Storymania - The Earth Fights Back by A Waksberg

The Earth Fights Back
A Waksberg

  After the Second Gulf War, many rogue nations, fearing an invasion by the undisputed super power of the time, joined forces to develop their own nuclear weapons. This triggered a spiraling effect with other non nuclear law abiding countries who started their own programs for their self-protection. The consequence was a proliferation of a great number of underground nuclear tests even though, in theory , these were illegal.

In spite of this climate of fear and uncertainty, John and Mary decided to get married. He was young, handsome and rich, having started a very lucrative business in the internet field. He was all a girl would ever want, except for one thing. Like so many in his field, he was so absorbed by his work that his romantic life suffered. He had even tried to convince Mary to hold off the honeymoon just a couple of weeks so that he could finish the pre-production model of the gadget that he had designed in order to go into production as soon as possible.

Mary who was romantic but yet spunky, would not have any of this and she pleaded with her enticing smile the day after the wedding,

"John, how can you think of work now- you promised me time and again that it would not dominate your life. If there is a time to prove you meant it, it's certainly now. I've been dreaming of this moment all my life and I have to keep you away from your high stress job. It's the only way I can make sure you'll be thinking of us and our future."

"How can I refuse those beautiful blue eyes when they look at me!, I will keep my promise- but let's meet half way. Let's go to Los Angeles as planned, but for a week instead of two. I'll make it up to you, and we'll have a second honeymoon in a couple of months. Is that fair enough?"

"O.K. John, I'll buy that."

Reluctantly, John used the next day to instruct his staff to carry on without him for a week and then rushed home to pack for their honeymoon. Mary had not been sure until the last moment whether he could resist leaving his darling work. She became more positive, however, when he said, "let's catch a plane tomorrow."

Seeing he was in such a good mood she pushed her luck a little further by adding, "Why don't we drive along the coast on the 101 instead. The scenery is so beautiful- I love Big Sur and the enticing small shops and cafés."

"All right, I must admit I also like this way of going to LA. Let's do it."

The world news were not encouraging. The earth now seemed to fight back the insults that were inflicted on it by so many nuclear explosions shaking it down to the core. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were becoming more frequent. The scientific community throughout the world became seriously concerned and alerted the population as well as their governments. The United Nations finally got its act together and after many interminable debates issued an order to stop all underground testing immediately. Any recalcitrant country would be severely punished by the nuclear powers. This seemed to work as most testing stopped. Unfortunately, this was too little too late. By this time, the earth was reacting erratically and frightfully. Earthquakes were now occurring ever more frequently and at the most unusual places. Many highways were becoming impracticable as well as airports, with huge cracks occurring everywhere.

As they left San Fransico listening to the news in the car, John and Mary heard the disconcerting news that the LA airport was closed because of a large earthquake which had destroyed much of the landing strips.

"Thank God we decided to take the car" Mary said.

"You're right, one nice thing about traveling by car is that we can easily change our plan as we go. We have to keep the radio on to keep abreast of what is going on."

And so they passed the first day meandering along the cost of Big Sur and retired early in a small romantic hotel where they spent a night full of excitement- the right kind!

The next morning they were awaked early by a small earthquake that shook the hotel somewhat. The radio said that a small quake had occurred north of where they were and that there were no casualties. Under normal circumstances they might not have been concerned as most people in California are used to small quakes. In the present context, however, this was more of a worry.

"Since LA is more quake prone," Mary proposed "why don't we by-pass it and head straight to Las Vegas. I am sure we could have as much fun there!"

"That's a good idea because, to tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about going to LA."

Looking at the map they decided to go down the coast as far as about Morro Bay and then to take small roads towards Bakersfield to end up on the interstate 15 that would lead directly to Las Vegas. In so doing they would avoid the LA region completely.

They enjoyed the remaining part of the coastal road as the weather was picture perfect (and they took many!). They then turned into smaller roads and drove at a leisurely pace towards Bakersfield. John was not used to taking small by-ways when he did not need to as he was always in a hurry. Today was different because of Mary snuggling beside him with a map on her knees. He found her sexy and most desirable. He had trouble keeping his eyes on the road and his hands on the steering wheel. He felt like a new man with his business completely out of his mind.

"Do you want to take a break John? You've been driving quite a long time. Let me take over."

"OK darling, in another fifteen minutes."

As he was talking, all of a sudden, the car started to sputter and after a few moments it stalled completely. John had just time to pull over on the side of the road.

"What the blazes is going on?" he cursed as he tried feverishly to start the engine again. Although he was a wizard with computers, he knew just about nothing about cars apart from driving them.

"What are we going to do?" he asked nervously. Mary, much cooler in these situations, observed her new husband and said, "I know what the problem is, look at your fuel gauge. We're out of gas!"

"I don't believe it, for goodness sake. With all the turmoil, I didn't check the gauge. It's the first time this has ever happened to me," he said in an embarrassed tone.

"Don't worry, I am sure this could have happened to me in this same situation. The problem is we are on a small road with very little traffic."

"I'll go outside and try to stop a car, if ever there is one."

They were fortunate as a car appeared shortly after. The man was very helpful and told John that he was lucky as there was a small service station just about a mile away. He offered to drive him there.

"Do you think you'll be OK Mary. I'm really sorry! Its too far for you to walk back with your high heels, but I should be back in about 20 minutes."

"Don't worry about me darling, I brought a book with me just for those occasions!"

About ten minutes later a large rumble started to shake the car. Mary got very scared. She regretted not having gone with John, even if that had meant walking back a mile. After a few seconds of calm she heard a huge roar and the car started bouncing every which way. She wasn't sure whether it was safer to be in the car or out of it. She noticed that large cracks were starting to appear in front of her. Mary, usually calm and composed, started to tremble in fear.

Meanwhile, John who was filling up a small can of gas felt the tremor and became panicky. Not waiting until the can was full, he paid and started to run back. Of course, no cars were going in his direction.

"My God! why is this happening to me?" he muttered as he huffed and puffed, sweating profusely. After running a few minutes he felt the earth start to shake under him so hard that he fell letting the can out of his hands. Although he had hurt his knees badly he stood up as fast as he could. His car was now in sight which gave him strength to run again even though he was limping pretty badly.

At the same time, Mary could now see John and this comforted her somewhat. Unfortunately, not for long as another rumble shook the earth and she saw the cracks in the road widen. She knew by now that the car could not negotiate those cracks and that they would have to turn back as soon a her husband reached her. He was by now only a few hundred feet away when the earth trembled so hard that she had to hold on to the car to remain standing.

By the time John reached the area of the quake, the crack had now become a deep crevice. He saw his wife waving at him frantically and looked for a way to reach the other side. As he was deciding the best way to climb down and up, a huge roar like ten simultaneous thunder deafened his ears and made him retreat instinctively. When he turned back he realized that the place where he had been standing just a few seconds ago was no more! The whole crevice was now a precipice. He look both ways and realized with fright that it extended as far as the eye could see.

On the other side, Mary had the same reaction as John and ran back as fast as she could. When she turned around, crying hysterically and trembling, she realized that the car had disappeared into the precipice. John was waving helplessly like a madman.

Both realized that this calamity was far from over and John waved to Mary to run back as the earth in front of them continued falling into the precipice.

As they ran back for about half a mile, out of breath, they saw with horror that he precipice had now turned into a gigantic abyss the size of the Grand Canyon. John could barely see Mary still waving frantically nearly a mile away.

Shaking from head to toe, he realized that the opposite side of the canyon was actually moving away from him. The noise and rumble was now almost unbearable, but his curiosity had the better of him and he kept on looking. As the other side kept receding in obvious fashion, the bottom of the canyon got deeper and turned reddish. With a sinking heart he realized that this was bright orange lava that was flowing in a flaming river.

As the ever widening canyon was getting deeper, the lava explosions and thunderous noise were getting horrendous. More frightening still and almost unbearable, the far side of the abyss was definitely moving away from him-over all its length as far as the eyes could see. It now became apparent to John, even though he did not want to admit it to himself, that the Earth was actually breaking up and splitting in two and what he was witnessing in that nightmarish spectacle was the other half of the world moving away from him.

As the "other world" was being pushed apart by the gigantic explosions that seemed to be coming from areas ever closer to the earth's center, a blinding ball of fire almost as bright as the sun was beginning to appear way down toward the core of the earth. The monstrosity of what was happening was overwhelming and John's brain could not process what he was seeing. But yet, he could not deny the reality of what he was witnessing.

He knew that he would never see Mary again as she was now part of the New World which was receding inexorably away from him. He cursed the folly of the Human Being for being the cause of this catastrophic chain of event that left him with only one-half of the world and the loss for ever of the one he loved!