Aftershock

CHAPTER FIVE



AFTER LAUREN SAW to her patients, she checked on Penny again.

The teenager was having her hair done at Cadence’s “beauty shop” inside the RV. Penny was sitting on the floor in front of the bed, her hands cupped under her swollen belly, legs crossed at the ankle. Cadence was perched on the mattress behind her, mouth pursed in concentration. With her dark brown hair braided into two neat sections, Penny looked like Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island.

Penny had styled Cadence’s hair also. The girl’s thick curls were tamed into two puffy pom-poms.

Lauren waited for Cadence to finish, her heart warmed by the scene. She’d always wanted a sister. Her mother hadn’t fussed with her hair much. But Lauren had been a tomboy, more interested in playing sports than dressing up.

“I wanted my hair out of the way,” Penny said, fingering the braids.

“In case the baby comes,” Cadence added.

“Are you having contractions?” Lauren asked, concerned.

“No. Just lower-back pain.”

Lauren checked her vital signs and palpated her abdomen. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“You’ve had medical care throughout the pregnancy?”

“Yes. I’ve been taking my prenatal vitamins and going to the doctor every few weeks.”

“No complications?”

She shook her head.

“Any complaints?”

“I have to pee every five minutes.”

Lauren smiled, removing her stethoscope. “The baby’s head is putting pressure on your bladder,” she explained. “That’s normal. It’s the right position for delivery. We don’t want the baby to come out feet first.”

Cadence seemed excited by the idea of a new addition to their group. Penny appeared sick with worry, which was understandable. Going into labor under these circumstances could be disastrous.

“Drink plenty of water, even though it makes you pee. You’ll lose a lot of fluids when the baby is born.”

Lauren didn’t want to take Penny away from Cadence, or the safety of the RV, but she needed her help with the radio. If she didn’t join Garrett on the search for supplies, he’d go alone and possibly endanger himself.

She didn’t know what to think of him. Sometimes she caught him staring at her in a caged-animal sort of way. Hungry, but unable to hunt. He also seemed tense and distant, as if her presence set his nerves on edge.

Maybe she was imagining things. They were all stressed out.

“We found a CB radio,” she said to Penny. “We haven’t had any luck with responses, but we need to keep trying. If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like for you to send out a message in Spanish.”

“Sure,” Penny said, rising to her feet. The huge belly didn’t hamper her movements as much as Lauren expected. She was young and spry and eager to leave the claustrophobic confines of the RV.

Cadence stood also. “What can I do?”

Lauren squeezed her shoulder. “Stay inside for now. Garrett and I are going to search the cars some more. We’ll come back for lunch.”

She didn’t like being cooped up any more than Penny. Eyes watering, she curled up on the bed and hugged a pillow to her chest.

When they were outside the RV, Penny said, “She misses her mom. They were talking on the phone when the earthquake hit.”

Lauren thought of her own mother and felt a stab of guilt. Their relationship had been strained since her father’s death, but she knew her mother loved her. Right now, she was probably worried out of her mind.

“I hope the rest of my family is okay,” Penny said.

“Do they live nearby?”

Penny shook her head. “L.A.”

“Maybe that’s best. Farther from the epicenter.”

They passed Don, who was helping Garrett make an SOS flag, and climbed into the truck. Lauren showed her how the radio worked. Penny voiced a tremulous message into the receiver. Although Lauren didn’t understand Spanish perfectly, she admired Penny’s delivery. The teen sounded sweet and innocent and distressed.

If Lauren could telegraph a picture of her fine features and luminous skin, men from all over the country might come running.

Unfortunately, the only response they heard was static.

Lauren demonstrated the SOS signal that Garrett had taught her. Penny picked it up easily. She seemed to have a quick mind and a nice personality. Lauren assumed that her pregnancy was unplanned, and wondered if Penny would keep the baby. Being a young mother was always a struggle.

“I wanted to talk to you about the other men,” Lauren said, tackling an even more difficult subject.

Penny brought her attention back to Lauren. “The convicts?”

“Did Don tell you what happened?”

“He just said they were dangerous, and that they attacked you and Garrett.”

She nodded, swallowing hard. “The heavy one, Mickey, woke me up last night. He tore my shirt and held his hand over my mouth. When I started struggling, he tried to slam my head into the concrete.”

Her mouth thinned. “What did Garrett do?”

“He hit him with a flashlight and broke his nose.”

“Good.”

“But Jeb threatened to shoot, so Garrett let him go.”

“You think they’ll try again?”

“Maybe not,” Lauren replied. “But I wanted you to know...what they’re capable of.”

“I already knew what they were capable of.”

“How?”

“They’re men.”

Lauren wasn’t sure how to respond to this logic. Extreme caution seemed appropriate in a survival situation. Maybe Lauren had been too reckless. She shouldn’t have been sleeping out in the open, where she was vulnerable.

“I’m glad you warned me, though. I’ll talk to Cadence.” Penny paused, studying her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, of course.” Tears sprang into her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Garrett hurt his knuckles.”

“I hope Mickey’s face hurts more.”

Lauren took a deep breath, pushing aside the disturbing memories. “If they do come back, be careful. I wouldn’t put it past them to attack you. You’re a beautiful girl. I could tell that Owen noticed.”

“Owen?”

“The blond guy with the bruises.”

She squinted out the driver’s-side window, surveying the space where Owen had stood. “I’ll throw rocks at him if he comes back.”

Antagonizing the convicts wasn’t a good idea, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared. Garrett was carrying a crowbar. Don had been keeping a baseball bat next to his lawn chair. Lauren wouldn’t mind having a blunt object at the ready. The women needed to be able to defend themselves, too.

“This is a cool crash pad,” Penny said. She sat down on the bunk, testing the mattress. “It’s like a tiny apartment.”

Lauren was distracted by the local radio, which she’d kept on at a low volume. A series of beeps indicated an emergency broadcast, so she turned it up.

“The president has declared San Diego a disaster zone. Yesterday the city experienced a powerful eight-point-five earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks. Rescue teams are in the process of evacuating the entire county. If you are located near the epicenter, emergency personnel may not be able to reach you. The greater downtown area has sustained considerable damage and many roadways have been destroyed.

“Those who cannot evacuate are urged to take shelter. Air support will be delivering supplies to strategic urban locations.”

The broadcast went on to give advice about tap water, warning that pipelines had been contaminated. Power wasn’t expected to be returned to the area soon. Most residents had no electricity and no means of communication.

It was a mess. The death-toll estimates were astronomical.

When the announcement ended, Lauren exchanged a glance with Penny. Disaster teams were focused on evacuation. It could be days before they launched a concerted rescue effort. When she considered the specialized equipment and manpower necessary to sort through a freeway collapse, she anticipated a much longer wait.

Penny placed her hand on the top of her belly. “The baby’s kicking,” she murmured, her eyes flat.

“Will you stay here and tap the SOS code every few minutes?”

“Sure,” she said, sighing. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

Lauren left Penny to it and returned to Don and Garrett, relaying the latest information. “We might not get rescued until evacuations are complete.”

Garrett made a noise of agreement. “If they’re doing airdrops, putting out the flag is crucial. They’ll prioritize searches by areas where they know there are survivors. Even then, they’ll do the easy jobs first.”

Lauren couldn’t imagine how many small-scale rescues the disaster teams would perform in the next few days. Crews would start on the outer edge of the most affected areas and work their way toward the epicenter.

Which they were smack-dab in the middle of, as far as she knew.

“I need the mirror you were using last night,” Garrett said.

“Why?”

“I’m going to stick it through the crevice in the concrete and try to look around. Assuming I make it that far.”

Lauren retrieved the mirror, watching while he taped it to a wire clothes hanger, which he’d bent and doubled. He was a regular MacGyver. Although she admired his ingenuity, she worried about his safety. She knew he worked well under pressure and had courage to spare. But he seemed a little too willing to put his life on the line.

“We should search the rest of the cars first,” he said. “It might take all day for me to climb the wall.”

Before they set out again, Lauren strapped a pair of scissors to her belt. It wasn’t an ideal weapon for stabbing, but the blades were sharp and handy. For Penny she found an even better tool: landscape clippers in a leather sheath. She attached them to a strip of gauze that Penny tied around her waist, under her belly.

The teen looked like a pregnant pirate. With Mary Ann braids.

Lauren exchanged a smile with Garrett as they walked away. Although his face was streaked with dirt, his teeth appeared very strong and white. Her breath caught at the sight. Then she remembered how he’d reacted to her touch.

She looked down, focusing on navigating through the debris. He might like her as a friend, or be attracted to her as a woman, but he wasn’t comfortable with intimacy. She should keep her smiles—and her hands—to herself.

* * *

PENNY WATCHED LAUREN and Garrett fade into the dark edges of the cavern.

They were cute together. Total opposites, in looks. Lauren was light haired and small; Garrett was dark haired and big. Both were save-the-world types. Penny’s soccer coach had been that way. Miss Alisos had cried when Penny quit the team.

Penny had cried, too. Just not in front of everyone.

She didn’t consider Garrett as much of a threat as the other men. He’d saved her life, which counted for a lot. He’d also protected Lauren from a rapist. Although Penny had caught him checking Lauren out when he thought no one else was looking, he seemed like a good guy. Penny didn’t think he’d hurt anyone.

She did the Morse code thing again and listened for a response. Nothing.

Bored and restless, she rifled through the trucker’s sleeper cabin. There was a stack of dirty magazines and a box of condoms in a drawer under the bed. Curious, she selected the most shocking cover and returned to the driver’s seat to peruse it.

The images were pretty gross. She’d only seen one men’s magazine before, which featured glamorous women in sexy shoes and expensive lingerie. These shots depicted worn-out hookers with mussed hair and weird grimaces.

They weren’t just posing, either.

Shuddering, she closed the pages. If getting pregnant by a stupid jerk hadn’t already put her off sex for life, this would have done the job. While she was placing the magazine back in the drawer, the semi started shaking.

Letting out a cry of distress, she covered her head with her arms and stayed still, waiting for the tremor to pass. The latest aftershocks weren’t as bad as the first ones. Those had been almost as strong as the original quake.

Maybe her father was right; God punished sinners. Especially female ones.

When it was over, she lifted her head, listening. That annoying car alarm sounded again, but only for a few seconds. Penny rose to her feet and looked toward the RV. Cadence had rushed outside to hug Don, her face crumpled in fear.

Penny felt a tiny stab of envy at the sight of their embrace. She missed her aunt, who’d been her only remaining supporter. She missed her parents, even her father, who thought she’d sullied the family name. Before she left home, he’d issued a stern warning about her pregnancy. If anyone found out, he would disown her. She was supposed to deliver the baby and quietly give it up for adoption. Either that, or get married.

Those were her only options.

Although she feared her father’s wrath, she was more afraid of dying in childbirth. If she got through to someone on the radio, she’d tell them who she was. She’d be honest about her family name and her condition, no matter what the cost.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and climbed out of the truck. Maybe Cadence would enjoy learning the SOS signal and hanging out inside the semi. Distracting the traumatized girl was the least Penny could do.

Before she reached Cadence and Don, one of the convicts stepped out of the shadows. It was the youngest, Owen. He came forward hesitantly, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern as if worried about falling debris. He held a brown paper bag against his chest.

When he saw Penny standing by the semi, he froze.

She didn’t even think of brandishing the pruning shears. Lifting her chin, she stared back at him. He looked awful. There were shiny black crescents under both eyes. The tattooed script along his neck and arms reminded her of newspaper.

He was a walking advertisement for hate.

His demeanor didn’t quite match the outside. He was tall and scary, but he didn’t appear comfortable in his skin. There was no hint of derision or arrogance. If anything, he seemed uncertain. Or...fascinated.

With what—her hideously misshapen form?

Don picked up his baseball bat in a challenging manner.

Owen tore his gaze away from Penny, blinking a few times, as if he’d seen a bright light. “I found a bag of toys and stuff in one of the cars,” he said, setting the package down. “It’s nothing we can use.”

They were all silent for several beats.

“What kind of toys?” Cadence asked.

He looked from Don to her, the corner of his mouth quirking. “The Nintendo DS might interest you. It’s got ‘Mario Kart.’”

“I’ve never played that game,” she said shyly.

“You haven’t? It’s pretty fun.”

Penny couldn’t imagine why he’d brought the device to Cadence. Most young men enjoyed video games just as much as kids. Under these circumstances, anything that could be used to pass the time was invaluable.

“There’s some baby blankets, too,” he said, glancing at Penny again. “They look new.”

Don didn’t thank him or set aside his bat. He kept his hand on Cadence’s shoulder, preventing her from moving forward.

For some reason, the baby items sent Penny over the edge. She was terrified of going into labor before they were rescued. Owen’s “gift” reminded her of her worst nightmare. How dare he waltz into this side of the cavern and stir up her fears? How dare he flash his white-power tats in front of a proud Mexicana and a mixed-race girl?

“Get out of here,” she said, her fingers closing over the handle of the pruning shears. If he tried anything, she’d snip his face.

He flinched at the harsh words, a flush creeping up his neck. Either from shame or anger, she couldn’t tell. But he didn’t step closer or talk back to her. Nodding politely, he turned away, limping into the dark.

As soon as he was gone, Don retrieved the paper bag. He found the game player and a purple-haired doll with black button eyes for Cadence. “Go back inside now,” he said, passing her the items.

Cradling both in her arms, she returned to the RV.

Don rifled through the remaining contents, as if making sure they were safe, before he handed the bag to Penny.

Her throat tightened when she saw the soft blankets inside. Her aunt had taken her shopping for baby items last week. It seemed like a year ago. She’d purchased some unisex clothes and accessories, along with a big box of newborn diapers. Tyler hadn’t bought her anything, of course. He hadn’t sent a single gift.

She resented Owen for doing more than the baby’s father.

Not that she took his gesture at face value. He might be planning to steal the rest of their food. One of his buddies had tried to rape Lauren last night. She didn’t know why those men had been in jail, and she wasn’t going to let her guard down.

Garrett and Lauren returned from their supply run, arms filled with miscellaneous items. Nothing Penny was interested in. She would have killed for an orange. The only fruit they had left was a spotted banana.

“Is it okay if I take Cadence back to the semi with me?” she asked Don. “I can show her how to do Morse code.”

He agreed, perhaps intending to speak with the others about Owen. Penny was torn between staying and going. She wanted to be treated like an adult, but the responsibility was overwhelming. Being pregnant, in itself, was a chore.

Cadence brought her doll and game device with her. Penny, who had played “Super Mario Kart” once before, gave her some tips. To Penny’s surprise, the girl set the device aside after a few minutes.

“Why’d you tell that man to go away?” she asked.

“Because I’m afraid of him. You should be, too.”

She shrugged. “He seems nice.”

“Do you know what that tattoo on his hand means?”

Cadence’s face became troubled. “Yeah. My mom told me to stay away from people like him. They hate us.”

Penny was relieved that she didn’t need to explain, but she felt sad for Cadence. A girl her age shouldn’t have to deal with ignorance and hate.

“What if he made a mistake?” Cadence asked. “Some people get tattoos and feel sorry about it later. I saw a girl on MTV who had her name spelled wrong on the back of her neck. That was pretty dumb.”

“He’s got a lot of tattoos. They can’t all be mistakes.”

“I think he likes you,” she said.

Penny recoiled from the notion. Smoothing a hand over her watermelon-size stomach, she glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. If Owen found her deformed figure attractive, he had really bad taste. But they’d already established that.

“One of the other men attacked Lauren,” Penny warned, frowning at herself.

“I know. My grandpa told me. He doesn’t want us to get hurt.”

Don had been kind to Penny, and for that, she was grateful. She hoped he didn’t consider her a bad influence on Cadence. Some people—like her parents—disapproved of pregnant teenagers. They ignored her or gave her dirty looks.

Since she’d started showing, she’d felt like a pariah.

“Don’t worry,” Cadence said, putting her arms around Penny. “We won’t let anyone attack you. I’m pretty sure Owen wouldn’t do that, but the rest of us will be watching out. You’re safe here.”

She’d meant to comfort Cadence, not be comforted by her. But the girl’s embrace felt warm and sweet, and Penny didn’t have the heart to pull away.