“You still want a drink?” he asked.
“Sure. What do we have?”
The suite was stocked. Not just a skimpy mini-bar with a few airplane sample bottles of alcohol, but a large cabinet overflowing with high quality brands of whiskey, vodka, gin and more. The two of them settled on a bottle of The Glenlivet single malt Scotch whiskey, which had apparently been aged for eighteen years. Zephyr hoped that meant it was good. He rounded up two whiskey glasses and poured until each was about a quarter full of the dark brown liquid. Then he handed Aurora a glass and sat down beside her.
“Thank you.”
“Cheers,” he said, clinked his glass against hers and then sipped. It hurt. His throat burned and he couldn’t seem to get oxygen through. Aurora swallowed hers without any issue and giggled when she saw him wiping at his eyes.
“Have you ever gotten drunk before?” she asked, amused.
“Of course,” he said. “I usually drink vodka, though. Never been a big Scotch guy.” That was a half-truth. He had indeed tried vodka, but he was by no means familiar with it. He’d sampled it only twice before.
“We have vodka, dude. Get a bottle.”
“No, it’s OK. Just let me get a taste for this,” he said, and sipped again. This time it went down a little smoother. Not to be outdone, Aurora clinked her glass against his and then tipped it to her lips. This time she coughed and then gagged.
“Have you ever gotten drunk before?” he teased.
“Fair enough,” she said, still wincing, and then cracked up. “OK, you’re right. It’s gross. I think I need a chaser if we’re going to keep this up. You want one?”
“Oh God, yes.”
She returned a moment later with two cold cans of Pepsi. Then she leaned over him and whispered, “Should we go into the other living room? Jordan can sleep and we can be a little louder.”
“Yeah,” he whispered back and then followed her through the living space, past the kitchen, and straight into another expansive room complemented by its own set of couches, chairs and television. He turned on the TV and cued the hotel’s directory of channels, studied it and eventually found what he wanted. Then he punched in a number on the remote, the picture faded to black for a moment and just as he was about to change the channel, they heard it.
—pires walkin’ through the valley, move west down Ventura Boulevard. And all the bad boys, are standing in the shadows. And all the good girls are home with broken hearts. And I’m freeeee! Free fallin’! Yeah I’m free! Free fallin’!
“How did you?” Aurora asked.
“They have satellite radio. Didn’t think it would work, though.” He was still amazed that it actually did. “Might be the same song for the next decade, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
So they sat down on the couch, poured shots, talked, asked questions and really listened, laughed, refilled empty glasses, stared at one another for a little too long, and repeated, as Tom Petty’s heartbreak song played out over and over and over again around them. Not that it mattered. Not really. In fact, by their third refills, they found themselves singing along. Aurora choked up as she spoke about her dad. She told him she barely knew Sarah and felt horrible because she was glad it happened to the older lady and not her. Zephyr, of course, dismissed this, said there was nothing she could’ve done and that it was natural to feel as she did. She wondered if Sarah was all right now and admitted that she worried about her a lot. And he told her that he worried about everything. Her. Jordan. Yes, Sarah too. But also about all the things they couldn’t possibly consider or predict.
“Everything out there,” he said and nodded to the window.
Aurora sighed. “The hanging man.”
“Yeah, pretty fucked up, right? We see a dead man—someone obviously murdered, right—and we drive on, and then go freakin’ swimming. Like we’re on vacation.”
She nodded. “That’s how it is now. Survive first, live after. You gotta take it where you can get it.”
That rang true. It was precisely the way he existed; the way they all existed now. And he knew it was philosophically inverted to the way Merrick, Brad and Ben had viewed their continuation.
“Exactly,” he said, nodding. “That’s exactly right, Aurora. So fucking right.”
She was smiling at him. “You’re wasted, aren’t you?”
“What? No.”
She leaned and then pushed against him. “Yes, you are.”
“No, seriously. Not wasted, but I definitely feel it. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t.”
“I do,” she admitted, and stared at him.
“What?”
“I don’t know.” She ran a hand through her dark hair and then concentrated on her lap. When she finally met his gaze again, it was fleeting.
“What?” he asked again.
“OK,” she sighed. “Just… do you want to kiss me?”
“Yes,” he said. “Pretty much always. But I’m drunk enough to know that if I start, I won’t be able to stop. So maybe I shouldn’t.”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t,” she agreed, and smiled. “Stop, I mean.”
So he kissed her. At first, small, and light, and then harder, wetter, longer. And it was far more intoxicating than any bottle of alcohol. Her body against his, her hot breath on him, his hands through her hair. Their exploratory touches and kisses quickly became desperate, frantic, feverish, and then his shirt was off, her robe pulled open, and he was on top of her.
“Should we…” He kissed her. “A bedroom?”
“No, no—we’ll just be quiet, OK?” Then she pulled him closer and they said no more as Tom Petty waxed on from some faraway place that seemed to grow fainter at the speed of light.
I wanna glide down, over Mullholland. I wanna write her, name in the sky. I wanna free fall, out into nothin’. Gonna leave this, world for a while.
35
Answers
Los Angeles drivers didn’t carpool, ever, and the resulting traffic never slept. Even during the late hours of the event, the streets were obviously a nightmare. They finally arrived at a pileup that stretched across the entirety of their passage and Zephyr understood that there would be no skirting it. In the distance, shiny buildings that reached skyward and a beautiful sunset so red and rich that it looked unnatural. It was. Aurora noted that the splendor was the result of the local smog, which hung in the air like some misty ghost waiting to pounce. There was something else, too. When his eyes fixated again on the picturesque scene, the blemishes bled back in. Some of those distant skyscrapers were damaged. Pieces missing. Like some gigantic monster took a bite out of them. It was the first time he had seen this kind of ruin for himself and it triggered both sadness and fear. It was all the proof that mankind’s imprint was not so deep and everlasting but shallow and fragile— a smear that could be wiped away.
“Well,” he said as he killed the ignition. “Santa Monica is straight that way. For another fifteen miles or so, from what I can tell. You guys want to take a hike?”
“Leave the car?” Aurora asked.
“Yeah.” He nodded to the mess ahead of them. “No way we’re getting through in this thing. Maybe if we had some bikes. Maybe. But I’m not even sure about that. I think we’re gonna have to climb over some of these crashes.”
“Maybe if we climb the cars, we can steal a better one on the other side,” Jordan offered. “Or maybe the traffic will get better.”
“Good idea, Jord, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. We’re in the heart of Los Angeles here. If anything, I bet it gets worse.” He sighed. After a minute’s consideration he added, “OK. So here’s what I propose. We either decide to get moving and make as much time as we can before the sun goes down—we probably have about forty-five minutes— or we just buckle down and camp here until morning. Then we can do the rest of the trip in daylight.”
“There’s no way we’re going to make it all the way on foot before the sun goes down,” Aurora said. “So what do you want to do when it’s dark t
hen? If we try to walk it right now, I mean.”
He shrugged. “Find somewhere to go. I bet we can make it to the next off-ramp before sunset if we leave now. Then, we find the nearest place— hotel, house, whatever—
and hole up there for the night.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, OK. That works.”
“Jord, sound good?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Good. Let’s move then.”
They carried their guns, all of which were armed and ready should anybody spring upon them. And we know how to use them, assholes, Zephyr thought, so if you’re out there and you’ve got any designs, stay the hell away.
Progress was a fight. Whenever they could, they maneuvered around the obstructions, but most of the time the collisions were widespread and couldn’t be sidestepped. So they climbed over the cars and wrecks. The sun was their guide. It stayed with them, dipping ever lower, until at last it seemed to be level with the highway, and then its rays finally disintegrated and the sky glowed dark red before the blues and blacks of the night suffocated everything else. It was then that the three of them found themselves walking alongside an off-ramp toward La Brea Avenue.
“You see?” Aurora asked and he nodded.
It was several miles to the west. A single, brilliant light beamed straight up into the sky like a beacon. That appeared to be the point. There was no way of knowing for certain if it was a marker for Alpha, but it probably was. Smart, he thought. And they still have electricity. In fact, the entire city did, based on the glowing street lights and illuminated shops down the block.
“I think we’re here—wherever here is,” Aurora said.
They found a liquor store in shambles. Someone had stripped it of almost all snacks and drinks and then destroyed it for good measure. Shelving systems lay on their sides and all of the glass refrigerator doors were shattered. None of these details offered any reassurance. At least in New Mexico they could pillage without competition.
“Looks like about maybe ten more miles,” he said, ignoring the destruction around them, and then showed the girls the map. He fingered a junction point. “That’s where we are. And we want to follow this path until we get…” He traced Venice Boulevard until it dead-ended at the beach. “… right here.”
“OK,” Aurora said.
“Yeah. It should be a pretty easy trip, knock on wood.”
He was about to ask if they wanted to complete the journey tonight when Aurora shushed him.
“Do you hear that?” she whispered.
He didn’t, started to say so, and then he did. He cocked his head and stared into the night. Faint at first, but soon the thumping was unmistakable.
“Someone’s blasting music,” Jordan said, and Zephyr knew she was right.
“Follow me,” he said.
The three of them hurried out the door and found a hiding spot behind a parking lot dumpster.
The music grew louder, stronger, and more recognizable. It was definitely a car stereo and the beat was rap of the old-school variety. Straight up gangsta rap. Deep bass and shallow lyrics, baby. The only words Zephyr could make out were f-bombs. Before long, the bass resonated through their parking lot and sent vibrations through anything that wasn’t glued or nailed in place. When he tried to peek around the dumpster, he couldn’t make out anything beyond headlights. And just as quickly as the music came upon them, it dulled and drifted into obscurity until only taillights gleamed a deep red from somewhere down the road.
“Well, then,” Zephyr said as he pushed open the gates. “Have you guys decided what gang you want to join yet?”
“We have to join a gang?” Jordan asked.
Aurora punched his arm. “No, don’t listen to him, Jord. He’s just being an ass.”
“How do you know? That might’ve been the mayor of Alpha.”
“Shut up,” she said, still smiling.
“All right, first things first.” He turned to Jordan. “Can you run back inside and look for any leftover snacks? Candy bars, chips—anything you can find? I just want to make sure we have plenty to eat. And while you’re doing that, we’ll figure out our next move.”
“Yep,” she said and then started for the store.
When Zephyr felt she was far enough away from them, he pulled Aurora closer and whispered, “So, no way they were friendly, right?”
She raised an eyebrow and stared at him. “Not that I disagree, but why do you say that?”
“Oh, I dunno. The whole Fuck the Police vibe ain’t great, but blasting music like that seems like they’re daring someone to try something. I got the impression they’re looking for a fight.”
She considered this for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, I agree. So what do we do? Should we just find a place now? I don’t think we should be out and about.”
“On the one hand, yes, I like the idea of finding a safe place to sleep. On the other hand, though, are we really better off traveling by day? I’m not so sure. At least at night, we’ll be able to hide, ya know?”
“In other words, you want to keep going.”
“Well, no,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know. I think it’s worth contemplating, that’s all. We have our guns and we have the element of surprise. So if we do this now, we stay out of the light and we just keep moving toward the beach. We see any cars or people, we hightail it to a hiding spot.”
“And what if we can’t?”
He raised his weapon. “Hopefully, that won’t happen, but that’s why we have these.”
“Jesus, Zephyr. I don’t want to get in a shoot-out here.”
“Neither do I.” He put his arms around her and kissed the side of her head. “We won’t. We’ll be careful. All I’m saying is, if we have to, we use these.” Then he cupped her cheek with one hand. “Aurora. Promise me. Whether we travel tonight or tomorrow. Shit goes down, we use these. Do you promise?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I promise.”
Jordan returned a few minutes later with a packet of gum, an energy bar, a torn bag of stale pretzels and a few cans of Mountain Dew. “Found these in the back,” she said and held up a can. “They’re warm. Still good, though.”
The streets watched as the three of them moved with measured stealth across dirty sidewalks and past sketchy shops. Every so often, Zephyr or Aurora would stop and stare into the distance for something that never came or listen for something that never sounded, and then they would resume their silent trek. The wind bloomed beyond whispers to a regular breeze as they passed city blocks and drew closer to the unseen ocean. Their voyage stretched on forever—not minutes, but hours, with every gambled intersection a lesson in slow torture and a test of their collective determination.
Alpha wouldn’t be difficult to find, at least. The spotlight still shone, not just a lighthouse for the ghost ships at its back, but a signal to everyone on land near and far. Here we are. All you have to do is come. Zephyr couldn’t believe they were finally almost there. Would these people really have the answers? Even some of them? If they’d travelled all this way and endured all they had to hear another story about the Rapture, he thought he might be sick.
When at last they were close enough to hear the crashing of waves against sand and rock, they saw it. Two gray buildings, the tallest of which stood maybe a dozen stories, tethered together by a suspended walkway. Aurora pointed out that a handful of armed soldiers peppered the perimeter of the lowest roof and before Zephyr could process the information, an amplified voice boomed into the night.
“We see you there—don’t move!” He searched for the source of the voice but couldn’t find it. “Repeat: Do not move. We have our weapons locked on you now.”
Jordan’s hand found Zephyr’s and she started to say something before he quieted her. “It’s OK,” he told her loud enough so that Aurora could hear. “Let’s do as they ask.”
Soon after, the glass double-door’s comprising the building’s entrance swung open and out piled several more figures, all dressed in c
asual clothes and armed with rifles. Two men, three women. It was still impossible to make out age. Zephyr lowered his gun to the ground, kicked it away, threw up his hands and told the girls to do the same. A man and woman approached them, their weapons still aimed. Surprisingly, he wasn’t afraid. True, this wasn’t the welcome party he’d hoped for, but this had to be the people of Alpha, and surely they would be friendly. Eventually. He hoped.
“Good evening,” the woman said.
Her hair, cropped and hot pink, was as short as she was. Zephyr could make out the dark imprint of a tattoo on her neck, but couldn’t tell what it was. She looked him over, nodded to her partner, himself a lanky man with long hair, and said, “My name’s Catherine. My friend here is Pan. You’re all gonna take three big steps backward and he’s gonna walk over and take those guns. If you do anything except watch, I’ll have to shoot you. Now, I really don’t want to do that, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to do that. So let’s agree to work together on this, shall we?”
“We agree,” Aurora said.
Zephyr stepped backward. “We do. But, those guns do belong to us. I’d appreciate it if we got them back at some point.”
“We’ll see about that. One thing at a time,” the girl replied. “What’s your name?”
He told her.
She surveyed Aurora and Jordan. “And you two?”
They told her.
“Why are you here?”
“That depends,” Zephyr said. “Is here… Alpha?”
“Yes, it is,” she responded. “So you saw the message then.” This wasn’t a question so much as a confirmation.
As her partner stood guard, she spoke into her walkie-talkie and nodded to nobody. After a minute of imperceptible chatter, she said, “Yup, out,” and turned back to them.
“Where you coming from?” she asked.
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