The End of Eden (Water Worlds 1)

Chapter 18

We headed northwest, up the southeast-bound lane. It didn't matter, really. No one was traveling either way, except for emergency crews, and we gave them plenty of room. But to make sure we didn't get stopped or delayed by the authorities, Father butterflied us off an on-ramp as soon as he could, and then U-turned back up another, putting us right again.

The land was dry and the surrounding farms intact, and I don't remember ever seeing no cars on the road, before. But as we neared the exits for the town, we could see chaos building. Frederick was where the first survivors were seeking refuge, and from our vantage point on the elevated highway we could see endless cars already clogging the side roads.

"There'll be much sorrow here, I'm afraid," Kasey said, kindly. "Probably they'll see services rationed soon, and troops. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We need to avoid this. The farther away we get, the more normal things will seem."

"Are you hungry?" I asked him, pulling out of my bag a plastic tub of pre-cut fruits and crisp vegetables Mother had packed for me two days and a lifetime ago. 

Thanks, Mother, I thought, now regretting my harsh words to her. Thanks for believing me. Thanks for... everything.

So our caravan of survivors merged west, onto highway 70, rising into the beautiful blue foothills, refugees again.

By the time we reached Hagerstown, traffic seemed almost normal. Emergency vehicles continued to stream towards the disaster areas, but the people we met when we stopped to fuel up our cars were welcoming and helpful.

At one service station, the young man didn't even ask us for petrol ration cards, and let Father pay in cash, since the credit links were down. Both were technically illegal. Father tipped him heavily.

"There will be plenty of everything for a while," he said to Kasey and me as Mother and Joo Chen returned from washing up in the restrooms and began strapping themselves in. "But soon it will get worse. The true depth of the disaster will become clear, and then things will change. We must get to the Chinese community in Vancouver as soon as possible."

Soon, the road slowed as carloads of survivors filtered in from the south and merged onto the roadway. They had escaped from the coastal parts of Northern Virginia, no doubt, and trekked north and west through a corner of West Virginia, into Western Maryland. There, Route 70 was the first major highway they reached.

We made it as far as Cumberland by nightfall, and were lucky to find rooms in an old motel. For the first time in what seemed like an age of man, I had a bath and warm bed in a room I shared with Mother, and we all had time for a hot meal.

In the restaurant attached to the little hotel, someone was streaming the news. It hadn't even occurred to us to listen for news while we were driving. Just the sound of the road and our own thoughts were enough. But now, as we sat together, it seemed natural to hear a reader's voice, and we all listened as we ate silently.

"...tsunami is thought to have taken an estimated one hundred and fifty million souls on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. At least half a billion people worldwide are estimated to have been uprooted and remain homeless. Stateside, search and rescue teams from thousands of miles inland are heading towards the coast in the hope of finding more survivors, but for every miraculous story of survival, there are thousands — millions — of stories of horror.

"It has been confirmed that a piece of the asteroid exploded in the air above Mumbai yesterday. Communications with the sub-continent have been broken and we are trying to re-establish contact with them as we speak. 

"The track of lesser pieces rained down over northeastern India, Tibet and Mongolia, mostly burning up in the atmosphere and causing little damage. Reports are coming in from Russia of a series of volcanic explosions in Siberia. We'll bring you more news as it happens, and, as always, we welcome your reports..."

"The fires have begun," Kasey said, sending a meaningful look to Father.

"You know something!" I said. "Tell us!" My voice was more demanding than I intended, and it surprised me.

Father sighed. "The main path of the Apophis debris seems to have followed the larger piece, which exploded over La Palma, arcing generally over northern Africa, Turkey and Ukraine, ending in Siberia. This report suggests that a string of volcanoes, a curtain volcano, has erupted in Siberia. Something, some impact, perhaps, released it. These are extremely dangerous events and it has happened there before, eons ago, with disastrous results for the planet. If the volcanic activity increases as I suspect, within days we'll see a dark smudge cross the sky. Within weeks, it will probably circle the whole world, slowly spreading out, blocking the sun. After a year, crops will fail. There may be nowhere safe anymore."

There was a moment of silence.

"This is your fault!" I said, low and even.

I didn't know I would speak, just then. It just came out. 

"You did this to us. To the world!" My voice was rising.

"Now, wait, Young Moon, really..." Kasey tried to interrupt.

"No," Father said quietly, "she's right. It is my fault. I'll have to live with this shame forever."

"You'll have to live with it?" I was practically shrieking now and started to rise. "Millions died from it! Don't you understand? You have killed us all!"

Mother stood and walked over to me, putting her hands on my shoulders, squeezing gently, urging me back into my seat. She didn't say anything.

Joo Chen sat at the table silently, looking down at his hands.

Kasey appeared startled, and confused.

The few other people in the restaurant heard me shouting but they didn't understand Chinese. Just one more hysterical woman, they probably thought.

I didn't care what they thought. This would be the end of us all. 

I was sure of it.