The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval (12 page)

Mary Ellen studied the long gouge that had been made in the earth as she retrieved her pillowcase. She couldn’t see the end of it, she was half certain that it went on forever, that a gigantic trench had just been slashed into the surface of the land, forever altering its geography. She didn’t plan to find out where the end was; she was certain there was no pot of gold waiting for them there. The fire station was further away, but hopefully it would still be attainable.

“I think the fire station’s probably the better option,” she finally said.

“That’s what I thought too.”

They moved away from the hole, heading back the way they had come. They encountered few people, and although Mary Ellen thought she should warn them that there was nowhere to go in that direction, she was too tired to speak. She simply didn’t have the energy to interact with anyone right now. She could barely keep her hand on Rita’s arm as she pulled the unresponsive woman with them. Al remained alert, his eyes bouncing over everyone and everything.

Mary Ellen didn’t know what they would do if the way to the fire station was also blocked. She was so focused on her own thoughts that at first she didn’t register the strange new noise that was growing steadily louder. She lifted her head, frowning as she stopped in the middle of the street.

“Is… is that a train?” she inquired in disbelief.

It seemed like the most illogical thing in the world for someone to be running a train right now; there was no way to know what condition the tracks would be in.

Al shook his head. “I have no idea what that is.”

Over the increasing sound of the train, the screams began.

CHAPTER 9

Riley

Foxboro, Mass.

Riley stumbled as Xander seized hold of her arm and jerked her back. Her head spun, she didn’t know which way to go as everything fell apart around them. Screams pierced through the air and echoed jarringly in her head. Her ears were ringing, but she didn’t know if that was from the incessant, high-pitched screams, or the grotesque upheaval of the ground as it splintered and broke apart around her.

Dirt flew into the air, and she wouldn’t have been at all astonished to see a very big worm come bursting out of the ground, Tremors-style, to eat them. In fact, she found she would almost welcome it; at least that would explain some of what was going on. But no worm burst free as dirt and rocks pelted her.

Xander tugged her backwards. Clutching at the ground, he strained to pull her upward as the ground began to tilt precariously beneath her feet. Her fingers clawed at the grass as she struggled up the hill, a hill that had not been there just seconds before.

“Don’t look back!” Xander ordered.

Of course, once he said it she had to look back. A scream rose in her throat and strangled there. Her heart pounded so rapidly she felt it in the tips of her fingers. Her eyes bulged as she stared at the gaping hole that hadn’t been there before, a hole that didn’t seem to have a bottom.

And they seemed to be tilting toward it.

Adrenaline surged through her and caused her to lurch awkwardly forward. She was at Xander’s side now; he was no longer pulling her forward. She dropped to the ground and tore at it in a frenzied attempt to escape her backslide into the yawning abyss at her heels.

One of her fingernails broke, her newly raw, brutalized skin started to bleed. She winced, but didn’t hesitate as she fought for her life. Xander gave one mighty heave and snagged hold of a tree root that had been exposed by the shifting earth. He glanced back at her, his hand stretching out as he strained to hold the root as he grasped for her. She lurched forward, catching hold of his hand as the ground slipped out from under her toes.

She felt as if she were falling for a minute, as if the world had vanished from beneath her. Then Xander was pulling her upward, dragging her over top of the hill and back toward solid ground that actually stayed still beneath her feet. Riley collapsed; the grass tickled her nose and cheeks as she heaved for breath, and tried to calm the accelerating beat of her heart. She thought she might have a heart attack before she was killed by some gaping monstrosity of a pit.

Xander’s fingers curled around hers before releasing her. Riley couldn’t bring herself to move, couldn’t bring herself to lift her head and take in the world as screams echoed endlessly around her. They were the sound of death, she realized dimly.

She wasn’t much of a crier, never had been, but tears burned her eyes and throat as her fingers curled into the earth. For a split second she was assailed with an overwhelming sense of despair. She just longed to lie there, shut it all out, and deny that any of this was happening. Perhaps, if she kept her eyes closed, she could pretend that she was in her bed, and this was just a bad dream. A very bad dream.

But then Xander was grasping her arms. “Come on, Riley.”

She opened her eyes, and immediately wished that she hadn’t. The tears began to fall. The old state hospital, newly remodeled into apartments and condos, was devastated. One of the buildings had flames shooting from the top of it, another had fallen over. People must have been trapped in the rubble, as she watched others frantically trying to heave bricks and debris aside as they dug through the pile, shouting for some sort of response. Steam rose into the air, far more than there had been before. People ran from it, shrieking as they blindly fled the mist rolling over parts of the field.

It was like every war movie she had ever seen, except this wasn’t a movie. This was real life. This was her life, her hometown, and it was falling apart.

“Riley, come on!” Xander was tugging impatiently at her hand, trying to get her to move, but she could barely comprehend what was going on around her, never mind actually succeed in putting one foot in front of another. “Riley! Damn it!”

He grabbed hold of her shoulders and gave her a quick, remorseless shake. She blinked at him; her mouth dropped as she tried to focus on his face. His handsome features were streaked with dirt; sweat had caused his short dark blond hair to stick to his forehead. His hazel eyes, flecked with shards of brilliant green and gold, were narrowed as he searched her face.

“Riley, are you okay? You still with me?”

She closed her mouth, shook her head and tried to snap out of it, but shock clung to her like a spider web. His impatience disappeared as his expression changed. It was his look, one of loss and desperation that caused some resurgence of common sense to blaze back to life within her. She wasn’t gone, she wasn’t a lost cause, she wasn’t going to fall apart right now, and she sure as hell didn’t want his pity.

“I’m with you,” she managed to croak out.

Relief filled him, his shoulders slumped as his hands tightened on her upper arms. “We have to find Carol.”

She nodded as thoughts of Carol helped to solidify her determination, helped to reestablish her grasp on her sanity. Xander kept hold of her arm as he led her through the crowd of screaming, crying and maimed people. He moved with far more patience than she would have through the beleaguered cluster as he shouted for his sister. He took her on a windy route that stayed far from the steaming holes and large canyon that took up half of the vast field.

Riley kept her gaze focused on Xander’s back as he moved. The black t-shirt he wore was streaked with dirt, and there was a hole in the middle of it that revealed a small patch of skin. She became fascinated with that hole as she watched it slide up and down his muscled back with every stalking step he took. The hole became something to focus on besides the turmoil surrounding them.

“Carol!” he shouted above the rising noise.

One of the emergency workers had located a bullhorn; they were bellowing orders to remain calm, for everyone to stay put, and to aide others when they could. Riley barely registered the words over the incessant screams. “It’s the end of the world,” she realized.

Xander glanced at her over his shoulder. “And here I always thought you were a ‘glass half full’ kind of girl.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Well, what do you think is going on, then?” she demanded.

He shrugged as he managed a wan smile. “I try not to think D; it’s how I make it through college.”

She blinked at him in confusion. “D?”

She slapped his hand away as he attempted to flick one of her ears. It took everything she had not to punch him again as she jerked her arm free of his grasp and stormed a few feet in front of him. His chuckle only served to infuriate her more.

“Carol!” she screamed, fury pitching her voice higher than she thought possible. She pushed through people, barreling onward with far less finesse than Xander had exhibited. “Carol!”

Through her anger, apprehension began to coil within her gut. It slithered like a snake up her chest and constricted around her heart. Where was Carol? Panic was starting to rise up inside of her as she pushed through the crowd. Carol had been her best friend for as long as Riley could remember. Carol was the sister she’d never had, she had to find her. She had to be okay.

Riley burst free of the crowd, her gaze frantically searched over the area where she had left Carol with Bobby and Lee. The substantial split in the earth ran through here too, it had opened a large gouge into the land that was a good three hundred feet wide and unfathomably deep. She could only stand and stare, mouth gaping, and her heart creating a drumbeat. There were two people struggling from the hole, picking themselves out of the pit with the help of others, but she didn’t recognize either of them.

Riley spun, her gaze shot frantically over the crowd. “Carol!” she screamed as Xander pushed his way free and stopped to stare in dismayed silence. “Carol!”

Xander pushed her gently aside as he made his way to the chasm. Riley refused to go any closer to the hideous thing, not one step. Xander leaned over to peer down at it before stepping back to search the crowd again. Riley fought the urge to plunge her way back in, and shove through the bloody people and disordered mob in search of Carol. She didn’t know where to go though, and as much as Xander irritated her beyond belief, he was all she had right now and she wasn’t going to leave him behind.

She spotted Bobby being herded onward by a group of emergency personal to an area far from the gorge. Riley shouted to Xander before hurrying after Bobby. She seized hold of Bobby's arm when she reached him and jerked him back toward her.

“Riley,” he breathed in relief and embraced her quickly. They’d never been overly close in high school, but after Bobby had graduated school, and started working with his father, he’d come into the hardware store where she worked more often. They’d become a lot friendlier and exchanged updates on their not-so-exciting lives.

Bobby held her arms as he stepped back. “Where’s Carol?” she inquired, dreading the answer.

He shook his head, his brown eyes sad and distant. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “It all happened so fast, one minute we were just standing there and the next… Well, the next it was just… screaming. I saw her run; I think she was with Lee, still.” His gaze slid past her, he released her arms as Xander joined them. “I’m pretty sure she’s still alive.”

Relief filled her; her shoulders slumped as she searched the crowd surging around them. “Go with the flow,” Xander murmured. “Carol will go with the others to look for us.”

Riley fell into step with Bobby and Xander; she searched the mob frantically as she sought her friend. They made it to the area where everyone was gathered, people had spread out in search of family and loved ones. “Carol!” Xander shouted, standing on his tiptoes to search over the crowd. Bobby, slightly taller than Xander, did the same thing as he stood beside him.

“Do you see her?” Riley demanded impatiently as she strained to see something other than the bodies surrounding her.

Xander shook his head and his jaw clenched. He glanced nervously around one more time before dropping down beside her. “She has to be okay,” Riley said forcefully.