| |
HUMBERTO HAD ALREADY formulated an idea similar to Melissa’s, except he had gone several steps further as he paced in his motel room approximately 25 miles from Danny and Maggie’s house. Humberto was definitely outside his comfort zone, but if the end of the world was nigh, and he could prevent it or at least make it not so nigh, he would have to tolerate the awfulness of the outdoors. He had prepared his motel room to his acceptable standards and was now looking at his checklist. Changed sheets, check. New clean drinking glasses from home check. His own soap, shampoo, and conditioner, check, check and check. Of course last but not least, his own towels. Check. Now, how to contact them. Phone? No, that’s no good, phones are traceable. Same with the internet. Best do it in person. That means going outside. Outside in New Mexico. Maybe I should have decompressed myself by driving through the Midwest first. Corn flakes, wait, that’s cereal. Corn dust, or whatever corn does, then desert sand. Calm yourself, Humberto, you can do this, you are the head of a well-trained government team. Of course we train inside, with computers, but still, there is training involved. Get a grip on yourself. Get into your vehicle, head on out, and make contact with the people who will hopefully change the world for the better. With that Humberto grabbed his laptop and strode out of the Holiday Inn Express, and with a purposeful stance bleeped his key fob at his rented, silver, Chevy Spark. Careful reversing out of the parking lot and checking both ways to merge onto the expressway, Humberto drove into history, but not over the speed limit.