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“Just be safe, Dianne. If you see even a hint of trouble you need to get out of there and forget about all of this. I know I sound like a cold-hearted machine saying this but losing another person just isn’t worth it. Especially when that person’s you.”
Dianne took a deep breath and nodded before turning to look at the blanket covering the entrance to the dining room. “I’m going to give them a kiss goodbye and let Mark know what’s going on before I go.”
“I’ll get food, water and ammo together for you.”
As Dianne crawled along the floor to kiss Josie and Jacob’s sleeping forms, she felt an intense wave of emotion rise up inside of her. She had barely gotten to see and interact with them after returning with Tina and Jason and the very idea of leaving again made her want to snatch up her children, run away and hide somewhere where they could live in peace and no one would ever bother any of them again.
Reality, however, is a harsh and
cruel mistress, and Dianne had to settle for a kiss on Josie and Jacob’s cheeks before standing up and walking out into the front hall. She sat on the bench in the entryway with Mark for a few minutes, holding a whispered conversation with him about what was going on, before she gave him a hug and a kiss as well. She was surprised by how well he took the news of her having to leave again, but she chalked up his lack of a reaction to him trying to be the new man of the household.
The last thing she wanted to see was for him to grow up so quickly but the days of his innocence and being able to just be a kid were long and far away. She was perpetually sad for how quickly all three of her children had to grow up but was also incredibly proud at how well they—and especially Mark—were rising to the challenge.
As she walked out across the driveway and around the house to get in her truck and start her journey she cast a quick glance back to see Mark’s face in the window, watching her go. In that moment she saw the face of his father staring back and wondered for the thousandth time where Rick was and if he would ever come home to see her and his children again. She looked up at the twinkling stars in the sky, shining like an infinite array of diamonds and whispered her perpetual prayer.
“Come back home, Rick. Please come back home.”
Chapter 12
Kansas City, Missouri
Jane and Dr. Evans stared out the right side of the car, watching in horror at the building that was toppling over above them. Window panes were breaking into individual shards from the strain they were under and the metal twisted and snapped, slowing the rate at which the building fell over but not by enough to matter. Shorter buildings that were in the way between the skyscraper and the road helped to slow the building’s fall as well, but it was clear that nothing would make much of a difference if they didn’t get out of the path of destruction.
Rick didn’t allow himself to glance over at the falling building, though he could tell based on the ever-widening shadow that they were far too close to for comfort. He kept the accelerator pressed down to the floor and engaged the gasoline engine, trying to eke out a slight boost in speed to get them past where the structure was about to hit. “Come on….” Rick mumbled to himself, still fighting against the tremors to keep them on the road.
As the toppling skyscraper came crashing down onto the road, Jane and Dr. Evans both closed their eyes and turned away, each of them convinced that their lives would be snuffed out within seconds. An earth-shattering crash was accompanied by a fiercely blowing wind, a cloud of dust and debris and the sound of Rick shouting at the top of his lungs as he grinned from ear to ear. “YES!” Their car had cleared the edge of the falling skyscraper by less than twenty feet. The margin of error was far too close for comfort and the experience wasn’t one that any of them wanted to repeat, but they had managed to survive.
Before Jane and Dr. Evans could join in on Rick’s celebration of their escape from near death, Rick’s face darkened. “Look, up ahead. Is that… are those people?” Due to their speed the cloud of dust and debris had only partially overtaken the car so they could still see out the windshield well enough to discern that there were people moving farther down the street.
“I think so… yes.” Dr. Evans nodded. “Most definitely, yes. It looks like they’re running.”
“Probably from the quakes.” Another tremor struck as Rick was speaking and he let off of the accelerator as he fought with the steering wheel. The car’s tires squealed as it slipped to the right and the left, then Rick pushed down on the accelerator again to straighten out the rear and stop the fishtailing from getting any worse. Once they had straightened out again he slowed down even more. “Yeah, they must be trying to escape. Why would they still be here, though? This place has been totally demolished!”
“Where else do they have to go?” Dr. Evans shook his head. The people were spread out along the side of the road with some walking and some running away from the center of the city. As the car passed by they gasped in shock, many of them reaching out as if to try and grab hold. “If they can’t get to a vehicle and use it to get somewhere then this may be their best chance of survival. There aren’t that many options outside of the city.”
The ground shook again and Rick cursed as the car nearly spun out of control yet again. “Nobody’s going to survive here if these earthquakes don’t stop!”
“Can’t we help them?” Jane watched the people as they drove past, her sympathy strengthening since the people weren’t trying to shoot at them. “They seem harmless enough. We could pick up one, maybe two?”
Rick shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
Rick sighed. “I appreciate what you want to do with helping these people, but the answer’s no.”
Jane crossed her arms and took on an indignant tone. “I didn’t realize this suddenly became your sole decision.”
Dr. Evans licked his lips and spoke hesitantly. “Perhaps we could… maybe just one of the children?”
Rick ground his teeth together again. “I said no. I mean no.”
“Then can you explain why not?”
Rick looked at Dr. Evans and Jane. “Have you two not been paying any attention to what’s going on? Or have you not seen the people trying to kill us? Just because they’re not openly shooting at us doesn’t mean—dammit!” Rick struggled again as the car fishtailed from another tremor. “It doesn’t mean that they’re friendly!”
“But what if they are?” Dr. Evans replied quietly.
“If we stop for these people they might turn on us, mob us, steal our vehicle and supplies and leave us with nothing. Tell me, either of you, how that helps us. Because I’m pretty sure it helps no one.”
