Annihilation

“Pick up the pace or you’ll get left behind!” Dan the not so esteemed, self appointed “leader” of our ragged group shouted.

“Then leave us, we are going as fast as we can.” Dagen snarled in reply while sliding her arm around her 10 year old daughter Ally hugging her closer. She had about enough of Dan. Apparently 48 hours was her Dan limit. Well, truth be told it was closer to 2 hours. Regrettably she needed his help or well the help of the group, safety in numbers right? Dagen would do anything to keep Ally safe.

Ally was all she had left in this world after the thousands of explosions rocked every government building in the US along with more bombings in the major cities. No one knew who was responsible for the catastrophic attacks. There we’re a few reports of explosions in other countries too but the news outlets were shut down before more information came through. How did the most powerful country in the world be brought down in a matter of hours? Shortly after the attacks all communication was cut off along with the electricity. Dagen had been at home with Ally when the explosions shook the house like an earthquake. In fact that is exactly what Dagen thought. It was California after all. That was until she turned to the news showing the devastation across the nation.

Dagen and Ally had been walking for 2 days on their own after their car ran out of gas. Staying out of heavily populated areas until they stumbled onto this group of nine men and three women camping near the same path as they were traversing in the Northern Sierra Mountains. They were exhausted, low on food, their water supply was sufficient for now but Dagen knew she was going to need help after she stupidly sprained her ankle getting said water supply. Her ankle had swollen to twice its normal size and was the ever delightful color of purple mixed with deep red and black shades.

Unconsciously Dagen’s left hand reached up to her neck where she felt the delicate chain of the heart shaped locket. Her husband Cole had given it to her on their 7th anniversary. She slid her fingers over the chain down to the locket that held a picture of their little family when she was missing him. What she wouldn’t give to have him here with her right now. Just having him near always gave her more strength.

Dagens husband Cole was away working, he was a truck driver and had left the day before the explosions. He was on a 3 day run across the south west. She knew in her heart he was still out there, she was determined to find him. She didn’t know how she would, especially with this damned sprained ankle she had acquired that was slowing her down but she would never stop searching for him. Before the phones stopped working she had fervently tried contacting Cole, she tried convincing herself that the reason he wasn’t answering was due to lack of cell service and not…. She couldn’t even form that thought. He IS out there. He IS doing everything in his power to make his way back to us.

She kept repeating that thought so she wouldn’t lose hope. They had to make it out of California and to a safer location. Everything had gone to hell after the explosions. Gunshots rang out, neighbors killing neighbors over food, water, and fueled vehicles. They were lucky to have made it out of their neighborhood in the central valley relatively unscathed.

“HA You wouldn't last another day out here on your own.” Dan said with a mocking laugh. “All you’ve done is slow us down and eat our food.”

“Dan!” Exclaimed Edith, the oldest of the three women in the group.

“Stay out of this Edith!” Barked Dan.

“It’s fine Edith” Dagen tried to reassure the woman “We’ll be fine, I don’t want to slow you guys down. Nevada will be shutting their border soon and you need to make it there and get the medication you need. I’ll find another way in”

Edith looked at Dagan with sorrow in her eyes trying to silently plead with her. She walked over and whispered so only Dagen could hear. “Please let me take Ally for you. I’ll keep her safe and get her across. I have a family ranch in Fallon called Wild Cactus, that’s where I’ll be. You rest that ankle then when you make it across come find us. You need to think about what is best for Ally.”

Dagen looked over at Ally, she looked terrified, tears welled up in her bright blue eyes. She had heard Edith's plea. A million thoughts rushed through Dagen's mind, different scenarios that could happen if they split and if they stayed behind together but she knew what the answer would be as soon as Edith proposed the split. There was no way in heaven or hell she would let her daughter out of her sight. No one else would do whatever it took to ensure Ally's safety. No one else would sacrifice themselves to save her if it came down to it. No one but Dagen, Cole would do the same if the roles were reversed but it was up to Dagen alone. A sprained ankle isn't the end of the world. Dagen had made it the last 5 miles on it, she would make it the rest. At a much slower pace than the group but she would make it.

Dagen smiled gratefully at the kind woman “Thank you Edith I appreciate what you’re offering but Ally and I will not separate. We are all we have left and besides She wouldn’t leave my side even if I begged. I know my daughter.” At her words Ally hugged her tighter, letting loose the tears she was fighting from falling. “We don’t even know for sure if what Dan is saying is true. Nevada shutting down its border to California is impossible. I know they are getting flooded with people fleeing to more remote areas for safety but they can’t stop us all. They can block all the major roads but there are many other ways in.”

Edith nodded in understanding “My offer of staying at the ranch still stands, I wish you two the best of luck and hope to see you soon.” She started to step away to rejoin the group where a very impatient Dan stood with arms crossed and an unhealthy amount of anger reverberated off him. “Oh and… “ She leaded back to Dagen to whisper. “Dan doesn’t know about my plans after we cross just so you know. I can't wait to be rid of that ass hat. He has proved helpful to a degree but that stops at the border.” She leaned away and walked back to the group picking up her back pack and sliding it onto her shoulders.

“We’ve wasted enough time, let's go!” Dan shouted to the group. Everyone picked up their packs, casting hesitant looks towards Dagen and Ally before turning their backs and continuing the long hike to Nevada.

Dagen stood there holding Ally close while watching them leave. She took a quick mental inventory of the provisions she had tucked away in their packs. Enough to get them through 2 days, if she didn’t eat tonight that would give Ally another meal for a 3rd day but she would need to replenish it before then. She took a water bottle out of her pack and handed it to Ally, she took two long drinks from it and handed it back. Dagen took a few sips before returning it to her pack. She turned to Ally, “We need to walk for a few more miles before I’ll allow myself to stop. We’ll stop by the Truckee river for the night, the ice cold water from the snow melt will help the swelling in my ankle. I’m going to need your help keeping an eye out for any vehicles or cabins on our way okay?”

“Okay.” replied Ally “Mom do you think we’ll ever find Dad?”

“Yes honey we will find him, I just pray he received my messages before the phones went dead he’ll know where we’re headed and he knows how I think. We’ll find each other.” Dagen tried to reassure her daughter who she knew was scared and was probably not buying a word of what she was selling. Dagens right arm slid around Ally’s shoulders and nudged her forward to begin the long journey they had ahead of them. Her left hand slid up to the gold chain around her neck and once again repeated the words she willed to be true. He IS out there. He IS doing everything in his power to find us.

Cole woke up with a start, his eyes flew open but everything was blurry. His head was pounding, it felt like the back of his head was on fire and his brain was trying to escape through his temples. What happened? The last thing he remembered was driving down the road. He forced his eyes to focus, he gently pressed his hands to his head to try to ease the pressure. He could barely make out the inside of his truck. Did he crash? Yes… yes he crashed, he remembered he was driving and saw traffic up ahead he had slowed the truck down and that's when he saw the explosions. Several of them by the looks of it, up ahead in Santa Fe New Mexico. He had been headed that way to drop off his current load and pick up another. Cole couldn’t remember anything else. He must have wrecked right after that. He sat up straighter and tried to feel for any other injuries, he didn't feel any other pain besides the splitting one in his head. Cole felt around for where his phone was supposed to be mounted to the dash, his fingers felt the familiar shape and he sighed with relief. As he focused more clearly at the dash he looked up through his cracked windshield and saw the massive smoke and flames from the city. He then looked around at the traffic before him. All the cars looked empty, he couldn’t make out a single person anywhere. Shoving his phone into his pocket he tried to open his door but it wouldn't budge. Climbing over to the passenger side he wretched the door open and almost fell out but caught himself. Stepping down to the pavement he stepped back to see the damage to his truck. Walking to the front he saw he had a powder blue Prius stuck onto his bumper like one of the millions of other bugs smashed to his grill. Looking further up the lane he saw that all the other cars were all wrecked as well. Each one smashed into another, some with spaces in between so clearly he didn't cause all this like he feared. Looking down the lane behind his truck, cars were all in the same condition, some smoking, some burnt down to just the frame.

“How long was I out?” Cole wondered out loud. “And how did the paramedics miss me?” There was no one in any of the vehicles, no one on the road. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to call Dagen but the call wouldn’t connect. He tried calling 911, still it wouldn't connect. Then he saw that he had a text, it was from Dagen. “I've tried calling but it wont go through. I hope this works. There were bombings all over the US. Ally and I are safe but it's not safe to stay near the cities. I've heard Nevada is safe so we’re headed there. Babe please be ok please I can't lose you! I love you!