The Journal: Cracked Earth by Deborah D. Moore Read Free Book Online Page B

was downgraded to a 7.6 with
the epicenter slightly north of Memphis. It lasted four minutes.
All along the Mississippi River bridges have collapsed or are
severely damaged. Aerial views show a crack in the Earth.
    It’s mind boggling, but at least the levees
are holding. The second quake remains at an 8.2 and centered in
what was Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is gone, leveled. The
tectonic plate was shoved out of place during the seven minutes of
shaking, and now the Mississippi at this juncture is spilling back
into itself, forming a new lake. The death toll is staggering,
thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, with thousands more missing
and even more thousands injured.
    There is no way to get an actual count right
now because the devastation is too great. There are fires and gas
explosions everywhere, hampering any rescue efforts, which are
minimal. Roads are filled with debris from buildings and crushed
cars. Asphalt and concrete have buckled. Emergency vehicles can’t
get anywhere. Gas stations are burning out of control from ruptured
fuel tanks and natural gas lines have ignited everywhere. FEMA is
overwhelmed. They were completely tied up on the East Coast with
the hurricane victims, and now this. They can’t even do anything
since there has been no call from either governor requesting
help.
    Missing Missouri Governor Sarah Astor was
home with her family in Hannibal. Tennessee Governor Johnny Perkins
is also missing. Both governments are in chaos. All shipping
traffic on the Mississippi has been halted. Some of the barges were
shoved into the river banks, while others that were not so lucky,
were sunk. With virtually all the bridges compromised in one way or
another, the vehicle traffic is non-existent. It’s the same way for
any east-west trains. The only route is through northern Minnesota
and it’s blocked by the first blizzard of the season.
    Reports just came in that there were two 4.5
tremors in Utah within the last twelve hours, and a 6.7 in
Yellowstone. They had to evacuate and close the park because the
ground is so hot that it was melting the soles on shoes. Another
6.3 Richter scale earthquake occurred off the coast of British
Columbia.
    What is happening???
     
    * * *
     
    That’s it, no more runs to town.
    I dressed in my usual slacks, long sleeved
shirt and vest. The vest is important to hide my shoulder holster.
Ever since the first quake, I’ve been wearing it even around the
house.
    County Road 695 into town was absent any
traffic, though that’s not unusual. I wanted to make this a fast
trip so light traffic was a bonus. I pulled into the mall parking
lot. My goal was to get to the hardware store in the strip-mall
section next to the grocery store. I grabbed one of the cloth
shopping bags from the back seat and headed in. The selection of
batteries was poor, others had obviously thought about them too.
Damn! I could kick myself for forgetting I needed batteries! I
managed to obtain three packs of D cell and two of C. They were not
enough since they were only double packs.
    When I neared the check out, I saw the
shotgun leaning behind the counter. The young man, maybe thirty
years old, saw me glance at it.
    “Getting that bad already?” I asked, putting
the batteries on the counter.
    “Yes,” he replied tensely. “It’s cash only
and I don’t make change.” That surprised me. I handed him enough
bills and left.
    Next door at Mack’s, I got a bonus. Who looks
for batteries in the shampoo aisle? I found four more packs of D,
C, AA and AAA. Since there were lots of nine volt, I took two, in
spite of the fact that, offhand, I can’t think of anything I have
that uses nine volt. Apparently nobody else does either.
    Out of curiosity, I wandered through the
store a bit. It’s only been three days, but the beer, wine and
liquor section was stripped clean. The rest of the shelves were
near bare. In the cereal aisle two women were arguing over a
canister of oatmeal. I watched in silence as