Considerable Destruction Series (Book 1): Evasion (

by Hernandez, Erica

  Several of us drift outside to share the pipe. “Jonathan, do you think this weed is safe for us?” Jake asks.

  “Mom, you’ve dealt with a lot of psychotic people. What do you think?” Jonathan defers.

  “I think if you want to try it, try an indica, preferably with CBD,” I suggest.

  “I’ve got your ass covered!” Alex laughs. “This Blue Shark is a nice CBD/THC and I can add a little bit of this Kush to it. Let’s grind it first.”

  A few others trickle out to join us.

  “Now you’re talkin’!” Jake laughs. “That’s nice stuff.”

  “You’ve done this before?” Rob asks Justin.

  “Hasn’t everybody?” Justin laughs.

  “Now we can have a cleaning party!” I’m laughing along with the rest. “And, we’re hoping to return to Polyrock within the week. Alex, I figured you’d want to go!”

  Sam joins us, taking the pipe.

  After a few minutes, she philosophizes, “I have to wonder if the universe created this apocalypse to save the world, stopping global warming…”

  I clue right in, “Whoa! I realize that’s been brewing for me also!”

  Alex poopoos us both, “This is just a typical governmental fuck job.”

  We head back inside. “Look, here’s more food that didn’t get put away.” My tone is part disgust, part laughter.

  “Mom, wasn’t Justin going to put that away? Could you tell him where to stick it?” Eli asks as we head in.

  “He can stick it up his ass!” I die laughing. Eli laughs, then others join in. I’m laughing hysterically with them.

  “It’s not that funny, mom.” Gracie is disgusted with me.

  I begin to calm down. “I thought it was.”

  The cleaning gets under way as we all rib each other. Dixie finishes the stove.

  “That’s really shiny.” Eli runs his finger along the newly polished stove, then flicks one of her curls.

  “Thanks,” Dixie chirps. I catch the flirtatious tone.

  “You guys did really good today!” Jose says, standing next to me. “You brought a lot of good food back, wine too. People are going to appreciate that!”

  “Thanks.” I begin to notice him grazing my arm or hand as I pass things to him. I hear the buzz of the others socializing as we unload the truck.

  It takes a while to organize food beyond our overfull cellar to other houses we’re using, upstairs, and to other cold locations. We distribute the milk to different houses, load the freezer, and put vegetables in each fridge. While working, I mention, “I’ve been thinking about how to make the food go further. It seems like we have a lot but it’s going to get thinner in late winter and early spring unless our new sprouts do really well.”

  “That’s a good point,” Sam agrees.

  “I’ve been wondering about this too,” Maddie adds.

  “The cabbages out there grow a lot of outer leaves, which in good times we would throw to the chickens, but which we could eat, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely. I agree,” Maddie backs me up. “Beet greens, turnip greens, and dandelion greens are all good too.”

  “Sounds like we’re on the same page. Ladies?” I check in with the rest.

  “Damn straight,” Sam agrees, while others nod their support. “We may not have to worry so much with access to that huge green house.”

  The gang is tired, unloading the truck took a good portion of the evening and most are ready to hunker down.

  “It’s getting cold,” Rob points out. “It’s been in the upper 50’s during the day, but that’s still chilly, but it’s down in the lower 40’s at night. Last night was 37.” Rob is concerned about people’s warmth in their respective sleep spaces. “Some of your spaces are further from the fire. I’m wondering if everyone is warm enough at night?”

  “The bedroom is pretty cold.” I put in. “I’ve had enough blankets and another body in there so it’s tolerable, but it’s getting harder to get warm enough to sleep. How about you, Jose? Isn’t that back living room pretty cold at night?”

  He looks down. He doesn’t like to complain. “It is getting pretty cold and the blankets don’t stay on the couch well.”

  “Jessie’s at Polyrock, so you could sleep next door tonight. It might be warmer in a bed,” Sam suggests.

  “We need to build a big fire before going to sleep. I’ll do it tonight,” I suggest. Rob and Jake nod.

  “We need remember to damp it down,” Rob says.

  “We should look for more blankets,” I add wood to the stove, blowing on the coals to get the fire going before heading off to bed. I have a mental flash of Jose in my bed keeping me warm. He was always my radiator. Now I have Gini in my bed, snuggling with me, but it’s not the same as snuggling with a man I love. I check the cupboard where we store blankets. There’s not many but I pull out the last few, handing them to the kids. “Here’s a few more blankets. We’ll look for more.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Eli grabs them, passing one to Alex.

  I wander back to the laundry room, up to the attic, finding a few down comforters which I hand out.

  Having worked out the arrangements, I head off to bed. I hug Eli, Gracie, Jedaiah, and Bree, then climb in bed with Gini. “Do you want to snuggle?” I ask her quietly.

  She doesn’t say much, but she rolls over, cuddling in my arms.

  Thirty-One

  Eliana

  New Arrivals

  I wake up with Gini nestled close to me. The weekend has been remarkably peaceful. I hold her close for a while, meditating, visualizing a safe world, abundant gardens, plenty to eat, with close friends and family, safe and sound. I focus on which day it is, hoping for a day of rest. I start yoga, wondering about my sisters who live in Portland. We haven’t been close since Rasheen died, not that we were close before that. I tried to connect with them but they didn’t seem to welcome my efforts. Eventually I gave up, figuring if they ever reached out to me, I’d welcome them. I released the effort to bind my birth family together. I do my affirmations while completing yoga. Gini wakes, watching me quietly.

  “How did you sleep? Still having nightmares?” I ask, watching her nod.

  “At least with you I’m able to get back to sleep,” she says quietly.

  I finish dressing and caress her cheek. “Thank God for that. I’m going to have tea. You come when you’re ready.” She grabs my hand, pulling me back on the bed.

  “I miss my mom…” She begins to weep. “I miss my dad.”

  I lay down next to her, holding her while she keens with body tensing wails. I rub her back in neat circles. “I know it hurts.” I caress her some more. “Reach for them when it’s quiet. I bet they’re here with you. Watch for signs.”

  She cries for most of an hour before she’s exhausted and able to stop. “Do you really think they’re here?”

  “I’m sure they are. After Rasheen died, he was always nearby, talking to me, hiding things from me, and leaving me coins on the road. You just have to open up your heart to figure out how they’re communicating with you. Rasheen was a prankster but your parents may have a different method.” A thoughtful look spreads over her face.

  I head out to the bustle of another day. Jose and his fence crew have gotten most of the way around our little compound. We’ve included several houses around and behind us, including Nadir’s.

  “Good morning! Are you guys already eating?” Most of the group is eating as I settle in to join them for pancakes. So far, there’s still almond flour for me. When it’s gone, my gut may suffer. “Thank you all for making almond pancakes!”

  “The early bird gets the worm!” Gracie teases.

  “The late bird kills the early bird and takes the worm!” Eli laughs. While we eat, we review the progress of the fence line, gardening issues, the growth of the seeds, and other concerns. Soon, we’re off on other projects.

  “Eliana, come hear this!” Jose comes in, excitedly to get me. “We’ve got a safe zone coming in!�
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  “Really?” I’m so surprised. Somehow this mess seems more real if there are really “safe zones” popping up. I allow myself to be pulled into the back room where the radio is crackling intermittently, but mostly the voice is clear. Sam, Eli, and Simon are there, too.

  “Welcome listeners, this is the University safe zone, 140 strong and welcoming people anytime. Newcomers are quarantined for twenty-four hours for observation. If there are no signs of paranoia or violence, they are welcomed into our village. We have two doctors and a few nurses, teachers and students mostly. Everyone works hard, doing their part. We’ve heard of several safe zones around Oregon and the world. People are saying we’re down to about one percent healthy people from the original population, with eight percent infected. We hope one day that all infected will be able to have treatment but for now, there aren’t enough doctors and nurses to explore their needs. We wish all of you out there a safe place in a safe community.”

  “They’ve been repeating that in a loop for a while. I’m glad you could hear it!” Jose is excited, pulling me into a hug. “Isn’t that amazing!” He loud whispers in my ear. Tingles trickle down my spine all the way to my toes. It feels so good to be held, even briefly. He lets me go as Rob takes Sam’s hands. They just look at each other.

  Sheba’s growling causes us all to check our hips for knives and race for guns. Jake, Jonathan, and Alex are up the street, working on the fence and my chest constricts thinking of them exposed. Maddie has shut the blinds and I peak through them afraid for what I’ll see.

  “Portia? Oh my God, that’s my sister’s car! She’s come all the way down here from Portland?” I just stand there frozen. I watch her get out of the passenger seat, my other brother-in-law and his adult son, get out as well. They grab back packs and move towards the door.

  Finally, I’m able to move, walking out the front door with others trailing behind me. Portia runs to me, “Eliana! You’re alive!” She wraps her arms around me, her shapely, petite figure leans in, her brown curls bobbing by my ears. Stephen’s strong arms wrap around both of us, hugging us close, rubbing my back. His 30-year-old son, Nate, comes over and I reach around to pull him close.

  Stephen almost growls in my ear. “We feared you’d be dead. Are the kids okay?”

  “All of them are here. So is Jose. Come in!” I’m taking both their hands, in shock since Portia has barely spoken to me since our mother died, and who was awful to me after my son died, blaming me for his death. Stephen and my sister, Kaitlyn rarely visited due to their unforgiving work schedules, so I thought I would never see them after The Mortiferum Virus took over.

  We head inside. “Sit, sit, would you like something to drink or eat?” I’m still so surprised they’re here and aware of who’s not.

  “Please! It took us way longer to get here than we thought. We’ve been scrounging food on the way,” Stephen admits.

  “Come to the table.” I head into the kitchen, finding a plate of pancakes left from breakfast. It’s a ceramic plate, so I lay a bowl over it and set it on the wood stove top to warm up.

  “Mom, I’ll get plates,” Gracie offers.

  “Thanks, dear.” I grab peanut butter and jam while Gracie gets plates and silverware.

  Nate looks a little green. His short strawberry blonde curls wave over the top of his head, his nearly red eyebrows look furrowed and tense. Something went wrong. I wonder about my grand-niece. I put a pot of tea on the stove and bring the pancakes, now warm, to the table.

  “Thank God!” Nate breathes, attacking the pancakes with gusto, like my sister and his dad. They load on peanut butter and jam, sucking down most of a cup of tea before they start talking.

  “What happened to Katlyn, Aiden, Penny and Priscilla?” I finally ask.

  “Katlyn died of the flu.” Stephen slumps in his chair, staring at his plate.

  “Aiden, too,” Portia chokes out, tears leaking from her eyes.

  “Penny also,” Nate reports about his wife.

  I walk around the table, hugging each of them, then sit by Nate. “What happened to Priscilla?”

  “You don’t want to know,” his voice breaks.

  “Tell me,” I say calmly, firmly.

  “We made it to Junction City, but we were so hungry,” he says, his voice cracks. “We stopped at a grocery store just off the freeway. She wanted to stay in the car so we told her to lay on the floor so she wouldn’t be seen.” He begins shaking, and covers his face with his hands. I scoot my chair up close, holding him while he cries.

  “We couldn’t get in the store with just the three of us. There were so many crazies.” Stephen takes over the story. “We tried, circling around to the other door. We got into the store, but the crazies were swarming through it and we had run for our lives.” He stops, choking on his words. Portia is crying now, so I move over to hold her.

  “When we got back to the car, she was dead.” Stephen’s voice shakes and I realize he’s crying. “She’d been drug from the car, beaten, and raped. Her jaw was broken and her body was stretched out on the asphalt.” He looks like he might vomit. “There was a crown drawn on her lower abdomen in sharpie… She was only thirteen!”

  My gut clenches like I just got punched. The Crown Killer. How could he hurt two people I feel close to? I rub Portia’s back and without a word, go back to Nate and hold him while his tears intensify. His daughter and wife, both dead. I’m crying too. We weren’t that close but she was my niece and I loved her. Then it hits me that my sister is dead along with my brother-in-law and my nephew’s wife.

  We move to the living room.

  “So much loss…” Sam utters.

  There’s a glass in front of me which I drink from. Someone has placed cups of tea in front of us all. Tears leak from my eyes as I begin to absorb the loss of my sister, nephew’s wife, and great-niece. I can’t believe they’re gone. “It feels so unreal…” I murmur. I realize my shoulders are getting wet from my own tears as images of my sister, Kaitlyn breeze through my mind, followed by images of Penny and Priscilla, then Rasheen. My tears begin falling in earnest, my body wracked with heavy sobs. I feel Sam’s arms around me as I lay my head on her shoulder, grieving.

  “You just let it out, sweetie,” Sam murmurs in my ear.

  When my tears subside, the room has thinned out as others in our community have gone back to work. Their murmurs were comforting as they were leaving. I begin wondering what made Portia come down, when I think of the conflicts she and I have had over the years. She had been jealous of me since I was born. When I was two weeks old, she told my mom, “you can send her back now.” My whole life she was either mean to me or ignored me. Our relationship got a little better when Jose and I got married. She was getting divorced at the time and visited more often. She confessed to me that she wished she had had children but by then they were divorcing and it was too late.

  I was in my first trimester when we got together for Christmas and she insisted on using ingredients that, combined with hunger, made me nauseous. She had brought a home-made salsa with her from Portland and all my family members were snacking on it. I got hungry waiting for dinner so I began snacking too. She turned around and screamed at me not to eat it before dinner. I was so shocked that I snapped at to her. She crumpled to the floor in a dramatic act, dissolving into tears, screaming that I had been awful to her. That was the end of our relationship, basically. After that I only saw or spoke to her about our parents or Rasheen. Then, when he died, she blamed me for his death, accusing me of parental abuse. Her behavior was appalling, causing me to believe our relationship as sisters had ended.

  I peek up at her sitting near me on the couch. “What made you come?” I ask. “I’m glad you came. I’m just surprised.”

  “You’re a survivor,” she says.

  “You guys traveled a long way to get here. What made it seem worth it?” I press her for answers.

  “It was time,” Stephen says. “Of all the things that became crystal clear with this cri
sis, this became icy clear. I’d had enough of this old feud. I told her, ‘one of your sisters is dead. Go get your other sister back.’” Stephen looks me dead in the eye, his support clear, and I sigh, audibly.

  “Right back at ya.” Nate high fives Stephen, then meets my eye with a clear nod.

  I notice the silence in the room. Portia doesn’t say a word, doesn’t look at me.

  “Well, I’m glad you came,” I say.

  “You’re all absolutely welcome,” Sam adds. “We have three houses in our compound that available to settle into.”

  “I’ve got to work to keep my mind off this mess.” Nate’s voice quavers.

  I get up, moving closer to him. “You need to let yourself cry,” I whisper in his ear with my arm around him.

  “I can’t believe they’re gone!!” He squeaks, his voice cracking, tears streaming down his face.

  Stephen gets up. “I imagine there’s work to be done outside. You probably need wood cut for heat?”

  “I think we’re getting kind of low,” Sam says. “Jose and Rob will know. They’re out back.”

  I get up to follow, not really wanting to be alone with Portia. “Are you guys growing anything?” Portia asks.

  “We’ve got seeds sprouting, green houses to grow them in, and an overwintering crop. You’re welcome to come check it out if you like.” I continue toward the kitchen, where our young women are running things.

  “Looks like you guys have enough hands in the kitchen.” Portia walks over to hug Gracie, then gets introduced to the other ladies.

  “Yeah, we’ve got it covered,” Gracie agrees. She and Dixie laugh. Bree and Gini are somber, still struggling with grief.

  Portia follows as I head out back, Jedaiah holding my hand, straight to the green house. “Did you just start these a week and a half ago? They’ve already got a set of leaves!”

  “Yeah. They’ve been sung to, babied, and loved. It may be helping.” I’m feeling hesitant. Jedaiah starts humming.