The Eruption- Volume 1

The Eruption- Chapter 15

                                                                                      Chapter 15

This was the first time Yellowstone has had any sort of eruption in the past 70,000 years. Although the eruption is small, it drew enormous amounts of media attention. People from all over the country attempted to get their own view at the huge lava fountains of fire coming up from the ground. Yellowstone was pouring out huge amounts of molten rock. Some nights, there was so much lava being erupted that the fiery red glow would fill the night sky. This lava eruption began a week ago, and now by Day 7, the lava covered over 100 square kilometers of land. The funny thing about all this is, now, it's all peaceful. Yellowstone stopped shaking and rumbling. It's just throwing up huge fountains of lava with little to no earthquakes, harmonic tremor, and gas explosions... everything we were seeing before. It's an eerie silence.

Allison and I arrived back at home after a long day at school. It was October 28, but it didn't feel like an autumn day at all. Unseasonably warm conditions overspread a good portion of the western U.S. The temperature when we arrived at home was 75 degrees. The family was in the front yard with a net set up across the lawn. "Hey! Whatcha guys doing?" I asked as I got out of the car and walked towards the lawn. "We are playing some beach volleyball! We couldn't resist all this warm weather!" Aaron smiled. "Beach volleyball? I didn't know there was such thing as green colored sand." I laughed. "Well this is as close as you are going to get to a beach around here! Come join us!" Aaron said. Allison and I joined the game. "Here, you two lovebirds can be on my team." Aaron winked at us. I tried to ignore that comment he made. "Okay ready!" Aaron exclaimed as he hit the beach ball across the net to the other team. Dad returned the serve... straight to my face. "Ow!" I shouted. "Oh you big baby! It's just a beach ball!" Dad laughed. I gave the ball to Allison and she served it. Mom returned it this time, only to pelt Aaron in the face this time. "You guys are violent!" I shouted. It was my turn to serve the ball. I slammed it over the net, and laughed as my brother Marvin fell down trying to return the ball. Then, out of nowhere, a familiar sound filled the air. It was a sound I haven't heard ever since I lived in Kansas. "It's an outdoor warning siren!" I shouted. "Is there a tornado coming?!" Mom shrieked. "I doubt it." Aaron said. "I wouldn't doubt it, it's really warm today! Tornadoes love warm air." Dad said. "I didn't even know the siren system still worked around here. It's been years since I've heard it go off." Aaron said. "We should find out what's going on. Steady blast means you should tune to local media immediately." Allison said. "Well, let's head inside then!" We followed Aaron inside the house. He tuned to the local radio station. "We have interrupted normal radio broadcasting to bring you an urgent message." The radio announcer said. "Oh great..." Marvin said. "Civil authorities have declared a voluntary evacuation. This notice is in effect for the cities of Cody, West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Jackson, Powell, and Bozeman. After a conference with geologists at the USGS, they believe renewed volcanic activity is going to occur at the Yellowstone volcano within the next few days to weeks. It is unclear when, and even if this eruption occurs, but as a precaution, evacuations are now being recommended. Evacs should be completed immediately for those choosing to do so in order to reduce traffic on the roads, should the evacuation become mandatory. USGS believes that new eruptions at Yellowstone will be larger than the ones we have seen last week, and such eruptions could threaten the entire Teton Range with heavy ashfall." My eyes grew wider than my head. "It's been 7 days! The final images are in!" Allison shouted and suddenly began sprinting towards the basement. I ran after her. She hurriedly started up the computer and the VulCast program. The rest of our family came downstairs as well. VulCast displayed the final high resolution images of the Norris meltdown. Allison's mouth flopped wide open. "I don't believe this." She said, quietly. "Ally what is it?" She pointed to Norris on the map. "This is no 20 cubic kilometer buildup. No, not at all. Not even close! It's actually 1,200 cubic kilometers. I'm almost afraid to run the new simulation." Allison hesitated, but she went ahead and ran the simulation. And there it was. It all unfolded right before my eyes. A massive eruption appeared right over Norris. The ash cloud height reached 60 KM upwards on the screen. Then, what happened next blew me away. VulCast projected a large earthquake of over M 7 on the Southwest side of Yellowstone, just as I had made a theory about before. It completed the new fracture system, and several additional eruptions followed in quick succession all across the caldera. "How many are on there?" Aaron asked. "I can't even count them all. I'm guessing... 20? At least!" Allison exclaimed. The ground began to collapse, and the twenty or so eruption columns collapsed with it, forming an even bigger secondary blast. "Wow! It's almost like the entire magma chamber is being expelled at once!" I exclaimed. The simulation ended. Allison turned to me. "Jake..." she began "Super-eruption." I finished what she was going to say. "Family meeting, upstairs, now." Aaron said. All of us joined one another in the living room. "Alright guys, I'm convinced now. Ally, Jake, I'm very sorry for all the sarcastic comments I've been making about the situation." "It's okay, daddy." Allison said. "What exactly did we see on that computer?" dad asked. "That was VulCast. Mr. Peters gave us a copy of this amazing program that USGS is using to predict volcanic activity at Yellowstone. What you just saw was the program predicting an enormous scale eruption in Yellowstone." Allison said. "How long before that happens?" Aaron asked. "5 days, but that's only if we are lucky." Allison said. "We've gotta get out of here!" Mom exclaimed. "We can't though! By the time we get everything ready to evacuate and get on the road, traffic will have us in grid lock, and we would be in major trouble if Yellowstone decided to blow up during that time." Aaron said. "We can't just stay here!" dad exclaimed. "We could take cover in the bunker." Aaron said. "Ummmm... would it be able to withstand pyroclastic flows?" Allison asked. "It's built strong enough to withstand a nuclear bombing. I think it will do just fine." Aaron said. "Alright, so what's our plan?" dad asked. "The preparations begin tomorrow." Aaron said. "We'll get the bunker all loaded up bright and early in the morning." "We better go to bed early then!" Mom said.

I went to bed at 10 PM tonight, but I couldn't sleep. I lie awake in my bed, my mind racing over everything. I was scared. I was scared on what could happen to my family. What would happen to me? Would we survive something like this? How would the rest of the world handle it? I could not keep these questions out of my head. I tossed and turned in my bed. I lost the battle with sleeping tonight. It was no use. It was already 1 AM, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I decided to get up and grab a drink of water in hopes to calm my nerves down. I grabbed a flashlight and headed downstairs into the kitchen. I rest my head against the refrigerator door and let the glass of water fill up. "Jake?" Allison walked into the kitchen. "You're awake?" I said. "Yeah, I couldn't catch any sleep." She said. "Neither could I." I took a big drink from the glass of water I just filled up. "Well I... I'm in the living room in case you wanted to join me." Allison said. "Oh sure, I can join you." "If you want to go to bed, I understand. I just want someone here with me right now." Allison said. I followed her into the living room. We sat down next to each other on the couch in the darkness. "What's on your mind?" I asked her. She sighed. "Everything. It's hard to describe what I'm feeling right now." Allison said. "I understand." I replied. There was a pause. "I'm scared Jake." "Me too, Ally." "What exactly are you afraid of?" she asked me. I hesitated. "I guess I'm afraid of how everyone is going to make it through." I said. "That makes sense, but what else are you afraid of?" "I don't know, that's all I can think of right now." I lied. "Well Jake, you want to know what I'm afraid of?" "What Ally?" She turned to face me in the dark living room. "I'm afraid of losing you." I could tell tears were filling her eyes. "Ally..." "I can't Jake! I can't lose you to something like this!" Tears began to stream down her face. I held her hands and pulled her a little closer to me. "You won't lose me, Ally." "How do you know that?" "Because all of us is together. We are going to pull through this." I wiped the tears from her face. I could faintly see a smile appear. "Thanks Jake. That's really sweet." She said softly. "Don't you worry about me going anywhere. I'm staying with you." I said. "And you and I are in this together." She said. "Yes we are, Ally. We always will be." "Well I'm glad to hear that, because I wouldn't know what to do without you around." "Same for me Ally! I need you too." I got a little closer, placing my hands around her waist, looking at her eyes. Her eyes could just shine right through the darkness. They were so beautiful. "I will always need you." I said. Happy tears filled her eyes. And then suddenly, she kissed me right on the lips. There it was, my first kiss ever! We looked at each other for a long time after that. I couldn't get any words to come out of my mouth, and neither could she. Nothing else was said. I just held her in my arms for the rest of the night. After a while, I grabbed a blanket to snuggle up in. And finally, we caught some much needed sleep. It was one of the most peaceful sleeps I've ever had.