Page 111 of Stains of Desire

19

Penelope

Devastation is everywhere.Trees cover the roads. Power lines are down. Like Tinker's house, others are broken into pieces.

"Have you experienced an earthquake before?" I ask Axel.

"No."

We drive farther, and the silence is eerie. "Do you feel like we're in a horror movie right now?"

Axel snorts. "That's a good way to put it."

"How many people do you think died or are injured?"

His voice lowers. "Probably a lot."

We travel for a while in silence and come to a split in the earth. Axel parks the SUV. We get out to look at it.

My gut churns. "Holy..."

"Wow."

"I guess we won't be jumping it?" I say to lighten the severity of the situation. The split is at least twenty feet wide, deep, and extends farther than we can see.

Axel sighs. "Guess we have to find another road."

We return to the vehicle and backtrack. We get about an hour away when the split seems to have caught up to us.

Axel groans and turns the car around.

"I feel like we're in that movie, Labyrinth. At any moment, the theme song will start playing, and David Bowie is going to magically appear and start singing."

Amusement fills Axel's face. "You've got quite the imagination, green eyes."

"This is creepy. And inconvenient. We aren't making any progress, are we?"

He takes my hand. "Not a lot. But we'll get through this."

My gut flips. "What if Millie somehow got hurt by the earthquake?"

"She would have to be in Honduras. You keep having dreams she is in snow."

I take a deep breath.

"Don't let your mind go to places it shouldn't, green eyes. It won't help Millie and will only make you sick."

He's right. I know he is. But once I get an idea in my head, it's hard to erase it.

We drive for hours, constantly turning around and having to find new roads, which are mostly dirt. It gets dark. Axel veers off to the side of the road. "We need to stop for the night. There are too many unknowns to drive in the dark, and we need to find a gas station first thing tomorrow."

"Have we gotten anywhere, or did we just go in circles today?"

"I won't lie to you, green eyes. We didn't make it very far. But tomorrow is a new day."

My insides quiver. Grief hits me. I turn to stare into the blackness, trying to hide my tears from Axel.

He gets out and opens my door then tugs me into him.