Our truck jerked to a stop, but the back of the bed hit the eighteen-wheeler. A metallic groan roared. “It’s going down! Drive!” I yelled.
Adam turned the wheel more and hit the gas. We shot back down the bridge, tracing the way we had come. I spun around. The semi ground against the metal of the bridge and fell into the lake with enough force to splash water all over our vehicle, and our supplies.
Once we were safely back on solid ground, Adam stopped the truck and rested his forehead against the steering wheel.
Megan covered her face with her hands and bent over.
“You guys okay?” I focused on my breathing. In and out. Slow and steady. My heartbeat began to return to normal.
“That was messed up. I thought we were going to…”
“Me too.”
“We could die at any time.” Megan moaned through her fingers. “I don’t want to die alone.”
“Me either. I’m so sorry we didn’t tell you.” I touched her arm.
Megan flinched, but didn’t pull away. “Just don’t leave me alone.”
I gave her arm a squeeze. “We won’t. We’ll stay together.”
Adam found another road and we kept going. We kept the lake on our left and farms covered the right. A couple looked like they had been animal farms. Large hunks of brown that had once been cows filled one field. A few had swarms of flies around them. Here and there, a lone skeleton rested among the grass.
“Don’t open the windows. It will stink something horrid out there,” Adam said.
I didn’t need to open the window to smell it. The stench permeated the air filter of the truck. Megan tucked her nose in her shirt and I thought about doing the same, but settled for covering my face with my hand.
Finally, the farms gave way to trees. Lots and lots of trees.
I plugged in the GPS I’d swiped from MegaCamping. It took forever to boot up, but it found zero satellites. “Damn it.”
“Here’s a map I found at the store.” Megan handed me a road atlas.
I tried to pinpoint our location on the map. I knew we were on the border to Ohio, but that was it, since the map didn’t give small road detail.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary here. Just a two-lane road running through the trees. When the sun started to drop to the horizon, Adam said, “We need to find a place to stay for the night.”
We were still on back roads and currently the only thing around us was another large lake and plenty of woods. “Wonder what lake that is.”
“Don’t know. Check that out.” Adam pointed out his window.
The edge of the lake ended in a large dam. The road ran past it and I caught a large overflow sluice shooting water into a river that snaked next to the road.
The trees gave way to a house here and there. Then civilization sprang up along the road. Restaurants, hotels, big-box retailers, all in a state of collapse. Some buildings were missing roofs, and a few stores had sunk into the ground so only their roofs showed. Every car I spotted had no glass in the windows. Some buildings had been reduced to a pile of rubble, undistinguishable from what they used to be.
Two burnt gas stations flanked the street on opposite sides—no hope of getting gas from them. The few cars in the parking lot were shells of twisted and charred metal.
“This is depressing.” Adam checked out the gas stations. “See anything promising?”
“No.”
We continued to drive. The other side of town was the polar opposite. It hardly looked damaged. It was as if people had just disappeared. Cars stood empty in the road and parking lots, while stores and restaurants sat ready for their next customers.
“Wow. This is weird.” Adam glanced out his window.
“I know. Feels freaky to me.” I rubbed my hands on my arms, trying to ward off a chill.
Megan didn’t say anything. She just stared out the window.
Adam weaved through the maze of vehicles and pulled into the parking lot of a home improvement store.
The store had a few broken windows, but otherwise seemed unscathed. A small restaurant and a tire shop sat next to the store.
Adam parked the truck next to a Jeep and we all got out. I pulled on my bag, but the strap was caught on something under the seat. I bent down to check it out and…
A rumble filled the air.
“What’s that?” I pulled out my gun. Nausea crept up my throat like an unwelcome visitor.
Adam scanned the area. “I don’t know.”
The ground shifted violently. I lost my balance, scraped my knee on the pavement, and lost the Glock.
“It’s another earthquake!” Adam grabbed the Jeep, but couldn’t hold on and dropped to the ground.
My gun slid toward a gap in the asphalt. I couldn’t lose it. It was my lifeline. My protection. My only connection to my father. I got back to my feet, ignoring the hole in the knee of my jeans and the pain that went with it. I scrambled after my gun. My fingers closed around the grip just before the gun dropped into the expanding fissure.
“Val, come on!”
I jumped up and spun back to face Adam. He stumbled to the truck.
Another bone-tingling shake dropped me to the ground. My bag. I had to get it. A second crack grew at an alarming rate, headed right for me. I shoved the gun in its holster and dove to the side, scraping my cheek across the ground. Gravel bit into my skin and pain shot through my face. I wiped my hand across my cheek. I had to get to the bag. It had everything. The gap widened at my feet and my boot slipped inside. I scrambled to the other side of the crack.
A loud crash and a thunderous groan echoed off the buildings.
“What’s happening?” Megan screamed.
The ground settled, but the roar grew louder and louder. I stumbled to my feet. Adam held onto the passenger side mirror of the pickup.
The roar turned into an explosive crescendo. The ground stayed still while the noise built and built and built.
“We need to go,” Adam called.
The noise shifted into a sound I recognized. Goose bumps covered my arms.
Adam’s head swiveled toward the direction we had come from. “Holy—”
A mass of water drowned out his words. It crashed through the buildings and churned right at us. Oh, God. The earthquake had broken the dam. I ran for the truck.
The water crashed into everything in its path, sweeping cars into its fury.
“Val!” Adam yelled. He raced to the driver’s side. He wasn’t going to make it in time. The wall of water slammed into the back of the truck, knocking it forward.
As if stuck in a slow motion scene, I watched in horror, my heart pounding against my throat. Megan bounced off the side of the truck and went under. The water knocked Adam from his feet and swept him away.
I tried to scream, but the cry caught in my throat. The tide slammed into the back of my knees. I flailed and fought to stand. The water knocked me around as if I weighed nothing. My right arm smacked into something and pain shot through my system. My body twisted in the swirling water and I found myself face to face with the grill of a car caught in the wave’s path. It was going to hit me.
The wall crested and I went under. Water filled my ears and I couldn’t tell which way was up. I struggled to stand, but it was too deep. I kicked out and touched nothing. Water spun me around like I was caught in a whirlpool, and my lungs threatened to explode. My back hit something to the right. I reached out and grabbed at it. Missed.
Air. I needed air. Needed it now.
I kicked and thrashed my arms. My head broke through the swirl and I gulped oxygen. I spiraled, helpless in the wave of destruction. A minivan loomed ahead of me. I tried to move out of the way, but I couldn’t control my body. I collided with the cold hard metal.
Everything went black.
20
I came to, gasping for breath. Every part of me seemed beaten and bruised. I was sprawled across a flat, rough surface filled with pipes and water. It looked like—what the hell—a r
oof. I sat up and my muscles screamed in objection. Water lapped at my legs. Where was I?
My head pounded and my stomach rolled. I leaned over and threw up a bunch of water, then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. My clothes were soaking wet and my body shook from the cold wind. I reached for my holster and exhaled when my fingers closed around the gun.
“Adam. Megan.” My voice was gruff and sounded more like an old woman. I glanced around. They were nowhere in sight.
I stood and everything spun. My legs crumpled and I grabbed the only thing I could—a pipe jutting through the roof, and clung to it as tightly as I could.
I touched my head and my fingers came away dotted with blood. Another head wound. That might explain why I felt like I was stuck on the teacup ride at an amusement park. I reached for my bag to get a Band-Aid, but I didn’t have it. My bag was gone. My life locked in nylon. The link to who I had been before. Besides my gun, it was all I had left. Could it still be stuck under the seat of the truck?
Tears slipped down my cheeks. I pictured the photo of my parents I kept in the inside pocket; it was the only thing I had to remember what they looked like. Even if I found the bag, the picture would be ruined.
My food and supplies and, oh God, the Bug. Was it still in the bag?
When the wave of dizziness passed, I tried standing again. This time I stayed vertical.
Holy crap. I was on top of a roof and the water was high enough it spilled over the gutter’s edge. A few feet away, part of the roof had collapsed and left a hole the size of a washing machine. I made my way over, one step at a time. My steadiness increased with each step. Once there, I knelt down and stared into the hole. Water swirled around the red and yellow old-style booths of a McDonalds. Ronald McDonald had saved me.
“Adam. Megan. Can you hear me?” I yelled. Thankfully, my voice had returned to normal. And my head had stopped its relentless pounding.
No one answered. Staying on the roof wasn’t an option. That left only one way. “Okay. Here I go.”
I slid off the roof and splashed into the icy water with a gasp. Shivers sent my body trembling. I swam away from the fast food joint.
I needed to find the others, the truck, my bag. And get out of the water, but it was everywhere. No edge or end in sight. I swam for a distance until the water dropped to waist-height. Numbness spread through my arms and legs. I pushed on. I couldn’t tell which way I had come from or how far I traveled. The home improvement store wasn’t anywhere. Crap.
I shuffled through the water, searching for my friends. The truck. My bag.
Ahead, two cars, one a police car, were nose to nose and debris was backed up between them. A log raced to the pile.
I climbed on the hood of the police car and searched for the store. Megan and Adam had to be there. Had to be. I jumped onto the roof, stepped over the light bar, and looked around for something—anything—that might tell me the right direction. I didn’t recognize a thing. Megan and Adam could be anywhere. The truck and my bag could be anywhere. I didn’t want to think about the Bug. If it got loose, it could be hiding in the water.
I turned and caught a flash of metal. The pickup rested against a store, dented and missing the front bumper. I scrambled off the car and slogged through the water, which now reached my knees.
I reached the truck and jerked open the door. Empty. No Megan. No Adam. I raced to the other side. Nothing. The panel on the passenger side was crumpled against a now-flat tire. The truck was toast.
And all our supplies had washed away, except for a handful of water bottles lining the edges of the truck bed. I jumped in to get them. Even the gas cans were gone. I slammed my palms against the roof of the truck.
Another piece of my heart broke. Everything was gone. My friends. The food. Transportation. Everything. Again.
I needed to be strong. To act, not react. To keep going. First things first. I had to find my bag. I went back to the cab. It was still wedged under the seat. I reached for it, but it wouldn’t budge. I struggled, but still it refused.
I patted my legs. I blew out a quick ball of air when my fingers closed on the handle of my knife. I unhooked it and stretched, reaching under the seat, until I balanced on the tips of my toes. I hacked at the strap holding my bag prisoner. The blade sliced through the nylon with a rip.
I wanted to open it, but I had to get out of the water first. I’d lost all feeling in my feet. I cradled the backpack and knife in my arms, searching for a way out of the frigid river. It took me a few moments to spot higher ground. I waded through the water, trying not to twist my ankle on objects lurking in the murkiness.
I scrambled up the embankment. My hands and knees were covered in mud. I set the bag on the ground and unzipped it. The jar was still there. I pulled it out and brought it close to my face. The Bug sat still in a puddle of water. I tapped the plastic. It didn’t move. Was it dead? Maybe it had drowned. I tipped the container sideways and drained the water out of the air holes.
Everything in my bag was wet and the strap was broken. But at least I’d found it. I could use the clothes if I got them dry.
I stuck the knife back in its sheath, stood, and wrung the water out of my shirt the best I could. I would have to deal with drying my stuff out later. Right now, I needed to find Adam and Megan. I called for them over and over until my voice went hoarse. I walked up and down the water’s edge, looking for any sign of them or of the home improvement store.
Night crept into the sky. I needed to find cover. I couldn’t stay here or out at night. I walked on, clutching my bag by its good strap.
The stench of fish overwhelmed any other smell. The scent grew with every step I took. Then I spotted them—tons of fish, floating in the water, sprawled on the dry ground, caught in trees. Dead.
The fish had obviously flowed out with the water when the dam broke, but I had no idea why they were all dead. My seafood aversion wasn’t strong enough for me not to contemplate trying to cook one. It was the fact I couldn’t figure out why they died. That and my lack of filleting skills, a pan, a fire. I exhaled and tried to block out the stench.
The sky turned a smoky gray and dark clouds zoomed by as if they were racing against the dark. I had to find shelter.
About twenty minutes later, I finally found the home improvement store. It seemed to be in okay shape structurally, with just a few windows broken. I walked in. The water only reached the tops of my boots. I called for Adam and Megan. No answer. They had to be here. Where else could they have gone? I refused to listen to the little voice that whispered they might have drowned. That wasn’t a possibility I’d consider. I had to find them.
Armed with my flashlight, I searched the store. They weren’t anywhere. I went to the checkout counters and pulled everything out of my bag. I set the jar with the Bug on the metal bagging area. It didn’t move. Maybe it was dead.
I found a roll of paper towels under the one register, and with water-withered fingers, I dried my extra flashlights, all my weapons, the radio. Was it waterproof? I turned it on. To my surprise, it clicked to life. “Adam? Megan? Can you hear me?”
No response. I tried again. Still nothing. Did Megan even have hers? I shut the radio off and sighed. There wasn’t a lot of battery left.
I hung my extra clothes over the display shelves and laid the food out on the counter. The couple of cans I had left were good. I spread out the rest of my supplies. The newspaper was wet, but I set it aside. The water had soaked all my Band-Aids and wipes. I chucked them into the corner.
I opened the interior zipper pocket and fished out the picture of my parents. Ruined. Water had smeared their images beyond recognition. I crumpled the photo into a ball and tears slipped down my cheeks.
“Why?” I yelled to the empty store. I threw the destroyed photo against the wall and collapsed onto the tile floor. I ripped off my dead watch and tossed it after the picture.
My entire body shook. Sobs racked my body as I released it all. All the pain. All the terror. All
the guilt.
All the hope.
Life wasn’t supposed to be this way. Anger at the Raspers, the Bugs, and the environment spun through my stomach. Why had I survived? I wasn’t special. And just when I started to have a hint of possibly having some normalcy again, it was stolen.
I wasn’t sure how long I wallowed in misery, but my tears eventually dried. I didn’t know what I would do when the sun came up tomorrow. I was now living hour by hour, instead of day by day. And right now I had to get out of my wet clothes before I froze.
My only chance of finding clothes in a home improvement store was the employee break room. After searching a dozen or so lockers, I struck gold. Well, as close to gold as I was going to get: an XXL long-sleeve Harley Davidson T-shirt. I gave it a quick sniff, stripped off my wet jeans as well as the rest of my clothes. The shirt hung to my knees. It wasn’t great, but it would do until my clothes dried. I stuck my feet back in my wet boots. They were cold and squishy, but it was better than going barefoot.
I gathered supplies from the store. Candles, lighters, flashlights, batteries. I pulled the softest rug from the display racks and found a patio bench in the clearance area. I dragged both to the front of the store and set the bench against the register counter. I stuck the rug over the metal bench then went to the curtain aisle. I opened the package for a brown suede curtain and wrapped it around my still chilled body. Back at the bench, I put batteries in the lantern-style light.
Setting my wet boots on the counter, I picked up the jar and sat on my makeshift bed. I held the container in my left hand and tucked my feet under the curtain. I stared at the Bug for a long time. It didn’t move. Was it really an alien? It wasn’t green. Or gray with big eyes. It didn’t fit what the movies made me think extra-terrestrials should look like.
“Where did you come from and what do you want with me?” My voice broke at the end of my question. The Bug didn’t move. For the briefest of seconds, I contemplated opening the jar, but I didn’t have the nerve. I shook the container. Nothing. No movement at all.
The Colony Page 20