by E S Richards
“How do you think that happened?” Marcus questioned once they were far enough away from the site, each of them still thinking about what had happened there. “Did the plane just fall from the sky?”
“Probably,” Mia nodded, remembering how the tiny craft she and Jorge had escaped from Yellowstone on had struggled against the force of the explosion and the ensuing cloud. “I’d guess the ash and dust got into the engines somehow, shorting them and cutting the power. From there it would’ve been a long way to fall.”
“I bet,” Marcus exhaled, struggling to imagine what it would’ve been like both for the people on board the plane and for those in the campsite below. They had to assume the plane had crashed out of nowhere—probably in the middle of the night, which meant no one was aware and able to warn the site. Thinking like that, everyone agreed that was at least the better way to go. Lois’s family would have been asleep in their tents and unaware of the impending death hurtling down toward them. They would have been killed in their sleep, instead of in a fiery inferno of speeding metal.
“Can you imagine if Yellowstone had erupted like, an hour later?” Jadon proposed from the front, turning his back to look at his friends. “We would’ve been on our plane if that happened.”
“Jeez.” Both the boys in the back looked at each other in unison, eyes wide as they all realized they had been mere minutes away from death.
“You can say that for a thousand things,” Mia rationalized with them. “What if the lahars had come during the night when we were all sleeping and we didn’t have time to prepare? What if we hadn’t realized the air was toxic in time? What if we hadn’t been able to find a working vehicle? You can’t live your life based on what-if’s—we’re all alive and that’s the only thing that matters.”
“I know you’re right,” Marcus replied with a nod. “Man, we have had a lot of close calls.”
“Talk about lucky.”
“Would you really call this lucky?” Marcus laughed, peering out of the window at the vast expanse of nothingness that surrounded the highway. “We’ve nearly died, like, a hundred times.”
“Exactly,” Jesse grinned. “We’ve nearly died. All of that’s happened and we’re still here. We’ve driven halfway across the country. We’ve discovered the cause of the eruption and seen the effects of it firsthand. We’ve done all of that, and we’re still alive to tell the tale. I can’t wait to tell my mom about all of it. She’ll lose it.”
Marcus laughed beside his friend, finally seeing the positive side of things. They had been through it all and yet they were still all together and they were still perfectly fit and healthy. Compared to the vast majority of the country, he did see how lucky they were. Sure, there were others who had been in their group previously who hadn’t shared the same luck, but for three friends from the East Coast, they were doing pretty well.
“What do you think Philly will be like?” Jadon asked, directing his question at Mia, open for any kind of answer. His thoughts had veered back to his parents and younger sister on several occasions, wondering when he would see them again.
“It’ll be better than everywhere else, surely?” Marcus commented from behind Jadon, “It’s pretty much the farthest point you can get from Yellowstone in the country, right?”
“One of the farthest I guess, yeah,” Mia replied. “That doesn’t guarantee it’ll be fine though guys, I’m sorry. It’s hard to predict what happened. It all depends on how quickly everyone knew about it and how much time they had to react and prepare. Do all your families live in the middle of the city?”
“My mom doesn’t,” Jesse replied. “Why?”
“Well, the center will probably be more dangerous, though better supplied than the outskirts,” Mia explained. “In the more populous areas, there’s more likely to be added dangers from other people. There are also the resources other people offer. More sources of food and water. More opportunities. Outside of the city resources are fewer, but if you’re properly prepared, you’re much safer as you’re more likely to be left to your own devices.”
A few minutes of silence followed Mia’s explanation, each of the boys thinking about their families in Philadelphia and wondering whether they would be lucky—like they’d decided they were—or not.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to get there?” Marcus asked Mia following the pause, thinking of his girlfriend and picturing her face in his head. She was all he had left in the city, but she was completely and utterly everything to him. They had been together since they were thirteen, the true definition of childhood sweethearts. It was a relationship Marcus never wanted to end, his plan to propose later that year even firmer in his mind now than it had been before the eruption.
Marcus had lost his dad a few years ago, leaving him technically orphaned since his mother had died when he was only five. He had one older brother, Darius, who had gone off the rails somewhat when his dad died, and one too many bad decisions had ended up with Darius being arrested and imprisoned. Marcus had tried to stay close to him after that. Eventually, it was just too hard. He still thought about Darius from time to time and hoped that he was still alive and okay, though his main concerns was his girlfriend.
“Driving?” Mia mused, making the calculations in her head. “If you get lucky with the roads and drive nonstop, maybe a day and a half? Probably more like three or four though, if we’re being realistic.”
“Four days,” Marcus repeated in a whisper, his mind focused on thoughts of his girlfriend and his reunion with her. He didn’t even let himself think about the possibility that she might not be there, that he might not find her. She was all he had; Marcus wouldn’t let himself entertain the idea that he wouldn’t see her again.
“You know you’re all welcome to stay at the farmhouse with me when we get there,” Mia offered. “I’ve been thinking about it over the last few hours, actually. We’ll need to stop for more provisions where we can, but I’m sure we’ll be able to house three more. I can’t let you just go straight back out after everything you’ve done for me.”
“Thanks, Mia,” Jadon smiled. “That’d be nice. It’s your parents’ house right? And your niece and nephew are there as well?”
“Yeah,” Mia nodded, “Chase and Riley. They’re practically my kids though. I can’t wait to see them again.”
“What’s it like?” Marcus asked, his voice soft and laced with concern.
“What’s what like?”
“Being a parent,” he explained. “What does it feel like?”
“Incredible,” Mia smiled. She truly regarded herself as a parent to both Chase and Riley, something she was sure her brother would’ve wanted. “I always loved those kids, but it’s different saying they’re mine now. There’s no other feeling in the world like it.”
“Harper’s pregnant.”
“What?!”
Cries erupted from both Jesse and Jadon as Marcus dropped his bombshell, Jesse grabbing his friend’s arm while Jadon practically jumped into the backseat with them. Mia gripped the steering wheel hard and tried not to veer off the road from the sudden excitement inside the Jeep, slowing down instead so none of their lives were at risk from her driving.
“Dude!” Jadon exclaimed. “When did this happen? Congratulations!”
“When were you going to tell us? This is crazy!”
“Ah, thanks, guys,” Marcus blushed slightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you already. We’d kind of planned to do that when everyone was home.”
“Aw, man,” the smile dropped from Jesse’s face slightly at those words, understanding what his friend was saying. “That sucks, dude. How long have you known?”
“She’s about eight weeks along,” Marcus explained. “The baby is about the size of raspberry.”
“A raspberry?” Jadon repeated. “Dude. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks,” Marcus repeated. “I’m just worried about her now, you know? Like, how will all of this affect her and the baby?”
“If she’s been sensible,” Mia interjected, “then there’s no reason why your baby won’t be fine. So long as Harper isn’t running around outside or inhaling dirty air, then she’ll be fine. At this stage of development, the baby is less likely to contract any kind of issues.”
“Really?” Marcus sighed. “Oh man. That’s a relief. There have been so many things I’ve wanted to google since all of this happened, but I can’t. I have no idea what a baby that age needs. I have no idea if they’ll both be okay.”
“They’ll be fine,” Mia reassured Marcus, doing her best to make him feel better as she drove. “You don’t need to worry.”
“Phew,” Marcus sat back in his seat, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as Jesse leaned across and congratulated him again. Mia watched the exchange in her rearview mirror and smiled, hoping that what she’d just told Marcus was correct. In reality, she didn’t have a clue about what babies needed or how they developed inside the womb. She was a scientist, yes, but biology was not her area of expertise. She had only said what she believed Marcus needed to hear and what she thought would make him relax. He’d kept that secret inside for weeks now, so Mia could only guess at how stressed and panicked he really was inside.
“Congratulations,” Mia smiled back at him. “I’m sure you’ll be a great dad. You’ll be back in Philly in no time.”
“So what do you want to do, man?” Jadon asked, thinking ahead to when they arrived at Mia’s farmhouse. “Do you want to stay at Mia’s place for a bit when we get there, or head straight on for Philly?”
“I don’t know,” Marcus shook his head. He was overwhelmed already after telling his friends about his pregnant girlfriend, which combined with his thoughts and worries about Harper were more than enough for Marcus to deal with that. He wasn’t capable of making decisions about his friends’ futures on top of that. “What do you think is best?”
“Surely we’ve gotta get back home?” Jesse asked, confused why it would even be a question anymore. “You can’t still want to stay, Jadon?”
“I’m not saying that,” Jadon tried to explain himself, looking over at Mia for support while knowing he had to reason with his friends himself. He only wanted the best for everyone. He was so incredibly happy for Marcus and wanted his friend to get back to Harper as quickly as possible, but their journey so far had taught him that things couldn’t be rushed. They needed to plan their route to Philly and they had to think seriously about everything they might face there. They needed to be prepared.
“I know we need to get back home,” Jadon continued. “I just think we need to make sure we’re ready for that leg of the journey. What were we saying only an hour ago? How close have we all come to death so many times so far? It’s nuts. We just need to make sure we’re ready. I think stopping at Mia’s farm for a day or so should give us a chance to do that.”
“Of course you’d think that,” Jesse scoffed, the developing friendship between Jadon and Mia not going unnoticed by him over the past few days. He and Marcus had both commented on them getting closer, teasing Jadon when Mia wasn’t around about how he had a crush on her. Jadon denied it all—now that he was siding with Mia over his friends, there was sure to be backlash.
“Why don’t we figure it out a bit closer to the house?” Mia suggested, sensing the tension that was rising in the car amongst the boys. “No one has to make any decisions just yet.”
None of the boys replied to her, each sort of just huffing and looking out of their individual windows. Mia focused on the road again instead of the testosterone-riddled men in the car with her. She couldn’t deny that she was happy for Marcus and the fact that he was going to be a father. She also pitied him for the circumstances in which it had happened. She could only hope he made it back to Philadelphia, found Harper, and that everything worked out. However, Mia was a realist and knew that chances of that were slim. Her family should be relatively easy to locate at the remote farmhouse with no neighbors for miles and nothing of interest located nearby, but finding someone in a major city like Philadelphia would be another matter altogether. Cracking her knuckles against the steering wheel, Mia tried to do what she’d told the others and figure it out a bit closer to home. Except home was growing nearer and nearer. Pretty soon decisions would have to be made, and Mia wondered whether they would all be ready for them after all.
Chapter 6
As the hours rolled by with Marcus now behind the wheel of the Jeep, he tried to focus on what the future would hold for him. Parenthood. It was a big word, one that he hadn’t really spent a lot of time thinking about before Harper made her announcement. Sure, he had always pictured growing old with her, getting married and having children as the majority of people did. But he had never really pictured his children in much detail. He had never thought seriously about what it would mean to be a father.
Marcus figured it was because of the relationship he’d had with his own parents. Losing his mother when he was only five meant that his memories of her were hazy at best. He knew what she looked like—though that was mainly from photographs—but he could never be certain whether the other things he remembered about her were because of what people had told him or what he’d imagined. His father had never spoken about her very much and that didn’t help as the memories Marcus did have of her started to fade. Now when he pictured his mom, it was nothing more than a still photograph he saw in his head. Just a person, not necessarily someone he connected with.
That hadn’t improved his relationship with his father either. The old man had been too quick to resort to alcohol once he was widowed; the healthy life insurance payout the family had received from Marcus’s mother’s passing funded the lifestyle choice. Everything had gone downhill from there. Darius acted out from a young age and Marcus had to choose to either follow in his father and brother’s paths of self-destruction, or find a new way to survive.
Harper had been that new path. She had come into Marcus’s life like a shining beacon, guiding him toward a better future and a life of happiness and excitement. Her family had encouraged him through school when his dad couldn’t; they had been there for him when Darius was locked up, supporting him through the trauma and driving him to visit his brother. They had even helped pay for the funeral for Marcus’s dad when he eventually drank himself to death and left Marcus alone. Without Harper, Marcus knew he wouldn’t have any shred of a family left—she had given him more than he could’ve ever asked for.
And now she was giving him even more. Now she was making him a father and—as Marcus drove—he vowed to himself that he would do a better job than his father had. He knew exactly what not to do now, exactly how not to behave. He would learn from his father and put those lessons to good use. He would make sure his baby had a happy life, a long life. A life that everyone could be proud of.
Above all of that, Marcus knew that one thing was the most important element among it all. Life itself. He couldn’t entertain the thought of not finding Harper for longer than a few seconds due to how distraught it made him. He wasn’t only fighting for his girlfriend now; he was fighting for his child. One life had become two and before he could imagine what type of person his baby would grow up to be, he had to make sure it was able to grow up at all. He had to make sure that Harper survived and their baby along with her.
“What do you think about Pippa?” Marcus wondered out loud, unable to stop himself from fantasizing about his baby. Now that the secret was out, it was all he wanted to talk about.
“Pippa?” Jesse asked from beside him, wrinkling his nose at the suggestion. “Sounds like a pig, dude.”
“Hmm…” Marcus paused. “What about Joanie?”
“How old is this baby you’re planning on having?” Jesse laughed, punching Marcus playfully on the arm while he drove. “That’s such a grandma name. And what makes you so sure that it’s a girl?”
“I’m not sure,” Marcus smiled. “I just picture Harper having a little girl.”
“That’s sweet,” M
ia commented from the back, smiling at Marcus in the rearview mirror. “I think Joanie is a nice name.”
“Yeah, so would my grandma,” Jesse chuckled, still enjoying teasing his friend. “I think you probably need to let Harper weigh in on the names, dude.”
“All right,” Marcus laughed back, “lay off. Mia, are we all good for provisions and stuff? There’s a town coming up in a few miles according to that sign we just passed.”
“Oh, is there?” Mia replied, twisting in her seat to try and catch sight of the sign Marcus was referring to but just missing it. “I think it’d be good to stop,” she continued. “We should load up on as much stuff as we can carry, really. Probably should clean out the exhaust again soon too anyway.”
“Okay,” Marcus nodded. “It’ll be about twenty minutes still, I reckon. I’ll keep an eye out for the exit.”
“Awesome,” Mia smiled, excited to get out of the car and stretch her legs a bit. She worried about what the town might hold though, the environment continuing to deteriorate around them as they drove. They had passed through the entire storm by now, which she was thankful for, but what it had left in its wake still wasn’t much to look at.
The ground looked to be starting to freeze in places, the hardened layer of ash cracking and revealing the contaminated dirt below. It was like when potholes formed on the asphalt after cold weather, except now it was happening to natural substances as well. Poison from the volcano would’ve seeped into the soil wherever the ash landed, polluting the plants that grew there and stopping anything from taking root again. Now that the weather was getting worse and a cold front was settling in, everything was even more inhospitable. The chance of crops growing again was impossible—at least in the coming months.
As they passed another sign for the town and drove even closer, Mia found herself struggling to decide whether she wanted it to be empty or not. It was her natural instinct to want to help people and to learn how other people were surviving the eruption. But she was becoming more cutthroat the closer they got to Houston and especially now, after what Marcus had told them all, there seemed to be an added urgency to the journey.