Beneath the Ashen Veil of Darkness

by Robert Bartlett

  Veronica had never seen such violence in a storm like the storms that now raged across the mountains they called home. She had seen tornados before so she knew that nature could be violent and the volcano had also proven nature’s unpredictability. But the thunderstorms they all dealt with now were something different. They were in a category all to their own. Violent and long lasting with strong gusts of wind, almost hurricane in intensity. With lightening that reached across the heavens like the fiery fingers of god (or the pitchforks of the devil depending on your own point of view). The rain was far too acidic to be able to drink (by animals or plants) so Ray, Willy, Clay, and Jim had engineered a filtration system that sat at the base of a runoff channel on the far side of the mountain about two hundred yards from the main entrance to the compound. Simple enough, it was a fifty gallon barrel that Clay had said was used by people who wanted to collect rain water so that they could use it to water their plants and yards with. Cotton was layered at the bottom of the barrel followed by sand and then charcoal from the fires after that. Small rocks filled it to the top and finally the water was strained through a stack of cotton t-shirts which filtered it enough to use for cleaning and laundry but it stilled needed to be boiled or distilled to make it safe enough to drink. Willy and Jim had been busy working on a way to distill all the water they collected but that had been put on hold while Jim was out on the supply run covering for Jackson.

  Right on cue Willy asks “How’s Gracie doing Ronnie?” She looks up at her friend and sees the honest concern in his eyes as she reply’s “Holly stayed with her last night, Belle stayed with me and the boys so that I could try to get some rest.” The whole camp had been doing all they could for Gracie and Jackson over the last few weeks. You could look at Gracie and tell she was going to pop at any second and the poor thing was struggling to keep up with her daily responsibilities for the compound. So everyone was pitching in to give her and Jackson a hand with whatever was needed, for the compound, and for their soon to be new arrival. “She’s still pretty uncomfortable huh?” Willy says with the worry of an experienced grandfather and the uncertainty that a man has about being pregnant. “That she is. As far as we can tell she can go at any minute” answers Veronica. “Isn’t there like a test we can perform on her or something? Wave a branch over her or put ring on a string above her belly?” Veronica’s laughter echoes through the camp as she responds, “There are, but I don’t know exactly what to do and I don’t think we have any witch doctors wandering about to perform any of your suggestions.” She bursts into laughter again enjoying her own joke at Willy’s expense. Willy throws his own head back in laughter at his own ignorance. “Well in my day young Mrs. Stratford, men waited in the waiting room where they belonged.” Willy says as his laughter subsides. “We could tell how far along she was if someone knew how to check to see if her cervix was dilated” offers Veronica. “Check her what? To see if it’s what?” Willy asks more confused than ever. Veronica’s laughter flies through the camp this time like a mini sonic boom.

  “I hope that coffee has the same effect on us.” Holly exclaims as she and Jackson stroll into the firelight red eyed and dragging from spending the night doing all they could to help keep Gracie comfortable. “I seriously doubt it” proclaims Willy with a sideways look at the now hysterical Veronica. The rest of the camp begins to filter in through the dark and congregate underneath the pavilion they had erected to act as a central gathering point in the center of the compound. It wasn’t much protection from most of the elements but at least it kept the rain off of you. Not that there had been much rain lately. Lately it had begun to turn mostly to snow. Not the pure beautiful white snow we all know and love, not the snow that little children all over America used to dream about on Christmas morning, this snow was grey and dirty as it fell slowly from the skies to lie on the dead grey ground. Acting as nature’s little maids it gently scrubs the air as it slowly filters out all the poison and ash the volcano had seemed fit to cover the world in. Cain and his best friend Dylan were next, followed closely by Belle. Colt and Holly’s four year old daughter that had had stayed with them last night while Holly filled in for Veronica with Gracie. “Well don’t you two look nice and chipper this morning” Willy says with a sly smile at the two obviously disappointed young men that were awake when they both obviously thought they should still be asleep. “Belle said she had to go to the bathroom” Cain and Dylan both say in groggy, unison. “Mommy!” Belle shouts from behind them as she spots Holly at the edge of the fire pit, “Good morning baby doll! How did you sleep? Were you good for Mrs. Ronnie and the boys?” Holly asks her daughter as she scoops her up for a good morning bear hug. “Yes ma’am.” Belle answers in the sweet voice of innocence that her mother and father both hoped everyday wouldn’t be tainted by the harsh cruel world they now knew their lovely young daughter would spend her entire life struggling to survive in. As if Veronica could read her thoughts she whispers in Holly’s ear, just loud enough for only her to hear, “The sun won’t hide forever. One day the world will correct itself, the sun will shine again on the lands and waters and life will begin as new.” Holly smiles at Ronnie’s words of encouragement as her daughter nestles herself into her neck. “Has anyone seen Sophia and the twins yet this morning?” Willy asks no one in particular. “Not yet, they may have gone to the wash house before coming over to the pavilion” Veronica answers. “I have to take Belle over to the washroom now so she can use the potty. I’ll check to see if they’re in there when I do” Holly offers. “Thank you Holly” Veronica says as she hands Holly a fresh cup of coffee. “I’m going to go on back and check on Gracie too” Jackson says as he stands up, two cups of coffee in his hands “I’ll see if Gracie wants a cup, maybe the warmth of the coffee will help her fell a little better.” Jackson holds the cup of coffee up in a mock salute to the group “And if she doesn’t, I sure as hell can use an extra cup.” As the group laughs in agreement, Jackson turns and strolls away towards the bunker (or “Hobbit hole” as Jim had nicknamed them) that he, his wife, and soon to be child, all called home.

  “Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light”

  – Albus Dumbledore

  Chapter Ten

  Jackson sits in a chair just across the room from his wife, watching her and feeling increasingly guilty that he can do nothing to help her in her discomfort. The battery powered lantern that they used when they were inside their bunkers radiated just enough light to make out her anguished face as it twisted and contorted in what was obvious agony as his poor beautiful wife tried to rest. They had been married for seven years now, wait, or was it eight? He couldn’t tell what time of day it was much less what the date was in this damned infernal darkness. And now the brightest light in his life lay squirming in pain and discomfort as he sat here not able to do a damned thing about it. Jackson wrung his hands as he quickly stood up with hasty disgust and walked over to his pitiful wife, dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth and then pulling the covers down back over her feet which had become exposed due to her inability to be able to lie still in her pain. He had met Gracie at his cousin Pat’s wedding who had been marrying Gracie’s stepsister Julia. Neither one of them wanting to be there, but bound by moral family obligation to be there, they ended up keeping each other company at the reception by keeping the bartender at the open bar constantly in work. Instant friends as they entertained themselves by picking apart all the other attendees clothes and hair laughing as the drinks continued to go down easy. They exchanged numbers and were calling and texting on a regular basis by the next day. Dating by the next weekend, and engaged by the following spring. She was and is all he had ever truly wanted. He loved her not only for who she was but for who he was when he was with her. They had everything a young couple could’ve asked for. A house with a nice yard and a garage both had blossoming careers (hers in real estate, his in teaching), financial stability, and were living healthy happy lives. All they seemed to ne
ed to complete their puzzle of the American dream was a family of their own. The last piece of the puzzle however was a little harder to obtain than they had anticipated. After the first miscarriage they both were still optimistic that everything was fine, that it was just one of those unfortunate things that happened to fortunate people. By the end of their fifth however, they had both grown frustrated and confused as pessimism set in just about making them give up on ever completing their puzzle. It had also unfortunately strained their relationship beyond any point either of them had ever thought possible. At first she had blamed him. Then he had blamed her. Then they had blamed god, the doctors, and anyone else that they could think of to project their pain and frustrations onto. But in the end it hadn’t been anyone’s fault. The doctors said that they couldn’t figure out why Gracie’s body kept rejecting the fetuses. They said that he and Gracie were both perfectly healthy, but then they had also said that they couldn’t keep putting Gracie’s body through the physical and mental strain of the miscarriages. So in the end, with the constant disappointment and depression and now the added risk to Gracie’s health, they had just simply given up. Then the world got turned upside down and had become a living hell on earth. And in the midst of the chaos of death, starvation, and destruction that the entire planet had transformed into they had been delivered a miracle. After all they had gone through, in this science fiction version of the world, they had finally been given a chance to complete their puzzle.

  Jackson looks down at his wife as she moans and whimpers and softly kisses her on her forehead. Quietly whispering words of encouragement to his suffering love, “It’s ok doll, I’m here if you need me. Just imagine Gracie any time now, after all we’ve been through, we’ll be parents and we’re going to have our own little beautiful baby to love and cherish. The last piece of our puzzle, a symbol of light and hope in this otherwise dark and hopeless world.” Her eyes open slightly as she looks at him managing a weak smile “I know lover.” Gracie says to her husband just loud enough for him to hear with her sleepy, dry throat. “Hey you” Jackson breathes as he wipes her brow with a damp cool cloth, “I thought you were asleep.” “I was.” Gracie whispers, “I was dreaming. I dreamt we had a beautiful baby girl and that we named her Marie.” She raises her husband’s hand to her lips kissing the back of it. “Marie?” Jackson chuckles “I thought we weren’t going to consider names until we meet him or her?” “I can’t control my dreams dear” she smiles at him meeting his gaze as he lovingly looks down at his wife. “Well at least we have a girl’s name picked out now. Can I get you anything?” “Can you get me a glass of water please?” Gracie asks weakly. “Of course, coming right up beautiful.” Jackson bends down and kisses his wife’s forehead as he stands up to go pour her a glass of water. As Jackson reaches the water basin Gracie cries out, her voice still foggy from sleep “Jackson! I think my water just broke!” Jackson drops the cup he was holding to pour the water in as he fully takes in her words, “What? Really?” he clamors as he turns around to stare at his wife. Gracie is sitting up in bed her legs are spread underneath the covers Jackson had laid over her to fight back the chill; between them is a widening pool of amniotic fluid and blood. “Gracie is that normal?” Jackson shakily asks his wife who has gone pale in the light of the lantern. She looks up at him the tears evident in her eyes “I don’t think so, maybe, I’m not sure maybe a little but not this much, I don’t know!” She is becoming hysterical in her panic “Gracie! Oh my god baby, what do I do?” Jackson asks as he begins to slip into his own hysteria. Seeing the stress on Jackson’s face Gracie slowly begins to calm herself down as she lies back on the bed taking in deep controlled breaths. “Jackson it’s ok honey. But you need to go and get Veronica and Sophia.”

  “When you are in the midst of chaos, it is then that you need to find the stillness that lives within you.”

  –Unknown

  Chapter Eleven

  Holly found Sophia and her twelve year old twin girls, Lily and Rose, washing up and brushing their teeth in the designated “woman’s” area of the wash room yesterday morning. Holly was then able to catch Sophia up on the status of Gracie as they discussed the plans for the days’ list of chores. A list which mostly consisted of collecting firewood, cleaning, cooking and rationing out provisions, making the daily morning and evening runs to the water filtration station, and doing laundry. It always struck them as funny, but Clay had insisted that everyone still used the accepted names for the designated times of the day even though in truth you could no longer tell the difference between dawn or dusk or morning or afternoon. There was only dark and darker that separated day and night. And even then, like during a storm for instance, you could really only differentiate the two by the time on your watch or the wind up clocks they all kept in their hobbit holes. Which (if they were being honest) they had become quite fond of the clocks and would now find it very difficult to sleep without the monotonous tick tock, tick tock, sound the clocks made as they ticked away the days and nights of their lives.

  As the “day” and every ones daily responsibilities were coming to an end, everyone meets under the pavilion, as they did every night, and has supper together as a family and a group. It was only fitting that they all did this since for most of them, each other was the only family they had left in this dark and sinister world. Plus it helped to build and keep the comradery and sense of belonging that a truly successful community needed. It created an old fashioned sense of responsibility for one another. According to Jim and Willy that sense of togetherness was only good thing to come out of the calamity the volcanic eruption had created. A true sense of fellowship. A sense of belonging to something greater than just yourself, as they all fought to survive together in the chaos. Veronica hated to admit it but she had to agree with them. It was also a great time to reflect and share details about your day and to bring up any issues with the camp. A forum of sorts for making suggestions on how to make things better or to mention if something needed fixed. Plus it was just a good time for everyone to check on the well being of everyone else that they had all come to care about and whose lives depended on their abilities to take on and complete the daily chores of life that was the community. Like the whole country was two hundred years ago, when your family, your neighbor, your community, your town, had actually meant something.

  That nights supper and subsequent round table discussions had been no different as far as the itinerary and agenda that they all normally followed. Small talk was made but there was a glaring hole left in the story telling without Ray, Colt, Clay, and especially Jim who were all out on the latest supply run. So, without the stories, the topic of conversation quickly turned to Jackson and the condition of Gracie. Veronica shared that they had seemed fine when she had last checked in on them earlier and taken them their supper so that they could eat it together in their bunker. Ronnie stated that Gracie seemed to tired and uncomfortable to try to make it out to the pavilion to eat and Jackson, of course, didn’t want Gracie to eat alone. As supper concluded everyone exchanged their nightly pleasantries and retired for the evening. Making her way back to her own bunker Veronica had stopped to check on the condition of Gracie one more time. Where Gracie and Jackson kept insisting on everyone sleeping in their own hobbit holes that night so that they all could get some much deserved rest assuring everyone that they would be just fine until the morning. Veronica was too tired to argue and finally submitted to the couples wishes bidding them both a good night.

  Veronica had been lying in her bed missing her husband, listening to the rhythmic breathing of Cain and Dylan, marveling at how only teenagers could drift off to sleep in minutes after such an eventful day, going over the rations and events of her own day as she slowly tries to drift off to sleep. The guilt she felt for her mistreatment of Clay still causing an uneasiness that made sleep difficult to find. Finally able to drift off, it seemed to Veronica as if she had only been asleep for seconds when she heard the frantic pounding on the bunker door and the
panicked calling of her and Sophia’s name. In her sleepy state she couldn’t quite make out whose voice it was calling for her. At first she thought it had been Clay and that the scouting party had gotten back already. But no it wasn’t Clay it was…………Jackson. It was Jackson! Gracie it seems had finally gone into labor! The community was about to welcome its newest member.

  “Where there is life, there is hope.”

  – Mother Theresa

  Chapter Twelve

  Year One, Day Three Hundred and Twenty Four