“What? How?”

“Robin,” she said trying to catch her breath. Michael looked at her, puzzled.

“Robin is the host!” she explained.

“What? Why would the computer do that?” he asked.

“To complete her father’s work.”

“I-I don’t get it.”.

“She’s Heslin’s perfect child. She will never grow old, she will never get sick, and she will never die! The virus will keep her alive!”

“Oh, God!” was all Michael could mutter.

“Will that cryo-canister thingy hold two people?” Lucy asked.

“Yes,” he answered, “But there’s just one small problem.”

“What’s that?”

“You were supposed to come thaw me out when the smoke clears. Kinda hard to do that if you’re frozen next to me.”

“Oh,” Lucy said. “I never thought of that.”

CHAPTER 22 – Cold Storage

Lucy and Michael raced into the lodge and down the cellar stairs. His fingers danced across the computer keys as Lucy stared at the opened canister.

“Is this going to work?” Lucy asked as a small tear trickled down her face.

“It should,” Michael said absentmindedly, his fingers not slowing.

“Should?” she asked incredulously.

“Sorry, wrong word. It will work, Lucy. I just have to make a few adjustments. I don’t know how long it’ll take for that nuclear shit to clear so I can’t program this thing to automatically let us out. We could wake up in the middle of the radiation.”

“So how do we get back out?” Lucy asked him.

Michael stopped typing and turned to face her. “We don’t.”

“We don’t?!” her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Don’t worry,” Michael told her. “That professor guy built this system like a tank: dedicated solar panels, redundant backup systems, you name it. He made sure that come hell or high water, Robin would remain safe until he was ready. We will be perfectly safe in there.”

“But?” Lucy asked.

“But, we stay in there until somebody finds us.”

“That could take forever!” Lucy felt panic racing over her entire body. “We could be in there for years!”

“It’s too late to turn back now, Lucy,” Michael placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. “It’s either cold storage in there and hope for the best, or find some really strong sun block.”

Lucy sighed. Michael pulled her to his chest and hugged her.

“Once the dust settles,” Michael reassured her, “they will come back and search the island for the source of the problem. You said you told a soldier what she is…”

“I don’t think he believed me.”

“He will when the virus starts spreading. They will stop her. Then they will find this place. I programmed it to keep flashing a message on the monitor that we are in there, so they will know to let us out. We’ll be okay, Lucy.”

“ Okay.”

“Good, now take your clothes off.”

“Excuse me?” she blinked in disbelief.

“Your clothes,” Michael repeated, “take them off. Underwear too.”

Lucy stared at him as he started to undress. He paused to look at her.

“Lucy, the process of preserving us is fast and very, very cold. Thawing us out is basically the same thing in reverse, only a bit slower. We cannot be wearing any type of clothing or it will interfere with the whole process. Clothes will damage our skin.”

Lucy started undressing with a silly smirk on her face.

“Something funny?” Michael asked as he watched her undress.

“Really, Michael, the things you will do to see me naked!” she laughed.

Michael started to laugh but was distracted as the last of her clothes fell to the floor.

“Ummm, look on the bright side,” Michael said trying to collect his thoughts. “When women get cold, their nipples stick out. When men get cold, we shrink.”

Lucy smiled then lowered her gaze.

“I see you don’t have a shrinkage problem right at this particular moment.”

Michael looked down at himself and his face immediately flushed a bright red. Lucy crossed over to him and hugged him, pressing her warm, naked body into his.

“It’s Ok, Michael” Lucy reassured him, “if you didn’t get excited, I would be the one embarrassed.” She paused for a moment then added, “I really do love you.” She hugged him so tight.

“I love you too,” Michael said as he returned her hug then led her to the canister.

Lucy curled into his chest and wrapped herself around him as the lid slowly closed.

“Michael, I’m scared,” Lucy started to say as a loud hissing noise drowned her words.

She never finished her sentence.

Michael never answered.

EPILOGUE – 3 Months Later

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Air Australia, my name is Betty. I would like to tell you about some important safety features on board this aircraft, the Boeing 747. In case of an emergency, there are two exits towards the front on either side, two over the wings on either side and two at the rear of the aircraft on either side.

“Each exit has a safety slide that will automatically deploy once the door is open. If the slide does not deploy, please pull the tab down to release it. In the rare event of a loss of cabin pressure, face masks will drop down from the overhead bins. Place the mask over your nose and mouth. Please put your own mask on first, and then help your child. Please be advised your seats are a floatation device and there are child lifejackets available should you need one.

“Please ensure all seats and trays are in their upright position and that your seat belt is properly secured as we prepare for takeoff. Air Australia recommends that you remain seated throughout the flight.

“Please remember that all Air Australia flights are non smoking. We thank you for flying Air Australia and hope you enjoy your flight.”

The massive engines of the 747 fired to life. Passengers fidgeted nervously. None of them had any carry-on luggage for the overhead compartments or personal effects. They did not even wear their own clothing; it was strictly forbidden. Dressed in bright orange jumpsuits they looked more like a group of convicted felons, not the last surviving members of the continent once known as North America.

As the huge bird took flight, its orange-clad passengers silently wondered what their new lives would be like: Where would they live exactly? Where will they work? How will they survive? How many did survive?

The dinging sound that signifies the Captain’s announcement startled them back to reality.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are under way and should arrive in Australia in approximately eighteen hours. We know this has been a trying time for all of you, but please, rest assured, Australia is completely virus free.

“As you are well aware, there was a very long process involved just to get aboard this flight. We needed to be sure that there was no chance of anyone flying to Australia being infected. As most of you know, every continent in the world has been infected due to improper security procedures, and the infection quickly spread until entire continents were lost. It is because of our strict security measures that Australia is the last safe haven in the entire world.

“You can take confidence in the fact that only non-infected people can pass our security checks and get on this plane.

“Australia is plenty hot, but there’s plenty of room. Welcome to your new home.”

As the captain finished his announcement the flight attendants began walking the aisles to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible for the long flight.

One of the attendants smiled warmly as a little girl sang…

“Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea bound coast.”