Was she alone? Did she have family or someone to ride with her, telling her everything would be all right?
The bus moved farther away and I turned to face Madison.
“What now?” Madison asked.
“I don’t know. Find this Major Graham?”
“Where?”
I just shrugged.
They unloaded us and left. There were hundreds of people, so much confusion. We’d start at the first tent and work our way in. One positive thing to the whole mess… we weren’t the only ones alive.
He wasn’t visually what I expected. Upon hearing the name ‘Major Graham’, a staunch older man with a barrel chest and crass demeanor came to mind. In fact that was what I searched for. The first man that matched my description of Major Graham wasn’t in the military at all. He was a local coffee shop manager who ended up pointing us to the correct tent.
Major Graham wasn’t older. He looked more like he just graduated college. An average height man, whose build was hard to tell hidden beneath the military jacket. He wore a cap, stood behind a desk while shuffling through large papers, I assumed were maps.
“Can I help you, ladies?” he asked.
I stepped farther into the tent. “I hope so. We’re just lost, confused and haven’t a clue where to go, or what to do.”
“They just dropped us off,” Madison said.
“Who did?” Graham asked.
“The two soldiers who picked us up,” Madison replied. “We were with Doug.”
“Ah.” Graham nodded and placed down his pencil. “You guys were the last of the four people to come from the dead zone?”
“The… dead zone?” I asked.
He waved us over to the desk, shuffled some maps, finally lifting one from the bottom of the pile. He indicated with his finger to the west coast. “This entire area from Los Angeles to Seattle. We assumed everyone else suffocated.”
“I survived the choke,” Madison said. “Others did too, they had to.”
“The choke?” he asked.
“That’s what I call it.”
“I like it. It’s easy. I’m gonna borrow that.”
Madison nudged me and said, “Told you it would catch on.”
“Well, aside from the one person, if others did survive… the choke,” he said. “And didn’t make it out, I doubt they will now. Ash is piling on in some areas, an inch an hour. They speculate a second wave rolled in three days ago, turning it all to mud. It’s speculation. Any attempts to see with satellites is futile, Earth is pretty much a shrouded ball at this point.”
“There is no communication?” Madison questioned.
“Some. Not us. We get very little information. It’s like the pony express.”
“Doug called it that,” Madison said.
“I got it from Doug.” Graham flashed a smile. “I know they are trying desperately to figure out some sort of communication. Each day it gets worse. Antarctica was our link to the satellites. They can see, but the images aren’t clear. They spotted the wave… but then the earth just got too covered to see if it made land.”
My voice perked with a tad of excitement, finally some answers. “So you know what happened?”
“Happening,” Graham corrected. “It’s not done yet. No one knows how long it will last. I’m gonna assume you felt that last quake. Expect more. Is the worst over?” He shrugged. “Destruction wise. Yes. However within two weeks, maybe three…. If the Mason Dixon line extended straight across the US, every area above that will be a frozen wasteland.” His finger trailed across the map. “Between that and the Tropic of Cancer, will be largely uninhabitable due to the cold. Farther south, we’re hopeful, but who knows.” He folded the map. “It’s just the best bet for survival.”
“How…” I asked. “How did everything suddenly just blow?”
“We’re in the middle of a pole reversal. I think that’s what it is called.”
“No.” Madison shook her head. “I’m smart enough to know a pole reversal or magnetic reversal doesn’t happen overnight.”
“It does,” Graham emphasized, “when a large planetary body passes too close to earth, or strikes the moon shifting it slightly in orbit. That will cause an immediate chain of events within twelve hours. So… I’ve been told. Please, I’m not an expert.”
“How did they not see it coming?” I asked. “Something so large.”
“To quote a favorite movie,” Graham said. “It’s an awfully big sky. My guess is they did see it, my guess is also, they either knew, or believed, it would pass on the other side of the moon.”
“The moon controls a lot,” Madison said. “Do we know if it hit it, missed it, or passed too close?”
“Reports in Africa say they watched the night sky light up,” He said in almost a daze. “Even with those reports, what is a twelve hour window? What is a one week window? Anything less than a year warning would send people into the streets panicking. Quietly without warning, they let things happen. And…” he exhaled. “As far as if it was a hit or miss. We’ll know when the sky clears, won’t we? Whenever that is.” He sat down. “I wish I could talk more. I enjoyed this break and I say that sincerely, but I have buses to plan, people to move south, and search parties to send out.”
“You’re not doing all this on your own, are you?” I asked.
“No. There are a lot of stations. I’m just the last one before the west.”
“One more question,” I said. “Are the places south, are they organized. Do they know who is going where?”
“You mean are we registering people?” he asked. “I don’t know. If we are there will be no way to coordinate that info for a long time. Are you looking for someone?”
“Our families. Both of us,” I said. “They are very north east of here.”
“I see.” He nodded. “I’m not sure what teams made it where. I do know a lot of folks headed south. I can….” He looked down. “Get you two on a bus in a week. That’s the best I can do.”
I looked at Madison then to Graham. “Thank you, but I don’t think I’ll be on that bus.”
“Me either,” Madison said.
“What?” He asked with a chuckle. “Are you staying here? Where are you going?”
“Home,” I said. “I need to find my family, or see that they left.”
“It’s already dangerous,” he said. “In a week it could be suicide.”
“That’s a chance I am willing to take,” I said. “Wouldn’t you?”
He stared for a moment. “I am responsible for your safety. Will you give me a day to see if other camps maybe hit your home towns?”
Madison glanced my way, I conveyed my agreement and she nodded at Graham. “Yeah. That would be great if you can see what you can do.”
“I’ll catch you later for the information,” he said.
“And we’ll let you get back to work,” I told him. “Thank you so much for your honesty and answers.”
“Not a problem.”
We both turned and stopped.
“What do we do now?” Madison asked. “Where do we go?”
“Just find a tent and empty space,” he said. “There’s a few sleeping ones, a mess tent…”
“Medical?” I asked. “We’re looking for our friend and they took her to the medical tent.”
“It’s the large white one a block down.”
We thanked him again, and with what little belongings we had, we headed out to find the medical tent.
Despite the fact that there were several large white tents we ended up finding the medical one. In my mind, from all the movies I had seen and books I read, I pictured a tent packed with sick and injured people. That I’d have to walk through aisles of the dying, searching for Ruth.
That wasn’t the case.