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

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  “I’m going to miss you, but I understand,” Jane admitted, hugging the woman. They kissed passionately.

  “Take care of yourself,” Jaclyn declared, as she walked through the gate.

  Jane stood there watching her go. Just as Sam was closing the gate behind her, Jane heard Doug’s crew coming down the side of the mountain from the right-hand side.

  Moving the gate was a slow process. It slammed with a bang as people flooded down the mountainside. There was no way to get it open again in time to get Jaclyn safely inside before the attackers ascended upon them.

  Jane screamed to Jaclyn, “Run Jaclyn, run and hide! They’ll catch you!”

  Jane was frantically pulling the gate open. Jaclyn started to run along the edge of the river where the flowing water pulled back the mud and left stone that was not as slippery. Thinking fast, Erika ran to Artaz. Star was already mounted, and Erika jumped up in front of her.

  “Whatever you do, don’t let go!” Erika yelled while driving her legs into Artaz.

  Artaz leaped forward and in a flash, they flew around the edge of the wall, splashing through the river. They hit the beach and galloped. The mud flew in the air as they pounded along the river bed. Then, she saw Jaclyn running in fear as fast as she could. Artaz was soaring now, his hoofs were clacking across the rocks but somehow, he found solid footing every time. Erika was a short distance from Jaclyn. They were going to make it. Then, all of a sudden, a truck came into her view from her left. The engine roared as the truck bound across the mud. They were closing in on Jaclyn! Erika realized she would never make it before the truck and pulled back hard on Artaz, causing him to come to a sliding stop.

  As Artaz spun around on his heels to scamper back to the safety of the compound, Erika heard Star scream, “They have her.”

  “There’s nothing we can do now except get the heck out of here.” Erika shouted. She was out of her head to be running after Jaclyn. All that would come of it was her and Star getting captured as well. Then she heard the men from the truck shouting.

  “There it is! The horse, that girl is riding it. Get it!” They quickly turned and started chasing Erika down, but before they could get their truck rolling through the deep muck Erika was back around the wall, galloping toward the bridge.

  Erika raced across the camp. They tied Jaclyn up like an animal in the back of the truck. The men were laughing at her and hitting her. She screamed in horror for someone to help her, but there would be no help. She would become another victim in a world that no longer had sympathy for the defenseless.

  Erika could not help her now. Too much time was wasted already. The giant hooks were pulling on the walls. Some were starting to fall. She watched Sam and Jane retreat to the designated point for the final attack. The marauders were shooting guns and throwing spears at Jane and Sam. Jane and Sam were firing back but their ammo was very limited, and Erika knew it. Sam ran back to the cover point. Erika was forgotten in the fray. The bridge would be blown, and Erika was on the wrong side!

  She dug her heels deep into Artaz and they galloped toward the bridge. She could see Jane getting ready to hit the switch, but in a second Jane was standing there with a spear directly through her eye and it was coming out the back of her head. Screaming for Jane, Sam shot the spear thrower dead in his tracks. Sam went to fire again, but the only sound was: click. . .click. He was out of bullets and the marauders were closing in. Erika jumped off a galloping Artaz and rolled over to the generator. Artaz hit the brakes quickly on the bridge as soon as he felt Erika jump. Star instinctually moved up and gripped the reins. Yanking on one rein, Star wheeled back around toward Erika. A group of men were closing in. She hit the switch. As she looked back, there was Artaz with Star at the reins.

  Erika leapt up in front of Star and they tore across the bridge that was blowing up almost underneath them. They turned to get Sam and saw a bullet rip through his chest. Debris rained down on them as the bridge and the men exploded.

  Artaz was now in a wild gallop, completely panicked from the barrage of gunfire aimed at them. He barreled up the hill uncontrollably. Star suddenly clenched Erika tightly and screamed. Artaz shied violently, and it took all of Erika’s strength to stay seated in the saddle. He dodged left and right, fear fueling his wild scramble up the mountainside. He ran like never before but halfway up the hill, he collapsed in a lifeless mass.

  During the crash, Erika and Star were launched through the air. They were knocked unconscious. All that could be heard was the quiet of an unbelievable night. As Erika lay there somewhere between reality and unconsciousness she told herself, this is all just a horrible nightmare and I’m going to wake up. What is this life? Will every day be like living in hell? There must be a nice normal life to be had somewhere. She thought about how fragile everything was. She couldn’t believe people walked through life every day and took it all for granted: their cars, cell phones, and their lattes, their dramatic social issues and medical problems that spawned from obesity and laziness. Welcome to the real world, she told herself, to life where you had to fight for survival with people who used to be neighbors, or at least civil.

  Chapter 13

  Sitting up quickly, Erika scanned the area. She wiped a tear from her eye when she saw Artaz sprawled out at her feet. The life was gone from his limp body. She frantically looked across the broken terrain for Star. Then she saw her. She was curled into a ball, which must have been her natural reaction when Artaz started to go down because she was out cold.

  Erika scrambled over to Star and checked her over. Her head looked okay; there were some new scratches but nothing of too much concern. Her chest was okay, and she was breathing. Her arms weren’t broken, but when Erika began to scan her legs she saw lots of blood on the back of her left calf. She quickly saw that it was a wound from the same bullet that killed Artaz.

  “Oh no, God no,” Erika mumbled over and over. Normally the child would have been rushed to the hospital in Auburn, but now what was she going to do? She had a little knowledge of treating minor cuts and scrapes, but not this. This was major.

  Star awoke screaming in pain, crawling into Erika’s arms and grasping at her leg. Erika held her tightly, trying to calm her. Then her ears perked at a sound in the bushes. Erika shushed Star firmly and the little girl quieted. The noise of footsteps on the forest floor grew louder. Erika put Star down at her feet and stood up in front of her, facing the sound. Her heart pounded, but she stood firm, awaiting the attacker. As the man came into view, Erika sighed with relief. It was Jimmy D! He met up with the others, but when no one else followed he went back down to see if anyone survived the blasts and gunshots he heard. He was just about to give up the search, figuring everyone was dead, when he heard Star scream.

  “I thought you guys were goners,” Jimmy D announced. “This definitely explains why you’re late.”

  “Oh, thank God you came back!” Erika exclaimed, hugging him. “Star is hurt, Jimmy. The bullet went right through her leg and it killed Artaz.”

  He bent down to examine Star as Erika stepped out of the way.

  “You okay, sweetie?” he asked softly.

  “No, I’ve been shot!” Star snapped, choking back tears.

  “I guess you’re right.” He couldn’t help but laugh a little at the irony of the little girl. The great thing about kids was they lived in the moment so they could adapt to severe tragedies faster.

  “What are we going to do?” Erika asked impatiently. “We can’t just sit here.” She couldn’t get the thought of those Auburn guys sneaking up the hill behind them out of her mind.

  “How I see it is, we need to do two things: get Star up the hill so we can take care of her leg, and get that meat off that horse and up the hill, so we can eat,” Jimmy stated bluntly.

  “You want to do what?” Erika exclaimed. “We don’t have time for that, Jimmy,” she insisted, nervously scanning the forest.

  “Look Erika, that’s a lot of meat right there and we have people, including o
urselves, that need to eat. Now, I’m an EMT and I can patch the kid. Do you know how to deal with that?” He asked, pointing to Artaz.

  “Yeah. . .I guess so. I’ve dressed out a lot of animals but never a horse,” Erika muttered.

  “Well, get to it,” Jimmy said, turning his back to Erika and tending to Star’s wounds.

  Erika scrambled over to Artaz and pulled her knife out, in disbelief of what she was about to do.

  Noticing her hesitation, Jimmy barked at her. “Are we going to get through this night, or what?”

  “I got this!” Erika grumbled at him.

  Jimmy D picked up Star and flipped her onto his shoulder.

  As he turned to go, Star pleaded with him, “No, no, I’m not leaving Erika.”

  “Yes, you are, sweetie,” he replied, starting up the hill. Star began kicking and screaming.

  “Star,” Erika snapped. “There’s no time for that now. Jimmy is helping us. I can’t get you and the horse meat both to the top, but Jimmy can get you up there. Then he’ll come back for me. Now, be strong and I’ll meet you at the top. I promise.”

  Star quieted, staring into Erika’s wild-looking eyes. She relaxed; Jimmy took one look back at Erika and trotted up the hill.

  Erika looked at the knife and then at poor Artaz. He was so faithful and carried her so far. The simple fact was, he didn’t make it. Jimmy D was correct. The meat from this animal would be most welcome, even though the thought of eating horse meat was still freaking her out.

  She nervously watched the shadows in the trees as she worked. The sun would be up soon. If any of those guys from Auburn were following her, she would be a lot easier to find in the daylight. Her hands shook as she cut the animal and scanned the horizon. What if they’re already tracking me? What if they’re coming up the hill right now? Jimmy heard Star scream, what if they did too? she asked herself frantically.

  “Oh God, please help me. I have to get this done,” she prayed quietly. Erika flipped the horse so that his belly was facing downhill and began to carefully cut his skin away from his abdominal lining. As she cut, the stomach began to expand. She cautiously dragged the knife across the animal’s belly, trying not to pierce it. She knew the immense stink that it would cause. Before long, she was cutting off the last remaining pieces of connective tissue in the interior cavity. As she made the last cut, Artaz’s guts rolled down the hill. Some people would have savored the liver, heart, or kidneys but Erika thought eating organs was disgusting.

  On any other day, the animal would be hung, and the skin would be removed before the animal was broken down into individual parts. Erika didn’t have time for this and carrying the whole animal to the top would be arduous. She decided to quarter the animal. To harvest the most meat as quickly as possible, she would remove the leg and the giant pushing muscles that areas like the shoulder and hip contained. With the skin still covering the precious meat below, she began to frantically hack at the pieces she wanted. It was harder than she thought to cut through the skin and then the connective tissues to remove each quarter of the animal.

  Erika was just finishing hacking off leg two when the first rays of the sun shot over the mountainside. Usually, Erika was not really a cheery person in the morning, but on this day the sun’s pure glory overwhelmed her. Thankful to still be alive, she wanted to take a moment to revel in its glow, but she was being pushed, physically and mentally, to a limit that she had never known. Emotional stresses were everywhere: those crazy guys were out there, she hadn’t slept much in days, and food was scarce. She heard a noise and looked up. Jimmy D was back just as he promised, and he brought Kit and the cart with him as well!

  “Look at that, you’re almost done!” he said gratefully, “Sorry I took so long. I decided to unload Kit’s cart and bring him along.”

  “Oh, am I glad you did.” Erika admitted. A tear formed in her eye, but she kept on working frantically, trying to get leg three cut free. She was done, and Jimmy grabbed her arm.

  “Erika, we have to load up and go now,” he urged.

  “Why, what’s going on?” Erika was delirious, running on pure adrenaline. All she could think about was completing this task. That meant leg four was next, and she was not leaving all that meat behind.

  Erika slumped back on her heels, taking a rest to focus her attention on Jimmy. She surveyed the landscape in a far-off stare. Her mind saw herself sitting in a bloody mess with a cut-off horse quarter in one hand and two others piled in a heap. Re-entering her mind, her eyes traced the bloodstain up her arm to her blood-soaked clothes.

  Jimmy D shook her gently, breaking her gaze. He explained, “On my way down I saw a couple of guys stirring around at the river compound. They were on the other side but still, I’m not sure if they are on this side or not. Plus, there are always scavengers in this area. Let’s go; we have enough meat.”

  Erika and Jimmy D loaded the gigantic horse quarters into Kit’s cart. The horse stood patiently, but stamped nervously in the dirt. The smell of death was in the air and he seemed to be on the edge of spooking and running for his life.

  “Easy now, Kit, we’ll be out of here in no time,” Jimmy D’s calming voice reassured the horse as he gently rubbed Kit’s face. His soothing voice calmed Erika as well. Pulling on Kit’s bridle, they started up the hill. Erika walked with them as if she was in a dream.

  Her thoughts went toward her source of strength, her home and her loving man. As her feet stumbled on, she could only think of him. She was looking into his eyes and they filled her with strength. Her steps seemed to lighten as their march up the hill continued on. Her mind dwelled on home, but her body felt absolutely gross; blood and dirt covered her from head to toe, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was getting home to them. Danger swirled all around her and blocked her every move, but she no longer cared. She would walk through fire if she had to, but she was going to get back to her soul mate.

  “Erika!” Star came limping over.

  As they reached the top the survivors rushed to welcome her with hugs and statements of appreciation. Erika was so exhausted, her vision began to blur, and she fell. Jimmy D caught her in the air. He’d watched her on the way up and was hoping she would make it all the way under her own power. She was a strong spirit and he assumed she would have been opposed to adding her weight to the load Kit was already pulling up the slippery canyon side. Watching her from the corner of his eye, he saw her trip multiple times. Then, halfway through, she seemed to pick up the pace. Jimmy was amazed by her. She’d tried to help at the river. She was knocked out, watched her daughter get shot and her horse die. He never expected that she actually did know how to butcher the horse, and then this strength that she displayed up the hill. Where did it come from? he wondered. Star’s yell broke her concentration at the top, and her swaying body told him she would not be conscious long.

  Star was alarmed when Erika fainted. “Erika. . .Erika wake up,” she wailed.

  “It’s all right, Star,” Jimmy reassured her confidently with Erika’s limp body in his arms. “She’s exhausted. She’ll be fine in a couple of hours. You wait and see.”

  “Come on, Star. You need somewhere to rest too. Little Jim and Tyson have some toys in the cart. Let’s let Erika rest for a while,” Joan Cunningham said, trying to redirect her attention.

  Joan and Richard were busy moving kids and supplies around. The boys would be riding in Kit’s cart, so they made Star a comfortable area there as well.

  “Now what are we going to do, Jimmy?” Randy asked. Randy was one of the teenagers that was instrumental in getting the supplies to the top of the canyon in one of the hand carts they had designed.

  “Great question. Honestly, I really don’t know. Let’s get everything in that handcart loaded into the other one and the horse pack so we can put Erika in that handcart and keep moving,” Jimmy suggested.

  Even though they had won a sort of victory last night, it was not without some great losses. They were free, but they’d lost their ho
mes again and their leaders were dead. Jimmy was racked with indecision, but he knew they needed to get as far away from this canyon as possible.

  “Can’t we eat first?” Kim whined.

  She was a heavier-set teenage girl. Even though her mechanical knowledge was a huge asset, she could be a bit of a nag sometimes.

  “Yeah,” Steve said, “Look at all that meat. I’m starving.”

  “I know, Steve, I’m hungry too, but I think we should move on to someplace safer. Someone will smell it cooking here and we’ll need someplace to smoke some of it, so we can save it. There’s no way we can eat all that. Most of it will go bad if we don’t preserve it,” Jimmy explained quickly. He wanted to get going. He could see the vultures circling the carnage in the canyon and he knew the scavengers would see them as well. It wouldn’t be long until they were fighting for their food all over again, if they didn’t get going soon, “Come on, guys, let’s move!”

  Once the carts were sorted, the kids were tucked in, and Erika was safe, they started to move. It was a sight out of the past and certainly one not seen in America for a long time. Kit led the charge, with Jimmy D guiding him. Second in the caravan was Erika’s handcart. It was being pulled by Randy and Taylor. After that, Joan and Richard followed along with the kids, so they could keep a watch over Erika. Next in line was the second hand-cart, overloaded with supplies. Tom Jensen and Steve were pulling that one. Bringing up the rear and on lookout for any followers, were Jim Harlow and Kim.

  Chapter 14

  The smell of roasting meat made Erika’s mouth water as she opened her eyes. It smelled so good. Her stomach rumbled. Focusing her eyes, she was in a tent erected between all the carts they made. The sun was starting to light up the outside world, but it hadn’t entered the heat of the day.

  “Hello, hello, sleepyhead,” Joan said quietly, noticing her stirring. She sat by the children, who were still sound asleep. Joan was straightening up the tent and keeping an eye on them.