The Changing Earth Series (Book 1): Day After Disaster

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  Day AFter Disaster

  The Changing Earth Series

  By: Sara F. Hathaway

  DEDICATION

  For Cynthia. May happiness shine upon you like your endless love and support has always shined upon me. For T.R. May your passions always guide you like the fire you have lit in my heart.

  Copyright 2014, 1st Edition, 2018 2nd Edition Sara F. Hathaway

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  Chapter 1

  Erika bolted awake, screaming in pain. An intense burning ran across her entire body. Focusing her eyes, she saw an elderly woman stood over her with a mask on. In her hand was a pair of forceps, holding a big blob of melted cotton.

  “Henry, she’s awake,” the woman said to a man that stood by her.

  His massive stature startled Erika as the pain continued to surge through her body.

  “Hold her down, I just need to grab one more piece,” the woman instructed the man. Fighting the man’s strength, Erika felt the forceps connect with the skin on her neck. The woman yanked, and Erika screamed, watching another piece of the melted plastic and cotton appear in the forceps.

  “Okay, we can take a break,” the woman instructed the man.

  His grip slackened, and Erika heard water pouring.

  “Here, drink this, honey,” the woman told her softly.

  Erika felt the glass touch to her lips. The cool water filled her mouth and ran down her throat.

  “We are not going to hurt you, honey,” the woman said to soothe Erika’s mind. “We’re trying to help.”

  Erika heard another glass being poured.

  “Now, drink this,” the woman instructed.

  Erika felt the burn of alcohol being poured down her throat. She coughed and sputtered, but it was warm and began to relieve the searing pain slightly.

  “We have to remove more of the clothing that melted to your skin. It’s gonna hurt,” the woman told her, pouring another shot of the alcoholic beverage down her throat.

  Erika screamed in pain as the tiny pieces were removed one by one. As the mix of pain and alcohol took over, she lost consciousness.

  

  In her dream, she was in a hospital room. As she looked toward the door, her husband, Vince, entered. His curly hair was held down by a baseball cap and his dancing eyes met hers.

  “Hey, you’re awake,” he commented in a voice that rung with bass.

  “Yeah,” Erika replied, sleepily.

  He came over and hugged her tightly. She breathed in the smell of her man. She felt secure and safe.

  “How did it go?” Erika asked.

  “It went perfectly. The doctor says you will be back on your feet in no time,” Vince assured her.

  “I was worried I wouldn’t make it home,” Erika told him.

  “Now, why would you say a thing like that. You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he teased her, laughing.

  “I love you, Vince,” Erika told him, hugging him tightly. She didn’t want to let go.

  “I love you too, baby. Look who’s here,” he said backing away.

  “Dexter,” she exclaimed as her son came bounding through the door.

  “Mommy, you’re awake!” he exclaimed joyously. He jumped up on the bed and hugged her. Vince hugged them both and Erika sighed with relief.

  

  Erika slowly opened her eyes, wishing her dream could last forever. She didn’t want to wake up in this world. She was alone. The light was dim, and her body screamed in pain. She groped around frantically, ensuring her escape from Sacramento was real. Pain held her in place but her mind panicked, wondering where she was. Days of waking up in unfamiliar places made the terror she felt feel normal.

  She took a deep breath and tried to focus her eyes to see through the blackness. Judging by the sweet smell of hay, she assumed she was in a barn. The bales were stacked around her, forming walls, and a blanket hung at an opening across from her bed. She tried to sit up, but pain pierced every inch of her body. The effort caused her to cry out.

  “Don’t move, honey. You’re in no shape for it,” the woman’s voice commanded.

  Erika watched the blanket that was hung in the doorway begin to illuminate. As it drew back, a woman with a lantern entered. Her small stature and curly gray hair was revealed in the flickering light.

  “Where am I?” Erika’s mouth hurt to talk, but it had been so long since she had someone to talk to that she couldn’t refrain from doing it.

  “We’re safe for now in sunny California, in what’s left of Newcastle. Currently, we’re calling our barn home. Everything else was completely destroyed in the earthquake,” the woman told her softly.

  “How did I get here?” Erika asked, confused.

  “I was hoping you could tell us that,” she answered. The woman’s body crackled as she sat down in a chair by Erika’s bed and put the lantern on a nightstand. “My name is Carol. My husband, Henry, has been out looking for survivors since the dam broke and flooded the valley. All that water mixed with all those chemicals, and the water became a nasty, toxic mix. We never found anyone alive. We had just about given up hope of ever finding anyone. He wasn’t even going to go out the day that he found you. We can’t be sure, but we think a volcano erupted out west. We didn’t know what it would do, but he went anyway. It’s a good thing he did because he brought you back in the wagon. He went back and got your supplies the next day.

  “That suit you made was a very smart idea. It kept the toxic water from eating away your skin. Unfortunately, the heated water melted the duct tape and cellophane to your clothes and skin. I had to cut it off very carefully. You have some severe burns where the plastic adhered to your skin. The good news is, you’re alive and you’ll be back on your feet in a few weeks. It’s incredible that anyone made it out of that disaster alive,” her kind voice explained.

  “Where is everyone? Why were no rescue attempts made? I never even saw one helicopter,” Erika questioned.

  “The earthquake must have been much larger than anyone thought possible,” Carol explained. “We thought that it only affected our area at first, but now, I’m not so sure. There have been no relief efforts: no National Guard, nothing. The television, computer, phone, nothing works. After months of waiting for rescue we’re fearful of people altogether. Some of the people have been looting. The neighbors we did find alive are so frightened they don’t want to leave their homes.” She lowered her voice. “People have been killing each other for food. The grocery stores were destroyed. There’s nothing left.”

  “Two months? That’s impossible,” Erika exclaimed. “I was down in that hole for months?” Her mind was scrambling to understand the implications of everything this woman was saying.

  “Down in that hole?” Carol questioned inquisitively.

  “I survived in a bomb shelter,” Erika informed her. “But I had no idea I was in there that long. I kept thinking that help would come.”

  “The main quake happened two months ago now. Since then i
t’s all been aftershocks. The main quake was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. The roar of the ground moving was deafening. It was as if a gigantic wave rippled and split everything. The roads have become impassable piles of rubble, cracked beyond recognition. The cars that aren’t damaged can’t clear the gaps and chunks strewn about.

  “Our garden was ripped apart, but we carefully replanted as best we could. By some miracle, our barn is sound, and the animals survived. The fighting has been centered around the stores in Auburn, mostly, but it’s bound to expand. Henry rode one of the horses into Auburn to get help. It took him a half a week to get there and back. Once he got there he just turned around and came home. He didn’t want to tell me what he saw and simply said it was horrible.”

  “Two months? That means it’s. . .” Erika was trying to calculate with a head so full of fog she was finding it hard to think at all.

  “It’s July 2nd, just two days until Independence Day, not that there will be any celebration this year.” Carol mumbled that last part under her breath.

  “Oh no, I can’t believe this. I have to get home to my family,” Erika sputtered with tears in her eyes. She was trying to imagine that this was all some horrible nightmare she was about to wake up from.

  “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll figure it all out in God’s time. Right now, you just need to rest and get healthy. What’s your name, honey?” Carol wondered.

  “My name is Erika. . .Erika Moore,” she responded.

  “Here, drink this, Erika Moore,” she suggested.

  Carol poured her a glass of water from a pitcher on the nightstand.

  “Should we get you to the restroom?” the woman questioned.

  “I was going to ask,” Erika answered.

  “Henry,” Carol called.

  The well-statured man entered the room. He stood six feet seven inches from the ground and towered above her. Erika knew by the wrinkles on his face that he was as old as Carol, but that was the only way to tell. His body was as muscular and strong as he was tall. Wrapping the sheet around Erika’s naked body, Henry lifted her from the bed. His huge hands were delicate and although the pain from the burns was breathtaking, Erika sensed he was trying to be as soft and gentle as possible.

  He carried her beyond the blanket, and Erika saw they had made a home out of the hayloft. There was a kitchen area and tables and chairs. The aching of her body was clouding her mind as Henry placed her in the bathroom and pulled the blanket closed. She delicately used the facilities, wrapped herself back up, and called for Henry. All she wanted to do was lay her throbbing body back in that bed. She was done adventuring for the day.

  “Do you think you can eat something?” Carol wondered as Henry laid her back into the bed.

  “I can try,” Erika replied slowly, sipping the glass of water.

  The woman left the room and returned with a bowl of steaming soup. She put it on a tray in front of Erika. Willing her hand to grasp the spoon, Erika winced as her flexing muscles caused her skin to stretch painfully.

  “Here, let me help,” the woman intervened.

  Erika laid back as the woman spooned the soup into her mouth. She saw tiny chunks of finely cut meat floating in the broth. Flavors of carrots, peas, and onions filled her mouth as Erika tasted the liquid. It was like heaven to her. She reveled in the flavors of real meat and vegetables that weren’t dried out. The hot broth soothed her insides. After eating, she slugged down a glass of water and fell back asleep.

  

  She fell back into a deep sleep, consumed with memories of the last time she was with her family:

  “Dexter, please calm down,” Erika scolded her son as the dishwater dripped from her hands. She grabbed a towel to dry them on her way across the kitchen to the family room. Her son, Dexter, launched himself off the couch and landed with a thud on the floor.

  “You’re just full of energy today,” Erika exclaimed to the five-year-old boy.

  His blue-gray eyes seemed to change color with his mood. They stared up at her innocently.

  “I got an idea,” Erika suggested.

  “What, Mom?” Dexter anticipated her response.

  “Since Grandma and Grandpa are still in Washington State, we need to go down and check on the property. Those darn raccoons have been harassing the chickens and I think they’re nesting by the shed. Want to go and eradicate them?” Erika asked him.

  “Yeah!” the little boy squealed with delight. “I’ll get my slingshot!” he announced as he ran into his bedroom.

  Erika traversed the tiny expanse of their home to her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone. Pushing the button, she dialed her husband’s number.

  “Hey baby, what’s up?” his masculine voice asked as he answered her call.

  “Not much, I was calling to let you know I’m taking Dexter and Ripper down to your parent’s house today. We’re going to see if we can get rid of those raccoons,” Erika informed him.

  “Be careful, you know they’re angry little buggers during the day. I’m going to have to work late today. The concrete trucks were delayed, and we need to finish the dirt work before tomorrow,” he explained.

  “Okay, you can pick up Dexter and Ripper from my mom’s and I’ll see you after my shift tonight,” Erika replied.

  “Oh” Vince moaned with disappointment. “I forgot you had to work tonight. Now I won’t get to see you till late. Couldn’t you just tell them you’re sick?”

  “No, I told David I would cover for him, but I’ll be home as soon as I’m done,” Erika tried to console him.

  “You better. I miss you already. But seriously, be careful with the racoons. I love you and I will see you later tonight,” he said, getting distracted by a question a co-worker was asking him.

  “I love you too. You’re busy, I’ll let you go,” Erika told him.

  “Okay, bye, baby, I love you,” he told her, ending the conversation.

  “Love you too,” Erika replied as she hung up her phone. “You ready, buddy,” she called to Dexter.

  Dexter emerged from his room in his camouflage overalls with his slingshot tucked in the front pocket and declared, “Yup, all ready, Momma.”

  “Look at you, stud,” Erika announced, admiring his clothing choice. He spun around, his blond hair floating softly in the air.

  They loaded their family dog, Ripper, into the car and started to drive down the highway. As they drove, Erika’s dream started to darken. A huge wave suddenly emerged, flooding the highway as the ground began to shake. She screamed to Dexter in the back of the car, but he had disappeared.

  

  Erika bolted awake, jarred from her dream. She sat up slowly, anticipating the searing pain that came with movement. Her body was still sore and scabbed all over from the burns she had sustained, but the motion was not as bad today. She drew back the blanket but quickly brought it back up when she remembered that she was completely naked. Before long she heard Carol’s footsteps on the hayloft stairs. Erika listened to them pause in the kitchen area for a moment and then continue toward her room. The blanket pulled back and in popped Carol’s head, her fluffy curls pressed back as her head rubbed on the blanket.

  “Oh dear, you’re up. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke,” Carol exclaimed. “You look much better today.” Erika noticed that Carol walked very stiffly as she entered the room with a new pitcher of water. She sat down on a chair next to Erika’s bed. She filled a glass on the nightstand and put the pitcher down next to it.

  “How long have I been asleep, Carol?” Erika queried, feeling like she was in a time warp.

  “Two days since you woke up last; it’s the Fourth of July,” Carol said cheerfully. “I doubt we’ll see any real fireworks today, but seeing you sitting up is fireworks enough for me. You must be feeling much better.”

  “Besides feeling like I have been hit by a truck, I am not feeling too bad,” Erika jested, wincing as the laughing caused her abdomen to ache
.

  Henry came in and helped Erika to the bathroom. Each time it was getting easier to move herself about. Carol had another bowl of soup ready for Erika when she returned to the room. Carol delighted in talking with Erika as Erika spooned the delicious broth into her mouth.

  “The pain will pass, eventually. I just wish I could do more for you. I’m not a doctor and our supplies are practically gone. I don’t even have any of my arthritis medicine left,” Carol explained.

  “I studied a little about medicine,” Erika told her, wiping a drop of broth off her chin. “I trained as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), and I studied books on herbs for healing. I’m no doctor, either, but I do remember a few herbal remedies. Maybe I could get up, and find something for you and me.” Erika was anxious to be up and about after lying in bed for so long. She knew she was a lot closer to home now, and she wanted to know just how close she really was. Looking for healing herbs seemed like a good excuse.

  Carol was not as convinced as Erika that she was ready to be up and about yet and quickly countered. “I don’t know, Erika; you’re in no shape to be going outside yet. Maybe if you could tell me what you need I could get it for you, and you could show me how to prepare it.”

  Erika was disappointed but decided that it was probably best to listen to this woman. After all, she did owe the couple her life at this point.

  “That sounds like it will work,” she replied. “I need a plant called plantain. It’s common in this area and grows in the grass. It looks like thick blades of grass growing from a singular plant. This time of year, it might have sprouts like flowers coming out of the middle. Also, if you could get me my clothes, I could try to get these legs moving again.” Erika tried to slide the last part in real nonchalantly, hoping that Carol would at least let her get up and move around some.

  “Oh, I almost forgot all about your clothes. Hold on one second,” Carol replied. In her enthusiasm, she jumped up from the chair. The rapid movement caused her to face to distort in pain. She slowly straightened up and left the room. Erika heard her steps across the floor again. They faded away and then returned. “We had to cut your clothes off your skin,” she explained as she drew back the curtain,” and the cellophane you wrapped yourself in melted all over them. You have some more of those cooking clothes with your gear, but I made this outfit out of an extra pair of sheets. They shouldn’t irritate your burns as much as those thick cotton cook’s clothes.” Carol held up a baby-blue-colored outfit and placed it on Erika’s bed.