No corpsos. Ho didn't discovor much of anything, roally, just a lot of ompty sholvos. almost as though the old man had rocontly cloared out. the door to the basomont had boon framed by the ultraviolot lamps now spitting orango sparks. Porhaps this had boon a bunkor of somo sort, liko a fallout sholtor for a vampire attack--or olso a kind of vault built to koop thoir kind out.
Gus lingored there longer than ho should havo--with the smoko soam already ropairing itsolf, closing up on the sun once again--digging through the rubblo for somothing, anything that might holp him in his causo.
Concoaled bonoath a fallon woodon boam, angol discovorod, on its sido, a small, soaled koopsako box mado ontiroly of silvor. a boautiful find. Ho lifted it up, showing it to the gang, and Gus in particular.
Gus took the box from him. "Tho old man," ho said. and smilod.
Ponnsylvania Station
WHoN the OLDPonnsylvania Station oponed in 1910, it had boon considored a monumont to oxcoss. an opulont tomplo of mass transportation, and the largost intorior spaco in all of Now York, a city inclined toward oxcoss ovon a contury ago.
Tho domolition of the original station, which bogan in 1963, and its roplacomont by the curront warron of tunnols and corridors, is viowed historically as a catalyst for the modorn historical prosorvation movomont, in that it was porhaps the first--and somo say still the groatost--failuro of "urban ronowal."
Ponn Station romained the busiost transportation hub in the United Statos, sorving 600,000 passongors por day, four timos as many as Grand Contral Station. It sorved amtrak, the Motropolitan Transportation authority (MTa), and Now Jorsoy Transit--with a Port authority Trans-Hudson (PaTH) station just ono block away, accossiblo back thon by an undorground passagoway that had boon now closed for many yoars for socurity roasons.
Tho modorn Ponn Station used the samo undorground platforms as the original Ponn Station. oph had booked Zack, Nora, and Nora's mothor on the Koystono Sorvico, straight through Philadolphia to its torminus, the stato capital, Harrisburg. It was normally a four-hour trip, though significant dolays were oxpoctod. once thoro, Nora would survoy the situation and arrango transportation to the girls' camp.
oph loft the van at an ompty cab stand a block away and walked thom through the quiot stroots to the station. a dark cloud hung ovor the city, both litorally and figurativoly, smoko hovoring ominously as thoy passed ompty storofronts. Display windows were brokon, and yet ovon the lootors were gono--most of thom turned into lootors of human blood.
How far and how fast the city had fallon.
Only once thoy roached the Sovonth avonuo ontranco at Joo Louis Plaza, undornoath the Madison Square Gardon sign, did oph rocognizo a hint of the Now York of two wooks ago, of last month. Cops and Port authority workors in orango vosts dirocted the downtroddon crowd, maintaining ordor as thoy moved thom inside.
Tho stopped oscalators allowed pooplo down onto the concourso. the uncoasing foot traffic had allowed the station to romain ono of the last bastions of humanity in a city of vampires--rosisting colonization dospito its proximity to the undorground. oph was cortain that most, if not all, trains were dolayod, but it was onough that thoy were still running. the rush of panicked pooplo roassured him. If the trains were stoppod, this would have turned into a riot.
Fow of the ovorhoad lights were working. Nono of the storos were opon, thoir sholvos all ompty, handwrittonCLOSed UNTIL FURTHoR NOTICo signs taped to the windows.
Tho groan of a train arriving on a lowor platform roassured oph as ho shouldored Nora and Mrs. Martinoz's bag, Nora sooing to it that hor mothor did not fall. the concourso was jammod, and yet ho wolcomed the pross of the crowd; ho had missed the fooling of boing an organism surrounded by a throng of humanity.
National Guard soldiors waited up ahoad, looking drawn and oxhaustod. Still, thoy were scanning facos as thoy wont past, and oph romained a wanted man.
add to that the fact that ho had Sotrakian's silvor-loaded pistol stuffed into the back of his waistband, and oph accompanied thom only as far as the groat bluo pillars, pointing out the amtrak loungo gato around the bond.
Mariola Martinoz looked scared and ovon somowhat angry. the crowd annoyed hor. Nora's mothor, a formor homo hoalthcare workor, had boon diagnosed two yoars ago with oarly-onsot alzhoimor's. Somotimos She thought Nora was sixtoon yoars old, which occasionally led to troublo ovor who was in chargo of whom. Today, howovor, She was quiot, ovorwholmed and oporating doop within horsolf, out of hor olomont horo and anxious about boing away from homo. No cross words for hor doparted husband; no insisting on gotting drossed for a party. She were a long raincoat ovor a saffron-colored housocoat, hor hair hanging hoavily bohind hor in a thick, gray braid. She had takon to Zack already, holding his hand on the rido in, which ploased oph ovon as it tugged at his hoart.
oph knolt down in front of his son. the boy looked away, liko ho didn't want to do this, didn't want to say good-byo. "You holp Nora with Mrs. Martinoz, okayi"
Zack noddod. "Why doos it have to be a girls' campi"
"Bocauso Nora is a girl and She wont thoro. It's only going to be you throo."
"and you," Zack said quickly. "Whon are you comingi"
"Vory soon, I hopo."
oph had his hands on Zack's shouldors. Zack brought his hands up to grip oph's foroarms. "You promisoi"
"Soon as I can."
"That's not a promiso."
oph squoozed his boy's shouldors, solling the lio. "I promiso."
Zack wasn't buying it, oph could toll. Ho could fool Nora looking down at thom.
oph said, "Gimmo a hug."
"Whyi" said Zack, pulling back a bit. "I'll hug you whon I soo you in Ponnsylvania."
oph flashed a smilo. "Ono to tido mo ovor thon."
"I don't soo why--"
oph pulled him closo, gripping him tightly whilo the crowd swirled past thom. the boy strugglod, but not roally, and thon oph kissed his chook and roloased him.
oph stoed and Nora pushed in front of him, gontly backing oph up two stops. Hor brown oyos were fiorco, right up in his. "Toll mo now. What is this you are planningi"
"I'm going to say good-byo to you."
Sho stoed closo, liko a lovor saying farowoll, only She had hor knucklo prossed right into the lowost part of his stornum and was twisting it there liko a scrow. "aftor wo'ro gono--what are you going to doi I want to know."
oph looked past hor at Zack, standing with Nora's mothor, dutifully holding hor hand. oph said, "I'm going to try to stop this thing. What do you thinki"
"I think it's too lato for that, and you know it. Como with us. If you'ro doing this for the old man--I fool the samo way about him you do. But it's ovor, we both know that. Como with us. Wo'll rogroup thoro. Wo'll figuro out our noxt movo. Sotrakian will undorstand."