However, deep in her heart was a foreboding feeling of dread. It was going to be a long journey filled with danger. She was afraid her children wouldn’t make it. Looking at her husband she stifled the tears as best she could.
Everything they were taking was packed with great care. If their clothing or shoes got wet it could be the difference between life and death and they were making this trip because they wanted to live.
Little Beth had two long sleeve shirts, two pair of jeans, two pair of underwear and undershirts, three pair of socks, an extra pair of shoes, a waterproof poncho, a medium weight jacket, and an extra pair of gloves. All this was packed in waterproof bags and packed into her backpack. She would wear her heaviest pants and shirt, insulated underwear, coat, scarf, gloves, and warm boots at the start of the trip.
L.J. was fifteen years old, so he helped his dad by carrying the fishing gear, a sleeping bag, blanket, and his shotgun. In the parents’ backpacks, they had to divide the few cooking utensils they would be taking; this included a large skillet, a large spatula, spoons for them to eat with, and five bowls.
They had soap, a first aid kit, and a few other essentials all wrapped in pieces of tarp for water protection. Their blanket and sleeping bags were wrapped in a tarp and placed under the backpacks. Beth had her dolly safely tucked away. Lexi put her Bible in her backpack; she felt this was the most important thing to take, so she took extra care making sure it wouldn’t get wet.
Kaden carried the bulk of the gear in his large mountain climbing backpack. He was thankful the family had liked snow skiing, hiking, and camping. It had led to them having warm clothing, sleeping bags, and blankets and that weren’t bulky. He kept the larger knife and gave L.J. the smaller one to keep sheaved to his belt.
As the family stood looking at the backpacks sitting on the living room floor, Lexi asked, “Are we really going to do this?”
“Yes.” Kaden replied and then instructed the children, “You know not to say a word to anyone at school right?”
They solemnly nodded yes.
“We must go to a safer place. Do you understand?”
Again they gave nods of acceptance.
“Okay, get ready for bed.”
He turned to his wife as the kids walked up the stairs to their rooms. “Lexi, when they get home tomorrow give them a good supper and let them rest. We’ll leave the moment it gets dark.”
“This is so scary.”
“I know dear, but you saw yourself what people are capable of. Food is going to run out soon with all the fires they set. The children will be safer at my mom’s. Besides that, my brother Daniel will be there which will give us one more man around.”
With their arms around each other they went to ready themselves for their last night in their own bed. The next morning all went as if it was a normal day. The children went off to school and Kaden to work.
As instructed, when the kids returned home from school Lexi had a good supper for them. Kaden made it in from work just as they were getting ready to sit down to eat. It was a quiet meal and when they finished Kaden helped put little Beth down for a nap. About a half-hour before sunset he got her up and had everyone take the last bath they would have for quite some time.
When the last of the sun’s rays were barely peeking over the horizon Kaden nodded. “Okay family this is it.”
No one moved. He took the lead and walked to the middle of the room. “Let’s hold hands and ask our Heavenly Father to protect us.”
The others gathered around Kaden and held hands. “Father, please watch over us and keep us safe. Lord give us guidance in the decisions we make. In Jesus name, amen.”
A chorus of amen echoed around him. One by one they picked up their backpacks.
“Everyone ready?” Kaden asked. He heard the chorus of ‘yes’ and continued, “We have three miles to walk to the raft where Bob and his family will meet us. From there, we’ll take the raft down the Missouri River, okay? Let’s go, but remember; no talking, no noise, and watch for signals if trouble occurs.”
Trying to make it look as though they had gone to bed, Kaden turned all the lights in the house off. Little Beth reached for her moms’ hand.
“L.J. do you feel you could bring up the rear?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Okay then go where I go, quietly, no talking.”
With that, he opened the back door and stepped out into a clear crisp night with the moon half full. This was a lucky break for them. There was enough light that they would be able to see where they were going.
Kaden had the route planned out. He wanted to take the trek to the river without incident. The hardest part would be sneaking out of the house through the yard and down the street past their neighbors. Between their house and the river was a golf course. If they could make it to the golf course without being caught, he felt they would safely make it to the river. After they cleared their street, the houses were further apart.
They were about half a mile into their journey, when they heard a woman call out, “Who’s out there? Get in here or I’ll call the police.”
Kaden paused for a moment, trying to decide if he should do as she said or try to make a run for it.
“I see all of you! Get in here now.” The voice called again.
Kaden led his family to the woman’s back door.
“Hurry, hurry all of you.” She motioned them in. She looked at her watch and recognized the name being displayed. “Lexi? Lexi what are you doing?”
“Hi, Missus Strodtman,” she said meekly.
“Missus Strodtman, I’m Kaden, Lexi’s husband. Please don’t turn us in.”
“What are you doing?”
Kaden briefly contemplated lying to her, but thought better of it. The truth shall set you free. “I’m trying to take my family to my mom’s. It’s safer there.”
He was looking at the ground when he started speaking, but by the time he finished he was looking into Missus Strodtman eyes pleading with her to help keep them safe.
“Well, I can understand that. If I were a few years younger I’d ask to go with you.” She looked at the children and frowned. “Won’t it be hard for them? The girl is very young.”
“Yes, ma’am, she is, but she’ll be safer at my mom’s.”
Once again, the old woman looked them over and held her hand up. “Give me just a minute.” As she went to the kitchen, they could hear her moving things around for a few seconds then she was back.
She held out six large chocolate chip cookies neatly wrapped in cellophane.
“Take these for the kids.”
Lexi took the cookies and gave Missus Strodtman a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, thank you!”
“You be very quiet for your parents,” she said as she smiled at the little girl.
“I’ll remember you in my prayers,” she said to Kaden and his wife as she let them out the back door.
Kaden led his family back into the dark thankful that the person who caught them was on their side praying for them. The rest of the trek was made without incident and they met up with Bob and his family at the river. They packed everything into the raft and shoved off for the adventure of a lifetime.
***
The world was beginning to move forward. Those countries, like the United States, that deported aliens and called for a state of emergency were the first to bring back some resemblance of normalcy. Most fell into place with the state of emergency and even felt comfortable in going to their neighbors. They had enough respect for the punishment of breaking curfew to not push. Neighbor began to know their neighbor, some for the first time. Days began to fall into weeks and time began to move forward from the chaos that had made the state of emergency necessary.
Chapter Fifteen
A Safer Place
Time before the virus seemed like ancient history and nothing would ever be the same. The genetic fluctuations had changed mankind forever. It didn’t matter what continent one came from because humankind went from a diver
se physical ancestry to looking as one. Everyone had brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. Everyone was average height, weight, and build. It seemed humankind had come through the test. People weren’t who they once were, but they were still on Earth.
***
The start of their trip went well for Kaden and his group. Lexi and Bob’s wife Miranda took the longest to settle in. The small raft, with all the supplies four adults and three children, was very cramped and didn’t allow for much movement. In order to get out of the Great Falls area there were six portages they had to make. The men tried to keep most of their travels to the nighttime. The most difficult portage had to wait until early morning so they had enough light to see. Overall, the trip started great.
Once they past Gavin’s Dam at the Lewis and Clark Lake there were no more dams to portage around and the hope was they would be able to travel mostly through the day. Only on rare occasions did they see anyone on the interstate, and then it was the military or a convoy of trucks moving goods with some military protection.
It was the second week of their journey when Bob asked, “Would one of you girls turn the radio on?”
“I’ll do it.” Brianne said as she snagged the radio. She set it on the side of the raft to turn it on when it slipped out of her hands into the river.
“No, L.J.” Lexi yelled as she saw her son jump in after it. Without thinking she jumped in after him.
Bob and Kaden paddled towards L.J., each reaching a hand out for him to grab and pulled him into the raft. Once he was secured Kaden scoured the river for his wife.
“Lexi? Lexi? Does anyone see Lexi?”
The raft became silent as those in it looked for Lexi. No one could see her. She had been lost.
Realizing no one could find her mommy, Little Beth began screaming. “Mommy, Mommy, where are you.”
The child was hysterical. Miranda pulled her close to her and whispered in her ear, “It’s okay Beth, it will be okay.”
All the child could do was cry for what she had just lost. The little party of rafters had to somehow come to terms with the event.
About a month into their trip, just outside Sioux City Iowa, they caught a glimpse of an army convoy traveling north on the Interstate. They pulled the raft over and hid for over an hour waiting for it to end. Where they were going and what they would do when they got there no one knew. That was the worst part of being out on the river without their radio; they had no way to get any information.
They had made good time. Going down river made it an easy float and the weather had been mild. Kaden feared he had started them too late, but the weather seemed to be on their side. They had been lucky enough to travel so far without encountering anyone else.
“Kaden?” Bob said.
“Ya’, Bob?”
“Does it bother you that, other than the convoy, we haven’t seen, or even heard, anyone?”
“Yes it does. Actually I’ve been thinking about that since the convoy.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I don’t know, Bob. What could we do anyway?”
“Well, I was looking at the map and there’s a small town only a few miles away. I thought we could check it out. We could blend in and at least get a bit of fresh food and a paper.”
Kaden thought for a moment. “Alright, we’ll do it.”
Bob showed Kaden on the map a town in northern Missouri that was only a few miles off the river. They made their way to a secluded spot and drug the raft up the embankment. They took the supplies they needed off the raft and covered it with brush to hide it. They set up camp and made a small fire.
This was routine to them by now. They used pieces of foam that were also used as cushions in the raft, to help hide the fire. They tried to keep the fire going just enough that as little smoke as possible made its way out of the tree tops. Their fires were only for cooking and drying out wet clothing once a day, so the potential of the smoke giving away their location was minimal. After camp had been set up, they explained to Miranda and L.J. what they had planned to do.
“That sounds dangerous, Bob!” Miranda couldn’t keep the concern from her voice.
“Look Miranda, we need some information. We need to know what’s going on out there.” Bob answered tenderly.
“Besides,” Kaden threw into the conversation, “It’ll give all of you time to rest.”
“I could use some time out of that raft.” Miranda grudgingly admitted.
“Okay, that’s the plan then. Bob and I will leave early in the morning.”
Miranda was up early making sure the men had a good breakfast before they left and some lunch to take with them. L.J. made sure when he heard someone up that he got up too, so when his dad finally woke he had been up for almost a half hour. “Dad.”
“Yes L.J.”
“Can I come with you?”
“No L.J., I need you here.”
“Awwwwwwww.”
“Look L.J., I’m hoping everything goes alright today and we get back safely, but if I don’t, Miranda and the children will need you to lead them to your grandmas.”
L.J. looked at his dad and in his most manly manner said, “Yes, sir.”
Kaden reached for his son, took him in his strong arms, and gave him a hug.
“Oh, Dad.” The boy bemoaned.
“I want you to know I love you, and I’m very proud of how you have matured.” Kaden hugged his son once more, and then they joined the others for breakfast.
Bob and Kaden left right after eating. It was a quiet walk through the woods. Birds chirping was the only thing that broke the silence. The two men were each in their own thoughts until Bob stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“It just seems too quiet.”
“I agree. We’d better be very careful walking about. We should stay in the tree line.”
As they neared town Kaden whispered, “I thought we’d see someone by now.”
About a fourth of a mile to town they spotted a house. The two men quietly went from window to window peering in.
“Do you see anyone?” Bob whispered.
“No, have you?”
“Not a soul, let’s go in.” Bob tried the doorknob. It was locked. He took his elbow and smashed the pane of glass. “Damn! That hurt!”
Kaden gave a little snicker as he pushed Bob into the house. “It looks as though they left in a hurry.”
“But why? Why would they leave?”
“Maybe they went somewhere they felt was safer.”
“Yeah I guess.”
As the men looked around the house they found nothing of use. Looking out a window Bob said, “Hey there’s a house on the other side of the road, let’s check it out.”
When they reached the next house, it too was vacant. As they moved down the road, nearing town, the homes became closer together. Still they found no one. The small town was vacant.
“Where is everyone?”
“Maybe the government made them move.”
“But there must be two hundred people that lived here.”
“You saw how bad things got, Bob. To have to patrol the roads between the smaller towns would take up too much manpower. It’d be easier to keep everyone in a centralized area.”
“I guess.”
As Bob looked around the room he let out a low whistle. “Hey look what I found!”
Kaden turned to see Bob holding a battery-powered radio. “Does it have batteries?”
Bob opened the back. “No. It takes D’s.”
“Take it with us. Hopefully it still works. We still have the extra batteries for the one that went in the river.”
In low-spirits the two men headed back to their camp.
“Dad’s back, Dad’s back!” Little Beth exclaimed as she ran to her daddy.
“What did you find?” Miranda ran towards the two men.
“Just this.” Bob held the little radio up for them to see.
“That’s it?” Miranda asked astonished.
>
“The town was deserted,” Kaden said joining the conversation.
“Deserted?” L.J. repeated.
“Yes, we looked at a dozen houses in town and all of them had been evacuated. The only thing I can come up with is that they must have relocated the whole town at the beginning of the state of emergency so they could keep better control,” Kaden answered him.
After the excitement of his dad’s return back to camp calmed down, L.J. motioned the two men to follow him. “I have something to show you.”
The two men looked at each other and then followed L.J. to the rivers’ edge. L.J. brought out his catch of the day.
“That’s a heavy string of fish, L.J. We’ll all eat well for a few days!” Kaden beamed with pride at his son.
“You’re becoming quite an angler L.J.,” Bob added.
“This is what I wanted you to see.” L.J. said as he pointed to a fish at the bottom of the string. “What is it?”
It looked like a conglomeration of a few different fish. It had a shark’s body, catfish whiskers, and a swordfish-like snout. The two men looked at the creature and chuckled at the young man before them.
“You have to throw it back.” Kaden answered laughing at him.
“Did it get the flux?” L.J. asked.
“No.” Bob answered laughing harder. “It’s a sturgeon.”
“A what?”
“A sturgeon,” his dad repeated. “It’s native to the Missouri River, but it’s endangered. We need to throw that one back in, but the rest of your catch looks good.” He finished as his stomach gave a loud growl.
With a shrug, L.J. threw the fish back in the river and skinned the rest for Miranda to cook.
As they sat around that evening Kaden held his hand out to Bob. “Hand me the radio.”
He put the batteries in and turned it on. Everyone waited while he scrolled through the channels.
“Nothing, not even static!”
He tossed the radio to the side, disappointed.
***
Only when they neared larger cities did they travel at night. They had a few close calls floating when it was dark, but they had been lucky thus far, getting some mileage under them when they could see would lift everyone’s spirits. The next morning they set out early to make a full days travel, still not knowing how the rest of civilization was doing.
Genetic Flux (Phase One Book 1) Page 15