CAZine

By Jeremy Essen

 

Chapter Two

 

9:15 a.m

 

“ Hey boss, you okay?”

Johnny awoke to find P.E.T.E sitting on his chest. He tried to sit up, but pain suddenly flashed through his head causing him to see stars. He laid back down and found that he was laying on the gravel parking lot out side of the Ranger station. Johnny turned his head to the right to see Emily sitting on a large rock only a couple of feet away. Her nose was trickling blood and most of her shirt had been torn. Emily looked at him and shook her head as if trying to clear it. She stood up and walked over to Johnny. When Emily reached him she winced as she saw the damage that had been done to his shapely body. Johnny tried to sit up again, but Emily restrained him.

“ Try not to move,” she said “Your head’s pretty banged up and you’ve got some nasty cuts from the ceiling.”

“ He looks like just got the crap kicked out of him.” P.E.T.E sounded worried.

Johnny closed his eyes trying to ignore the pain. He heard Emily say, “… well most of the roof is caved in and my truck’s totaled.” Johnny opened his eyes at that. He craned his head to the left and saw what was left of the Ranger station. Its roof had collapsed; bits and pieces of former technology littered the ground. Johnny also saw that his Chevy had survived the episode without a scratch, although it was too early to tell how much damage had actually been done to the truck. Emily’s jeep had been crushed flat by the telephone pole that used to stand next to the station. Oil was leaking from the smashed engine and was mixing with gas. The fumes were beginning to reach Johnny’s nostrils.

“Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?” Johnny said through his teeth as Emily lifted him up and gave her shoulder to support him. Pain riddled his body.

“ What do you think happened Johnny? We just got hit by a huge earthquake. I can’t imagine what’s happened to the town.” Emily was walking with a limp.  P.E.T.E was rolling near Johnny’s feet. Johnny tried to keep his weight off of Emily’s shoulder but whenever he tried to shift his weight his body convulsed with pain.

“ Em, we’ve got to find a seismograph. We need to find out how big that quake was.”

“ Yeah, I know. But first we need to get you to a doctor.”

“Forget about me! We need to find out how big that quake was!”

Emily sighed.  “Okay, let’s see what we can find in what’s left of the station. Maybe we’ll get lucky-” Just then Johnny’s remarkably unharmed cell phone decided that it needed to ring. Johnny groaned. “P.E.T.E, can you get that.”

“ Yeah boss.” P.E.T.E had a wireless connection to the phone. Johnny had had it installed so he wouldn’t have to answer the phone if he was busy.

“’Lo,” said P.E.T.E as the ringing of the phone stopped. “Oh God, are ya sure? I’ll tell ‘em right now.” There was a soft beep as P.E.T.E disconnected the call. He looked up at Johnny and Emily who were now standing at the ruined entrance to the Ranger Station. “Uh guys, there’s been an incident,” P.E.T.E’s metallic voice sounded shocked. “Somethin’ terrible has happened at Ol’ Faithful…”

                                                *   *   *

 

Emily all but threw Johnny into the passenger side of the Chevy as she herself tried to get the truck started simultaneously. P.E.T.E scrambled from Johnny’s pocket before the human’s side could crush him. Emily slammed the door closed and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.  They shot down a small dirt road leading to Old Faithful. Johnny tried to get his seatbelt on before Emily could get them both killed.

“ Em, slow down! This road is too rough!” Johnny shouted.

“No time! We’ve got to get our butts down there right now!” Emily shouted back.

“Slow down goddamnit! You’re gonna get us both killed and this is a brand-new truck!”

“ Shut up, Stone, and let me drive!” Johnny lapsed into silence as the truck shot down the last stretch of road leading to Old Faithful.  As they came over the final crest, Johnny, Emily, and, P.E.T.E saw what had caused the alarming phone call. Emily braked the truck to a skidding halt. Her eyes bulged in their sockets. Johnny couldn’t speak; the words were caught in his throat. He tried to force the words out but was only given two for his strangled efforts:

“Good…God.”

What remained of the Old Faithful lodge and the geyser itself lay before them in a charred heap. Johnny heard the sound of a window being rolled down. He looked over at Emily. Her face had gone deathly pale. She quickly leaned her head outside of the window before the bile rising in her throat could spray across the dashboard. Johnny turned his head away as Emily wretched all over the dirt road. P.E.T.E scrambled up Johnny’s arm, using his tentacles so he could get a better look at things.

“Whoa.” whispered P.E.T.E as he reached the crest of Johnny’s muscular shoulder.

The hulking wrecks that were once R.V.s, cars, and, trucks lay scattered across the charred grounds. Johnny could hear screams of pain and shock from the survivors of the horrible ordeal flow into the truck from the window as Emily was now blessing the ground with what remained of her breakfast. Johnny slowly got out of the truck and walked over to the driver’s side of the Silverado. Emily had also gotten out of the truck and was on her hands and knees. Johnny heard an explosion as a gas tank ruptured from somewhere down the hill. Emily heaved one last time before standing up again. She looked at Johnny to see that his face was very pale.

“Uh… guys,” P.E.T.E was still clutching to Johnny’s shoulder. “We should probably go down there and find out what happened.” Johnny was just about to suggest the same thing until he was cut short by the piece of annoying software sitting on his shoulder. “Do you think you can handle it, Em?” Johnny was eyeing Emily with some sincerity. His boss wobbled a bit before steadying herself. “Em? Can you handle it?” Johnny’s gaze had shifted from sincerity to concern.

“Yeah,” Emily finally said. “But your gonna have to drive.”

“Okay, let’s get down there.”

P.E.T.E scuttled down from Johnny’s shoulder and back into his pocket, compressing the whole way. Johnny painful hauled himself into the driver’s seat and waited for Emily to get into the passenger side of the Silverado. When she hauled herself into the truck, Johnny slowly pressed the truck forward trying not to upset Emily’s stomach. The trio descended the hill and into the remains of a once great geyser.