[Elspode]

It was something of a chore to get the group rounded up and ready to head out. I had to send the kids rummaging through the locker room to find a couple of gym bags and backpacks to stuff a bunch of the pilfered sodas into. Resources are resources, and anything at all might get real hard to come by.

I'm not exactly sure how I came to selected the leader of this crew. Most of them are just kids, really. Hell, I guess I am, too, deep down. I'm scared as hell, but I know that we have to get out of this city before the surviving hoardes start turning really feral. I've already been robbed, but at least the thugs let me escape with my life. Next time, I might not be as lucky. I hope that the old saw "there's safety in numbers" holds to be true for this group.

It struck me as terribly odd that no one saw the comet coming until it was too late. It was said to have been a relatively old comet, and wasn't outgassing much, leaving it undiscovered until a scant week before the impact with the Moon. It also was an enormous comet, because, even with its relatively low density, it packed enough of a wallop to nudge our satellite in such a way that it triggered stupendous, violent tidal forces on the Earth. The last news reports I'd heard said that the San Andreas had gone completely apeshit, and there wasn't much left of the West Coast. Nothing much that people cared about, anyway.

I had been out of the lab and in the city, trying to stock up on some last minute emergency supplies when the actual impact came. Most scientists had poo-poohed the idea that it would be a major disaster. The moon was too solid, too far away, the comet was too insubstantial to do much more than make a big flash. Should be fun to watch, they said.

It was impressive when it did happen, but within 24 hours the first quakes had started, and another day later, the Earth swept across the path of debris that had been blown off the surface of the Moon. The rain of fiery stones caused almost as much damage as the earthquakes had the day before. By the time the brimstone had stopped falling, entire cities had burned to the ground. Forests were still burning in many locations around the planet, with little to no organized efforts to stop them. Apparently, the biggest part of the Rockies had been spared, and so I was determined to head West, out to my grandad's property near Durango, a place secluded enough, and with abundant water and game to survive on for awhile.

The big trick was going to be getting there, especially with a band of mostly suburbanite kids in tow. Fred was going to be a big help, from what I could tell of him. He had mentioned his time in the Fire Jumpers Service, so I knew he was tough, brave and smart. Someone else with some outdoors savvy was going to be essential if we were to keep everyone safe.

"We'd better get moving pretty quick", I said to the increasingly restless group. "We need to get some miles behind us before dark. We're going to have to have time to find a shelter of some sort, preferably someplace defensible, where we can see anyone coming for a ways off. Aaron, you're gonna have to keep that whistle quiet when we move out, man. We don't want everyone knowing we're coming, okay?"