Chapter 6

Pat woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. Pauline was still asleep so Pat slid out of bed as quietly as he could. He went across the hall and took a shower so that he wouldn't wake Pauline. He was relieved that the water was still on.

He knew that it was only a matter of time before the systems that they relied on would start shutting down. Probably the sewage systems would be the first to shut down as keeping them running was labor intensive. Now that no one was around to service the sewage systems they would start to fail.

When he went downstairs he saw that several of the girls were huddled together discussing, with fear in their eyes, the possibility that they were the only people left on earth. The two adults were sleeping.

Pat quietly asked the girls that were awake if they wanted breakfast and the girls all said yes. He led them into the kitchen and told them to see what was available and if something had to be cooked, he would cook it.

Soon the girls were sipping Coke's and going through the refrigerators and pantries. Pat cautioned them to make sure that the refrigerator doors were closed and to make sure that all of the pantry doors were shut tight to keep rodents out. The girls found sausage links and eggs and asked Pat if he knew how to cook them.

"Just watch me," he smiled, "I was the cook in my fraternity."

The girl named Brenda got a look of awe on her face, "You went to college? How come you're driving a bus?"

"Long, boring story. Now call out how you want your eggs."

Within a half an hour, Pat and the girls were standing at the prep table in the kitchen eating sausage and eggs and toasted English muffins. The food took the girl's minds off of their predicament and they were talking animatedly when Anna walked in with a look of rage on her face.

"What's going on here? I'm warning you, stay away from the girls. Girls, come out into the lobby. Bring your food with you."

Anna stood by the door as the girls moved into the lobby. Pat waited until the last girl left the kitchen and then shut the door. Anna got a look of terror on her face when she realized that she was alone in the kitchen with Pat.

"What the hell is wrong with you woman?" Pat snapped at her, "These girls are terrified and they're one step away from panic. We adults have to act like adults or we're going to have real problems and we'll be spending most of our time just calming them down. Now get out there and try to act like a human for a change. I'll cook up some breakfast for the rest of you all. I'll call you when it's ready and you can serve the girls."

Anna lowered her eyes a bit, "Stay away from the girls. We don't know what's going on yet and the girls are in my care."

Anna left the kitchen and Pat began to cook sausage and eggs for the rest of the girls and the adults. When he started cooking the sausages Pauline walked into the kitchen and walked over to him and put her arms around his waist.

"What's with Anna? She's all teary-eyed."

"We had a few words. She more or less insinuated that I was making moves on the girls. I'd love to know what is wrong with that woman."

Pauline grinned up at him, "Well, were you making moves on the girls?"

Pat pushed her away and snapped, "Help me with breakfast."

By the time that breakfast was ready for everyone the rest of the girls were awake and ready to eat. Pauline served the girls and made sure that everyone had enough. She admonished them to keep the motel lobby clean and to make sure that the girls cleaned up after they had finished eating.

After everyone had a shower and a potty break it was almost one o'clock. Pat and Pauline had cleaned the kitchen and had put everything back the way they had found it.

Pat turned to Pauline, "Go ask Anna to come into here. I want to tell her what I'm going to do."

Pauline left and returned with Anna several minutes later. From Anna's look on her face Pauline probably had to force Anna to come to the kitchen.

"Anna, I know that you don't trust me or maybe it's just that you don't trust any man but we have to keep the girls calm as long as we can. We haven't seen another human since yesterday. I don't know what's happened. I tried to call my mother in Oregon last night and my brother in Germany but there was no answer. We have to find out if there is anyone else left on earth. I know that you planned on taking the girls to camp but..."

Anna folded her arms across her chest, "Go on."

Pat continued, "I want you to go out and tell the girls that I need to have a very minor repair done to the bus. Tell them that I need to find a truck stop with a mechanic. We'll keep driving for a while and try to find someone else that survived whatever it was that happened yesterday. I don't want to let the girls know that I'm looking for anyone else that survived."