Page 6 of Unrest
“Ah, man, the power button’s blinking,” Matt said. “C’mon, baby, just a minute longer.”
I held my breath.
“Tater’s finished!” Mark called. “Now he’s trying to fill up the backup canister.”
Another beep sounded and Matt groaned. “No, no, no, come on.” Then awhooshwent through the building as the generator shut down and silence filled the air.
We looked around at each other.
“It’ll have to be enough,” Texas Harry said.
Hopefully we could find another abandoned gas station along the way. We left the building as Tater was pouring the small amount he’d gotten in the canister into Devon’s tank to top it off. They gave each other high fives and everyone shared slaps and knuckle bumps before climbing back into vehicles. I slid next to Remy. We reached for one another instinctively and held tight.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Tater put the SUV in drive and we were off.
Remy put her head on my shoulder and I got a small but distinct whiff of chocolate.
“I might have to lick you, Rem,” I blurted.
Both Tater and Rylen turned to us, nearly cracking heads in the process.
“She smells like chocolate,” I explained. Tater shook his head and faced forward again. Ry gave me one last bemused look before turning back too.
“Hey,” Remy whispered. She raised her free hand to my face, and to my shock, there was half of the tiny candy pinched between her finger and thumb. “I saved half for you.”
My heart lurched with emotion. “Are you serious?”
She nodded and her chin quivered as she raised the M&M to my mouth and fed it to me. She licked her fingers off while I savored the tiny morsel. My eyes watered as I crunched down and Remy said, “Good, right?”
A second later we were hugging and crying all over again.
“We have to save our water,” I choked.
She sniffled and let go of me to wipe her face. “No more crying.”
“Maybe try to sleep,” Rylen suggested. “We’ll wake you if anything happens.” He gave me a reassuring glance.
I didn’t know if I could ever sleep again, but I pulled our pillows from the top of the pile in the back and we snuggled against the windows, our feet and legs tangled in the middle. I looked out the front windshield and saw only dry landscape and distant mountains. Nothingness. Kind of how I felt inside.
