\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another stumbling step drew me closer to my destination.\u00a0 The sky grew dark slowly, though whether with gathering night\u2014which I doubted\u2014or something else, I wasn\u2019t certain.\u00a0 My head was still ringing, pounding, and my body ached.\u00a0 My feet had never really hurt quite so much as they did at that very moment.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t even sure how long I\u2019d been walking anymore, either, just stumbled slowly on my way down what was left of a highway, from where I worked toward where I lived, on autopilot, knowing\u2014just knowing\u2014that I had to get back somehow.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I daydreamed as I struggled along, letting currents of memory and imaginings carry me at least temporarily away from my body, from the aches and the trembling, the tremors of the ground and the sick feeling in my stomach that came with them, feelings that grew with every painful step I took along the way.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An exhaled breath sounded like my name.\u00a0 I rolled slowly, rotating in the cocoon of his arms, nuzzling his jaw lightly as I opened my eyes lazily to stare at him.\u00a0 His eyes were half-lidded and he smiled sleepily at me, reaching up and brushing hair away from my face.<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cUngh.\u201d\u00a0 My knees were scraped as I picked myself up off the ground again, peering blearily down the highway.\u00a0 Landmarks looked familiar.\u00a0 I knew where I was\u2014I\u2019d stumbled at least another few miles since the last time I was aware of where I was.\u00a0 I rubbed at my eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in my head and the grittiness around my eyes.\u00a0 God, it hurt.\u00a0 It hurt so much.\u00a0 I stumbled another few steps before stopping, blinking as my head cleared a little. First<\/a> \u2022 Previous<\/a> \u2022 Next<\/a> \u2022 Latest<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another stumbling step drew me closer to my destination.\u00a0 The sky grew dark slowly, though whether with gathering night\u2014which I doubted\u2014or something else, I wasn\u2019t certain.\u00a0 My head was still ringing, pounding, and my body ached.\u00a0 My feet had … Continue reading
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAlmost afraid to get used to this.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The corner of my mouth curled in a smile.\u00a0 \u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWell, for one thing, it\u2019s the first time you\u2019ve actually not been <\/em>distracted when we\u2019ve done this.\u201d\u00a0 He laced his fingers through my hair and drew my face down to his, kissing my forehead gently, tongue sampling the sweat wrought by previous exertions.\u00a0 \u201cFirst time you haven\u2019t said we\u2019re being watched, or something equally weird.\u201d
\n<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I stiffened, restraining myself.\u00a0 Something <\/em>was watching us, but I\u2019d elected not to say so.\u00a0 Elected not to once again end this before it started, to not \u2018kill the mood\u2019 as I\u2019d managed to before.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t fair to either us\u2014but what was more unfair was the fact that he denied feeling the same things that I was.\u00a0 I knew he could feel things, could see them.\u00a0 But for the past six months, he\u2019d done nothing but deny that.\u00a0 It had put a strain on us\u2014on <\/em>us as a couple, as a thing.\u00a0 The fact that he kept calling it weird, though, and denying what we both knew\u2026that was starting to put a strain on <\/em>me.\u00a0 I cared about him too much to let him blind himself to what he was really sensing\u2014what <\/em>we were sensing, and feeling.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He felt me tense and sighed, letting go and sagging against the mattress, looking away.\u00a0 \u201cDamn it anyway, Marin.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I sighed, pushing myself upright.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll go.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s your place.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I shrugged, padding across the floor to find my clothes, lost somewhere between the door and the bed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll take a walk.\u00a0 You can do whatever.\u00a0 I really\u2026yeah.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of fighting you on all of this, Thom.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t live with the delusions.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re not and you know it, unless we\u2019re both crazy.\u201d\u00a0 I yanked my pants on, followed by my shirt.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say anything in response.\u00a0 I turned toward him, nodding firmly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be back in an hour, Thom.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say anything as I walked out the door.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the Grand River.\u00a0 But the bridge\u2026god.\u00a0 The bridge\u2026
\n<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I rubbed my eyes again, making sure I was seeing what I was seeing.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The M-45 bridge over the Grand River had collapsed.\u00a0 Bits of the bridge had already begun to drift downriver, moving quickly\u2014more quickly than the Grand should.\u00a0 One car was overturned on the bank, half-sunk into the mud.\u00a0 I shuddered and stumbled sideways, retching onto the shoulder of the road.\u00a0 The air stank of death already.\u00a0 How long had it been since it all started?
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The church to my left, the one near the riverfront, had been obliterated by something.\u00a0 The parking lot was packed.\u00a0 I shuddered again.\u00a0 That\u2019s where it was coming from\u2014the smell.\u00a0 I prayed that was the only place it was coming from.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I spat twice after puking, then pushed myself upright again, trying to study the bridge critically, figure out a safe way across the broken concrete to the other side.\u00a0 My head swam as I struggled to make sense of a path across, failing miserably.\u00a0 I pressed the heel of my hand against my temple, willing myself to focus, if only for a few minutes, just so I could make it across, get closer to home<\/em>.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I stumbled onward, picking my way across the broken concrete carefully.\u00a0 I lost a shoe somewhere along the way, climbing across the broken pieces, stumbling up and down the pitched slabs.\u00a0 I dimly could hear someone calling my name as I made my way slowly, agonizingly across, but I couldn\u2019t spare the brainpower or the energy in trying to figure out who was calling me\u2014or if it was even real.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I lost my footing on a particularly steep bit, slid down the slab, scraping my legs up something fierce.\u00a0 I groaned, lacking even the energy to get back up again.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It seems stable enough.\u00a0 Maybe I can just rest here for a few minutes.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMarin!\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I looked up, squinting.\u00a0 \u201cRory?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He turned away.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s down here!\u201d\u00a0 He eased down over the edge of the slab, sliding down toward me, getting a shoulder under me.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re alive.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019re you doing here?\u201d\u00a0 I gasped as a stab of pain shot up my leg as I tried to straighten up with his help.\u00a0 I glared down toward my foot, feeling betrayed.\u00a0 Had I stepped on something?
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe came to see what M-45 looked like.\u00a0 Good thing we did, huh?\u201d\u00a0 He heaved me upright despite my protesting muscles.\u00a0 Drew appeared at the top of the slab and reached an arm down.\u00a0 Rory heaved me up toward him and somehow I caught Drew\u2019s arm.\u00a0 Between the two of them, they got me up onto more stable ground beyond the midpoint\u2014they practically carried me to the other side of the river.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Baptist church over there\u2026\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin was at the end of the bridge, waiting for us.\u00a0 \u201cWe know.\u00a0 It\u2019s not much better on campus, honestly, but we\u2019ll see.\u00a0 Not sure how many are dead yet.\u00a0 I think lots.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I had to nod, shivering.\u00a0 \u201cI think so, too, Kel.\u201d\u00a0 The ground quaked again.\u00a0 I shuddered and found myself unable to stop.\u00a0 I was so cold\u2026
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s in shock,\u201d Rory mumbled.\u00a0 Drew picked me up, cradling me like a child.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll take care of it.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I wanted to ask how, but I didn\u2019t have time before I just sagged into darkness.<\/p>\n
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