Natural Disaster

Chapter 32

They barely stopped for breath, even as the sun started to set, hardly speaking a word as they pitched their tent far off to the side of the road next to some trees, hoping that they would disguise them, somewhat. The spread of the snow was starting to dissipate, which relieved them. Their pace could be picked up, again, soon, with nothing but asphalt beneath their boots and nothing to impede them but exhaustion. Which Launa already felt acutely.

Her knee ached, and she stretched it carefully as she laid down in the tent, but was unable to relax. Adrenaline from the run-in with the stranger was still pumping through her system, and renewed every time she recalled the incident. She took a deep breath, calming somewhat as Avi laid beside her, even though she could feel that he was just as tense as she was.

She turned to face him, wrapping an arm tight around his waist as he mirrored her, his arms wound around her shoulders, and she pressed her face into his neck, feeling his pulse moving rapidly, there. Launa rubbed his back, and he curled a hand into her hair. He was scared, and no amount of protective instinct could calm her into saying that she wasn't just as frightened.

Humans are just animals, she found herself thinking, We're just pack animals with little to no mercy. We are no different. We knocked that kid out and left him in the snow. He could be dead. We could be murderers.

She shivered hard, pulling herself closer to Avi and willing the thoughts away. Please, just let me sleep. Please, just let me wake up and have this all be a dream. I don't want to be a murderer.

She wanted to talk to him about her thoughts, wanted to spill every little thing and every drop of fear, but bit it all back when she heard him inhale deeply, shakily. He was just as frightened, and the same thoughts had probably alrady crossed his mind. And if they hadn't, she didn't need to plant the notion that they could be killers into his brain.

Launa squeezed him, hoping to be comforting, and tried desperately to ignore the frightened rabbit that was her thoughts.

______

The following day's travel led them staight into Ash Fork, and she was thankful to see something resembling civilization. Or what was left of it. Ash Fork had gone relatively undamaged, but was still dusted with the snow that had covered the region, but had not been hit as hard by the blizzard.

They quickly surveyed the area, glancing down streets and alleys to assure themselves that they were, indeed, alone. Even when they had agreed on their solitude, they moved as silently and swiftly as possible, purely out of paranoia. They settled in a small apartment for the evening, one that was slightly below ground, but still allowed them to peer out and spot any strangers without being seen, themselves.

Launa found herself settling comfortably into the apartment, reminded of her childhood home with its similar wood paneling and warm colors. "I like it," she announced, breaking the heavy silence and startling Avi from where he'd stationed himself at the window, and had been sitting for the past half hour.

He just nodded, his mouth set in a grim line, and shifted slightly in the chair he'd taken, keeping his eyes trained with laser intensity on the window. She sighed, and rose from her seat on the floor by the bags and approached him, lightly brushing her fingers over the hard line of his shoulders and pressing her cheek to his temple. "It'll be alright," she whispered, settling her hands on both shoulders, carefully digging her thumbs into the muscle.

Avi gave a small sigh and let his eyes flutter shut, rolling his shoulders into her hands. "That's nice," he breathed, his head lolling back to rest against her chest as she rhythmically squeezed a little harder, not having realized just how tense he'd been. She kissed a soft line from his cheek and down his neck, shivering at the deep rumble of pleasure in his throat that vibrated against her lips. Smiling, she rubbed over his shoulders one last time before briefly wrapping her arms around him, pressing another kiss to his neck as she removed herself, leaving him in peace.