Valley After

Author's note: Navalea is a polyamorous and pansexual woman who gains a penis one day. Her story is a sexy slow burn of friends discovering themselves, and each other, while surviving the fall and rebirth of civilization. Common themes include trans/lesbian relationships, body-positive exhibitionism, and free love.

Hearts ❤︎ indicate erotic chapters. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~

Part 2 - Refuge

Chapter 2.1: Beginning of the End

"The Cascadia subduction zone event was not the sole cause of the Collapse, but cracked the façade that the system was unshakable. When it crippled the wealthiest and most globally entangled nation-state in the old order, it exposed the brittle nature of complex supply networks for food, water, electricity, and information."

-- Dr. Teniel Rusk, "Faultlines: Catastrophe and the Undoing of the Old World," University Press of Velmira, Second Edition, 319 A.C.

It was a warm Saturday morning in August when my friends and I started the third Borderlands game. We'd decided to introduce Lily to the series, and played through the first few games over the past few weeks. She hadn't really played PC games before, but thankfully was still having a good time! Kira and I were at home, while Lily and Julien joined us over voice chat.

"Behind you, Nav!"Julien exclaimed. I spun around, firing shots into the group rushing us, while ducking into cover. I hastily reloaded, then peeked around the corner. A faint barking sound greeted me. That was unusual? I glanced over to my open window. New neighbors? I hadn't heard a dog before...

"I'm surprised the third one gets a lot of hate," Lily's voice came over the headset. "I'm enjoying the gameplay!"

"Yeah, though 2 had a better story," I added. "Handsome Jack was an incredible villain." The barking intensified from outside the window.

"No arguments there," Kira responded as we finished off this group of bandits.

"Thanks for suggesting we try this series!" Lily said. "It's cool to finally experience it."

"Privileges of being an adult," Julien responded and we started looting the camp. Then the barking turned into a long, plaintive howl. I sighed. I hated hearing animals in distress. Kira said with concern in her voice, "I hope that pupper's okay..."

I started to say, "If it keeps up, we could check-"BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP

I jumped, then stared at my phone.

BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP

.....BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP

..BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP

Alerts blared from my friends' phones. An emergency siren gradually began an upward wail, louder and louder outside, drowning out the dog's howling. Lily's voice shook, "What...what should... "

"Get outside!"I exclaimed while frantically grabbing my phone off the desk and dismissing the alert. "If we can't pick you up, follow our evacuation plan. Follow the plan!We'll meet you!"I waited for confirmation from my friends before throwing off my headset. I glanced around. Should I shut down my computer? No. No time!

JUST GET OUT!!!

The oncoming terror made my heart race and hands tremble. Everything around us seemed normal... calm... while our phones and the emergency siren screamed urgent warnings that hundreds of miles away, along a thousand miles of fault lines buried under the Pacific, death rolled towards us from deep within the earth.Nine point six?!Even as a kid from California I could barelyconceiveof that magnitude, but my imagination conjured up horrifying images anyway. I felt my panic rise knowing the first shockwave was getting closer, and closer, and would hit us any minute now. I threw on pants and raced to the kitchen, heart thudding in my chest. Kira was already in the hallway scrambling to get shoes on. I got my keys, wallet... grabbed shoes. Put them on?

Any minute now...

No time! Get the go bag. Open the door... lock it? Kira rushed through with her bag. My keys jingled, hands shaking with fear. I couldn't steady myself enough to lock the door. I just left it.

Any minute now...

Kira and I dashed from our apartment and stumbled onto the cold pavement in the middle of the parking lot. My shaking hands desperately pulled my shoes on. Kira looked at me with wide, terrified eyes. I reached out to hold her hand when the ground betrayed us. It was just a little bump at first... then everythingwrenchedback, nearly tipping me over. Violently slamming us back and forth until we steadied ourselves, hugging each other against the heaving Earth.

I fearfully held my best friend close as we watched the world crumble before terrified eyes. A carport swayed and collapsed in a loud crash of crumpling metal. The pavement cracked and rippled. Neighbors struggled to stumble and crawl out of their own apartments, some shocked into silence while others cried out in voices I couldn't hear over the roar of the planet. Windows shattered. The apartment building shifted as cracks snaked up through the outer walls, then half the building crumpled, then collapsed. I couldn't hear the screams. Seconds dragged into subjective eons of adrenaline-fueled clarity before the earth... gradually... slowly...

...became stable again.

Everything went eerily quiet, aside from the angry blare of car alarms.

Even the siren had stopped. It felt like an eternity, and I later learned the first of many waves lasted a catastrophic eight minutes. I looked around at the neighbors surrounding us. Families, pets, people from all walks of life. A few children cried in their parents arms, while everyone else sat in stunned silence.

Then a man rushed out from one of the apartments, looked around and screamed, waving to everyone. I didn't recognize the words. Kira exclaimed, "He's asking for help!"

We didn't even think -- our paramedic and army training wouldn't allow it. We rushed into the apartment. Dust drifted from ominous cracks in the ceiling. Fallen furniture blocked much of the living space. Kira hastily translated a language she probably learned in the service. "Takreem's mother Qasida is handicapped. He couldn't get her out!" We cleared enough debris to get through. I heard a voice calling out, and Takreem responded. We found the elderly woman on the floor of a small bedroom.

She reached out to me pleadingly. I wouldn't normally risk moving someone without a gurney, but the rest of the building might collapse at any moment. I briefly explained a two-handed seat carry to Kira, who translated for Takreem. They were stronger than me, so they lifted his mother together. She wrapped weak arms around her son's shoulders. I helped keep Qasida steady as we cautiously carried her past the debris to her wheelchair at the entrance to the apartment. I unfolded the chair, then Takreem and Kira set her down. After wheeling his mother out to safety, Takreem looked at us with tears in his eyes, and said something that transcended language barriers.

Our worries turned next to Julien and Lily. We tried our phones. Nothing. After a moment we gathered ourselves. "They'll be okay," Kira reassured me. "Modern condos. Built after the earthquake risks were recognized." My shoulders sagged, but I nodded in agreement.

Around us, people started clambering forward over the rubble where half the building had collapsed, struggling to pull off pieces of concrete. Kira and I shared a glance. Our mutual decision sunk in without having to say a word.

Our friends needed us, but our community needed us more. We spent the next half hour rescuing people trapped in the rubble. Everyone hurried. An aftershock might hit at any moment, and we'd have no warning the second time. These two-story apartment buildings were constructed half a century ago on river-adjacent ground that liquified during the earthquake. Those nearest the river suffered the most damage, with one partial and another full collapse, and many people trapped inside. Over time and with hundreds of helping hands, our community got everyone out, thankfully alive.

Then we returned to our place, where I ruefully looked over my car smashed by the collapsed carport. One of the beams had gone clear through the windshield. "Well, we only could drive one out of her anyway," I mused and nodded towards Kira's jeep. The big vehicle was parked in one of the larger spaces in the open parking lot.

"Yeah, I never knew I'd be thankful to have such a huge hunk of junk," she sighed. "Glad my uncle sent it; we might actually need the offroad capabilities now."

We packed her Jeep with the go bags and a few extra supplies hastily scavenged from inside our apartment. Julien lived closest, so we headed his way first. We couldn't get any information about how bad it was. Power was out, no phone service, and even the truck radio was silent. But based on what we saw...

"Pull over!" I exclaimed at one point as we approached a car accident. Kira hesitated and looked at me with concern, before pulling up behind the cars.

I got out of the jeep and approached the scene. An SUV had rear-ended a small car, completely crumpling in the trunk. A handful of people lingered on the side of the road. Most of them looked okay, but I rushed to the side of one man, whose neck and chin were bright red. He looked up at me in confusion. "I'm a paramedic, can I check your injury?" I explained briefly.

He nodded wearily. "Thank you. We tried calling 911, but the phones aren't working."

"They probably won't for a while," I said while gently looking him over. "Is this where the airbag hit?"

"Yeah," he answered and winced as he turned his head.

"You should be okay." I slung my backpack off my shoulders and pulled out a pen. "I'd get checked out anyway for possible neck trauma. There's a hospital on 182nd Street. I doubt you can get in contact with the police or EMT services. Do you think you can drive?"

"I think so." He glanced at his car. Despite the crumpled trunk, it looked operable.

I didn't have anything to write on, so after asking, I wrote directions on the man's hand. "Hopefully this hospital's still in good shape. I wouldn't recommend trying the closer one; it probably had damage in the quake. Explain to intake you were in a collision and might have a neck injury." He nodded and thanked me. I reluctantly said farewell and returned to Kira's side. She was standing by the jeep.

We climbed back in the vehicle and got on the road. Kira was silent for a while, then said gently, "You have a good heart, Navalea." I looked out of the vehicle in silence, with the implication going unsaid. We passed by another car accident, then another. I didn't ask to stop again. Kira gave me an empathetic look before focusing back on the road. I envied my friend's capability to stay focused on our goal, despite knowing that detachment came from experiencing far worse tragedies. I silently wondered if the calamity around us resembled a warzone? I didn't ask.

After navigating around several dead-end roads with fallen trees and power lines, we finally arrived at Julien's place. He lived in a duplex and was already waiting on the front porch for us. Kira rushed out of the car as he unsteadily got to his feet. She pulled her boyfriend into a giant, relieved hug. He stood there with his arms at his side.

"I was SO worried for you!" Kira exclaimed and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm okay. I think?" Julien said, blinking as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you hurt?" Kira asked, worried, looking him over. I walked up the sidewalk and gave Julien a look-over too. He seemed in shock, but I didn't see any physical injuries.

"Yeah." He nodded mechanically. "I didn't..." He finally put his arms around Kira, pressed his face into her shoulder and started sobbing quietly.

"It's okay," she whispered quietly, stroking the back of his head while he cried in her arms. "You're safe. I'm here. It's okay." I joined them in a group hug, holding the shaken, trembling Julien tenderly between us. Eventually the tears faded. Kira wiped his tears away, then when he was ready, we climbed into the Jeep. I moved to the back seat to let them be closer to one another.

I felt a knot in my stomach when we spotted a traffic jam ahead. There was a river between us and Lily. Many people were standing outside their vehicles and trying to use their phones. We tried another route. Another collapsed bridge. I felt the pit of fear sinking deep inside, threatening to consume me. "Let's try 96th Ave," I said while checking a different part of the map in my hands. Kira glanced over her shoulder at me, not starting the jeep yet. I looked up, puzzled. "What's up?"

Kira unbuckled and turned around to face me. "Lily was in a modern home," she said gently. "She would have been okay. She has a car, and knows the plan."

"I know, and we have to meet her!" I sighed and looked down at the map. "That'sthe plan now!"

"How long has it been?"

"Doesn't matter." I shook my head stubbornly.

"Nav." She reached out and placed a hand on mine. "You made this emergency plan. You were really smart about everything, and we all agreed to it. It's been four hours. How long did we say we'd-"

"Let's just try 96th?" I interrupted. "Please?" I finally looked up at my best friend, tears welling up in my eyes.

Kira glanced at the map. The next bridge wasn't far away. "Okay," she said softly, then turned back around and buckled herself in, getting us back on the road.

By the time we reached the next traffic jam, the tears were flowing freely down my cheeks, causing my makeup to run as I tried to dab the drops away. Kira got out of the car, walked around me and silently pulled me into a hug. Julien looked at me from the front seat with an empathetic expression.

"Lily will meet us," Kira said quietly as she held me, stroking my back as I cried. "She left hours ago... she just has to go the long way around."

"I KNOW!" I screamed and threw the map aside, pulled out of Kira's arms and stormed out into the parking lot. Kira let me go. I got ten feet away before stopping and looking around at the ruins of a strip mall. I gazed up at seagulls drifting lazily through the sky.They probably fled the coast. How big was the tsunami?

I found Kira beside me, standing there quietly, watching the seagulls together. I whispered, "I feel I'm going to throw up, not knowing if she's hurt, not knowing where she is... how to help her...."

"Yeah," Kira said tenderly.

"I feel so FUCKING helpless!" I raged at the sky. I desperately wanted to punch something or someone, but there was no one to blame, no one to direct my anger towards.

"Me too," Kira said and reached out, offering her hand. I accepted it, squeezing tightly.

"I know. I know we have to go," I sighed, feeling defeated. "We'd have no way of finding her on the road. I just... we had totry." Kira nodded gently. I took a deep breath, then let it out again. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's okay," she said and offered me a faint smile.

"No, it's not," I shook my head. "That wasn't fair. You're just trying to make sure we get to safety. I get that. Thank you." I wrapped my arms around her and we hugged briefly, before I took another breath to clear my thoughts, and wiped away the last of my tears. We returned to the jeep, where Julien gave me a big hug too.

Kira climbed into the driver's seat again, while I got in back and picked up the map. Then she turned the Jeep around and got back on the road. We drifted, dreamlike, through a surreal landscape of twisted buildings and buckled roads, navigating around landslides and fallen trees. We left our homes behind. Our friends, companions, jobs. Hopefully not for long, but...

Years ago, I shared a documentary with Kira. People once believed our part of the Ring of Fire was quieter than rest. But in the 1990s, scientists discovered the offshore fault lines built up as much tension as California or Japan, but released it in rare catastrophic megaquakes every thousand years or so. The Cascadia region had only experienced small quakes in modern times. The buildings and infrastructure simply weren't built to handle the magnitude of the disaster. As bad as things looked now, it was about to get much, much worse when people realized power and water would not return for months... if ever.

After learning the terrifying facts we prepared as best we could. We packed go-bags and planned evacuation routes. I warned everyone I knew, and coordinated specific plans with my closest friends. My other acquaintances were too spread out around the city to help. I just hoped they took the warning seriously.

Kira got us on a list she knew about from her private security job. Some tech billionaire bought the Veilwood ski resort and poured money into it as a kind of outlandish doomsday-prepper disaster refuge town. It wasn't hard for us to get accepted, considering my medical training and Kira's time in the service. It seemed a little out-there and silly, but cost us nothing, so why not? Just in case.

Then we pushed down our fear and went back to our lives, mostly forgetting the worry for years. I didn't even update our go-bag as I should have. We did get Julien and Lily on the list as plus-ones, but otherwise, let it fade from our minds. The chances of a Big One were low, just one-in-three odds in our lifetime.

Now...

Now we were fleeing. Not from the quake or its immediate devastation, but from the imminent desperation of millions of people who flicked on light switches, opened their faucets, and nothing happened -- ever again.

~~~~~

The sun wheeled overhead into a warm afternoon, and our shaken conversations drifted into silence.

Mountains climbed over us. We slipped unseen between the giants, as sharp crags tucked us away into a hidden alcove. The smooth, well-maintained county highway snaked along the bottom of a steep ravine. A clear river tumbled over smooth stones to the left of the road, ten feet down from rocky embankment. Cliffs jutted up and out of sight to our right. Harsh lines and sharp blocks of exposed bedrock hinted at huge machines that carved a path through here generations ago.

Soon we were forced to stop and survey the scene ahead. A wire net at the top of the cliff had done its best to hold back an avalanche. This time, nature was too furious to stop the tide of stone. Luckily, it was mostly contained, but a large debris field and several boulders had scattered out across the road in an obstacle course.

"Why does driving on the wrong side of the road scare me more than everything else?" I laughed nervously as Kira swiveled the steering wheel to the left side, then completely off the road, bouncing along before returning to the pavement.

"Yeah, same here!" Julien chuckled shakily and shook his head. "Weird, isn't it?"

"Oh, shit!" Kira exclaimed when a piercing noise assaulted our ears from a boulder scraping along the side.

"It's not like anyone will notice," Julien attempted a joke.

"Ouch!" Kira groaned and laughed. "I mean, you're not wrong though!" Just another scrape added to the other scratches, dents, and dings. There wasn't a corner of the jeep that didn't have some sign of wear and tear. Kira and I had been hoping to get something better for driving around the city. It was an older Jeep, before they computerized everything, which was nice. We didn't really need such a big offroad vehicle for picking up groceries, though. Minor repairs seemed pointless when the mechanic bill would cost more than the value of the vehicle. Just replace it, right? Only we never had quite enough money, and now...

My mind continued rambling internally to distract me from my worry for Lily.

We picked up speed as we left the landslide behind us. At least we hadn't punctured a tire on shards of rock. Even in normal circumstances, it would probably be difficult to get roadside assistance this far into the Cascade Mountains. Turning around another bend in the valley, the mountains finally receded half a mile in either direction, cut away by ancient ice sheets.