“The fires burned and spread. Dex and I, along with some other survivors, we didn’t know them before the quake, emptied that little shed and stayed there for a few nights until it was obvious that no rescue crew was coming. We salvaged some rope from the wreckage and slowly began sifting through the rubble for anything of use but especially for food. I made Dex stay in the shed because I had never seen so many dead bodies, Erika, and I hope I never do again. That is an image that you can never erase, but there was nothing we could do for them so we just left them there.
“It wasn’t too long before the stink of the rotting bodies was unbearable and the lack of water was becoming a real problem. We needed to get out of there, away from the death and near a good source of water. Then, the second quake hit and even more ground was being eaten by the gigantic sink hole. That was the last straw. I had to get Dex to someplace safe. We gathered what goods we could carry and began the long hike toward the lake. Along the way, we ran into a handful of people that had come to the same conclusion. The world was very different then. Smoke was everywhere, and it seemed like everything was in some state of burning. We did the best we could to pick our way along the small trails down to the lake.
"I thought about you constantly. Wondering what had happened in Sacramento, but deep down, I knew you were still alive. Anyway, the closer we got to the lake, we realized the dam had broken and it was a river again. All I could think about was you, down there, and all that water coming your way. But I had to stay positive for Dexter. He had no idea about the implications of the dam breaking, and I wasn’t about to tell him.
"We found some other people from Greenwood that had survived as well, and Big John Green was there. I was feeling much better then. If anyone would know how to survive in this mess, it was him. We decided we would camp with him until I could find you. He looked very unsure that you had survived and urged me to consider the possibility that you had not, but I would have none of it. I knew you were alive. I could just feel it.
"So we set up camp there and started putting together supplies for the group. That camp by the river is like one giant mud pit but at least there is water. We made contact with the Cool camp but with resources on such short supply, we decided to keep the groups separated. Big John and I set up snares. Some of them were so cool. I thought of you all the time because I knew you would have loved making them with us. Anyway, we also had some contact with that crazy Auburn group and decided we should set up guards to watch out for looters coming from that direction. I also made a trip over to Lotus to look for your mom. She is doing fine, well as fine as anyone is doing right now. You know her, the little mighty mouse. She decided to stay in Lotus with her neighbors, Bob and Cathy, because there are a bunch of survivors gathering there, and that camp is very well supplied. She begged me to stay with Dexter and Ripper, but I wanted to be close to the river because I knew, eventually, you would be coming that way, and you did! Thank God you finally did. Brett is down there with her. We saw him in Georgetown initially but he wanted to go to find your mom and set off that way immediately. She will be all right with Brett, so don’t worry.
“That’s about it. I have just been surviving, watching out for Dex, and digging the splinters out of my butt that I accumulated pining away waiting for you.” He smiled big as he cracked a joke to lighten things up. “Oh God, I love you.” Vince wrapped her up in a big hug as they stared out into the sunset that was fast approaching.
“Holy crap, babe, we have spent all day out here and where are Dex and Star?” Erika said surprised that time had slipped away so quickly.
“They are right over there with Ripper, munching on some of that meat we brought. I can’t tell you enough how glad I am you talked me into getting that dog. Since you were gone, he totally attached to Dex and has been like his guardian angel,” Vince said, staring off at the kids.
“Dex, Star, come on, let’s start packing up,” declared Erika.
Chapter 23
As Vince and Erika stood up to go, there was that sound again. The sound they all feared, a sound like a train rumbling across the mountains. Their eyes were like saucers as they looked at one another. The sturdy grey rock they had been sitting on was quickly dislodged by the vigorous shaking and in a split second the couple leapt off of it as it tumbled down the canyon side into the ravine. They ran swiftly for the children and the horse that were huddled together in the scraggly grass. Vince grabbed Kit’s rope as he began to spook from the fear of the earthquake and the commotion of the people. Erika huddled with the kids and the dog and waited for the shaking to cease.
Finally, the quake came to a halt. The world was transformed again. Houses and shells of homes that had burned in the last fire and had stood there a minute ago were now gone, completely eaten by the earth, or rattled into piles of ash. New fires had sprung up and the smell in the air was nauseating. A dreadful feeling poured over them like hot syrup.
“We have to get back to camp,” yelled Vince.
Erika, still shocked, lifted the kids onto Kit, and without a word, they started quickly moving back toward the Cool camp. It took them longer than expected to get back because the trail they had used earlier had a whole new set of obstacles to contend with. Erika and Vince were exhausted when they looked up and saw more smoke on the horizon. As they got closer, they heard screams echoing through the air.
“Oh my God,” cried Erika. “We need to help.”
They started running toward the camp with Kit and the kids in tow. Ripper was directly beside Kit waiting for orders from his masters. The first thing they saw was that the medical tent was ablaze, and Ryan was running rapidly in and out with his patients over his shoulder. Other people were helping him, and with the whole camp on fire, they were just laying bodies all over the former parking lot.
“I can help them, Vince, make sure the kids and the animals are safe,” Erika yelled as she sprinted toward the bodies lying on the pavement.
Besides the people they were hauling out of the medical tent, more people were carrying over bodies both dead and alive from the main camp. Ryan saw Erika and quickly instructed her to start assessing the people in the parking lot. Erika had trained as an emergency medical technician a long time ago but never used the training because having people’s lives in her hands was too scary. Now, here she was, staring at rows of screaming, burnt, and bleeding people. Something inside her switched off, and she got straight down to business. She had Taylor from the Auburn River camp and Diana from the Cool camp there to help her.
They started going from body to body to see if it was alive and how they could help. Erika tried to shut off as much of her emotions as she could and barely even noticed if she knew the individual or not. The people that could be saved needed attention and the people that could not had to be left behind, even if she knew them or their families.
Ryan had saved as many supplies as he could from the medical tent before it collapsed into a ball of flames. As soon as the tent fell and there was nothing else he could do, there he was in the parking lot, directing the team to do what they could for the people that could be saved. He instructed Taylor to start hauling away the dead bodies and piling them over by the part of the medical tent that was now done burning. Erika and Diana followed Ryan’s instructions, and he listened intently to the analyses of the bodies they had performed. They were all busy wrapping burns and cuts and splinting broken bones long into the night.
Vince had taken the kids up to the tent the Auburn River Group had set up, but that area had not been immune to the blaze and it had burned as well. Richard, Joan’s husband, was there watching his son Tyson as well as a group of other kids from both camps.
“Just leave them here, Vince, and go help,” said Richard frantically. “They need all the help they can get.”
“Are you sure, Rich? Are you all right? Where is Joan?” Normally Joan was the one watching the kids and Vince was full of questions.
“Look, leave the kids. I’m okay, but Joan… she�
�� well, she’s down at the medical area,” Rich replied with fear in his eyes.
“Oh… sorry… okay, I’ll be back.” Vince didn’t know what to say, so he tied up Kit and got the kids down. He gave them both a kiss and instructed Ripper to stay with Dexter.
He ran down toward the intense fires burning in town. It was chaos down there. The tents had been a great shelter but didn’t do well when the quake hit. Candles had been lit inside the tents as the evening closed in. When the tents collapsed, they fell on the candles and lit on fire. The summer had been so long and dry, the fire was just jumping from one tent to the next. Vince was standing in a daze, wondering what to do, when Greg saw him.
“Hey, Vince, come help me get my supplies out of my tent,” screamed Greg.
They ran through the burning mess. The buildings that had remained were now all burning down. It was only a matter of time before the fire stretched out to the unburned tents that had been pitched behind them.
“Where is the water, Greg? Why is no one fighting this?” Vince wondered.
“The well caved in, in the quake, Vince. There is no water. Our drinking water won’t put this out, and we would have no water then,” Greg said flatly.
Greg had gathered a fair amount of canned goods, liquor, blankets, and other supplies. Vince and Greg loaded all they could into blankets and left to go pile it by Erika’s stuff in the cart. Greg’s old dog came along with them and by the time they returned, the tent was gone.
The full black of night was fast approaching, and the fires were dying down. Everyone who had made it out gathered over in the medical area, trying to do what they could for the injured and see what had happened to their loved ones. Vince immediately noticed Erika when he walked up. Even covered in crusty blood and sweat, she was the most beautiful girl in the world to him. She looked exhausted to the point of passing out.
“Greg, I’ll catch up with you later,” Vince said as he headed toward Erika.
Vince walked over to her and wrapped her up in a big hug. Erika had been lost in thought and the act of helping. She hadn’t even begun to process the reality of the situation when Vince appeared and hugged her; she broke down. She was crying and her legs gave out. Vince cradled her in his arms and carried her over to a quiet corner.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s going to be okay,” Vince repeated to her over and over while he rocked her in his arms.
“No, it’s not, Vince,” Erika sobbed. “Joan is dead, Mike is dead, Kim is dead, Greg’s dad, Cliff, is dead, and so many others. The pile just got bigger and bigger! All those people we were just hanging out with last night! And they were the lucky ones. So many others are burnt to a crisp but still alive. What can you do for them when they are lying in a parking lot? Ryan is doing the best he can but there are just so many, and so little medicine, that some died while they were waiting for help; it was horrible. Maybe if we would have been here…” Erika started to say.
Vince broke in, “Now, don’t even start that, Erika. Things happen and God had us right where He wanted us to be. Our babies are safe so just stop. I love you. Just relax now. There is nothing more you could have done and nothing more you can do now.”
Erika closed her eyes as the adrenaline left her body. She fell asleep in Vince’s arms. Vince picked her up and started the walk back to where he had left the kids. Greg, his eyes full of tears, was already back there with Richard, both sharing in each other’s pain. The other survivors had gathered there as well. The group gathered as many blankets as they could and made a huge sleeping area for everyone. They would all be sleeping under the stars tonight. In their exhaustion, there was no need for anything else. Vince laid Erika down with Dexter and Star, who were already asleep. He lay down next to her, covered his family with a blanket, and let the painful evening slip away as he fell asleep.
Chapter 24
The next morning was a very different day. There was no noise of hustle and bustle. All of the survivors in camp were solemn from the events of the day before. You could hear screams from the medical area as people who had passed out from the excruciating pain began to wake up to the hell that awaited them. Even the children were quiet and sat talking tentatively amongst themselves.
Vince had awoken before Erika and was sitting with Greg cooking something in a can. Erika got up feeling very stiff, and she was still all crusty with dried blood. Erika really didn’t know what to do. Every day seemed so different from the one before. All she could really be sure of was that she was alive and with her family. She sent a silent prayer to God thanking him for returning her to her family and begging him for their safety.
“Good morning, baby,” Vince whispered quietly. He had seen her waking up and wanted to go and hug her.
“Good morning,” she responded sheepishly.
Vince hugged her tight, and she never wanted to let go. Everything was so messed up and their love felt so right; she wanted to close her eyes and stay there forever.
“There’s a little water in that plastic bottle over there but use it sparingly, it’s all we have,” Vince directed as he pulled away from her to examine her and make sure all the blood on her was someone else’s and not hers. “We are going to have to do something about that,” he said as he looked at her crusty condition. “I assume once everyone wakes up, we will talk about what to do next. So, get some water and clean your face and come and eat some yummy creamed corn breakfast,” Vince said sarcastically.
“Sounds great,” Erika countered his sarcastic tone.
She went over and poured a little water in a bowl. As she splashed it on her face and rubbed it on her arms, she stared absently at the bowl as it began to turn red from the blood melting off her skin. She couldn’t believe this life. It seemed so unfair that she would have to endure this fate. It seemed like just yesterday they would have been safe at home staring at a TV or a computer. Maybe playing video games with Dex or harvesting vegetables from the garden. They would have been worried about not having enough money to go on vacation, or buy that new car they wanted. It was like a nightmare she could not wake up from. All of a sudden, there was a commotion amongst the quiet of the grieving camp. Erika snapped out of her daydream, finished up her cleaning, dumped the water on the ground, and went to see what was going on.
As she approached Vince, she saw that Big John had arrived. She hadn’t seen him since before the disaster, and even though he had lost a lot of weight, he looked really good. His stocky legs had turned to pure muscle and his brownish-gray hair was disheveled.
“Big John!” Erika yelled. “So great to see you.” She ran over and gave him a big hug.
He had always been like a big teddy bear, and he lifted her up and swung her around in a circle.
“I had my doubts, Erika. I really did, but here you are. It’s a miracle,” he said in his gruff voice.
“You can’t stop this girl,” Erika jested back with him.
“But your will was tested. Wasn’t it? Look at you.” Big John had stood back to look at her and had her chin in his gigantic hand. He was turning her head back and forth examining the scars that now riddled her neck and stretched up behind her ears. She had done her best to get clean, but with the limited water supply, some blood and dirt had stuck in the ripples of her scars and made them look more pronounced.
“I bet you have some story to tell,” he mused as he assessed her.
“Oh no, not again, Big John, it is a long and difficult one to tell,” she exclaimed, not wanting to relive the experience every time she ran into someone she knew.
“We don’t have time for stories right now anyway. I wish we did, but it looks like you guys got hit hard, and we didn’t do much better.” He had let her go and was now addressing the group.
“We got fucking screwed, man,” Greg said point blank. “Half of the camp is dead, including my father; six people survived with horrible wounds, but we lost our water supply so they have nothing to drink. The fires ripped through our tents, our supplies, and we have about
ten more orphaned kids. This is so fucked up!” Greg was usually so calm and jovial, but this last hit and the loss of his father had rocked him hard.
“Calm down, Greg, that’s not gonna get us anywhere,” Vince snapped.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. I’m not calming down. We are fucked, man.” Greg was coming unglued now.
The crowd gathering was getting bigger. Erika shot Richard, who was still caring for the children, a sideways look, and he started to shuttle the children off to a quiet corner of the camp. Star would not budge, and she came and sat quietly with Dex, a little ways behind Erika.
“He’s right,” yelled someone from the crowd. “God’s wrath is upon us. This is the end of the world.”
“We are all gonna die,” yelled someone else. Everyone was quickly unraveling and this situation was getting out of control. Vince pulled Greg away and started to talk sense to him. Greg had been a charismatic leader, and without him, this group was losing faith, fast.
Erika stepped up on a stump. “Look, everyone, I know this sucks and there is nothing we can do about it. I thought I was dead many times before this but here I am. Humans have been tested by God many times in the past and here we are! If we give up, we are dead, but we are not going to give up. Are we?” she questioned the crowd.
“No,” responded some folks.
“Are we?” Erika questioned again.
“No!” more people responded this time in a more spirited tone.
“Now we have to decide what to do next. We can’t stay here with no water, so let’s discuss what to do. Any suggestions?” Erika wanted to include the whole group so no one felt like they didn’t have a say.
“Let’s go with Big John to the Georgetown River camp. There is water there.” It was Ryan the doctor. He was super-concerned about the need for water for his patients.
Day After Disaster, The Changing Earth Series, Uncut Edition Page 20
