Page 1 of His to Take

1

February 20, 2020

Ann staredout of the window of her father’s SUV and wondered if anything would ever be the same again. Two hours ago, the ground shook, sonic booms rang around the world, and then… everything turned to chaos.

She thought about it now, as her father sped down the highway, how she’d been on the couch, watching Netflix as she waited for her neighbor, and one-true-love, Rex Wolfson’s baseball game to start. It had been a normal Friday evening, and she’d planned out a new strategy to get Rex to notice her as more than just his neighbor when the ground started to shake. That, in itself, wasn’t really eventful; they lived in California after all.

It was the strength of the earthquake, the way the house swayed and jumped that made them all panic. Then the sonic booms started. Not just one but several, maybe seven, Ann couldn’t really remember. There’d been screams, the sound of wood and glass breaking, and so much noise that Ann screamed along with whoever else it was that screamed in the kitchen.

Now, she sat beside Rex, her parents were in the front of the SUV and her dad pressed the SUV’s engine for every bit of speed it had, with Rex’s parents in the very back seat. Fear, shock, and despair mingled in a rather unsettling way with the joy she found with Rex beside her. She was terrified, and even the sound of her favorite band, Fleetwood Mac, didn’t calm her. She had the band’s albums on her phone, earbuds in place to block out the reality of the world around her, but she still didn’t feel calm, though.

Instead, she felt as if she was on the verge of dying. Her chest was tight, and her heart pounded in her chest, but this time it wasn’t because Rex was there with her. Normally, when he was around, her heart would flutter in her chest, her cheeks would go warm, and she’d hide behind her long brown hair until she could breathe normally again. This was something so much more than that. It felt as if her heart had been squeezed in a vice and whoever had control of the vice just didn’t want to let go.

Ann’s attention was caught when her mother slammed her fist into the side of her husband’s seat. Ann pulled out her right earbud, alarmed at her mother’s violent display. Mary Adams was 35 years old, and except for Mary’s blue eyes and blond hair, was an exact copy of her daughter. She was soft, sweet, and tender by nature, a loving mother and wife. The fear and rage now on her face scared Ann even more than she already was.

“John Adams, you tell me where we’re going, and you tell me right now!” Her mother’s voice was strained, not the quiet, pleasant tone that normally came from her mouth. The fact that she yelled only intensified Ann’s fear.

“Mary, please, think about the children!” John reached for her hand, kissed it and sent her a calming glance with the brown eyes Ann had inherited. “It’s a place up north, hidden away, where we can’t be found by looters. It’s a good place, and if what the news people say is true, it will be the best place for us.”

“But what is it, John?” Mary pleaded, and something about the wild look in Mary’s shimmering blue eyes told Ann that her mother was on the verge of a panic attack too.

Ann reached forward to touch her mother’s shoulder and Mary jumped. “It’s okay, Mom. Dad wouldn’t take us somewhere that isn’t safe.”

“Ann’s right, Mary,” Stephan Wolfson spoke up from behind Ann. “John told me he had a safe place for us all, and I believe him.”

“But why is it a secret?” Mary whined and sat back in her seat. Like her daughter, Mary was a couple of inches above average height and her slim frame filled the front seat.

“It’s not a secret, Mary, it’s just hard to explain. And I’m trying to get us there quickly and in one piece.” John had to swerve the wheel to dodge the SUV around a car that had stalled in the road. “We have about another hour before we get there, so just settle in and help me watch for objects in the road.”

Mary just sighed loudly, and then turned the radio up.

“Ash clouds will soon fall across the country, folks.” The radio announcer was male, his voice tired and sad. “This is it folks, the end of us all. Yellowstone, the Long Valley Caldera, Mount St. Helens, they’ve all gone off and we’re getting reports that the…”

The announcer stopped to cough, and Ann’s attention zeroed in on the radio. Why was he coughing?

“Sorry, folks, that ash cloud has been here in Denver for a while now.” Ann could hear the man take a drink of something, and then his voice came back. “If you’re listening on satellite radio, I’d advise you to get underground, now. Nobody knows how far the ash will spread, or how long the eruptions will last.”

Ann knew the SUV had satellite radio and glanced at her dad. “Are we going underground, Daddy?”

Her voice wasn’t very loud when she spoke, and her father didn’t answer. Rather than demand an answer, she just went back to the voice of the man that announced doom for them all.

“I doubt I’ll be around for much longer, folks, so I just want to say, it’s been a great ride, and I hope that some of you survive this insanity to rebuild.”

Ann thought it was an odd thing to say, but then wondered if it was the end of the world. But surely the ash would blow away and that would be the end of it?

Snow started to fall from the sky, and Ann glanced up, overjoyed because she’d never seen it snow in this part of California before. “Mom! It’s snowing!”

“That’s not snow, baby. It’s ash.” Her mom’s voice now had that same tired edge as the announcer’s, and Ann looked to the front seat. Her mom’s face was tired, drawn, and filled with worry. “Don’t worry, honey, your dad will keep us safe.”

Ann glanced over at Rex, but he still had his earbuds in, hidden by his longish, light blond hair, and his hazel eyes were closed. The way his head bounced steadily against the window on his side would have given her a headache, she thought, but that wasn’t really her concern right now.

“What did he mean, rebuild if we survive? Won’t this end in a day or two?”

“It,” Mary’s words cut off as she muttered something Ann couldn’t hear. “Nobody knows how long it will last, Ann. Science can only predict from past experiences. They can’t guarantee anything. And if that many volcanoes have gone off at once? Well, maybe being underground isn’t so safe. John?”

“Yes, Mary?” her father said but didn’t take his gaze from the windscreen. He twitched his head when his dark brown hair, long on the top but short around the sides, fell into his eyes. He didn’t even want to take his hands off the steering wheel long enough to move his hair out of his eyes. Ann thought he probably wished he’d had his hair cut now, like her mother had told him to do countless times before.

“Will it be safe underground? Surely there will be more earthquakes?” Mary’s voice interrupted Ann’s thoughts and brought her attention back to her mother.