Storm

Chapter 8

Night came and went in short intervals of light sleep in between worried thoughts of the Fall and thoughts of Vanessa and counting the time between thunders. Now it was morning again, and Dean crossed into the main room to find Wyatt and Ray already having lunch, sitting across from each other on the table nearest to the door.

The rain, it was definitely stronger than the day before, Dean noted, with a hint of concern. He shook the thoughts away and made way towards the table.

"— should get the hell out of here before the new Fall drowns our asses all!" Wyatt grunted.

"And go where!?" Ray retorted. "The first Fall destroyed every way out of this city. We don't even know if there's a world outside of LA!"

"Well, we're damn sure there is no world inside of LA, so what we still doin here?"

Dean stopped by the counter and watched, and they didn't notice him and kept talking:

"What, you wanna just step outside and walk to the edge of the city?" Ray asked, as if the very possibility was ludicrous.

"Why not?" Wyatt pulled a big chunk of pizza with his teeth. "Best do it now while we still can walk without being dragged and carried with the wind and smashed against the building sides."

"There's more things that can kill us out there than strong winds and water, Wyatt."

"Oh for God's sake, kid, you're a grown man," Wyatt coughed and bit into the slice again, "and you don't wanna go outside 'cause you're afraid of Ghosts?"

"I've seen the bodies."

"You've seen pictures of the bodies. Everyone has. Who's to say any of it is real? You 'spect me to believe there's a bunch of invisible monsters eating people's guts outside, you better bring me some hard evidence, not a couple pictures on a computer."

"Would that be so hard to believe?" Ray paused, then looked up at Wyatt. "I mean, one day the world's okay, then, out of Satan's asshole comes this massive storm and washes out ninety percent of the population and throws LA in a virtual dark age and it has been going on for six months and no one has any idea how it started or if it's ever going to go away, and you have no problem accepting that as part of your reality."

"I saw all of that happening, kid, I was there. I'm still there, so –"

"But suddenly the idea that there might be one more unexplainable thing out there is too much of a stretch for you to believe."

"– you show me a picture of a Ghost or put one in front of me and I'll have no trouble believing –-"

"– Christ's sake, it was the end of the world, as far as we know, and –"

"– everyone says 'they're invisible, you can't see them', well that's damn convenient if you ask –"

"—just maybe aliens or beings from another dimension, or –"

"—should get the hell of out of here, all we need is an umbrella right now, but if we wait –"

"No one's leaving."

Ray and Wyatt stopped talking and turned to Dean, who made way to the table and leaned against an empty chair, eyes out to the gray morning rain.

"You're up late." Ray pushed a cold slice of pepperoni his way. Dean pushed it away.

"I'm fine. And we're not leaving," he said, turning to Wyatt.

"Rain's getting worse, Dean. Fall's coming again."

"Maybe." Dean's eyes ran through the inside of the pizza place, and they stopped for a second on the far away table by the back window, where he first saw Vanessa and also where they had their first date, a week later, and also the table they were sharing when she showed him her exam papers.

"Maybe? You wanna wait for confirmation? Keep an eye out for collapsing buildings? Or are you nancying out on account o' the ghosts like this sissy here?" Wyatt nudged Ray on the shoulder.

"I don't know about the Ghosts," Dean said, forcing his gaze away from the table. He made way around Wyatt and stopped by the doors, watching the street outside through the veil of thin water drops sprayed against the glass in a soft hue of neon blue under the OPEN sign. "But we still have a lot of dough and meat, and we have a reputation to maintain."

Wyatt grunted and his chair screeched, and Dean heard his footsteps fainting out up the stairs and then the bang of a door closing.

Ray stopped by his side a second later, and they stood there watching the rain.

"Do you think another Fall is coming?" Ray asked, after a second.

Dean didn't answer. On the ground level of the high school campus across the street from the pizzeria, far away past the yard, he made out a figure, or thought it at least. A thin silhouette cutting the darkness inside the canvas of a broken window, watching the world outside, leaned against the sill.

A girl. A second later she was gone.