Natural Disaster

Chapter 9

It was around the time that they got to the Utah-Arizona state border that the tank on the truck hit the halfway point. “Okay,” Avi said, glowering at the gas gauge, “so the miles-per-gallon in this isn’t nearly as good as I had hoped.” 

Launa silently thanked their good sense for making them pick up extra gasoline.

They had passed slowly through Monticello, glancing about quickly and, upon spotting a corpse along the side of the road, they decided not to dwell. The cracks in the road and overturned houses told the tale they’d been seeing their whole journey. One particular split- that was, thankfully, not in their path- seemed to have swallowed a convenience store.

"This isn’t right," Launa said, shaking her head, taking in the damage of the quake, "I know it was way up on the Richter scale, but it should not have spread this far."

They quickly departed the city, deciding to make their destination in Chinle, Arizona, bypassing Blanding all-together. Their supplies would last them till their new destination. Aside from their brief stop in Monticello and pass through Blanding, the drive was relatively uneventful.

Although, the drive would have taken only four hours, had it not been for the splits in the highway and uneveness of it all. There had been a particularly rough patch, the road dropping them a few feet straight down, making the road bumpy and more than a little frightening, forcing them to take a long way around problem areas through the dust and extending the driving time.

Launa distracted herself from the almost-nauseating drive by watching Avi work the gear shift. Her mother had once told her about watching her father do the same, and she finally understood why it was entertaining. Lord, the guy has nice hands, she thought, fascinated by the tendons sliding under his skin.

"Do you mind if we stop for the evening?" Avi asked, startling her and yawning into his hand, "I know we’re not in Chinle, yet, but, my eyes are tired."

"You just seem tired, in general," she replied, patting his shoulder, "By all means!"

He slowed the truck to a crawl on the shoulder of the road, bending quickly to untwist the wires under the wheel, effectively killing the engine.

They hopped out of the vehicle, Avi quickly coming around to help her down. “I’m not some damsel,” she grumbled, taking his hand to be polite, “I can get down by myself.”

"You’re welcome," he ignored her protests with a smile, "Hungry?"

Launa’s stomach growled upon realizing that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, yesterday. “I, uh. I guess so.” 

______

They ate their dinner in comfortable silence, their campfire some distance away from the vehicle for safety. Upon finishing their meal, Avi stretched out on his back with a sigh. “You know, for the apocalypse,” he cast his green eyes to her and gave her a smile, “we’re doing pretty damn well.”

Launa nodded in agreement. “Kinda makes me worry, though, not gonna lie.”

"Being a pessimist isn’t going to help," he half-scolded, turning to lay on his side with his head propped up on his arm, "Thinking like that is just going to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she screwed her face up at him, "I just worry that it’s going too well.”

Avi considered her words for a moment, biting his lip. “I know what you mean,” he spoke quietly, turning a rock over in his hand, “But, I’m just thankful that we’ve been so lucky.”

She remained quiet, poking a stick into the fire, playing with the cinders, barely looking over when he sat next to her. She was a little unnerved at how quickly she had grown accustomed to his company, but she was also very glad of it. Launa allowed herself a glance out of the corner of her eye at him, startled to find him already facing her, mouth open as if to speak.

They stumbled for a moment, each insisting the other go first. He was the first to give up. “I was just going to offer a penny for your thoughts.”

She shrugged. “Not a lot going on in here.”

"What are you worrying about, then?" he pressed, "you keep moving your eyes around like you’re thinking, and it’s constant. Something’s always going on in there."

Launa frowned. “Points for observation,” she sighed, turning back to focus on the fire, “I’m just worried.”

"You’re always worried, then?"

"That’s pretty accurate, yeah." She caught him smiling out of the corner of her eye. "And you’re always smiling."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, no. I’ve just never met anyone who smiled as much as you."

Avi pointed at her mouth. “It’s good for being contagious, at least, if nothing else.” She was a little annoyed to find a grin on her own face.

She mimicked his earlier action and laid down in the dirt on her back, feeling sleepiness drift over her brain. “Launa?”

"Hmmm?"

"What are you going to do, once we reach L.A.?"

She lifted her head to look at him, but he was turned away and facing forward, leaving his face obscured to her. She thought for a long moment. “I’m probably going to find a way back home, from there.”

"Back to Alaska?"

"Yeah."

There was a long pause before Avi spoke again, his voice so quiet and low it vibrated the air around them. “Would it be alright if I went with you?”

Launa sat up quickly, staring at him, slightly bewildered. “Why the hell would you want to go there? You’re a California kid.”

"Yeah," he spoke slowly, still not looking at her and tugging idly on the black, thin ring in his earlobe, "but I’d like to visit. And let’s face it," he gave her a sly, joking smile, "neither of us are very good at this, alone."

She grinned, disbelieving but happy all the same. “You’d travel all that way with me?” He nodded. “Why?”

He elbowed her gently in the shoulder. “You need some company.”

She chewed her lip for a moment. “Would it be highly inappropriate to hug you?”

"After kissing my cheek, earlier?" he teased, "Not at all. C’mere."

Launa wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his shoulder as he hugged her tight around her waist, he beard scraping her cheek as she leaned into him, breathing in the smell of his leather coat. He rocked her for a moment before releasing her. Silence fell once more, both of them grinning. “That kindness of yours is gonna get you in deep shit, one day,” she warned him, standing and offering her hand, “we should get some sleep.”

Avi sighed heavily, taking her outstretched hand and hauling himself to his feet, pausing to stamp out the fire. “I know,” he groaned, “it lost me a phone in a bathroom, once.”

"How the hell do you manage that?"

"Well, this guy came in while I was in there…" They piled back into the truck, he in the driver’s seat and she in the passenger’s, as he told his story, making her snicker at him as he went on. The story was fairly short, but she found herself already drifting off, feeling as though his voice was wrapping itself around her brain and flipping a switch that made her relax.

The next thing she knew, his beard was scratching her skin as he pressed a kiss to her hairline and whispered a ‘good night’. She tried to reply, but sleep’s paralysis had begun to set in, and she settled on giving him a smile.

The argumentative person in her head tried to scold her for allowing that to happen. She simply hit the mute on them and drifted off. Just this once, she promised, again.