Noah turns his attention across the fire to a man in his early sixties named Patrick Fulmer. An Irishman, he is long and wiry, with icy blue eyes and a head of close-cropped snow white hair. He had offered to build the fire when Noah asked for volunteers and now he offers emotional support to the bereaved. A woman named Josette holds Patrick’s hand and wipes tears from her face, while a middle-aged man named Craig looks on. None of them were traveling together, but each lost a loved one during the crash. And because of that, they are doing what they can to help one another amidst their grief.
Away from the others sit the twins, Mia and Max. They face one another, sitting in silence in the same position with their legs bent and knees pointing skyward. Their faces carry similar sullen expressions, and their eyes drift downward. Nearby, Noah sees a young woman named Alice Pearson lying in a fetal position with one of her arms supporting her head while the other is wrapped around her side. She doesn’t look much older than the twins and, according to his wife, she lost both her parents in the crash. She is wrapped in a grey wool blanket that Eve had given her and although her eyes are closed, she is not sleeping. Noah’s attention flips back to the twins when he hears a heated conversation develop between the two of them. They are too far away to hear what they are actually saying, but he still manages to eavesdrop by reading their lips.
“Stop saying that Mia! You don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no way that you could!”
“Please keep your voice down. I know I don’t
know,
but it’s a feeling I have. I just don’t feel like they’re with us anymore.” She shakes her head gravely.
Max rolls his eyes. “That’s because they’re not with us! They could still be alive. We survived the crash, why couldn’t they?”
“I don’t know Max… it’s just a feeling.”
“Oh really? A feeling? Was it a feeling when you knew the crash was going to happen or did you
know
it was going to happen? Why didn’t you say something before we got on that fucking deathtrap?”
This surprises Noah, and he forgets to pretend that he isn’t listening. Evelyn notices his staring. “What is it?” she asks.
Noah raises his hand and shakes his head, focused on reading Mia’s response to Max’s accusation.
“I told you a hundred times! I didn’t know before we got on the plane. You’re not listening to me!”
“I’ve heard enough!” Max shouts loud enough that everyone around the fire takes notice. He picks himself up quickly and storms away.
Noah starts to rise but is stopped by Evelyn. “Wait!” she says, grasping his arm.
“I’m just going to ask her a few questions,” Noah assures.
“Let me do it. She’s obviously distraught. She might be more willing to talk to me.”
“Alright,” Noah relents. “I’ll go find the boy. But you should know something before you talk to her,” he says quietly.
“Yes, what is it?”
Noah stands and walks away from the group as Evelyn follows. He turns to her and whispers: “Max seems to think that Mia knew the crash was going to happen before it happened.”
“
What?
” her voice is louder than she had intended.
“She didn’t exactly admit to it just now, but she did acknowledge having some sort of idea that it was happening. Whatever it is, something doesn’t add up, Eve.”
Her eyes wander as she tries to understand. “Alright, I’ll see what I can find out.”
They break off, Noah darting toward the crashing tide and Evelyn heading straight for Mia, who is sobbing with her head buried in her hands.
“Mia?” Evelyn comes closer, bending slowly until she is next her. “Are you okay?”
Mia sniffles and breathes heavily, trying to recover. “No. I’m not okay.”
Evelyn nods slowly and then sits more comfortably on the soft cool sand. She buries her hands deep, gathering up handfuls of the white grains and letting them pour out from between her fingers until all of the silicon has been relinquished. She does it again, over and over as she sits patiently, waiting for Mia to break the silence whenever she chooses to do so.
“It’s been an extraordinarily bad day,” Mia says, taking long slow breaths through her nose and exhaling through pursed lips.
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“Max thinks our parents are still alive… but I have this horrible feeling that they are not.” Mia’s voice cracks and she dries her eyes with the sleeve of her black hoodie.
“Do you often rely on your senses?”
The question catches Mia off guard. “Wuh… what do you mean?”
Evelyn smiles. “As a woman, I have occasionally relied on my intuition to shape my thoughts, that’s all I meant by it.”
Mia looks relieved. “Oh right… intuition, um, yeah, I just have this intuition I guess.” She shrugs and looks to the ocean disinterestedly.
Evelyn changes the subject. “You’re American, aren’t you? I’m sorry to say I don’t come across too many Yanks these days. I’m still heartbroken over what happened to your nation.”
“Thank you. Yes... that was the worst day of my life… well, until now,” she says.
“Did you live in the States?”
“Yes, we lived in Pittsford, New York. But we were staying with our grandparents in London when the eruption happened.”
That day,
Evelyn thinks,
oh how I remember that harrowing day.
It was the day after Christmas 2018, yet another holiday without her husband. He’d already been away at war for two years and there was no end in sight. Evelyn had just finished having tea with her sister Grace and her mother, who turned seventy-two that day. Their celebration was ruined the moment they heard the news of a super volcanic eruption in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. They watched in horror from a world away as their sister nation burned to the ground. Within days, the largest volcanic eruption in human history buried most of North America in a sea of ash. With the fallout came the poisoning of the waterways and the clogging of their infrastructure, sending America and its neighbors into chaos and ruin. Mass evacuation eventually came but the efforts fell woefully short, and for most, it was already too late. In just a matter of months, one of the greatest societies of modern civilization was thrown into the dark ages, sending waves of desolation and cooling temperatures around the globe. All told, the eruption and its aftermath claimed over 200 million human lives, while millions of others were left to fend for themselves in the wasteland that remained. This was the worst insult in the years-long onslaught of bad news. With the death of America, the burden of the war fell on the shoulders of England and what remained of the United Front. The eruption ensured that her husband would be indefinitely entrenched in the war and even farther away from home.
To this day, I am convinced the destruction of North America signaled the tipping point for the calamities that have happened since. It was during that terrible time that I also realized how truly alone I was and the horrible feeling — that the end is near.
“Evelyn?” Mia probes, getting no response. “Evelyn?”
Evelyn finally snaps out of it. “Yes dear... I’m so sorry. I was just thinking about that day…. What a horrible day that was.”
Mia nods. “You will get no argument from me. We lost everything: our home, our friends and family, my horse, Bottlerocket. God, I loved that damn horse.”
Mia’s tears begin to fall again. They sit in silence for a long while, reflecting on the personal losses they have endured in the years since.
“Nihilo sanctum estne?” Startled, they realize they have uttered the words in unison.
“Did you just say,
nihilo sanctum estne
?” Evelyn asks in utter astonishment.
“I… did,” Mia admits. Choosing her words carefully, she continues, “I have been saying that phrase for as long as I can remember.”
“As have I,” Evelyn replies slowly. “How odd... how very, very odd.”
*************
Noah walks toward the ocean and looks to the right and then to the left, where he spots Max walking along the shore. He walks quickly and with purpose, his silhouette glowing in the moonlight, his figure alien. Noah sets off after him, jogging at a brisk pace, and as he nears, he calls out, “Max!” The young man stops and looks behind him. “Where are you heading?” Noah asks, slowing his pace to a casual walk.
“Nowhere,” says Max. “I just need to clear my head.”
“I understand. But we need to stick together for when our rescue comes, okay?”
“Yeah, I know. I just… I don’t know.” Max turns and faces the ocean. He bends to the sand and grabs some broken pieces of shell that have washed upon the shore. He sorts them in his hand and, with a flick of his wrist, starts skipping them over the surface of the ocean.
“What’s taking so long, anyway?”
“The rescue? That’s a good question. I don’t have the answer to that.”
“So you don’t know
everything
?” Max asks sarcastically.
This draws a rolling laugh from Noah. “Guilty your honor.” He bows his head slightly, tongue firmly in cheek.
“That’s too bad….” Max’s tone shifts to a more serious pitch. “Then I guess you won’t know the answer to my next question.”
Noah knows the question but asks anyway. “And what would that be?”
“Do you think the passengers in Section One made it, as we did?”
Noah nods. “Yeah, it’s certainly possible that they did. It could also be why our rescue has been delayed.”
Max’s expression immediately brightens. “Yeah… that’s a good point! If the rescue team found them first it could explain why we’re still waiting.” He looks to Noah for reassurance.
“Indeed,” he concurs, feeling disingenuous. But he sees no reason to not give Max hope. The dead air marshal, the sabotaging of the shuttle, the lack of rescue — all of it supports his suspicions about the crash. “Not to pry, but is that what the blowup between you and your sister was about?”
Max stands in silence for a moment before answering. “Yeah, more or less. Our parents were seated in the other section and I want to believe they’re okay, but Mia thinks otherwise.”
“I see... so you’re frustrated with her because she doesn’t share your outlook?”
Max sighs and shakes his head. “Nah, that’s not why. We never share the same opinion… I’ve grown used to that. What I can’t seem to accept is that she’s
always right.
” His voice sounds defeated.
Noah, sensing the hard truth behind Max’s remark, gives him an empathetic nod. They talk at length and eventually head back to the campsite. Mia is sitting where Noah was stationed earlier, and when she sees the two of them, she runs to Max at full speed. They come together in a heartfelt hug filled with tears and apologies, and Noah leaves them to it, as he continues toward the campfire. He doesn’t see Evelyn with the others, but when he peeks inside the tent he finds her taking Jeremy’s temperature.
“Well?”
Evelyn looks at the reading on the ear thermometer and concludes, “So far, so good.” Turning the digital display of the thermometer, Noah sees that it reads thirty-seven degrees.
“That is good news, but I was referring to the girl. Did you learn anything?”
“Oh, that.” She gives an exaggerated shrug. “I’m at my wits end with that one. Clearly there’s something more to her, but what it is I haven’t the foggiest. What about you? Did you find out anything from Max?”
“Only that Mia seems to have a knack for being right all the time.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, they ended up in London instead of Lake Tahoe when the supervolcano erupted because of her.”
“Wait. Rewind. Tell me exactly what Max told you.”
He sticks his head outside of the tent and spots the twins. They have joined the rest, tightly grouped around the fire, huddling for warmth. A few lie in prone positions trying to sleep, but most just sit in silence and wait. Noah crawls inside the tent and sits closer to Evelyn facing her. “Okay, so when I talked to Max, he was upset because Mia felt that their parents had died in the crash,” he whispers. “Not because they had differing opinions on the matter but because she felt that way; and Max, for as long as he can remember, knows that when Mia says things like that, she is always right.
Always,
” he repeats for emphasis.
“Fascinating, go on.”
“So I asked him, what else has she been right about? And he went silent. Eventually, I got him to tell me about the time they were supposed to go to California for their annual ski trip, but Mia had demanded that they go elsewhere and convinced them to visit their grandparents in London. Three days later....”
“The volcano erupted,” Evelyn finishes.
“You knew about that?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes, we talked about that. But she left out that they were supposed to be in the States and that going to London was
her
idea. I just took it as mere coincidence…. Speaking of, do you know what she said during our conversation?”
“I haven’t a clue.”