“I didn’t do anything because I liked doing it, I did it because I had to. I didn’t have a choice,” I said softly. I turned toward the window and cleared my throat. “The water levels are rising.”
I hadn’t wanted to tell him about the water but I desperately needed to change the topic. For both of us.
I’d left my family to go sit at the beach. They would have needed me and it was likely I would have died with them but the way it was, I felt as though I had abandoned them. I’d been selfish to take a break for myself. I should have been there.
“How quickly?” Gage asked.
“A couple inches maybe,” I guessed.
“And how long have we been here?”
I chewed the inside of my already raw cheek. “Several hours but that’s just a guess.”
There was a clock on the wall that displayed four-thirty, but I had no idea if it was working correctly. I also had no idea what time it was when we’d arrived.
“We have time then,” Gage said.
The wind picked up before he finished speaking. The windows in every wall rattled. I walked past Gage and over to the small window in the break room.
I could have picked any window but the smaller window in the smaller room made me feel a bit safer. Although not much.
The surface water was swirling around, mixing with the rain that was pouring down. It was impossible to see very far out of the window.
I pressed the flashlight to the glass and clicked the button. It made a glowing circle on the glass but I couldn’t tell what was happening around us.
Gage stepped up next to me. “Guess we’re not in the eye anymore.”
“Then we’re in trouble,” I said.
We were in more trouble then I’d thought too. My plan was to go on the roof once the last floor of the building flooded but that wasn’t going to be an option with the wind. It would have easily blown us off of the roof and into the water. We probably wouldn’t last long with the waves that seemed to grow with the wind.
“Crap!” I said grabbing Gage and pulled him away from the window, dropping the flashlight in the process.
A wave splashed against the window with a crash. I shivered as another wave crashed into a window somewhere behind us.
I reached down and quickly picked up the flashlight. I dropped it into the backpack and zipped it up tight before sliding both arms through the straps.
“What do we do?” Gage asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. I wanted to have both hands free in case I needed them to hold on to Gage.
The wind howled and it felt like the building was starting to sway more than it had before. I pulled Gage with me over to the stairwell.
“What are we doing?” he asked.
“I’m checking the water,” I said placing my feet in various spots.
The worn carpet was squishy but the water was no longer over the tops of my shoes. I grabbed him again and pulled him back to the break room.
“Is it bad?” he asked.
“It went down,” I said peering out of the window.
“That’s good, right?” he asked.
I swallowed down the sourness at the back of my throat. There was a lump that felt as though it was stuck.
“Let’s hope so,” I said.
There were so many drops of water on the window that it was hard to see what was happening outside. Not to mention the wind whipping the rain and ocean around in every direction.
“Tell me what’s happening,” Gage said. He was looking out the window. He must have thought it was his vision that was making it hard to see but the truth was the water had cut visibility down to zero.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said.
I felt silly standing there at the window, holding a bag. But not foolish enough to let go of it.
“Maybe once we get to the other side of the hurricane, the water will go back to the ocean,” Gage said. “The first half didn’t take long.”
“Several hours,” I said.
“We just wait several more hours and by then, it’ll be morning,” Gage said.
It was probably a good thing he didn't see what I saw. He wouldn’t have had such hopefulness to his tone if he had.
“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “I still think you should try to get your rest. It helped your eyes earlier, there’s a chance it’ll help you again.”
“Could you sleep with this going on?” Gage asked with a half-smile.
A soft, short chuckle escaped. “I guess not. But you should try. I’ll keep watch and wake you if anything changes.”
Gage sat down on the chair. He blinked several times before resting his head on his fist.
We were already used to the crashes and bangs of the water slamming into the building. If Gage noticed the slight swaying, he didn’t mention it.
“Just give me another one of Janice’s coffee drinks,” Gage said.
I shook my head. “Rest your eyes. They need it. If we get out of here,” I said swallowing hard to stop myself from laughing bitterly at the idea, “we’ll both be better off if your eyesight improves.”
I sounded motherly. It was like I was talking to my little brother and sister.
Gage sighed. “Fine.”
He rested his head down on his folded arms. I waited at least twenty minutes before I opened the fridge and took out a coffee drink.
I listened to his soft breathing. Whether or not he was asleep, I didn’t know. He was trying and that was what mattered.
The storm raged but nothing changed. At least not that I had noticed. I must have drifted off before morning because when I opened my eyes, everything was a bit brighter and what was going on outside the window had changed.
Even though it was still raining, the water that had drowned the entire city was gone.
13
Joss
The storm raged for what felt like hours. Wind raced through the house, blowing papers and other random items around the home. Paintings and decorations crashed to the ground. There wasn’t a second of silence.
When the wind stopped, it was like someone had flipped a switch. Suddenly, just like that, the world was quiet.
I looked around the messy house, noticing things were a bit brighter than they’d been. The walls were coated with the dreary gray tone of a cloudy day. While it seemed as though the worst of the storm was gone, rain still hit the roof at a steady rate.
I stood and Caleb instantly joined me. Pins and needles shot up my calves and numbed my feet.
Earl scrambled to his feet, looking as though he was embarrassed to have been lying on the floor.
“Is it morning?” I whispered not wanting to wake the children if they were asleep. They hadn’t rustled around but perhaps they were still paralyzed with fear.
Caleb and I went to one window and Earl to another. I covered my mouth at the sight and Caleb placed a hand on my shoulder.
Everything was gone. Trees uprooted. Pieces of homes scattered everywhere.
Earl’s shed and his barn were gone along with whatever had been inside them.
“Do you think it’s over?” I asked Caleb.
“I don’t know,” he said.
There were no funnel clouds on the horizon. No lightning and no thunder, just the constant rain falling from the thick, gray clouds.
“I don’t know how to thank you for letting us in,” Caleb said stretching out his hand to Earl.
Earl took it and gave him a firm handshake. He nodded, looking as if he were struggling to find any words.
“If it hadn’t been for you,” Caleb said.
Earl held up his hand to stop him. He cleared his throat. “It was no trouble. I don’t know how we’re going to clean up this mess. Just glad we were spared.”
Caleb nodded.
“I’d offer to stay and do what we can to help but we should really get back our own families,” Caleb said. “We could come back.”
“There’s no need for that,” Earl said. “This is going to be
a project that could take years.”
Hazel walked across the floor and stood next to her husband. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying through the entire night.
“Thanks again,” Caleb said.
I offered them a weak smile. I was beyond thankful but still, I couldn’t manage more than the small gesture.
I hadn’t thought that the storm might have extended back home. But we hadn’t been that far from home. It was likely that everyone back in town had experienced the same type of disaster that we had.
Caleb opened the door and we stepped out into the muddy yard. He spun in a circle as if he was trying to figure out where exactly he was.
“I don’t know which way to go,” he said. “Everything is so different.”
“No sun to give direction,” I muttered.
I figured out where the shed had been and then using that information, I was able to guess approximately where we’d come from. It was a guess but hopefully an educated one.
“I think the road is that way,” I said as I started walking.
It wasn’t long before we found the road. Last night when we’d been running in the storm, blown about by the winds, it had seemed as though we’d gone miles.
“What do you think it’s going to be like back home?” I asked even though I was afraid to hear the answer.
Caleb looked at me. “Honestly?”
I nodded.
“I think it’s going to be bad,” he said. “Like really bad.”
I quickly wiped away the tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye. “But people in town have basements.”
“I’m sure some managed to survive. We did,” Caleb said. His eyes scanned our surroundings. “But look at this,” he kicked a wooden board. “And look around, not another building to be seen.”
I couldn’t keep up with wiping away the tears. I let them roll off my cheeks and onto my clothing. It didn’t matter when I was soaked anyway.
“I’m sorry,” Caleb said putting his arm around me. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I already figured as much. I barely even said goodbye to my family when I left.”
“No one knew this was going to happen,” Caleb said. “If people would have known, they would have been better prepared.”
I swallowed hard. “How could anyone prepare for this?”
We walked in silence.
“Do you think that Earl was right about what happened?” I asked. “That someone reset the planet?”
Caleb shrugged. “It’s possible. They seemed to think so on the radio in Deacon’s car. I’m not sure it matters who or what or why.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because it’s done,” Caleb said. “We’re going to have to find a way to rebuild all of this no matter what caused it. I guess maybe it’s easier when we have a reason or someone to blame for such a catastrophe. But ultimately, I don’t think it really matters.”
My stomach grumbled as we continued to make our way toward town. I knew we were going the right direction when we finally made it to the highway.
Trees were blocking the road, not that we’d heard or seen a car that wasn’t tipped over since leaving the house in the country. The ditches were filled with water and there were parts of the road that were covered with massive puddles.
It was hard to believe it was still raining. Whatever had been done had majorly screwed up the weather and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was like this everywhere.
The only sound around us was the splashing of our feet. There were no distant sounds of birds chirping or dogs barking. There was nothing.
It took us roughly six hours to walk back to town. There had been areas where the water was so deep it had been over our knees.
I longed to be dry. And warm. But when the remnants of our town were visible, I knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
There wasn’t a single building left standing. Our town with our homes had been erased.
I hugged myself as we walked down the street. There were some trees still standing but most of their branches had been stripped of any of the leaves that had been remaining.
Several buildings still stood in part but even the sturdier buildings made of brick or stone had crumbled in sections with their roofs ripped entirely off. Everything that once had been so familiar was now unfamiliar.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Caleb asked taking my hand. “We can stop and like take a moment or whatever.”
The odds of finding my family were slim to none. I knew that deep in my heart. I tried to accept it but it was hard to understand how this could have happened.
What I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle was seeing their bodies. Everything was already horrifying enough. It just wasn’t a mental image I would be able to carry with me.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how maybe if they were alive that they would need me. That they would need help.
“We have to do this,” I said. “There could be people who are in trouble and they need us.”
Caleb nodded and squeezed my hand as he led me forward further into the town. I knew by the direction we were heading that we were going to my parent's home first.
The street sign on the corner was no longer there but for the most part, I still recognized the corner. My throat was dry and the air coming into my lungs chilled my entire body. I exhaled and my heart raced.
There wasn’t anything but debris piled up in the spot where my house used to stand. My body stiffened. I definitely wasn’t ready.
“Are you okay?” Caleb asked with nothing but concern in his eyes.
Tears welled up in my eyes and my shoulders slumped forward as I looked down at the ground. I found just one word. “No.”
14
Adam
When morning came, the rain hadn’t stopped. It hadn’t let up even the slightest. But it was easier to see our surroundings because somewhere behind the dreary gray clouds, the sun was trying to push its way through.
We stepped out of the house, our half-dry clothes becoming soaked once again. My skin itched so severely it wouldn’t surprise me if sitting around in wet clothes had given me a rash.
“How’s your leg?” I asked.
“Better,” Eva said.
We kept our weapons close. I couldn’t help but look around for Mike as if he’d be hiding in the bushes waiting to ambush us.
I still couldn’t believe what we’d seen in the woods. Of course, there was no way to know if Mike had actually been the one to murder that woman but since he’d come from that direction, he probably had.
We found a road and walked toward the city. Most everything was flooded to the point where we had to wade through pools of calf-high water. In certain locations where we were on slightly elevated ground, I could see the cracks in the pavement from the earthquakes.
There was rubble and uprooted trees everywhere. I wasn’t sure how anyone could have survived the destruction.
“Come with me to my house,” Eva said.
“What about finding help?” I asked.
She looked at me and blinked several times. “Look around, Adam. We’re not going to find help.”
“The hospital or even urgent care might still be operating,” I said foolishly.
“You’re so funny,” Eva said. “And even if they are, they’ll be packed with people in much worse shape than we are.”
“If you feel that way, why are we even bothering to check your home?” I asked.
Eva paused. Her shoulders dropped. “You’re right. I don’t know what we’re doing at all going back to the city. We need to get out of here. Find help somewhere else.”
“Maybe,” I said looking at the buildings around us. “I didn’t mean to… we should still check. You know, just in case your family or mine, need our help.”
“Whatever,” Eva said. “I think we’re just wasting time.”
“It’s not like we have anything else to do,” I said.
/>
She kept her eyes forward. “True.”
“What if we don’t find anything here?” I asked.
“Then we leave,” she said.
Eva had made it sound as if the answer was easy. We’d just walk out of town and find somewhere else to go.
I was an only child but still I worried about what had happened to my parents. My dad was smart, he would have found a way to protect my mom and survive. At least that was what I needed to tell myself for the time being.
But I knew being smart would have nothing to do with surviving whatever had happened… was happening. Eva and I hadn’t survived because we were smart, we survived because we’d gotten lucky.
Although, was living in this mess luck? It might have been easier if….
“Help!” a female voice called out. “Please!”
I saw a woman two blocks away. She waved before clutching her other arm and holding it tight to her body.
“Shit,” I said and started to take off running. I didn’t make it far before pain reminded me that my leg had been injured. My awkward limp-run turned into a quick walk toward the woman.
“Adam!” Eva said. I could tell she wasn’t following behind.
As I approached the woman, I could see a gash above her eye. There was dried blood on the side of her cheek. A maroon stain from the blood spread out from the neckline of her drenched, white t-shirt, which was completely see-through.
“Please,” she said with wide eyes. “I think my arm is broken.”
I looked over my shoulder. Eva was walking toward us but she hadn’t made much progress.
“Um,” I said. “Try not to move it. Sorry, I guess that’s obvious.”
“I hit my head,” she said. “I think I’m lost. Everyone’s dead.”
“Uh,” I stammered. I didn’t know what to say to the woman.
She looked confused. Frightened. Disoriented.
“Let’s find something we can use to brace her arm,” Eva said. I couldn’t stop staring at her. Eva was like a different person.
“Good idea,” I said.
The Reset Series (Book 1): Flood Page 7