Window in the Earth Trilogy

by Fish, Matthew

  Alex snatched Kate’s hand, and the two began to run toward the iron door. He squeezed it tightly, and she, in return, squeezed back. By the time they made it to the door, the ground was shaking beneath their feet, causing them to almost lose their balance. The group of three chasing them fared no better. Alex managed to kick open the old door, slamming it shut behind them. He secured the old rusted deadbolt on the door and the two ran down the stairs into the basement room.

  The basement floor was a small, cramped space with a low ceiling. Alex had to bend almost totally over just to continue ahead. Beer cans and broken bottles were strewn about the ground. In the corner was an old couch, covered in spray-painted graffiti. The darkness was cut by sharp beams of light from outside and tiny windows. Alex sat down upon the couch, setting his backpack to the dusty floor. Kate sat beside him, placing her belongings next to his. Her eyes quivered in anger, and she fidgeted with her hands.

  “What did we do to deserve this?” Kate finally asked as she broke down into tears.

  A loud banging could be heard against the door. The gang of kids was attempting to get in. From the sound of it, they were taking turns kicking away at the old iron door.

  “That’s not going to hold,” Alex said, “By the look of how old it is, they’ll get in. Don’t worry though. I won’t let them hurt you.”

  “It’s not fair, not any of it!” Kate shouted. She wrapped her arms around Alex trying to comfort both herself and the anger Alex held within him. The ground couch beneath them started to rattle. Kate quickly released the hold, and burst into tears once more. “We can’t even fucking have one bit of comfort, can we? Not one? I don’t want you to get hurt… I don’t want to see you have to fight. Haven’t we been through enough yet?”

  “If it were up to me, I would say we have,” Alex answered.

  Another loud bang came upon the door, followed by laughter, as though this were some kind of cruel game to the teens.

  “This building, it’s been here a long time. It’s sturdy,” Kate said as she reached for Alex’s hand.

  “I don’t know,” Alex replied, his heart filled with uncertainty. “It’s an old building, but I don’t know if that means it’ll protect us.”

  “Something has to,” she said, refusing to release her hand from Alex’s. “We’re owed that much, aren’t we?”

  “We are,” he whispered, no longer attempting to hold Kate away.

  Another loud bang came from the door. The door sounded more damaged this time. There was no chance that it could withstand much more abuse.

  “Fuck everything,” Kate whispered as she began to kiss Alex.

  He neither resisted, nor disagreed. He returns each kiss as they grow more passionate. “If this is it, then this is it. I want to be with you. Fuck the rest of the world—let it all fall apart, if that’s what will happen.”

  “I love you,” Alex whispered as he slowly pulled her shirt up, tossing it to the ground.

  “I love you, too, Alex,” Kate replied in a soft tone, “Make love to me.”

  Slowly, the world disappeared around them. Alex fumbled for a moment with Kate’s bra, revealing her small breasts. He reached for them; caressing them with his hands as she pulled his shirt off, tossing it beside hers on the dusty ground that was then shaking with the force of a full earthquake. She reached down and pulled at his belt—with a little effort it came off. She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down along with his boxers just far enough so that he was completely exposed to her.

  The building shook and dust filled the air as Kate stepped away, just for a moment. Without removing her skirt, she pulled down her white panties and kicked them aside as they caught on the toes of her left foot. She quickly returned atop Alex, and began kissing him, biting his bottom lip. She let out a loud gasp as he slid into her. Beyond the tiny slits of sunlight the sound of twisting metal can be heard, groans and the sound of falling, crushing noises—however, neither Kate nor Alex were aware. As she rose and fell rhythmically upon him, she let out moans of pleasure, matched by his. With each rocking motion, the ground seemed to follow suit. The earth beneath them rolled and pieces of wood from the old ceiling began to fall around them. The pounding on the door stopped.

  Kate collapsed into Alex’s arms as he came inside of her. One last final rumble echoed from beneath the pair, caught in the final act of their lovemaking. Then, unexpectedly, everything grew quiet.

  “We’re still alive,” Kate whispered, as she kissed Alex once more. Her breathing is heavy, exhausted.

  “The building held,” Alex added with a smile as he reached for Kate, bringing her body close to his. He was happy to feel her full warmth against his skin. Her naked body against his, it seemed like a dream that would never be attained. They were together, still joined, and yet the world no longer punished them for their touch.

  They rested together, holding each other in their arms for many more moments, content to finally be able to touch without repercussion. They remained happy, finally able to be lost in a moment of absolute happiness and peace. Peace, despite the sounds of sirens that echoed into the basement, despite the screaming and the shouting. They held each other until the bright light from the windows turned into the dim light of evening. Once they were content, they dressed, taking moments to steal kisses, never completely letting go of one another.

  Chapter 6

  Hand-in-hand, Alex and Kate walked out from old warehouse. All around them the ground cracked. Beside the dumpster, the leader of the group of thugs that had threatened them lie crushed beneath a long length of pipe, his face barely visible beneath the splattering of blood and splinters of metal. The rest of the group was nowhere in sight. Either run off, or killed—either way they would not be troubling either Alex or Kate any further.

  They made their way down to Water Street, passing buildings in flames. The road beneath their feet was cracked and fractured. People wandered about, dazed. A few buildings were completely crushed, fallen into other small buildings. Ambulances were everywhere, wheeling off the injured. Alex could see the hospital off in the distance—thick black smoke poured from the roof; it looked like part of it had caved in.

  They reached the bar, which had been reduced to a pile of smoldering ash. Parked in the outside lot, one of the few cars that were spared was Alex’s mother’s lime-green-and-rust-colored Ford.

  “Are you worried about her?” Kate asked with a touch of guilt. “Did we do the right thing?”

  “Did we ever have a choice?” Alex answered, as he stopped and reached out for Kate’s other hand. He ignored the first part of the question, for it did not really seem to matter. Not anymore. “Whatever happened, well, it’s happened for a reason. Now we can leave this place, you and me. They’ll think that we’ve died. God knows we should have….”

  “We can start over?” Kate asked, her voice returning to one of hope. She looked into Alex’s eyes. She knew that this had to be some sort of fate.

  “We deserve that much,” Alex replied with a confident smile. “I think we deserve that much, right?”

  “Right.”

  The car starts right up as Alex and Kate drive on the uneven pavement beneath them. Alex reaches over and places his hand in Kate’s. They drive past the terrible carnage that they had caused, seeing more homes destroyed, more people wandering about aimlessly. They see fallen trees, water spilling into the streets. Just outside the city limits, on the open road before them, Alex spots an airplane flying on its side, headed toward the direction of Springfield. A loud explosion came from the small plane as it fell apart, disintegrating in the air.

  “Might just be the end of the world,” Alex whispered as he turned to Kate. He loses himself in her beauty for a moment. “Fuck it, though, right?”

  “As long as I’m with you,” Kate replied, smiling. “Let it all fall apart.”

  Act V

  Photographs

  The Hospital

  Daniel’s eyes slowly adjust to the darkness around him.
He is in a hospital bed. His right arm is hooked up to an IV. A clamp on his finger monitors his heart rate and oxygen level on a machine that beeps occasionally. He looks out the window, seeing only darkness. He cannot exactly remember how he got here, or what he is doing here. His left arm is in a cast, held up in a sling. The side of his chest burns in a dull ache with each breath he takes in.

  He fumbles on the bed, searching for the nurse’s call button. He depresses the button, and a beeping signal is heard from the hall.

  A woman rushes in, pausing in the doorway. In the dim light, the form of the woman looks familiar, yet Daniel is unbelieving.

  “Daniel?” a familiar voice asks.

  “Lavender?” Daniel painfully returns.

  Lavender rushes over, attempting to hug Daniel despite his attempts at protest. In the condition he is in, he is extremely happy to see her, just not ready to feel that happiness at the moment.

  “You had me so worried there,” Lavender says as she kisses Daniel’s forehead. “Don’t you ever go and do such a bloody foolish thing again.”

  “What did I do?” Daniel asks, seriously confused.

  “You fell,” Lavender replies, tears streaming down from her eyes. “You fell from an airplane. Made a right mess out of yourself, but they straightened you up and you’re going to be fine. They say it’s a miracle.”

  “Did anyone else make it?” Daniel asks, vaguely remembering having a conversation with a man before a violent shaking.

  “Just you, my miracle,” Lavender sadly replies. “The plane fell to pieces in the air, wreckage was scattered about for kilometers. There’s some crazy theory going around that you hit the ground right when a major 8.5 quake hit Springfield. That somehow the moving ground cushioned your fall. A load of bullocks if you ask me—I think you just didn’t want to leave me.”

  Daniel laughs and then quickly clutches his side in pain. “That’s exactly it.”

  “Sorry, sorry…,” Lavender adds. “I shouldn’t make you laugh; you busted a few ribs.”

  The nurse enters the room. She smiles at Daniel. “Finally up, I see. You’ve been out of it for—what—about two weeks now.”

  “Two weeks?” Daniel asks. Has it really been that long? He doesn’t remember anything. He barely remembers being on the plane. Then, finally a memory comes to him. He was coming down here to check on his family. “My family… are they okay?”

  “Your father…,” the nurse begins, and then hesitates.

  “He should know,” Lavender presses.

  “Your father was here the same day you were brought in,” the nurse continued, sitting on the edge of the bed. “He was actually brought in about a week before that. He had attempted suicide, or something—the doctors were unsure. He hooked up a car battery to his own head, should have killed him—instead, he somehow survived, was in a coma. His wife drove him in. She said she’d tell everyone, so I expected that you’d know. But Lavender said otherwise, that you’d received a call that he was fine.”

  “He wasn’t?” Daniel asks, concerned, “He isn’t?”

  “He’s gone, love,” Lavender adds as she reaches out and squeezes Daniels hand comfortingly.

  “When… how?” Daniel asks, even more confused now than ever.

  “He was in a coma, on life support—the day that the earthquake and the plane crash happened,” the nurse said, looking genuinely upset for Daniel’s plight. “That room that he was in, the ceiling collapsed and a steel pipe went through… well…”

  “He’s gone Daniel,” Lavender finishes, “About an hour before you were rushed in here.”

  “How about my brother, my mother?” Daniel asks, growing even more concerned.

  “No one’s been able to get out there to check on them,” the nurse sadly answers. “With the earthquake, most of the police and fire resources have been spent on trying to rescue people from their homes, or getting the power back online. They’re still unsure as to how many people are missing, or still alive.”

  “Your parents’ house is quite a fair distance from here, though, right?” Lavender asks.

  “Yeah, about an hour plus,” Daniel answers, the thought giving him a small amount of comfort.

  “The brunt of the earthquake hit Springfield, so that far out the damage should be significantly less,” the nurse continues, “You should be able to travel soon. Do you know how lucky you are by the way, to have fallen from such a height and only have some broken ribs and an arm broken in three places?”

  “That doesn’t sound so lucky,” Daniel says as he looks over to his arm.

  “Luckier than the other fifty-four people onboard that plane,” the nurse adds, “Someone’s watching out for you.”

  The Drive

  Outside, at the hospital entrance, Daniel gets up from the wheelchair, his legs aching. Lavender reaches her hands out and helps him up. She escorts him as he stumbles for a moment on his way to the silver compact rental car. She reaches for the passenger door and helps him into the seat. Closing the door once he is in, she makes her way around the front of the vehicle and gets into the driver’s side.

  “All right, then?” Lavender asks as she looks to Daniel, who attempts to find a good place to rest his arm, finally deciding on his knees.

  “Yeah,” Daniel replies and then turns to look to Lavender. “Thank you for coming. I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you. I didn’t expect it.”

  “No worries,” Lavender says as she turns the key, starting the car. “Let’s just say you left an impression on me.”

  “No, really, it means a lot to me,” Daniel adds.

  “I thought you was dead for sure,” Lavender says, looking away for a moment and staring out the window. “I went out and got pissed, woke up the next day and had myself a good cry.”

  “I’m sorry,” Daniel replies as he places his good hand to Lavender’s shoulder. “I am just so thankful that I met you.”

  “Don’t be sorry, silly, “Lavender replies with a short chuckle. She slides over and gives Daniel a quick kiss on the cheek, careful to avoid a bandaged cut that runs down the side of his face. “Besides, you promised to come back. After I heard that you were alive, I figured you’d need some help keepin‘ that promise. Now, let’s go and check on your family.”

  “I hope they’re okay.”

  “I’m sure they’re well,” Lavender adds as she begins to drive.

  Daniel watches out the window as the city slowly drifts by. Buildings are being rebuilt and trees are being cleared from the streets. They pass by a lot of construction vehicles. It is still early in the morning and people are already out working to repair the city to how things were before. It gives Daniel a feeling of hope that things can be recovered from. He still can’t remember much of the accident—just fragmented memories and tiny bits of conversation. He wishes he could remember the man he was seated by, or why he mattered. He remembers falling for a moment. The feeling gives him an overwhelming sense of vertigo, so he quickly decides to bury it away. It then hits him: he is lucky to be alive. He sees no logical reason why he should be, yet he is. He also realizes that he is lucky to have Lavender with him. After all, had the two not connected, he would be on his own at this moment. There had to be some greater meaning to it, he figured. Some reason for his survival, just one out of fifty-four people. Fifty-four who had lives of their own, families of their own. Why me? he asks himself.

  “You okay there?” Lavender asks as she looks to Daniel.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Daniel replies, “I was just thinking about everything. It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

  “Like the message from your brother?” Lavender asks.

  Daniel tries hard to remember, and then finally it comes to him. He remembers the message, something about everything being fine. Jack had said that their father was perfectly fine, that he was just busy writing. It didn’t make any sense. “I forgot about that.”

  “Perhaps he was trying to protect you?” Lavender asks as she turns down anot
her bustling street.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel replies, searching his mind for some sort of reason. “He’s never lied to me before. If something was wrong I’m sure he would have told me. If my father was in a coma he would have said so. Even if he didn’t want to worry me, he would have said something.”

  “This road, then?” Lavender asks as she points to a road that leads north.

  “Yeah, just follow this way for a bit,” Daniel replies.

  They leave Springfield behind. Power lines are down on the side of the road. In the cloudless sky, the country looks beautiful. The new greens of spring adorn trees whose branches are still bared. Beautiful white flowers blossom from apple trees. Despite all the destruction of the city, the countryside looks to have survived. The road is cracked in places, an occasional tree is down—but all of the damage is minor.

  “So this is home, then?” Lavender asks, attempting to keep Daniel talking rather than worrying. “It’s pretty.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel replies, his eyes fixed to the passing countryside. Soon the bluffs are upon them, and the road begins to twist and turn to avoid them. “It’s been a while since I’ve been home. At least three years, I’d say. I hate to fly.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be doing that for a while,” Lavender adds, with a playful laugh.

  Daniel laughs with her. “Yeah… I think it will be a long time before I fly again. But yeah, this is pretty much most of my childhood. At least, once my father got a few books under his belt and could afford to live someplace he’d always wanted to—far away from the things of man.

  “So your dad was a writer then, was he?” Lavender asks.

  Daniel then realizes that there is much he hasn’t really talked to Lavender about. Most of their previous conversations had been photography-related, or music and movies. He had mentioned his brother a few times in passing conversation, but not much about his family overall. “Yeah… I don’t know why I didn’t mention it. He was an author. He wrote a few pretty successful children’s stories. The kind about animals learning some kind of moral lesson, but he wanted to do more serious work. That was his dream.”