“Hello, sir,” Erika said, catching her breath.
“Erika, it’s Cole, remember?” he said.
“Yeah, yeah. Old habit,” Erika teased. “What’s up?”
“I need you to talk to Dr. Castanza in his lab,” Cole replied.
“Okay, what about?” Erika asked.
“I brought your trackers back from Reno. I figured that’s where you had to have had them removed. Nice setup Dlores has, and now that I know she’s a sympathizer with a medical hospital, our organization is even stronger,” Cole explained.
“She got sucked in because of me?” Erika asked.
“No, they got sucked in because their scientists weren’t good enough to crack the software codes on Daniel’s chip and they started hiring,” Cole responded. “I knew they were your chips because Daniel is the only one to have escaped with the new tech and lived to tell the tale. Which gives us a very unique look at the tech,” Cole explained. “Now come on.”
Erika wiped the sweat off herself with a towel and put on a fresh T-shirt. They headed down the hallway to Dr. Castanza’s lab. He was busy when they arrived so Erika sat and talked with Brad. He wanted to know about her survival story and details of the Las Vegas Camp. Brad loved to talk and felt comfortable conversing with her about any topic, given her past spirit of rebellion. He told her about how cracking the codes on the tracking tech would allow them to find an origination point and shut the whole network down. General McClintock was starting to take stock of weaponry and counting up refugees and army sympathizers that could be rapidly added to the rebel army. There still wasn’t a set plan, however, and they were waiting to see how diplomatic talks would go.
On the national scale one Constitutionalist Party member had been elected to the Federal Governing Board. Erika’s story was a hot topic because it highlighted many problems with the new system. Half the landowners felt that, although it was a horrible mix-up, their actions while in the camp may have been too aggressive against the government. The other half of the landowners felt that whatever happened at the camp should be discredited because they shouldn’t have been there. Refugees were whispering about Erika and her family’s unending charge towards freedom and a return to a constitutional law where all men are created equal.
The meeting with the doctor was short, mostly questions about Daniel’s condition with the chip and how quickly he had recovered. Although it was intact they were having a hard time getting through safeties because the chip was no longer registering vital signs of its host.
Erika still had about two hours before she had to catch the bus home so she stayed and talked to Brad some more. He explained to her in depth how the earthquakes that started the Great Quake ground under the ice glaciers of the north. Huge tsunamis formed as the gigantic chunks of ice broke, melted and crashed into the ocean, causing the ocean level rise.
“Right now the planet is rebounding,” Brad explained. “We are going to see worse and worse storms like we had last winter. More extremes. I predict that...” He was interrupted.
“Erika! What are you doing here? I thought you were over at the gym,” Bennet was headed out of Cole’s office and heard them talking.
“I was meeting with Dr. Castanza and I had time to kill before we have to go, so I was spending it with Brad,” she explained.
“Why don’t you come spend it with me, cupcake? We still have time to get in some boxing practice before we go,” Bennet suggested.
“Okay, I’m game,” Erika said, eager to get some shots in on him.
Master Sergeant Bennet and Erika spent a couple hours in the ring, working on defensive techniques before they caught the bus home. Upon arriving, Erika headed to the main pod with her family for dinner. Earl had a copy of the weekly newspaper that was released by the Regional Governing Board. There was a picture of the graffiti that was appearing in Brainerd and now spreading to St. Cloud and the surrounding cities. Erika recognized the artwork of the original Brainerd graffiti but didn’t say a word. The headline stated, “Ungrateful Rebel Refugees Destroy Public Property,” but the artwork was beautiful and displayed peaceful representations of all people standing together.
Dexter boasted about how Mayor Gardner had requested a K-9 unit on the investigation team and he was volunteering to impress Caroline’s father.
Erika looked at Daniel quietly eating his dinner. Could it be him, she mused.
*****
The summer sun was intense this year and the family had not lived in a humid environment for a long time. Erika's mother had experienced another tornado in Texas but everyone was okay. There was no escaping the searing heat crushing the country and Vince worried about the crops.
Erika celebrated her first birthday out of the refugee camp in ten years. Star did the same about a month later. Nobody was sure of her exact birthday. She remembered she was eight and her birthday was in July when Erika found her. Star chose July Fourth as her birthday so she could celebrate it with the Independence Day celebration.
The crops grew despite Vince and Evan’s concerns. The windmills spun in the windy heat and pumped water from the ground. Daniel’s birthday came in August as the summer heat was at its peak. They went to the pond and spent the whole day swimming and relaxing in the sun.
When harvest time came, Star and Sean no longer toured. It was all hands on deck to get the vegetables harvested. Dexter’s October birthday was spent loading trucks that were headed for the tax collector and he went to dinner with Caroline that night.
The kitchen buzzed with canning activity. Everything was stored. Acidic foods like tomatoes and anything pickled were canned using the hot water bath method. It was quick and easy. Many more hours were spent canning in pressure cookers. Most of the other veggies like corn, carrots, beets, etc. had to be carefully preserved using pressure. Meats also had to be done with this type of canning process as well, but the butchering of animals could wait for now. The focus was on the annual harvest.
Chapter 38
Thanksgiving dinner was a joyful event of coming together. Everyone on the farm piled into the main pod. They had brought in tables from the other homes, and the refugees, soldiers and landowners enjoyed the fruits of the year’s labor. Vince and Erika had gone hunting in the woods and added venison and wild turkey to the table.
The next day they put up Christmas trees in all the homes and prepared for colder days. The farm would have to be winterized for the upcoming cold weather.
Dexter had spent his Thanksgiving with his own family, so he and Caroline met up on the Saturday after for lunch. They spent the afternoon chatting about the quirks of their families, and then Dexter had to excuse himself to go punch in for his evening shift.
He quietly patrolled the city streets with Trucker, saying hi to shop keepers as they closed up for the night. He had stopped by Earl’s veterinary office. Erika had not come with him to town today and he was working late. There was an emergency surgery involving a dog who had eaten a spoon.
Dexter continued on his way. As darkness closed in he was patrolling a back alley. Trucker alerted on hushed voices chattering in the distance. Dexter slowly crept up with Trucker on point at his side. He peeked cautiously around the corner. There was a group of about twelve boys with paint cans.
Dexter jumped out with his weapon drawn and ordered,” Stay where you are.”
The boys scattered immediately. Dexter focused his attention on the boy who had the brush. He was smaller than the rest of them and his group would be slowed because of it. He gave Trucker an attack command but the dog would not obey. He just stood by Dexter’s side watching intensely.
“What the hell’s wrong with you, Trucker?” Dexter wondered as he took off at a sprint to intercept the boys.
Dexter was perplexed. Trucker had never disobeyed him, ever. He ran down a series of alleys, hoping his assumption of where the boys were headed was correct. He figured that he should have cut them off by now so he slowed into a stalking crouch. Trucker alerted on somethi
ng again but instead of pointing his tail out, it began to wag. Dexter snuck up to the edge of the wall.
“Yeah, we really gave that merc the slip,” a boy whispered.
“We sure did,” another boy announced quietly.
“Did you?” Dexter said stepping around the wall with Trucker at his side.
The boys were trapped in a corner with nowhere to run. Dark hoodies hid their faces but Trucker wagged his tail and went and started licking one of them. It was the smaller boy who had the brush.
“What the hell?” Dexter asked, grabbing the boy and exposing his face to the light. “Daniel!” Dexter fumed. “What are you doing here?” he wondered, realizing why Trucker had acted so strangely. “Gage, Brenden?” he asked grabbing their chins and turning their faces to the light. “Oh shit!” Dexter spun on his heels. What am I going to do now? He asked himself.
The boys stood there with their heads bowed. Dexter looked around wildly. Nobody had seen anything.
“What are you going to do, Dexter?” Daniel wondered out loud.
“What am I going to do, Daniel!” Dexter fumed but maintained a quiet volume. “I should be arresting you but I can’t. You boys get the hell out of here and go directly back home. We’ll discuss this later!” Dexter instructed him quickly.
The boys scrambled to their feet and took off into the night. Dexter gathered himself and resumed his sweep of the street like he had never found them.
Erika was sitting in the pod relaxing after a long day working on the farm’s paperwork. She was reading a book about Thomas Jefferson as Dexter blasted through the front door. He was furious. He had just had another growth spurt and was now as tall as his father. Trucker was at his side as usual and he greeted Jack warmly. Dexter released him and he and Jack scurried out the door to play in the yard.
“I caught the graffiti artist tonight,” he scowled at her.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Erika responded, looking up from her book.
“Not when the perpetrator is your son,” he glared at her.
“I wondered how long it would take you to figure it out,” Erika commented nonchalantly, looking back at her book.
“What? You knew?” Dexter was shocked.
“Of course I knew,” Erika affirmed.
“How long have you known? How? Why didn’t you tell me?” Dexter stammered.
“Since they first started. I’m surprised you didn’t know, Dex. I mean look at the artwork. Haven’t you seen those paintings before?” she stared at him. “Plus, I found black clothes with paint on them while I was doing laundry.
Dexter thought about it. “I guess I should have recognized it. Why haven’t you stopped Daniel?” Dexter was curious.
“Because it’s working, Dex,” she responded, closing her book.
Dexter looked confused.
“The refugees are passing our story around. The landowners are talking about it at their dinner tables. People are thinking and waking up. They’re discussing the justification for maintaining the refugee system. Since Daniel started doing the graffiti with his refugee friends the message has spread. Now other people in other cities have started mimicking his artwork,” Erika explained.
“Yeah, and crime rates are on the rise since the graffiti started too and the officials want it to stop now! They call it the broken glass effect. Once petty crime is allowed to happen, other crimes start to happen after that. It escalates. They think if we make an example of the graffiti artists, then they can stop the cascade,” Dexter panicked.
“So what did you do with Daniel?” Erika wondered.
“I let him go, of course.” Dexter paced the floor. “What was I supposed to do? I can’t arrest my own brother, not even to impress Mayor Gardner.”
“That girl’s just a trick anyway, Dex,” Erika told him. She was growing tired of this infatuation.
“What do you mean, Mom? I love Caroline. I was going to ask her father’s permission to marry her after I caught the graffiti artist,” he defended fervently.
“Dexter, do you really think that would happen. Mayor Gardner is going to marry that girl off to some major landowner to extend his empire. He wouldn’t be working so hard on his career if he didn’t have something like that in mind. Plus, we have so many skeletons in our closet now. Think about it,” Erika contended.
“Don’t say that about Mayor Gardner, Mom. He’s an ambitious man who is passionate about rebuilding our country,” Dexter defended.
“Okay, let’s just assume you’re right. I didn’t want to tell you this, but...” Erika hesitated.
“But what, Mom?” Dexter felt her pause.
“One day I was in the library and Caroline came in with her friend,” Erika explained. “I overheard them talking and they said you would be a good fling because there’s no repercussions of, you know...”
“Having sex,” Dexter filled in the blank.
Erika shuddered, thinking of her son’s sex life.
“Yes, Caroline said it wouldn’t be a real relationship,” Erika continued.
“What? I don’t believe you, Mom. I finally find a girl that I really like and who really likes me, and you have to be like this?” Dexter was agitated.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Erika said innocently.
“No, you just don’t like her father. I bet if it was Daniel wanting to marry a prominent lady, you’d be all supportive, but then Daniel can have kids, right?” Dexter stabbed at her, hurt by her implications.
“That’s just mean, Dexter. Have I ever lied to you before?” Erika looked him dead in the eye.
He knew she never had, but he didn’t want to believe it was true.
“And this has nothing to do with Daniel’s ability to reproduce,” Erika countered.
Just then the door handle turned and in walked Daniel, dirty and sweaty from his run home. He saw his brother and his mother were in the middle of a heated debate before he quickly averted his eyes to the ground. He was ashamed for having gotten caught and knew his brother would be furious. Dexter and Erika looked at the boy and then each other.
“I’ll let you handle this,” Erika said as she went out the front door to sit on the stoop.
Dexter was shocked his mom had left but honored as well. He had grown into a man she trusted with her family’s safety. He knew she hadn’t gone far, though. He could hear the hushed voices of her and his father talking.
Daniel stood there like a statue, wishing he could melt into the floor and end up in his bedroom.
“Daniel, come here and sit down,” his brother commanded.
The boy did as he was told.
“You can never do this again, okay?” Dexter told him calmly.
“Okay,” Daniel mumbled.
“Do you know what could happen to you, if you get caught? Prison camp, bro, and I’ve heard a FEMA camp is paradise compared to that.” Dexter scolded him. “Plus, do you know what could happen to our family, even Grandma and Grandpa?”
“No,” Daniel admitted.
“They could have their landowner status revoked and we would all end up back in the refugee system,” Dexter explained.
“I don’t care. I like the refugees,” Daniel defended.
“Well, do you know what would happen to your refugee friends?” he asked circling around him. “They would be relocated to a prison camp, Daniel! If they weren’t killed as an example of what happens when you challenge the law.” Dexter raised his voice. “You don’t want that to happen, do you?’
“No,” Daniel admitted humbly.
“But Dexter, I have to do something! This is just not fair,” Daniel explained passionately.
“I know, Danny, but it is what it is for now. Keep studying, keep your nose clean and have faith that there are bigger forces at work here,” Dexter explained.
“I guess so,” Daniel agreed.
“No more graffiti, okay?” Dexter asked, putting his arm around his brother.
“Okay,” Daniel acquiesced.
The winter came in fast and furiously that year with a heavy snow to start. The wind howled, blowing the snow everywhere. It tested the strength of the windmills as they struggled to keep up. The family enjoyed a cozy Christmas together as the fire burned brightly in the wood stove. They exchanged gifts and celebrated Jesus’s birth. They prayed that he would continue to shine his light down upon their family. Vince had the present of the year. He had gotten every member of his family a pair of ice skates, and Erika dreamed of the day she would be able to strap them on.
The weather did not cooperate and their daily activities came to a halt. Weeks were spent cooped up in their pods working on indoor projects. The shop and the barn had become a popular hangout. They sharpened knives and farming implements. Trevor and his eldest son, Shane, were learning how to make furniture using traditional tools.
Shane showed Erika how they had fastened the wood together using a mortise-and-tenon joint. He had carved the end of one post so that it would fit into a space that was carved in the other. To make sure it stayed together they would drill a hole through both pieces and drive a pin into it. They used green wood they had harvested in the fall and spent the cold days making chairs they would use outside in the summer.
Finally the day came when the clouds peeled back and the sun shown brightly, giving the family a reprieve from the indoors. They strapped on their snowshoes and headed for the frozen pond. They brought a shovel, a mop and an ice fishing auger. Once they reached the pond they took turns shoveling the snow in a large rectangle, looking for the ice that was hidden below.
It was at this point that Erika had them strap on their skates. She remembered fondly the feel as the blade touched the ice but the air pockets in the ice made it bumpy. Sean was a really good skater, having lived in Minnesota before the Great Quake. He took the auger and drilled a hole in the ice with it. Vince dipped the mop into the hole and spread the water around the surface of the ice. Star, Dexter and Daniel, having never skated before, were getting cold waiting for the ice to be a better surface for them to learn on, so they built a fire. Erika told them they could build it right on the ice and the kids marveled at how cool it was that the ice could actually be that thick.
The Changing Earth Series (Book 3): The Walls of Freedom Page 25