "Why just us? Why are the animals still here?"

Pat shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe the fact that we were shielded by the lead in that mine had something to do with it. As for the animals, maybe their DNA has something to do with them not being affected. Let's not jump to conclusions though. The government has plenty of underground, secure sites where people could have survived whatever has happened."

"If there's no one around, how come everything is still working?" she asked.

"Most systems will work for a long time automatically. After awhile things will start going down because of fuel running out or lack of maintenance. Some things will trigger other things to go out."

They went back into the lobby. Several of the girls were still trying to get through on their cell phones. Some of the girls were crying silently.

Pat turned to Pauline, "I'm going to find a room. I'm exhausted. I'd suggest you get some sleep too. These girls are going to be a handful when they start to realize that nothing is ever going to be like it was."

"I need a room too," Pauline replied, "I'm not big on sleeping bags. I'll get a room across from yours. Hopefully the girls will go to sleep without too much fuss."

Pat motioned for Anna to come to where he was standing, "I'm going to get a room. I'll take the first one down the hall. Each room has its own key so I'll just push the door almost closed so that if anything happens during the night you can wake me up."

Anna looked at him like that was the stupidest idea she ever heard, "Aren't you going to try to contact your company to send someone to help us?"

Pat paused and stared at her for a minute before he answered, "Tomorrow."

Pat started toward the rooms and he heard the shrew muttering about how she was going to have his job when they got back from the trip ... Pauline walked beside him.

"Where are you sleeping Pauline?" Anna snapped.

"I'm getting a room too. I don't do sleeping bags."

"I'll stay with the girls. Someone has to watch out for them." Anna said haughtily.

Pat stopped and smiled at Anna, "How about you women getting rooms and I'll stay with the girls?"