"No offense intended," Morgan said quietly, backtracking as much as he could, while still saving face. "I’m just frustrated. What I mean is, those people—whoever they are—are a hundred miles north of us and another couple of hundred west. They have their own place to live. They're not going to travel this far south."
"They traveled that far east," said Simon. "They started the fire at Yellowstone."
"We don't know for sure if that was them," said William. "I agree with Morgan. We should head west."
"I think we should go home," said his brother. "I'm tired of this. This isn't what I thought it would be. I don't think it's what any of us thought it would be. We're not finding our roots or discovering the past. What we're doing now, we could just as easily be doing at home."
"Shut up, Harry," said William. "You can't quit because it's a little hard going. We'll make it to the ocean and we'll see the cities. We'll learn our past."
"Really? You think so? You're so stupid. You say you want to see the cities, but look at how we all reacted in Jackson—and that wasn't even a city. We all felt uncomfortable and we couldn't wait to get out of there. And you want to go to a big city?"
"You want to go home?" said William. "Then go. No one is stopping you. Good riddance."
Cat realized that this wasn't a random outburst by the brothers. Harry had probably been complaining to William about the trip for a while. It bubbled to the surface with the argument between Morgan and her.
"Let's calm down," said Zack, trying to assert his leadership, but failing miserably. "We should talk about it."
"Where were you?" asked Morgan. "We just did. Now we need to make a decision. If we head east, we can forget about ever seeing the ocean. If we go west, maybe we'll meet up with the people who killed Clete, but what do we really know about them? We don't know how many there are. How many people does it take to kill one person? There are twelve of us, and some of us are damn good with a gun. There's safety in numbers. That's why we're doing this as a group. I say we go for it."
"I agree," said William.
"Okay," said Zack. Cat could see that he was seething inside at Morgan's verbal attack on him.
Cat looked over at Simon and shrugged.
"Okay," said Simon. "We're in."
From there, the rest of the group agreed to the new plan, except Harry, who was sulking.
"Harry?" asked William, now trying to sound sensitive.
"What the hell? I don't want to go back alone, so I guess I'll come."
After they ate, Cat and Simon took a walk around the lake.
"I see trouble coming between Zack and Morgan," said Simon.
"Zack is losing his position as leader," said Cat. "He's the oldest and it was his idea…"
"…and Morgan is positioning himself to take over," finished Simon. "Not a good situation. You know, we don't have to go with them. We can strike out on our own. I'm sure Wade and Yuki would join us."
"I was thinking of that. Morgan is right about this route. We can't continue on like this. One of our horses will break a leg. So maybe we should go with them for a while. When we feel the time is right, we can break off from the group."
That decision made, they held hands and just listened to the sounds of the animals as they walked.
*****
The next morning they started off toward the hills to the west. Within a few hours, they could already see a marked difference in the ease of travel as they entered more mountainous country. They found a trail. In actuality, it was once a road, evidenced by fallen down mile-markers. Now, like most roads in the country, it was covered with dirt and rocks.
Despite her earlier reservations, Cat was enjoying the new country they were travelling through. In general, the spirit of the group was much higher, with a few exceptions. Zack was no longer in front and had gone silent, resenting the fact that Morgan had, in effect, taken over the reins of leadership. Harry, too, had been quiet, riding in the back of the pack.
Even though Morgan now considered himself the leader, his following was small, basically William, Emma, and Darcy. Cat could tell that Diana and John were on the fence about him, especially as they were close to Zack. Harry, bringing up the rear, couldn't care less who was in charge. Wade and Yuki, like Cat and Simon, weren't willing to consider anyone else the leader. In their minds, they went where they liked.
There was even trouble in Morgan's own camp. Darcy and Morgan had been arguing all morning, and Cat noticed that Emma was now riding closer to Morgan. Simon mentioned it to Cat when they had drifted toward the rear and were alone.
"People have always thought I was a little strange because I avoid groups," Cat answered. "But this is why. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how people relate to one another. With animals, it’s simple."
“But animals don’t have the same emotions as humans. In some ways, you have an animal mind in a human society. It's going to fall apart," he added. "The group, I mean."
"It's going to blow apart, not fall apart. When we agreed to this, I thought there would be safety in numbers, but I think I was wrong. I think we would have been better off just making a trip by ourselves."
"We might be doing that sooner than we thought."
They camped that night among rocks in the shadow of some tall trees. Already, the difference in altitude made for cooler temperatures at night. Although the group was more animated, the undercurrents of tension were also evident, and the group had separated into three distinct segments. Darcy was now sitting with Zack, alone in a secluded corner. Wade and Yuki had joined Cat and Simon, with Harry hovering nearby. The remaining members sat with Morgan, listening to him expound on some subject. Morgan was obviously enjoying his new found position of power.
That night, based on the noise Cat and Simon could hear coming from Morgan's tent, and the fact that Emma's tent was empty, it was clear that the Morgan and Darcy relationship was officially over.
They continued west for several days, eventually reaching the town of Lava Hot Springs. Again, it looked to be a tourist town, with gift shops lining the street and the remains of swimming pools and water parks. Some of the spots had dried up when the earthquake shifted things around, but on the outskirts of the town they found a natural hot spring that had no tourist signs. Whether it was created by the earthquake or had already existed, they couldn't tell, but it gave them a spot to hunker down for a couple of days of rest.
The hot springs were glorious, and they took full advantage of them. When they weren't bathing, they poked around the town, which once again proved disappointing. The earthquake had hit the town hard and there was little to explore.
Zack and Harry went out hunting the first day and came back with a deer and bags of wild mushrooms and other wild plants. They spent three days in Lava Hot Springs, gorging on food and bathing in the springs.
*****
Cat and Simon spent time looking at the map during their three days of respite and had come to the conclusion that they wanted to turn south. They presented it to the group one night.
"We haven't checked out a real city yet," said Cat. "South of us is one called Salt Lake City. Simon and I would like to see it."
"There are cities west of here," said Morgan.
"No, there aren't, not until you reach the coast, and we don't even know where the coast is anymore. Nick and Jason said the coastline has probably changed. It could be a lot further inland than it used to be, and those cities might be gone. If we go down to Salt Lake City, it's probably still there to some degree. Nick and Jason also said that the Great Salt Lake is worth seeing. From there we can decide whether to go west or a little further south."
"Yuki and I agree," said Wade. "We're with you."
"I'll go with you," said Harry, who had begun to hang closer to Cat and Simon.
"I'm in," said Zack. He looked at Darcy by his side. "So is Darcy."
Diana and John looked conflicted, but finally Diana said, "John and I will come."
Morgan
had a decision to make. If he agreed to go south with the group, how would he be seen by his two most loyal friends? John and Diana, who were on the fence to begin with, had made their choice.
"We'll come part of the way, then see how it goes," he said. Then he looked over at Zack, who was smirking, and said, “You gotta problem?”
“Nope.” The smirk remained.
“I’ve had just about enough of you.”
“Then leave.”
Morgan jumped up and attacked Zack, who was sitting on a rock. As Zack rose, Morgan hit him full force with his body. The two went tumbling. Zack jumped to his feet and took a swing at Morgan. But the punch was too slow and Morgan smacked Zack in the face, Zack’s punch ineffectively bouncing off Morgan’s shoulder. Zack went down and was slow to get up.
“Knock it off,” yelled Simon.
Morgan looked at Simon with hatred. “This is between me and him. Stay out of it.”
Zack tackled Morgan as he was talking and they both went down in the dirt, slugging away. It only lasted another few seconds, as Cat, Simon, Wade, John, and William pulled the two apart.
The fight was over. Zack had definitely received the worst of it, and was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Morgan shrugged off the others, got up, and walked away.
“It ends here,” said Cat.
“Go screw yourself,” said Morgan.
“You want to try that again?” warned Simon.
“Seriously, Morgan,” said William. “It ends here.”
Morgan shrugged again and sat on the ground. Darcy was fussing over Zack, while shooting Morgan daggers with her eyes.
Morgan was the clear victor, and Cat wondered what it would do to Zack’s self-esteem. She knew he was done trying to lead. For Morgan, it was a little different. He would continue to try to lead the group, but he also knew that Zack would get a lot of sympathy. Worse though, in his mind, than having Zack leading the group was Cat and Simon. Although they weren’t trying to be in charge, Cat knew that a lot of the group was looking to them for a calm leadership, which was probably infuriating Morgan. He couldn't stand either one of them. But Cat knew he’d keep trying to assert himself. It was just who he was. His term in power didn't last very long the first time, but he'd gain the trust of some of them again. It would just be a matter of time.
They turned south the next morning. Morgan made sure he was leading the way, which didn't matter to Cat. She knew they had made the right decision to turn south. Emma rode with Morgan at the head of the group. Cat couldn’t understand what she saw in Morgan, but she remembered her mother saying once that some women were attracted to “bad boys.” Zack and Darcy were in the rear, far behind the others, talking to each other in low tones.
They traveled through mountainous terrain that would occasionally open up to long valleys. Unlike further north, however, the earthquake damage to the land was minimal, at least in terms of crevasses.
The one thing Cat noticed that she wasn't expecting—at least, according to the maps she had scoured—was that the flat land had become less prairie and more desert. She discussed it with Simon.
"My dad says that when the event happened, the weather changed," said Simon. "What we've seen all our lives is very different from what our parents experienced."
"Yeah, my parents have said the same thing," said Cat.
"I think it's changed the land in a lot of ways."
"So prairie becomes desert," stated Cat.
"In some places. The further south we go, the more real desert we are going to find—desert that has always been there."
They stayed to the hills as much as possible, and a couple of days later hit the outskirts of Salt Lake City.
Chapter 16
It wasn't at all what they had expected. Up until that point, most of the towns they had run across were shells of what they had once been. Collapsed buildings and rampant vegetation made it difficult for them to imagine anyone ever having lived there.
Salt Lake City was different. Most of the buildings that they could see from their vantage point on a highway overpass seemed to be intact. And they were the tallest buildings any of them had ever seen. The highway on which they were standing was littered with vehicles of all shapes and sizes. They had seen a lot of cars on their journey to this point, but nothing like this. It was wall to wall vehicles. Most had long since rusted out and many—like the highway itself—were half covered in sand.
Cat remembered passing close to cities on their move west, as well as when she was kidnapped and taken to Paradise. But she had never seen anything like this.
"Everything is gray," said Simon.
"Do you think maybe it used to have colors and they've just disappeared over the years?" asked Emma.
"I don't think so. We've all seen pictures of cities in school. The buildings were gray even then, but not like this."
"They had life," said Cat. "That's what made the difference."
"Let's go check it out," said Zack. "We should keep our guns handy, just in case."
It took them a lot longer than expected to reach the tall buildings. They passed through what seemed like miles of houses and stores. Some areas were overgrown and some seemed to have very little damage. Some of the outskirts had been hit hard by the earthquake, but the closer they got to the center of the city, the less damage they encountered.
"Are we going through lots of towns, or is this all part of the city?" asked Harry.
No one answered. No one had a clue.
By mid-afternoon they reached the center of the city. Other than the rusted, abandoned cars and the foot-deep layer of sand and salt over everything, it seemed untouched. There were lots of animal prints in the sand—mostly dogs—but no human footprints. They stopped in front of a tall, stark building.
"I want to go to the top," said Cat, peering into the sky and shading her eyes. "I want to see what they used to see."
"I'm with you," said Simon.
Darcy and Harry had no desire to explore the building, so they agreed to guard the horses. The others approached the front of the building. The glass doors and windows were long-since gone, so they walked into what was once the lobby.
"I wonder what it was," said Wade.
"I think it was what they called an office building" answered Simon. "People worked in it."
They found a stairwell and started their way up to the top. Luckily, there were windows at each level, giving them enough light to keep climbing. At each landing they opened the door and peered down the hallway at the office doors. It was dark, but windows in the offices provided some light to see by.
"There must be a thousand rooms," said Yuki. "That means that thousands of people worked here. Hard to imagine. And it's so quiet. I'm trying to get a sense of what it might have been like, but I can't."
"Why would they all want to work in a place like this? What did they do?" asked William.
No one had an answer to the question.
They kept walking. They stopped checking out each floor when they realized they were all the same. Finally they reached the top. The sign read: "47th Floor." They opened the door. This floor was different from the others. It was sunnier, and it was all windows—almost all of which were unbroken. The whole floor was in the shape of a circle.
Unlike the outdoors, there were some skeletons remaining in the building that hadn't disappeared from the ravages of time, their clothes just disintegrating rags. Ignoring the skeletons, they moved as a group over to one of the windows and looked out.
"Wow!
"Unbelievable!"
They were looking over not just the whole city, but the whole valley. They went from one window to the next. From some they could see the mountains, and from others they looked across at a large body of water.
"The ocean?" asked Diana.
"The Great Salt Lake," said Wade. "Kind of like the ocean because it's salt water. And that white area is salt. It's like a desert of salt."
"Someone was paying attention in school,"
said Yuki.
"What's that big building?" asked Cat.
"I think it's some kind of temple," answered Simon.
"Look at all the cars," said Morgan. "How could they get anywhere? It's like they're right on top of each other."
"Funny how I've looked down from mountaintops higher than this, but it looked different," said Cat.
"It's because this is straight up," said Simon. "Also, you've never looked down at a city before."
They stayed at least an hour. Finally, Morgan said, "The sun is beginning to go down and we haven't figured out where we're making camp tonight. It's going to take us a while to get down."
Cat moved away from the window, but as she did, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. She turned back. "I see something," she said.
The others crowded around as she pointed out toward the edge of the city, in the direction from which they had come.
"Looks like smoke."
Zack pulled binoculars from his backpack and zoomed in to the smoke.
"Too far away to get any details, but it looks like it might be a campfire."
"Should we check it out?" asked William.
"It's almost dark," said Morgan. "It would take us a couple of hours to get there even in the day. I say we should leave here and keep riding south as far as we can, then stop once it gets dark."
"I agree," said Cat. "Whoever they are seem to be coming from the same direction we came, and they are just a couple of hours behind us. That doesn't give me a good feeling. The more distance we get between us and them, the better."
It only took them a few minutes to make it down the forty-seven floors. Once down, they quickly filled in Harry and Darcy, then got on their way. Maneuvering the streets took a lot of time and just by luck they found themselves on the highway heading south. Skirting the dead cars was a lot easier than finding their way through the city. When the highway butted up against more mountainous terrain, they got off the road and headed east into the hills. By the time they picked out a campsite, darkness had fallen.
Eden's Legacy (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 3) Page 11
