The Changing Earth Series (Book 4): Battle for the South

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  Battle For the South

  The Changing Earth Series

  By: Sara F. Hathaway

  DEDICATION

  To my many mentors: There have been a few people that have unexpectedly come into my life and encouraged me to be a better version of myself; they know who they are. Skip Buck and Chief Master Dan Lovas deserve special recognition for taking me under their wings and showing me how to fly higher than I ever imagined possible. Thank you for your love, your guidance, and your patience.

  Copyright 2017 Sara F. Hathaway

  eBook Edition

  This book is also available in print edition at most major retailers.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Chapter 1

  The mist floated through the air as Erika stared out at the horizon. Lights dotted the coastline in the distance that was slowly drifting by. The constant slapping of the paddle wheel carried a beat in her head. She envisioned her young son, Daniel, dancing to the rhythm, his blond hair bouncing in the sunshine.

  In August of this year he would be eleven. Erika cursed this life that had caused her son to grow up much faster than he should have. All of them had, for that matter, she thought to herself, shaking her head in disgust. In her heart, she wanted to be home safe with him, but now, she didn’t know if she would ever see him again.

  Erika squeezed her eyes tightly as they began to burn. Whether it was from the intense emotions or the constant barrage of the salt-laden mist, Erika couldn’t tell. It was for the better, she told herself. It had been a joint decision between her husband, Vince, and herself. They had no other choice but to leave Daniel with Vince’s parents when they left. On the run from the Federal Governing Board was not a journey they wanted to take a small boy on. Besides that, Erika knew it would be easier for her and Vince to blend into the crowds without him.

  “Mom,” a voice from behind Erika called. Turning at the sound, Erika saw her daughter. At nineteen years old, Star was gorgeous. Her golden-blond hair was tied back in a ponytail to keep it from thrashing in the wind on the deck. Her sinew body rippled with muscles that flexed with each step. Erika was so proud of the life Star had carved out despite a lifetime of trials and tribulations.

  “Hey, Star, what’s up?” Erika inquired.

  “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Star explained. “Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Erika followed Star’s long legs across the wooden planks on the deck of the paddleboat. They were traveling down the Mississippi Sea. After the Great Quake, the ocean seawater had flooded the river, swallowing states and connecting the salt water through to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Great Lakes in Michigan had been flooded with seawater, devastating the ecosystems. With the worldwide oil shortages, steam-powered paddleboats took travelers up and down this new seaway, if you could get the clearance from the government to travel that far.

  Erika’s ears rang with the sound of Star’s husband’s band rocking a rendition of Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle Again” as they passed the concert room. The crowd cheered furiously, and Erika could see her son-in-law, Sean, was having the time of his life up there on that stage. His light brown hair thrashed in the air as he pumped his fist and sang his heart out into the microphone. He and Star had gotten married two winters ago while they were stranded in a cabin in Montana. Erika and Vince had approved of the match. They felt he was an honest man with a solid work ethic and a passion to entertain.

  Descending the tight stairwell to the lower level of the boat, Star led Erika to a thin cabin door. Inside she found Vince. He was wearing a baseball cap, like he normally did, and his curly hair barely peeked out under it. His hazel eyes housed yellow stars around his pupils and she watched them focus on her as she entered. He had been conversing with a caramel-skinned man with short black hair. Rippled with muscles, his large body turned, and his green eyes met hers. Erika stammered for a moment, consumed with his masculine look and pheromone-laced scent.

  “This is Melvin Sanders,” Star introduced the strange man.

  His chair rolled back as he got up quickly from his seat. Walking over toward Erika with his hand extended, he declared, “And you, ma’am, must be Mrs. Erika Moore.”

  His eyes sparkled, delighting in the experience.

  “In the flesh,” Erika replied.

  “It is truly my honor, ma’am,” Melvin said respectfully. “I am happy to extend the resources of the Texas Militia to help you on your journey south.”

  Vince was confused. “Texas Militia?”

  “Yes, sir, the Federal Forces could never take Southern Texas, and the refugees that have escaped have formed networks of their own Militias across the United States. After all, we are Americans. We have the right to defend ourselves from all threats, both foreign and domestic,” he explained passionately.

  “I bet the Federal Governing Board doesn’t share your opinion,” Erika commented.

  “You got that right, ma’am. They would have taken our land years ago, if the citizens of Southern Texas had allowed it, but that’s neither here nor there. The Governor of Texas would like to meet you. I am prepared to take you and your husband to meet with him. If you would like to come with me, we must go—now,” he urged, moving toward the door.

  “What?” Erika was unsure of what to do. “We’re traveling as members of Sean’s band, we’ll be fine.”

  She would much rather stay with her daughter than trust this stranger. Vince looked at her curiously.

  “Erika,” Vince remarked, “we have to go. Think about it. Even if Master Sergeant (MSgt) Bennet didn’t find us missing on the first day, when you didn’t show up to work out the next, he would have figured out we left. He’ll be coming after us in a boat much faster than the one we are on. We’ll never make it to port in time.”

  “What about Star and Sean? There will be two people missing from their crew,” Erika worried. She didn’t want them facing trouble.

  “Melvin brought friends to take your places,” Star explained. “You have to go, Mom.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Erika acquiesced, grabbing their gear.

  They left the small space of the cabin, heading back into the open air of a balcony area. Erika breathed the cool air and trusted to fate. She watched Melvin grab a thick rope that was tied to the railing. He went over the edge, and climbed down to a small rubber dinghy rocking in the waves next to the paddleboat. Vince and Erika hugged their daughter tightly. They were going to be on their own for the first time in many years. Watching the wooden slats of the paddleboat’s exterior go by, Erika’s vision blurred from the tears slowly building and falling down her face. It was a quick rappel down the side and before long she was staring up at Star from the small craft.

  “I love you, Star,” Erika whispered to her.

  “I love you too, Mom. Take care of Dad. We’ll meet again in Dallas, okay?” Star stressed.

  She hated watching her parents go. Star felt she should be going with them, not staying here to manage a band. She thought that she should be helping her parents rescue her grandmother from the next disaster that was headed their way. Star had been adopted by Erika and Vince when she was eight, but they had always loved her like one of their own. He
r sense of loyalty pulled deeply at her heartstrings, but Star knew she had a role to play in the rescue as well. Her parents were going to meet up with the band later to travel through the southwestern gate with the band’s cross-region passes. Until then, the band would have to make sure they adhered strictly to the rules. Otherwise, their passes could be revoked, and all would be lost.

  “Bye, Super Star,” Vince teased, kissing her.

  “Bye, Dad,” Star replied, watching him descend the rope.

  Erika’s clothes began to dampen as she waited in the tiny dinghy with Melvin, watching Vince rappelling down the rope. She was fearful of the road in front of them but confident about her choice to embark on this mission. When the Great Quake had happened, twelve years ago, FEMA made the decision to close the California border. The level of destruction had been so enormous that resources had to be focused, instead of spreading them out everywhere. The people of California had become expendable.

  Erika had learned, from a young scientist at the Mercenary force training camp, that they were looking at another wave of destruction hitting the current coastline in the near future. There was no way to tell exactly when the next quake would happen, but he could tell from seismic activity that it was building up to produce another massive quake.

  Her mentor, MSgt Bennet, had known it was coming. He knew her mother and many of her friends at the Las Vegas FEMA camp would be in harm’s way. Erika cursed him for not telling her. She and Vince knew they would have to save the people they loved, even if it meant a possible sentence of life in a prison camp, or death. It had not been any easy decision to reach, but life with the death of those you love on your conscience was not one they wanted to live either.

  The small rubber boat rocked gently as Melvin used the oars to row quietly away from the paddleboat. Once they were clear of the larger boat, Melvin started a small engine and puttered into the darkness of the night.

  Chapter 2

  “MSgt Bennet, your team is assembled, sir,” Corporal Jordon Smith declared to the giant of a man.

  “I’ll be there in a moment,” the master sergeant replied to the young corporal.

  Bennet noticed Corporal Smith’s military cap, covering his brown hair, was slightly crooked as the corporal turned sharply to leave the room. Bennet decided to let the lapse of uniform code slip. He was too upset to worry about it now.

  How could I let this happen? he wondered to himself. He was putting himself through hell, knowing he had let her slip away, again. He’d hoped Erika Moore would be the blade that would cut the fragile thread holding this sickening society together. Bennet plotted with the resistance Militia and the Mercenary Army to bring her home safely from the refugee camp. The plan had worked perfectly. Bennet remembered the first time he had met Erika Moore and her family. They had been brought to the Federal Detention Center in the Las Vegas FEMA Camp where he worked as a rehabilitation specialist. His time as a drill sergeant had trained him exceptionally well for this position. Erika had helped to organize and lead a rebellion against the Federal Forces. A loyal serviceman in the Marines, Bennet cursed the day that the individual branches of the military of the United States had been turned into the Federal Forces, but there wasn’t enough leadership left to maintain them all.

  When Erika was brought before him, Bennet had no idea that Erika and her family never should have been in the FEMA camp. They were landowners who had gotten lost in the system. Erika and Vince’s two eldest children had gone through the infertilization procedure. This was what they had rioted about.

  After Bennet got the Moore family back home, people started talking about her story of government defiance and what their innocent family had faced at the hands of this ruthless system. The Federal Governing Board had brought Vince and Erika to task about the aggressive actions the Moore family had taken against the government during their time in the FEMA camp, but in the end the board had opted for probation rather than prison camp to appease the minds of millions of citizens watching the proceedings. As a result, the people had elected additional Constitutional Representative party members to the Federal Governing Board and were questioning the federally controlled system that was currently in place. General McClintock’s carefully laid out plan had worked, Bennet recalled, smiling. The resistance had harnessed the woman’s publicity perfectly.

  “If it weren’t for Brad Dougan’s big mouth,” MSgt Bennet cursed to the air.

  Brad Dougan was a young scientist that worked for the Mercenaries. He’d informed Erika about the forecasted earthquake coming their way.

  Bennet shook his head, recalling the memory. He knew Erika well. There’s no way she would have stayed in the Northern Region while her loved ones were in danger in the South, he thought. I couldn’t tell her.

  To make matters worse Brad had told Erika that Bennet and his commanding officer Major Cole Virgis knew about the impending disaster. Erika had tried to talk to MSgt Bennet about the forecast, but Bennet was drunk and had dismissed her. So, she had left. Why didn’t I just tell her, he argued with himself.

  Grabbing his pack, he swung the door open in a fury. Corporal Smith was waiting for him outside the door.

  “Sir,” Corporal Smith acknowledged him.

  “Let’s go, Corporal,” the master sergeant replied.

  The two men walked down a small tunnel to a briefing room located in a pod. Each building in the Mille Lacks Mercenary training base, besides the gym, was constructed with recycled plastic formed into large ovals that were suspended in the air by six legs. The men felt the soft bouncing of the tunnel they walked down it, and MSgt Bennet could see his shadow cast by the pale light that shined through the accordion plastic composing the tunnel.

  Bennet was pleased to see the two other soldiers waiting for him in the room. Their gear looked properly stowed and the men were ready for travel. They snapped to attention as he entered, and Bennet was impressed by the sharpness of their salute. He had worked hard to maintain his respect and he wasn’t going to let any one of his men get sloppy.

  “At ease, men,” the master sergeant acknowledged them. “This is a mission of utmost secrecy. We are tracking Vince and Erika Moore.”

  The eyes of the soldiers widened.

  “That’s right, Erika and her husband, Vince, were transferred to our base to fulfill their probationary requirements. They have fled the base. It is of the utmost importance that we bring them back alive,” the master sergeant stressed.

  “Sir?” Corporal Adam Shaver asked. He was a young, stocky soldier with blond hair and brown eyes that the master sergeant worked out with at the gym. Bennet had chosen him because of his persevering attitude.

  “How was someone on federal probation able to get out of the region?” Corporal Shaver wondered.

  “I believe they were able to get past the border patrol posing as stagehands for their son-in-law’s band,” Bennet explained.

  The soldiers shook their head in recognition of the band and in agreement with his conclusion.

  “I’m going to take Corporal Smith and go talk with Vince’s parents. Vince and Erika are not ones to part with their children, and I’ve got to know if they took Daniel, their youngest son, or not. If they did, they’ll be much easier to find. Corporal Shaver and Sgt Jensen, go and secure a boat for our departure at the Madison Port in Wisconsin,” the master sergeant ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” the two men replied.

  “Dismissed,” the master sergeant concluded.

  The men left, headed for a transport that would take them into Wisconsin. MSgt Bennet was headed in the opposite direction with Corporal Smith. Smelling the exhaust thick in the air, they boarded a bus that would take them out to the Moore farm. It was already getting hot and MSgt Bennet started sweating in the vinyl seats. He was relieved to get up and stretch his legs out when they reached the ten-thousand-acre estate that Vince’s parents owned. The lower ranked soldiers at the guardhouse saluted him as he passed by.

  Looking left past the gua
rdhouse, he saw the refugee housing pods situated next to a large barn. It was a warm day and the dirt rose in the air as their boots stomped in the gravel road that lead to Earl and Kay Moore’s main housing pods. He looked to the right and saw Star and Sean’s permanent residence pod by a pad of dirt where Vince and Erika’s pod had been. After receiving their probationary sentence, it was moved to the Mille Lacks Base.

  The answer to the lack of farm equipment arrived to take them to the main pod. They boarded the half bus seats and half hauling-trailer transport. It made a small screeching sound as it powered up from its electrical line and started moving. Bennet marveled at its ingenuity, even though they were not rare on farms nowadays. These vehicles moved supplies and people across the farm with ease.

  MSgt Bennet took a deep breath as the transport arrived at the main housing pods. He approached the door and knocked loudly. Kay answered with a large smile on her face. She was a cheerful woman of average height and stature, but when she smiled, she lit up the world with her beauty.

  “MSgt Bennet,” Kay commented, rubbing her hands on her apron. She was surprised by his appearance. “Come in. Would you like something to drink?”

  “No, ma’am, thank you,” he replied.

  “Hi, MSgt Bennet!” Daniel exclaimed as Bennet entered the pod.

  “Hi, Danny boy! How’s the schooling going?” Bennet responded, noticing the boy was engaged in math homework.

  “Good, but playing outside would be much funner,” he responded.

  “Sounds like you need to keep taking those English classes,” Bennet chuckled. “I tell you what.”

  “What?” Daniel wondered eagerly, his blond hair bouncing as he fidgeted around. His brown eyes looked to Bennet in anticipation.

  “Why don’t you take a break for a minute and go get some air for a while, so I can talk to your Grandma,” the master sergeant suggested.