“Only time will tell,” Nancy replied.
“I gotta go wake Vince and Daniel up,” Erika worried, trying to judge the sun’s position in the sky.
“Erika, hold on a second,” Nancy told her.
Erika turned back around to look at her mother.
“I know Earl and Kay don’t agree with the choice you guys are making, and I’m not sure that I do either,” Nancy said.
Erika huffed deeply, not wanting to have this conversation. She became agitated.
“Now, hear me out,” Nancy continued. “I’m your mother. I’d rather see you safe and secure, but I am so deeply proud of you.”
Erika stopped her moping and looked back up at her.
“I know you could die anytime you head out and it scares the hell out of me, but I’m so honored to have you as my daughter. Life has been so difficult for you. One trial after another, but you’ve never given up. Your dad would be so proud of the fighter we raised.”
Nancy hugged her tightly.
“But when you’re out there, you keep your head up and make sure you come home,” she said sternly.
“I will, Mom,” Erika replied cheerfully.
“There you are,” Vince said, popping his head out. “How come you didn’t come and wake me?”
“I was just headed in to do that,” Erika told him. “Thanks, Mom,” she told Nancy before heading into the tent.
As they entered, another quake shook the ground. Vince and Erika braced themselves as the tent shook. The lantern hanging in the air fell to the ground with a crash. Daniel bolted up at the sound.
“What was that?” he wondered.
“The lantern fell,” Erika told him, scrambling to collect the glass.
Vince brought some spare rags to sop up the fuel that hit the ground.
“That was a big one,” Vince commented.
“Aftershock,” Erika noted, feeling another ripple coming.
They steadied themselves through the shaking. Daniel jumped out of bed as soon as it stopped and dressed quickly. They exited into the strange morning air. Heading towards the gate, Victoria was waiting for them.
“That’s the third quake this morning,” Victoria commented, after they had greeted one another.
“It’s a hard feeling to get used to,” Erika replied as they walked to the field.
“I’m not sure we should,” Vince noted.
“Fair enough,” Erika agreed.
“Good morning, Vince,” Bennet greeted him as they approached.
Erika and Victoria were bringing up the rear and fell into line as the two men talked for a moment. They started the morning workout just the same as any other day, but Bennet seemed to be ragging on Erika all day. He was talking quieter than normal and wanted a “yes, sir” reply to every direction that he gave. Endless possibilities about the future coursed through Erika’s brain. She wanted to zone out and work mindlessly through the exercises.
By the time they were done, Erika was thoroughly agitated. They went to grab lunch together as a family. Their food was served in a private tent in the same housing complex as their temporary home was located.
“This sucks, Mom. I like being able to watch the people,” Daniel stated as they found a table.
“I know, Daniel, but what are we going to do?” Erika asked. “At least you still get to train with Master Rowan,” Erika told him. Her eyes shifted from Daniel to 1st Sgt Bennet walking in the door.
“He was sure on us today, wasn’t he?” Vince asked.
“I thought it was just me?” Erika replied.
“No, he was talking so darn quiet all morning and then wanted a reply immediately. It was tripping me out,” Vince agreed.
“I thought the same thing,” Victoria chimed in.
“What are you loafers all worried about?” Bennet asked as he approached. His exceptional hearing allowed him to catch bits and pieces of their conversation as he went through the line.
“What was up with you today?’ Erika wondered. “Did someone turn down your volume?”
Bennet chuckled at her. “You want to know why. How come I am not surprised that Erika Moore can’t just do as she trained? She needs to know why,” he teased.
Victoria chuckled at his joke. I wouldn’t get away with half of the smart remarks that she assaults him with daily, she thought.
“Everyone else is curious too,” Erika defended. “They just won’t say it.”
“The reason I want you to answer up to every direction is so that when you are in the heat of the moment, bullets are flying past your head, and the only noise that wants to fill your ears is that of gunfire, you can hear my voice. You can discern it from anything and respond accordingly. I need your total focus on my direction so we all stay alive.
“This isn’t going to be a roll in and smash the gate operation like the last battle you went into with Cassidy. In Denver we’ll be the insurgency and those battles can be long and dangerous. I need to know that when we’re out there, you’ll hear me in that head of yours, cupcake,” Bennet explained, digging into his plate of food.
Erika sat and thought on what he said for a moment and it made sense. She always wanted to be so headstrong and find her own path, but she respected Bennet’s mentorship and was eager to take his direction when it made sense. This is definitely one time I should listen to him, she thought to herself.
“You know what, 1st Sgt?” Erika asked.
He looked up at her with curious eyes as he chewed.
“You’re actually right. I’m so glad you explained that to me,” she teased.
Bennet looked crossly at her, shaking his head.
“What are we training after lunch?” Erika wondered.
“I’m gonna slip out for some time with Michelle,” Bennet told her, “but we’ll be putting in extra hours tomorrow to tie up some loose ends in your surveillance pattern.”
“I don’t have any problems with my surveillance techniques,” Erika insisted.
“Really? How was I able to follow you to the homesteads and then ambush you on the way home?” he asked with a smirk.
“Speaking of the homesteads,” Erika noted.
“Don’t even try your hole in the fence. They found it when they were securing this area,” he told her.
“What are we supposed to do?” Erika wondered.
“Enjoy each other’s company,” Bennet told her as he left.
Chapter 20
The rain outside poured down in an unusually heavy downpour. Erika watched the wet officers entering the tent to get their lunches.
“We could go into the weight room,” Erika suggested, listening to the rain’s assault on the canvas.
“Sure,” Vince agreed, sharing her boredom.
Splashing through the puddles, they ran to the back door of the weight room. As Erika tried to shake the rain off, she noticed the room was packed with people. There were long lines at the equipment.
“They must be tired of the rain too,” Vince commented, surveying the situation.
“We could go exploring,” Erika suggested with a gleam in her eye.
“Should we?” Vince wondered.
“Sure, we should,” Erika agreed.
They wandered off down the hall. Holding hands, they chatted and would pause for a moment to sneak in a quick kiss. After all the years of marriage they shared, they were still shy about showing affection in public. Erika took him down all the hallways she knew of and ended up at the restricted access door.
“This is the only hallway I haven’t been down,” Erika told him.
“That’s good,” Vince replied, noticing the sign.
A soldier came down the hallway that Erika didn’t recognize.
“Mrs. Moore,” he greeted her as he passed. He went and waved a tag in front of a panel on the wall by the doorway. The door opened, and he entered. As the door started to close, Erika quickly approached and wedged her foot in front of it, so it wouldn’t close.
“Erika! What are you d
oing?” Vince whispered, “You’re going to get us into trouble.”
“Don’t you want to see what’s back there?” Erika asked him. “What’s so restricted that they can’t tell everyone about it?”
“I don’t know. If they wanted us to know we would have been told,” Vince countered.
“Like they were going to tell us about the next wave,” Erika rebutted.
“True . . .” Vince replied, pondering the decision. “Actually, if you think about it, we’re doing exactly like Bennet told us. We’re on base enjoying each other’s company,” Vince remarked sarcastically.
“Exactly,” Erika agreed. “Come on.”
They slipped inside the door. The sterile hallway was empty and wooden doors were the only feature that broke up the bright whiteness before them. Carefully making their way down the hall, they wondered what was behind the doors, but the risk of running into another person was too great. As they reached the end of the hallway, Vince asked, “Left, or right?”
Erika looked back and forth, shrugging. “Right?” she suggested.
They turned down the hall and approached part of the wall that contained a glass panel so they could see into the room. Erika heard voices coming from the other side.
She peaked in and saw that a meeting was taking place. Vince tapped her on the shoulder.
“Let’s go to the other side so you can look in and see the corner and I can watch down the hall.”
They crawled under the glass and hid back to back on the other side. Erika peeked her head up and looked in.
She described the scene to Vince, “There’s a gigantic map on the wall. Some guy is standing in front of it, giving a presentation. I don’t recognize him. There’s groups of people at two big tables that he’s presenting to. LtGen Merkley is in there and some other high-ranking officials I haven’t met. It’s crazy, Vince, the map shows how much water has covered the US. It’s all the way to the Wyoming border!
“Oh, now someone else is getting up in front of the map. Is that Brad?” Erika wondered. He was a scientist she met in Minnesota. So far, he was the only one who correctly predicted the changes the Earth was experiencing. “It is Brad!”
“From Mille Lacks?” Vince wondered.
“Yup,” Erika answered. “He’s pointing to the map where Yellowstone is.”
“Are you serious?” Vince questioned. “Erika! Did you hear that?”
“Sounds like the restricted access door,” Erika advised him.
There was a loud click that followed. Straining to hear another door they detected the sound of footsteps coming towards them.
“They’re coming this way!” Vince whispered, urgently.
Erika followed Vince down the hallway, testing door knobs. Finally, one opened. They entered quickly and quietly closed the door behind them.
“Look Erika, this must be the map you were talking about,” Vince noted, standing up to look at the map on the wall. “Holy cow, Erika. Look how much land is gone!”
“Uh-huh,” Erika replied, distracted.
“What are you doing?” Vince wondered, watching her rifle through the desk.
“Looking,” Erika responded.
“For what?”
“Nothing, I hope. I just want to know if we can trust the men we’re following,” Erika told him.
There were papers with unit numbers but there were many more notebooks filled with equations and scientific theories.
“It’s all Greek to me,” Vince said.
Vince and Erika scrambled to hide behind the desk as the handle turned and the door opened.
“If we know it’s going to fizzle, don’t you think they will know,” a man said to a woman in the hallway.
“Not everyone is as smart as you, Brad,” the woman answered as they entered and shut the door.
They started kissing heavily once the door closed.
“Hi, Brad,” Erika said, popping up from the other side of the desk.
He instinctually grabbed for the door knob, while sheltering the woman behind himself. Then he stopped as recognition hit him.
“Erika?” he asked, turning around.
“In the flesh,” she replied.
“Hi, Brad,” Vince said, standing up beside his wife.
“And Vince?” Brad noted. “Nice to see you guys but what the hell are you doing in here?”
The woman whispered something to him.
“Don’t worry, April. They’re friends. Erika is the legendary Lone Survivor of Sacramento,” Brad explained.
“Oh! It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am,” the woman replied, enamored. “My name’s April. Brad told me he knew you, but I never really believed him,” she babbled.
Erika understood why these two fell in love; they were two of a kind. The woman hustled over and shook Erika’s hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Erika responded. “You must be the woman from Arizona Brad talked about.”
April’s tiny round cheeks blushed at the attention. Her brown curly hair bounced around her head.
“I am,” she replied, backing up to hold Brad’s hand.
“Erika, if the LtGen knew you were back here, there would be hell to pay, and I’m not taking another ass whooping for you,” Brad worried.
“What are you talking about?” Erika asked naively.
“Bennet tore me up when you left Minnesota,” he responded.
Erika chuckled, envisioning the scene.
“We’re all safe now” Vince interjected
“Yeah, besides, we’re already here. What’s going on, Brad?” Erika begged him.
Brad cracked the door and checked the hallway.
Closing the door, Brad declared, “Yellowstone is erupting.”
“Like the supervolcano, Yellowstone?” Erika questioned.
“Sort of,” Brad replied.
“How do you mean?” Erika wondered.
“The earthquakes have created huge fissures all around the volcano. It will blow, but I’m of the opinion that because of all the pressure the earthquakes have released it will be more like a volcanic lake when all is said and done,” he explained.
“What’s it look like in between that time?” Vince asked, enthralled with the information.
“We’re going to see lots of ash and dust, but not half of what was originally forecasted,” Brad explained.
“Then that’s good news,” Vince replied, looking at Erika.
“But . . .” Erika said, sensing it was a double-edged sword.
“But, the mercenary army is going to use the eruption to cover the Denver invasion. They think that the feds won’t use an air strike because of the volcanic activity,” Brad continued.
“That sounds logical,” Erika admitted.
“Doesn’t it?” Brad asked. “However, if we know it’s going to fizzle, don’t you think they would know that too?”
Vince and Erika looked to one another. Neither knew the answer.
“What about the people headed north? Will they be okay?” Vince asked, concerned for his parents. His father already insisted they were going that way as soon as possible.
“They should be safe enough. They may need to shelter in place during the peak of the eruption, but it shouldn’t last longer than a couple of days. If we can get some wind headed our way it may reduce that time even more,” Brad explained.
“Then they should go,” Vince said to Erika.
“No, you guys should,” Brad suggested. “LtGen Merkley would have my ass for telling you this.”
He cracked the door open and exited into the hallway. Reaching the corner, he signaled it was all clear. Erika and Vince made their way back down the hall and exited out the restricted door. Taking a back staircase, they ended up by the weight room and quickly made their way back outside. The rain had lightened up to a sprinkle, but the air was calm. The sky was illuminated with the same eerie hue and another quake shook their bodies as they clung to the ground.
Vince looked to Erika. “It’s coming.”
Chapter 21
“What do you mean he didn’t come back?” Erika questioned, distressed.
Her old friend Sgt Julie Pontever stood solemnly in front of her, her long brown hair tied tightly back in a ponytail.
“He left with Johnny in the morning to go scout a base. He left Trucker with me, which I thought was weird,” Julie explained.
Erika motioned for Trucker to come join her as she thought back to the morning Dexter left. She knew his behavior was strange that day as well. Trucker sadly sat down at Erika’s side.
“Why would Dexter do that?” Erika wondered.
“Do what?” Vince asked as he approached from the shower. He heard the concern thick in his wife’s voice and when he saw Trucker his heart skipped a beat.
“Dexter left Trucker with Sgt Pontever. He and Johnny never came back from their scouting mission,” Erika explained.
“Did you look for them?” Vince asked.
“Of course we did, but there was no trail at all, nothing,” Julie fretted.
Erika bent down to pet Trucker. “Where did they go, Trucker?” she asked the dog.
Trucker looked at her sideways but couldn’t tell Erika a thing. The sun tucked behind a thick cloud as Bennet and Nickleton approached.
“I just heard about Dexter,” Bennet told her.
“What are we going to do, 1st Sgt?” Erika asked.
“What can we do? Those boys are ghosts. They know how to cover their tracks. Even if there was time to follow them, we couldn’t,” Bennet asserted.
Vince didn’t say much. He was lost in thought, petting Trucker’s head. Erika listened absently to the conversation Bennet was having with Nickleton and Pontever. She never heard a word. All she could think of was Dexter. The soldiers left Vince and Erika alone at the tent.
“What are we going to do, Vince?” Erika begged him for an answer.
“Everything is set to roll on Denver,” he replied. “I want to go after them too, but . . .” He hesitated. “They have to be up to something. If they were captured they would have left tracks or Julie would have found the bodies.”
“Don’t even say that, Vince.” Erika was horrified at the thought her boy might be gone.
“It’s true,” Vince admitted.
The Changing Earth Series (Book 5): Dark Days in Denver Page 14