Pat walked back to the mine and told everyone that whatever was happening was over now and that they could resume their trip. As they passed a small stream on the way back to the bus Pat made all of the girls that had touched anything in the mine wash their hands to get the lead dust off.
The girls got on the bus taking longer than necessary. They were chattering about the strange things that had happened in the past couple of hours. One of the girls had an idea for a t-shirt, "I SURVIVED THE BLACK HOLE."
After everyone was settled Pat started the bus. He turned on the radio to see if there was any news about the black hole but the radio only had static.
After the bus had driven a couple of miles Pat saw an accident ahead. A car had slammed into a tree. From the seriousness of the impact he knew that anyone that had been in the car was either seriously injured or dead. There was still steam coming from the radiator where it had been ruptured by the impact. There was no one around the vehicle so the accident had probably just happened.
Pat pulled over behind the car. He told the girls to stay in their seats and he got off of the bus and headed toward the car. Pauline was right behind him.
When he looked inside of the car he was shocked to find it empty. He made a quick check around the car in case an injured person had crawled out of the wreckage. He found no signs that anyone had even been in the car. He put his hand on the hood of the car and it was still hot.
"Maybe whoever had this accident is already on the way to the hospital," Pauline said.
Pat shook his head, "This just happened within the past hour or so. If someone was hurt in this accident there would been a lot of blood. Look inside the car; there's no blood anywhere."
Pauline looked at him quizzically, "Do you think someone wrecked the car on purpose?"
Pat shook his head, "I don't know what to think. This car hit the tree at a fairly high speed. It would be hard for someone to get up to that speed and get out of the car without killing themselves."
Pauline pointed down the road, "Look, there's another wreck. What is so dangerous about this area?"
Pat looked where Pauline was pointing. At a bend in the road a car had not made the slight bend in the road and was upside down along the side of the road.
Pat and Pauline ran back to the bus. They ignored the questions from the girls and drove toward that second accident. As soon as the bus was stopped Pat and Pauline ran to the car. The engine was still warm and the wheels were turning slowly but there was no one in the car. There was no sign of blood anywhere in or around the car.
"What the hell is going on Pat?"
Pat stared at the car, "I don't know. I don't think that these accidents were staged. I just don't know what to think."
From where they had stopped they could look down into the valley. Pauline pointed at something in the valley below.
"Look Pat. That looks like an airplane crash. Look, you can see the tail; the tail isn't burning yet. Oh my god there's more of them."
Pat looked down into the valley there were several trails of smoke rising from airplane accidents.
Pat took her arm and started leading her back to the bus, "There's a small town about six miles from here. We have to report this shit."
After they were on the bus Pat turned to his passengers, "I don't know what's happening but I'm going to get us off this mountain. There's a town down in the valley. I want to find out if any strange things are happening there and I want to report what we have seen. Everyone just keep calm and we'll sort this out."
"I tried to call my mother but my cell phone won't work," one of the girls said, almost in tears.
Pat smiled at the girl, "No cell phone towers here. When we get down into the valley you'll be able to get a signal."
On the drive down into the valley they saw two more accidents but they didn't see anyone around the vehicles. After slowing down they proceeded into the small town.
As Pat drove into town he saw several cars that had been involved in accidents. One car had driven through a store window. The traffic lights were working and the stores had lights on but there was no one in sight.
"Where is everybody? I'm scared," one of the girls cried out.
Pat pulled the bus over to the curb, "Everyone that has a cell phone check to see if you have a signal. If you do, try to call your parents and let them know that you're okay."
"I have a good signal," one of the girls said as she started dialing her cell phone.
After several minutes, several of the girls were complaining because no one was answering. Pauline put her hand on Pat's arm He saw the terror in her eyes.
Pat got out of the driver's seat, "Pauline, come with me and see if we can find anyone that can tell us what's going on."
Pat took one side of the street and Pauline took the other. They searched every building that they could get into but they found no sign of anyone. There were no bodies or any sign that anyone had been injured or killed. There were several cars that had the motor running but no one was around the cars.
Pat passed a farm truck parked in front of a feed store that had several pigs in it. The pigs were squealing because they were hot and thirsty.
Pauline walked up to Pat, "There's no one in town. Where has everyone gone? Why would people leave everything and go off?"
"Maybe they didn't just go off," Pat said.
Pauline looked at him strangely, "No, that can't be. Why would we still be here and what about those pigs? Why would pigs be here but no humans?"
Pat opened the back of the farm truck and let the pigs loose. If he was wrong about what he was thinking there was going to be one very mad farmer soon.
Pat and Pauline walked to the bus and got on. They ignored the many questions and Pat started driving the bus. They went through three other small towns and found exactly what they had found in the first town. There seemed to be no humans left on the world except the passengers on the bus.
Pauline leaned toward Pat and said in a low voice, "I've never been very religious but the thing that keeps coming into my head is that thing about the Rapture."
Pat looked at her in the rear view mirror, "I've never been very religious either but the way that I understand the Rapture is that only the good people will be transported to heaven and the bad people will be left here. It looks like all of the humans, both good and bad, are gone. It looks like we just might be the only ones left on earth. I've never believed in that Rapture stuff anyway."
"Look," one of the girls cried out, "There's a herd of cows. Somebody has to be around to take care of them."
After they had searched through the third town Pat decided that they should find a motel and stay there for the night. It was obvious that all of the girls feared the worst and several of them tried to constantly call their parents on their cell phones. No one ever answered.
Pat pulled into a very nice motel. He checked the motel thoroughly but there was no one around. He suggested that each girl find a room but most of them were too scared and said that they wanted to sleep in the lobby.