The Divide: Origins (8 page)

“Yeah. Judging by the town, I don’t know
if we should go inside. I’m probably not going to find anything good in there,”
Rebecca said.

“We’ll go with you, so there’s nothing to
worry about. Come on,” Zoe said and got out.

She
had firsthand experience with going home to find her family dead, so she was
going to be there for Rebecca if that was what happened. When they went inside,
they didn’t exactly find what they expected, however. No one was there, and all
her parents’ things were gone. As a matter of fact, the town seemed to be
deserted. It was really odd, and no one understood until Walter found a note on
the counter.

“I
think this was meant for you,” he said as he handed it to Rebecca.

“Rebecca,
if you’re reading this, then somehow you made it back home. We stayed as long
as we could, but the military won’t let us wait on you any longer. The
conditions have been unstable, and most of the people who refused to leave are
dead by now. We’re going to Camp Dawson. It’s an hour south of here. They’re
supposed to have a shelter that can withstand these conditions and enough
supplies for most people. I think we can survive there. Please, come find us. I
love you,” the letter read. It was signed Mom.

“They
have a shelter. Maybe we don’t have to go to Texas, after all,” Rebecca said.

“I
couldn’t help but read a little. It seems like it’s logical for us to go there,
but I’m worried about something else in it. She talked about the conditions
here. Things are bad everywhere, but there’s not much left of this place. You
have to question what happened here and if we should even be in this town right
now,” Walter said.

“What
are you talking about? Let me see that letter,” Max said and read over it.

“What
do you think?” Walter asked after he was finished.

“I
don’t know. It’s obvious just by looking around that this isn’t the most stable
area. At the same time, it’s getting dark. It’s already freezing, and it’s only
going to get worse. We might not have a choice other than to stay here. Then
again, I don’t see a fireplace anywhere. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“We
don’t need a fireplace or a generator. My dad always believed in using gas. I
thought it was an outdated idea, but it certainly could serve us well tonight
if we decide to stay,” she said and turned on the wall heater.

“Let’s
vote on it. Do we stay here and risk whatever happened to the town repeating
itself, or do we risk freezing to death and head for the camp?” Max asked.

“It’s
only an hour away. We can make that,” Zoe said.

“It’s
not that simple. I didn’t want to say anything because we were almost here, but
we were on empty when we pulled up. We might have enough gas to get there, but
then again, we could get stranded. If we do go, I want to make a run through the
town and see if we can find some fuel. That might not be possible if it gets
much colder, though.”

“We
could find gas. I vote we get out of here. This house is barely standing as it
is,” Walter said.

“I
say we stay. Something could happen here that gets us killed, but that’s true
of anywhere now. All I know is we have heat in this house,” Rebecca said.

“I’m
up for anything. What do you think, Zoe?” Max asked.

“Are
you actually leaving this up to me?” she asked.

“I
don’t see why not. Your guess is as good as any of ours.”

Zoe
looked at Rebecca. It was clear that she wanted to stay. Walter might have had
a point about the area, but if she was going to side with someone, it was going
to be the person she actually knew.

“We’ll
stay,” she said.

“Great.
My parents’ bedroom has a heater in it. I’ll show you to it, Zoe,” Rebecca
said.

“That’s
okay. I would rather stay downstairs with everyone else.”

“I’ll
take it then. A bed sounds nice after two days,” Walter said.

Rebecca
took him to the room. Then she brought some blankets downstairs to Max and Zoe,
and they huddled around the heater. It was freezing, and the small heater
wasn’t keeping up, but in a way, this was nice for her. Rebecca could remember
when she was a child and her parents didn’t have a lot of money. On cold
nights, huddling around that heater as a family was the best thing in the
world. Many people would have pitied them, but they were together. That was the
greatest gift of all. Why had she tried so hard to escape this place? It didn’t
make any sense now.

While
she was lost in thought, an earthshattering fact revealed itself. The ground
began to shake, and everything that wasn’t nailed down started crashing to the
floor. It was an earthquake, but it was no ordinary one. This was what had
destroyed most of their town. As it grew more violent, it became apparent that
they had to do something.

“What
do we do, Max?” Zoe asked.

“We’ve
got to get out of here before this whole place comes down. Come on,” Max said
and attempted to stand, but he fell back to the floor.

They
were able to stumble toward the door slowly. Just as Max reached it and opened
the door, he heard a scream from Rebecca and looked back to see the ceiling
coming down. All he could do was grab Zoe and dive out of the house as it
collapsed onto Rebecca. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like their family of
four had just been reduced back to where it started.

Max drug Zoe away from the house. All
they could do was watch in horror as the dilapidated house collapsed. Neither
of them wanted to admit it, but odds were that Rebecca and Walter were dead.

Chapter 8

Innocence Lost

As they lay there, the earth continued to
shake violently. Max didn’t think it would ever stop, but finally, everything
came to a halt. Zoe jumped to her feet and ran to the rubble. She stopped just
short of it and looked for any possible way to save their friends. It didn’t
look like anyone could have survived, though.

“We’ve
got to go. It’s freezing outside, and if we don’t get under the heater . . .”
Max managed to say before Zoe cut him off.

“We’re
not leaving. We’re going to search through the rubble until we find them.”

“That’s
crazy. Even if they were alive, we would probably freeze to death before we found
them. Let’s be honest, though. It’s very doubtful that anyone survived.”

“I
don’t care. If you want to leave, then go, but I’m not ready to let go of who I
used to be.”

“What
does that even mean?”

“It
means that the old me wouldn’t have left them to die just to save myself. I’m
going to find them, even if they are dead.”

“Get
in the truck.”

“No,
Max. I . . .”

“Get
in, and turn the heater on. I’ll look for them as long as I can. Hopefully the
truck doesn’t run out of gas idling.”

“I
can help.”

“Zoe,
just go. I’ve got this, and one of us has to stay warm in case we need to look
for gas. After I’m done, I might be too cold to move, so it would fall to you.”

“Fine,
but really try to find them.”

“I
will,” Max said and stepped into the rubble.

He thought about where Walter would have
been during the earthquake. He was on the second floor, so a minimal amount of
debris would have fallen on him. He had the best chance at survival. It didn’t
take long for him to find what he was looking for. Walter was in the area where
he thought he would be buried. He was under a couple feet of boards. Normally,
he would have had a good shot at survival, but a beam had fallen on him. There
wasn’t much left of his face. This was why Max didn’t want to look. There are
some things a person can’t forget, and what was left of Walter’s face would be
burned into his memory forever. As for Rebecca, he didn’t even want to think
about what he would find if he could locate her.

It
had already been thirty minutes, and Max was freezing. Snow and ice were
pounding him, and he didn’t feel like he could move on, but when he looked back
at the truck, he saw Zoe watching impatiently. If he didn’t find Rebecca, she
would try to. He moved to the area where Rebecca would have been trapped and
listened for a second. He could hear movement under everything, or at least he
thought he could. Max moved toward the source of the sound and started throwing
debris to the side. It took a while, but eventually, he found what he was
looking for. He uncovered Rebecca’s face.

“God!
Are you all right?” Max asked.

“I
don’t think so. Something has my leg pinned, and my ribs are killing me. I
can’t breathe. You’ve got to get me out of here.”

“I
will. Just try to stay calm,” Max said and motioned for Zoe to come.

They
threw debris off her as fast as they could. Zoe was limited because of her
shoulder, but she did what she could. After a while, they were able to uncover
everything but Rebecca’s legs. A counter from upstairs had landed on her legs
and likely splintered them in the process. Max cleared the debris, and he and
Zoe got the counter off her. Then they truly saw the extent of their friend’s
injuries.

Rebecca
was bruised all over, and a jagged edge of wood had stuck into her left thigh.
It was bleeding pretty badly, but Max didn’t think it had hit an artery.

“We’ve
got to get that out,” Zoe whispered.

“Not right now, we don’t.
We need to get her to the truck
and get warm. Then we’ll decide what to do about her injuries,” Max said and
scooped up Rebecca.

Zoe
got up front and turned the heat on while Max got in the back with Rebecca. He
didn’t know what to do for her. He wasn’t a doctor, but he didn’t have to be
one to know that she needed help fast. Their supplies had been left in the
house, so there wasn’t much he could do. He simply put pressure on her wound
and hoped for the best.

“What’s
the plan, Max?” Zoe asked.

“I
don’t know. We’ve got to find gas and get her to a safe location. Our supplies
are buried somewhere in that mess, too. We need those.”

“We
don’t have time to get the supplies, and we would probably never find them anyway.
Stay with her.
I’ll find us a car,” she said and
opened the door.

“Wait
a minute. I can . . .” Max managed to say before she shut the door and ran
away.

She
headed straight to the end of the block. There was still one house standing
there. Zoe didn’t know where to find gas, but she could find a car. That would
be enough to get them to the military base. She knew she had to be quick,
though. Rebecca wouldn’t be able to hold on forever.

When
she got to the house, the door was locked. Here goes, she thought and plowed
into it. She simply bounced off, and a pain shot through her shoulder. Great.
Now I’ve got two bad shoulders, Zoe thought and looked around for another way
to get into the house. There was a window looking into the living room from the
porch. She walked out to the driveway and found a rock. After hurling it
through the window, she reached inside and unlocked it. After she had crawled
inside, Zoe took a second to let her eyes adjust. It was so dark, and she didn’t
have a flashlight. That was when she remembered her phone. She pulled it out
and turned it on. Zoe used the light from it to make her way into the kitchen.
There were a number of empty cans in the room. It almost looked like someone
had been living there during everything. That couldn’t have been possible,
though. This zone was obviously out of control. She and the others hadn’t been
able to stay but a few hours before everything fell apart.

Zoe
refocused on the task at hand. She found some car keys in a drawer and walked
to the garage door. There was a car inside. She had done it. Before she could
open the door, Zoe felt two arms wrap around her, however. For a second, she
panicked as someone started choking the life out of her. When she regained her
composure, she was able to do what came naturally, though. She leaned her head
down and bit her attacker’s hand. He fell backward and hit the floor. Zoe
turned around in attack mode. The boy was ready for her, though. When she took
a step toward him, he pulled out a small pistol and pointed it straight at her
head.

“Don’t.
I’m not your enemy. I just need some help,” Zoe said.

“Really?
Is that why you’re robbing me?” he asked.

He
was around 6’, and he didn’t look that much older than Zoe. As far as she could
tell, this guy was just a scared kid. Maybe he could be reasoned with.

“I
didn’t know anyone was here, and I wouldn’t normally have been looting. My
friend is hurt. We were in one of the houses during the earthquake. It
collapsed, and she’s in bad shape. I need a car to get her to the army base
that everyone’s going to. Why aren’t you there? Who are you?”

“I
went there. We all did. Good luck is all I can say. You need to find a new car,
too. That one’s mine. I’m Landon, by the way.”

“I’m
Zoe. What happens if I just walk into the garage and try to take it? Are you
really going to shoot me over a car?”

“You have
no
idea what I would do to survive. I’ve got about two weeks of supplies
left, if I ration it. After that, I’m going to need the car to find more.”

“How
are you even surviving here? There isn’t any electricity.”

“I’ve
got a battery operated heater upstairs. It doesn’t keep me comfortable, but I’m
still alive because of it. Now, get out of my house. You’re not getting
supplies, and you’re sure as hell not getting my car.”

“How
old are you, Landon?”

“Why
the hell does that matter? Do you have a death wish or something? Get out of
here before I kill you like I did the others.”

“What
others?”

“Just
go.”

“Okay,
but it can’t be easy doing this on your own. If you helped us, we would let you
join us. Don’t you think you would do better in a group?”

“No.
I think that two weeks of supplies for one person is good. If I have to share,
it won’t be enough.”

“I
really can’t leave. My friend will die if I do, so if you’re going to shoot me,
then just go ahead and do it,” Zoe said and walked toward him.

As
the gun pressed against her head, Landon smiled. It was a sick kind of look.
She had been hoping he was bluffing, but based on the look he gave her, she
truly thought she was about to die. He clicked the safety off, and internally,
Zoe was screaming. On the outside, she appeared to be confident, however.

“I
just turned sixteen a little over a month ago. I’ll go with you guys. It’s not
like this place will last much longer anyway. Just realize that there’s no room
to share in this world, and weakness is a crutch that we can’t afford,” he said
and lowered the gun.

“I
don’t understand. If that’s so, why did you let me live?”

“Because
you stared death in the face and didn’t flinch. You’ve got nerve, and that’s
what it’s going to take to survive. I wasn’t moving in a good direction with
the others, but with your group, it might be different.”

“What
others? You’ve got to tell me what you’re talking about before I take you to my
friends.”

“Okay,
I’ll tell you everything. First, we need to load the car and get to your
friends, though. It’s freezing, and I’m not standing around forever to tell you
this.”

“Agreed.
Let’s get everything loaded. Do you have any medical supplies?” Zoe asked.

“We
have some bandages and pain killers upstairs in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Knock
yourself out while I’m loading the canned goods.”

Zoe
walked upstairs and found the bathroom. Before long, she had everything they
would need to keep Rebecca comfortable and possibly alive. As she was passing a
guest bedroom, she caught a glimpse of something strange out of the corner of
her eyes. A pair of legs was sticking out from underneath the bed. She walked
inside and bent down to find an older woman dead. She looked to be in her late forties.
A gunshot wound told the story of how she died. Odds were that Landon had shot
her in the head. Zoe didn’t feel good about bringing him with her, but he was
the one with the gun and supplies. What choice did she have?

“Are
you coming?” Landon yelled.

“Yeah.
I’ll be right there,” she said and walked downstairs as if she had seen
nothing.

Once
they were in the car, she realized that she had to know what was going on,
though. She turned to Landon and asked him about the body.

“Maybe
you should mind your own business. I’m helping you. Isn’t that enough?”

“No,
it’s not. I’ve got to know who I’m dealing with before I take you to my
friends.”

“Fine.
I’ll tell you,” he said and put the car in park again.

“There
used to be twelve of us. My family and I went to Camp Dawson because the military
told us it would be safe. A lot of other people had the same idea, though, and
by the time we got there, the camp was full. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of
people were waiting outside for a shelter that was never going to be there. My
dad met some other people there who had nothing. He told them they could come
back with us to our home. He was a fool because we didn’t have the supplies to
feed that many people, and the earthquakes just got worse. I overheard one of
the people he helped talking about betraying the rest of us. He was going to
kill us all and keep everything for him and his wife. In hindsight, he was the
only one who got it. That’s the way we have to live now. I couldn’t let him do
that, though. I walked upstairs and got my dad’s gun. I loaded it and walked
downstairs. I shot him and his wife at point blank range. It felt good. I had
eliminated a threat before it was a problem. No one would hear me out, though.
The others attacked me and tried to get the gun. I unloaded it on them, and
when I had run out of ammo, I locked myself in my room to reload. I could hear
someone beating on the door, and I panicked. I fired through it, killing my dad
in the process. When I walked out, my stepmother attacked me with a knife. She
had seen what I did, and I don’t blame her for wanting me dead, but you know the
expression about not bringing a knife to a gunfight. I killed her. I dumped the
others’ bodies in the backyard, but for some reason, I couldn’t just throw my
family outside to rot. I planned to bury them, but you know how it is. It’s too
hot to do anything in the day, and you’ll freeze to death at night if you step
foot out the door. They’ve been rotting in the bedroom ever since.”

“And
you have no feelings about this at all?” Zoe asked in surprise.

He
had told the story as if it meant nothing to him. How could he have killed that
many people and even family members while feeling nothing?