Convulsive Box Set

by Marcus Martin

  “She’s vulnerable, Dan! Look what just nearly happened to us – and that’s us trying to prepare. What chance is she gonna stand on her own? We need to tell her what’s happening!”

  Dan shook his head, over and over. “No way. You’re in shock. We need to get back to the apartment and calm down.”

  “Calm down? After that? We need to find a freakin’ nuclear bunker, Dan, that’s what we need!”

  “We can’t just … Luce, just … just focus on driving. We need to pay attention. I think we’re lost.”

  Lucy wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and tightened her grip on the wheel as she raced down the empty side street.

  “Dan,” she said, suddenly decelerating as they coursed towards a static intersection with the main road. “This isn’t a negotiation. We’re going to Cassie, and we’re going to warn her about what’s ahead.”

  Dan patted his thighs with exasperation. “She’s a grown woman, Lucy. She’ll figure it out, and she’ll be fine.”

  “She’ll be ‘fine’?” said Lucy. “Like we were nearly ‘fine’ back there? Two more minutes in that drugstore, Dan, and that would’ve been us!”

  “Which is exactly why we can’t be taking other people under our wing right now. We’ve gotta sort ourselves out first,” said Dan, flipping the sun visor away with frustration.

  “‘Other people’? She’s not ‘other people’, Dan, she’s my best friend! Listen to yourself! She’s your friend too!”

  “And I’m saying, much as I like Cassie, we’re on the brink of a global catastrophe, and to be perfectly frank, Lucy, I can’t be her babysitter. She needs to look after herself.”

  “What would you do if I said that about Kim? Hey? If your sister lived here, in San Francisco, right now, and I turned around and said, ‘To hell with her, we can’t babysit other people’? I’m pretty sure you’d end our relationship on the spot.”

  “That’s completely different!” retorted Dan. “For one, Cassie’s not your sister, she’s your friend – one of many!”

  “Oh bull,” snapped Lucy. “Don’t play that card, Dan. I’m not as lucky as you, OK? I wasn’t born with a sister. But I have a best friend who is like a sister to me, and as my partner that should be damned well good enough for you!”

  Lucy swore and thumped the horn as a fleeting gap in the traffic ahead immediately resealed itself.

  Dan spoke again. “As your partner, Lucy, my duty is to look after you. Not your nightmare of a friend.”

  “My what?” Lucy’s voice shifted sharply downwards as she again tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

  “You know what I’m saying, Lucy. I’m saying the truth: Cassie’s a liability. Alright? I know it, you know it, anybody who meets her knows it. You really want to bring that sort of chaos into our survival chances?”

  “Fucking stop it already!” cried Lucy, crunching on the handbrake with a jolt and turning to Dan. The film of tears covering her eyes reduced his face to a blur until she blinked them into clarity.

  “I get it, OK?” she said, struggling to control the quiver in her voice. “I get that you’re going into military mode to keep us safe, and keep us alive, but I can’t suddenly pretend like we’re the only two people in this city. Cassie has no one, OK? You’ve got my back, I’ve got yours. Who’s got hers? Exactly.”

  “So that’s my fault now, is it? That Cassie screwed things up with Myles,” said Dan, throwing his hands up despairingly.

  Lucy laughed in disbelief. “Don’t even go there, Dan.”

  “Lucy, where do we draw the line? Our obligation to other people? I care about Cassie too –”

  Lucy snorted.

  “But if we check on her today,” Dan went on, “are we gonna check on her tomorrow as well? If she runs out of food, are we gonna feed her? Are we gonna let her stay at our place if she gets scared?”

  “Maybe all of that! Yeah!” said Lucy. “Why the hell not?”

  “OK, great. Then who else are we gonna look after? Who are we gonna feed? Manuela? Some other neighbors? A few homeless people we stumble across? Orphaned children? Everyone deserves to eat, right? So why don’t we feed them all?” said Dan, gesturing broadly in mock generosity. “We can’t, Lucy!” he continued, slapping his hands down onto his thighs. “We can’t. It’s that simple. This situation is like nothing we’ve ever faced, ever – and I don’t just mean you and me, I mean as a species. It’s going to divide us into two groups: people who can make competent decisions, and people who don’t. If we let ourselves get dragged down by people who don’t give a shit and just live life on a whim, then we’re only reducing our own chances of surviving this crisis. If we keep sharing, our resources will get used up quicker than we could ever replenish them, and we’ll end up starving to death along with our dependents.”

  “So just to be clear,” replied Lucy, “you’re basically confirming that we’re gonna die? Thanks, Dan. You really are the best in a crisis.”

  “Are you insane?” he spat, the temple in his forehead bulging. “How dare you! Because of me, we have a head start. We have a fighting chance, and you’re throwing that back in my face? Maybe I should just pack it all in. Hell, I’ll be more like Cassie, add nothing and drain everyone else’s resources!”

  Lucy didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she wiped her face dry and released the handbrake, forcing their car forwards into the traffic with pre-emptively aggressive beeping.

  Twenty minutes passed and neither of them spoke. Now that they were back on the main streets, they’d advanced no more than a mile in the gridlocked traffic. Eventually, Dan broke the silence.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, staring straight ahead.

  Lucy said nothing. Dan took a deep breath and tried again.

  “You’re right,” he confessed. “If you’d said that to me about Kim, I’d have flipped out. I know Cassie’s like a sister to you, and as your partner, that should have been good enough for me.” He took another deep breath. “So from now on, we’ll look out for Cassie as we’d look out for any other member of each other’s family.”

  “Oh yeah,” bristled Lucy. “My massive, burdensome family. Tell me, Dan, are you glad I don’t come with strings attached? Does it make this whole situation easier for you?”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” he back-pedaled. “I meant … Cassie’s family to you, so she’s family to me too. OK? Jeez, I’m trying to fix things here. You could at least meet me halfway.”

  The tick-tock of the indicator filled another long silence as Lucy slowly took them across a chaotic intersection.

  “OK,” she said, after some time.

  “We can head there now, if you like,” offered Dan, taking more steadying deep breaths.

  “Thank you,” said Lucy, still not looking at him.

  Lucy took in the street ahead. It was a far cry from the bloodshed they’d narrowly escaped. An enterprising bar had set up a cash-only pop-up stall outside its powerless premises and was doing roaring trade with passers-by. They even had a battery-powered boom box pumping out the latest hits. The clientele were enjoying animated conversations with each other about the peculiar goings-on of the day.

  “That was pretty much all our money back there, anyway,” said Dan, looking out of the side window as they drove. “If we want things now, we’re gonna have to get creative about acquiring them.”

  ***

  “Man, she did well to get this place. Talk about timing,” said Dan, as, a good hour later, they climbed the three steps up to Cassie’s front door.

  “Maybe we’ll get a place by the water someday,” said Lucy, knocking loudly. “You know, once the whole global satellite crisis has blown over.”

  She flipped Dan a hint of a smile.

  “Hey, word on the street is that money’s cheap these days,” replied Dan, flicking up the collar of his jacket and pretending to slick back his hair. “Perfect time to put an offer on a few beach properties. If you want, I could talk to some people, who know some people, who might ju
st know what time it is.” He leaned flirtatiously against the door.

  Lucy knocked again several times.

  “Come on, sleazy real-estate guy,” she said, giving Dan a light shove and leading the way. “Let’s go around the back.”

  “Reliving the glory days, are we?” said Dan, feigning a swagger.

  “Hey, knock it off. I’m still at least twenty per cent mad at you. Let’s just try and see if she’s in, OK?”

  They made their way around to Cassie’s modest back garden. Lucy pressed her face against the glass sliding door and tapped.

  “What can you see?” asked Dan, hanging back.

  “Not a lot,” replied Lucy. “It’s pretty dark in there. No candles or anything, so I’m guessing she’s out.”

  “You wanna leave her a note?” suggested Dan, pulling a pen out of his pocket. “I don’t have any paper – there might be a magazine in the car that we could use?”

  “I’ve got a napkin – thanks,” said Lucy, accepting Dan’s pen and retrieving the unused napkin from her pocket.

  Call me, Lucy began to write, immediately realizing how stupid that was. She crossed it out and started over. Cass, we came to check you’re OK. Dan’s Dad says things are going to get worse – come to us if you need anything. Lucy x

  She just about managed to fit the message into the available space, then folded it in half. She quickly reopened it and added the date, before temporarily storing the note in her pocket.

  “What the hell is that stuff?” called Dan from the far end of the garden, facing out across the bay. Lucy walked over and joined him, looking down at the shoreline below.

  A layer of mustard-yellow liquid extended all the way across the beach as far as Lucy could see. Each crashing wave pasted a fresh coat of the substance onto the beach. It clung to the sand even as the foaming waters retreated between surges.

  “It looks like oil … apart from the color,” remarked Lucy, looking further out to sea for signs of a slick. “Ever seen anything like this before?”

  “I’m guessing it’s a chemical spill of sorts,” replied Dan. “Either way, chemical or oil, it can’t be good news.”

  “Hey, you see that?” piped Lucy, pointing further along the beach at a white tent. The area surrounding the tent was cordoned off, save for a large white van which was parked inside the police boundary. “What do you make of it?”

  “No idea. Wanna take a closer look?” asked Dan, squinting down at the tent.

  “Not really,” said Lucy, “and I definitely don’t wanna get too close to that water. But …”

  “But you think whatever’s in the tent could be linked to the yellow water?” said Dan, heavily.

  “Yeah. And if it’s a sign of what’s to come, we might as well stay ahead and find out now.”

  “Come on,” said Dan. “Let’s do it.”

  Lucy led the way down to the beach, clocking the police car parked at the edge of the road where the cordon began. It took them five minutes of brisk walking to reach the tent.

  “It’s a female officer,” said Lucy, as they got closer. “You have to distract her while I check out the tent.”

  “What?” objected Dan. “Why can’t we just ask?”

  “Why do you think? Quit whining, you’ll be great.”

  “Lucy,” protested Dan. “If history taught us one thing, it’s that flirting’s not my strong suit. I honestly think you’d have a better chance.”

  “You’ll be great, you’re a natural,” dismissed Lucy, as the officer stepped out of her vehicle to block the path.

  “This route’s off-limits, folks,” stated the policewoman, unfathomable behind her black sunglasses, hand pre-emptively resting on her holster.

  “I like your hat,” said Dan, with a pathetic whimper.

  “Is that a joke?” replied the officer sternly, raising an eyebrow.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Dan,” said Lucy, brushing him aside. “I apologize for my partner, officer. We were hoping you might be able to tell us what’s in the tent.”

  “All I know is that it’s off-limits to the public,” shrugged the officer, her speech ever so slightly impeded by the chewing gum rotating in her mouth. “I only took over this shift an hour ago, and it’s been sealed up that whole time.”

  “Oh, OK,” said Lucy, politely. “Do you know if it’s got anything to do with that weird yellow stuff on the water?” she said, gesturing to the beach.

  “Look, miss, I know about as much as you know. If you wanna know more, I suggest you go down to City Hall and ask one of them.”

  As the officer spoke, one of the side flaps of the tent opened and a worker in a white hazmat suit exited, walking over to the van and retrieving something from the back. In that fleeting moment, Lucy glimpsed something resembling a small whale carcass inside the tent, which appeared to be covered in the sticky yellow liquid.

  “Aw shit,” said the cop, following Lucy’s gaze over to the tent as the worker left the van with a large saw and re-entered the tent, again momentarily exposing the carcass inside.

  “You folks need to leave now,” said the officer, grinding her teeth down on the chewing gum.

  “Understood,” said Dan, backing away with both hands raised.

  “Apologies for the inconvenience, officer,” said Lucy, optimistically casting her eyes over the sealed tent once again. Defeated, she withdrew with Dan.

  “Did you see that?” said Lucy as they hurried back to the car.

  “I saw something. Looked like a dead whale,” replied Dan, still casting his eyes back at the cop, who had returned to her car and was conveying something on the radio.

  “Yeah, a dead whale covered in that yellow stuff,” said Lucy, surveying the beachfront. “It’s gotta be toxic, whatever it is.”

  “Maybe. Sometimes dead whales do just wash up, though,” countered Dan. “They could be unrelated.”

  “But we don’t usually put dead whales in freaky CSI tents under police guard,” said Lucy as they neared the car. “Gimme two secs,” she added, darting back to Cassie’s front door quickly. She knocked a few more times, then left the note in Cassie’s mailbox.

  Lucy’s mind played the two tent glimpses on a loop as they re-joined the city traffic. She drummed her fingers across the leather steering wheel. Fragments of her first-year dissection classes at veterinary college wove into the daydreaming. She wanted to know what species that whale had been, and what had killed it.

  “Personally, I’m good,” interrupted Dan.

  “Huh?” replied Lucy, jolting back to the present.

  “You’re thinking about the tent. I can see it on your face,” he continued. “Big dead whale being cut to pieces, poisonous yellow liquid? That’s enough detail for me now, thanks.”

  “I forget how squeamish you are – for an ex-army tough guy,” teased Lucy.

  “Yup, that’s me. Nothing says tough guy quite like majoring in philosophy,” grinned Dan.

  “I remember one time in a high-school biology class, we had to dissect a pig heart,” said Lucy, smiling, “and all the popular girls were grossed out. Some of them literally wouldn’t touch it. Some of the guys too. Of course, to me, that was weird, because … well, why wouldn’t you? It’s just nature, right?”

  “On behalf of squeamish ex-army tough guys across the world, I’m gonna go ahead and say that feeling something’s heart in your hand is a slightly unsettling experience.”

  Lucy shrugged. “It’s no different to eating meat. Granted, it doesn’t smell as good as a seasoned steak.”

  “I think growing up on a farm may have hardened you slightly, Luce – to the vulgarities of nature.”

  “I wouldn’t call it ‘vulgar’. It just … is what it is,” she mused. “But you’re right about the hardening bit – ranching isn’t for the faint-hearted.”

  The traffic slowed to a stop.

  “What’s that noise?” said Dan, sitting upright.

  Lucy wound down the window. The shouts and cries of a panick
ing crowd grew closer. The people in the cars ahead began climbing out to get a better view.

  “I’m gonna take a look,” said Dan, opening his door.

  Gunshots rang out into the air, followed by more screams. The people up ahead ducked, crawling back into their vehicles.

  “Get down!” yelled Dan, crouching behind the passenger door and scrambling into the footwell.

  Lucy frantically unclipped her safety belt and slid down into her own footwell. The car squealed as she accidentally nudged the accelerator with her knee, making the handbrake groan.

  “What’s happening?” she whispered.

  He clenched his fist and raised it slightly, at a right angle to his upper arm, in the military ‘stop’ pose, and stared at her intensely. She didn’t move a muscle.

  Several minutes passed. They crouched in silence. The screams and shouts outside became more sporadic, more isolated. Two more gunshots rang out, followed by the sound of a car screeching away. Dan held his fist up again. Neither of them moved.

  Another engine started, much closer this time. The whole car shook as the vehicle in front reversed directly into them, jolting Lucy and Dan’s heads against the dashboard, and slamming Dan’s door back shut.

  The car ahead did a screeching turn on the spot and disappeared away from the commotion. Lucy looked to Dan, who raised himself up from the footwell with extreme caution, while signaling to her to stay hidden.

  He peered out through the windscreen as a hacking chorus of engines restarting filled the air.

  “I think it’s over,” whispered Dan, still scanning the foreground, poised like a hare. “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” said Lucy, swallowing hard. Her legs felt weak. Her head was growing dizzy.

  “Sit up slowly,” coached Dan, still scanning their surroundings. “Take three slow deep breaths, then come round to my side. I’ll drive us back.”

  ***

  The detour Dan found for them spared Lucy whatever it was he’d seen unfold. They briefly tuned back into KGO 810 and garnered what new information there was, until the station returned to a padding loop of speculation again. When they arrived back home Dan lit a candle in the living room, and they lay entwined on the sofa for a while not talking. Lucy allowed herself to be mesmerized by the silence and warmth of the candlelight.