Caleb Elgin: The Rise of the Clans

Chapter 1 - The Great Cataclysm

Man is infamous in the extremity of his violence, but even so, man will never begin to compare to the ruthless, cold and hideous scope of violence, that on certain occasions, nature can provide with splendorous aplomb. Earthbound astronomers had earnestly endeavored for many years to watch the heavens above for signs of any unwelcome visitor, and for the most part, they were successful. However, their impeccable track record of success would soon come to an end. That was when it came, unexpectedly and swiftly out of the constellation of Taurus, a large chunk of rock nearly a third the size of Manhattan Island.

 It first made its appearance in the heavens, tumbling, hurling headlong through the solar system past the orbit of Mars, then swiftly around the orbits of Venus and mercury, just close enough to each of them to give it a gentle push onwards towards its final target, Earth. By the time astronomers on Earth had discovered it, and were able to chart and accurately calculate its celestial course, there was little time to prepare a proper welcome for such an unwelcome visitor. It would officially be catalogued as 915 Anastasia, but to the majority of the citizens of Earth, it would be known simply as Anna. In the short time given for them to prepare for Anna’s arrival, the governments of Earth patched together rather hasty plans to obliterate the asteroid with a series of nuclear missile strikes. Aiming for a specific point near the middle of the asteroid was determined to be the best target for the missiles. Using all available space vehicles at their disposal, the governments of the Earth launched their nuclear assault. It was a magnificent sight to behold from the night side of earth as all the missiles simultaneously struck against the side of Anna – for a few brief moments, earth had a second sun in its sky - and as nearly 8 billion people around the world held their breath, hoping for a successful outcome, they would soon learn the awful truth.

 The strike was successful in at least one aspect, Anna had been effectively resized. Now, instead of being one large asteroid poised to strike our planet, she had been split into three somewhat smaller asteroids, each with a new trajectory as they continued on their journey towards Earth. Within hours, scientists around the world would reveal the good news, that one of the largest segments of Anna had been deflected just enough to miss the Earth entirely – however, the other two pieces of Anna, each still significantly large, would strike the earth in two different locations. Anna one, as it was called – would strike first. This piece, the smallest piece of Anna, would enter the atmosphere and crash into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean creating an enormous tidal wave which would encompass the entire Atlantic seaboard region. Although this would devastate large coastal areas, it would still be survivable. Anna two the second largest, would leave its devastating mark on the earth nearly twenty miles south of the small hamlet of Ansbach, Germany – the heartland of Europe; scientist calculated the area of total destruction to be roughly the size of the state of Texas. It would leave an impact crater nearly two miles deep.

 When the reports came in, authorities did their best to prepare. Although it might have seemed somewhat unsympathetic to just toss out estimated casualty figures in the news – but that is what they did. Suffice to say, the final figures would be nearly a billion lives lost in the first few moments, but that would only be the beginning. In a way, it’s somewhat ironic, that in an age when humanity had worried itself for so long about man’s overuse of his planet and it’s effect on warming the Earth’s climate; along would come Anna, setting up a chain of events into motion, that would cool the earth dramatically, throwing her into an ice age that would last for nearly seventy years – brief by historical standards, but catastrophic none the less. As skies around the Earth darkened within the first few days following Anna, the northern and southern hemispheres of the world grew drastically colder and weather patterns around the world began a series of wild fluctuations never before witnessed since the beginning of recorded history. All air, land and sea transportation came to an immediate halt in the wake of Anna, partly due to the weather fluctuations, but mostly as global fuel supplies were quickly exhausted.

With no possibility of responder help and relief – life for those who had survived became a cruel struggle for the basic needs of food, water, shelter and most importantly – hope! Civilization as it was; began a quick, wrenching and painful dismantling, until humanity would finally come to the realization of its desperate need to exist. World governments and political boundaries in some cases would be erased, practically overnight. However, scattered over the Earth, in diverse places, hundreds of millions would survive. Many of them would feel as if it was divine intervention, while others would just consider themselves lucky. Whichever the case, a few would survive. Using whatever means necessary, humanity would find a way! However, survival would not come easy. Great cities, whose presence once marked the continents of the northern and southern hemispheres, would themselves become barren wastelands, and the vast desert regions would become fields of ice and snow. Where large forested lands once flourished, nothing would remain but burned and charred landscape. Areas once rich with fertile soil would find that soil stripped off in great sand and wind storms that blew continuously across the regions. Then there came the huge storms of ice and snow where in many places these storms would last for weeks without end.

Where humans once dwelled within buildings of wood, concrete or steel, these same dwellings would in time, disappear underneath layers and layers of accumulations of dirt, ice and snow. Large mountainous structures of steel known as skyscrapers, where many once lived and worked, would eventually collapse from ice, rust and wind. The humans who managed to survive this onslaught would only be able to find safety or security by being mobile, swift and able to adapt and survive by seeking natural shelter in mountain caves and warmer equatorial climates. Though a few areas on Earth would remain unscathed, nowhere on earth, was there a place that was not affected by the great cataclysm. And so time passed, generations would live and die – waiting for the time when the planet would heal, skies would clear and once again the sun would shine to warm the earth. Time moved slowly, and several decades would pass as the turmoil slowly calmed, and the snow and ice began a slow retreat northward and southward.

Once the ice receded in the area known as North America, small groups of people, those lucky few who survived, would begin the migration north, following stories passed down to them from their parents and grandparents before, of the great and prosperous land that once existed. These small groups of families, or clans as they referred to themselves, would be the first to head northward. Some were highly organized and tightly structured, while others were not. Whatever the case would be, they slowly began to reclaim areas and regions of North America, which, as far as anyone knew, had been free from humans for nearly seventy years. When they did return – the land they found would be much different then it had been before. The Elgin clan would be one of the several hundred, who would make the dangerous trek to return to the northern regions. They would follow the coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico, eventually turning northward using the old decaying highways, rivers and trails, to guide them on their journey to find their old homestead as the snow and ice slowly retreated.

Spurred on by their overbearing elder-leader, Zachariah John Elgin, whose family, had been the one to lead the clan south to safety in the days just before the great cataclysm. Like the pioneers of old, they would bring with them as much food, supplies and materials as they could possibly carry, using horse drawn wagons or carrying everything upon on their backs. The clan slowly began their journey northward. Zachariah ruled and guided the Elgin clan under a strict biblical code of order that all families had long ago agreed to follow. It was this strict order, which enabled them to survive in the terrible days following the great cataclysm. As those dreadful days eventually faded into memory, the younger members of the clan began to dream of returning home one day.

It would be this dream, that would give them hope, and the one great source of hope, was a large family bible that Zachariah carried tucked away safely within a large metal box, this would be his sole source of strength and guidance, as it was with his family years before. Bravely, the Elgin clan set forth. Pausing occasionally on their journey, to plant seed and grow needed food, while exploring farther north and east to seek out their homeland of the past. Zachariah would direct their journey, following the stories that were handed down to him from his father, as well as a special map, hidden within the pages of Zachariah’s bible, that would help direct them to the location of the old family homestead which had existed in the time before the great cataclysm, and according to Zachariah’s father – there would be supplies available for them to use to rebuild with once they returned.

 As Zachariah and the rest of his people slowly made their way northeast, they had no idea of what future awaited them in the days ahead, nor of the kinds of people that they would eventually meet. There was however, one young member of the Elgin clan, who would begin to have dreams and visions, a young man still a child as the clan set upon their journey northward to the old homestead. Caleb Elgin, the second born son of Uriah and Sarah Elgin, and great nephew to Zachariah Elgin. Even as a child, Caleb would begin to have dreams and visions of the future – a future in which he would one day be unwittingly chosen, to lead the Elgin clan. To lead them in a fight for freedom, a fight for their very lives in a new world that would ultimately be their home.