“Well, Vince used to coach him in wrestling. He is going over there with Rob Burton. I don’t know if you remember him but you had met him a couple of times at the bar. He was in the military and loves to go on adventures,” Greg stated.
“How long will it take them?” Erika said impatiently. This was a moment she had been dreaming of for a very long time.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be here before you know it. The guys should make it there by midday, and they’ll be back before nightfall,” Greg said with a gleam in his eye. He knew Erika hated surprises and her anxiousness delighted him.
“I guess I’ll just have to wait then,” Erika said with a sigh.
“Yes, you will.” His delight was obvious. “Let’s go see everyone over at the camp,” Greg said, urging her to come with him.
“Before we go over there, I need to tell Star what’s going on.”
Erika didn’t want Star to wonder where she was. Star needed to rest easy, not worry about being left behind.
“Great, let’s go see her.” Greg’s enthusiasm for life was contagious, and they smiled as they walked lightheartedly over to the tent.
When Erika pulled back the blanket that formed the doorway, she took in the interior for the first time in the daylight. Everything they had carried with them had been used for the tent’s construction. The carts had been used for the corners, but they were covered on the inside with blankets. A tarp formed the top and the remainder of the blankets formed the floor sleeping area. This made a cozy interior whose only purpose was for sleeping. It looked like one big, giant bed, which it basically was. The only separated area was at the end, just on the other side of where the kids slept. This area was made for Richard and Joan because they were the only married couple with this group.
Star’s condition had the kids staying inside and amusing one another with dice and card games. Little Jim still had a transformer toy that he retained from his former life, and Tyson still had a small red fire engine whose batteries were dead. Tyson made a great sound for the toy in an effort to mimic the sound it once produced. Erika had to laugh because, in the past, she had said how horrible it was that the kids didn’t have to use their imagination to play anymore. She noticed they learned pretty quickly once they had no other option.
“Erika!” Star yelled enthusiastically. She was obviously feeling better, even though the pain in her leg was keeping her in bed. Erika was surprised to see her in such a joyous mood.
“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” Erika questioned. She was so concerned about Star, hoping her leg would not be permanently affected by the shooting.
“I’m doing okay, Erika. The doctor came by this morning while you were in the bath. He rewrapped my leg and said it was doing much better. He said if I did a good job of resting today, I may be able to go out tomorrow.”
“That’s great, Star. We’ll have to see how it goes.” Erika was thinking that she would have to stop by and talk with this doctor. It was weird to have the group taking care of one another so much that she had not even talked with the doctor treating her newly adopted daughter yet.
“Who’s that, Erika?” Star interrupted her thoughts with her question while she was pointing at Greg.
“This is Greg. He is one of my very best friends.” Erika put her arm around Greg and gave him a big hug.
“He’s cute,” Star blurted out, turning a little red.
“Yeah, real cute,” Erika said sarcastically while giving Greg a poke in his ribs.
“Well, I think you are very cute too, little lady,” Greg said flirtatiously to Star, which made her blush an even deeper red.
“Anyway,” Erika broke up the playful banter. Greg always did have a way with the ladies, and even a girl of just eight years old picked up on it immediately. “We are going over to the camp in Cool to talk with some folks, and I want to check it out. Will you be all right here with Tyson and Little Jim?”
“Yeah, they’re not so bad. We’re actually having a lot of fun.” Star had a sincere glimmer of youth and hope in her eyes again, and Erika loved it.
“What’s up, Tyson and Little Jim?” Greg questioned trying to include the two boys in the conversation.
Little Jim shied back and hid behind Tyson, but Tyson replied, “Nothin’. What’s up with you?” and stuck his chest out a little.
“Oh, a big tough guy, I better watch out,” Greg said playfully.
“That’s right, you better,” Tyson said, feeling a bit big for his britches.
“Well, in that case.” Greg grabbed Tyson and rolled around with him on the blankets. Then Little Jim jumped on Greg’s back and the three of them wrestled and laughed. Erika just stood and watched. It was healing for her heart. Finally, Greg got up and told the boys, “and now I am going to give this fine lady here a tour, and I will see you tough guys and cute girl later.” He gave Star a wink and the boys a high-five before he turned toward the tent opening.
“Okay, Star, you be good, and you two rascals be good too. I’ll see you all in a little bit.” Erika gave Star a big hug and headed toward the door with Greg.
As the two stepped back into the bright sunlight, Greg said, “That’s some girl there, Erika.”
“I know. She really needs me, and how could I not take her with me? How she came to me is something I don’t know if I’m really ready to face yet, so please don’t ask.” Erika knew Greg’s thought pattern and had a good feeling that the question of where she came from would be on his mind. She wanted to stop that conversation before it even began.
“It’s cool, Erika, you can tell me when you’re ready. Let’s go see my dad.” Greg was actually trying to stay cheerful anyway and a depressing story wasn’t going to accomplish that.
“All right, let’s go,” Erika said with a bounce in her step.
The two walked on, consumed in their own thoughts. So much pain gave people a lot to reflect on and the silences that might have been uncomfortable before were now quite welcome. It gave you time to put things in perspective and decide how a person would go on living, having seen and done the horrible things they had to for survival.
The ground still made a crunch, crunch sound as they walked along. The season was coming to the end of a very long and profound summer, but summer was not done yet. The hot sun in California usually turned most plant life crackly by the end of summer, but with all the burnt debris around it was like walking on a charcoal grill. The two made their way down the hill toward the area where a Chinese restaurant and post office had been. The long building had burnt to the ground. The leftover wood had been built into a watch tower that overlooked the canyon area that led up to the camp.
“Howdy, Greg,” a young girl with a ditsy smile shouted from the top of the watch tower.
“Hi, Michelle,” Greg replied halfheartedly.
“Are you going to be around the fire tonight?” Michelle asked flirtatiously.
“Of course I am. Where the hell else would I be?” Greg replied, kind of annoyed.
“Well, I’ll see you then,” Michelle yelled, as Greg and Erika kept crunching along to the Cool camp.
“Nice, Greg, got a little honey on the side?” Erika poked at him in fun.
“Hey now, let me tell you how hard it is to find a booty call around here. The pickings are pretty limited, you know,” Greg replied arrogantly.
“Same old Greg, still ‘pimping the hoes’,” teased Erika.
“Hey, just because the end of the world is coming doesn’t mean that good old G-man ain’t going to be screwing his brains out. We have got to repopulate and everything, right?” Greg was obviously thrilled to have this excuse to use on the ladies.
“Whatever, Greg, some things just don’t change and your libido is obviously one of those things.” Erika absolutely loved this. Walking along with her friend, making fun of the same old things, it made her realize that life would go on. People would adapt to this new life. They would find their old comforts and rebuild their broken lives.
&nb
sp; The two friends finally crossed the old highway, or what used to be the highway. The earthquake had left its mark in a big way. It was all twisted like half of a taco. It was as if the whole mountain had heaved up and rolled it like a delicate dessert.
“Well, you definitely won’t have to worry about the traffic on that road anymore.” Erika often used humor to explain the shocking things in life, and right now she was feeling very humorous.
“No kidding. I used to complain and complain about that traffic, and why did they have to build that darn bridge? The canyon used to keep all those people out, but I guess we won’t have that worry anymore. The bridge snapped like a twig, and who the heck is going anywhere anyway? Where do you think you could go, Erika? I mean, if you were to go somewhere, where in this world would you be safe?” Greg was suddenly very serious.
“I don’t know, Greg. Maybe up into the mountains further? Definitely around some water. Speaking of water, Cool is not close by a river. What’s everyone drinking?” Erika countered his direct comments at the reality of this new world.
“We have a big well that is still working, and they rigged up this cool bike that you can ride on and it pumps the pump. That way it’s easy to get to a lot of water. Where do you think that wonderful bath water came from?” Greg was teasing her again.
“That’s why I was curious, you jerk,” she replied.
“Hey, I lugged half that water all the way up there for your bath. They told me it was for their ‘savior’ and it was very important that they give you a hot bath. Little did I know that the ‘savior’ was little Erika. I would have let you carry your own darn water,” he said, giving her a shot to the arm again.
“Oh thanks,” Erika said seriously. He laughed at her. “No, for real, thanks. I really appreciated that bath.”
“So what’s up with the ‘savior’ talk?” Greg pondered.
“That Auburn camp over on the other side of the river was going to attack that little river camp. I was on my way across and heard the plan so I warned the river people and they left with me. I guess they think I saved them, but really, we saved each other.” Erika didn’t feel like a savior and was playing it off.
“That makes sense,” Greg said flatly.
Chapter 18
When Greg and Erika entered the Cool camp, Erika was completely awe, stricken. She thought she had seen suffering riding across Auburn. All the dead bodies stacked up and the smell of death in the air, but this was a totally different story. The bodies were alive and dirty. The people formed a foul stench, and they looked at Erika as she walked by the small shanties and tents that were built throughout the parking lots of the former shopping centers located there. The people looked sad and hungry. Their eyes all showed pain, fear, and desperation. Erika was almost scared to walk through the throng.
Then an older lady came up to her and said softly, “Thank you for the meat you brought.”
Erika quickly realized that the people were watching her because they had heard of her arrival. They had heard that she had brought a whole dead horse to share with the two camps and how she had saved the river folks from certain death or, worse yet, capture. All these people were curious about her story, but none of them had heard it yet. She was the big news story for these people and they were eager to see the program.
Greg could feel Erika’s uneasiness. “Don’t worry, Erika, they are all good folks. We are all stuck in the same boat now. Nobody knows where to go or what to do. Nobody knows if help will ever come. We are all lost, but we are together, and together, we can survive.”
“You’re right, Greg. I guess after spending all those months alone, or almost alone, I am just not used to seeing this many people yet.” Erika had always hated crowds, though, and her fear of people had not gone away.
“Yeah, and you’re the talk of the town, Erika. You’re famous,” Greg said with a big grin.
“Oh boy, just what I always didn’t want to be,” Erika said as she smiled. Greg could feel the tension lift and wanted to continue on.
“Come on. Things aren’t so bad. The American River Grill almost survived without a flaw. Come and see.” Greg was getting excited to be walking around with the person everyone wanted to see and having the privilege of showing off the compound to her.
They walked through the rows and rows of makeshift tents and shanties. Some people waved, some people just looked, and the children usually pointed while their mothers corrected their behavior. Other people were just laying in their tents, lost in thoughts or depression. As they continued on, Erika saw they were coming up to a rather large tent that had been constructed off of the entrance of the old restaurant. They walked into this tent and the light dimmed. Erika saw tables and blankets with pillows scattered around. The smell of food was heavy in the air, and Erika quickly saw that this tent must have been constructed to give the people more space for eating and preparing food than at the random fires that were scattered throughout. Erika noticed that the crunching sound under her feet had stopped. Someone had made a great effort to clean this area up and keep it that way.
Her moccasins made no sound as they walked through an actual door into the restaurant. The building itself had been tweaked a little, but it was amazing how sound it was. The owners had fought back the fires that quickly followed the quake, and their building was the only one that God had spared.
“Oh, it smells good in here,” Greg said in a loud voice so he could draw the attention of the owners.
“Well, it ought to,” A heavier-set lady with graying hair replied from somewhere back in the kitchen.
“Is that Greg out there making all that ruckus?” a man asked as he walked out of the back of the building into the eating area. He was also graying a little but he smiled warm and welcoming. “Oh my Goodness, it can’t be, is that Erika?”
“In the flesh, how are you doing, Clay?” Erika said cheerfully. She had been familiar with the owners of the restaurant before the quake, and she was happy to see faces she recognized.
“Oh, I’ve been better, but it is so great to see you. Laurie, come out here. Erika made it home,” Clay said joyfully.
Laurie came hustling out of the kitchen, and both Clay and Laurie gave Erika a big hug. She quickly started rambling at Erika, “You know, your husband has been here time and time again wondering if you came home. I’m sorry to tell you, but we all told him he was crazy to think you would ever make it back, but by God, here you are. You just make yourself at home; I got to get back to my cooking. We are making up some goodies to eat with that meat that the river group brought in.” All of a sudden it clicked in Laurie’s head. “You came in with the river group, didn’t you? Were you there the whole time, or are you this ‘savior’ I keep hearing about?”
“Oh my Gosh,” Erika said rolling her eyes. “I guess I am not going to be able to escape this for a while. I am the ‘savior,’ I guess. It was more like I was in the right place at the right time and I helped them get away from some really bad men, but we didn’t save everyone, and in the end, I needed as much saving as they did.”
“Well, either way, it is nice to have you home. I assume someone has sent for Vince,” Laurie replied, hoping that Vince was on his way. She had known how desperate he had been to hear news of her and knew that he would want to be notified immediately.
“Yeah, Greg sent Denton and Rob to go and find him. He wouldn’t let me go.” Erika glanced at Greg.
“Well, that’s good, looks like you could use some rest anyhow. Why don’t you guys sit down and have some coffee. We still have a little left. Clay can grab you some while I get back to my kitchen,” Laurie said as she walked away.
“Oh yeah, that’s no problem,” Clay said quickly.
“No, that’s okay,” Greg broke in. “I am going to show Erika the rest of the camp.”
“Well, there’s not much to see; everything got destroyed. We had to fight tooth and nail to keep our building standing. It is still a miracle that it is standing now with all these da
rn aftershocks,” Clay replied sadly.
“I know but Erika hasn’t seen any of it, so we will see you later when the food is served,” Greg said, grabbing at Erika’s hand to lead her away.
“Sure, that’s all you worry about, where’s the food?” Clay said in a playful tone. “That’s okay. We’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Laurie; bye, Clay,” Erika yelled while she waved and walked out the door with Greg.
“Nice to know at least something is still standing,” Erika said to Greg.
“Oh, that’s not all, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Greg said with a gleam in his eye, knowing of her resentment toward surprises.
“What, Greg?” Her hatred for surprises was apparent. Now was not any different than before; it would drive her nuts trying to think what the surprise might be.
“Just come on,” Greg said. He knew he had her now and was going to revel in it for a moment. "You wanted to meet the doctor that was treating Star anyway, so let’s go do that now and we can worry about surprises later.”
“Oh, give it up, Greg, I don’t even care what the surprise is.” Erika said this but she was actually bursting with curiosity. She made herself content with meeting this doctor instead.
The two of them walked all the way to the other end of town where another restaurant had once been. They passed tent after tent and campfire after campfire. Once they reached the other side of town, Erika saw that the restaurant had been destroyed, but they had cleaned up the aftermath enough to look somewhat respectable and turned it into a makeshift hospital. The entire structure had tarps over it and was lined wall to wall with cots and sleeping mats. People filled all of the beds, and a stocky man with a round head and white coat was walking from the side cupboards to the beds, back to a microscope, and back to the bed again. He looked up when Greg and Erika entered, and he waved for Greg to come over to him.
“Greg,” the man said quietly, “we are going to need more bandages and peroxide. Plus we need some more antibiotics.”
Day After Disaster, The Changing Earth Series, Uncut Edition Page 15