The Changing Earth Series (Book 1): Day After Disaster

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  “Oh my God, he’s okay. I knew it. I have to go now!” Erika exclaimed, bouncing to her feet and spinning through the air. She looked like she was going to go running across the hill.

  “Just wait a minute, Erika. I just found you and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you go running off into that,” Greg stated firmly as he pointed out at the burnt landscape.

  “Plus, think about Star,” Joan said in Erika’s ear.

  “Star?” Greg questioned.

  “Along the way, a lot of crazy shit happened, Greg, and now I have a daughter. Her name is Star,” Erika stated as a matter of fact.

  Greg knew that there were a lot of orphaned kids out there that needed to be taken care of. All he said was, “Can’t wait to meet her. Look, Erika, I know that you want to see him, so I’ll send out two guys to run to the Georgetown camp and bring Vince back here. We have horse power too and we have a pretty good route scouted to the Georgetown camp. They should be able to move quickly and with it being so early in the day, they should be back by nightfall. Okay, missus impatient?” Greg questioned sarcastically. He always was quick witted and here he was solving problems with humor, just like always.

  “Woo-hoo! Erika yelled. “I’m home and my family is safe!” she screamed through the air in sheer delight. It had been a long, hard road, but she knew for certain her family was safe and they were coming here tonight! She sat back down onto the bucket, relieved, as someone shoved a bowl of delicious horse-meat soup into her hands.

  Chapter 15

  Greg left to go and talk with the other guys that came with him from the Cool Camp. Erika thought she recognized one of them but wasn’t sure. She sat immersed in her thoughts and her soup until the spoon was finally scooping up the last pieces of meat in the bowl. Now that she knew her husband and son were alive and safe, her thoughts began to roam to other people she loved. She thought about her mother, Nancy. She lived in Lotus, a town not too far from Coloma. Erika prayed she was safe. She thought about her father in Michigan and prayed for him. Then she thought of her brother, Bob. He lived in Canada. He took a job there and liked living there. His wife, on the other hand, was not too pleased with leaving California and missed the weather. She thought of her husband’s parents, who were on a trip to Washington State visiting her husband’s grandmother. There were lots of people that needed a prayer and she was frustrated that she could no longer just send out a text to see if they were alright or not. All she could do was ask God for their safety or their acceptance into his Kingdom.

  Greg noticed that Erika was looking too somber and hit her in the arm.

  “Owww, what was that for?” Erika snapped as Greg broke her train of thought.

  “Just making sure you still got it,” Greg replied sarcastically.

  “Oh, I still got it. At least, I’ll still kick your ass anyway.” Erika replied, returning the jest.

  “Let’s see it,” Greg prodded. He stepped back with his hands in fists and began to dance around.

  Erika put down her empty bowl and got up with her hands balled into fists. She acted like she was going to punch, but gave him a swift kick in the bootie instead.

  “See, told you I’d still kick your ass,” she laughed, smiling wide.

  “Oh, you’re gonna get it,” Greg replied. He started chasing after Erika, punching in the air.

  It felt great to Erika to act normal again, goofing with her friend in a very old game. Both Greg and Erika were trained in martial arts and they often play-fought one another.

  “Okay, G-man, you better knock it off,” Erika told him, catching her breath. She realized the stress of her recent life might have taken more of a toll on her body than she thought. She needed a little more rest before she would be full strength again.

  “Are you getting tired already?” Greg poked on.

  “Yeah, actually, I am,” she admitted.

  “Well, let me show you around then. I’ll show you the new town of Cool and the awesome pad I’m kickin’ it at now,” he said. His words were thick with sarcasm.

  “Is that where you get your chillaxing on nowadays?” Erika teased.

  “You got it. My dad is over there too with Mike Nostrem,” Greg declared, cheerfully.

  “Really? Mike survived and your dad? What about Mike’s kids, Chris and Burt?” Erika wondered.

  “Chris didn’t make it and we still haven’t heard from Burt.” Greg’s cheerfulness suddenly turned somber.

  “Oh man, I’m sorry, Greg,” Erika replied, feeling bad for asking.

  “Look, Erika, lots of people are gone and the quakes keep coming. All we can do is live each day and hope that one day we can get things back to normal,” Greg replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

  Erika could see that talking about the past was hard for everyone to do. Not everyone was as lucky as her. They lost their families and now faced a bleak future alone. Erika decided right then that it would be better to leave the past there, in the past, and just focus on the future.

  She quickly changed the subject. “Are those guys you were talking to going after Vince?”

  “Yeah, remember Denton from high school?” Greg responded, gladly accepting the subject change.

  “I think so. He looked kind of familiar,” Erika said, thinking hard. She always remembered faces much better than names.

  “Vince used to coach him in wrestling. He’s going over there with Rob Burton. I don’t know if you remember him, but you have met him a couple of times at the bar. He was in the military and loves to go on adventures,” Greg stated.

  “How long will it take them?” Erika said impatiently. This was the moment she dreamed of.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll be here before you know it. The guys should make it there by midday and they’ll be back before nightfall,” Greg said with a gleam in his eye. He knew Erika hated surprises and her anxiousness delighted him.

  “I guess I’ll just have to wait, then,” Erika said with a sigh.

  “Yes, you will!” His delight was obvious. “Let’s go see everyone over at the camp,” Greg told her, urging her to come with him.

  “Before we go over there I need to tell Star what’s going on,” Erika informed him. She didn’t want Star to wonder where she was. Star needed to rest easy, not worry about being left behind.

  “Great, let’s go see her,” Greg delighted. His enthusiasm for life was contagious, and they smiled as they walked lightheartedly over to the tent.

  Erika scanned the interior of the makeshift shelter as she pulled back the blanket that formed the doorway. All their supplies were used for the tent’s construction. The carts formed corner posts, but they were covered on the inside with blankets to retain heat. Daylight filtered through the tarp that composed the roof. The remainder of the blankets were strategically set up to make individual sleeping areas on the ground. The interior was cozy and with all the blankets, it looked like one big bed. One area was clearly separated from the rest. This private space was made for Richard and Joan. They were married and deserved some privacy.

  Star’s condition forced the kids to stay inside. They were amusing one another with dice and card games. Little Jim coveted a transformer toy that he retained from his former life, and Tyson clung tightly to a small red fire engine. Its batteries were dead, but Tyson made a great sound for the toy in an effort to mimic the sound it once produced. Erika laughed, remembering how in the past she thought it was horrible that kids didn’t have to use their imagination to play anymore. She noticed they learned quickly once there was no other option.

  “Erika!” Star yelled enthusiastically. She was obviously feeling better, even though the pain in her leg was keeping her in bed. Erika was pleased to see her energy returning.

  “Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” Erika questioned. She worried deeply about Star and hoped her leg would not be permanently affected by the shooting.

  “I’m doing okay, Erika. The doctor came by this morning while you were in the bath. He rewrapped my leg and
said it was doing much better. He said if I did a good job of resting today, tomorrow I may be able to go out.”

  “That’s great, Star. We’ll have to see how it goes,” Erika told her, thinking that she would have to stop by and talk with this doctor. It was weird to have the group taking care of one another so much that she hadn’t even been contacted by the doctor treating her newly adopted daughter yet.

  “Who’s that, Erika?” Star asked, interrupting her thoughts with her question while she was pointing at Greg.

  “This is Greg. He’s one of my very best friends,” Erika answered, putting put her arm around Greg and giving him a big hug.

  “He’s cute,” Star blurted out, turning a little red.

  “Yeah, real cute,” Erika said sarcastically while giving Greg a poke in his ribs.

  “Well, I think you are very cute too, little lady,” Greg said flirtatiously to Star, which made her blush an even deeper red.

  “Anyway,” Erika said, breaking up the playful banter. Greg always did have a way with the ladies, and even a girl of just eight years old picked up on it immediately. “We’re going over to the camp in Cool to talk with some folks and I want to check it out. Will you be all right here with Tyson and Little Jim?”

  “Yeah, they’re not so bad. We’re actually having a lot of fun,” Star replied, with a sincere glimmer of youth and hope in her eyes. Erika loved seeing it there for the first time since they met.

  “What’s up, Tyson and Little Jim?” Greg questioned, trying to include the two boys in the conversation.

  Little Jim shied back and hid behind Tyson, but Tyson replied, “Nothin', what’s up with you?” and stuck his chest out a little.

  “Oh, a big tough guy, I better watch out.” Greg said playfully.

  “That’s right, you better,” Tyson teased, feeling a bit big for his britches.

  “In that case,” Greg grabbed Tyson and rolled around with him on the blankets. Then Little Jim jumped on Greg’s back and the three of them wrestled and laughed. Erika just stood and watched. It was healing for her heart. Finally, Greg got up and told the children, “And now I am going to give this fine lady here a tour. I’ll see you tough guys and cute girl later.” He gave Star a wink and the boys a high-five before he turned toward the tent opening.

  “Okay Star, you rest, and you two rascals be good. I’ll see you all in a little bit,” Erika told them, giving Star a big hug. She headed toward the door with Greg.

  As the two stepped back into the bright sunlight Greg said, “That’s some girl there, Erika.”

  “I know. She really needs me and how could I not take her with me? How she came to me is something I don’t know if I’m really ready to face yet, so please don’t ask,” Erika told him, knowing Greg’s thought pattern. She assumed the question of Star’s origin would be on his mind. She wanted to stop that conversation before it even began.

  “It’s cool, Erika, you can tell me when you’re ready. Let’s go see my dad,” Greg responded. He was trying to stay cheerful, and a depressing story wasn’t going to accomplish that.

  “All right, let’s go,” Erika said with a bounce in her step.

  The two walked on, consumed in their own thoughts. The amount of pain facing them each day gave people a lot to reflect on, and the silences that might have been uncomfortable before were now quite welcome. It gave them time to put things in perspective and decide how a person would go on living having seen and done the horrible things they did for survival.

  The ground still made a crunch, crunch sound as they walked along. The season was coming to the end of a very long and profound summer, but summer was not done yet. The hot sun in California usually turned most plant life brittle by the end of the season, but with all the burnt debris around it was like walking on a charcoal grill. The two made their way down the hill toward the area where a Chinese restaurant and post office once stood. The long building burnt to the ground after the quake. The left-over wood was built into a watchtower that overlooked the canyon area leading up to the camp.

  “Howdy, Greg,” a young girl with a ditsy smile shouted from the top of the watchtower.

  “Hi, Michelle,” Greg replied half-heartedly.

  “Are you going to be around the fire tonight?” Michelle asked flirtatiously.

  “Of course I am, where the hell else would I be?” Greg replied, annoyed.

  “I guess I’ll see you then,” Michelle yelled, disheartened, as Greg and Erika kept crunching along to the Cool Camp.

  “Nice, Greg, got a little honey on the side?” Erika said, poking fun at him.

  “Hey now, let me tell you how hard it is to find a booty call around here. The pickings are pretty limited, you know,” Greg replied arrogantly.

  “Same old Greg, still ‘pimping the hoes’,” teased Erika.

  “Hey, just because the end of the world is coming doesn’t mean that good old G-man ain’t going to be screwing his brains out. We’ve got to repopulate and everything, right?” Greg laughed, thrilled to have this excuse to use on the ladies.

  “Whatever, Greg, some things just don’t change, and your libido is obviously one of those things,” Erika countered, amused by the banter. Walking along with her friend, making fun of the same old things, it made her realize that life would go on. People would adapt to this new life. They would find their old comforts and rebuild their broken lives.

  The two friends finally crossed the old highway, or what used to be the highway. The earthquake had left its mark in a big way. Erika thought it looked all twisted, like half of a taco. It was as if the whole mountain heaved up and rolled it like a delicate dessert.

  “Well, you definitely won’t have to worry about the traffic on that road anymore,” Erika joked. She often used humor to explain the shocking things in life, and right now she was feeling very humorous.

  “No kidding, I used to complain endlessly about the traffic and the fact that they finally built that darn bridge. The canyon used to keep all those people out, but I guess we won’t have that worry anymore. The bridge snapped like a twig and who the heck is going anywhere anyway? Where do you think you could go, Erika? I mean if you were to go somewhere, where in this world would you be safe?” Greg asked seriously.

  “I don’t know, Greg. Maybe up into the mountains further? Definitely around some water. Speaking of water, Cool is not close to a river, what’s everyone drinking?” Erika inquired.

  “We have a well that is still working. They rigged up this bike to pump the water. The solar pump wasn’t working with all the smoke that hung for days. Where do you think that wonderful bath water came from?” Greg teased.

  “That’s why I was curious, you jerk,” she replied.

  “Hey, I lugged half that water all the way up there for your bath. They told me it was for their ‘savior’ and it was very important that they give you a clean, hot bath. Little did I know that the ‘savior’ was little Erika. I would have let you carry your own darn water,” he said, giving her a shot to the arm again.

  “Oh, thanks.” Erika laughed.

  He chuckled at her.

  “No for real, thanks. I really appreciated that bath,” Erika said sincerely.

  “So, what’s up with the ‘savior’ talk?” Greg pondered.

  “That Auburn group over on the other side of the river was going to attack the River camp. I was on my way across and heard the plan, so I warned them. They left with me. I guess they think I saved them, but really we saved each other,” Erika explained. She didn’t feel like a savior and was playing it off.

  “That makes sense,” Greg said flatly.

  Chapter 16

  When Greg and Erika entered the Cool Camp, Erika was completely awestruck. She thought she saw suffering riding across Auburn. All the dead bodies stacked up and the smell of death in the air, but this was a totally different story. The bodies were alive and dirty. The people formed a foul stench. Their eyes followed Erika as she walked by small shanties and tents that were built throug
hout the parking lots of the former shopping centers that were located there. The people looked sad and hungry. Their expressions all showed pain, fear, and desperation. Erika was almost scared to walk through the crowd.

  Then an older lady came up to her and said softly, “Thank you for the meat you brought.”

  Erika quickly realized that the people were watching her because they’d heard of her arrival. They were told that she brought a whole dead horse to share with the two camps, and how she saved the river folks from certain death or worse yet, capture. These people were curious about her story, but none of them had heard it yet. She was the big news story for these people and they were eager to see the program.

  Greg felt Erika’s uneasiness. “Don’t worry Erika, they’re all good folks. We’re all stuck in the same boat now. Nobody knows where to go or what to do. Nobody knows if help will ever come. We’re all lost, but we’re together and together we can survive.”

  “You’re right, Greg. I guess after spending all those months alone I’m just not used to seeing this many people yet,” Erika responded. She hated crowds, though, and her fear of people was no less now.

  “Yeah, and you’re the talk of the town, Erika. You’re famous,” Greg said with a big grin.

  “Oh boy, just what I always didn’t want to be,” Erika said, smiling back at him. Greg felt the tension easing and wanted that feeling to continue.

  “Come on, things aren’t so bad. The American River Grill almost survived without a flaw. Come and see,” Greg exclaimed, excited to be walking around with the person everyone wanted to see and pleased to have the privilege of showing off the compound to her.

  They walked through the rows and rows of makeshift tents. Some people waved, some people just looked, and the children usually pointed while their mothers corrected their behavior. Other people were just lying in their tents, lost in thought or depression. As they continued on, Erika saw they were approaching a rather large tent that had been constructed off the entrance of the old restaurant. As they walked into the tent, the light dimmed. Erika saw tables and blankets with pillows scattered around. The smell of food was heavy in the air, and Erika realized that this tent must have been constructed to give the people more space for eating and preparing food than at the random fires that were scattered throughout the camp. The crunching sound under her feet stopped. Someone had made a great effort to clean this area up and keep it that way. Her moccasins quietly stepped through an actual door into the restaurant. The building itself was tweaked a little, but it was amazingly sound. Greg explained that the owners fought back the fires that followed the quake and their building was the only one that was spared.