After Earth - More from Before

I choose to tell myself that I shot that bear out of respect. A courteous bullet diving deep into its massive chest. At the same time, I can’t get the image out of my head. Whatever fur remained on the bear’s body was a quilted pattern of gray, brown, and black. I really couldn’t tell what kind of bear it actually was. As my conscious overtakes my emotions and my memories replay the moment, I cook pieces of the tough meat over a meager flame. My conflicted thoughts are won over by the urge to survive and eat anything my body will accept. I was never cut out for the life or death decisions I now make on a daily business.

It’s hard to say exactly how a bear tastes. I was worried that the meat might make me sick since the bear was clearly not in a healthy condition. My stomach chose otherwise. The leg was tough with muscle, but with a flavor similar to beef. The fox didn’t want to partake in my meal, so I gave it half of my final can of tuna. After gorging in a hefty meal of a new cuisine, I realize it is late in the afternoon. I know this day is not meant for travel, but I want to cover a bit more distance before the sun sets.

Another earthquake shakes the ground beneath me and several large rocks fall from the cliffs ahead. I wrap up a few more pounds of bear meat in one of my many coats and kick dirt into the pitiful fire. It’s safe to assume tonight will be cold enough for me to preserve the meat outside while I sleep. A second quake punches harder creating a massive crack that shoots up through the rock face in front of me. I should get back down to ground level as quickly as possible.

With one swift motion I scoop up all my pack and jackets then take off towards the other side of the hill. The ground continues to shake. I get an eerie sense that the earth is directly aiming rocks at me as I dodge the lighting shaped cracks corroding through the earth. The fox is keeping up close behind as I jump over the cracks and lunge out of the way of falling rocks. Before long, I can see the downslope of the cliff and the road in the distance. I quickly learn that this side is a much steeper descent as I leap off the side and land on the avalanche of gravel tumbling down. I become one with the rocks as my arms and back scrape against the jagged surface. I let the rocks carry me down with eager speed. Eventually, I reach the bottom and fumble into a dry bed of twigs. Of course the earth now decides to stop shaking as if it’s telling me to stay off the hilltop.

February 11, 2030

The earthquakes became a common occurrence. They started out minor. More an inconvenience than anything. Only recently have they overpassed inconvenience and become dangerous. Back in December, about a week before Christmas, several apartment buildings in Hollywood crumbled to dust. The casualties resulted in 28 tenants suffering some form of injury and two died. The media wrote it off as faulty building structure and the lawsuits resulted in nothing more than a series of fines and settlements. About a month later, in January, an earthquake hit a retirement home in Seattle. The building shook so aggressively that large chunks of rubble were hurled at the nearby shopping mall and condominiums. This time, casualties were much worse, 45 injured with 11 dead.

It wasn’t until last week, on February third, that our country witnessed grandiose disaster. On a typical Tuesday morning, New York was struck with the worst quake our country has seen in centuries. Passengers reported seeing an unusual amount of giant waves splashing up onto the deck of the Staten Island Ferry. It only took a few minutes before the boat began to tip over and life rafts were plunged into the water. In the distance, Staten Island could be seen slowly sinking into the water. Waves the size of a tsunami lashed down hard on the island, flooding the streets in an instant. Boats in the harbor were flipped and many sunk as quickly as rocks. The island looked like a giant wet bagel being sliced down the middle. The coast guard attempted to rescue as many people as possible, but what the hell can you do to save an entire island from sinking? The casualties are still unknown and cleanup continues as the waters are scanned for any survivors.

How come people react only when it’s too late? We could have looked at prevention methods earlier when the apartments in Hollywood were smashed or when the retirement home erupted into an array of rock and metal.

The expected conspiracy theories surfaced in order to comfort those who need a quick and simple explanation. Some of the more irrational religious groups claimed that God was mad at us and this was his way of showing his wrath as a result of our sins. This is possibly the easiest rationalization. Radical, right-wing political figures claimed that terrorists a new form of terrorism had evolved with large-scale destructive weapons with more stealth than a nuclear attack. These claims were never supplemented with any evidence. To the relief of most, our government finally recognized the problem with our planet and has begun developing a plan to avoid this from ever happening again.

If I’m being completely honest with myself, I have very little faith in our leaders. Maybe years ago, we still would have had a chance to solve the impending disasters, but we’ve dug ourselves to deep. Even if we do everything imaginable to adapt in this new world, it doesn’t matter. Earth has made up its mind. This is no longer “our” planet. It never was. Mother earth has woken up and now acts as her own being.

-W