Natural Disaster

Chapter 37

Caution: This chapter is NSFW.

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After their departure from Kingman, it was relatively silent in the car, only broken by the occasional uncapping of water bottles. Launa slowly unfolded her legs from their tight position against her chest, wincing at the protests from her knee.

"You okay?" Avi asked, glancing over to her.

She nodded and rubbed at her knee, being careful not to disturb it too badly. "Yeah, it just hurts from being in the same position for too long."

The silence was almost awkward, and she tried hard not to think about the box sitting in the back of the car on the floor, her stomach twisting nervously every time it came to mind. In an attempt to distract herself and break the silence, she leaned forward and fiddled with the radio dial on the dashboard, flicking it on. She strained her ears and cranked the volume up, only picking up silence with a background white noise and static. "They still haven't fixed the radio towers," she observed, twirling the dial off, "Lame."

Her partner said nothing, but reached over and rubbed his thumb over her shoulder. "It's okay," he murmured, offering her a warm smile.

She mirrored the gesture for a moment, sliding her hand along his arm to rest over his hand. "I know," she replied, lacing her fingers with his, squeezing gently for a moment before releasing her grip.

Launa leaned her forehead against the door frame, watching the landscape pass. It was overcast, but it was relatively warm, which didn't suprise her, since they'd arrived in a desert area. After checking out the map for what felt like the millionth time, they discovered that the only town between them and Needles was Yucca, and they agreed that they'd stop into the little town, if only to see if there was anyone there.

The prospect of meeting hostile humans was more than a little daunting, and she found herself feeling reluctant to rejoin any other humans. To be completely honest, the rest of the human race had begun to frighten her. They couldn't be sure whate exactly was waiting for them, and she was almost too afraid to find out.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a sound they hadn't heard in months: Raindrops. It spattered over the metal roof and against the windshield and windows, contrasting sharply with the desert around them. "Yet more weird precipitation in the desert," Avi remarked, turning on the windshield wipers as the rain came down harder, soaking the car and the road before them. She watched, fascinated, as the desert sand slowly became darker as time passed, and she had the idle curiosity of what would happen if we accidentally drove off the highway slithered through her brain.

The raindrops were coming down so hard and fast, it was a little frightening. "I guess this is literal buckets," Launa muttered, glancing over at her partner, only to find him with a small smile, "What?"

"Nothing," he answered, "Just remembering the last time it rained."

She mirrored his smile after a moment of digging through her memories. The first time they kissed was only a few months ago. Is this going too fast? She'd had this argument with herself, before. Well, you two have practically been living together, so I'd say... no. Go for it.

Launa held out her hand, offering it for him to hold, and he took it, his fingers wrapping tight around hers. His expression was one of quiet surprise as she lifted his hand to her lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. He squeezed her hand in response and opened his mouth to say something, only to snap it shut a moment later. "What?" she asked, "You've been doing that a lot, lately."

He shook his head and laced his fingers between hers. "It's nothing." Avi responded simply, and said nothing more on the matter, despite her pressing.