Pat pulled in front of the motel, "I don't know how we're going to handle this. I'm sure that everyone noticed that we were gone."
Pauline squeezed his hand, "I really don't care. I needed this time with you."
Sarah and Anna walked from around the side of the motel. They were talking seriously about something and they hadn't seen the Escalade pull into the parking spot. Pat and Pauline got out of the SUV and walked toward the pair. Anna and Sarah were so busy talking that they didn't see Pat and Pauline until they were half way to the them.
Pauline smiled and asked, "Did any of the girls make any comments about us being gone all night?"
Sarah grinned, "We told them that you went to the Air Force Base to see if you could find any secure underground installations that had any survivors. The girls seemed to buy it or else they were so busy with their own fears and concerns that they didn't have time to be concerned with you two."
Pat rolled his eyes upward, "I completely forgot about the Air Force base. That would be the place to check for others that survived. I'm sure that there are secure facilities there and there might even be underground bunkers. At the very least we'll be able to use the military communications to try and raise somebody. It's worth a shot at least. Why don't one of you tell the girls that we need to check the base out more thoroughly and we'll leave one adult with the girls and the other three will see what we can find at the base."
Anna spoke up, "I'll let the girls know that you're going to be gone a while longer; that way they won't think that we're abandoning them."
Anna left to speak to the girls. Sarah waited until she saw Anna enter the motel and then turned to Pat and Pauline with a serious look on her face.
"Anna and I have been talking most of the night. She's really down and, frankly, I'm a bit afraid that she might be thinking about suicide. I might be totally wrong but there were been a lot of tears shed last night."
"What's wrong," Pat and Pauline asked almost in unison.
Sarah sighed, "She's been thinking a lot in the past couple of days and she's come to the conclusion that her life has been wasted. I don't know if you know what happened to her but it wasn't pretty."
"She told me," Pat said, "Go on. What else did she say?"
"She's just having a lot of self-doubt and she's beating herself up because of it. I get the impression that she feels that there's no sense going on with her life. I think that she feels there's nothing to live for anymore."
They were all quiet for a minute digesting what Sarah had told them. Pat looked at Pauline and she seemed lost in thought.
Pauline broke the silence, "Sarah could I speak to Pat for a minute alone?"
"Sure," Sarah said and then she turned and walked into the motel.
Pauline turned to him, "I think that this is something that you have to handle. I think that Anna is regretting the fact that she's never allowed a man in her life and now she thinks that there's never going to be a man for her because you're the only man left in the world. I think that you should take Anna with you to check out the Air Base and talk to her."
Pat got a serious look on his face, "Are you really saying that I should just talk to her?"
"Talk to her. If you find that more is needed you'll have to decide on how you're going to handle it. I told you that it would come to this."
Pat got red in the face with his anger, "Damn it, Pauline. I can't do that. I..."
Pauline cut him off, "Think of the consequences. What is going to happen if she does do something drastic or even walks off and disappears? The girls would never get over it. She's not been a very warm person until recently but she is an authority figure to the girls and they rely on her and look to her for advice. I know how you feel and I know she's been a thorn in your ass since we started this trip. Right now, she is a parental figure to the girls. We can't allow her to hinder our survival if she does anything stupid. Her actions could case the death of others or, at the very least, severe contention. I don't see any other solution."
Pat walked away from her without answering her and started walking away from the motel. As he walked he got madder. When he was far enough away from the motel that he couldn't see or hear the others he sat on the grass to think. He knew that most men would be happy to be the only man in the world with three adult women and twenty teen-aged girls at his disposal but he loved Pauline. Pat had never cheated on Bess and the thought of cheating on Pauline hurt him. He began to think of ways around the obvious but nothing he thought of really made any sense once he thought it through. After about an hour he walked back to where the women were talking in front of the motel.
"Well, who's going with me?" he asked the women.
"I'm exhausted," Pauline said, "If you don't mind I'd like to rest a while. I don't know how much rest the girls are going to let me get though."
Sarah piped in, "There's no way that I would be any help unless there's a restroom every two hundred feet between here and the base.'
"Come on Anna," Pat said, "Let's get started. I'm not sure if we're going to have time to do what we have to do and still get back before dark."
"Do you really think that you should travel after dark?" Pauline asked with a worried look on her face, "With all of the accidents on the roads it might be dangerous."
Pat started toward the pickup without answering her. They had left the keys in the vehicles since it was unlikely that anyone would steal them.
Pat and Anna got in the truck and began the trip to the Air Force base.
Anna was silent for the first couple of miles so Pat decided to try to open her up, "What's wrong Anna? You're awfully quiet?"
Anna shrugged, "I don't know, I'm a little down today. I guess all that has happened is beginning to hit me. I never expected all of this when we started out on this trip. I've had time to think about my life and I'm not happy with some choices that I've made."
"We all make bad choices. We just have to learn from them and move on."
Anna gave him half a smile and was quiet again. Pat tried to engage her in conversation but she'd only answer his questions and then would be quiet again.
When they finally got to the Air Force base they found the main gate didn't have a gate or any truck traps or other devises to stop vehicles from entering. Pat saw a sign board that had a map of the base and he stopped and got out and found out where the base headquarters was. He figured that the headquarters would be the building where he could get the information that he wanted.
Pat drove to the headquarters building. Along the way there were many cars that had run off the road and several buildings were hit by cars that had become driverless. From the headquarters they could see the flight line and the runways. There were several fighter planes that had crashed and burned but the fires had long since burned out.
Pat got out of the truck, "Let's go Anna. We'll see if we can raise anyone on the military's communication system."
Anna got out of the truck and followed him into the building. Pat checked the directory and found the base commander's office. Coffee cups and papers were strewn about the hallways where they were dropped whenever the people using them had disappeared.
Pat pointed to the phone system, "See if you get anyone to answer the phone at the Pentagon or the Department of Defense. I'm sure that they have the numbers programmed into the phone system."
Anna went to the phone and sat down and started dialing numbers that were in the directory. Many other very important numbers were preprogrammed for one-touch dialing. Pat went through papers trying to find out if there were any underground bunkers on the base. He found references to a war room but he couldn't find anything that would tell him where it was.
Pat walked down the hall and soon found a room that had a heavy security door. The door needed an access card for entry. He saw an access card on the floor. Someone had apparently been ready to enter the room when the black hole passed. He picked up the card and swiped it through the card reader. He heard the lock click. When he pulled on the door the heavy door opened. He saw that there were stairs leading down and that the stairs stopped about sixty feet below the level of the hallway. The lights were still on but Pat was afraid to venture down the stairs alone in case the power went off. The door was made to close automatically and if the power went off when he was in the secure room he might be trapped.
Pat walked back to get Anna. He would have her hold the door for him while he checked out the room. Anna was still dialing one number after another.
"Any luck?" he asked.
She shook her head, "The numbers connect but no one answers."
Pat told her what he had found and what his plan was. They left the base commander's office and walked back to the secure room. Pat used the card to access the room and had Anna hold the door while he went to see if there was anyone in the room that had survived.
When he got into the room he found that it was a room containing many maps and manuals that outlined invasion plans for every country in the world. He had heard about this in college and knew that the military kept such rooms on all military bases. The USA really didn't have plans to invade the countries but it was a precaution in case of a fast developing situation. He checked out the several small rooms off of the main room but there was no one in any of the rooms and no bodies anywhere.
When he came back to where Anna was holding the door she looked at him asking if he had found anyone alive with her eyes. He shook his head and her shoulders sagged. She looked as if someone had knocked the wind out of her.
"Let's get back to the others." he told her.
Anna nodded and they walked back outside.