Waves of Fury (Surviving Earth Chronicles)

Chapter Thirty

Tyler

I hadn’t noticed it at first, but when I get up to stretch my legs after dressing Aaron’s wound, I can hardly get my boots unstuck. Everyone is in various states of sinking into the marshy ground.

At first, I’d chalked it up to the storms softening the earth, but then I get a sinking feeling—no pun intended.

Something’s not right.

It takes some effort, but with Jesse’s help, I’m able to pull Kellen out of the mud. His entire backside is completely covered. The longer we stand around, the more we sink.

“Keep moving,” I instruct to everyone. “We need to wind our way back over to a road and get out of this muck before we have problems.”

Wayne, the heaviest in our group, moves the slowest because he sinks down past his ankles with every step. Dan sticks by him, though, offering his arm to help tug him anytime he has trouble.

“Veer away from that,” I shout, gesturing toward a soupy, bubbling area of the earth. “I don’t like this one bit.”

We all continue to move as quickly as we can. What little energy we had left is completely drained as we physically exert ourselves just to walk. After my shower with Kellen last night, I was too amped up to sleep and ended up keeping Aaron company until we saw the people heading our way. Now I feel like my adrenaline is nothing but fumes at this point, and I’m quickly fading.

Stay focused, man.

Kellen rummages in his pack as we walk and then pulls out a granola bar. He rips it open, tears it in two, and then hands me one half. “Eat, Ty.”

I wolf down the meager meal in one bite, barely chewing. My mouth waters for more, but time is of the essence.

Dan and Wayne fall farther and farther back while Hope and Aaron trek way ahead. Judy and Silas aren’t far from Dan and Wayne. Jesse, Hailey, and Pretzel are somewhere in the middle, closer to Hope and Aaron. I’m lost in my thoughts of what could be waiting for us in St. George, Utah—our next destination according to Kellen—when I hear Judy’s panicked yelling.

“Dan! Wayne! I need help!”

Me and Kellen both swivel around, sinking past our ankles to see Judy tugging at Silas’s arm. He’s nearly waist-deep in the muck.

Vibrations rattle through me and it takes me a second to realize we’re having an earthquake. For fuck’s sake. Again?

Kellen grunts, struggling to make his way over to Judy and Silas. The ground around us is jiggling like pudding in a bowl. I think about an old movie I saw when I was a kid where the hero nearly dies in quicksand.

Is that what this is?

The ground rumbles again and toward the soupier area of the park, it starts to sink—like shit being sucked through a half-clogged toilet drain. Within seconds, I can see a huge sinkhole has formed.

“There’s a parking lot that way,” Jesse calls out. “I’m going to see if I can get any of the vehicles going. I can see a road near it too. We just need to get over to it.”

More trembling from the ground has me falling to my ass in the muck. Kellen takes hold of my arm, yanking me back to my feet with a grunt. The ground continues to shake as more holes open up around us.

One gaping maw is not ten feet away from us and at least thirty feet in diameter. I can’t see how deep it goes, nor do I want to find out.

A piercing howl makes my skin crawl. I follow the sound to where Judy seems to be struggling near the mouth of one of these sinkholes. Dan and Wayne are almost to them, both of them trudging as fast as they can. Me and Kellen are too far away to make a difference, but we keep making our way to them anyway.

Dan reaches Judy first and barely grabs her arm before she disappears from sight. He almost plummets with her if not for Wayne snagging hold of his backpack.

“We have to get to them,” Kellen grunts, racing ahead of me as fast as one can in knee-high mud with sinkholes appearing all around. To them, he yells, “Hang on!”

By the time Kellen reaches them, Dan is chest deep in muck and Wayne is up to his waist. Kellen hooks an arm around Wayne’s impressive gut, anchoring him in place. I’m not far behind and manage to grab Kellen’s backpack.

“Hang on, honey,” Dan barks out. “Just don’t let go.”

I can hear Silas’s sobs interrupted by coughing fits and Judy’s frantic screams. Though I can’t see exactly what’s going on, I can paint a picture in my head. They’re dangling over a deep sinkhole and could drop at any second.

Twisting, I check to make sure the rest of our group is okay. In the distance, I can see Aaron, Hope, Jesse, and Hailey all crawling out of the muck. They’re near the road. At least they’re safe.

The ground starts to rumble again and I feel Kellen jerk forward. I hang on, doing my damnedest to keep from moving deeper into the mud.

“Can he get her out?” I bark to Kellen. “What’s happening?”

“I can’t see,” he hisses back.

“Goddammit, it’s deep,” Dan yells frantically to Wayne. “At least a hundred-foot drop.”

My stomach roils painfully. I don’t know much about the terrain around here, but there appears to be underground caverns or something and we’re traipsing along the roof of sand that’s quickly draining away.

“I have rope in my pack,” I grunt out, remembering the bundle I threw in when searching vehicles. “I’m going to have to let go.”

“I’ve got Wayne,” Kellen assures me. “Make it quick.”

I quickly release Kellen, pausing only a second to make sure he doesn’t disappear before my eyes, and then start rummaging in my bag. I find it under my dirty clothes I’d collected after my shower last night. Once I zip my bag back up and shoulder it again, I begin unravelling the rope.

“I’m going to make a bowline knot,” I say as I get to work. “Feed it down to Judy. I’ll put the other end around me.”

As soon as I’ve fixed up both ends, I pull the rope around my middle. Kellen is already sending the other end of the rope down toward the others.

The muck has crept higher and I’m starting to worry that none of us will get out of this.

“Do not let go of him, Judy,” Dan barks out. “Try to get this rope around you, but whatever you do, don’t let go—”

His words are silenced as the earth trembles again, vibrating every bone in my body. I sink deeper into the cold mud. We’re all going to die out here.

“Mommmyyyyyy!”

Silas’s yell drags on for what feels like an eternity and then it’s immediately silenced. Judy’s inhuman wail follows and I know. I fucking know what just happened.

He’s gone.

That sweet, quiet little kid is gone.

I choke on bile as tears well in my eyes. I’m reminded of Jesse when he was a little guy. It’s gutting to know we lost another person—this time the youngest in our group.

Dan starts bellowing. It sounds like he’s begging, pleading, sobbing. Judy, on the other hand, is hysterical.

“Let me go!” she wails. “Let me fucking go!”

Dan curses in pain and then he’s screaming in horror. “Judy!”

We all stumble back a bit now that we’ve lost some weight. An adult and small child’s worth of weight.

I’m going to be sick.

This time, I do throw up, barely turning my head in time to save Kellen from wearing it. He and Wayne are all but dragging Dan away from the sinkhole. The man is sobbing, red-faced, with snot running down his lips.

He’s lost his wife and son.

I can’t imagine the pain he’s in.

We hear honking approaching. I twist around to see a small, older model Toyota truck barreling across the land along the edges of the area we’re sinking into. When it gets close enough but not so close it gets sucked in, Jesse jumps out of the back. He ties a rope to the bed of the truck and then charges for us. As he nears, he tosses the end of the rope to me.

“Hang on!” he instructs. “We’re going to pull you out!”

He runs back to the truck and hops in. Then, slowly, the truck starts moving. I cling to the rope he threw to me and hope the others can hang onto the rope tied around my middle. At first, it feels like I’ll be ripped in two, but then we’re slowly dragged out of the muck without injury.

As soon as we’re on solid ground, the four of us collapse. Aaron has stopped the truck. Hope, Hailey, and Jesse all rush over to us to help us to our feet. Hailey looks past us, her bruised and gashed face pinching as she searches the group. Her eyes land on her father and she frowns.

“Where’s Mom and Silas?” Her bottom lip trembles and tears flood her eyes. “Dad, where are they?”

He collects her into his arms and holds her close. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I am so sorry.”

They both sob uncontrollably. We’re all feeling defeated at this point. I even hear Wayne crying, which is completely out of character for the big man.

“Tyler,” Jesse mutters under his breath. “We need to go. Get everyone into the truck.”

Hope and Jesse help Hailey and Dan into the passenger seat of the truck. The man holds his daughter in his lap as though she’s a toddler who had a bad dream. Hope shuts the door, shaking her head sadly. The rest of us climb into the bed of the truck.

We’re caked in mud, freezing cold, starved, thirsty, and heartbroken.

How much of this can we take?

The truck drives off and soon finds the road again. Once on solid ground, Aaron pushes the limits of the vehicle, racing along the asphalt at breakneck speed. We want to leave this all behind. To get far, far away from here.

But what awaits us as we continue our trek? More death and misery?

Kellen pulls me to him, his entire body shivering. His warmth and comfort are just what I need if I have any hope of enduring what comes next. He mutters assurances to me, stroking my hair and kissing my head. It’s then I realize I’m still crying. My heart hurts and I can’t seem to stop.

My heavy lids droop, but I don’t give in. I cling to Kellen, my eyes darting from Jesse to Hope to Wayne and then back to Jesse. Pretzel peeks his small head out of the top of Jesse’s jacket and lets out a pitiful howl. Even the dog is devastated.

The odds are so unfairly stacked against us. No matter which way we turn, we’re met with more pain and suffering. I’m not sure it will ever end. It’s as though Mother Nature is a vengeful, angry god, eager to mete out vicious justice on every human being on this earth.

She’s thorough and efficient.

Ruthless and cruel.

I wonder how long it’ll take her to eliminate everyone.

Our days feel numbered like the clock is ticking on our demise.

“Sleep, Ty. You need to rest. I’ve got you.”

Kellen’s voice, soft and reassuring, has me finally relaxing. I’m unable to keep my eyes open this time and quickly fade to darkness with one thought on my mind.

Please don’t take anyone else from us. We’ve lost too many.