A tear streamed across Erika’s face as she thought of the mass grave they had made for all those people who had resisted, friends she had plotted and planned with. Fellow Americans who were ready to stand up for their freedom, no matter what the cost. Plus, the pain of losing their family bloodline stung deeper than she could imagine. She quickly wiped the tear away in hope that Vince would not notice. She couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly their freedoms had disappeared when tragedy struck. She hoped there were still people out there somewhere, fighting the system.
Erika and Vince had survived, but they feared they would never really live again. Since Erika had her children, she had always wanted to eventually see her grandchildren. She knew that if they stayed in this system that would never happen. Daniel would turn thirteen and then off to the doctors he would go. Vince kept his mind off the issue by contenting himself with the plants in his gardens, but he resented the fact that he, as a man, was unable to care for and protect his own children. He couldn’t stop them from altering his babies, and now he knew as well as Erika that he would never see his grandchildren. The hatred and frustration had grown through his heart like a vine cracking its way through the concrete, but he was very careful about guarding that side of himself. He had to appear like the helpful garden man, here to do a good job and keep everyone happy.
CHAPTER 7
THE TWO APPROACHED the refugee barrier. There was a small chain-link gate with a guard tower on the airport side of the fence. This passage was for foot traffic only. At the south end of this section of fencing there was a massive chain-link gate with towers on either side of the entrance. That one was right by the train turnaround and was big enough for vehicles to pass through. The train had gone straight through the refugee camp at one time, but there was no going south now, thanks to the Pacific Ocean. So the tracks had been removed throughout the camp so they could build a new rail line to loop the trains back around and send them back north up the line.
Vince and Erika maintained their small talk to avoid unnecessary attention as they got closer to the ingress. There were two guards stationed there, watching them as the clunky gate slid open to allow them access to the refugee camp. One of the guards was a cocky-looking young man that Vince and Erika did not recognize. They walked through this gate twice a day and Vince and Erika knew most of the guards by name. The other guard, Vince and Erika recognized immediately. His black skin gleamed off his large muscular frame in the hot sun as he waved to them as they waited. His imposing figure had made Erika leery of him when they had first met, but his eyes were warm and welcoming. His easygoing spirit and his unwavering sense of duty and respect soon won her over.
“Hey, Terrance,” Vince yelled to the man as they made eye contact.
“Hello, Vince, Erika.” His kind voice bellowed out the greeting, and he nodded acknowledgement to the couple. Erika had just learned through the camp’s gossip network that Terrance had just returned from Afghanistan a few weeks before the quakes hit. He stayed in the Marines to help his country because he really didn’t know what else to do.
“Got some new blood here, I see,” Vince jested in his normal way with Terrance and motioned toward the new young man.
“Oh, some stinking refugee has jokes here, I see,” the arrogant teen declared, puffing up his chest. Erika could tell he had a rippling six pack under that uniform. She actually thought he was rather cute-looking, with his short, sandy-brown hair neatly trimmed around a baby face, but his overbearing attitude made him very ugly. He started to move toward Vince in an aggressive posture.
“Knock it off!” Terrance commanded, putting his arm out to stop the young man’s advance. “These two are not your average just-got-off-the-bus-yesterday refugees.” Terrance winked at Vince. “These two have been here since you were learning to ride a bike. That man there grows a fair amount of the food you stuff in your mouth, and his woman there is the only survivor found that not only made it out of California but also escaped the Sacramento Disaster. Plus, they are my friends. So, boy, shut your mouth and show a little respect.”
Erika watched as the youngster stepped back in a slouching, humbled manner. He wasn’t about to test Terrance’s patience. It was obvious this was not the first scolding Terrance had given this young man. No wonder these two men had been paired together, Erika thought.
“Nice to see you, Terrance,” Erika said, trying to soften the mood as they waved again and headed through the gate. It squealed closed behind them as they stepped into the crowded streets of the camp.
Erika had always hated being in the city. There were just too many people and not enough room to breathe. Every week more and more people came, and not enough left. Erika knew the world had not been a tame place for the past nine years. She had met various climate refugees. They had told her all kinds of stories. People from the East Coast and South had arrived with stories about hurricanes and mass floods. People from the center of the United States arrived with stories of horrific tornadoes, miles long and four to five touching down at a time. There was news of “super” rains and “super” droughts all across the country.
This news had made Erika ponder their own safety at this location. No one had tried to save them from California, and she feared that no one would save these people either. Erika knew from watching the History Channel documentaries in the past that water from the West Slope of the Colorado Rockies and water from the Wasatch Range in Utah fed the Colorado River, which fed Lake Mead. On those television programs they had mentioned that Lake Mead was in trouble from too much water being drained from it for the cities. Now the water had stopped flowing to the cities, and Lake Mead was refilling. Plus, now the ocean was threatening the other side of the Dam. Erika had seen days where there was fresh water on one side and ocean on the other. She wondered how wise it was to keep sending all these people here when no one knew what would happen with the stability of the Dam in the future. She had lived through one dam giving out, and she was not about to live through it again.
Suddenly Erika and Vince heard a scream and looked to the fenced area just inside the gates. It contained a series of additional warehouses. These warehouses served only one purpose, to house the incoming refugees. Erika looked through the open front door of the warehouse and saw row upon row of cots and refugees. That was where all the refugees would start out. Their behavior was monitored one hundred percent of the time by guards on catwalks above them. Even the bathrooms had open ceilings so you could be constantly watched. It felt a little like being a fish in a fish bowl. All the former landowners and free people would learn here that they had to put their former life behind them and adjust quickly to life as a refugee. The obedient ones who tucked tail and submitted instantly were given the sterilization procedure, listed for landowner adoption, and given a place to work within the camp while they waited. The rowdy folks who would not part with their freedoms so easily were still sterilized and then spent months in solitary confinement before they were allowed back into the Welcome Warehouse to be monitored and earn a spot within the camp.
The scream had come from a woman flailing around and thrashing violently. A scruffy guard with a gag and some rope quickly silenced her. Vince and Erika remained awkwardly silent as they watched the guard restrain her and take her away. Erika tried not to think about this place. She had once been here years ago, near the beginning of this horrible journey. Her love for her family had kept her strong despite her heart being filled with fear. Once her spirit had danced daily and her light had shown through in the darkest times. But here she felt the cold chill of hopeless oppression, of the light slowly fading, and the cold chill of the confinement that was slowly killing all of them.
The people inside the warehouse stared out with sorrowful eyes. Guards patrolled the fence line steadily outside. It almost made Erika sick to have to walk by this day by day, but she and Vince continued slowly by without a word. They clenched each other’s hand tighter but said nothing. There was nothing to say. What cou
ld they do?
The mood changed as they walked past the noisy and lively refugee marketplace. Here Vince and Erika often traded items with the shopkeepers. Erika had always been amazed at the ingenuity of the caged people. The scrap heaps that were scattered around the camp were combed through for anything that could be repaired and put back into useable condition, or used for parts to make entirely new items.
She looked over to the upholstery shop, hoping to see her mom there, working, but she wasn’t out in the yard today and Erika really didn’t want to go around the back and find her. She would see her mom later, anyway. They passed by Beau’s shop next. He sold kitchen materials: spoons ornately carved from wood, pots pounded and reheated for hours to make them hold liquid again, spatulas hammered out of scrap metal and much more. His wife was a wispy lady that Erika didn’t really get along with, but she made beautiful pottery and was a good mom to their two sons. Erika had gotten to know them well over their four-year stay at the camp. They had lived in Arizona but lost their home and land to a gigantic sinkhole that had opened up. Their oldest son, Jason, was seven and played with Daniel when Erika was visiting her mom next door. Their youngest son, Winston, was a little spitfire and was always getting into trouble.
Erika saw Jack Dwyer working in his blacksmith shop. Jack was a miracle worker with metal. He worked on all the tools for the refugees: shovels, picks, building materials, whatever needed to be manhandled. Erika had to respect the quality of his work but loathed his attitude. To him women were objects to be possessed, used and thrown away. Not one of his past wives had ever been more than a cowardly wretch, and no female had ever gained respect in his eyes. Talking politics with the man was a nightmare, and Erika generally avoided him at all costs.
The next shop was owned by a man named Tim Lee. He used to have a shop in Chinatown in San Francisco and had been here as long as Erika and Vince. They had been granted extra space to grow spices, teas and medicinal plants. Tim’s parents had come from China to give Tim a better life. They had taught him everything they knew about Eastern healing techniques. His wife, Sue, was a dynamite Chinese cook. She had emigrated from China with her parents as well.
They had one daughter, Margaret, who had never married. She loved books, though, and was a brilliant lady. She helped spearhead the project to collect discarded books and start a refugee library. The government had agreed and granted her a space. She did her best to help teach the refugee children, even though it was frowned upon by the landowners.
The last shop before the road Vince and Erika would turn down to return home was being operated by a newbie. He was into electronics and was putting together a type of entertainment center where you could go watch movies or play old video games. The refugees were eagerly anticipating his shop’s opening, but deep down Erika had to wonder if the officials would allow it. They never had access to movies before, even though they requested them many times in the past. Plus, although Erika had loved to play video games and welcomed the chance to do so again, she knew the officials would see it as wasting time. She was keeping her fingers crossed, though.
Across the street from the one they were now turning down, there was a merchant that was allowed, under close military supervision, to peddle watered-down versions of the traditional vices of the past. He was one of a few that dotted the street of the marketplace. A guy that had indulged too much was out front, being harassed by a guard. Erika had carefully counted all the guards in the marketplace as they walked down the street. She did it subconsciously every time. Today, there were twelve: business must be booming, she thought. All the items at the marketplace had to be cleared for sale by the government official in charge, so he often brought in more soldiers to control the masses on the busy days.
CHAPTER 8
THE SUN WAS just passing behind the horizon in a beautiful display of vibrant pinks and oranges by the time the two arrived back home. Alex was still waiting for them inside when Vince opened the door for Erika.
“Howdy,” Alex said, standing up to welcome them into their home. His jovial eyes smiled at them from under his tight haircut.
“Hi, Alex. I wasn’t expecting you to still be here,” Vince replied, somewhat irritated. He had wanted some quiet time with his family.
“Mommy,” Daniel yelled. His body bounced joyfully across the wooden floor as he ran over and threw his skinny arms around his mother.
“Hello, baby, how you doing?” Erika replied.
“Can I go out and play now? I was going to play soccer with my friends today, but Alex said I had to wait for you to get home. Can I go? Please?” Daniel looked longingly at her. His deep brown eyes begged her for permission.
“Yeah, go for it,” Erika agreed, “but we’re going over for dinner soon.”
“Okay, I’ll just walk to dinner with Carmen,” he said as the flimsy wooden door swung shut behind him.
“So, what’s up, Alex? Erika knew he had been waiting for the right moment to speak.
“Let’s sit down,” Vince said abruptly. It had been a long walk through the dusty streets on the way back from the Luxor.
“I’ll grab some glasses of water.” Erika decided they would need something to drink if this was going to be a sit-down conversation.
Vince and Alex crossed the small space of the room and sat down at the table, while Erika went to the tiny kitchen space to retrieve the glasses of water. She could hear the flutter of Daniel’s paintings being flipped through by Alex as she picked out three of her cheap, old plastic cups from the pile of them in a repurposed milk crate. She grabbed a one-gallon glass jug off the counter that was filled with brackish-colored water. She pulled on the rag that was stuffed in the neck of the jar as a sort of stopper. As she poured the water into the glasses, she couldn’t help but think back to the time when she would have had cool, clean water in a jug on the shelf of her refrigerator. Water so fresh that it cooled you from the inside out. She quickly let the memory fade from her thoughts. This was their world now. Energy was far too precious for lowly refugees to have refrigerators. She shook her head in disgust, thinking it was a miracle their water was even potable. Erika arrived at the table with the cups in hand. Vince and Alex were engaged in small talk that slowed as Erika handed them the water and sat down in a vacant chair.
“I’d offer you a soda but we’re fresh out right now.” Erika teased. They all chuckled at the joke. Vince had loved to drink Coca-Cola back in the time when everyone thought the good times were going to last forever. There was a moment of quiet remembrance.
Erika broke the silence, “So, what’s on your mind, Alex?”
“There were more floods out in Colorado.” Alex replied nonchalantly. “They are taking a crew out in three weeks to help with the cleanup and rescue any survivors.”
“More rats for the cage,” Vince interjected disgustedly.
“I’m going to suggest that your family is on that crew,” Alex stated flatly.
“Why?” Erika said, completely startled by his statement. “They’ll never let us out of here.” She was in disbelief and couldn’t believe he would even suggest it.
“Alex you know they’ll never let us go out. Mathew would be too worried about us leaving, and with good reason. If we get out of these gates, we are never coming back,” Vince declared honestly. He and Alex had connected on a special level after Vince had told Alex about his brother, Andrew, and how he died. Vince knew he could safely share the truth with him.
“I know that. You guys deserve your chance. There are communities out there accepting people. You guys need to live free.” It was evident in his voice that he felt very strongly about this.
“Alex, you’re risking too much.” Erika was very uneasy about this plan. “And what about my mom? They’ll never let her go out too. What about Greg and Penni? They would never…ever put all of us on one crew.”
“No, they probably won’t, Erika, but you would be out,” Alex replied, staring deep into her eyes.
Erika sat back
in her chair. Her mind was racing with possibilities.
“I don’t know, Alex. I think Erika is right here. It’s a big risk and we would be leaving our only family we have behind. Who knows what Mathew will do with them? We definitely need to think about this.” Vince shared Erika’s concern for their friends.
“Well,” Alex said, standing up from the chair. “Don’t take too long.” He was headed over to the door. “I gotta get back. I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the front gate.”
“Hey, Alex,” Vince stopped him before he had a chance to turn the doorknob, “thanks.” Vince felt honored that his friend would risk himself for his family’s freedom.
Alex just nodded at Vince and continued lightheartedly though the doorframe. After Alex left, Vince and Erika stood staring at one another. They had never had a real chance of escape before, and their minds were alight with ideas for the future. Erika was the first to come back down to Planet Earth.
“We can’t do it, Vince.” Erika was not about to leave her mom and so many people she loved behind while she danced freely out into the open with her family.
“Erika, we need to at least think about this,” Vince pleaded.
“I know, Vince, I know. I want out too. We are dying here, in this hole, but think about living out there and knowing you left everyone you knew and loved here. Could you live with yourself?” Erika questioned him.
“You know I couldn’t…I just…ahhhhh,” he screamed in frustration. “I hate it here. We were so hopeful that it was going to work out this morning, and then we met that freaking pervert. I just really don’t need this now. Just another moment of having a hope of getting the hell out of here, only to have it stomped into oblivion.”
The Changing Earth Series (Book 2): Without Land Page 4
