Page 5 of His to Take

3

“Blue sky?”Ann called out as she and her mother raced to the hallway. Her father’s haggard face stared down, relaxed into a smile that softened the lines and dark circles beneath his eyes.

“It’s, it’s some kind of miracle!” The Wolfsons soon joined them, and everybody piled up onto the deck, where they could look through the thick, sealed glass to the sky above. If you stood on the tips of your toes, you could see some of the world, edged in ice now. John held Ann up to the glass and she saw real, actual sky.

“Dad!” she gasped as he sat her down to hold her mother up. “The sky is clear!”

“I know, honey. Let the Wolfsons have a look.”

In the distance, even from the back of the group of people she now stood behind, Ann could see dark clouds fading away before they disappeared. Rex suddenly broke away from them all and headed down the hall, purpose in his stride.

“What are you doing, Rex?” Amanda called out, but she knew already. He was headed for the hazmat suits. “You can’t, Rex, not yet! Just wait!”

“I can’t, Mom. We might not get another chance to see the sky like that, and I want out of this place, for good!”

“No, your father and John can go out, but you’re staying here!”

“No, I’m not.” He walked away to the closet where the suits had been stored and took one out.

“It might still be really cold up there, Rex…” she started, but he turned to her.

“I don’t care, Mom. I want out.”

“Well, if your father…” but Stephan just walked by without a word to pick up a suit of his own.

Soon, John was there too, and the women were all told to go down to the safe room on that level. It would keep them out of harm’s way when the men opened the hatch and climbed the ladder to get out. They wouldn’t know what was happening, the window only allowed so much of the world to be viewed, but if the men didn’t come back, they would know it was still too dangerous to go outside.

“Maybe you shouldn’t all go, John,” Mary tried to say, but her husband stopped her.

“I have to go, Mary. I need to see if it’s safe to take you and Ann out, don’t I?” He ran a glove-covered finger down her cheek. “The suit’s heaters will keep us warm, we have oxygen tanks inside, and we know our way back. We’ll be fine. Besides, I’m the only one of us that knows how to take the samples we need.”

“Fine. But I don’t like it.” She turned away, but Ann smiled as her father pulled her mother back into his arms and bumped his head against hers. They were always so sweet together. “I’ll be back soon, my darling. I promise.”

Ann’s heart melted and she longed for Rex to say something similar, but she knew he wouldn’t. She just stood there, awkward and still a teenager in many ways. She was naïve to the world, inexperienced, and sheltered. Literally. But she knew she loved him and decided that maybe she was brave enough to ask one thing.

“Dad, I’d like to go too, please.” She said it quietly, but her father heard her. And so did Rex.

Before John could answer, Rex burst out laughing and pointed at her with derision.

“You can’t go up there, Ann. You’re just a weedy woman that couldn’t lift a tree branch if it fell on you.” He bent over he was laughing so hard, and didn’t see Ann wipe a tear away, or the look her father gave him. “I’ve heard it all now. Women that want to act like men. I can tell you now, Ann, we’ve left that world of feminist hogwash behind.”

Ann’s hurt lurched in her chest as she watched him walk away, and she really wanted to tell him what she thought of him, but her father tilted her chin up and bonked her on the head with his glass. “He’s just a stupid boy, honey, don’t let him get to you.”

“Be careful, Dad.” She sniffed and waved goodbye to him.

Her dad might dismiss Rex’s words, but they’d hurt Ann, deep down inside, and she hated him for a second. He was always so arrogant, the boy that other boys wanted to be, and in school, he’d been the most popular guy in their county, much less their school. He’d been known across the state for his sports abilities, and his handsome face.

He had the kind of face that would make movie stars drool, and he knew it. That had never bothered Ann. Not until now, when chauvinism was added to the mix. She wanted to tell him off, tell him how stupid he was, but she didn’t. She just went to the couch in the room and tried to read while they waited.

It was agonizing, waiting on their return, and the women left the safe room to go down to the next level an hour after the men left.

“They’ve been gone a long time,” Ann finally said after the second hour.

“They’re just exploring, sweetie, don’t panic,” her mom told her.

“I wish…” but she didn’t finish, there was no point.

“Next time, if it’s safe, you can go next time.”