Flight 3430, стр. 34

FIFTEEN – FROM A DISTANCE

Las Vegas, NV

The three hour stretch of sleep seemed like a full night to Gabe. He didn’t realize how tired he was and would have sworn, he never would have passed right out, stretched across two chairs in gate twenty-two.

The last they spoke to Gene, they had a good bit of time before they had to leave. Gabe and Jeff decided to let people rest as long as possible, grab food and then they would take off with enough time to spare.

With the power still being on, it gave them options for food and beverages. There weren’t that many bodies in the terminal, like Jeff had said, it was a rarely used one so that didn’t linger against Gabe’s appetite.

Actually, he was starving. Once calmed, his stomach twisted in hunger pains. It had been twenty-four hours since he had eaten.

He and Owen hit the sub shop, making a monstrous sandwich with the still fresh luncheon meats. His father didn’t eat much, that worried Gabe and his father also was drinking quite a bit. That too worried Gabe because he was the drinker in the family not his father.

Gabe knew a lot about liquid courage and since his father had to always be the strong one, he knew his father was hiding his worries behind a bottle.

Gabe was one of the last ones awake. His body was exhausted, his mind spinning through all he had learned about the plane. He was used to sleeping with white noise, but somehow the steady automatic playing of the slot machine music acted like white noise and he drifted off.

That same noise woke him. But it was louder and ringing a bit more.

Someone made coffee, he could smell it. He stretched the kinks out of his back, saw the time, felt refreshed and stood.

A café stand was a mere ten feet from where Gabe rested, and Trevor from the flight, stood there with Gary sipping coffee.

“Is that up for grabs?” Gabe asked.

“Absolutely,” Trevor said. “We were just talking about the time frame.”

“Shit.” Gabe paused in getting his coffee and checked his phone. “Let me make sure. Because I don’t have any messages.”

He quickly sent a text to Gene asking how much time they had.

Gene replied just as fast that they had a little under three hours. Levels were starting to rise.

“We have time,” Gabe held up his phone. “I’d say we start rounding people in an hour, get them on the plane and we can take off with plenty of time.” He poured a cup of coffee and took a sip. “Is my dad up? Have you seen him?”

Gary pointed.

Gabe turned following the direction of the point.

He saw the cloud of cigarette smoke in the center area, then he saw his father. He sat at a slot machine, a coffee in one hand and a cigarette dangled from his mouth.

After telling Trevor and Gary thanks, Gabe walked over. As soon as he did, the machine went nuts with music, animated coins erupted on the screen.

“Damn, again,” Tom said.

“Dad?”

“Oh, hey Gabe. How about this? I got the major jackpot. Again. Wouldn’t happen if the world didn’t go to shit. Who needs money?”

Gabe chuckled. “How long have you been …” he paused when he saw how much money his father had won. “Dad, that’s eight thousand dollars.”

“I know, right. Three hours, I kept hitting. I upped my bet to play it down and … look. I’m winning. But … money isn’t going to be any good for a while. Other things will be.”

“I concur.” Gabe sat down at the machine next to his father. He took another sip of his coffee. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you thought about what’s next?”

“You mean after I am done playing or in general with life??”

“After everything.”

“That’s a pretty open-ended question, Gabe,” Tom said. “After Gainesville?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s easy. I got you and your brother, I’m good. I’ll do whatever you want to do. Stay in Gainesville or not. To be honest though, I was hoping there’d be a way to get to Gene. I hate to think of him in Billings, just stuck there. Make plans, you know, before everything shuts down and it will. I mean phones.”

“I agree,” Gabe replied. “I think we should get Uncle Gene. Unless he thinks Billings is the place to stay.”

“That’s an option.”

“But I was thinking, after it all settles, and it will according to Uncle Gene. After that, I’d like to go back to Fort Collins. Find mom and Casey, I know … I know the chances of them being alive are slim. But I need to. I need to say goodbye.”

Tom nodded. “I think that’s a great idea. I think you need that. We all do. We need to go home, resolve things. Who knows, maybe Fort Collins was spared, right?”

“We won’t know until we go.”

“How would we do that?”

“Well …” Gabe tilted his head. “I know how to fly and am learning that 737. We don’t need anything that big, but once the world is safe, hell, we have a year’s worth of fuel stockpiled at airports across the country. We’re good. Unless the government is up and running and nixes that stuff.”

“You know I highly doubt that.” Tom glanced at his slot machine. “Somehow your skill will be a commodity. Amongst other