Solar Fury

by E A Chance

  She caught Coop glancing at the watch. “Riley, thirty minutes. We need to call it.”

  “No. I refuse to give up. Julia trade back with me.”

  Julia didn’t want to stop, but her mom slipped between her and Hannah, forcing her out of the way. She moved toward Hannah’s head, but Coop got there first and started giving her breaths. Sensing that Hannah was gone, Julia couldn’t stand by and watch them torture her body another second. She blindly ran into the woods, not caring where she was going. Her only thought was to get away from the horrifying scene.

  She wandered aimlessly until she found a hollowed-out oak tree. She climbed inside and pulled her knees to her chest, trying to shut off her thoughts, but the words Hannah’s dead, Hannah’s dead, played on a loop in her brain. It had all happened in a terrible flash. One second they were collecting those stupid rocks. The next, Hannah was swallowed by the river.

  She started to shiver and realized she didn’t have her coat. Will I freeze to death, too? Do I care if I do? Is there a point to fight to survive only to be wiped out in an instant anyway?

  While she pondered her life and death questions, the sound of Coop shouting floated into her hiding place. Not wanting to worry him, she crawled out of the tree and started for the riverbank, dreading what she’d find when she got there.

  She didn’t know which direction to go, so she stopped and closed her eyes, filtering out all the sounds but Coop’s voice. She headed towards him and the woods began to thin as she neared the river. She broke through the trees to find Coop with his arms locked around her mother’s waist, dragging her off Hannah. She kicked and screamed, but Coop tightened his hold and carried her to the tree line.

  “Stop this, Riley,” he cried. “We’ve lost her. You have to let her go.”

  Riley quieted and went limp, so Coop loosened his grip. She wriggled free and took off at a full run into the woods. Coop dropped his arms to his sides and didn’t go after her. He walked to Hannah and sank to his knees to gently remove Julia’s coat from the body. He replaced it with Hannah’s drenched jacket, taking care to cover her face. When he finished, he locked his fingers behind his neck and rocked as his body shook with sobs.

  Julia stood frozen in place, just staring. She longed to join him, but her feet refused to move. She rubbed her arms, wishing for her coat, but it was in a heap on the frozen ground ten feet away. It might as well have been a hundred for her ability to reach it.

  She’d seen hundreds of dead bodies since the CME and thought she’d become hardened to the sight, but this wasn’t just another anonymous corpse. This was Hannah, her new sister, a part of their family. How could she go on without her?

  An involuntary groan escaped her lips and Coop turned to face her. He stared for several seconds like he didn’t recognize her, then stood and grabbed her coat. He tenderly wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

  “It’s going to be okay, Julia. It was just a horrible accident. We need to put our grief aside for now and find your mom.” He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “She’s hysterical and I’m afraid she’ll hurt herself. Can you help me look for her?” Julia nodded numbly and let him lead her in the direction her mom had gone. “Good girl. We’ll come back for Hannah. Nothing can hurt her now.”

  Riley crashed into the woods, oblivious of the underbrush and branches clawing at her arms and face. All she knew was that she had to get away from the river. She ran until her lungs burned, begging her to stop, but she ignored them. After what felt like hours, she broke through the tree line to find herself on an outcropping above the river. She’d traveled in a half-circle.

  She recoiled from the sight of the river and turned in the direction of the camp. Instinct drove her into the woods, but nothing looked familiar as she wandered in aimless circles. She kept moving, desperate to find their sanctuary and bury herself in the sleeping bag.

  The ground leveled and the trees thinned. She was heading the right way. She increased her speed until she was moving at a full sprint. Just as she spotted the trail access to their campsite, her heel hit a patch of ice, sending her legs out from under her. The side of her head struck a tree as she fell. She sank down to the knotted roots and groaned as the world went dark. The last thing she heard was Julia calling her name.

  Panic knotted in Julia’s gut and drowned out her grief. She and Coop had been searching for her mom for almost an hour. Since her mom was wearing a yellow coat, Julia thought she’d be easy to spot. The woods surrounding the campsite just weren’t that big and Julia had searched them ten times.

  She stopped and leaned against a fallen log, calling her mom’s name for the thousandth time. She began to wonder if she had abandoned them, but even if her mom had become crazy with grief, Julia couldn’t believe she’d desert her, especially after what happened with Hannah. She heard Coop call her mom’s name, and, not wanting to be alone, she headed in that direction.

  “Coop, where are you?” she called. “Keep making noise so I can find you.”

  “I’m by the tree that looks like a trident,” came his faint reply.

  “A what?”

  “A trident. A three-pronged fork. The thing Aquaman holds.”

  He’s so weird, she thought as she walked toward what she and Hannah had named the fork tree. A fresh wave of pain washed over her at the memory. She stumbled but caught herself by grabbing the trunk of a massive tree next to the trail. As she righted herself, she saw a scrap of yellow in the underbrush ten feet away. She ran to the spot and found her mom, laying in a pile of broken twigs and branches.

  “Coop, Mom’s here,” she screamed. “I found Mom.”

  “Where, Julia?” he called. “Tell me where you are.”

  Julia couldn’t answer. The red stain spreading in the snow beneath her mother’s head had left her speechless. Her mom was pale and not moving. Julia knew she should check for a pulse and see if she was breathing, but she was paralyzed.

  “Julia, answer me!” Coop shouted.

  The urgency in his voice broke her trance. She searched her surroundings to get her bearings.

  “I don’t know. Coop. Not far from the path. Mom’s hurt. Hurry!”

  She heard twigs snapping seconds later, and Coop smashed through the underbrush. He rushed to Riley’s side and began examining her. Julia watched in horror, sobs racking her body. She couldn’t bring herself to look and covered her eyes.

  “Is she dead?” she whispered.

  “She’s alive but unconscious.” Julia peeked between her fingers as he pulled a neckerchief from his pocket and pressed it to the side of Riley’s head. “She’s cut, but the bleeding is slowing, probably because her temperature is dropping. You found her just in time. We have to get her to camp as quickly as we can.” He tied the neckerchief over her wound before putting his hands under her arms to lift her. “Get her feet.”

  Julia put her hands under Riley’s calves and lifted, surprised at how heavy she was. They half dragged, half carried her to camp. Julia could barely stand by the time they got her on the bed but forced herself to keep going when Coop called for the med-kit to treat her mom’s wounds. She sat on his bed and watched while he cleaned and stitched Riley’s cut. Julia was relieved to hear her groaning.

  When Coop finished, he tapped Riley’s cheek. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. Naptime is over.”

  Riley moaned but didn’t open her eyes.

  Coop sat next to Julia and put a hand on her shoulder. “She’ll respond once her temperature rises but she’s going to have one hell of a headache. We know what that’s like, don’t we? She’s the newest official member of the head injury club.”

  Julia couldn’t bring herself to smile at his joke and started to weep silently instead.

  “I thought Mom died,” she whispered through her tears. “I thought she was invincible, but she’s just like anyone else. Hannah’s parents died. She was an orphan. I almost became an orphan. Any of us could die at any time. Nowhere is safe. We’re never goin
g to make it to Uncle Mitch’s ranch.”

  Coop wrapped his arms around her. It felt good for him to hold her, but it didn’t change the fact that they were all dead people walking.

  “Listen carefully, Julia,” he said. “Even before the CME, it was possible for any of us to die at any moment. Nothing has changed. True, chances are higher now, but life has always been unpredictable. I’m a cardiac surgeon. I’ve lost healthy, thirty-five-year-old patients who had sudden heart attacks that no one could have predicted.”

  Julia shook her head. “That was different. Most of the world is dead now.”

  “It is, but people still got in car accidents then. Children drowned in rivers or choked on hotdogs. Your dad died defending our country. We can’t give up or stop living because we might die. We just have to be more careful and vigilant in this world. Can I promise nothing bad will happen to us? No, I can’t. But I can promise I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, your mom, and myself. Hannah died in a tragic accident, but she’d want us to keep going. I bet she’s rooting for us from the other side. Bet your dad is too.”

  “That’s what I’ve told myself since he died, but I don’t know anymore. This is different. I’m so scared all the time. I just want everything to go back to normal and I wish we’d never met Hannah. Then, I wouldn’t have had to watch her die.”

  “But she wouldn’t have had anyone to remember her or mourn her. The rest of her family doesn’t know she’s gone.”

  He stood and checked Riley’s pulse and breathing. “She’s warming up, and her pulse is strong and regular.” He held his hand out to Julia. “Can you handle coming with me to give Hannah a decent burial? It’s the least we can do.”

  Julia stood and kissed her mom’s cheek before taking his hand. The last thing she wanted was to go back to the scene of Hannah’s death, but her friend didn’t deserve to have her body left rotting by the river. Once they finished burying her, Julia planned to climb into her sleeping bag, cover up her head, and forget that horrible day forever.

  Riley woke in a dark room, wondering where the sun had gone. Last she could remember, it had been morning. She raised her wrist to check the time, but her arm was bare. Where’s my watch? she wondered as she unzipped her sleeping bag and swung her feet to the floor. Her head pounded, her mouth was bone dry, and her bladder felt like it was about to burst.

  She felt for her flashlight on the shelf next to her bed and pointed it at Coop’s bed, expecting to find him asleep, but his sleeping bag was rolled and tied. She pulled her boots on and went to find out what had happened. As she descended the steps, she was relieved to see Julia and Coop sipping soup by a roaring blaze at the fire-pit. But where was Hannah?

  At the thought, memories of the events at the river flooded over her. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed onto the frozen ground. Coop and Julia were at her side in an instant, talking at her, saying words she couldn’t comprehend. All she wanted was to scrub the memories out of her head and go back to the oblivion of the dark cabin. Coop scooped her up and carried her to the fire-pit. He gently lowered her onto a warm, flat rock near the flames, then placed his palms on her cheeks and stared into her eyes.

  “Do you know where you are?” he asked.

  Stupid question. She brushed his hands away and glared. “In the campground where we’ve been for the past five days.”

  He gently pressed his fingertips to the back of her skull. She stared at him in confusion until a burning pain exploded on her scalp and traveled down her neck. She shoved his hand away and touched the spot with her own fingertips. There was a knot the size of a robin’s egg and the rough edges of sutures. That explained the stupid question.

  “What happened to me?”

  Julia sat cross-legged on the dirt in front of her and took her hands. “You ran into the woods and we found you unconscious. We think you slipped on a patch of ice and banged your head on a tree.”

  Julia's eyes were puffy and raw. When tears dripped onto her cheeks, she didn’t bother to wipe them, which was strange because she hated for anyone to see her cry.

  Riley studied her face, then squeezed her hands. “I don’t remember.”

  Julia jumped up and wrapped her in a bear hug. “You scared me so bad. I thought you were dead like Hannah.”

  Riley turned her gaze to Coop. He folded his arms and stared into the fire with eyes as swollen as Julia’s.

  She unwrapped herself from Julia and patted the rock next to her. “Tell me what happened,” she said.

  Without taking his gaze from the fire, Coop said, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  Her last memory was of him tearing her off of Hannah’s body, but she couldn’t speak the words. Saying it would make it real. She wanted it to stay a terrifying nightmare she’d wake up from any minute.

  “Hannah’s dead,” she whispered. “I could have saved her. You stopped me.”

  “We tried to resuscitate her for almost forty minutes. She was gone long before I stopped you. You need to accept that we did our best.”

  Riley pressed her knuckles to her eyes. “What would it have hurt to keep going? If you’re right, we had nothing to lose.”

  Coop turned to face her. “Except for our sanity and her dignity. You were traumatizing Julia. We’re not going to argue this now. You were incoherent and bleeding from your wound when we found you. We carried you here, and I stitched your cut, then I cleaned you up and put you to bed.”

  Riley looked down, ashamed to meet his eyes. “You carried me? With your broken ribs?” she whispered.

  “I’m fine. My incision didn’t reopen, and my ribs aren’t even sore, so forget it. I wasn’t about to lose you after Hannah.”

  “Sorry for making a traumatic situation worse. I owe you.”

  “Call it even.”

  Riley nodded. “Where’s Hannah’s body?”

  Julia wiped her face on her coat. “Coop and I buried her under the rocks we’d collected, to keep the animals away from her. We’re going to have a funeral tomorrow. We knew you’d want to be there.”

  Her words wrenched Riley’s heart into a knot. She wanted to cry. Wished she could, but her eyes were as dry as her mouth.

  She stood and dusted off her pants. “Coop, help me to the outhouse, please. Then, I’m going back to bed.”

  Julia got to her feet, too. “You should eat, Mom. You haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

  “I can’t. Not now. I’ll try in the morning.”

  Riley scooted deeper into her sleeping bag when she heard Coop’s boots pounding up the cabin steps. She felt him leaning over the cot and did her best to keep her breathing deep and even, so he’d think she was asleep.

  He shook the bed frame with his knee, and said, “Decent acting but not quite Oscar-worthy. I’ve let you mourn for three days, Riley. It’s time to get up and pitch in. Julia and I can’t manage all the work around the campground alone.”

  She sighed and rolled onto her back. “I’m not ready. You and Julia are handling it just fine. You don’t need me.”

  He unzipped the sleeping bag and uncovered her. “You’re not the only one grieving for Hannah. Julia’s traumatized, but she’s not giving up like you are. She needs her mother. You’re forcing her to cope alone. It’s selfish.”

  “Guilt? That’s the best you have? And Julia’s not alone. She has you. She likes you better than me, anyway.”

  “Do you blame her? And do you think this isn’t any easier for me? I’d come to care for Hannah like a daughter. We’ve all suffered a loss. The entire world is suffering. What makes you special?”

  Riley sat up and glared at him. “Don’t you think I know that? I just can’t face it yet. It takes everything I have to drag myself out of this bed to go to the latrine. I’m sorry if that doesn’t meet up to your lofty standards.” She laid back and rezipped the sleeping bag, then covered her head. “I’ll get up when I’m ready. Get off my back.”

  “Appears I’m caring for two teenagers. Julia and
I are going to look for a truck. We might be gone all day. Get your own meals and keep the fire going.”

  “Take your time. I’ll finally have peace for once,” she called, as he stomped down the steps.

  She waited until she heard Coop and Julia’s voices receding before throwing off the sleeping bag and running to the outhouse. When she finished, she went to the fire-pit and planted herself on a rock to get warm.

  She was disgusted with herself for the way she’d treated Coop, but since Hannah’s death, all she could manage was the path of least resistance. He was struggling to keep the three of them alive despite his own pain. None of it was his fault, and he didn’t deserve her anger, but she was too overwhelmed to control her outbursts. Crying would have eased her grief, but the tears still refused to come.

  He’d been justified in calling her out for neglecting Julia, but his words had stung. Riley had been able to dig deep and face each crisis along their journey, but Hannah’s death had broken her. Coop kept reminding her how close they were to Uncle Mitch’s ranch, but the light at the end of the tunnel had gone dark. The thought of leaving the campground caused her physical pain, so her only defense was to crawl deeper into her cocoon and wish it all away.

  Chapter Twelve

  Julia sat on Coop’s bed and watched Riley sleep. In the four days since Hannah’s death, her mom had only gotten up to go to the outhouse. She and Coop brought all her meals, but he told Julia that morning they weren’t going to do it anymore to force her mom to get up or starve. Julia was afraid she would allow herself to starve. Her mom didn’t care about anything anymore. Not even her.

  Julia was starting to go from being worried to being pissed. Did her mom think they weren’t destroyed over Hannah’s death, too? Julia had found a way to keep going, with Coop’s love and encouragement. They’d worked together to keep up with chores in the camp and find new supplies while her mom hid in her sleeping bag. It wasn’t fair. Julia wanted to hide in her sleeping bag, too, but Coop wouldn’t let her, and she was glad.