When It Comes For You

Three: A Watery Nightmare

The magnitude of the destruction left Aimee speechless as they walked down the partially crumbled highway.

There used to be trees and buildings that ran along the road; now, either uprooted or shattered.

Everything held the appearance of being completely erased by an enormous tornado – but the earth beneath their feet continued to tremble with signs of fissures or sections that had buckled and twisted in ways beyond normal.

Aimee felt like she was in a fog.

Was this a nightmare? A very vivid but surreal one?

"I've lived here all my life and that had to be biggest one ever." Chad was saying.

"I was in Illapel, Chile some years back when it was hit with a major rocker." Darcy said. "I was with my diving team getting ready to head out to sea. This one felt similar – I warrant the epicenter to be well north of here – in the St. Lawrence Valley area."

Sometime later, they approached a town.

A damaged sign laid in pieces on the ground. They finally made it to Valcour.

"What in the blazing hell?" Chad exclaimed.

She watched as he crossed the road and stood near the embankment. With an expression of total shock.

Darcy moved beside him – equally stunned.

"What's wrong?" Aimee asked as she walked toward them.

And froze.

Loomed below were miles of dry land that was once under water.

Obliterated homes, docks and boats spread as far as she could see.

She had heard stories about whenever there was a major earthquake at or near a coastal area, there was also an equal or more deadly phenomenon that tend to destroy whatever remained.

"T-tsunami?" Aimee asked.

"Quite possible." Darcy replied. "Holy crap! Look how far the lakebed had dropped!"

Darcy pointed downward to the stark evidence of where the ground once stood but now settled some twenty feet lower than before.

"This doesn't look good." Darcy muttered. "We need to get to higher ground and fast!"

"My parents' house is back this way about a mile." Chad pointed to the other side of the road.

"It's on a hill."

"Let's go!" Darcy dashed away.

"Can you run?" Chad asked Aimee.

Her head throbbed as if being pounded by a jackhammer.

"Um, I guess." She said.

But as soon as she began to run, intense dizziness hit, and she tumbled to the ground.

"Hop on!" Chad crouched low and turned his back toward her.

Aimee clumsily climbed on his back, and he took off at a fast trot.

The graveled road was narrow and riddled with gaping cracks. Chad carefully maneuvered around each one.

The incline grew steeper, and his steady breathing became pants and wheezes.

Just when Aimee was about to tell him to drop her –

"There it is!" He gasped.

Up ahead was a large, three-story New England style house that sat on a flat plateau.

The building showed very little structural damage.

How was that possible after all the destruction she seen?