by Sweet, W. G.
“Yellowstone blew up,” she said simply. “Didn't you see the TV?”
Joel shook his head.
“Well,” the young woman continued, “anyhow that's what happened. They cut in to the TV last night; I was watching... you know, and they cut in and said that the Yellowstone caldera was going to fracture because of how close the meteor came. I came outside to see, and, well there was nothing to see at first, and then the ground started shaking, so I ran to get back inside. But the whole bottom floor of the building was gone.” She shrugged.
The young woman broke into fresh tears, and buried her face back into her hands.
Joel sat down beside her and put his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.
“Is your husband here?”
“Not married,” she said, “There was a guy... A few years back. He's stationed somewhere in the Middle East,” she finished, as she looked at Joel.
“Sorry,” Joel said, “how long have you been out here?”
“I called this cop that had given me his card... He said the police would come so I came back out to wait, but they never showed up, so I just sat here. I didn't know where else to go or what to do! I've been here ever since, just watching the street crack.”
Joel looked around at the street.
“It happened all at once?”
“I don't know,” she replied, also staring at the street. “One second it was still whole, the next it wasn't. But it's still going on. Every little while a crack will just appear and then another section will tilt or drop a little. Sometimes there's no noise, other times it's this horrible groaning sound... Like it's alive or something.”
“Is your power on?” Joel asked changing the subject.
“No,” she replied, “went off right after the ground started shaking.”
“Mine's off too,” Joel replied.
“The power lines fell while I was out here, arcing all over the place. Scared the shit out of me too, and then they just quit... Went dead,” She said.
“Listen... I'm going to walk downtown... see if the police department is open, or see maybe if everyone is there somewhere. You're the only person I've seen so far... do you want to come with me?”
“Sure,” she said, as she stood and brushed at her jeans, “no use sticking around here I guess, is there?”
“I don't think so,” Joel said. “I think... you know that everyone else is probably downtown. Getting organized or something,” his eyes betrayed the worry he felt. He hoped that everyone was downtown as he had said, but he wasn't convinced himself. We have to find someone though, he thought, don't we?
He stood up and they both walked off down the street toward downtown Watertown.
“Joel,“ he told her. Talking to you for an hour and didn't even know your name.”
She laughed, halfhearted, but it instantly lifted the mood. “More like fifteen minutes if that... Haley.” She told him.
They exchanged small talk as they walked and it seemed to help quell the fear they both felt.
They wondered about the rising temperature as they walked.
“I wonder if it’s some sort of fall out from the earthquakes? Can it be radiation, Joel?” Haley questioned.
“Maybe. I flunked science, so I really don't know. I don't think so though. I mean, if it was, wouldn't we be sick? I think ash is a possibility, maybe if they triggered volcanoes? Makes me wish I had paid attention in science class, or physics, history, one of those.” Joel said.
She laughed again, this time a little more fully. “No,” she replied. “I don't think so either... I mean the earth shook... like an earthquake. I didn't know we could get an earthquake up here.”
“Oh yeah... Lived here all of my life. It's more than possible, happens all the time... You from here?”
“No... Syracuse, before that Texas.”
“Ah, the big city... Well up here we don't have a hell of a lot to do so they teach us about fault lines, earthquakes. We have a huge fault line that bisects this entire region and continues on south to the Gulf.”
“All the way to the Gulf?” Haley asked. She patted his arm. “Big city my ass,” She laughed. “ You should see Houston you want to see big city, buster.”
Joel laughed and nodded. “Seen Houston once... I mean, a long time ago. And then only the Greyhound station downtown.”
She stopped. “Get out, really?”
“Really.” Joel told her. “Very bad place too,” he seemed apologetic.
“Yeah.” her eyes had suddenly gone sad. “Very.” She started her feet moving again. She had come close to telling him just how well she knew that area of Houston, and had nearly bitten her tongue to stop the words. Emotional situations... You never knew the things that would just jump right out of your mouth, she thought. Leaving you all kinds of vulnerable too.
They talked back and forth as they continued down the street. When they reached Fourth Street they turned and walked the short block to Main, turned left this time, and headed into the downtown area.
March 2nd
Joel and Haley
They both stopped short as they topped the small hill at the crest of Main Street, and stared down at the downtown area on the other side of the river.
It appeared to be more of a war zone than a city. The buildings that were still standing leaned crazily to the left or right, and only the tallest seemed to have been, as yet, untouched. Haley wondered aloud at that.
“The taller ones are not that old. Built with federal monies. Earthquake proof.... To an extent: When I was a kid the tallest building was the Baptist church tower.” He pointed to a gray stone spire that reached into the air.
There was a small crowd of people milling around in the center of what had been the Public Square.
“It looks bad to me” Joel said softly. He pointed. “City police building?” He met her eyes with his own. “Gone... There should be thousands of people down there...”
Haley shook her head. “Ought to go down.” She looked up to see what he thought about it.
Tiny people walked aimlessly around the square or stood, seemingly transfixed, by the huge gray spire of rock that capped the State street end of the square. The sight of the people broke the spell. Joel nodded once and they began the walk down the hill.
They stopped and looked over the bridge that crossed the Black River. It seemed fine, almost untouched. It was so strange a sight that Joel laughed.
“What?” Haley asked.
“Doesn't it seem strange to you? Everything destroyed and the bridge sitting here untouched?” He looked from side to side before he stepped out on the steel decking and began to walk. As they neared the other side they could see that there was a crack that ran from side to side and the road dropped down more than a foot. They leapt easily down.
“That makes me feel better. It just seemed too weird that it had no damage at all.”
Haley nodded and they continued to walk into the downtown area.
The walked up a small rise that had once been the bank of the river just a few hundred years ago, before the dams, mills, and reservoir projects had changed the water flow, Joel thought. The Public Square spread out before them.
“At least there are other people,” Haley said aloud. “Last night when I was sitting there all alone I was wondering whether there were.” She breathed a sigh of relief which was echoed by Joel.
When they reached the first people at the bottom of the hill, they could tell that many of them were in shock. An older woman wandered by completely naked. Blood ran down one calf from an ugly looking wound, and she was covered with dirt and grime. When Joel attempted to talk to her, she tried to hit him with a baseball bat she had been holding at her side.
“Leave me alone, you bastard,” she screamed into his face. And then she had run off towards one of the still standing buildings.
Joel was shaken by the experience and jumped when Haley touched his arm.
“...think,” he caught as he turned around to face her.
“Wha-What?”
“I was saying, I don't think she knew what she was doing,” Haley repeated. “Hey? Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he answered, in a small voice.
He was still a little shook up when an older man began to approach them, and he found himself wishing he would turn and head in the other direction. He didn't even recognize him until he was nearly upon them.
“Glenn,” he asked, “is that you?”
Joel had worked for Glenn driving truck at the gravel pit two summers before, when things had slowed down at the mill. Glenn Dove owned the gravel pit, and most considered him a hard guy to work for.
Joel had liked him though. He seemed to be honest; always paid on time, and he always bought Joel a beer when he ran into him. He was forever trying to talk Joel into leaving the mill, and going to work for him full-time. Today he seemed old and tired. Joel supposed he didn't look much better.
“How are you, Joel,” Glenn asked, “some vacation, huh?”
Joel had run into Glenn just the week before down at the Rusty Nail, and had told him he'd be leaving, but he hadn't given the vacation a second thought since he'd gotten out of bed this morning.
It seemed odd to think of it now. Wonder what the rest of the world woke up to this morning? He thought. It had only been a short time since he had awakened this morning, but it felt like years had gone by.
“I guess my vacation got canceled,” he said, trying a grin on his face. “Hell, looks like a lot of vacations got canceled,” he continued, as the grin slipped from his face. “Did you see any of this happen, Glenn?”
“No,” he replied solemnly. “I was out at the pit, and I didn't come into town until this morning. But I saw plenty out there, thank you just the same.”
“As bad as this?” Joel asked, waving his hands at the damage that surrounded them.
Glenn paused and looked around at the destruction.
“Pretty damn bad,” Glenn said, as he shook his head in agreement. “I was moving the trucks down to the loading area, down the bottom there, and the ground started to shake and the shaking threw me right out of the cab. I jumped down and got the hell out of that pit in a quick hurry, let me tell you. Good damn thing I did too, as about ten minutes after I did the bottom just cracked open and she started to fill. Spent the night in the woods and when I walked out this morning the water was up the top of the pit. Never seen nothing like it.” He paused and looked around the small town square. “So I came down here, but I've been over to city hall, nobody's there. The police department, you know,” he gestured helplessly with his hands.
“Gone,” Joel agreed.
“Seen you coming across here and figured to see what you might know,” Glenn finished, nodding.
Joel shook his head. “You can ask Haley,” he said pointing to the young woman beside him, “she saw it on the television last night.”
Glenn looked expectantly towards her.
“Well... not like I know it all, but I was watching the TV last night, and they said...”
Joel turned to stare out at the people who stood nearby in small groups, as Haley spoke to Glenn.
“Shit, don't that figure,” Glenn exclaimed, when she finished, “So another politician lied to us. All last week they said that meteor would be no problem. Yesterday morning there was some yak attributed to the web about Yellowstone being closed down and already in a bad way and they denied that too,” He swore under his breath. “Figures. Seen any sign of the Guard around, or the Army?”
“We just got down here ourselves,” Joel answered, “but I expect they'll be here soon, don't you?”
“That's right!” Haley exclaimed, “They should be coming, shouldn't they? I mean, we're alive, hell of a lot of people are alive, they've got to come, right?”
“Maybe,” Glenn said slowly, looking from one to the other, “but it seems as though they should have been here already, doesn't it? I mean, if they were coming, it ain't that far to the base... Eight miles? I mean, well, hell, it ain't a long way for them to come.”
Joel nodded his head. “Well, if they aren't here by noon... Anybody got a watch?”
Haley nodded and held up one hand so he could see the slim silver dial on her wrist, 9:32 he noted.
“Well, if they ain't here by noon, I vote we go look for them.”
“Sounds good to me,” Glenn said, as Haley nodded her head in agreement.
They spent the morning wandering between the few remaining buildings and talking to the small groups of people that had formed around the huge church spire in the middle of what was left of the city’s downtown.
Haley found several other people with similar tales of the destruction they had witnessed the through the night. A few had slightly different takes on what had happened. One woman was convinced the end times had come and spent most of an hour trying to convince Haley to repent of her sins and join her. She had been polite and firm as she told her thanks, but no thanks. She had also stuck closer to Joel after that. Joel was disheveled. He probably hadn't realized he'd forgotten to even comb his hair when he had walked out of his house this morning and witnessed all the destruction. His eyes were a little wild looking. People tended to shy away from him when they saw him.
She sat at the bus stop bench overlooking the square and wondered what had happened to some of the people. Joel sat quietly beside her, lost in his own thoughts.
One woman had stopped by the bench and tried to convince them that flying saucers were to blame, and she actually had several people convinced of it. They formed a small protective group around their leader. Haley supposed that with the way things were this morning, that it wasn't as far-fetched as it may have been just yesterday. She listened cautiously, courteously, and they both breathed a sigh of relief when she became distracted by a small after shock and then moved on, her group hovering protectively.
“Jesus please us,” Joel said.
“Amen,” Haley agreed.
They had discovered earlier that though none of their cell phones worked, some phone lines were still working. Well, sort of, Haley amended as she thought about it now. You could call out, but all you got was static or a busy signal. There was a bank of old style pay phones in the Arcade Mall. Joel had tried for over twenty minutes, calling every emergency number in the telephone book. He had finally given up about ten minutes ago, and had ambled back over to sit beside her on the bench.
“You still want to go out to the base?” he asked now.
“No.” she replied, as she released a deep sigh. “I really don't see a reason for it... I mean, if they were there, and everything was up and running, they would be here by now. So I just don't see a reason for it. We were fooling ourselves to think that they would come. Let’s face it, they're probably at least in as bad shape as we are.”
Joel, who had been feeling the same, nodded agreement.
“So what do we do then?”
“I don't know, Joel. I don't know what we can do.”
The conversation ended, and they once again sat staring out over the square, neither knowing what to say.
Glenn wandered back over from a small group of people he had been talking with, and sat down next to them.
“What did you find out?” Joel asked.
“Well,” Glenn began, “mainly a lot of strange stuff. For instance, you know Lilly Roberts over there?” he pointed at a tall woman, standing with the group he had just left.
Joel and Haley both nodded.
“I know of her,” Joel said, “she ran that little diner out on River Road, didn't she?”
“Yes,” Haley confirmed, “I worked out there last summer, part-time.”
“Well,” Glenn continued, “she said she was at home with her husband and, well... You guys know him?”
They both nodded their heads to indicate that they did, and Haley said, “Kind of hard not to know him, or at least to know of him.”
Earl Roberts, Lilly's husband, had established his own church three years b
efore. The local paper had published numerous stories about him, and the church itself. He had obtained his license through a mail order ministry, and the church was based on the book of revelations; specifically on the principal that the planet Earth was in the last years. Jesus was on his way back, and not the easy going Jesus of the New Testament, a darker, angry Jesus.
“He's the guy who had the church out in Fort Drum, right?” Joel asked.
“The same wacko,” Glenn said. “Well, anyway, they were at home last night, having an argument about that church of his; she says they were awful close to divorcing over it. So they're arguing and she's telling him how she doesn't feel as she knows him anymore, and bang the first quake hits... She says there were three, at least three,” Glenn said and paused.
“Maybe five,” Haley said... “At least I felt five.”
Glenn nodded. “Better number. That's what I felt, but I didn't correct her. … So, he just turns away from her and stares at the front door for a few moments and then leaves. She's chasing him down the street, but he's making for the river fast... Snapped.”
“There's plenty more here that have slipped over the edge,” Haley said.
Glenn nodded. “Well, he did just that. Slipped over the edge. Walked right to the river, and starts talking like there's somebody there. She said at first, she thought maybe he had just gone clean over the edge, you know? A second later he just jumped in. Nothing she could do the water was high, churning. Bad … She never saw him come back up again.”
“Sometimes Happens,” Joel said as Haley nodded her head.
“I've heard of that too,” she said.
“Well there's a couple of others who swear the same sort of thing happened to people they knew. A few others are talking about end times.” Glenn paused and looked out over the lake wringing his hands restlessly in his lap.
“I don't know,” Glenn continued. “I guess it makes about as much sense to them as anything else.”
“You mean they think it is the end times? That it was real?” Haley asked.
Glenn shook his head. “I ain't saying I believe it at all,” he replied. “I'm simply telling you we're going to have to be really goddamn careful who we deal with.” He arched his eyebrows. “Strange winds blowing.”