The Journal: Cracked Earth (25 page)

“Do you have any idea how many you have left
in town?” he asked.

“Not a firm number, maybe fifty. Does it
matter?”

“Not really, because I have only so much in
the way of resources,” he said, sounding more tired that I felt. “I
will try to get you a load of food, but I can’t make any promises.
If, and I do mean
if
, I can get something together, where do
you want it?”

“I understand, Tom, really, and we appreciate
all you can do. I think the best place for any delivery would be
the Fire/EMS hall. Somebody is always there. When was the last time
you had any sleep, Tom?”

“I was taking a nap when you called,” he said
with a faint chuckle. “I’ve been sleeping on the couch and haven’t
been home in a week.”

* * *

The next day, John and I went over to the
school to check in with Gray. I wish I hadn’t. At least John didn’t
see what I did.

Fully gloved and armed with my N99
respirator, I made my way to the gym area. It was horrible. The six
blue cots from the emergency storage locker at the fire hall were
set up along with countless numbers of mattresses lining the floor.
I counted twenty beds. People were coughing, wheezing and moaning.
One person was having a seizure. I didn’t know what to do, so I
stood there quietly, taking it all in. That’s when I noticed the
one mattress on the floor off to the side: several lay on it, none
were moving. Gray lifted his head off of the table where he’d been
napping.

He saw me and motioned for me to come closer.
“Don’t touch anything,” he commanded. I nodded, and held up my
double gloved hands knowing he could see the two different colors
of gloves. I stepped closer.

“Are you sick?” I asked him. His eyes were
bloodshot, but he shook his head. “Have you slept? Eaten? You can’t
help anyone, Gray, if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

“There’s no food to eat and every time I
close my eyes, someone else dies.”

“How many so far?”

“Pete’s mom was the first. He hasn’t come
back since he buried her yesterday,” he said, taking a struggled
breath through his mask. “Five more have passed since then. The
worst are the kids. We lost two of them.” Gray’s voice broke on
that.

“I’ll be back within an hour,” I said and I
left.

* * *

When I returned with two cases of oriental
noodles Gray asked where I had gotten the food. I said I picked up
some supplies from Marquette. He didn’t really care as long as he
had something hot to fill the emptiness.

* * *

JOURNAL ENTRY: January 15

What I saw yesterday, I still can’t get it
out of my head. Half of the town is sick and dying. Dying! I see
that mattress with unmoving bodies in my sleep, only in my sleep
the mattress gets bigger and the pile gets taller.

John had to wake me a couple of times during
the night to pull me out of the nightmares.

* * *

I technically did not have the authority, but
I ordered two firefighters, geared up with hazmat-suits, to load
all of the sick into the two EMS vehicles and drive them, and an
exhausted Gray, to Marquette General Hospital.

I found Pete at his house, drunk and weeping.
At fifty-five years old, he was the baby in his family. He was the
one who had never married and the one who stayed at home to take
care of his aging mom. I left him alone with his grief.

Moose Creek is like a ghost town now. No one
is on the street anymore and no one is in any of the offices. The
Stone Soup Kitchen is also empty; not even Carolyn was at the
church anymore. The only way to reach anyone is to go to their
house and hope that they have the strength to answer the door.

I was surprised when Anna answered the door,
and relieved when she said she was doing much better and should be
back in the office in a few days. Anna had lived in Moose Creek her
entire life and knew how brutal the winters were. Like many of us,
she had stocked up on some of the necessary supplies in November.
They were eating. It may not have been well, but they weren’t
starving.

Patty was next. I was shocked when Carl
answered the door. John was beside me instantly with his Beretta
aimed. Buddy took a step back with his hands opened wide. I can’t
help wondering why he was released from jail. Attempted murder is
still a crime.

“I’ve no quarrel with you, either of you,” he
said, casting a worried glance at John. “I was wrong and I admit
it. Okay? So what do you want?”

“I’m just checking on Patty, Carl. She was
one of the first exposed with this flu and I want to know how she
is.” I refused to back down to this nasty, angry piece of work.

“I’m doing better than I thought I would be,”
Patty replied from behind her husband. She laid a hand on his
shoulder to move him aside slightly. She must be one with a natural
immunity that could still pass the virus. “Maybe you should go,
Allexa, and leave us alone.”

* * *

“Karen, can I be honest? You look like crap.”
I said when we arrived at her house.

“Thanks,” she coughed.

“Flu?”

“I’m not sure. It might be only a cold. It
started a couple of days ago, but it hasn’t gotten any worse. I’m
just really tired, drained, ya know? Either way, you need to keep
your distance. You don’t want even a simple cold.” She shivered.
“On a good note, Ken is improving every day. He was really bad off
for a while. Provided he stayed upright, he could breathe. He’s
been sleeping in his recliner and would have been in hog heaven if
he weren’t so sick. We’re both really weak.” She pulled the hood of
her jacket up and shivered again.

“Is there anything that you need? That I
might be able to get, that is,” I asked, not knowing the level of
their supplies or how well prepared they were.

“We could use some food, but since everyone
needs some, that might be asking for the moon.” She coughed
again.

“Well, funny you should ask. I happened to
have gotten my hands on some supplies. I took what I could.”

John opened the back door of the car and took
out two cases of oriental noodles. When Karen saw the soup, I
thought she was going to cry. I reached in my pocket and tossed her
a bottle of aspirin.

“If you step inside and close the door, we’ll
leave this on the porch so you don’t have to come out this far,” I
said before we left.

* * *

“Nahna! Nahna! It’s growing!” Jacob exclaimed
while pulling me over to the seed sprouter when we arrived back
home. Sure enough, some of the seeds were showing signs of
sprouting. The mung beans were splitting apart and the wheat
berries were well on the way with a hint of green showing. I
couldn’t help but feel good over his joyous discovery.

Jason volunteered to make a tuna noodle
casserole for dinner and I gladly accepted. I’m not sick, though
after all that has happened I’m exhausted to my core. I’m beginning
to question how much more I can take. I’m so tired, all the
time.

* * *

JOURNAL ENTRY: January 17

I’m having nightmares of bodies, piles and
piles of bodies. Last night Bill Harris emerged from the growing
number of lifeless arms and legs stacked on the one sagging
mattress. As he pushed his way to the top, he pulled his shotgun
out and aimed at me. I froze when he pulled the trigger, coughing
silently through half of a face.

* * *

John shook me awake.

“What’s the matter, Allex? You were thrashing
about like you were being chased!” He wrapped his strong arms
around me and held me close while the trembling subsided.

“It was just a nightmare. I’m okay now,” I
said, knowing I couldn’t tell him about what I saw. I couldn’t tell
him about Harris either, at least not yet.

* * *

I didn’t go to the office today because it
didn’t appear that there would be much to do. Everything was shut
down. I pulled the rocker up near the woodstove, took a spicy
romance novel off of the shelf and read for about an hour.

* * *

I guess I was testy last night, I don’t
remember. John and Jason are now avoiding me. I’ve always been one
to withdraw when upset or under stress. I don’t rant and rave. I
don’t yell or lash out. Maybe Jason warned John that’s what he was
seeing: my withdrawal. I don’t know. Reading is good therapy, being
busy is better. I pulled out my favorite cookbook,
Cooking in
the Woods.

I thought of dessert first. A fruit focaccia
would be good. I checked the pantry and decided on peaches I canned
last summer. Last summer seems like a lifetime ago. I assembled the
sweet and rich dessert, mixing, chopping and set it aside to rise.
I will do a glaze when the focaccia goes into the oven.

For dinner I decided on chicken patties with
mushrooms in wine sauce and basmati rice. Everything except the
rice was canned over the summer. Having the chickens for fresh eggs
made certain dishes so much easier. I assembled all the
ingredients, then I saw Jason whispering something to John, and
John smiling.

The chicken patties, made with dried herbs
and homemade bread crumbs mixed with fresh eggs, onions and garlic,
then pan fried, were really tasty, especially nestled into the rice
and topped with the mushroom sauce. Jacob had plain rice and
scrambled eggs. Between the four of us, there was not one piece of
peach focaccia left. We all need the calories.

Taking care of my family is what I do best,
and is definitely therapeutic for me. I slept well for the first
time in many days.

* * *

JOURNAL ENTRY: January 18

Even sleeping well, I’m having strange
dreams. Last night I was back at my home in the woods, an off-grid
house set in the middle of 240 acres of woods, private and serene.
Sam was there, charming as ever, but was also sad and distant. Out
of the back window, I saw that an area had been cleared and there
was a power pole. I asked him about it. He said that was the only
way. I didn’t know what he meant. I told him that we never should
have left there. I went back to that window and saw a subdivision
containing sixteen houses, in various stages of construction, all
close to each other near my wonderful, once remote home. It made my
heart hurt.

When I woke up, I was sad and puzzled by what
the dream might mean.

* * *

I asked John if he would like to make a
social call with me. I hadn’t seen my friend Dawn since this whole
mess started. I realized I worried about my friends who were
ill-prepared for any disaster, long or short term. Dawn didn’t fit
that. During the heat of the summer past, she, Guy and I would sit
on their deck overlooking the lake and sip cocktails while I
answered their questions about prepping. They were the
last
ones I was concerned about.

The mile long road leading to their house was
snow covered with occasional deep drifts. My all-wheel-drive car
barely made it through a few spots. We pulled into their long
driveway and I parked in full view of the house. I stepped out and
away from the car, my hands out from my sides, empty, and called to
her. I saw a slight movement at a window. A moment later, the front
door opened and Dawn came running out, throwing her arms around me,
while Guy stayed at the door with his rifle in hand. John got out
of the car, pulled his gun and everyone froze.

“John, Guy’s rifle is not a threat to us.
Please holster that,” I said gently. Once the Beretta was back on
his hip, I felt the tension drain from Dawn. I moved to John,
slipped my arm through his and pulled him over to meet my
friends.

* * *

Dawn’s daughter and son-in-law and the four
grandchildren had made it to the remote location from a neighboring
town. Shortly after the earthquakes, Kara and Matt dropped the kids
off with Guy and Dawn, and went back to their house to refill the
van with whatever would fit.

“Oh, Allexa, it’s so good to see you!” Dawn
exclaimed with excitement. “I’ve been wondering how you were doing.
We decided to just hunker down for a couple of months. Then when
the neighbors all left, we knew it had been a good choice. Now
we’ve got this whole end of the lake to ourselves. Matt and Guy
have a regular routine going, for hauling water up from the lake
and for ice fishing. It’s been a real bitch keeping the hole open
with these temperatures, but it’s working. And thank you for
recommending the water filtration system! We would be lost without
it. Can I get you a glass of wine?”

“I knew I didn’t have to worry about you.
Thank you, I’d love a glass,” I smiled at her. “Without you going
anywhere, you haven’t been exposed to the flu, then?”

“Flu? What flu?” She looked alarmed as she
handed me a crystal glass filled with a ruby liquid.

I explained what was going on in town, and in
Marquette. “Don’t worry, we aren’t sick, and whenever I’ve been
near anyone, I’ve used full precautions.”

I knew that with her medical background, Dawn
had prepped heavy on medical supplies. I asked if she might be
willing to help out.

“At this point, I’m thinking only about key
people. You know Ken and Karen Gifford. They’ve been pulled out of
retirement,” I explained. “Ken is recovering from the flu and a
gunshot wound. Karen was grazed in the same shootout and now has a
bad cold. If nothing else, they need their bandages redressed.”

Dawn looked down. I could tell that she
didn’t want to get involved.

“Just think about it, okay? I know you
considered your talent and knowledge to be a bartering tool. This
might be a good time to test it.”

I left it at that.