“Are you okay now that you’ve had time to take everything in?”
“He tried to kill me, so as far as I’m concerned, he got what he deserved. Max told me that the man who saved me was going to be coming with us. What do you think of him?”
“I don’t really know much about him yet. I guess we’ll see. Let me ask you something that’s kind of off subject, Zoe. Who were you before all this?”
“Why does that matter now?”
“Because it just does. I think it’s important that we hold onto who we used to be. It’s only been a couple of days, and this world has already changed us. We’ve killed people, and we’re thinking of Walter in terms of how useful he’ll be and completely ignoring what we can do for him. That’s fine because it’s what we have to do, but one day we could need to remember who we used to be because we might be able to go back to how things were.”
“I don’t think that’s happening, but I’ll tell you. I was a little different from most girls my age. People were starting to date, and friendships were changing. There seemed to be all these new roles just because of my age, and I didn’t really care about any of it. I guess I was the weird one who didn’t get the memo that being a girl should make me act like an idiot anytime a guy came around. I focused mainly on my schoolwork when me and Jessica weren’t hanging out.”
“So you were the smart girl?”
“Kind of. I focused on what was important. Everything else could wait.”
“That’s the way I was. Who was Jessica, by the way?”
“My best friend. She died a couple of days ago. Max’s prison friends killed her and her whole family,” Zoe said and looked down.
It hadn’t really registered until then, but everyone she loved was dead. She had seen their bodies, and she knew they were gone, but it hit her like a ton of bricks in that moment.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I kind of wish I had focused on more than schoolwork now, though. Maybe I could’ve spent a little more time with my mom and dad or even had a boyfriend at some point. Those opportunities are gone.”
“I know how you feel. I’m thirty-three, and I put off being social until it was too late. Now I’ll never have a family.”
“That’s not true. We’re going to survive this. If it comes down to it, there’s always Max. I would say he’s unattached, too, with the dead wife and all.”
“You are not serious.”
“What? Would that be so bad?”
“He killed his last wife. Why would I want to be number two?”
“He only did that because of what she did to his little girl. Don’t kill me, and I’m pretty sure you would be fine.”
Zoe realized what she said after that. She had just implied that she was on equal ground with Max’s little girl. It was stupid and delusional. Still, she knew why she did it. For some reason, Max cared about her well-being. After she found her parents dead, she had to hold onto something normal, and Max was that. Sure, he was a convict who was messed up in his own way, but he cared about her. The only other man who would kill for her was her dad. She missed him, and without meaning to, she had cast Max in his role.
“Shit. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It was stupid to say that. Max isn’t my father. My dad’s dead. There’s no getting around that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Zoe said.
“Nothing at all. He’s not your dad, but he does care about you. I’m not your mom either, and we don’t know what Walter is to anyone. This is what Max told me, though. It’s going to take a family to survive this. There are no lone wolves anymore. If you want to consider him family, I think he already feels that way about you, so it’s fine.”
“That might be true, but how could I replace the people I’ve lost so fast?”
“You’re not replacing anybody. You’re just moving on as best you can. We’ll keep each other alive until we find a way to make a life worth living. I promise.”
“Thanks. I’m glad we let you come with us. Who knows if we would even be alive without you?”
Before Rebecca could respond, Max and Walter came back. They threw their things in the back and got in.
“The generator was destroyed in the crash, but we were able to find most of our stuff. Is everyone ready?” Max asked.
They all agreed that it was time to go, and Max started driving toward West Virginia. Rebecca gave him directions to her family’s place in Grand Falls. It took them all day to get there. Normally, they could have gotten there a little faster, but some of the roads were blocked. Several car crashes had occurred at the time that Ira plowed into the earth, and it resulted in absolute chaos on the roads. Finally, they arrived, though.
“Is this it?” Max asked while looking at a house that seemed like it had seen better days.
Everything in the town looked like it had gone through hell. Most of the houses were caved in, but a few still stood. Max had to question what happened there. It had been a disaster back in New York, but most of the houses survived until the night of the tornado. Had something like that happened in Grand Falls?
“Yeah. Judging by the town, I don’t know if we should go inside. I’m probably not going to find anything good in there,” Rebecca said.
“We’ll go with you, so there’s nothing to worry about. Come on,” Zoe said and got out.
She had firsthand experience with going home to find her family dead, so she was going to be there for Rebecca if that was what happened. When they went inside, they didn’t exactly find what they expected, however. No one was there, and all her parents’ things were gone. As a matter of fact, the town seemed to be deserted. It was really odd, and no one understood until Walter found a note on the counter.
“I think this was meant for you,” he said as he handed it to Rebecca.
“Rebecca, if you’re reading this, then somehow you made it back home. We stayed as long as we could, but the military won’t let us wait on you any longer. The conditions have been unstable, and most of the people who refused to leave are dead by now. We’re going to Camp Dawson. It’s an hour south of here. They’re supposed to have a shelter that can withstand these conditions and enough supplies for most people. I think we can survive there. Please, come find us. I love you,” the letter read. It was signed Mom.
“They have a shelter. Maybe we don’t have to go to Texas, after all,” Rebecca said.
“I couldn’t help but read a little. It seems like it’s logical for us to go there, but I’m worried about something else in it. She talked about the conditions here. Things are bad everywhere, but there’s not much left of this place. You have to question what happened here and if we should even be in this town right now,” Walter said.
“What are you talking about? Let me see that letter,” Max said and read over it.
“What do you think?” Walter asked after he was finished.
“I don’t know. It’s obvious just by looking around that this isn’t the most stable area. At the same time, it’s getting dark. It’s already freezing, and it’s only going to get worse. We might not have a choice other than to stay here. Then again, I don’t see a fireplace anywhere. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“We don’t need a fireplace or a generator. My dad always believed in using gas. I thought it was an outdated idea, but it certainly could serve us well tonight if we decide to stay,” she said and turned on the wall heater.
“Let’s vote on it. Do we stay here and risk whatever happened to the town repeating itself, or do we risk freezing to death and head for the camp?” Max asked.
“It’s only an hour away. We can make that,” Zoe said.
“It’s not that simple. I didn’t want to say anything because we were almost here, but we were on empty when we pulled up. We might have enough gas to get there, but then again, we could get stranded. If we do go, I want to make a run through the town and see if we can find some fuel. That might not be possible if it gets much colder, though.”
&nbs
p; “We could find gas. I vote we get out of here. This house is barely standing as it is,” Walter said.
“I say we stay. Something could happen here that gets us killed, but that’s true of anywhere now. All I know is we have heat in this house,” Rebecca said.
“I’m up for anything. What do you think, Zoe?” Max asked.
“Are you actually leaving this up to me?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not. Your guess is as good as any of ours.”
Zoe looked at Rebecca. It was clear that she wanted to stay. Walter might have had a point about the area, but if she was going to side with someone, it was going to be the person she actually knew.
“We’ll stay,” she said.
“Great. My parents’ bedroom has a heater in it. I’ll show you to it, Zoe,” Rebecca said.
“That’s okay. I would rather stay downstairs with everyone else.”
“I’ll take it then. A bed sounds nice after two days,” Walter said.
Rebecca took him to the room. Then she brought some blankets downstairs to Max and Zoe, and they huddled around the heater. It was freezing, and the small heater wasn’t keeping up, but in a way, this was nice for her. Rebecca could remember when she was a child and her parents didn’t have a lot of money. On cold nights, huddling around that heater as a family was the best thing in the world. Many people would have pitied them, but they were together. That was the greatest gift of all. Why had she tried so hard to escape this place? It didn’t make any sense now.
While she was lost in thought, an earthshattering fact revealed itself. The ground began to shake, and everything that wasn’t nailed down started crashing to the floor. It was an earthquake, but it was no ordinary one. This was what had destroyed most of their town. As it grew more violent, it became apparent that they had to do something.
“What do we do, Max?” Zoe asked.
“We’ve got to get out of here before this whole place comes down. Come on,” Max said and attempted to stand, but he fell back to the floor.
They were able to stumble toward the door slowly. Just as Max reached it and opened the door, he heard a scream from Rebecca and looked back to see the ceiling coming down. All he could do was grab Zoe and dive out of the house as it collapsed onto Rebecca. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like their family of four had just been reduced back to where it started.
Max drug Zoe away from the house. All they could do was watch in horror as the dilapidated house collapsed. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but odds were that Rebecca and Walter were dead.
Chapter 8
Innocence Lost
As they lay there, the earth continued to shake violently. Max didn’t think it would ever stop, but finally, everything came to a halt. Zoe jumped to her feet and ran to the rubble. She stopped just short of it and looked for any possible way to save their friends. It didn’t look like anyone could have survived, though.
“We’ve got to go. It’s freezing outside, and if we don’t get under the heater . . .” Max managed to say before Zoe cut him off.
“We’re not leaving. We’re going to search through the rubble until we find them.”
“That’s crazy. Even if they were alive, we would probably freeze to death before we found them. Let’s be honest, though. It’s very doubtful that anyone survived.”
“I don’t care. If you want to leave, then go, but I’m not ready to let go of who I used to be.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that the old me wouldn’t have left them to die just to save myself. I’m going to find them, even if they are dead.”
“Get in the truck.”
“No, Max. I . . .”
“Get in, and turn the heater on. I’ll look for them as long as I can. Hopefully the truck doesn’t run out of gas idling.”
“I can help.”
“Zoe, just go. I’ve got this, and one of us has to stay warm in case we need to look for gas. After I’m done, I might be too cold to move, so it would fall to you.”
“Fine, but really try to find them.”
“I will,” Max said and stepped into the rubble.
He thought about where Walter would have been during the earthquake. He was on the second floor, so a minimal amount of debris would have fallen on him. He had the best chance at survival. It didn’t take long for him to find what he was looking for. Walter was in the area where he thought he would be buried. He was under a couple feet of boards. Normally, he would have had a good shot at survival, but a beam had fallen on him. There wasn’t much left of his face. This was why Max didn’t want to look. There are some things a person can’t forget, and what was left of Walter’s face would be burned into his memory forever. As for Rebecca, he didn’t even want to think about what he would find if he could locate her.
It had already been thirty minutes, and Max was freezing. Snow and ice were pounding him, and he didn’t feel like he could move on, but when he looked back at the truck, he saw Zoe watching impatiently. If he didn’t find Rebecca, she would try to. He moved to the area where Rebecca would have been trapped and listened for a second. He could hear movement under everything, or at least he thought he could. Max moved toward the source of the sound and started throwing debris to the side. It took a while, but eventually, he found what he was looking for. He uncovered Rebecca’s face.
“God! Are you all right?” Max asked.
“I don’t think so. Something has my leg pinned, and my ribs are killing me. I can’t breathe. You’ve got to get me out of here.”
“I will. Just try to stay calm,” Max said and motioned for Zoe to come.
They threw debris off her as fast as they could. Zoe was limited because of her shoulder, but she did what she could. After a while, they were able to uncover everything but Rebecca’s legs. A counter from upstairs had landed on her legs and likely splintered them in the process. Max cleared the debris, and he and Zoe got the counter off her. Then they truly saw the extent of their friend’s injuries.
Rebecca was bruised all over, and a jagged edge of wood had stuck into her left thigh. It was bleeding pretty badly, but Max didn’t think it had hit an artery.
“We’ve got to get that out,” Zoe whispered.
“Not right now, we don’t. We need to get her to the truck and get warm. Then we’ll decide what to do about her injuries,” Max said and scooped up Rebecca.
Zoe got up front and turned the heat on while Max got in the back with Rebecca. He didn’t know what to do for her. He wasn’t a doctor, but he didn’t have to be one to know that she needed help fast. Their supplies had been left in the house, so there wasn’t much he could do. He simply put pressure on her wound and hoped for the best.
“What’s the plan, Max?” Zoe asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve got to find gas and get her to a safe location. Our supplies are buried somewhere in that mess, too. We need those.”
“We don’t have time to get the supplies, and we would probably never find them anyway. Stay with her. I’ll find us a car,” she said and opened the door.
“Wait a minute. I can . . .” Max managed to say before she shut the door and ran away.
She headed straight to the end of the block. There was still one house standing there. Zoe didn’t know where to find gas, but she could find a car. That would be enough to get them to the military base. She knew she had to be quick, though. Rebecca wouldn’t be able to hold on forever.
When she got to the house, the door was locked. Here goes, she thought and plowed into it. She simply bounced off, and a pain shot through her shoulder. Great. Now I’ve got two bad shoulders, Zoe thought and looked around for another way to get into the house. There was a window looking into the living room from the porch. She walked out to the driveway and found a rock. After hurling it through the window, she reached inside and unlocked it. After she had crawled inside, Zoe took a second to let her eyes adjust. It was so dark, and she didn’t have a flashlight. That was when she remembe
red her phone. She pulled it out and turned it on. Zoe used the light from it to make her way into the kitchen. There were a number of empty cans in the room. It almost looked like someone had been living there during everything. That couldn’t have been possible, though. This zone was obviously out of control. She and the others hadn’t been able to stay but a few hours before everything fell apart.
Zoe refocused on the task at hand. She found some car keys in a drawer and walked to the garage door. There was a car inside. She had done it. Before she could open the door, Zoe felt two arms wrap around her, however. For a second, she panicked as someone started choking the life out of her. When she regained her composure, she was able to do what came naturally, though. She leaned her head down and bit her attacker’s hand. He fell backward and hit the floor. Zoe turned around in attack mode. The boy was ready for her, though. When she took a step toward him, he pulled out a small pistol and pointed it straight at her head.
“Don’t. I’m not your enemy. I just need some help,” Zoe said.
“Really? Is that why you’re robbing me?” he asked.
He was around 6’, and he didn’t look that much older than Zoe. As far as she could tell, this guy was just a scared kid. Maybe he could be reasoned with.
“I didn’t know anyone was here, and I wouldn’t normally have been looting. My friend is hurt. We were in one of the houses during the earthquake. It collapsed, and she’s in bad shape. I need a car to get her to the army base that everyone’s going to. Why aren’t you there? Who are you?”
“I went there. We all did. Good luck is all I can say. You need to find a new car, too. That one’s mine. I’m Landon, by the way.”
“I’m Zoe. What happens if I just walk into the garage and try to take it? Are you really going to shoot me over a car?”
“You have no idea what I would do to survive. I’ve got about two weeks of supplies left, if I ration it. After that, I’m going to need the car to find more.”
“How are you even surviving here? There isn’t any electricity.”
The Divide: Origins Page 7