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A Different Path, part 5 The captain held out his hand towards Cierra. "Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you," he told her as he introduced himself and his officers. "And I'm sure you recall these crew people from the Asimov, Erica Hull and Rachel Chambers.' Cierra held out her hand and did her best to pretend that she did know the two uniformed women. The captain waited politely until the women finished greeting one another before he spoke again. "I'm curious, why are you way out here on the East coast?" Elinor rushed to speak first. "Captain, I know you're dying to find out all the facts but we're reluctant to give any details to a stranger. erhaps you'd allow us to talk with the two women that Cierra does know? Privately?" she hinted. The officer looked disappointed but nodded in agreement, telling his two crew members to escort the visitors back to their sailboat. The four women returned to the powered raft and returned to the anchored sailboat. Once they sat down on the padded benches on the deck, Erica chose to begin the conversation. "So, you want to tell us what's going on?" Elinor and Cierra hesitated so Erica urged them again. "The truth. I've met Cierra before and this isn't the same woman." Knowing they couldn't fool these young Coast Guard women, the other two began telling their story while Erica and Rachel stopped them time to time to ask clarifying questions. It took a while to finish and although it sounded like a crazy tale, the past experiences with original Cierra Foley-White made them believe. The four women sat quietly until Rachel got to the point with what she believed was the only solution. "They need to reach Cierra without letting anyone else find out the truth. They might try the same crap that they did before." "I agree. What do we tell the captain?" "That Elinor and Cierra had came here looking for someone only to find out they were dead. They need to get back but I could mention that the trip back would be nearly impossible now that Panama has closed the canal. They'd have to sail clear around South America. I'm sure that the President would approve of our helping them get home faster," she winked. Erica was silent for a while before she looked at her lover with pleading eyes. "I want to go with them, Rachel." "To Mother Earth?" "Yes." "And what about our families?" "We bring them too. Rachel, you know as well as I do that things are going bad. Food is running out. How long do you think we can protect them once that happens?" Rachel looked at the two strangers. "If we help you, can we bring all of our family along?" "Is that the price we pay for your help?" the reporter asked. Erica shook her head. "No, we'll help you regardless. We're begging you, let us go with you. There's just my mom and brother and Rachel's parents and two brothers. Once we get to Mother Earth we'll take care of ourselves if we have to. Please, say yes." "Alright. Tell us what to do and say," Elinor told Erica. * * * * * It was nearly two in the morning when the Army transport and the escort vehicles arrived at the small military airfield. Cierra and those traveling with her silently got off the truck and quickly walked to the waiting cargo plane. It wasn't the largest available but it would carry everyone and the supplies that the military was able to assemble on such short notice. The supplies themselves were loaded onto a small army transport truck and driven into the plane. The group would be cramped inside but the military believed that Cierra was the original shaman and would quickly transport them to Mother Earth. They had only gave them enough to get them to the jump site and nothing more. The army had given them several tents (in case there wasn't spare room on Mother Earth), two camp stoves for warmth, sleeping bags, and weapons to protect themselves while traveling. The families brought along their own basic household goods, clothing, and what little food they had. They had to travel from the airbase to the jump site over rough country where the roads were still damaged after the earthquakes. Cierra didn't feel capable of attempting to find her own world again so the group planned on traveling to Mare Island to wait for the shaman's monthly visit. They only hoped no violent gangs sat in wait for the survivors, thinking them as easy targets. The flight seemed to take forever with the only break from the monotony was when the plane landed to refuel. The women would rush towards the nearest building and use the restrooms rather than use the tiny commode on the plane. It also gave everyone the opportunity to stretch their legs and breathe in some fresh air. The place they were refueling seemed to not suffer much from the ash dust. All too soon, they were back in the air and heading west. Everyone snoozed, unable to really fall asleep on the noisy cargo plane. After the sun rose, the Army crew handed out MRE packages as breakfast. There weren't many choices and most of them eating either the spaghetti meal or the veggie burger. Elinor looked at the vegetarian burger with disgust but managed to eat down a few bites. One of the teen boys finished off her meal eagerly, his stomach never full. Jimmy Hull sat with his artificial leg straight in front of him, feeling uncomfortable as one of the uniformed men kept looking his way. Unable to stand the man looking towards him anymore, Jimmy lifted his chin and glared at the rude soldier. "What exactly is your problem?" The man merely shrugged one shoulder and didn't answer. The teenager tossed a crumpled paper at the man. "Then stop staring at me, jerk." The soldier made a move to rush towards him but one of his buddies grabbed his arm and ordered him to settle down. The friend looked at Jimmy and apologized. "Sorry, kid. It's just that they banned crippled people from being sent to the new world and there you are, getting a free ride because your sister knows Cierra. A lot of people were turned away." "I'm not crippled. I can do anything you can, so fuck off." Erica smacked her brother's arm. The last thing they needed was a fight before they landed. "Sorry, Sargent." The man nodded and told his friend to find another place to sit. He didn't want any trouble either. There might be another time when Cierra's help would be needed and the government wanted her goodwill. Just before noon, the plane reached the Air Guard base in southern California. The jeep was unloaded and prepped. The ranking officer aboard the plane wished them good luck and waved them off. ****** Rachel was driving the Army truck since she was the most familiar with driving one. Erica pulled out the map and gave her directions leading to the highway. The roads weren't as bad this far south but they knew they'd get worse the closer to San Francisco they got. They would use the 101 as much as possible, leaving it only to go around obstructions. Near San Jose, they would switch over to the 880 and head north near the coast until they reached Oakland then taking I-80 to Vallejo. It looked simple by the map but the two Coast Guard members knew anything could happen along the way. Their party didn't even dare to stop and try to find gas. Anywhere could be a place to get ambushed. The military truck thankfully had a full tank plus gas cans in back. Erica doubted that they'd reach Mare Island before nightfall, not with all the possible road damages. They would have to find a safe place to camp for the night and take turns with guard duty. The people in the front of the truck began watching their surroundings when the nearing sunset caused the shadows to lengthen. They had passed Berkeley a few hours before and we now were nearing the Memorial bridge that crossed over towards Vallejo. It was too late to look for a better spot. Erica pointed to a dirt road just off the highway and Rachel slowed and crawled over the rough terrain until she reached it. The road led them to a row of old trees near some hills. There were no buildings in sight. From inside the trees they could see clearly all the way back to the highway but remain hidden in the woods. Jimmy volunteered to take the first watch. Erica handed him a pistol and a flashlight, making him promise to know what he was aiming at first. The adults chose to sleep inside the truck while the two other teenage boys set up a two-man tent and crawled inside. Jimmy would wake his replacement after three hours. He slipped on his jacket and found a comfortable spot above their hiding place on a boulder up on the hill. Rachel's brother, Sawyer, asked if he could start a campfire. Erica answered him, knowing Rachel had a hard time refusing her brothers anything. "We can't risk being seen. Sorry, Sawyer." The teen shuffled to the tent and crawled in, clearly disappointed. "So I guess that means a cold meal," Mrs. Chambers said, "Cold beans anyone?" * * * * * They woke the next morning, stiff and cold, but glad that nothing had happened during the night. Erica looked around and spotted nothing moving within her view with the binoculars and told Sawyer he could start a fire as long as it was small and with no green wood. They would heat some water for tea and warm up a pot of canned soup for breakfast. The meal wasn't much but they didn't have a lot to spare. The military hadn't given them any food since they thought Cierra was the real Cierra and would take them to Mother Earth as quickly as possible. Once they had eaten and put out the fire, they got into the truck and continued towards Mare Island. Erica estimated that they only had about another dozen miles to go at most. She glanced at her watch, noting the date for the first time in ages. It was October 27th. That meant that they had to wait at least four days for Cierra to appear. She shivered, wondering how cold it would be until then. They stopped as they reached the Memorial bridge and Rachel inspected their surroundings with the binoculars. Seeing no one, they slowly began across it. They knew once on it, they could be trapped if anyone was determined to capture them. They collectively held their breaths until they crossed over and hit dry land once more. "Okay, keep going," Erica told Rachel. She didn't want to stop until they got to the village's location. They remained the only moving vehicle on the narrow highway the rest of the trip. They crossed the final bridge that led to Mare Island but saw no boats on the water. Perhaps anyone living on boats have all been gathered or ran out of food and went ashore. They took the road south and headed for the location where the village stood on Mother Earth and stopped. The area was riddled with cement parking lots, commercial buildings, and storage units but no housing. They needed a safe place to hole up until Cierra arrived. Elinor pointed at a building that was fairly tall near some railroad tracks. It building wasn't too far from the channel and nothing was around it except for a few old trees. "Let's take a look." They drove to the building and parked a short distance away. Rachel inspected it with her binoculars and told the others it appeared locked. The building only had high positioned windows and was probably a warehouse of some sort. It was made of sheet metal over a cement pad. Nick Chambers grabbed bolt cutters and walked towards the doors while ordering the boys to stay with the truck. He cut off the heavy lock and pulled open the metal door. He looked inside then turned toward the women. "All clear. Looks like an empty warehouse. Just a few crates inside." A quick inspection gave them hope for this being a good place to remain until Cierra could take them to Mother Earth. The building still had power and water with a working toilet inside. A tiny employees lounge revealed a microwave and toaster. The small refrigerator was searched but they only found a single can of soda and a bottle of ketchup. Rachel's father handed the bolt cutters to Nick jr. and told him to cut off the lock to the garage door. They would hide the truck indoors. They could take turns on the roof keeping watch. They had a good view all around them and could even see the sign that Cierra had installed last year. As long as they were careful not to be seen, they could remain there in relative safety. The doors could be barred from inside. "All we need now is food," Martha Hull mentioned. "We have a channel full of fish," Erica reminded her mother. "Oh goody, I love seafood," Martha said a sigh. Next Chapter |