The Changing Earth Series (Book 2): Without Land

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  “It’s okay, baby.” Erika hugged him tight. Her warm love folded over his body. She felt his extreme tension start to slowly melt away. “God has always taken care of us in the past. I don’t know why he wouldn’t now.”

  “Living in this hole for nine years is not exactly what I would call taking care of us.” Vince’s sarcasm had returned.

  “Hey, we’re alive, aren’t we? Are the kids alive and healthy? In this world, that ain’t half bad.” Erika was trying to stay positive despite the day’s events. “Come on…let’s got get some grub. I’m starving.”

  “Me too,” Vince agreed.

  CHAPTER 9

  THE FRUSTRATED COUPLE left their little home, headed toward the meal house. This eating station was located in between their house and Greg and Penni’s. They always ate there at night so they could spend time with their dearest friends. They took the back alleys. It was dirtier but so much quieter, and that suited them just fine. Erika and Vince had always teased one another about being country bumpkins. Nine years immersed in humanity and they still detested large crowds. They finally stepped out of the shadows into the throng of people entering the rusted, old building where they ate. Daniel and Carmen found them at the door. They started dancing around them, proclaiming their victory over the other team in the soccer game.

  Once inside the piecemeal warehouse, they walked toward the wall on the left and entered the food line. Today’s dinner was potatoes and broccoli again, with some beans to add the needed protein. Erika detested beans but knew her body needed the precious vitamins, so she accepted the heaping spoonful when it was offered to her. Erika thought of the nice juicy steak they used to splurge on when times were good in the past. Cooked just perfect, nice and pink in the middle and crispy fat lining the edge. Her mouth watered viciously but she looked down at reality and saw the plump, red kidney beans on her plate. She hated kidney beans, but there were far too many people here for meat to be on the menu. In this time and place, only the landowners were privy to that item. Sometimes on holidays the benevolent landowner would donate hams for the camp, but portions of the precious pork were carefully monitored. The only other meat product they got was when a truckful of bones would be brought in. They were boiled and made into beef stock for a vegetable stew. Erika would savor the little pieces of bone marrow floating in the murky broth. Any food that was grown in the camp was fresh from the plant, but anything that was brought in from landowner farms was dried or canned. Refrigeration trucks were too energy-inefficient to carry refugee supplies.

  Vince, Erika and the boys joined the rest of their family at the table in the middle of the room. Erika greeted her mother, Nancy, and her best friend, Penni, warmly and sat down to chat about the day’s events with them. Penni’s husband, Greg, hugged Erika before doing a ritual man-greeting with Vince. This involved a special handshake and a quick hug before sitting down with the girls. Carmen boasted to his parents, Greg and Penni, about the success of the sports game earlier before joining Daniel, Dex and Star at the other end of the long table the family was sitting at. Other kids from the camp had joined them, and they were all chatting noisily.

  “So, what’s up, buddy?” Greg jested in a goofy voice, his handsome face construed to look like a clown. “Doesn’t look like you’re getting ready to move.”

  “Nope,” Vince answered directly.

  “What happened?” Penni queried quietly to Erika. The soft curls of her blond hair bounced gently as she tried to be discreet. She saw that Vince was obviously distraught over the event, and figured Erika’s big mouth had gotten her into trouble again.

  Greg overheard Penni’s query and the couple looked accusingly at her.

  “Oh no, don’t look at me this time,” Erika countered quickly. She knew they were thinking she blew it again.

  “I did it,” Vince interjected in his wife’s defense. “That guy was a fat, sloppy pervert. There was no way I was going to take my family anywhere near him.”

  “What is up with people out there? Have they all gone nuts?” Penni wondered out loud, her green eyes gazing into the distance like she could somehow see through the rusty walls that encased them.

  “No, that’s just the only people Mathew will let us meet. That stupid jerk,” Greg verbalized with disdain, his chestnut eyes glaring at Vince’s like Vince could do something about it.

  “Oh, get this, Greg,” Erika interjected, smacking Greg on the shoulder. “Vince talks all tough, but he was laughing with him and having a grand old time,” Erika teased, throwing Vince under the bus.

  “Hey, I was just protecting my own skin,” Vince defended himself quickly.

  The conversation broke into scattered pieces. Erika and Vince had decided while strolling down the dusty alleyway that they would not discuss Alex’s offer just yet. They needed to digest it more. Erika quietly talked with Nancy and Penni about what a pig the landowner had been. She colorfully painted the picture of how he had reacted to Star’s presence and to the suggestion of taking Nancy along as well. Nancy seemed to take this very personally, but Erika assured her it was not her fault: the guy was just a jerk.

  “Don’t worry, Mom, one day we will get out of here, but for now we just have to trust that God has us just where he wants us to be. One day we will get our freedom and we will all live together, as a family, in peace,” Erika was always trying to pump her mom up with positive emotions, but it was not always easy for Nancy. She felt alone and abandoned in a world torn apart by fate.

  “I wish I shared your confidence, Erika. I bet I’ll be dead before then,” Nancy moaned, continuing her pity party.

  “Don’t say that, Mom. I don’t know what I would do without you. God can’t have you yet; anyway, you’re still far too young for that talk.” Erika hated it when she spoke this way. There was enough doom and gloom surrounding them without being rained on by her mom’s storm cloud.

  “I sure don’t feel it,” Nancy grumbled, sliding her fork along the plate to finish off any remnants of the food.

  “Come on, ladies, let’s get these plates washed up,” Penni said cheerfully trying to help Erika brighten the conversation.

  They collected the plates from their husbands and children and went to the wash line. The family members took turns lining up at the big bucket where they washed their plates after the meal. They would clean them in soapy water, dip them in bleach and allow them to air dry so the germs would be removed and the plate would be ready for the next meal. The large group of family and friends stepped out into the night air. The last of the oranges, reds and pinks of the setting sun blasted across the sky and reflected brightly off the toxic ocean tide in the south.

  They parted ways, heading off to their own shanties. Erika hugged her mother tightly; she had her own little shanty over in the merchant center. She liked being in the throng of people and helping at the furniture store. Dexter and Star were headed off to visit with their friends and enjoy a night doing whatever young kids were doing in the camp at night. Erika really didn’t have much of an idea. There was a curfew, so she figured they met with other young people at someone’s house and talked halfway into the night, like they often did at her house. It was one nice thing about the gates and the guards; at least she knew they would be safe.

  Vince, Erika and Daniel finally stepped through their doorway to their tiny home. Daniel headed straight to his mattress and snuggled in quickly. Vince and Erika were exhausted as well. It had been an unusual day. They climbed into their bed and read books quietly in the candlelight before blowing out their flames and drifting off to sleep.

  CHAPTER 10

  ERIKA WAS UP with Vince before the sun. They opened the bedroom door to find that Dexter and Star had indeed stayed out all night. It was not unusual. The children in the camp had to grow up much faster now. Any moment of free time was squeezed for every ounce of joy that could be found. They entered the labor pool at the age of ten doing menial jobs and were working every job, including manual labor on the dreaded water
line, by the time they were thirteen. Plus, all the children in Erika’s “California crew” had been together since the great quake, so it was not unusual for all the kids to rotate what house they were staying at for the night. Daniel was a momma’s boy, though, and often liked to stay with his own parents.

  Daniel peeked, sleepy eyed, from under his blankets. “Good morning,” he mumbled.

  “Go back to bed, baby. It’s too early,” Erika whispered softly to him as she tucked his covers back around him. “Penni has the day off today and she should be by with Carmen to get you soon, okay?”

  “Okay, Momma,” he sighed softly as he engulfed himself in the warm blankets.

  Erika looked longingly at him. She wished she could just climb into bed with him and snuggle the morning away. She had always hated the mornings. Before the quakes she had always taken evening shifts at the restaurant she waitressed at so she could sleep in and hide from the morning sun. Dexter had been so little back then. She remembered lying on the couch with the cartoons blaring in the background and snuggling him up into her body while he drank his morning bottle. Her nostrils filled with the familiar smell of his tiny body. She would never forget that smell. Now she only had one day a week when she was not working in the early morning, and it was not today.

  There was not much to do at the house in the morning. There was no coffee to make, no lunch to pack, no car to warm up; they just got dressed and left for their assigned position for the day. There they would be given a light breakfast, which was usually a muffin, and allotted two cups of coffee or tea of one type or another. At lunch they would be supplied their afternoon ration. This was carefully calculated according to the number of calories burned per job. For the individual who wanted their life handed to them, everything assigned and provided, this life was bliss, but for the individual with fire in their heart and a will to control his own destiny this was pure hell.

  Vince and Erika quickly washed themselves in the bathroom basin and put on their patchwork work clothes. They exchanged some fond words, kisses and hugs. Then they headed into the darkness of the morning in separate directions. Vince was headed for the gate that allowed access to the gardens. Usually, Erika would have headed in the same direction to work in the prep kitchen. She helped to prepare the foods and dishes that would be served throughout the day at the various food stations, but her latest run-in with Mathew had earned her a week on the water line. Mathew hadn’t even told her himself. He had a messenger deliver the message during dinner. Little weasel, she thought. She had to chuckle, though. Whenever she had to answer to authority, it usually didn’t go well. Then she smiled again, amused at Vince’s ability to sweet talk his way out of anything. He’s such a schmoozer, she thought. She felt it very ironic that he had been the one to balk the authority but somehow she had been the one to end on the line. Soon, she joined in with the other refugees who were headed out to accomplish the same monotonous job she was. They talked quietly in the rising sun about their poor luck in receiving this assignment.

  Erika crested the edge of the hill and took in the view of the mountains to the east where Lake Mead dwelled. When the ocean had expanded in the past, it filled a valley below Las Vegas. It had flooded Boulder City and left a thin strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Mead to the south. The ocean and quakes had completely destroyed the pipes that had previously fed Las Vegas, as well as multiple other cities. At the same time the increased rains in the Rocky Mountains and the decreased demand on Lake Mead had filled it to capacity. The small runoffs from the lake swelled and flooded the land that used to be small trailing ponds. To get water to the city the refugees literally bucketed the water to small reservoirs located at the water treatment plants in Henderson, the refugee camp and one closer to the air force base in northern Las Vegas. The overseers had said they were going to fix the problem and rerun the pipelines. When it never happened, they blamed the lack of supplies to build the pipes and lack of energy to run the pumps. Both excuses were bogus and everyone knew it. The fact was the water line was a great place to put idle people to work. Thousands labored in these lines every day.

  There were two meeting areas for refugees assigned to this task. One at the old Sam Boyd Stadium that was right on the edge of the new trailing lake and one at the old Pittman Raceway, which was close to the refugee camp fence but farther from the lake. Erika was headed to the latter. She checked with the manager on site to see where she was assigned in the line, hoping it was not too far from the city. She knew the further away her station was the colder her coffee would be. Not to her surprise, Erika was assigned a spot closest to the lake. This was the last place she wanted to end up. Here she would take turns scooping the water from the actual reservoir, getting splashed and standing in sloppy dirt all day.

  She checked in at her post, and sure enough, a cold cup of coffee was given to her. She sipped it and the bitterness stung her tongue.

  “Oh yuck!” She was disgusted.

  “Only Las Vegas’s finest for the water line,” the guard chuckled. Steam rose from the cup in his hand.

  Erika’s blood boiled but she slugged down the drink for its energizing effect. On the way to the reservoir, she put on her prized leather gloves. Her mom had patched them together for her because she felt so bad every time Erika returned from the water line with blistered hands. Mentally, she prepared for a week of pure hell.

  She was the first of the refugees to take a turn scooping from the actual holding pool. She figured it was for the better. At least she would take her turn here early and get it out of the way. She picked a blue bucket from the heaped pile next to her, filled it with the cool water and handed it off to the next guy in line. No one spoke much. It was a menial affair that no one handled with much dignity. The process went on and on: scoop the water, pass the bucket, over and over. Erika had finished her scooping shift and went to take a place in the line where she would receive a bucket in one hand, put it in the other, and then hand it off to the guy in line next to her. Her arms and back were on fire by the time they were called for their first break, and a cup of cold tea this time.

  Erika was sitting by herself, trying to go to her happy place. She lived in her memories of the past before the quake. If she was there mentally, she did not have to be here. Suddenly a military truck came screeching to a halt at their station.

  “Put this one on the scoop,” the officer yelled as he kicked a brown-haired boy out the passenger side of the green vehicle. The boy hit the ground with a thud and lay there for a moment. “Come on you, get up,” the soldier yelled, standing over him.

  Erika went over to join the crowd and see what the commotion was about. As she approached, she quickly recognized the guard. It was that same cocky young guard she had encountered at the gate with Vince the day before.

  As he lifted the boy up she was furious to see that it was her boy. It was Dexter.

  CHAPTER 11

  “OH MY GOD! Dexter,” she screamed with rage. She bypassed the crowd and was holding her son before anyone could realize what was going on. His beautiful, bluish-gray eyes looked pitifully at his mother.

  “Back up, miss,” the punchy guard ordered, giving Erika a shove with the butt of his rifle.

  “No, this is my son,” she growled fiercely, holding Dexter closely and backing away from the guard.

  Slowly the guard began to recognize the woman who had been privy to his humbling at the gate the day before. “Your son was found at the fights last night, and you know refugees are forbidden from attending,” he said in a demeaning tone.

  “My son knows he’s not allowed to go to there,” Erika replied, shocked at his accusation.

  “Well, your son has been breaking your rules as well as ours, and you all know the punishment.” His cockiness was in full swing now. He knew he was correct and had addressed the last part of his statement to the whole crowd. “So take your son and get back to work! All of you!” He pointed out over the throng of people in a sweeping motion.
/>
  The people wearily put their heads down and slowly headed back to the line. Erika could feel this young man’s belief in his superiority thick in the air around them. It made her skin crawl. She wanted to lash out, to beat this little scumbag into a pulp, but she reined in her emotions and collected her son up into her arms.

  She helped to support his weight as they walked back to the muck of the water line. “How could they do this to a fourteen-year-old?” she pleaded to the air in disbelief.

  “That guard and his buddies said they were going to show me what not being obedient to the rules would get me before I had time to grow up and become another disorderly refugee scuzz,” Dexter replied softly, still out of breath from the walk over.

  “Wasn’t Terrance or Alex around?” Erika asked her frail son.

  “No, Mom,” he moaned.

  “Well, you know you are not supposed to go there, Dex. What were you thinking?” Erika’s overwhelming concern for her son was evident, but at the same time her voice was laced with undertones of disappointment.

  “Remember on the bus, Daniel and I were talking about the painting on the houses and Dad said to let him dream,” Dexter’s explanations were always long-winded.

  “Yeah,” Erika replied impatiently, trying to urge him to continue.

  “It got me thinking to back before the quake. Dad and I had always watched the Mixed Martial Arts fighters on TV and I loved those Power Ranger guys. Well, I just wanted to see if the fights they have there were like that. Like watching TV with my Dad.” Dexter’s explanation may not have been too logical, but he still dreamed of the simpler times, and Erika understood that all too well.