you don't fuck with mother nature (group thread roles will open up as story developes

[DrMelonCollie]

Dr. Carson saw the signs, and while the men were scratching their heads trying to figure out how to keep the coast lines from eroding, she was plotting her escape. She slowly converted her retirement funds, stocks, bonds, and other assets into cash. Then she bought a home in an area that should ride out the impeding doom, or so she hoped. She had survival gear being shipped there on a weekly basis. She'd hired a local hermit to tend to the place, sign for packages and the like.

She figured postal service in remote areas would vanish pretty quick, and by the middle of summer she was taking early retirement, as her home sold. She'd taken her parents RV out of storage and was ready to drive to her survival shelter, complete with solar panels, and a windmill in the wilds of Alaska where the change was likely to be less drastic.

Dr. Carson was 42, and her parents were dead, her only brother an alcoholic she hadn't heard from in years, so she wasn't compelled to seek him out. She had packed her personal belongings in the RV, she doubted she'd be able to buy supplies in less than six months. So she had stocked up on water color paper, brushes, paints, and a stack of canvases, as well as an entire roll of canvas to make her own at a later date. She'd bought a digital camera, figuring she'd take some last pictures of the world as she knew it.

She had a feeling the landscape would change drastically as she left Florida. Her GPS was equipped mainly so she could take detours as needed. She was concerned that a wet summer would wash out bridges.

At the moment she was planning on driving up through Des Moines heading north on I 35. The main reason it had taken her so long to get things together was that she sent in for a passport, as she wasn't sure what border control might be like when she crossed over into Canada.

Day one, June 6th, 2026. She recorded in her journal how many miles she went and any updates from the radio. Left Florida behind, driving til sunset, GPS a godsend in directing me to campgrounds.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"No fuck you!" Rachel screamed as she dodged the beer bottle that flew by her head. "Get back here ya little bitch." Shouted her drunk father as she retreated to her room. "I'm fucking done." Rachel said wiping tears from her eyes. She hastily stuffed a backpack with clothing, grabbed her hidden stash of money, and crawled out of her small bedroom window. She ran across the brown grass and dirt that made up her yard hoping she'd slipped away unnoticed. "I said get the fuck back here!" Her father shouted in drunken rage from behind her.

Rachel turned at the sound of his voice, and was smashed in the face with another thrown beer bottle. She cried out in pain as the broken glass cut her above the right eyebrow and the bottom of her jawline. Her father half ran and half stumbled towards her, murder, or probably worse, in his eyes. Rachel picked up a piece of broken glass and thrust it outwards as her father tackled her. She heard his surprised gasp of pain and felt the glass slice open her palm. She wriggled out from underneath her father, a horribly familiar and practiced action, and watched in terror as he rolled over. Protruding from his stomach was an inch of the green glass shard. Rachel watched in morbid fascination as his dirty yellowed tank too began to turn red. "You little whore." He growled slowly sitting up. Rachel didn't wait for him to get up. She ran. She ran as far and as fast as her feet would take her. She ran away from her old Hell, and into her new life.

Two Days Later...

"Asshole! Rachel shouted as a passing car splattered her with a strawberry milkshake. She wiped the pink goo off of herself as best she could before continuing down I-35. She'd left her town of Waterloo behind, and now was trying to make it to Des Moines, and eventually as far away from Iowa and her father as she could. She'd been trying to hitch a ride since she'd run away, but no one would stop for a girl caked in blood and filth. Well some people would, but they were they kind who would rape her and leave her on the side of the road to die. "Maybe I'm already dead." Rachel thought hopelessly sitting down on the side of the road. She was tired, she was cold, she was hungry, and most of all, she was scared. Rachel knew deep down in her bones that if she didn't get away from Waterloo soon her father would find her. And she refused to think of what would happen if he did.

"I've just got to keep going. Just a little more." Rachel thought standing up and continuing her trudge down the road. "Please, someone help me." She whispered desperately as another group of cars sped past her.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

Day four, June 9th, 2026. Major highways are doing well so far, coastal erosion and tropical storms keeping population too confused to really panic. Cell phone towers were being wrecked, and satellite imagery was restricted to government use. I stayed outside of St. Louis last night, that city is a powder keg. I stopped at Mount Pleasant for lunch and am on my way to hit Des Moines and meet up with I-35 which will take me north tomorrow.

Dr. Carson had kept a daily log for most of her adult life and saw no reason to change now. She almost considering omitting the date, as calendars wouldn't really be necessary. She pulled over spotting a young woman on the side of the road. Over the last few days she had been musing about the future of the human race and had decided that in order to make survival mean anything there would have to be children. It logically followed that in order for their to be children there would have to be men. The caretaker was male, but Dr. Carson was old enough to know that honestly, she wasn't the best option for procreation.

Logically she saw the girl as an opportunity for future generations, illogically she saw her as the daughter she would probably never have. She waited for the girl to approach as she popped open the door. "You look like you could use a shower, honey." She looked the poor girl over, logically noting her age, and physical attributes, illogically noticing signs of more abuse that a normal hitch hiker might have.

"I wouldn't recommend taking a shower while I'm driving, but if you want to wash up you can. I was planning on stopping tonight on the north side of Des Moines if you want to head that way."

She left it open, no point in asking for trouble, or scaring the girl away.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

Rachel looked at the woman, trying to decide if it would be safe to go with her. She didn't seem dangerous, in fact she looked rather nice. Rachel slowly approached the door and poked her head inside checking for ambush. When she saw that no one else was inside, Rachel slowly climbed the stairs into the RV. She clutched her backpack to her chest nervously while looking at the RV driver. "Um... Hi. I'm Rachel." Rachel said nervously as she sat down in the passenger seat. "Sorry if I smell, but I don't want to shower while you're driving." Rachel said "Or before I know if you're crazy." She thought to herself. "So who are you? Why Iowa?" Rachel asked hoping to shift the conversation away from herself.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

Dr. Carson had a soft southern lilt to her voice from going to college in Georgia. She waited until the girl was buckled in to begin to merge back with traffic. "My parents used to live here, and I thought I should visit their graves before I," she paused unwilling to reveal more of her plans, "Continue on up north."

"You can call me Dr. Carson," she felt the need to put a formal distance between her and the girl, feeling a certain maternal concern for her well being already. Besides no one had called her by her first name in years.

She finally merged with traffic and they chatted about nothing as she headed through Des Moines. She finally pulled into a gas station after going through Ankeny. "You can use the bathroom in here to tidy up before coming inside. The water tank is full and the pump primed if you decide to shower."

Dr. Carson removed the keys, "I'm going to get myself a cold Dr. Pepper, would you like anything?" Her fridge held essentials, things that had to stay cool for the journey, which did not include soda pop.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

.....

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"Just water is fine. And... Maybe something to eat. If it isn't too much trouble. And I have some money. I can pay for it." Rachel said pulling a crumbled ten out of her pocket and handing it to Dr. Carson. "I'm going to take a quick shower. I'll try to be fast." Rachel said scampering off to the RV's bathroom before the doctor could respond.

Rachel locked the bathroom door and sat on the floor for a moment to decompress. In her experience no one was nice unless they wanted something. Usually sex. Rachel was pretty sure Dr. Carson had picked her up got a reason, but she didn't know why. "Maybe she really is just nice?" Rachel wondered before doubting the thought. "She wants something, but at least she doesn't look like she wants to rape me." Rachel thought, blocking the painful memories that came with that word.

"Enough thinking." Rachel whispered standing up. She looked at herself in the mirror and was surprised to see how bad she looked. The right side of her face was stained with blood, her eyebrow caked with the red dust. The cuts on her face had formed nasty scabs, and a dark bruise had formed on her cheek. "Fuck" Rachel winced as she splashed water on her face, washing most of the blood away. She washed the grime off of her face as best she could before stripping out of her soiled clothes. "I doubt I'll be wearing these again." Rachel thought pushing the ball of clothing into the corner before getting into the shower.

Rachel let the warm water wash over her dirty skin, relaxing and cleaning her. After just standing under the water for a few minutes, Rachel began to vigorously scrub herself. She cleaned the grime of the road off of her body, trying to be gentle with the various bruises that spotted her skin, before shampooing and combing the dirt and knots from her hair. After Rachel was satisfied with her cleanliness she stepped out of the shower and dried off.

"Now to check the wardrobe." Rachel thought opening her backpack and dumping out the contents. She'd packed a pair of jeans, two t-shirts, a sweatshirt, and a handful of mismatched bras, panties, and socks. She pulled on a pair of red panties before putting on her jeans. She grabbed a plain purple bra and put it on before slipping into a "Black Sabbath" t-shirt. She stuffed the rest of the clothing, except for the dirty clothes, back into her backpack before exiting the bathroom.

Rachel looked at her muddy and tattered shoes and decided not to put them back on. She pulled on two pairs of socks before leaving the RV. She quickly crossed the parking lot and entered the gas station. She looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on a small bin at the end of one of the isles. It was filled with cheap flip-flops and sandals. Rachel removed her socks and grabbed the most sturdy pair of sandals. She quickly removed the tag and slipped the sandals on before walking away from the bin. She waited for a moment to see if she was noticed, but the cashier was more interested in his newspaper than the customers.

Rachel scanned the store again and saw Dr. Carson in the drink isles. Rachel approached the woman and stood next to her. "Hi, I took a shower. I feel a little better now." Rachel said awkwardly, wriggling her toes in her new sandals.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

Dr. Carson noticing the mismatched clothing, and quickly realized Rachel had packed in a hurry and looking down figured the girls shoes must have been destroyed. They would have to pick up some proper clothes for her, if she was going to survive. Dr. Carson no longer thought about the girl leaving, in her heart she had assumed responsibility for the girl's life.

Dr. Carson picked up 2 20oz bottles of cold Dr. Pepper, as they were on sale and cheaper if she bought two, and she wondered where they could stop for clothing. The Mall of America was an obvious choice, but she hadn't planned to stop in Minneapolis.

Besides there wouldn't be any winter gear there anyway. She picked up a case of bottled water, and a couple slices of pizza.

"You certainly look better." Dr. Carson smiled and asked if she minded eating on the road. She paid for the food and started eating her slice as she walked out the door.

She knew there was a super Wal-Mart in Ames, which would be their next option to stop. It would also be a smaller less crowded store than Des Moines and in the middle of summer, an less college kids in town, it would certainly have items in her size and style.

She put one soda pop in the cup holder and set the other one back in the sink. "The fridge is really full, I've been trying to only eat breakfast out of it." She set the water down and pulled one bottle out for Rachel.

She handed back the $10, and said, "You'll need it for a decent pair of shoes, honey." She said the word matter of factly, with a soft affection as if she called everyone young enough to be her kid honey.

Dr. Carson finished off her slice of pizza before pulling out of the gas station. "I was thinking we could stop in Ames and get you some essentials." Dr. Carson doubted she had everything she needed in her backpack, but wasn't going to push her to reveal what little she had or didn't have.

"I need to pick up some shampoo, I packed a travel bottle which was only good for a few days," Dr. Carson twirled the ends of her long hair.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

Rachel scarfed down her pizza before they were even out of the gas station. She slipped a pack of peanut butter crackers into her pocket before following Dr. Carson out of the gas station and into the RV. Rachel sat in the passenger seat and chugged half the water in the bottle that Dr. Carson handed her. "Maybe she really is just nice." Rachel thought feeling an unfamiliar comfort when Dr. Carson called her honey. "Um, I don't have enough money for essentials... Rachel said awkwardly as she tucked the crumpled ten away. She had a little under 300 dollars in her bag, and even if she was willing to admit she had that amount, she wasn't sure it would be enough to buy everything she'd need.

Rachel didn't know what else to say, so she stayed quite and listened to the radio. The pair drove in silence for awhile until Rachel spoke again. "What's your first name? It's weird to call you just 'Dr. Carson'." Rachel said pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

Dr. Carson set the radio to 'popular' music and let it fill in the silence. She was driving along and being passed, as the RV wasn't built to go 70+ miles an hour. SHe chuckled softly when Rachel asked her name taking her eyes off the road for a few seconds to glance at her passenger again.

"Cynthia, but most everybody just calls me Doc, or Carson." Cynthia smiled again and reached for her drink, smoothly opened the cap, drinking, replacing the cap, and setting it back down again as she realized she hadn't taken any pictures in Des Moines.

"Well I'm certainly not going to let you neglect your hygiene, and I'm not going to share my tooth brush." She considered the problem, how to get Rachel the things she needed without having her feel indebted or ungrateful. "Tell you what I bought one of those fancy digital cameras, but I keep forgetting to use it. If you'll take pictures when we stop, I'll pay for those things you'll need while we travel."

She glanced out the window, "We'll stop in Ames then, I planned to camp tonight near where my parents are buried, which should be about dinner time." She wanted Rachel to know what the plan was so that if she wanted to leave she could at any time. "Of course if you want to call someone and arrange to be picked up somewhere...." Her voice trailed off and she handed over her cell phone. Only 2 numbers were programmed into it, the last number she had for her brother, and the number of the phone at the house. "Otherwise the camera is under your seat if you want to check it out."

The camera had pictures of her home in Florida, and seemingly random sunrises and sunsets along the way as if she had taken pictures last thing at night and first thing in the morning and had missed taking pictures at all the stops she took during the days.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"I... I don't have anyone to call." Rachel said sadly returning the phone to Cynthia. "And I think your name is pretty. I'd like to call you that instead of Dr. Carson if that's ok." Rachel said shyly before leaning down and grabbing the camera.

Rachel spent the next few minutes idly looking through the pictures before putting the camera away. "Hey, can we change the station? I'm not a big fan of pop." Rachel said pointing to her Black Sabbath shirt.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

"Anything but the news," Dr, Cynthia Carson replied, having given Rachel permission to use her name. "I remember when I got my degree and my brother asked if he had to call me Dr. now, and I replied that he could call me whatever he wanted as long as he didn't call me late for dinner."

She choked up for a little thinking of her baby brother who was almost 40 now. She had not tried to call him, they hadn't talked since their parents died. She was executor of the will, and her brother got the vehicle and enough cash to cover the transfer of title and little else as her parents knew he would just drink it.

He'd been angry and bitter then, and she felt a dark pit in her stomach as if he were dead, or dying and she was going to leave him to rot. She almost asked Rachel about her family, but thought better of it. It didn't take that long to get to Ames about 40 minutes and she was taking the exit.

She packed out of the way so she wouldn't have to back up or be trapped in by cars.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

Rachel didn't ask about Cynthia's brother, sensing it was a tender subject. She instead fiddled with the radio, jumping from station to station listening to songs she liked. The drive to Ames was mostly quite, with occasional small talk. Rachel waited for Cynthia to park before speaking. "So where are we... I mean where are you going? Is this a vacation type thing?" Rachel asked, still not totally sure if she'd stick with Cynthia. "And can we wait until tomorrow for shopping. I haven't slept in awhile..." Rachel said stifling a yawn. She trusted Cynthia enough at this point that her adrenalin dropped enough for her to fall asleep in the RV.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

"More like a road trip, I recently bought a place up North, a retreat if you will to get away from it all." She was considering how to get Rachel across the border, but faking a passport wouldn't be too difficult, just that it would cost more than getting one through normal channels, and she had a feeling that acquiring Rachel's birth documents and alerting the authorities as to her location might not be the wisest choice.

"Go ahead and sack out on the bed, I'm going to go see if I'm missing anything." She only had the one bed made up, the others were converted from the couch and the table. She didn't have sheets for them either, having wanted all available storage space for her art supplies. It was a nice hot day, so it wouldn't be too bad. She wasn't quite sure how old Rachel was and asked, "Do you have a driver's license?" figuring she could use that info to get a usable fake passport made.

She did have a full set of pillows on the bed and went into the bedroom to pull hers, "I'll sleep on the couch tonight, and I'll lock things up until I get back."

She left Rachel alone in the camper, deciding she might pick up some tea. She had left a certain amount of space free, to live in, and in case she found something she needed. Tea was one of the things she did not think to have shipped ahead. Sure there was a certain amount of nonperishable food, most of which she ordered at the local grocery store and had her Caretaker pick up and stock her pantry.

So she picked up a cart and rolled into the store. She'd shipped most of her clothing, and sold most of her other belongings, having bought new things for the kitchen, and bathrooms. She'd also shipped most of her entertainment disks. So while she had a TV in the RV and it would pick up local programming, that's about all it would do. She mainly read on her Kindle, and while that was fine for one, it wouldn't really do for two. She wandered through games and entertainment, and finally picked up a Backgammon board. She picked up a few music CDs that she thought Rachel might enjoy. Then she picked up tea, and splurged on chocolate.

She looked over the selection of movies and tv programming, most of which she owned, even if it wasn't with her. She figured it was better to have a copy before the internet crashed. So she found herself wandering through health and beauty and picked up a bottle of black nail polish.

Finally she was done, having mentally weeded out what she had already, what she could live without, and had pared it down to what would be useful in the days ahead. Of course she could probably start charging it all to her credit cards, but she would rather be safe than sorry and returned to the RV just as the sun was setting.

She popped the new release that she'd picked up in the disk player and laid back on the couch to rest.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"No, my da... I never got one. But I know how to drive. I learned from some of my friends." Rachel said as she followed Cynthia to the bedroom. Rachel felt bad about taking the only bed, but after two days of sleeping in the woods, and a lifetime of sleeping on an old mattress placed on her bedroom floor, Rachel decided a real bed would be better than being polite. Cynthia grabbed a pillow from the bed and was about to leave the room, but Rachel quickly walked up and hugged her. "Thank you for bring so nice to me." Rachel said before letting go. She could feel blush burning across her face and quickly turned around. "Goodnight Cynthia." Rachel said before getting into the bed.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

She stared at her phone and on a whim called her brother, she was sad but not surprised that the number had been disconnected. She left the number programmed in her phone, to remind herself that, that part of her life was over. The driver's license could become a problem as they travelled, and she called a number from memory. She took the precaution of blocking her number, mainly as it was expected and arranged for the necessary documents to be picked up in Duluth, Minnesota. Which gave her plenty of time to get a picture and send it in.

She considered going through Rachel's bag to see what she was missing, but decided to build trust as she wasn't sure how aware Rachel was of where everything in her bag was. The only thing the RV didn't have was laundry facilities, and she wondered if Rachel would be okay spending most of the day in Ames, so they could get her clothing washed.

Dr. Carson had only been on the road 4 days so her dirty laundry wasn't piling up, but it wouldn't hurt to do laundry. She made one last call before bed, taking into account that there were a few time changes between Iowa and Alaska. She left a message, her caretaker often didn't answer the phone. He was somewhat resistant to technology and she had a feeling he only slept in the house when he was anticipating packages.

She let him know she wanted 5 bedrooms made up in addition to the master bedroom, and told him to scrounge about for winter gear and then described Rachel's body type. She'd ran into a pair of truckers, who were brothers, around Nashville and had on impulse given them her card with the GPS location of her home on the back.

The had seemed like survival types somewhere between the ages of 20-40, and she appreciated how they worked together. She doubted they would even dream of coming up before things got really bad, but she wanted to be prepared either way. Of course the phone number on her card was her old office number, but it would serve to prove she was who she said she was should they attempt to call her.

She turned off the TV, and the lights, having already locked the door. Dr. Carson took off her shoes, snuggled into her pillow, and fell asleep.

She woke up first, and hopped in the shower, using the last of her tiny bottle to wash her hair, she enjoyed being clean first thing in the morning. She stepped out of the shower, and almost went into the bedroom naked, before she recalled her new guest, so she wrapped herself up in a towel and knocked on the door to bedroom, before slowly opening it.

"I just need to grab some clothes," she said as she reached into one of the overhead cabinets and pulled out a tidy stack which contained a shirt, shorts, socks tucked into the pockets. She moved to pull out a drawer and removed a creamy lace bra and matching panties.

Cynthia was glad she'd treated herself to laser hair removal when she was doing her post grad work, so that her legs and underarms were silky smooth. "I'll just change in the bathroom, unless you want to..." her voice drifted off delicately hinting that Rachel might want to use the bathroom, while Dr. Carson got dressed.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

Rachel sat up instantly when she heard the door open. For a moment she didn't know where she was, but when she saw a nearly naked Cynthia she remembered her previous day. "Um yea. I'll go take a shower." Rachel said feeling her face go red as she started at the doctor's long smooth legs. Rachel grabbed her bag from beside the bed and rushed out of the bedroom.

Rachel took a fast shower, washing her hair with a bar of soap because the shampoo was gone. She dried off and put on a pair of black bikini cut panties and a ratty pink bra. She put on her only pair of jeans, and her other t-shirt, a grey shirt with the batman logo on the front. She pulled on her light purple hoodie, but kept it unzipped as she exited the bathroom.

"So what's the plan for today?" Rachel asked sitting down and putting on her sandals. While she was putting them on, Rachel took a subtle glance at Cynthia's legs, but felt heat rising to get face and quickly returned her focus to her own feet.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

"Breakfast, I figured we'd treat ourselves." Dr. Carson put her shoes on, and tossed a notepad to Rachel. "There is a Perkins just across the street. We'll make a list of everything you need, then I thought we might try and find a Laundromat, I think there is one not too far away, the benefit of being in a college town. Then we pick up some shoes and hygiene supplies and what not for you, and since I doubt we can just walk into the local DOT and get you a license, especially since you don't have an address, I thought you might want some form of identification." Cynthia paused, "Regardless of whether you continue on with me or not, you're going to need ID, so please let me do this one thing for you, okay?" she asked. "We'll need a good picture and your date of birth, so you don't have to remember to lie about your birthday okay?"

Cynthia finished tying her shoes. "How does that sound to you?"

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"Yea. That's ok, I guess." Rachel said collecting the camera from under the seat. She pointed it at herself and smiled. The camera flashed, and Rachel handed the camera to Cynthia. "There's my picture. My birthday is Halloween 1996. Seriously." Rachel said scribbling the items she needed on a notepad. "Now lets go eat. I'm starving!" Rachel said exiting the RV.

 

[DrMelonCollie]

Dr. Carson made sure to lock up as the headed across the street to where a giant flag was waving above the Perkins restaurant. They were seated fairly quickly and Dr. Carson took a look at the list and added shoes, good shoes, to the list, and they talked back and forth about what she would need and so on, adding things like deodorant, tampons (Doc's period was slightly irregular and she only had a few emergency pads in her purse), chap stick, and a few other somewhat random odds and ends like a journal and some pens for Rachel, and her own hair stuff. Doctor Carson had long red brown hair and she had one wide toothed comb and assorted ponytail holders which allowed her to wear her hair in a braid.

She found herself developing a genuine affection for the girl, well woman really and she went ahead and bought a dozen muffins on the way out. "I can cook pretty well, but baking it not one of my skills." She admitted to Rachel as they crossed back to the RV having spotted a laundry mat and gathered up the dirty clothes, Cynthia's shorts, t-shirts, and delicates getting throw all together in a sailors bag.

"Let's go ahead and get this started, then we'll go shopping and with any luck get that washed before lunch time." She was feeling pretty good and wondered if Rachel wouldn't mind if they stopped at Hobby Lobby which was just a few blocks away.

"Then we can take some pictures and maybe hit an art supply store, have lunch and be heading out in the lull of 2pm traffic."

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"Sounds like a plan." Rachel said tossing all of her clothing into a machine. Rachel started the machine and looked at her old shoes. They were soaked in mud, the soles were worn, and each shoe had more than one hole in it. "These are beyond saving." Rachel thought placing the shoes in a corner. "Maybe someone else can use them." Rachel thought before following Cynthia out of the laundromat.

Rachel walked to the side, but slightly behind Cynthia as they made their way down the street. "I'm fine with going to an art store, but can we get clothes first? These sandals aren't very comfortable." Rachel said wiggling her toes as she walked.