CHAPTER THREE
It started to rain about an hour into their journey. Annie was asleep against the window as Margie looked around with wide eyes. She rarely traveled, Brain realized, but neither did her mother. Francine had taken few trips in her adult life, and now Brain realized that three of them were divorce trips, a way to break the news in a new environment. She liked that, ruining a different location instead of their home. Brain couldn't even think of Montana anymore without a cold sweat rolling down his back. He wondered how Buster could keep going back to Con every year after what she'd done, but he'd had much longer to heal than Brain, several more years.
Now it would be the new guy's turn, but at least they didn't have to worry about any of these strange trips with him. They hadn't had any children together, at least that Brain knew.
Thunder crashed and Brain decided to try the radio again. It had stopped working a few miles back and he'd turned it off. All they wanted to talk about were the evacuations, the impact coming, and related stories. Like Buster said, they occasionally mentioned the president was alright after an emergency landing, but they weren't the center of attention. This disaster, something that hadn't happened in a very long time, was far more important.
A station came through with a commercial for a local car lot. It ended with a loud noise that grated on Brain's ears, but Annie managed to stay asleep, as did Buster, Brain realized, as he noticed a similar position and sleeping style in his friend. Brain shook his head as the news came on again.
"This just in: NASA has moved the impact zone further west to a one hundred mile radius not far from the shores of the Carolinas. Officials say satellites from the orbit of Mars picked up on the shift and new calculations reflect this shift. The size has now been confirmed as three-and-a-half miles wide with an unknown girth. Scientists say there will be limited land impacts, though there are islands in the hundred-mile radius, but the displaced water will cause catastrophic coastal flooding. Evacuations are already in place as far west as the Mississippi River in the southeast—"
Brain cut off the radio again as the rain slackened up. He looked up into the rearview and saw that John was still following him. Unlike Buster, his passenger was wide awake beside him, their only son, Dave. Catherine had the girls in her car behind his, but Brain knew their backseat was still full, as they were in charge of the luggage for the girls and family. Now Brain had the bags for both girls, but he knew they had very little compared to them. Knowing Catherine, half the house was packed into their two cars, and she was probably gravely disappointed that the guys didn't bring anything more than a Spiderman bag and an emergency kit.
Hours passed slowly, but Brain knew that's how things were during a disaster. At first are those slow moments of waiting, waiting for what was to come and wondering what would happen next. That part, the "next," would happen so quickly that the memories would swarm together. You'd look back at those times and remember the strangest things.
Brain knew this from a colleague who'd been studying in northern California when a wildfire sprang up south of there. At first they waited, for two days total, as they waited for the fire to either spread or be controlled by officials. Despite advances in firefighting technology, the fire still spread closer and closer until they finally had no choice but to flee.
She told him all she could remember during those days of running, fleeing north before rushing back to see what was left, all she could remember was a yellow flower. Where was it? She couldn't tell him. What kind was it? She had no idea. All she knew was that yellow flower, burned into her mind, and she could remember nothing else.
Brain wondered what he'd remember as he realized they were getting closer to the Canadian border. The sky lightened up and the sun came out again as they reached it. Uniformed officers closely searched each car while Buster and Annie drooled on their windows. Finally Buster had no choice but to wake up—Brain's passport was handed over, but he too needed to give up an I.D. He obliged, smacking his lips as he came to.
"You're good. Follow the signs. You and the others in your party will go the eastern route," the soldier said, handing back their items.
They obeyed without protesting, though Brain wanted to demand why they were heading east. There were likely to be tsunamis wherever the Atlantic Ocean was, probably along every beach in the world as that displacement affected the Indian, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. Canada had borders with three of the four oceans, and Brain knew going east would put them closer to one of them.
But "east" was just an expression. He realized they were going further north than the western camp, which broke off first. Then their path too took them west, and Brain felt himself ease up, especially when their destination came into view, a large fort.
It took a few more minutes to get into the fort because of searches, but soon they were inside. The three cars were assigned one small house, a structure made of concrete bricks that looked rather sterile on the outside. The inside was small, but it was warm and homely. It was cramped with so many people, but they were content. They felt they would be safe from whatever disaster may come.