The Changing Earth Series (Book 3): The Walls of Freedom

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  “Seriously?” Erika couldn’t believe someone would be desperate enough to eat fish out of that.

  “It’s a slow death, ma’am. Not to pretty to watch. Plus, I ain’t never seen a girl as perdy as y’all’s daughter and y’all seem like nice folks. Excepting the fact y’all killed my buddies. Not that we didn’t have it coming, way we was behaving.” He seemed to be talking himself in circles now. “Anyways, that’s why I got all this iodide and my buddies had all that iodide. It ain’t for water purifying, it’s to keep the nuclear sickness away.”

  “Well, thanks, Clint,” Erika said, watching Vince enter the firelight of the camp.

  “Thanks for what?” Vince said as he walked up to the tree.

  “Clint says a nuclear reactor erupted down in So Cal and the radiation leaks up this way are making people sick.” Erika explained their conversation.

  “You know he’s lying, baby. That reactor hadn’t been in action for years before the quake,” Vince countered confidently, glaring at Clint.

  “You’re right, mister, but they’s storing the rods there and they exploded into the ocean,” Clint tried to convince him.

  “He may be right, baby. We did find a lot of iodide tablets on those dead guys.” Vince had to consider the possibilities.

  “When I was working in the kitchens in Vegas we had to include a secret seasoning into the food that was distributed. I wonder if the seasoning had iodide in it to protect us?” Erika pondered.

  “Maybe. That ocean was freaking foul,” Vince agreed.

  “He says it is a slow sickness and we may not feel the effects for a while. But...” Erika was lost in thought.

  “But what?” Vince wanted her to continue her thoughts out loud.

  “But Daniel is so small. He may get sick a lot faster.” Erika’s voice was full of concern.

  “So Clint, what’s up with the potassium iodide? How much do we take?” Vince wondered.

  “Lady told me take one o’ these a day, but I ain’t no medicine man. I just do what the lady tells me,” Clint replied, stumbling over his words.

  “What lady?” Erika queried.

  “Oh man, I’m sorry. I said too much. I’s supposed to keep my stupid mouth shut about her,” Clint said suddenly like he had let them in on some big secret.

  “What lady, Clint?” Vince commanded, stepping up in front of the young man bound to the tree.

  “I ain’t supposed to say, mister. You got to believe I would if’n I could but...” Clint was stuck now.

  “What lady, Clint?” Vince punched him across the face and blood filled Clint’s mouth.

  “Oh come on, mister’!” He spit out a mouthful of blood. “Okay...look, dis lady, she lives in a badlands town. There are not too many peoples left but she says she won’t leave, and the soldiers leave her alone because they get good loving there...if you know what I mean,” Clint admitted.

  “What town?” Vince demanded again.

  “I think it used to be called Reno back in the day. Lots of casinos and what-not, but now it’s just called a wasteland, like the rest of the West.

  “Really,” Erika said excitedly, “it’s still there?”

  “I guess so if’n y’all consider it that,” Clint said, still spitting out blood.

  “Why aren’t you there, then?” Vince wondered, unsure if he should trust this bumbling idiot.

  “Like I said, it’s a wasteland. Most everything has been pilfered there. Nothing left, really. Rather take my chances out here than sit there and wait for the soldiers to come and do a search for refugees to fill the camps.” Clint was an honest man, and Vince was beginning to see he was too simple for tall tales to save his hide.

  “What are we gonna do about this, baby?” Erika urged him, “How much should we give Daniel?”

  “Well, he’s about half as big as Clint, so I say we give him a half pill a day until we get to the medicine lady in Reno. Everyone is okay now, so if we just head there and keep taking these pills we found, we should be alright.” Vince really didn’t know but he wanted to protect his family and it seemed like a logical conclusion.

  “That’s just what I was thinking. We’ll all just take one and give Daniel half.” She paused. “But how do we know those pills are really what he says? Maybe he’s just trying to trick us into poisoning ourselves.”

  “I’ll tell you how, baby.” Vince suddenly reached into a bag of the things they had pilfered off the dead guys. Erika heard the rattle of pills inside a plastic bottle as Vince grabbed the bottle marked Iodide. Strolling quickly across the camp, he removed one of the pills. “Open your mouth,” he commanded Clint. He shoved one of the pills down Clint’s throat.

  “Thanks, mister, hadn’t had my dose yet today.” Clint was not fearful but actually looked relieved that Vince had given him the pill.

  Chapter 4

  Star and Dexter awoke from their slumber in a few hours. Erika chuckled to herself at their perfect timing. A delicious smell filled the air as the rabbit finished roasting on the spit. The savory spices of the sage and onion had seasoned the meat nicely, but it was dry and crispy as Erika tried to rip her teeth through it. No one seemed to care, though; they savored the flavor. Clint looked on from his tree. His mouth watered as he watched the discarded bones get thrown into the stew pot so that any scraps of meat left on the bones could be salvaged for later.

  Erika and Vince grabbed a couple more slices of the rabbit meat and the rifles and headed off to go on the first half of night watch.

  They climbed over huge, gray boulders to reach the ridgeline that overlooked their camp and the surrounding area. Erika soaked in the smell of pines and oaks. She was so at peace back in the woodlands, but at the same time so unsure. It had been a lifetime ago since they had been free people. Free to go where they wanted, when they wanted, but were they truly free now, she wondered. Now they were fugitives. This brought an inherent sense of fear. Fear of being caught and fear of having contact with others.

  Erika and Vince looked down on the tiny fire below. Vince put his arm around her and they felt safe, for the moment, wrapped in the warmth of their love.

  “What are we going to do with that guy, Vince?” Erika questioned him, wondering what was on Vince’s mind.

  “We have to kill him and leave him with his buddies,” Vince replied coolly.

  “What?” Erika hadn’t expected that response. “He doesn’t seem so bad.”

  “Not so bad? Woman, listen to yourself,” Vince looked at her sternly. “Did you forget that just a few hours ago he was ready to rape you and your daughter? And what do you think he would have done to your son? What about after he had his way with you? Do you think he would have just sent you on your way with a handshake and a smile? Wake up, Erika. We’re back in the wild. Kill or be killed, remember?”

  Erika knew he was right and knew if she was standing there with Sergeant Bennet, he would have said the same thing. She didn’t know what to say. The images of all the men and women she had killed still haunted her. It had been an extremely difficult thing for her to come to terms with, but she had done it. She had taken the lives of those that would have taken hers or her families’. She had killed thieves for their actions; memories fade but their faces flashing through her brain never did.

  “Vince, I know...I just...” Erika was going to make a plea for the man’s life.

  “You just what? Erika,” Vince was irritated. “Nobody threatens my family and nobody touches my wife! You’re all I have left in the world,” His anger had turned to tears and he cried. He cried for his family he hadn’t talked to since the quake and he cried for his friends who were left behind at the Las Vegas Refugee camp.

  Erika held him while he purged the suppressed emotions. Everyone needed time to morn for those left behind and Vince had been putting it off for far too long.

  “We’ll find them, baby,” she consoled him, trying to strengthen his inner being.

  “How do you know?” Vince pouted in doubt.

&n
bsp; “I don’t know but I have faith. Alex said they were out there, looking for us. Sergeant Bennet got us out of that refugee camp to ensure we could find them and we will,” Erika assured him confidently.

  “You’re right.” Vince straightened up and wiped away his tears. “But we still have to kill that guy.”

  “I know you’ll do what’s right, Vince. I will stand behind you whatever you decide.” Erika supported him.

  They stayed on watch for a few more hours in silence. Each dwelling on their own thoughts and listening for noises of intruders. Erika heard a screech owl in the distance and saw it flash through the moonlight, wings spread widely, as it swooped on its prey.

  Halfway through the night Dexter and Star trudged up the hill and told their parents to go get some rest. Vince and Erika entered the tarps and found Daniel asleep in a nest of blankets and Clint’s head drooping as he slept against the tree. The couple followed suit and snuggled up with their young son in the blankets.

  They spent one more day at this camp just resting and getting ready to continue on. During the afternoon the next day Dex and Star went scouting to see which path was best while Erika and Vince picked Clint’s brain for all the information they could gather about this new geography they were entering. He was more than happy to share because he thought it might save his life.

  Fear gripped Erika tightly when Star and Dex came hastily back into camp, huffing and puffing.

  Star caught her breath first, “They’re two ridges away.”

  “Who?” Clint wondered, but his voice was drowned out by the chatter of the family.

  “Oh my God!” Erika replied anxiously. “Why did they come this way and not go south?”

  “They must know we are going after my parents and not your mom,” Vince replied. “Pack it up, now!”

  Daniel stood there like a deer in the headlights as the family scurried around him, collecting their supplies.

  “Who?” Clint exclaimed again, trying to wiggle free of the tree.

  “A tracker team,” Erika replied, irritated with the man as she tried to rapidly get the tarps folded and packed into the backpacks.

  “A what?” Clint had no idea of the trouble that was on the heels of this family. “In the badlands, why?”

  “They are after us,” Vince said as he passed by Clint’s tree, headed to pack up the cooking gear.

  “They’re tracking y’all?” Clint replied in wonder. The situation was beginning to make sense to him and he suddenly realized why he had never wandered into this family before. “Y’all escaped, didn’t ya?”

  “Yeah, we did and we’re going to die if we don’t get outta here,” Star chimed in as she tugged on the string of her backpack. The coarse material scrunched up and she buckled the flap quickly over the top of the bag.

  “Y’all can’t just leave me here!” Clint panicked, knowing if he got caught by the tracker team, he would end up in a refugee camp or worse.

  “Why not?” Vince had no mercy for this man.

  “Cause y’all, they’ll kill me?” Clint was desperate.

  “Do you think I care?” Vince snapped back.

  “I’ll yell and alert them to y’alls’ position,” Clint threatened.

  “No you won’t,” Vince said.

  “How do you know, mister. You don’t know me,” Clint countered.

  “Because I’m going to kill you before we leave.” Vince was standing over him with a knife in hand.

  “Please, don’t kill me mister...and don’t leave me here,” Clint pleaded desperately to Vince, as the family put on their packs and tried to make the camp look like it hadn’t been used recently. They rubbed dirt on any freshly broken branches and put down fluffy ground cover over the areas that were pressed down.

  “If y’all take me with you I’ll show you the tunnels. It’s the last card I have to play, mister, but you can outrun those trackers in the tunnels. You’re screwed if you don’t listen.” Clint was past desperate; he was downright begging now.

  Erika looked at Vince. She knew Clint had more knowledge of this area than they did. She hoped he knew more than the tracking team that was on their heels. Vince processed the look from Erika immediately. He knew he would never hear the end of it if his stubbornness ended their newly won freedom. Vince bent over Clint with his knife. He pressed it to his neck and then quickly moved it around to the back of the tree and cut Clint’s ropes.

  “Your pack is over there. Don’t even think of touching one hair on the head of any of my family members. You’ll be dead before you can blink,” Vince threatened Clint.

  “You got it mister. Now let’s get outta’ Dodge!” Clint exclaimed as he threw on his pack. “Follow me.”

  “Dad, are you sure we should trust him?” Dex whispered to Vince.

  “No, but what choice do we have?” Vince didn’t know which way to go. He had to believe this man had been placed in their path for some reason.

  “Hey, kids,” Clint yelled to Dex and Star. “Did y’all see the trackers or just hear ’em?”

  “We just heard them, but we’re familiar with what they sound like. We’ve been on the salvage squads before,” Dexter said, trying to validate his knowledge.

  “Y’all were working with the government? This just gets better and better.” Clint was now very curious about this strange family he stumbled upon.

  “We had to find some way to escape,” Vince said, out of breath as he tried to keep pace.

  Clint had obviously been in these hills for a while. He moved easily over the rocks and debris with grace. He was stealthy and quick.

  “Anyways, I was wondering cause the sound travels on these hills much farther than y’all would think. Hell, that’s how I found y’all.” Clint looked at Vince and directed his eyes down to the dirt as Vince shot him a stern glare. “Any...ways, that probably means we have more time than y’all thought.”

  “Yeah, and all those traps Star and I set will slow them down even more,” Dexter said, smirking.

  “You got that right,” Star said, giving Dex a high-five.

  “You guys did what? Why didn’t you tell us?” Erika was not accustomed to her kids generating their own ideas and not following her lead.

  “Chill out, Mom, you don’t want them following us, right?” Dex said, giving her a sweet little look.

  “You’re right. I just worry about you guys. It’s a mom thing,” Erika cheerfully replied.

  Within a couple of hours they broke through the pine forest into a small mountain town. It was completely deserted. Forest debris covered the once-paved streets and a young forest was already establishing itself there. Buildings with paint peeling and signs fading still advertised their sales messages out of broken windows. No one is buying, Erika chuckled to herself. Homes stood as former shells of themselves, with only the trees, wildlife and birds occupying their rooms now.

  Daniel was full of wonder. He had never seen a town from the past that hadn’t been completely pilfered, ripped down and rebuilt with whatever was available. He stopped to look in a toy store. The shelves were still stocked with battery-operated noise machines, waiting for some boy or girl to come along and delight in their actions. Erika remembered when Dexter was a little boy and all their friends and relatives had taken great pleasure in filling his room with the most annoying toys on the market. Dexter was abuzz in Daniel’s ear, telling him all he could remember about the toys. They were pointing at a box of Legos on the shelf.

  “Well, go get it if you want it. I don’t think anyone would mind,” Erika said, feeling their questioning eyes fixed upon her.

  Vince shot her a look. “We don’t have time for shopping.”

  “Oh, just let them grab a toy. It will only take a minute.” Erika defended the boys.

  The two boys lit up like candles and bounded through the open window. Clint and Star saw the commotion and stopped the procession down the vacant street.

  Vince noticed Star and Clint quietly chatting up ahead of everyone. “I s
wear to God, if that guy touches her...”

  Erika changed her gaze from the boys to Star and Clint. “They’re just talking. It’ll be okay,” she said to calm her husband. Deep down, she was concerned as well.

  “Mom, Dad, check it out!” Daniel screamed as he ran back to his parents.

  “We got a Star Wars spaceship and a transformer.” Dex was just as excited as his little brother. “What was this guy called again?” he wondered, holding the toy out.

  “That was Optimus Prime, the leader of the transformers,” Vince chimed in, sharing the moment of joy with his boys.

  “Let’s go y’all, it’s just a little further,” Clint stressed, encouraging them to keep moving.

  “Come on, guys,” Erika urged.

  The last building they passed was a dilapidated grocery store. It had obviously been stripped barren a long time ago.

  “Was that a great meeting hall, Mom?” Daniel asked, as he stood aghast at the building’s size.

  “No, ding dong, that was a grocery store,” Dexter replied, teasing the small boy.

  “That whole building was filled with food?” Daniel wondered.

  “Yup! Anything you wanted: bread, donuts, milk, fruit, veggies, meat and ice cream, all fresh and ready for eating,” Dexter explained.

  Erika was amazed how much Dexter could remember for a boy who was just five when the quake hit. Maybe it was just from hearing the stories about how awesome America used to be before, but he had some vivid memories.

  They followed Clint as he turned down a side street that had houses built on either side. The homes were in shambles. Earthquakes and ten years of vacancy had not been kind. Fences that once securely surrounded the homes still stood in a slow state of decay. Clint cautiously approached one of the homes but slunk around the back. Star stuck close by him and everyone slowly followed. Clint was headed for a shed in the backyard; darkness awaited them inside. Vince produced a flashlight from his backpack, and Clint headed to a small square in the corner of the shed. Steadily shining the light on the area, Clint removed the cover. The glow revealed nothing but dirt.