Chapter 53 - Reid
The bus creaks like it’s going to fall apart any second, crawling forward through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the outskirts of Vancouver.
The sky looks bruised with smoke, a thick orange haze bleeding into everything.
People line the shoulders of the highway, dragging suitcases, pushing bikes loaded with bags, or just sitting in clusters like they gave up trying to get anywhere.
But all of them are heading east, away from the ocean and what danger it might bring next. It’s chaos. Barely controlled for now.
I shift my aching ass on the incredibly uncomfortable school bus seat and press my forehead to the window.
I watch the little patch of fog that forms on the window when my breath hits it and then I just close my eyes to block out the madness, but that doesn't really work. My phone’s still fucked from the water.
It won’t even turn on. Julian’s isn’t any better.
We keep trying though, as if sheer hope and repetition might fix the circuits.
I hate the uncertainty, the waiting. The way my brain loops the same damn questions on repeat.
Is Luna safe? Is she scared? Is she thinking about us? Is she thinking about me?
I squeeze my hands together in my lap until my knuckles ache.
I’ve loved that girl since I was eighteen years old and have been too much of a coward to say anything real.
Too afraid to make a move because what if she didn’t want me like that?
What if I wrecked everything by opening my mouth?
What if I wasn’t enough? When her family died, all those wants got put on the back burner.
She needed me, us, to be her friends, to protect and care for her as she healed.
After two years, we were finally getting to a place where she’s ready to start living again, and now this happens.
Now the world’s fucking ending as we know it, and I’m done with what-ifs.
I’m going to get to her. I’m going to tell her.
No more fear. No more hiding behind Jules and letting the others take the lead.
If she doesn’t feel the same way, it will hurt beyond belief, but I need her to know.
She needs to know how much I love her, how much I ache to touch her.
When we get home, I’m laying all my cards on the table. If we ever get home.
We’ve been on this bus all day and haven’t even made it out of the Lower Mainland.
Every lane going east is clogged. Jules has already argued twice with the driver about switching to the westbound lanes, that no one is using anyway, to get us moving faster.
People are panicking and making a mess of things.
When the driver tells us we’ve burned too much fuel in stop-and-go driving and we need to wait for a tanker, I groan in frustration.
He pulls over at the edge of a strip mall parking lot, telling the frustrated passengers that we’re shut down until morning or until gas arrives. Whichever comes first.
Julian curses and drags me up from the seat to get us off and stretch our legs. My spine cracks like bubble wrap. Everything smells like exhaust and human desperation. Except…
I sniff. “Do you smell that?”
Julian’s head tilts, sniffing the air like a cartoon bloodhound. “Holy shit. Is that grilling meat?”
All we’ve eaten since we left our flooded hotel is minibar snack food, and that’s pretty much gone, so we follow the scent across two parking lots to a squat little diner.
There’s a crowd gathered in the lot with two old BBQs working overtime beside folding tables.
A woman in an apron flips burgers with the speed of a seasoned camp cook.
Her hair’s silver and pulled into a bun that’s falling loose around one side of her face. Dying for a hot meal, we join the line.
When we reach the table, she looks up and smiles. “Y’all hungry?”
She reminds me so much of Mrs. Bolton that it stings. My throat tightens, and I swallow hard. “We’re starving,” I tell her, with a rough catch in my voice.
“We’re cooking through everything in the freezers before it spoils,” she explains. “The power’s off more than it’s on now, so no sense letting it go to waste.”
Julian pulls a couple of twenties from his wallet. “We’re trying to get back to Alberta.”
Her brows lift, and she cringes in sympathy. “That’s a hell of a long way on foot.”
Julian snorts. “I'm pretty sure we would have gotten farther today walking than the bus we’ve been stuck on. Plus, I think it may spontaneously combust at any time.”
She laughs. “You’ll need more than luck and sarcasm, boys.”
Julian leans against the table. “How about a helicopter? Know where we can get one of those?”
“Sure,” she deadpans. “Right next to the flying unicorn store.”
I grin despite myself. She hands us two foil-wrapped burgers and a bottle of water each. “On the house.” Julian tries to argue but she waves him off. “Save your money for the journey. Go eat. You look like someone tried to drown you.”
That has me looking up at the moon that did try and fucking drown us.
After thanking her, we find a picnic table under a crooked tree on the edge of the lot and peel back the foil.
The burgers are greasy, slightly overcooked, and fucking perfect.
I eat like I haven’t had real food in days, which… technically might be true.
Julian wipes his mouth with a paper napkin that has the diner’s logo printed on it. “We need a better plan.”
“Agreed.”
“We’re not going to make it on this bus. It’s too slow. Too unreliable. And what if it doesn’t start again tomorrow or the fuel truck doesn’t come?”
I nod slowly, chewing. “We wouldn’t get much further in a car with this traffic. We need something better. What about motorcycles or even dirt bikes?”
Julian raises a brow. “Goddamn right. We would be able to get around a lot of the traffic backups on bikes.” He stares down at his half-eaten burger with a frown. “We need money. I’m going to guess cash is king right now.”
I hum in agreement. “She said the power comes and goes, right? We could wait near a bank. As soon as the ATM goes back online, we try to take out the max for each of us.” I shrug. “I don’t know if it’ll work, but we’re stuck here until morning anyway so we might as well try.”
He swallows the last bite of his burger and nods. “Then we find a dealership or a private seller. It would have to be used bikes, if we’re lucky and can pull enough cash out. New ones if they’ll take cards.”
It feels good to have a plan so I keep going. “We’ll need gas cans so we don’t have to stop as often or get stranded. More food if we can find it and water. Whatever we can strap on the bikes and carry with us.”
He slaps the table. “This plan is stupid and probably won’t work. I love it. Let’s do it.”
I smile and take another bite, but my mind’s already racing ahead. Picturing the open road, with the wind in my face. The cracked moon watching from above like some cruel god. And Luna. Always Luna.
Her laugh. Her stubbornness. The way she says my name when she’s cuddling with me, all soft and sweet. It's like missing air. Like my chest doesn’t work right without her near me.
I grip my burger tighter and whisper a promise into the air.
“We’re coming, Luna. Just hold on.”