The Changing Earth Series (Book 2): Without Land

by Hathaway, Sara F.

  He could hear the desperation in her voice and he didn't want to cause her any more pain right now. "My little fireball," he said gently, holding her in his arms and stroking her soft hair.

  She felt so good wrapped up in his love. She felt every movement of his hand gently caressing her skull until she fell into a deep sleep.

  CHAPTER 22

  THE NEXT MORNING Erika was so stiff and sore she wanted to just curl into a little ball and sleep all day. Her eyes stuck a little from the buildup of mucus as she peeped out at Vince getting up and ready. He thought she was still asleep and quietly went about his business, letting her sleep for as long as possible. He left the room and Erika tested her muscles. They stretched painfully, but her stubborn pride soon took over. She wasn’t going to let that jerk of a sergeant get the better of her. She stiffly rose from her bed and straightened herself. Today wasn’t going to be easy, but she wasn’t about to show it.

  She stepped as cheerfully as possible from her room and was met by Daniel running at her, yelling good morning. He flew into her stomach, hugging her tightly. She winced in pain but quickly gained composure when she saw Vince watching her. He knew she was hurt but wasn’t going to say anything if she wasn’t. He got a cup of water for her and tried to make her life easier rather than bringing up the obvious.

  When they arrived out in front of the warehouse Erika passed the wounds off as a particularly intense workout session with some gigantic soldiers and boasted about the shots she got in to divert their attention from her black eye and fat lip. The group quickly said goodbye to the little kids and were in line before the sergeant even walked up.

  “Much better, Recruits,” he declared as he approached. “Are we all ready for day two?”

  “Yes sir,” they answered in unison.

  Vince responded as prompted but he glared intensely at the sergeant as Sergeant Bennett passed up and down the row of recruits. The hard gaze didn’t go unnoticed but the sergeant continued laying out the events of the day. Finally he came to a stop directly in front of Vince and returned his direct eye contact.

  “We are not going to have a problem here, are we, Recruit?” he asked Vince directly.

  Erika was mortified and honored when Vince replied, “We are if you ever send my wife home in that condition again.” Erika knew he was furious inside but somehow he managed to keep his words direct and oddly flat of emotion.

  “Recruit Moore, your wife is being trained to lead this group. The training methods I employ are not to be questioned. If you have a problem with my methods you can walk right out that door and back to your gardens. Your wife doesn’t have a problem with my methods, do you, Recruit?”

  Erika didn’t know how to respond. She wanted to stand with Vince and tell this jerk-off where he could stick it, but she knew they needed this opportunity so bad. “No, sir,” she replied, keeping her head forward so she didn’t have to make eye contact with either of them.

  “There you have it,” Sergeant Bennett concluded, matching Vince’s vicious stare for a moment before looking away and changing the topic. “Now let’s move out, people.”

  As they got into line to follow the sergeant out to the training fields, Erika quickly gave Vince a big hug. “I love you,” she said, melting his heart with her honest gesture.

  The next couple weeks progressed quickly. Erika’s team usually filled her in at lunch about how interesting their afternoon training sessions were. Roxy went on and on about how they were supposed to leave the soft, delicate materials behind in favor of the more rugged, canvas types. Jen thought that Roxy was just being silly. Nancy agreed with Roxy and joked about how pretty soon they would all look like Amish people.

  Harold was stumped because he thought he would be learning about new types of technology but quickly found out he was going to be more of an instructor than a student. Dexter was soaking it all up, though. He had loved computers before the quakes, even at the age of five. Vince was all wound up, making sure everything would run smoothly while he was gone and filling Rob’s head with a checklist of supplies they needed the most. Star and Kim talked all day about how awesome it was that their kitchen was built right into the bus. They would be “chefs on the go.” They also discussed how they were going to set up the camp kitchen more efficiently than any other team and how they could cheat the rationing system to give everyone a little bit extra.

  Penni was distraught. She enjoyed learning all of the new medical knowledge but didn’t feel comfortable having to actually use it. Betsy, on the other hand, had no fear and was learning fast.

  Erika got over her wounds. The days slipped into restful nights. The mornings were spent building the muscles of the team members and her afternoons with Sergeant Bennett actually became tolerable. They had met on some kind of even ground. Erika followed his directions but still reserved her respect for him. There was something she wasn’t getting and she could feel it, but she listened intently to his directions. He filled her head with group tactical movements, maps of the town and where to place her team, and group leadership strategies.

  The temporary peace did not last long, though, and the tension between the two finally came to a head two weeks into their training sessions. The night before the final meltdown Erika had been outside enjoying the night air. She noticed that the tiny ants that inhabited the space beside her home were very busy shoring up their holes, and there was a biting cool breeze in the air. In the morning, the birds were strangely quiet and there was a bright red sky as the sun came up. The old adage Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight; Red Sky in the Morning, Sailors Take Warning echoed through her head. She knew a storm was on the way, and sure enough, by the time they left for the training ground it was pouring. Erika had hoped that would mean they were training indoors today, but Sergeant Bennett delighted in the weather and worked them twice as hard, declaring how lucky they were to have rain to train in because that was all they would see in Colorado.

  They stunk like drowned rats as they plopped down at the table and quietly ate their lunch. Penni and Nancy fussed and fussed about how ridiculous it was to be out in this weather. As Erika listened to their banter she thought about how lucky they were. They would be assured a reprieve from the rain as they left for their afternoon assignments, but she was doubtful the same fate would befall her.

  She was right. Sergeant Bennett had even hung a punching bag outside so she could toughen her hands in the rain. They were going through a series of ways to close the distance between the attacker and the defender when the argument began. Sergeant Bennett was having her do a step-step jab move with a final power punch at the end when the gap was closed. It was a basic move, but Erika slipped and slid in the mud and was getting more and more frustrated with her inability to perform such a simple movement.

  “Recruit Moore,” the sergeant bellowed, “I told you, I wanted you to use a vertical punch.” Instead of having her hand in the normal punching style with her knuckles on top, he wanted her to turn her hand sideways so her thumb was up as she punched. He knew it would make her less vulnerable to a wrist or hand injury, but he wasn’t about to explain why. She needed to follow his order. He just wanted her to do it without questions.

  “I’m trying, sir,” she yelled back to him as she slipped again and fell back on her old habits of punching with her knuckles up.

  “Well you’re not trying hard enough, Recruit. I gave you an order and you will follow it.”

  Erika rolled her eyes. She was trying to follow his stupid order. Why does he always have to come back to that, she wondered. She cursed the mud and the rain as she went in for another try. The more she stomped in the mud the more mud she created, and she slipped again and this time fell hard. She quickly got up and in her emotional fury she flew at the bag jab-jab-slam! She punched the bag with an overhand hit so hard it went flying back and came back right at the sergeant. It caught him off guard and sent him flying back into the mud. Erika was completely surprised by the man getting blown right off
his feet and hitting hard, so water flew through the air. She chuckled a little under her breath as she stood there staring at him, while her lungs gasped for more oxygen.

  Sergeant Bennett arose from the mud, infuriated. He was on her in a snap, “I told you not to use that punch and you completely disregarded my order.”

  “No, sir, I just…I was so pissed…I...” She didn’t know what to say.

  “You were so pissed you didn’t follow my order. You can’t let your emotions cloud your decisions. You have to follow the order,” he screamed.

  The rain poured down and continued to soak them both. The sound of their voices were lost to the pitter patter of the drops colliding with metal structures.

  “What’s the big deal anyway, Sergeant? I knocked the shit out of it, didn’t I?”

  “The big deal is you’re still questioning!”

  “Well, maybe orders aren’t meant to be followed if they are stupid…sir.” Erika couldn’t believe she had said that to him. She instantly cursed her big mouth but it was too late.

  He was in her face so fast their noses just about touched and she could see the color of his skin change to a tomato red. She could feel the drip from the brim of his hat beading down onto the top of hers. “Look, Erika...”

  Erika noticed immediately that he had used her first name for the first time ever, or so she thought, but for some reason it too sounded very familiar. She knew she must have hit a chord.

  “Orders are all we have anymore. Orders are what is keeping our country together. Orders are stopping chaos from reining in every part of the country. Do you think orders are always easy to follow? No, they’re not. Do you think it was easy to maintain order after what we all saw? No, it wasn’t. It was the orders that brought us back to a civil state of being. It was orders that gave us the strength to squash many a rebellion, and it was orders that made me put you in that box!”

  What did he say, Erika’s mind was blown by his statement. It all made sense now. That’s why his voice was so familiar. She had been hooded in a cell after the rebellion. She was emotionally and physically crushed. She never saw the face of the man who took her from the cell and put her in that oven, but she heard his voice. She heard it every day as he talked about the good of the new system, cooperating, learning to live in the now, learning how to give up the assumptions of lives we had known in the past.

  “It was you! You son of a bitch!” she screamed at him and ran to tackle him.

  He side-stepped her and she fell hard in the mud. He stood over her, declaring, “Yeah, it was me, and do you think that was an easy order to follow? No, it wasn’t. If I was in your shoes I would have done the same thing, but I wasn’t and I had orders to follow. Orders that couldn’t for a moment be questioned or the whole fabric of our society breaks down, people get hurt and anarchy returns. The system may not be ideal, but it is working. People are eating again and can even feel safe. I tried then to make you understand. To calm your rage so you could exist, and now here you are again. I’m telling you, Erika, you have a chance at a new life, a fresh start, but you have to follow the orders and you have to do it precisely for the sake of yourself, your family and our community. I can do that; can you?”

  Erika stood and let the rain bead down on her. She never thought about it from his point of view before. Although the trauma of the box had been vicious, when she really thought about it, he had been kind. He had been reassuring and he sincerely tried to get her to understand how she needed to act to get by in this place, but she was not willing to see that then. She was hardly willing to see it now, but the man in front of her had laid it out there. He had honestly spilled his guts out before her and she almost pitied him. He was just as stuck as she was, as we all are, she thought.

  “I can, sir,” she replied humbly, knowing their relationship would be much different from this point forward.

  The next week, Erika found herself enjoying her time with Sergeant Bennett. She had learned to follow his orders exactly. She gave all his drills her very best effort, and he was pleased with her progress. He taught her all kinds of defensive moves that she had never learned before, and she introduced him to a couple he had never seen from her arsenal. They even spent some time in the shooting range just having some fun. Erika loved the feeling of having a teacher and a mentor again. She had been training others for so long that it felt really good to have someone there to push her harder than she would ever push herself. Erika was truly disappointed when the end of week three came. She wished that he was going with them to Colorado, but she knew that was not the orders he had received. He would be training a new group of recruits.

  CHAPTER 23

  “RECRUIT MOORE ARE you ready to debrief your team?” Sergeant Walker questioned as he turned to face her.

  It was hard for Erika to believe, but three weeks had come and gone. Tonight was the final debrief and in the morning they would be heading out. Much to Erika’s dismay, Sergeant Bennett was not at the warehouse; she had been looking forward to seeing him. On the bright side, she found out that Sergeant Terrance Walker would be accompanying their team.

  “Yes sir, I am,” Erika answered directly to him. Then she faced her “team,” which was actually her family and most beloveds minus the youngest children of the group. “Please follow me, Recruits,” she directed them with authority.

  Sergeant Walker was impressed with the young lady standing in front of him. She had been morphed into a leader that could be trusted in just three weeks. Sergeant Walker wondered how Sergeant Bennett had accomplished such a feat. He was grateful he was not chosen for the job: going head to head with this woman wasn’t top on his list.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the team answered. They, too, marveled at the change in their friend. She seemed directed and walked with a purpose. She knew where she was going and how. They always had trusted her before and now they did even more.

  She led the group back to the room she had met the commander at when they had first been introduced to the warehouse. Everyone sat down and Erika discussed the specifics of their roles while in Colorado. She knew that they had been receiving their own individual training for weeks but she wanted everyone on point with one another. There would be no confusion on the part of her team, not if she could help it. Sergeant Walker oversaw the meeting. He was there to make sure she didn’t forget anything. Plus, he was under strict orders to monitor the group and make sure they were not working on an escape plan. Mathew was still not convinced he had made the right choice when it came to the loyalty of this group. After all, it was just a few years ago they were organizing a full-fledged rebellion. When the meeting was done everyone was free to go, and the teenagers did just that. Star had to go and meet with her boyfriend before she left. The rest of the kids went to hang out, but were given strict orders to make it home early so they could get to bed. Tomorrow would be an early morning. Everyone was pumped up with excitement.

  Mitchell and Jen came with Vince, Erika, Greg and Penni to say goodbye to their children. They were going to an assigned location that Mathew had set up for them while their parents were away on the mission. Alex was there with the children and he assured them all that the children would be in good care while they were gone. He was going to personally oversee their care. This put most of the parents at ease.

  Vince and Erika sat down with Daniel.

  “I don’t see why I can’t go,” Daniel said with tears in his eyes.

  “You’re too little, baby. We can’t take you,” Erika tried to convince him, “We’ll be back in no time, and Alex will be here, and so will Carmen and Crystal.”

  “I don’t care, Mom. I don’t want you guys to go. Plus, Star and Dexter get to go, it’s not fair.” He began to cry again.

  “Sometimes life is not fair, baby.” Erika never tried to shield her children from the realities of this world. “One day, when you’re a big boy, you can come, okay?”

  Vince had remained quiet. He figured if Erika was so hell-bent on going, she co
uld explain it to him.

  “Daddy, you don’t want to leave me, do you?” Daniel questioned him, with big puffy eyes.

  “No, Daniel, I don’t.” He shot Erika a look but then said, “and neither does your mom, but this is a chance to see the world out there. We may even pick out a spot where we’re going to live one day.” Vince added a little sarcasm to the last part to try and cheer the boy up.

  “Really, Dad?” Daniel said with a little smile creeping onto his face.

  “Maybe, buddy, but in the meantime, we really need you to be a big boy and do what Alex tells you to, okay? You can trust him,” Vince knew at least that part was true.

  “Daniel, they have a pool we get to swim in!” Carmen had been chatting with Alex about the details of this place they were going to stay at and was bouncing around with excitement. He was as independent as his father, Greg, and only saw his parents’ absence as a new adventure to be grasped with enthusiasm.

  “Really? Cool, Dexter told me about swimming pools,” Daniel said with a full smile, beaming.

  “See, Daniel, you’re going to have all the fun while we’re gone. You just be careful, okay?” Erika was relieved that Carmen’s excitement had overtaken Daniel when it did. It was perfect timing.

  “Maybe…but I’m sure going to miss you,” Daniel confessed, somewhat torn between the two feelings.

  “And we’re going to miss you too, buddy,” Vince admitted, as he picked him up in a bear hug and swung him around in a circle.

  When Vince put him down, he ran to Erika and hugged her tightly. Erika wrapped her arms around him and soaked in every detail of his being, down to the smell of his hair. She gave him a kiss and he was off. Alex loaded the three children into the jeep and away they went.

  The work in the warehouse was done and curfew for the camp had arrived. The group headed for their homes on the quiet, deserted streets of the refugee camp. Usually they would have been under the same time requirements, but it was so different now. It was still strange to see the streets empty, though. Walking slowly along with Vince’s hand in hers, Erika could feel he was having second thoughts about leaving Daniel. Soon the group had split into their respective directions to go to their homes. It was just Vince and Erika and the dust.