Earth's Survivors: box set

by Wendell Sweet

  There had been two big explosions before dawn. The last one, a huge one that had lifted two cars into the sky and scattered debris all the way to the store front. There was no doubt that Don and the others were past saving. All that remained was for everyone to wonder why he had done what he did. There was no real answer for that at all. You could not know another person's mind, Adam knew, even if you thought you did.

  The dead had been spirited away in the night. That had bothered Adam a great deal. They had come for their own and they had not even heard them or realized they had until morning. There had been fires burning all around the bodies, yet they had come and taken them, and Adam had seen nothing; and, he reminded himself now, no one else had seen anything either. The bodies had simply been gone this morning.

  They had checked the roof at first light, trying to work out how they had gotten in. Adam and Beth both wanted to be on their way, but both of them also wanted to know how they had managed to get into the building. Adam, Beth, Cammy and Billy had climbed the narrow, black steel ladder at one side of the building that led to the roof.

  Beth had found an air duct at the back of the store that lead to the roof. A crowbar lay beside the ruined sheet metal top. They had pried the top off, crawled into the duct work and gotten inside the store. Once in, they had used the steel roof supports that made up the ceiling to make their way to where they had been. From there it had probably seemed as if it would be easy to drop straight down on them. Beth had stood for a moment, looking down at the vent, and then she turned away.

  Adam stood looking down at the vent where it had been pried open to gain access. It had been bad, but he supposed it could have been worse. What if there had been no watch? What if several of them had not been awake talking? What if...

  “Don't,” Cammy said from beside him.

  Billy looked over at Cammy's voice, and then turned back away. A second later, he walked away, heading back to the ground.

  “What?” Adam asked.

  Cammy only shook her head and followed after Billy as he left the roof. Adam stood for a moment, shook his own head, and then followed along.

  The four trucks pulled out into the median of route three, and followed Adam along the side of the highway, weaving around stalled trucks and cars as they went.

  ~

  Adam looked over at Cammy. Her silence was brooding. Something he had done had pissed her off. “Come on, Cammy,” Adam said as he drove slowly around an overturned tractor trailer combo. Somehow the trailer had stayed attached as the truck had turned over. He drove up the slight rise at the side of the highway, skirted the trees, branches scratching against the side window, and then angled back down toward the side of the road. He looked over at Cammy.

  Cammy fixed him with a deep frown. “You're sitting there going over this like there was something you could have done differently, and there isn't. I don't even know why you chose to lead this. No one asked you to. Yeah, it was there, offered, but you took it, and you didn't have to. And you're a good leader, but part of that is because you feel things... take it all so personal. You can't. You have to let that go. I saw that same shit rip Maddy apart. I won't watch it twice.” She turned back to her window and watched the world pass by in slow motion.

  Adam had left the side of the highway. They were traveling through the fields now, staying close to the roadway, but the roadway itself was impassable, cars and trucks jammed together for as far as they could see.

  Adam said nothing, only concentrated on driving. The fields were overgrown, and they could not make good speed because there was no way to know what was in front of them at any given time. Twice Adam had driven into a boggy area. He was only saved by the low speed and the four wheel drive, backing out and then edging by closer to the highway.

  The rain began to fall in the early afternoon as they passed a road sign for Tannersville, and Cammy announced that they were inside Pennsylvania and had been for several miles. They began to follow the thruway.

  The sides of the thruway were wider, and the traveling, despite the constant rain, was easier. In the late afternoon they reached Route 81. Adam skirted the interchange overpass and, with the other trucks following, turned on to the interstate highway. A short way down the interstate, they came to a break in the roadway, just past the signs that marked the outskirts of Hazleton. A deep ravine crossed the highway, filled with a river of water. The exits were still ahead, past the break in the highway. Adam rolled to a stop at the edge of the break. The stalled cars and trucks had not been so bad on the interstate. It had looked as though they would begin to make good time. Now this.

  Huge portions of the road were gone. Deep gulleys cut across, flooded now with the constant rain. Both lanes of the highway were out directly ahead. Adam had stopped a hundred yards from the drop off. He picked up the radio from the dashboard. The rain was driving now, drumming on the steel roof.

  “We can't go any further in this. Road's gone ahead of us, and it looks as though it has been for a while. Once the rain stops, we might be able to wait out the flooding, but It doesn't look real promising.”

  “Junk yard... off to the left,” Billy said. The radio was static filled and scratchy despite the fact that Billy was less than fifty feet behind them. Adam rubbed at the glass. It had fogged up when it began to rain and had stayed that way most of the day.

  Off to the left, a huge junk yard stretched away towards the city of Hazleton. The junk yard itself was a good half mile or more from the interstate though, and Adam wondered whether they could get to it. The city of Hazleton lay beyond that. At least he assumed it was the city of Hazleton. The signs said it was.

  “If we could make that... we could use that to get into the city. Might be clear on the other side,” Billy finished.

  Adam looked out the window at the huge expanse of blacktop. At one edge, a few cars were tilted into the air, half sunk into the ground. There was water flowing at one edge of the fenced in yard. He could not tell how deep it was. Overall, though, it seemed in good shape. He traced likely routes with his eyes. It looked passable, but that was from his vantage point on the highway, looking it over through the pouring rain. Directly ahead, there was a steep embankment down from the interstate and a field of tall grass to pass through that could both present problems.

  “It doesn't look that good, Billy. From here I don't see a way out. I don't see anything under that grass, but there could be...” Adam trailed off, held the button for a second and then released it.

  “Right... Right... From here, though, I can see through the grass in places. Back up a bit, Adam. Back up and see. Old dirt roads out from the junk yard... or around it... something.”

  Adam shifted into reverse, cut to the left and backed down the length of Beth's and then Billy's truck. Mac's truck sat further back, idling in the rain.

  The wind whipped the grass, and from this angle it was possible to see the ground beneath it, at least parts of it. There were parts of old roads. He could also see more of the junk yard too, a few out buildings, and there seemed to be a clear route through the yard and out. A road did emerge from the trees on the other side and lead toward the city. He didn't see a clear connection though. He glanced back ahead and then over at Billy through the glass. He clicked the radio.

  “Beth?”

  “Beats sitting here,” she replied.

  “Down we go,” Adam replied, after a brief pause. He took his foot off the brake, backed around Billy's truck and then rolled forward.

  The drop off for the embankment was sharp. He rolled up slowly, let the front tires ease over the break off and then tried to control his descent into the field below.

  The Nation: September 4th

  Conner walked down along the stream to where it made the turn into the second valley. He, Arron, Jake and James were looking for the best places to put in footbridges to cross the stream. In places, it was more like a small river than a stream. At others it flattened out and was no more than a few feet deep as it m
ade its way along the valley floor.

  “Dustin wants to put lights down this far,” Conner said to no one in particular.

  “I believe he will too,” James said. He stopped and looked back down the length of the valley. “Talk to Katie yet?”

  Conner nodded and looked over at Arron who nodded too.

  “Bet that was fun,” Jake said with a smile. “If I told Lilly I was going back out there? Christ, I don't want to think about how it would go.”

  “Yeah... Well, that's about how it went for us too. Only difference being, we told them together. Really, all things considered, they took it well.”

  “Amy thinks the council should get together tonight, nail down some absolutes. How long, who goes. She wants to go; so does Katie,” Arron said.

  “No way,” Conner said. “I mean...” He shook his head.

  “She's pregnant,” James said. “It may be that Sandy will have to say no for you. We talked about getting together tonight. The council meeting should be open though, as we discussed.”

  Conner looked up. “That would do it, James. I think you have it. Do you think she would? Sandy, I mean?”

  “Yep. I know she would, because she just said something to me today about Lilly, Janet, Amy and Katie. I'm missing one. Another of the new ones whose name is not yet in my head. But, Sandy talked to me about none of them being able to work the harvest. She doesn't want to take any chances when it comes to babies, so that pretty much solves your problem. If she doesn't want them to work the fields, it only goes to make sense she would not want them going back into the outside world,” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Yeah. I can see that. They can't argue with that,” Arron agreed.

  “They are nearly as big as Lilly is,” Jake added. “How could they think of being in a truck bouncing over those roads? And who knows what else could happen? I don't think it'll be a walk in the park,” Jake finished.

  “No. From the radio, I think it's safe to say it's not going to be a walk in the park.” Conner cleared his throat. “But, I thought about Molly and Nellie. Molly is good with a gun... as good as Katie is. Nellie is a close second, and she knows a lot about first aid because she's been learning from Sandy. Might cause Katie and Amy to worry less too.”

  “Leave soon, I would suppose?” James asked.

  “Pretty much have to. It's already cooler. How far away can winter be? And everything's changed. We have no idea how bad it will be,” Conner said.

  “Or even if it will be,” Jake added.

  “There's that too,” James agreed. “Well, let's get together tonight. We got people coming in tomorrow. It will be crazy. And the more that come, the more that might want a say in things too. We can do it tonight, set it for two weeks from now. That will give everybody time to square things away if they need to, those that are going I mean. And those of us that are staying, to get you lists of what we would like you to try to get.”

  “Two weeks is quick,” Jake said. “I should go with you guys. I just don't know what Lilly would think.”

  “Or James,” James said. “If you go, this bridge project, harvesting - and about a dozen other things I can think of off the top of my head - ain't gonna happen or get finished.”

  “I asked James about stealing you, Jake,” Arron said. “You would be an asset. But I think James is right. Like we said the other night, there are things you and James do here that are too important. There are going to be too many of us gone as it is, and who knows how many coming in.”

  “And, I wouldn't say it to Katie or Amy - Lilly or Janna either for that matter - but it's liable to be pretty bad out there. We may not make it back. At least not all of us, and we can't even say when we will be back. We thought about it, but I thought I would rather have you and James here. We have others, but the four of us...”

  “Been through the fire,” Arron finished.

  “Pretty much,” Conner agreed.

  “Lilly will be relieved. James and I have cut out a lot of work to finish before snow flies,” Jake seemed embarrassed

  “But,” Arron added, “Next time, you go and I stay.”

  That lightened the mood, and they all laughed.

  “I'm going up,” James said. “I'll tell Janna to let them know. After dinner?”

  Conner nodded. “You'll talk to Sandy?”

  “Yep.” He looked at Conner. “Don't tell Katie it was me,” he laughed, but his eyes were serious.

  “No,” Conner agreed.

  “We're gonna hear it anyway,” Arron said morosely. “They're gonna know.”

  “Probably. But they'll be here safe and not there,” Conner said.

  The silence held for a moment as James left to head back up to the cave. Conner looked back down the valley toward the barns. “So... show me where this bridge is going to go.”

  Jake took off his hat, beat it against his leg and then wiped the sweat from his brow. He pointed back toward the barns. “Well, you can see where the stream narrows up there and stays that way. It's deeper. James and I were thinking...”

  Hazleton Pennsylvania : Adam and Beth

  Adam stood smoking, leaned back against the garage door and watched as an eagle lifted into the sky back toward the interstate. He reminded himself that, although they were a symbol of power, they were also carrion eaters, and that matched with what they could see of the city. From their observance Hazleton was dead. The dead lay in the streets, the smell of death was heavy on the air. There was destruction in all directions, many areas of the city had been destroyed completely, and there were millions of birds everywhere you looked. It made him sick when he thought about the why of it.

  They had driven down from the highway the day before, but it had not been an easy drive. There had been running water and a set of railroad tracks to cross too. The water had not been deep, but more than once Adam had not been sure they would make it through. The thing that saved them was the fact that the trees had been cut back from the junk yard area, leaving a wide, open area and a dirt and gravel road that wound around the entire yard. Once they had reached that road, it had not been hard to follow it around to the Hazleton side and find their way in.

  The junk yard itself was fenced, high chain link fences. There had been a set of gates at the front of the junk yard that opened onto the Hazleton side, that had been broken down by a wrecker at some point.

  The wrecker sat a hundred yards inside the junk yard, one of the gates wrapped around the front of the wrecker, the other gate laying bent and crumpled off to one side. Adam wondered about the story, what had happened with the wrecker and the gates, but he had no answer, and the people involved were long gone.

  There had been no fixing the gates, but they had driven an old Greyhound across the entrance, jump started the wrecker and used it to push the bus up tight to the fence. That had stopped anyone from easily gaining access to the junk yard.

  The yard covered hundreds of acres, and they had walked the fence line in the rain to make sure that it was intact. Adam and Beth both had agreed on that. They wanted no more surprises. They had come back to find the bus pulled across the opening and a few dozens steel barrels burning around the long steel garage building that stood to one side. Old wood and used motor oil fueled the fires.

  The buildings had been closed up tight. No dead had been inside them. It had taken Mac and Billy more than twenty minutes to break into the garage building while Adam and Beth had been walking the fence line. Iris, Cammy and Winston kept the kids occupied and began to get a meal ready, moving inside the building as soon as Mac and Billy cleared it.

  Something about the rain was inviting. It killed the stench that rode the air. A short time later, with the rain still falling, they had begun to walk the entire yard looking for dead. There had been a few dozen inside the yard, trapped now, and they had carried them out before the rain had stopped.

  Clearing the dead had been important to Adam. The dead carried disease, the rain helped spread that. It made sense that if they we
re intent on staying here a few days they needed to get the dead out of the place. With the rain that meant the entire yard had to be cleared, the rivulets and pools of water between the junked cars and flowing in some rows, would carry the disease right to them.

  They had cleared them out, driven the bodies past the bus and out the road that lead away into Hazleton, and then stood in the rain as they rolled them into a ravine a quarter mile away. Exhausted, they had returned to the huge yard. They had closed the gates back up once more with the bus.

  That had been the day before, Adam thought now. He had managed six hours of sleep, and he was amazed at how much better he felt. He finished his cigarette and tossed it out onto the pavement, stared at it for a moment and then walked over and crushed it out with his boot heel. He turned and walked back into the garage area.

  Billy had himself a project he was working on in one of the garage stalls, to replace the truck he had been driving. He and Mac had pulled in a huge four wheel drive truck. The cab was wrecked, the bed gone - probably sold. The two of them had stripped off the rest of the truck body during the day. Adam had lent a hand when asked, but mechanical work was not his strong suit. Not so with Billy, apparently, who was unafraid of anything mechanical. He became a different person once he had a wrench in his hand.

  Adam had awakened from his sleep to find that the three trucks besides Billy's all had bigger tires and rims. Billy and Mac had scouted the junk yard and found them. It had been a little tough doing the work without power, but it was not an impossibility. From there, they had moved on to stripping out the truck that Billy had spotted while they had been searching for tires.

  Adam had driven his truck around the roads in the junk yard, surprised at how different it felt. It sat much higher. He could see farther away. He could see the advantage of that when it came to high grass in the fields or at the side of the roads. He got out and looked it over. He could see where Billy had used a hammer to remodel his front fenders where the tires would have rubbed against them. He was amazed at the difference, and couldn't wait to try the truck out on the road.