Natural Disaster

Chapter 27

Avi was jolted from his slumber by a loud, excited whoop. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and grumbling. Launa bounced onto the bed and half on him, holding her screech of excitement behind clenched teeth and a wide smile. "What the hell," he groaned, voice thick with sleep as the young woman flailed about, "what's going on?"

She laid directly on him, resting her chin on his chest and squeezed him tight around his middle. "It stopped snowing!"

He couldn't recall a time he'd ever gotten out of bed faster.

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They moved quicker than ever before, the week and a half rest having rejuvenated them, despite the boredom. They shoved all of their cans and many of the remaining stock of the house into their bags, but still had plenty of room for more. "Should we run to the store before we go?" Launa asked, quickly braiding her hair to keep it out of the way.

"To the store" Avi agreed, heaving his bags up onto his shoulders, "Oh, shit. I almost forgot how heavy these are."

They packed a change of clothes and, as they made their way to the front door, paused briefly to thank the previous owners for their hospitality. "And thanks for the entertainment." he said, elbowing her teasingly in her side.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, you call it 'entertainment'. I call it 'traumatizing'."

"It wasn't that bad."

"All the sex toys were definitely that bad."

Avi sighed and patted her shoulder as they stepped across the threshold to the outside, casting a parting glance to the house. "So long," he murmured, running a hand along the door frame, "thanks for holding up on us." After he hopped off the porch into the shin-deep snow, Launa mimicked his farewell and quickly followed, grumbling as the snow hit her at the knees.

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Their journey to the store was a swift one. Even though the building was falling apart, they were able to wiggle their way inside, and Launa made it just a little further than her partner. She tossed cans and bottled water to him over debris and rolled it on the floor to him, and, through sheer luck, found a little tent that could fit the both of them and shield them from the weather, only coming back when he called that they had no more room for more supplies.

Avi 'tsked' as she returned and he wiped his thumb over her cheek. "We haven't been out for even an hour," he scolded jokingly, "and you're already dirty."

Don't say it.

"I've always been dirty." Launa smirked as his eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open, slightly.

He squinted suspiciously at her, half-smiling as he picked up his bags. "Are you cracking more dirty jokes at me?"

"Maybe." She had to stop herself from saying or doing anything more. Wow, so the hormones are still outta control. Fabulous. Certain that the moment was over, she lifted her own bags, and nearly dropped them with a surprised squeak as Avi pinched her ass. She chased him out of the store, shouting obscenities, but couldn't stop from smiling. I'll get him back for that.

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Even through the deep snow, it wasn't difficult to find the highway that ran through Williams, and they stepped onto it, relieved to feel the familiar concrete beneath their feet. "Alright," Avi pulled the quickly-wearing-out map from his coat pocket and unfolded it, "there's no town for a little while, but the next viable stop is a reservoir."

"Might be good to stock up on water," Launa said, pushing him gently when his distraction to the map had his steering off and started stepping into her path.