“Will Teresa be there?”
“I don’t know. I assume so, since she radioed for me. But maybe she already said her goodbyes. She’s got a new baby and two other little ones at home. She might not be able to stay with Mother long.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.”
We reach the neat,tree-lined walk that leads to the large village house where my mother lives. The first thing I notice is a familiar barking. Then a large brown-and-white dog with a big, blocky head comes running down the walk toward us.
“Hey, Bill!” I’m smiling as I lean down to pet his doggy head and scratch behind his triangular ears. “It’s so good to see you. I wasn’t sure if you’d be here or not.”
Bill has been with Teresa and Mason ever since they got married. Seven years now. He’s getting older, but he’s just as exuberant as I remember. He drops a dingy, well-worn ball at my feet and nods toward me until I pick it up and toss it for him to retrieve.
Ben smiles after the dog and puts a hand on my backas we walk toward the house. “I guess this means Teresa is here.”
“Looks like it.”
Bill returns to fall into step beside us, holding his ball in his mouth like a treasure.
It’s Teresa who opens the door before we even get to the front stoop. Her face breaks into a smile when she sees us.
She’s blond like me, but she’s a little taller and a lot curvier. She’s curvier than ever right now as she comes down to give me a hug.
“I’m so glad you came,” she says against my ear. “She’s really bad, and she’s not going to last long.”
“Where is her husband?” I’ve never said the man’s name out loud. It feels like he doesn’t deserve it. He’s even more selfish, controlling, and ambitious than Chad ever was.
“He’s not here. He had a trip. Atrip. And he took the boys.” Teresa has a much sweeter nature than me, but she’s not spineless or weak. Her voice is dry, slightly bitter. “Very convenient timing so he can miss all the hard stuff.”
“Asshole.” I glance over at Ben, who’s accepting Teresa’s hug. “We can’t stay long, but we were close enough I figured it was worth coming. Just to say goodbye.”
“I’m glad you did. Mostly so I’m not alone here.”
“Alone? Where are Mason and the kids?”
“He couldn’t leave the farm at this time of year. I’ve got Rayna here since I’m still nursing her, but the other twoare at home with Mason. They didn’t need to deal with all this. But it’s been… hard. I’m really glad you came.”
Looking at her pale, exhausted face and messy hair, I’m suddenly glad I came too.
There are different kinds of fights, and not all of them look like mine.
This is one of them.
She shouldn’t have to fight it alone.
13
When the asteroid hit,the impact was so devastating that the initial shock wave wiped out Germany and most of the countries surrounding it. That alone would have led to social collapse since the mass exodus out of Europe in the month or two beforehand threw every other part of the developed world into chaos.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the asteroid also sent up catastrophic amounts of dust and ash into the atmosphere, which blocked much of the sunlight for years afterward, leading to famine and widespread lung disease that killed as many as the initial impact did.
My mother was a child during the Fall. For my entire childhood, she had a chronic cough that got better or worse depending on the weather and how often we needed to use the woodstove.
It’s the same lung disease that’s killing her now.
I’m not really sad. Definitely not shocked or surprised. But I’m hit with a heavy reluctance as I walk into the house.
I don’t want to be here.
