The Changing Earth Series (Book 4): Battle for the South

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  The city was already being frantically evacuated as the water threatened every escape route. Pretty soon the hurricane would be upon them and the rescue teams would have to be clear by then, otherwise they would risk getting trapped themselves. People walked down the streets, headed out on foot. They welcomed the caravans when they arrived. Erika watched trains with endless amounts of rail cars full of people pass by. The steam engines were pumping at full speed. The people headed to the caravan were met with open arms and given food and shelter immediately. The buses had parked in a formation that made a series of protective circles.

  Erika stood like a deer in the headlights, consumed with the amount of humanity and understanding that was being spread around the rescue effort.

  “The hospital is two miles down this road.” Juan declared crisply in his Mexican accent. “We need to get the remaining patients and get back to these buses as quickly as possible.”

  The rain poured down in bucket loads as they headed toward the hospital. Lights flickered as the power poles swayed. The roads filled with more water as they continued to trudge on. Glass sparkled through the air as debris, torn from buildings, hurled past them and shattered windows.

  “This is fucking crazy, Erika.” Vince’s voice cracked with the rush of adrenaline.

  Erika looked wild-eyed at him and nodded but had no idea how to respond. Chaos was going to rip this city to shreds. How will we ever get them out in time? she wondered to herself.

  As they approached the hospital, they were in shock. Patients struggling to save themselves were scampering out the door. Juan and the rescuers rounded them up into the lobby, so they could go get the patients that couldn’t help themselves. That way they could move as a group to the caravan.

  The indoors was hardly a reprieve from the fierce storm that always seemed to grow more intense. The building itself moaned under the stress of the wind. The shattering windows let the rain in and carried shards of sparkling glass though the air. They continued on through the halls of the hospital, opening doors and carrying people back to the lobby on stretchers.

  It was finally Vince and Erika’s turn to load their stretcher. The occupant was a man who had a degenerative muscular disease.

  “Just leave me,” he cried. “Save the others.”

  “Sorry, sir, we were told to get you out and that’s what we are going to do,” Vince replied.

  The weight of the stretcher was exhausting as they made their way down the hall. The building was no shelter from the wind now as it blasted through the broken windows. They passed Juan, who was doing a final sweep of every room and marking it so that no one else would search it. The lobby hummed with voices as Vince and Erika entered it with the man on the stretcher. People screamed as glass broke and debris flew in the open windows.

  “Grab whatever you can to shield yourselves,” Erika ordered, noticing the lack of direction.

  Vince grabbed a piece of plexiglass that had become dislodged from the reception desk and shielded the head of the man who was on the stretcher.

  “We have to move, Erika. What’s taking Juan so long?” he wondered out loud.

  Erika was sensing the same thing. “I’ll go back for him,” she blurted out. She turned to run down the hall, but Vince jerked her arm.

  “No, I will,” he commanded. “You’re better with people,” he yelled back as he sprinted down the hall toward the stairs.

  Chapter 11

  In the middle of the crowd but completely alone, Erika stood. Her eyes were met with scared, sick, and hurt faces. The able-bodied volunteers hovered over them, but Erika knew there were not enough. Feeling an overwhelming sense of urgency, Erika jumped up onto the counter.

  “Let’s get organized to move out, people,” she commanded.

  Confused faces looked to her with questioning eyes.

  “If we’re going to get safely back to the buses, we need a plan,” she commanded, now that she had their attention. Adrenaline surged through her veins. She was scared to take on responsibility for these people, but the urge to be a part of the solution overruled her logic. If no one else was going to take charge, she was.

  “What’s the plan?” a burly-looking man in camouflage fatigues asked. His rifle was slung, and he was supporting two limping individuals.

  “Let’s get everyone who can move at all under their own capacity in a group over toward the left and get them moving out toward the buses with two volunteers,” Erika yelled over the wind. “Anyone who needs to be carried, let’s put over in the corner on the right,” Erika jumped down to assist with the effort.

  “The name’s Kyle,” the man who had engaged with her from the crowd announced as he approached her.

  “Nice to meet you, Kyle” Erika declared. “Want to give me a hand here?”

  He stared at her in awe for a moment.

  “Yeah, sure,” he finally responded.

  Under the weight of the stretcher they negotiated the shuffling people.

  “I can’t believe I’m helping Erika Moore move a stretcher,” he blurted out, but Erika couldn’t understand him over the noise of the crowd.

  “What?” she wondered.

  “I can’t believe I’m helping Erika Moore move a stretcher!” he yelled in her face, so she could hear.

  “It’s real great,” Erika replied, staggering a little from the blast of noise in her face.

  “Oh, sorry,” Kyle responded, seeing her reaction to his overzealousness.

  Erika chuckled at the young man’s actions.

  “I’m flesh and blood, same as you, Kyle,” Erika yelled back, brushing off the man’s adoration.

  “Ma’am.” Another volunteer approached Erika. “We have all the folks who can move themselves assembled. Bobby and I are gonna walk with them. Does that work for you, Mrs. Moore?”

  “Sounds good, see you guys in a bit,” Erika responded.

  Erika couldn’t take her eyes off the hallway and kept glancing that way, eager for Vince to return.

  “Mrs. Moore,” Kyle said, drawing her attention. “I’s talking with Darlene and she says no way we can take all these people at once.”

  “I know,” Erika retorted, looking back down the hallway.

  “Then what are we going to do?” he wondered.

  “We’ll take half now and come back for the other half. We’ll tuck them up against those walls and shield them. It’s all we can do,” she directed.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said without question.

  He turned and relayed the information to a lady Erika assumed was Darlene. Before she knew it, everyone was in motion, determining who would stay and who would go.

  Erika’s eyes met the white of the empty hallway again. She sighed heavily. When suddenly, Vince burst through the doorway from the stairs. Juan was slung over his shoulder. Erika sprinted down the hallway. She went to help bear the weight of the injured man but hesitated. Juan’s back was gashed diagonally through his waist.

  “Oh my God, Vince. What happened?” Erika asked in horror.

  “A piece of sheet metal. I had to pull it out to move him,” Vince huffed.

  “Why didn’t you put him on a stretcher?” Erika wondered absentmindedly, thrown off by all the blood.

  “Couldn’t find one. Couldn’t carry it alone,” he responded, gasping for air.

  “Kyle!” Erika screamed down the hallway.

  His head appeared from around the corner.

  “Bring a stretcher!” Erika commanded.

  Kyle was down the hall in a flash, carrying a bright yellow plastic stretcher. He and Erika helped Vince carefully lower a passed-out Juan onto it. Kyle and Vince carried the stretcher to the lobby.

  “Erika, Kyle and I will double-time it back to the buses and meet you there. I don’t know how long Juan can hold on,” Vince told her as he and Kyle trotted out the door.

  “I love you, be careful,” she exclaimed.

  A few seconds later, Erika was headed out the door with another patient. The stretcher w
as being torn from her hands in the relentless wind.

  “You okay?” she questioned the lanky boy on the other end.

  “I’ve got this,” he responded confidently above the ripping wind.

  Rain flew at them from every direction and stung Erika’s eyes as she tried to look up the street to see Vince.

  “Watch out!” Erika yelled as a piece of wood came flying at their group.

  One of the volunteers had fashioned himself a nice shield from a piece of a metal rolling table and he protected the group with a well-placed block.

  They continued on slowly, the wind pressing them and the rain pelting them. Finally, they saw the buses. To Erika’s relief people ran out to help. The eye of the storm was heading their way and it was time to go.

  The city had been surrounded by volunteers ready to help and all that could be done, was. The city had been cut in half by the floodwaters after the Great Quake and had stood for twelve long years after that, thanks to Texas ingenuity, but this storm would be the last straw. There was no holding back the water now.

  “What about the people we left behind?” Erika queried but no one had an answer. “Who’s in charge here?” Erika wondered.

  “Ted Ferguson is Juan’s boss and he runs the Southern Region,” Kyle told her.

  “Where is he?” Erika was infuriated.

  Kyle pointed toward the lead bus and Erika stormed off.

  “Excuse me, miss,” a man was saying to her as she approached the bus.

  “Where is Ted Ferguson?” Erika demanded loudly.

  “He’s in the bus but maybe I can help you,” the man said calmly, placing himself between her and the bus.

  “You can,” she admitted loudly. “You can come back with me into the city to get the people we had to leave behind at the hospital.”

  “Hold on just a second…” he started to say but was interrupted as a short, gray-haired man stepped into the doorway of the bus.

  “We left people behind?” the man questioned, concerned.

  “Yes, at the hospital,” Erika explained.

  Erika could tell from the relief in his eyes that he had already made the decision to leave those people there.

  “Oh yes, the ones at the hospital?” he responded.

  “We can’t just leave them there,” Erika declared.

  “The storm’s too close, darlin’. We can’t risk able-bodied people for them. Look what happened to Juan already,” Ted retorted.

  Oh no, he did not just call me darlin’, Erika thought.

  “I’ll do it,” Erika blurted out.

  “By yourself? I don’t think so,” Ted said, turning to leave the doorway.

  “If I can get the twenty volunteers I need, will you leave a bus for us?” Erika asked before he left.

  He studied her for a moment and declared, “Darlin’, if you can get the volunteers to go with you, I’ll leave the bus. What the hell, it’s still a free state, right?”

  Erika sprinted back to the group she had left. They had loaded all the stretchers and were starting to disband. Vince watched her coming back like she had the strength of a thousand men with her. He was curious what her next move would be.

  “Hold on a second,” she yelled to the volunteers. “We can’t leave now. We can’t leave those people behind!”

  A crowd had started to form around her now. Vince was amused. He loved his little powerhouse.

  “We’ve all left people behind before, and each time it breaks your heart more and more. We are free people. Free to determine our own paths. Free to choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing. And the right thing to do is go save those people!” Erika’s voice echoed through the rain.

  Vince saw the man that must be in charge looking on from the back of his bus. The crowd cheered for her, and in the end, she had double the number of volunteers she needed and the use of two buses to get everyone back safely. They headed back into the storm as the water increased in the streets.

  Chapter 12

  MSgt Bennet was more than happy to watch Old Austin fading away in the rear-view mirror. The dust flew up behind him, fading the small town even faster. His mind drifted with the small fragments of dirt filling the air.

  He was glad his parents were in the free zone but knew he could not visit. He had chosen a life with the military over family a long time ago. He wondered why he had not gone to them after The Great Quake, but the Federal Forces needed help and he thought his place was there.

  He shook his head at himself in the rear-view mirror. He hadn’t shaved in days and his normal mustache was hidden in the shadow of a full beard. How had he been so stupid, he thought to himself. He should have seen the writing on the wall. Before the Great Quake there was already a call to exchange freedom for socialism. He should have known this would be the perfect opportunity. He should have protested when the Constitution was thrown out and he helped to imprison innocent people because they had lost their home.

  The guilt he felt inside had led him to Erika. She had pulled him out of a loyal stupor as he attempted to pull her into the order. She had made him listen and think for himself again. Another wave of guilt blasted through him. I should have talked to her. She trusted me, he scolded himself.

  “Are we going to stop for gas, sir?” Corporal Smith questioned.

  “Of course,” Bennet snapped, trying to make it seem like he was conscious of the gas light that had come up on the dash and the Federal gassing station up ahead.

  As they pulled up to the pump a young private approached the vehicle. “Papers and orders,” he requested.

  The master sergeant handed him the documents and after looking at them the young private snapped to attention and saluted the master sergeant.

  “Welcome, Master Sergeant, sir,” the young man declared.

  “At ease, Private,” Bennet replied. “Fill her up.”

  The men got out of the jeep to use the facilities and change back into their uniforms while the private went to fill the vehicle and wash the windows.

  “Did a bus headed for Dallas already come through here?” Bennet asked.

  “Yes sir,” the private responded. “Private First-Class Moore and Corporal McClintock got off the bus. Couple of great guys.” He chuckled to himself.

  “Where did they go?” Bennet asked, full of concern.

  “They boarded with a private citizen. They said their mission was critical and the bus was too slow,” the private informed him.

  “Let’s go, boys,” Bennet snapped, distraught by this change of plans.

  He had figured on arriving well ahead of Dexter and Johnny and having the trap all set before they got there. All the boys would have to do is play their role. Now they would know the lay of the land first.

  Once Smith and Shaver were back in the jeep MSgt Bennet put the pedal to the metal and an hour later they were arriving in Dallas.

  The city of Dallas had received its own share of devastation but had been rebuilt into the southern jewel of the New United States. It gleamed gorgeously in the sun. Windmills turned like giant pinwheels, producing power rapidly. The city had its own gates and the master sergeant barely stopped before he was let through. A Federal Forces major slowed his vehicle on the other side.

  “Please come with me, Master Sergeant,” the major requested.

  Curious about his request, the master sergeant parked the vehicle and followed the major into his tiny office.

  “Major Reese Jarvis,” the major announced, extending his hand.

  “MSgt Patrick Bennet,” Bennet responded, shaking his hand.

  “Yes, I know who you are,” the major replied cockily. “Still hunting that refugee scum?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. What are you referring to?” Bennet replied coolly.

  “Erika and Vince Moore…You’re still hunting them, aren’t you?” the major questioned directly. “There’s no need for secrecy. The Federal Forces have been alerted to her treachery. We are all in this together.”

  Oh shit,
Bennet thought. He hadn’t been in communication with Major Virgis for days.

  Bennet’s hesitation amused the major.

  “You mercs are an audacious bunch. Thinking you could pull off their recapture without the aid of the Federal Forces, but don’t worry, you will have the assistance of all the forces in Dallas. If she makes it that far, which I doubt,” the major concluded arrogantly.

  Bennet decided to play along, “That will certainly make my job much easier. Thank you, sir.”

  “Your job will be really easy because there is no way she will get into my city. I have it locked down tighter than Fort Knox,” the major boasted.

  “I bet you’re right,” Bennet jested with him. “But just in case, I would like to set a trap where Nancy Fisher used to be employed.”

  “You know she’s not in the city any longer?’ the major questioned.

  “Of course, but Erika doesn’t, and she’ll be headed there,” Bennet informed him.

  The major nodded. “I’ll have a squad meet you at the textile factory.”

  “Very good. Thank you, sir,” Bennet responded.

  His head swirled. If the feds capture them, they’ll be dead for sure, he panicked, but showed no outward sign. The major led him back to his jeep.

  “Good luck,” the major responded as he closed the jeep door.

  “Major?” Bennet caught his attention before he left.

  “Yes, Master Sergeant?” he replied.

  “Did you see a private first class and a corporal come through here today?” Bennet wondered.

  “No, can’t say that I have. They are not in Dallas. Nothing gets through my gates without strict documentation.”

  Bennet chuckled at the man’s arrogance as he drove the jeep into the city. The streets gleamed with a dust-free shine and people toiled in neighborhood gardens. He watched the simplicity of life going on before his eyes and wondered why he had never been content with a life like that.

  As he pulled up to the textile plant, Dex and Johnny were waiting for him outside. He wondered where Dexter had sent Trucker away to, but he could tell the young man was infuriated. Dexter’s face was in Bennet’s as soon as the jeep came to a halt.