Escaping Darkness (Book 4): The Fallout

by Richards, E. S.

  “In that case,” Jadon stood up, brushing the crumbs from his lap as he did, “I’m going to try and find some real food. These snacks are good and all, but there’s got to be something better in this building.”

  “Agreed,” Marcus nodded, joining Jadon on his feet. “I’ll come with you. Jesse?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Jesse stood with his friends. “Count me in.”

  Mia looked at the three college boys and smiled, understanding that the atmosphere was frosty between her and Jorge and not blaming them for wanting to escape for a while. “That sounds good. There has to be a kitchen in here somewhere, I’d guess. Even if we can’t get a stove working, we should be able to make something better than Cheetos and chocolate.”

  “Leave it to us,” Jadon smiled back at Mia. “We’ll figure something out.”

  “Thanks,” Mia nodded, watching the boys as they left the room, leaving her and Jorge behind. Immediately Mia shivered, feeling uncomfortable with the Spaniard. They had argued before when they worked in the same lab, but this seemed different. People’s lives were on the line and somehow, they were going to have to come to an agreement.

  “Jorge,” Mia started talking again. “We need to figure this out.”

  Jorge looked at his friend and sighed, willing himself to have the strength to begin the discussion one more time. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Mia,” he answered honestly. “We don’t seem to see eye to eye on this one.”

  “I just don’t understand what you want,” Mia replied, trying to hide the exasperation in her tone of voice. “Surely you don’t want to leave us to follow this up by yourself?”

  “Of course I don’t want to leave you. However, I think we need to do more than just tell the random people we bump into about this.”

  “Who? I’m all for spreading the word, Jorge. I’m on your side here. I think someone needs to be held responsible. For right now—with all of this going on outside—I just don’t see how it’s possible.”

  As Mia glanced out of the window, both volcanologists halted their conversation and took in the view outside. It was like something out of a horror story. The ash that covered every surface was like the wool from a field of sheep that had been muddied and laid down like a carpet. The air was dark, evening settling over the horizon and bringing a chill with it that inched through the fracking site despite the group of them making sure all windows and doors to the outside world were sealed shut. The highway that was just barely visible in the distance remained abandoned, no vehicles daring to traverse its deadly routes. The ash made the asphalt slippery and dangerous, forcing the driver to relinquish control to the road itself.

  Shuddering, Mia felt thankful that they were spending the night inside. Despite the time it added to their journey, they still didn’t know where they were going when they left. There was still a large amount of the site to uncover and she was certain they could find somewhere comfortable to rest for the night. After the past few days and the horrors that still plagued her from Tanner and the rest of the country, Mia felt like she was overdue for a good night’s sleep.

  “Okay.”

  Mia turned to her right, looking at Jorge and waiting for him to continue speaking. He didn’t look at her, his gaze focused outside of the window, analyzing the fracking equipment which sat discarded and disregarded, crumbling under the density of the ash atop it.

  “Okay,” he repeated, finally turning to look at his friend. “I’m with you, Mia. I’ve been with you from the start and that’s not going to change now. The world needs to know what’s happened here and why it has happened. However, the world can find out on your terms. I don’t want to part ways with you.”

  Mia looked at her friend, feeling a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. She didn’t want to admit it out loud—partly because of how much the man irritated her a great deal of the time—but Jorge was a support system for her at the moment. He had been with her from the very moment everything began and he understood her emotions through it all. She wasn’t sure how much confidence she would’ve had to continue her journey without him by her side.

  “Thank you,” she smiled at him. “I appreciate it.”

  Jorge returned the smile, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Mia in a slightly awkward hug. The two of them stayed like that for a couple of seconds, Mia fighting with her emotions between the hug feeling uncomfortable and yet also comforting her at the same time. She realized that if she had a choice, it would be someone else with their arms around her. As it happened, she was willing to take whatever form of human comfort she could find.

  Jorge felt somewhat similar. He wanted more than anything to tell the world about what they had uncovered at the fracking site, knowing just how much it would affect everything from that moment forward. Mia was right in a sense; given the way the world was, there was no clear way for him to get that message out.

  He decided to document everything more carefully from there on out. There were more papers he wanted to read that Jesse and Marcus had found on the government funding for the project—they only had a few names and he was desperate to find out more. If he could track down the actual chain of events which led to the false closure and then the secret reopening, then he could determine precisely where the order had come from. To Jorge, that was more important than the fact the professor had known that Yellowstone was going to erupt. That information was valuable of course, but it didn’t pertain to a specific person or operating body being responsible. If Jorge could locate whoever that was—he was sure that would be the piece of information that brought the organization tumbling down.

  Chapter 4

  “Look, darling.” Jerry nudged his wife on the arm, drawing her attention to the view outside of the kitchen door. “It’s snowing.”

  Linda turned away from her plate of food, joining her husband as he looked outside at the ever-changing weather that was tormenting their lives. It was July and it was snowing. In any other normal year, they would’ve laughed and joked that the world was coming to an end, a freak day of snow in July, the perfect excuse to get the toboggans out and go outside to play. Chase and Riley would’ve loved it, their sweaters probably on before the snow had even settled on the ground.

  Now it was different. The fact that the weather had changed so much that it was already snowing worried both Linda and Jerry a great deal. They feared what effect it would have on the farmhouse and their health, the broken roof above Riley’s bedroom meaning the insulation of the house was compromised. Even as they sat in the kitchen, Linda and Jerry were wrapped up in several layers of clothing. Staying in the farmhouse just wasn’t logical anymore, the old building suffering too heavily from the weather.

  “I hope the kids are okay,” Linda mused, leaning her head on her husband’s shoulder as the two of them watched the snow fall outside, thinking about what it meant for them both. “I wish they’d come home.”

  “Me too,” Jerry agreed, past believing that Chase and Riley had just been held up at the hardware store. “We have to trust them though.” He repeated his new mantra to his wife, the only thing he could repetitively think to tell her that might make things seem like they were going to be okay. “They’ll come back eventually, just like Mia will. We’ll all be a family again soon enough. And we’ll have the barn all ready for when they do.”

  “Yeah,” Linda nodded against her husband’s shoulder, feeling the coarse fabric of his pullover scratch against her cheek. “We need to focus on what we can change,” she continued, picturing the barn all redesigned and homey. They had agreed they should move in there while it was just the two of them—it made the most sense for warmth and ease of living. “I don’t want this eruption to defeat us, Jerry.”

  “It won’t. We’re stronger than this is.”

  “Are we?”

  “We are.” Jerry looked down at his wife and willed her to believe him. He knew how much Linda could suffer from low self-confidence from time to time, something he didn’t underst
and because of how he saw her, but something he had grown accustomed to. She was such a strong woman when it came to looking out for her family and caring for others; he just worried that when left alone she would falter and crumble. That was why Jerry was so afraid of what was happening to him. He was terrified of leaving his wife alone—he’d rather sit doing nothing with her than either one of them be kept busy without the other.

  “We’re alive for each other,” Jerry continued, “not for ourselves. We need to remember that and keep pushing forward. The house can fall down if it wants, so long as it doesn’t bring us down with it. We are stronger than this, Linda. And we can get through this.”

  Linda looked at her husband again, admiring the confidence and determination in his words. He had always impressed her with how self-assured and resilient he was about everything, even when it seemed like the odds were stacked against him. He’d built his own business from the ground up, starting out with nothing more than a couple of cows and ending with fields and fields filled with them. He’d been born into nothing and he would die a very wealthy man, not just in money, but in love, family, and friendship as well.

  “I believe you,” Linda nodded, feeling her own confidence being boosted just as she looked at Jerry. “Thank you, my love.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” Jerry answered with a smile, pleased he had managed to improve his wife’s morale once more. “Are you finished eating? We’ve got a lot to get sorted today.”

  Linda nodded, allowing Jerry to whisk her plate away and dump it in the sink. Their plan for the day was to prepare the barn for the two of them, bunking with the cows for the remainder of the days until Chase and Riley returned with the equipment to fix up the house. Both had agreed they would try not to focus on the what-ifs surrounding their grandchildren. They loved them both dearly, simultaneously understanding that halting their own chances of survival to worry about them wasn’t going to help anyone. If they wanted to give their family a future, Jerry and Linda had to remain focused on the present.

  “What’s first?”

  “Well,” Jerry clapped his hands together, ignoring the pain in his chest as he did so. He was feeling much better that morning than he had previously, even though he still wheezed instead of breathing properly and his chest still ached if he made any sudden or strenuous movements. He hoped he was hiding it well from his wife, while knowing that Linda could see straight through him most of the time. He just wanted to remain strong enough to survive until his family was all back with him again. Keep going for them, he reminded himself, keep going for them and it’ll all be worth it.

  “I think we need to address what we’re going to do about the cows first. While I love them both dearly, they are a couple of very stinky neighbors.”

  Linda chuckled at her husband’s choice of words, a smile creeping across her face. “I’m not really sure where else we can put them,” she pondered. “I don’t want them outside and they’re not moving in here instead of us.”

  “I know,” Jerry smiled, “I was thinking more the old milking station. It’s not secure enough for us, but Milk and Shake should be able to manage in there for a few days.”

  “Oh yeah,” Linda perked up. “That should work. They’ll be fine in there, won’t they?”

  “Of course. And then we won’t have to worry about sharing our bed with a couple of cows. The only other issue that I still haven’t come up with a solution for is the plumbing.”

  “Ah,” Linda paused. “Well, the house isn’t completely gone to ruin just yet. We can still come back inside here for certain things, can’t we? I sort of assumed we’d still cook and wash in the house.”

  “For now, yeah, I suppose,” Jerry forfeited, his idea of making the two of them completely self-sufficient in the barn fading fast. “It sort of defeats the purpose of moving in there if we’re constantly traipsing back and forth between it and the house though, doesn’t it? We might as well just block off upstairs and stay down here.”

  “Wait a minute,” Linda slowed her husband down, aware she was about to lose him to a long rant about how they needed to completely bug out in the barn like they were stranded in a desert or lost at sea. “Why don’t we? Surely staying in the house is better than being out there. If we can make sure we’re protected enough from upstairs then we should be fine, right?”

  Jerry paused and considered what his wife was suggesting. The thought had obviously already occurred to him, though he was worried about the roof of the farmhouse collapsing further and seriously damaging the structural integrity of the house. The barn might not have all the homey comforts they were used to, yet it, at least, would remain standing even if the farmhouse itself buckled. With him aware of how much he was already struggling with his health, Jerry wanted to make sure he didn’t inhale anything that would damage his lungs further.

  “I honestly don’t know what makes more sense,” he admitted to his wife, explaining his reservations about the farmhouse crumbling to the ground completely. Linda listened carefully, thankful that her husband had considered all the factors affecting their decision. He had always been a planner—someone who would prepare for all eventualities even though the majority would never happen. It was yet another thing that Linda admired in Jerry, one of the many, many things that she loved him for.

  After several minutes of deliberation the two of them made their way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, once again surveying the damage that was there. Not only was ash filling the room from the outside now, but snow as well. The whole upstairs of the farmhouse was noticeably several degrees colder than downstairs, the old walls not designed for insulating heat even on the warmer days.

  “I’m worried about the added weight on the roof here,” Jerry pointed above him, the roof sort of sagging over the edge of the house. The gaping hole in the wall was filled somewhat with the bookcases and Riley’s wardrobe, which had been stacked against it yet providing minimal protection from the outside world. “Especially if it keeps snowing,” Jerry continued with a worried look outside. “I’m no roofer, but I don’t think this would stay up.”

  “Would it damage the house much more, though?” Linda questioned, still trying to understand how much danger they were in as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her forearms to try and keep warm. “Like, would anything else fall down?”

  The roof above them looked mainly intact to Linda. She could tell—obviously—where it wasn’t, one side of it giving way to the outside world and the hole where the window had once been still present. A few bits of plaster hung down into the room, while some wooden boards were left broken in a jagged position from where they had snapped. It was clear the roof had rested upon them, the added weight from the storm weakening the structure and causing it to buckle.

  “I don’t know,” Jerry answered honestly. “I think we need to decide whether we take a risk and stay downstairs, which would be easier and more comfortable, and also potentially dangerous. Or if we move out to the barn like we planned. It won’t be very luxurious, though we will be safe. It’s up to you, darling.”

  Linda frowned, hating that her husband was leaving the decision up to her. She had to try and figure out what was best for the both of them, considering Jerry’s health and their long-term living environment. With Jerry’s lungs undoubtedly damaged—though Linda couldn’t be sure how badly—he was right in pointing out that they shouldn’t be forced to move between the barn and the house on a regular basis. But was staying inside worth the risk?

  She looked up at the failing roof above her and considered their options. Outside looked dark and dreary, despite being just after midday. The sun was completely hidden by the dark clouds, filled to the brim with ice and snow that waited to fall to Earth. Visibility had been reduced to just a few feet, Linda unable to make out the old milking station in the fields that lay in the distance. She knew it was out there though and much like she believed with her grandchildren and Mia too, she knew
she would see it again once the storm passed.

  The land that Linda could still see was rapidly losing its color and giving way to darkness. Green grass had grown dark and straw-like, the life fading from it as quickly as the clouds had rolled in. It looked like it would be solid underfoot, the bounce taken from it like broken springs in an old mattress. Linda’s once-colorful garden borders of flowers were now all dead too, the bright pinks, purples, and yellows all merged together into a filthy brown. It reminded her of when the children used to paint and always ended up mixing all the colors into one—a horrible shade that made everything look dirty and desperate.

  That was how she described the outside now: dirty and desperate. It didn’t look like there was any hope left in it, like the scenery itself had given up and knew there was no chance of returning to the fruitful, glowing valley it had once been. It seemed bizarre to think that it was less than two weeks since everything had happened. Not fourteen days ago, she had stood at the same window and watched her grandchildren playing outside, Chase practicing his lacrosse swing while Riley read her book on the grass. It made her smile to think about her family and snapped Linda back to the reality of her situation. She had to make a decision and both she and Jerry had to stick to it. Could they survive in the farmhouse, or was there a real need to move away?

  Chapter 5

  Chase sat at the back of the classroom, trying to keep from falling asleep as he listened to an overweight member of the Authority tell him and the other boys about the importance of food rationing. It seemed ironic that this particular man had been chosen to give the lesson, especially considering it was unlikely he’d ever rationed anything before in his life. Yet still he droned on, warning the boys about the food shortage that was about to come and how important it was that they didn’t waste anything they were given in the meantime.