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

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  Artaz’s hooves plodded along a course that lead them through the trees on the edge of the old road. She was careful not to get swept off by a branch and spent most of the time looking back at Kit, making certain that none of her goods were lost along the way. She could not get more. Even if I had the time where would I go? she asked herself. Who would I ask? There was far too much uncertainty involved, and if she was careful, it would not be a concern.

  The dirt itself seemed different. It was fluffier than the compact soil that usually existed in California. In the upheaval of the main quake the dirt itself was displaced and further disrupted by the falling trees and cracking roots. Watching the horses’ hooves stick deep in the dirt made her very aware of the tracks she was leaving.

  She pushed the concern out of her head and focused on how close she was getting to home. When the roads were the smooth concrete routes of the past, it would have only taken her about a half hour to get home from where she was. Now it was a very different world. These roads were no longer traversable for most automobiles; she was left with traditional horsepower. At least I have that, Erika thought, still in awe of Henry and Carol’s kindness. She was sure a place would be reserved in heaven for their souls.

  As the sun began to come up, Erika was still carefully weaving the horses through the trees. The beautiful golden color was a welcome relief from the dark of the night. Watching and listening for any other sound but hers, she heard a vehicle in the distance. She quickly chose a place in the trees where she and the horses would be hidden from anyone coming down the road. Suddenly, a Jeep came into view. Erika thought it was a very sorry-looking vehicle, basically just a frame with an engine and two seats. Two men, bouncing along in the seats, looked ragged. The Jeep crawled along the broken road, bobbing back and forth violently. The men rocked from side to side, gripping the roll cage for dear life. The driver was a dirty-blond man with a strong build. He was wearing a baseball cap. The other man was darker skinned with a slight build. As they slowly crept past, Erika could just barely overhear their conversation above the roar of the engine.

  The dirty-blond man was saying, “We really need to bring back some meat to the camp. With all those people there, I don’t know how we’ll keep feeding everyone.”

  The dark man replied, “I know, if those damn scavengers hadn’t robbed us blind we wouldn’t be in this position. I’m telling you, dude, we aren’t going to trust anyone anymore. They can all die and go to hell for all I care. We’re taking care of our group and anyone else is just in the way. We’ll survive this.”

  “Hell yeah, we will, and once we get that surveillance drone in the air this evening we’ll be able to monitor this whole area. We’ll weed out the survivors and take what they are surviving on. They can join us or die, and personally I would rather they die because that will be fewer mouths to feed,” the blond man told him.

  Erika was getting uneasy listening in on this cruel conversation. She was thinking of Henry and Carol. She hoped they were far enough away that this man would not find them. She had traveled a long way, but these people seemed desperate. Eventually, they might have to go that far to find more supplies. Erika was also worried about traveling by their camp without getting spotted by their surveillance mechanism. Her uneasy thoughts relayed to the horses and they began to fidget around a little. Erika tried to soothe them, but she was getting panicky herself.

  Noticing the movement in the trees, the dark man hit the dirty-blond man on the shoulder and said, “Hey, stop the truck, Dave.”

  Dave abruptly halted the Jeep. “What, Doug?”

  “I thought I saw something in those bushes over there,” Doug replied.

  “What was it?” Dave asked.

  Erika was holding her breath and, as if sensing the tension, the horses held perfectly still. She prayed to God that they would not see her. She didn’t know what would happen if they did. Would they kill me? Would they kill the horses? Would I ever get back to my family? Her mind buzzed relentlessly.

  Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime to Erika, Doug said, “Oh forget it. If it was a deer, we must have scared it off. We’ll send out a couple of hunters this way tomorrow to see if they can find it and bring us home some meat.”

  “You’re right,” grumbled Dave. “Let’s finish the perimeter check and get back. I’m sure someone back at camp is pitching a fit about something.”

  Dave got the Jeep bumping along again. Erika sighed with relief as their conversation and engine noise faded away into the distance.

  “Oh, Artaz, was that close,” Erika exclaimed to her horse. She slumped down to pet Artaz’s black neck. “We almost got ourselves into some big trouble. Let’s make sure we stay away from their ‘perimeter’ and get the heck out of here as fast as possible. What about Henry and Carol—should we go back and warn them?” Erika knew in her heart this was not possible. It would take me too long to get back, she told herself, and what good can I really do them? Henry and his son were setting up defenses anyway. They both knew what was out there.

  In the end Erika decided to continue on as fast as the horses could go on this broken landscape. Her heart ached for the horses. Every bit of ground everywhere was rippled by the earthquake. There was no escape. Trees that once stood tall and straight, were now pointed sideways. Her attempt at traveling in a straight line turned into more of a zigzag around this tree and then that one. One tree would shoot off at a left angle and then the next one to the right, and all the while she kept the road fairly close but not too close. Plus, she was constantly aware of who might be on it.

  The sun came up big and bright overhead. All that day Erika’s nerves were wearing completely raw. The horses felt her anxiety and stammered and tripped because they were trying to use their great big ears to pick out even the smallest of sounds. Erika didn’t even stop to eat. Her stomach churned with nervousness. She figured if she could just keep going, this whole ordeal would come to an end all the sooner. When she found her home and her family they could hunker down together and wait for the help that was bound to come sooner or later.

  To settle her mind down, she thought about riding when she was young. Erika had a Quarter Horse named Red and they shared many great adventures together. They went soaring through cornfields, jumping irrigation trenches and fences as they dashed along. Her mother always worried about her riding alone. She made Erika take her cell phone with her every time and Erika wished, now more than ever, she could call for help. But the phones didn’t work: Erika was on her own. If she lived or died now, no one would know. They would never know how far she came. Anyone who found her would have no idea who she was or where she was going. In these desperate times they probably wouldn’t give it a second thought to begin with, Erika thought to herself.

  The sky exploded with color as the sun began to dip down. Erika knew she would have to stop soon. She needed to feed and water the horses. The sweat was thick and lathered across their bodies from the day’s anxious traveling and Erika’s tummy was rumbling as well. The stress of the day and the lack of food were finally catching up with her. Making a mental note of where the road she was following lay, she decided to turn further into the woods to hide for the night. She was dreading the next part of her trip. She would have to go through part of town to get across the river.

  After going a short way off the road, she found a little clearing and slid down off the horse. Her legs were so sore they didn’t even want to move. She tried to straighten up, but her legs stayed all bent and crooked. Erika used to ride a lot when she was young, but she hadn’t ridden a horse in a while and definitely not for a whole day. Her butt felt like a couple of basketballs stuffed in her pants. She hobbled over to the pack that was on Kit and got grain for the horses. She decided to take their bridles off, so they could graze in their halters for a while. However, she didn’t unsaddle or unload them all the way because she was afraid she might have to make a fast getaway. Getting out a little beef jerky, she chewed on it, but she mostly ate t
he fruit and vegetables that Carol packed for her. The beef jerky and trail mix would last for a much longer time than the fruits and veggies would. If she didn’t eat them, it would be a horrible waste at a time when wasting could be a fatal error.

  After she and the horses ate and drank some water, Erika got a blanket and put it down on the ground. The earth was hard and dirty. She wished she had something more comfortable to lie on, but at least the blanket created a barrier between her and the bugs. She laid back and closed her eyes, thinking. She never liked bugs and Vince had often been her great white hunter. He would squash that nasty bug deader than a doornail. Reflecting on the memory made Erika smile, but it also made her realize how alone she was. At least she had the horses. They were on the ready and she hoped they would alert her to anything approaching. Dozing off, she dreamed of her family. She rested safely in their arms. Then, suddenly, they turned away. She screamed for them to come back but they did not hear her. Her throat stung with her efforts, but it did not matter. All of a sudden, she sat up in the darkness. Calming herself down, she listened to the horses breathing. All she could see was darkness and the animals’ silhouettes. After her horrible dream, she was too restless to sleep. Morning will be upon us soon enough anyway, she thought, re-bridling the horses and setting off through the darkness.

  It may not have been the best idea, but Erika didn’t care. She was going home and the faster she could get there, the sooner she could see her family. She convinced herself that it would be easier to get through the city at night. So, she dug the one little flashlight she was carrying out of her pack and headed back toward the road. Traveling in the dark was very difficult. She couldn’t see the branches that threatened her and her supplies. She was worried about losing her stuff and kept shining the flashlight at the tightly packed bags to make certain they were still there bouncing on the back of Kit.

  She found the road and muffled the light from the flashlight as she traveled along. Remembering what Henry said about staying off the road, she utilized it anyway. Erika told herself that the dark would hide her and the distance she could quickly gain was worth it. On the road, the branches overhead were far less and she did move faster. Soon, she was riding next to piles of what used to be houses. They were all broken, turned into piles of rubble. The stink of death was thick in the air. It was a smell she associated with roadkill, but she quickly realized bodies in various stages of decomposition were left in the rubble to rot. Erika couldn’t believe they were just left there. It had been two months since the main quake. Where was everyone? Why didn’t anyone do anything? she wondered, stopping to look at one of the bodies. She noticed that one body was dragged out of the rubble pile and some meat was cut off the thigh bone. Judging from the clean cuts, Erika thought it was done purposefully. She couldn’t fathom what had happened. She wondered how people could have become that desperate so quickly.

  Erika jerked Artaz to a stop. She heard a muffled scream in the distance. Someone was awake and close. From the sound of it, something was going horribly wrong. She felt like riding away as fast as she could but something deep inside her was telling her to help. Slowly, she guided the horses toward the sound of the scream. Not wanting to risk losing her horses and supplies, she found an area where the walls of an old home made a hidden cove and tied the horses there. She crept along as stealthily as she could toward the stifled cry for help. Finally, she spotted the cause of the commotion.

  A big man dressed in raggedy clothes with a huge beard and belly was holding a woman down. She was struggling against him with all her might. Her body was being ground into the rubble that was strewn all around. He was tearing her clothes off with a frenzied hate. The woman was screaming and screaming but he still held her and then tied her mouth shut with a piece of her own clothing that he ripped off her. Before long she was naked in the dirt. The man was rubbing her and touching her. She was whimpering and begging him to stop but he didn’t. Erika was frozen. She didn’t know what to do or how she could help. She was alone, and the man was far more powerful than her. She would have to wait for the perfect moment to intervene if she was going to at all.

  The woman made a desperate attempt to shove the man off her, but this just angered him even more and he hit her multiple times across the face. The woman’s face began to swell and bleed. She slumped into the dirt that surrounded her naked body. With a sickening smile the man reached down and undid his pants. Forcing his body on top of the woman he thrust again and again. Pretty soon, he was sweating and getting closer and closer to orgasm.

  Erika knew this was her moment. If she was going to do anything, now was the time. She ran out from behind the wall and kicked the guy as hard as she could right across the head. His head snapped to the side as he flew off the woman. He looked up in shock. Before he had time to take in the new circumstances, Erika picked up a 2 x 4 that was lying in the rubble and knocked him out with a carefully aimed blow to his face. His nose smashed in an explosion of blood and the man collapsed back onto the pavement. In awe of her own actions and the graphic outcome, Erika stood staring at the horrible scene. The man and the woman were both sprawled out on the ground in unnatural positions. She thought for a moment they were both dead. She never meant to kill anyone. Still frozen with shock, she jumped back as a tiny girl with golden blond hair came flying out of the shrubbery. Even though the girl didn’t look like she was any older than eight years old, she launched at the knocked-out man. She jumped onto his limp body and stabbed him right in the heart with a knife. The knife hit home but the little girl’s strength didn’t penetrate the man enough to kill him. Feeling the new injury, the man woke up. Furiously flinging the tiny girl off him and into a pile of rubble, he got back onto his feet. The evil look in his eyes shook Erika to the bone as he came at her. His huge bearlike hands gripped her neck tightly. Gasping for air, Erika saw the knife sticking halfway out of his chest. Summoning her strength, Erika grabbed the knife and shoved it all the way in. Then she twisted it around. The man fell to his knees as the knife pierced his heart. Still clutching Erika’s shirt, he sank toward the ground.

  Shaking uncontrollably, Erika opened the dead man’s tightly clenched hands and let his body fall. Remembering the little girl, Erika found her wrapped in her mother’s arms lying on the ground. The woman was not dead. Erika realized she must have just been knocked out. The small girl was sobbing, trying to cover her mother. The woman was consoling her daughter through a bloody and bruised mouth. Erika didn’t know what to do now. All she wanted to do was get home. I can’t leave them behind, Erika told herself, trying to think of a solution. This was a mother and child lost in a ruined world. Erika used to live in a world that she thought was stable. A place where most of the time she felt safe and protected. Now, nothing was certain. Erika knew that if she heard the woman’s screams others would have too. Worrying how many other survivors were in the area, she kept the status of her horses and her supplies in her mind. If she lost them, she would be in some major trouble. Her heart pounded as she thought desperately for solutions. She decided to drag the woman over to the horses. At least that area was more sheltered and easier to defend. She grabbed the woman quickly by the shoulders and began to move her toward the horses.

  The little girl screamed, “What are you doing to my mommy?”

  Erika replied quickly without even looking at her. “My horses are over there. We’ll be safer.”

  The little girl grabbed her mom’s legs without question and began helping Erika drag her mom over toward the horses. When they got there the horses were fine and all the bags were in place. Erika sighed with relief. The girl was in shock; she just stood there, wanting to know what to do next. Erika felt exactly like the girl looked, but this small child needed help and Erika was the only one there to provide it.

  “You can let her legs go now. I’ll get her a blanket,” Erika said, reassuringly.

  The girl sat down next to mother, gently petting her head. Erika grabbed a blanket from the pack and put i
t over the woman. She groaned and said a muffled thank-you through her swollen mouth. Bubbly blood came out with each gurgled breath the woman took. Erika didn’t know what to do next. She needed to leave as soon as possible but what was she going to do about these stragglers. Erika got some water and a rag out of her bag. She washed the blood off the woman’s face and began to assess her condition. It did not look good. Her face was very swollen, and blood was coming out of her ears. Erika knew this meant she might have some serious internal damage. Her body was completely bruised especially the area around her ribs. That was also a very bad sign and judging from her labored breathing, Erika guessed that she had a punctured lung. She sat back when she was done. Her hands were bloody, and she was exhausted.

  “It doesn’t look good does it?” The girl questioned quietly.

  “No honey, it doesn’t look good. We’ll have to wait and see how she does. You never know what will happen. What’s your name?” Erika said, trying to sound convincing.

  “My name is Star.”

  “How old are you Star?” Erika asked.

  “I’m eight,” Star answered.

  “Where is your Daddy, Star?”

  “Daddy is dead. He died when the house fell down. Mommy and I have been hiding here for a long time. We’ve always done a good job of hiding from the bad people until tonight.”

  “What bad people, Star?” Erika inquired. Her curiosity was perked by Star’s comment.