Beneath THE BLEEDING SKY

Episode7-Evil Harbingers

They found everything in chaos when they returned to the recreation room. Mrs. Tompkin had been ready to give the children their medication when the lights went out. The plunge into darkness had sent Marietta into a frenzy and she had dropped the bottle of tranquilizers all over the floor. She was on her knees, frantically picking up the pills.

"Thank God you're back," cried Mrs. Tompkin.

Patty wailed at the top of her lungs, lurching around on the mat like an off-balance top. Mrs. Tompkin had her arms around Debbie who was screaming and striking out with her arms.

"Pop goes the weasel...pop goes the weasel ... pop goes the weasel!" Buddy bounced on his knees. His eyes were rounded, a grotesque tightness ringed his mouth and his head drooped to one side as if too heavy to hold upright.

Elizabeth threw down the things they had brought from the lounge. She hurried over to Buddy. Davin ignored Marietta's frightened scramble to get away from him and he knelt down beside Patty.

Elizabeth managed to stop the little boy's erratic bouncing and to hold him firmly against her chest. The boy kept on singing like a broken record but his voice grew softer and softer until he finally stopped. She gently pulled down her hands from her ears. He stroked her head the way he had little Patty's. "It's going to be all right, love." An unwavering strength radiated from the depths of his midnight eyes as his gaze bathed her face. "I won't leave until you're safe."

Leave! She clutched his arm. "You can't leave me." His eyes were as dark as cavern pools. "When the time comes, I must go."

"I don't understand...?"

"There isn't time now to explain."

She wanted to protest but explanations would have to wait. Like a satanical force the hurricane was upon them, howling with glee as if mocking their feeble efforts to avoid complete disaster.

"We have to move quickly," he said. "Help me move the Ping-Pong tables."

She didn't question his order but did as he directed. She'd always prided herself on taking charge when a situation required it, yet she was grateful to relinquish the reins to someone else. There was nothing in her experience that she could draw on at a time like this.

Hurriedly they moved the large game tables across the room and placed them over the mat where the children, Mrs. Tompkin and Marietta were huddled. The tables made a roof over their heads.

"Stay in a safe place," the announcer on the portable radio repeated over and over again. But what if your safe place wasn't safe any longer? What if this room flooded? What then? Climb up on the furniture to keep from drowning? They'd have to forgo the protection of the table above them. Then they would be vulnerable to falling boards and mortar. The children could be buried in the falling debris.Elizabeth couldn't see the faces of Mrs. Tompkin and Marietta but their fear radiated toward her as they huddled with the children under the Ping-Pong tables. Tears of fear swelled behind Elizabeth's eyes as the fury of the storm rose with deafening crescendo.

"We'll move that other table out into the center of the room," Davin said pointing to a long table with sturdy legs that held a variety of sports equipment.

"And you can get under it."

"What about you?"

"I want to secure the room as best I can. The full force of the storm is only minutes away. If the room starts taking in water, we'll have to be prepared to get off the floor."

Elizabeth watched him with a chill that was bone-deep as he started piling up exercise equipment, chairs and tables. She realized he was attempting to make a kind of platform that was several feet off the ground. With horror she pictured all of them huddled together on the small precarious structure while rushing waters swirled below and sent the whole platform crashing down.

Marietta scurried out from under the table to get things that Mrs. Tompkin wanted. She gave Davin a wide berth, keeping a fearful eye on him as she gathered some objects from the kitchen counter. When he came close to her she cowered away from him like a frightened child.

Davin looked grim as he said something to her. Eliz-abeth couldn't hear the words but whatever he said didn't lessen the fear coating her face. She dived back under the table as if fleeing from the devil himself.

"We better take the children to the bathroom," said Mrs. Tompkin as she climbed out from under the Ping-Pong table. She disappeared into the adjoining rest room with the two little girls while Marietta waited with Buddy.

When Mrs. Tompkin came back, she said, "I was ready to give them a sedative when the lights went out," the nurse said. "We'd better get them settled for the long night. God help us all," she breathed as the sound of breaking glass rose above the clamor of the wind.

Davin put his arm around Elizabeth's shoulders. She allowed herself to relax against his protective strength. It was going to be all right, she told herself. She looked at the makeshift platform Davin had built and prayed they'd never have to use it.

"The generator could go out at any minute," he warned. She nodded. No telling when they would be plunged into darkness again.

"Time is running out," he said with an emphasis that seemed to put a double meaning to his words.

Her heartbeat quickened. Was he warning her that he was about to leave? "No," she protested, clutching him.

"We'd better get everyone settled in...including you, love."

"Please don't-"

At that instant the covering on an air duct burst free from the wall. As the mesh frame sailed across the room, a wave of sea gulls poured into the room."Oh, my God," gasped Mrs. Tompkin.

Elizabeth threw her hands up over her face as the birds dived with open beaks and curled claws.

Marietta shrieked hysterically. "Evil spirits...evil spirits." She crossed herself and fell to her knees.

Wings thrashed the air. Live birds crashed into the walls. Their screeching cries filled the room. Dead gulls fell heavily to the floor.

The birds, like evil harbingers, were everywhere.