Harvest Earth by J.D. Laird Read Free Book Online

looked at her all they saw was a pretty face. She was a billboard for what every airman wished his fellow officer looked like. This poor boy, this Lt. Trevers must have thought he hit the Air Force jackpot when he was paired up with her. Lt. Trevers had been nice enough. His face was even fair to look at it if Madison had ever given it as much as half a thought. Madison was assigned to perform a job, not pick up dates, and that is what she did.
    What was Madison to do now? What was her role buried under a mountain?
    Lost in thought, Madison’s eye glance over to Lt. Trevers again. He is pinned beneath rock, covered in soot and lit only by the small beam of a tiny utility flashlight. Madison feels a small twinge of regret. Not for never having gone out for a drink. Not for never taking an interest. In that moment Madison realizes she has never even done as much as returned a smile. She had gone out of her way to be both distant and disinterested in her fellow Lieutenant. It was her only defense. Madison had never learned how to keep a safe professional distance in a relationship. Despite being an expert of linguistics in six different languages Madison never had any friends. Maybe that was why she did her best work removed from those doing the communicating. She did her best work located thousands of miles away from any real intimacy. Instead she preferred to be buried and hidden deep in the earth, reading and listening to messages and translating them, but never having the opportunity to respond back.
    Lt. Trevers is grimacing. Though he hides it from her, Madison knows that her coworker is scared. He is likely even more scared than Madison could ever be. It is in that moment that Madison knew her role. She knew the job that she must do.
    So, Madison does something completely outside of herself. Flicking off the light to conserve its batteries she shifts her body. Madison takes Dale’s head in her lap and cradles it. He is whimpering and so she tells him, “Everything is going to be all right.”
     

 
    9    Gabriel
     
     
    Startled by the realization that his daughters might be in danger, the first thing that Gabriel checks is his cellphone. It is off. When Gabriel tries to power it on, nothing happens. In a frantic panic, Gabriel’s thoughts are overwhelmed by the sudden need to get in contact with his daughters. He reaches into the pant’s pocket of the dead man in the alley. He finds the man’s cellphone and flips it open. Gabriel frantically pushes the “on” button but it too doesn’t respond. His mind races.
     
    Gabriel finds himself inside a department store. The doors have been unlocked and so all he has to do is pry them open. There are no lights on inside, but fortunately the store’s large windows let in plenty of light. Just like the streets outside, the store is empty. Also like the streets there are holes, more places where some spherical object has carved out space where something else had once been. A carpeted floor, a rack of hangers and a showcase of jewelry, all replaced by the same impressions. Gabriel pushes these mysteries aside. His only thoughts are for his children. Dark thoughts for their safety creep up and Gabriel fights them. He knows he has to get to them. Gabriel focuses on this and this alone.
    There is a phone on the wall behind one of the cashier’s counters. Gabriel tries it but there is no dial tone coming through the receiver. Gabriel tries several others in the department store as well but all with the same result. His final attempt is a display of cellphones. He attempts to turn on every one. Each give him the same dead blank screen as a reward for his efforts.
    Gabriel shouts and raves. He throws the phones across the aisles. They shatter as they struck the walls and floor. He is losing his sense of control. Gabriel is losing any sense of reality.
    His daughters are the only thing on his mind. Gabriel needs to reach them, but in order to do so he will need to stay