Shock

-13-

"No!"
The word escaped my lips as a whisper. My throat was dry and my cheeks were wet. It was dark, but there was no ambulance, no glass, no parents.
It was just a dream.
My breath caught and I felt myself panting, as if I'd just run a marathon. I was sweating, too.
I was sitting on the concrete, my back against a house front Peter leaning on my shoulder.
I lifted my arm to wipe away my tears and it didn't hurt, wasn't broken.
When I looked around me I noticed Nathan staring at me, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. I silently thanked the gods it was dark and he -hopefully- couldn't see my tears.
"Bad dream," I explained, "I'm fine."
When he turned his head I reached behind me as best as I could without waking Peter. In the front pocket sat my iPod. I pulled it out and pushed the 'on' button, prompting the screen to light up like a search light. I quickly selected my relax playlist -which was just a compilation of various types of white noise- and pressed the button to make the screen dark again.
Immediately, the monotone crisp flooded my ears. I tried to focus on my respiration, regulating it until it became constant. I felt my tense muscles relax and my heartbeat slow down.
It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.
I repeated the mantra over and over, until the words didn't seem words anymore and I felt my consciousness slip away.

I woke up to the distinct absence of sound. I cursed myself for falling asleep with my iPod playing. Now it had probably run out of battery. My eyes rapidly scanned the area around me, found the item lying a few inched to my left.
I pressed the 'on' button with low expectations. But instead of lighting up to show my playlist or remaining completely dark, the iPod chose a third option. It displayed the little silver apple, indicating it had been turned off at some point during the night and was now rebooting. When the logo was replaced by the menu screen, I was surprised to find out the device still had nearly a hundred percent.
Ecstatic, I turned it back off and stuffed the item in my backpack. I wondered if Nathan had been the one to save my battery, but when I turned to ask, I found his eyes were closed. His mouth was slightly agape and he was breathing very slowly.
When I consulted my watch, I saw that it was 4:30 AM. No wonder he had fallen asleep. I had too. I'd never been one to stay up late, much less pull an all-nighter. My energy had quickly returned though, and after just two short hours of sleep, I was ready to hit the road again.
I looked over at the kids, who were still peacefully sleeping. I used to be able to sleep that deep as well. There could be people shouting in the next room and I wouldn't wake up. I was surprised Peter was sleeping this well though. He was usually a rather light sleeper. I guess the day's events had really worn him out.

Shuffling noises sounded next to me. When I looked over, I saw Nathan squinting in the moonlight.
"...your iPod..." He spoke in a husky, slightly cracked voice.
"Yeah, thanks."
He smiled. I realized this was the first time I'd seen him do so.
"That... sound. Why were you listening to that? Was that..."
"White noise. Yeah. Celestial white noise to be precise."
"Why?"
"It calms me down."
The smile turned into a frown.
"You had a nightmare." A statement, not a question.
He must've seen my surprise.
"You were tossing and turning quite a bit. I wanted to wake you up, but I..."
"No biggie. I get them all the time."
That didn't really seem to cheer him up, so I opted for a change of subject.
"You got a lot of homework due Monday?"
He looked at me like I was crazy, then the tiniest glimpse of a smile appeared.
"I doubt teachers will mind a missed assignment considering the... circumstances."
"You clearly haven't met Mr. Jefferson."
"Uptight?"
"Like yoga pants."
"What subject?"
"AP chem."
"AP... What are you, some kind of mad scientist?"
"I aspire to be. You?"
"More of a history guy. Did you know the Anglo-Zanzibar War only lasted 38 minutes?
"I... Did not know that. They teach you that in AP history?"
"More like wiki history. The internet is a magical place."
"Sure is," I agreed, recalling my Shakespeare phase, in which I'd read all the wikipedia articles for every Shakespeare play there was.
"So... can my inferior chemistry knowledge help you with your homework?"
"Perhaps."
I grappled in my bag behind me until I got hold of the binder.
"Wait, you actually brought it?"
"Of course." I dead-panned, flipping through the pages.
When I found the right one, I put the binder in between us so he could see what I was talking about.
"So, I'm supposed to go over the theory and do the exercises. There'll be a test on Monday. Do you want to read the theory?"
"Why don't you explain it to me? They say that's the best practice."
"Who's they?"
"Einstein."

After Nathan attempted to help me for a good ten minutes, I decided I worked better alone. As I started scribbling down numbers and formulas, I heard Nathan chuckle.
I stopped to look at him.
"What?" I asked.
He shook his head, the smile lingering on his lips.
"Nothing, it's just... We're stranded in the middle of town, there's just been an earthquake, and you're doing chemistry homework."
"Yeah, well, no use to stop living just because the earth decided to do the chimichanga."
That argument earned me a full-on grin.
"I guess you're right. Who knew? While those doomsday preppers were stocking up on cans of beans, all they really needed was science notes and writing utensils."
"Exactly." We sat in silence for a while, me doing calculations, him examining the periodic table he'd stolen from my binder. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was just silence.
"So... Do you want to talk about it?" Nathan said after a while.
"About what?" I asked, though I knew very well.
"The nightmare...s."
I did. Kind of. I wanted to evaluate things, make them go away. But talking wouldn't do that. It would just make me look like an emotional wreck.
Thanks, but no thanks.
"Not really."
He nodded. "Okay. That's cool. Just... Know you can. If you want to."
I forced the corners of my mouth upwards.
"Thanks. I will."
I wouldn't. But it couldn't hurt giving him a little peace of mind.
We fell back into silence, but this one was, in fact, very uncomfortable. I was aching for it to be broken. After five excruciating minutes, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"So, what do you think? Apocalypse or alien invasion?"
Fortunately, he played along.
"I'm putting my money on aliens. Though I would argue that zombies could have found a couple of hundred power drills.
I snorted, and for a moment I didn't think about my parents. Or Cam or Greg or the nightmares.
In that moment, I was completely relaxed and everything was okay.