Chapter Two ~ Fredrick
Thinking back, Fredrick could see it all so clearly. The day began just like all the others. He woke, started the coffee, took a shower, and drank his coffee over a breakfast of Cheerios and the morning newspaper. He thought that the news was as grim as usual. A murder overnight, bank holdup yesterday, fire two streets away. That one he actually heard, as all the fire engines rushed past his apartment and he could smell the smoke on the air all night. Then Fredrick headed off to work. It seemed funny to him that while everyone was traveling into the city to go to work, he was traveling out. The city was nice, but the rat race just wasn’t for him anymore. He had put in his time in downtown New York City, now he worked in a quiet corner. The trip was uneventful, and he arrived at work in good time. He was able to get another cup of coffee and surf the net for a few minutes before he got down to work.
Fredrick glanced at the clock on the far wall. Sighing, he clicked the closed button on the computer screen…time for work. He opened the file on the top of the pile that was about a foot tall. He was a paper-pusher, but it was a job and it paid well. Suddenly out the corner of his eye, he saw a white flash, and then a strange cloud appeared over the low trees. On the 24th floor, he could see over a lot of the neighboring land, trees and even other buildings in the area. Something didn’t seem right, wasn’t that the same sort of cloud that you would see with a nuclear blast? Thinking fast, he turned toward the door, ran across the building. He just knew that there would be a huge blast wave and he wanted to be as far away from the windows as possible.
Others had noticed the blast as well, but they stood transfixed to the sight. Fredrick shouted to those he could see, and those he couldn’t, to get away from the windows. Many looked over their shoulder at him, but few moved. Fredrick slid under a desk on the far side of the building and put his hands over his head, just as the hot blast wave hit the building. Glass flew past him and even though he took cover he had several cuts on his legs, where the desk didn’t meet the floor. The pain was excruciating and after a few minutes he cautiously opened his eyes to look around him. His legs were not that bad, a few minor cuts, but nothing that would be permanent.
Fredrick looked out from under the desk and saw glass embedded in the wall just over the desk, there were people crying from several offices. He started to stand up, blood dripping from his wounds, and went to check on the cry coming from closest to him. He saw Christine, she had a large cut to her right arm, Fredrick tore at the arm of his shirt, ripping it, and bound her arm to stop the bleeding. She also appeared to have burns on the right side of her body and face. She must have gotten out of the way, but just seconds too late. He quickly told Christine to say where she was, that he would be back for her after he looked for other survivors.
A couple doors down he found his boss, he hadn’t gotten out of the way and Fredrick had to turn away, it was a horrid sight. Someone called out. He knew this woman, but couldn’t remember her name…he was lucky he could remember his own name. The woman, who was pregnant, screamed out in pain. Fredrick rushed to her and she told him that she thought that she was in labor, but it was way too early. Not knowing what to do, he told her to wait, he would be back. He had to find someone else who could help out. He walked around the corner, and immediately wished he hadn’t. He just saw bodies. He hoped that none of them were still alive; the injuries were just too horrible.
Fredrick checked the rest of his floor. He only found 5 others. Fortunately, one woman had had several children, so she could help the pregnant woman. They needed to find a hospital or clinic where they could be looked after. Those who were able, helped the injured down from the floors above, but once they got to the ground things were not any better. The dazed and injured were everywhere. No one seemed to know what hit them. The hospitals were so crowded; they were treating people in the street. When someone died, they were moved to a sectioned off area behind the hospital.
The next several days and possibly weeks were a blur. Fredrick tried to go to his apartment at one point, but found that getting anywhere near the city was impossible. From a hill top that overlooked New York City, it looked like a bomb had exploded. Buildings were torn in half or destroyed altogether. The major bridges were only mangled steel. Somehow, Fredrick was able to work his way south, with many others. Even though it was July or August, it was already so cold that snow had fallen instead of rain. The refugees, survivors of what they would later find out appeared to be a meteor or comet, found themselves in what was left of Tennessee, where the new coastline of the United States now was. They met up with other survivors and by occupying empty houses, were able to survive on the food that they were able to find left in pantries and food storage.
Things were going as well as you could expect, considering the circumstances, until one morning, the ground started shaking. It wasn’t a strong earthquake but it rattled nerves and several of the houses became unstable. At first, they worried only about aftershocks, but then the ash started to fall. They figured that the explosion had caused the earthquakes and the earthquakes had caused the volcano. They needed to find a new place to live. Someone suggested that they go to a cave system nearby. By the time they got to the area where the cave was supposed to be, there was about 2 foot of ash on the ground and drifts up to 4 feet. They found the cave, and moved into a cavern just inside, were they were safe from the elements. Fredrick woke one morning to find several of the older members of the group sick. He thought that it was probably their age that was the cause. One of the older gentlemen, Nicholas, had become Fredrick’s friend, so when he got sick Fredrick stayed with him, but then Fredrick started feeling sick. Nicholas didn’t make it, Fredrick almost died himself. But eventually, he pulled through, and was able to help by going out on scavenging trips.
At first the trips were close, they would walk a couple days to the nearest town and after making sure that the houses were empty, they would gather whatever they could. Most of the houses were collapsing under the weight of the ash, but they were able to find the things that they needed most. They would make slings by taking two boards and blankets. By stringing the blankets between the boards they could fill the blankets with lots of food, clothing and other things that they really needed.
At first the trips were going out every week. Two or three groups of 10 people would go out together but as the epidemic started taking lives. Everyone was worried about getting sick and the rations were doubled. The food stores were running low but they couldn’t get any more trips out. And once the epidemic was over, they didn’t need quite as much as before, which was good, as the trips were further and longer.
Winter arrived sometime in September, if Fredrick could remember correctly. If the ash wasn’t bad, add a few feet of snow, and things got a lot worse. Trudging through the snow was difficult, but at least the paths were easy to keep stomped down. But the snow didn’t seem to ever melt and it always seemed to be snowing. Soon, the trips into town were for wood. Getting the survivors up out of the cave was becoming increasingly difficult.
Within a year Fredrick had started a relationship with a young lady Cassy. The older people in the group had insisted that if couples wanted to be together that they would hold a ceremony, making the relationship legal. They were married and after a year, they were welcoming a new little boy, Jacob into the world.
Fredrick reflected on what had happened in the last 4 years, looking at his son, he was grateful. He had a healthy son, a lovely wife. The only thing that would make things better, is if the world would ever go back to the way it used to be.
Total Word count ~ 3584
