The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval (45 page)

“Cover your mouths!” Mary Ellen commanded.

“What?” Xander inquired.

He turned to find her covering her mouth and nose with her shirt. “Cover your mouths! It might be something in the air! Some kind of gas, or something that was emitted with one of the quakes.”

Xander pulled his shirt over his mouth but he doubted it would do him any good. If it was some kind of gas that had caused this it was already too late. He’d already breathed it in, they all had. The stench of it was seared into his nostrils and he thought it would forever be engrained in his memory.

“We should leave,” Bobby grumbled.

The crappy cosmetic jokes kept on coming though, as Xander spotted the keys on the nightstand next to one of the leaking messes that had once been a human being. They’d come this far, they’d witnessed this, they may have inhaled only God knew what, he wasn’t leaving without those keys.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Xander!” Bobby hissed. He thrust a finger at the nightstand. Bobby had been flushed but his face paled visibly as he saw the keys. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and then nodded. “Yeah okay, yeah.”

Straightening his shoulders and steeling his resolve, Xander held his breath as he stepped into the room. He made his way across the room much faster than he had across their front yard. He didn’t mean to look at the bodies again, but even so he found his eyes inexplicably drawn toward them as his hand curled around the keys. He tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing; tried to somehow assimilate this scene into the mind that had been eating a bowl of oatmeal, and reading the comics at seven o’clock this morning. The two worlds didn’t belong together. One was a world of far more simplicity and safety than he had realized. The other was a world he wasn’t even certain would be around for much longer.

He pulled the keys from the nightstand and turned back to find Bobby and Mary Ellen hovering uncertainly in the doorway. Mary Ellen was still covering her mouth and nose, but Bobby seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Xander as he’d released his shirt. Xander was halfway back across the room when he spotted the six inch wide gap in the floor. It started by the door to the closet, and ran for about a foot before disappearing under the bureau, and into the room behind the wall. Whatever had come into this house, and caused this mess, had come in through that gap, he was certain of it.

He hurried from the room and closed the door behind him. He glanced at the other two closed doors. The last thing in the world he would choose to do was look in there, but he knew he couldn’t leave here without knowing. He’d never stop wondering if he’d left the children behind. “Mary Ellen why don’t you go into the kitchen,” he suggested.

She frowned at him. “Aren’t we leaving?”

“In a minute. They had children, I…” his voice trailed off, he found he couldn’t look at her as he focused on the school pictures behind her shoulder. The little girl was adorable with her pigtails and missing front tooth. He shuddered as a chill slid down his spine. “I can’t leave here until I’m sure.”

Her shoulders slumped as she glanced at the pictures. Without a word she turned and disappeared from the hall. “I’ll understand if you go too.” Bobby stood uncertainly, his eyes broken and distant as he glanced between the two rooms. “Go,” Xander urged.

Bobby was a good guy, his best friend, but he’d always been the gentler soul in the group, the most easily wounded and the kindest. This was something that may very well break him, and though Xander absolutely did not want to do this alone, he could handle it. He didn’t think Bobby could.

“It’s okay Bobby, go. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered before turning and hurrying from the hallway.

Xander tried to gather his courage. He felt so unbelievably alone right now, and though he was terrified for Riley, worried about her safety, he was grateful that she hadn’t been here for this. He hoped they didn’t decide to enter any residences, but he thought the chances of that were slim. Even if they didn’t enter a home, they would probably wander into stores or restaurants in search of supplies. He imagined that if this had happened here, it had happened at other places too.

Taking a deep breath, Xander grasped hold of the knob and opened the door. He closed it quickly, unwilling to dwell on the scene of the little pink bed and what lay within. The son, in his school picture, was older than the girl with darker hair and a red bowtie that Xander was certain his parents had forced him to wear. He swallowed heavily and thrust the door open.

He closed it again and strode swiftly from the hall. He felt empty and numb as he forced himself not to look at the family pictures on his way back to the kitchen. Mary Ellen was in the doorway; she wiped her eyes quickly when he entered.

Bobby was standing by the fridge, his gaze on his feet. “I was going to see if they had some food we could take, but I don’t trust anything from here,” he muttered.

“Neither do I,” Xander agreed.

He closed the door quietly behind him as they left. He was unwilling to linger as he hurried down the steps and toward the Cadi. Unlocking the door he slid into the leather seats. His hands shook as he tried to slide the key into the ignition; he couldn’t get them to work right for him. He couldn’t get anything to work right for him today.

He didn’t know what came over him, didn’t know what happened, but something inside of him snapped as fury surged to the forefront and a bellow of rage tore from him. He smashed his hands against the steering wheel as he continued to shout and yell and beat on the car in frustration and anger. Grasping hold of the steering wheel, his jaw clenched as he yelled again and jerked on the wheel.

He screamed for the unfairness of it all, for the children in the pictures, and the countless other children that would never have a chance to grow up. He screamed for Carol and his parents and everyone else that had been lost today.

He didn’t know how long he bellowed and carried on like a madman, but when he was done his throat was sore, he was dripping sweat, and he was shaking from the violence that still shimmered beneath his surface.

Still alive, he reminded himself. You’re still alive, Bobby is still alive, Lee is still alive, and Riley is still alive.

His head bowed and took a shuddery breath as he regained control of himself. They had to get out of here, they had to get to Sturbridge; he had to find Lee and Riley. He needed to hold her, and he had to know that they were safe. He would feel better then.

“Get in,” he ground out between his clenched teeth.

Bobby hesitated before sliding into the passenger seat. “You okay?” he inquired.

Xander managed a nod as Mary Ellen closed her door. He’d expected to see fear or uncertainty in her gaze as she met his eyes in the rearview mirror; instead she gave him a brief nod. “Thank you.”

He couldn’t look at her anymore as he managed to slide the key into the ignition on his first try. “Please have gas,” he pleaded as he twisted the key.

The Cadi started with a melodious hum of the engine. Relief filled him; he actually released a harsh laugh when he spotted the nearly full tank of gas. “Almost full,” he announced as he put the car into reverse and backed out of the drive. “Finally something has gone right today.”

Bobby patted him on the shoulder. “Two things for you man, you got the girl. Finally.”

He glanced at Bobby out of the corner of his eye. “I guess, but I don’t know where she is right now.”

“What else is new? Riley’s always gone out of her way to avoid you.”

He managed a small laugh and smile for his friend. He should feel relieved; he should feel elated to finally have something go right. All he felt was sick though. All he felt was a growing sense of despair as they broke over a hill and the devastated wreckage of what had once been his hometown came into view. Bobby shook his head as he turned away, Mary Ellen bowed her head.

As they made the descent down the hill, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they may be driving into worse, especially after that house. They couldn’t fight the earthquakes, they couldn’t fight the lava, but at least they could feel and see that stuff. What had happened in that house had been something just as deadly, and something that they wouldn’t know to run from until it was too late.

Those people had never known what hit them, and as he crested another hill he couldn’t help but wonder when one of them would get their knockout punch. He was determined to get to Sturbridge before that happened.

End of Book 1

Book 2: The Divide
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About the author

Though my name is not really Erica Stevens, it is a pen name that I chose in memory of two amazing friends lost too soon, I do however live in Mass with my wonderful husband and our fish Sam, Woody, and Radar. I have a large and crazy family that I fit in well with. I am thankful every day for the love and laughter they have brought to my life. I have always loved to write and am an avid reader.