smackenzie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smackenzie) wrote2007-11-11 04:21 pm
smackenzie) wrote2007-11-11 04:21 pm
day 3
"We're going to see Dad," she told Oscar. He just yawned at her. "You could pretend to be excited," she teased. She figured that when she started packing things up and loading her van, then he’d get interested.
She started to make a list of what she should take, changed it to a list of things she had to do before she could go, and got so involved in thinking about how she should prepare the house for her leaving it that she almost didn’t hear her phone ringing. This was one of the few times she wished her dog could hear - how could she be expected to think about packing and moving, AND listen for her phone at the same time? What kind of dog was Oscar, anyway?
Right now, a napping one. Clearly running around the back yard was exhausting.
Marya answered her phone.
"You're still alive," Cass said on the other end.
"Of course I am," Marya said. "Didn't you get my message?"
"You left me a message?"
"Earlier today, yeah." Marya rolled her eyes, although maybe it was worth knowing that Cass couldn't access her voice mail or had no way of knowing she even had a voice mail. Or it could just be that Cass was being self-absorbed and unobservant. Maybe she was just being Cass. "I found someone else in my neighborhood. Well, two someones - I found the wife, and her husband was out at the grocery store. She said her phone was working but she couldn't get online. Is your internet still down?"
"Everything's down. My cell works but the TV is out. It won't show anything."
"That's weird. I have BBC America on now. They're showing old Dr Whos. It's kind of nice to watch something that's not the news."
"The electricity flickered off an hour ago," Cass went on. She sounded a little panicked, and Marya couldn't blame her. "It went back on after like twenty minutes, but now I'm afraid it's going to go out again and just stay off. Spike is cooking everything that was in the freezer so it doesn't go bad."
"I did that this morning." It felt like longer ago than that, but Marya had gotten a lot done today. "Didn't we have this conversation already?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I'm getting scared. What if it is terrorists?"
"Oh god, it's not terrorists. This is happening everywhere, all over the world. The woman I found thought it was the bird flu."
"Wouldn't there be lots of dead bodies, if that was the case?"
"That's what I said. You have electricity now, right? Plumbing? Can you get any stations on the radio?"
"The college station, we get the college station. They were playing songs and PSAs and reading really stupid news. Crazy theories. No TV, no internet, but we have the radio." Cass snorted. "Spike said it would be the last thing we lose, because it takes so few people to run a station. But why is the net down? How hard is it to run a server?"
"I guess harder than we think. I was kind of surprised the public access channel was down too. I was watching it before, and it was just a guy with a mic and a guy with a camera. You could probably do it yourself if you just got the camera pointed in the right direction."
"It's almost like someone's trying to cut us off from each other."
"So why do the phones still work? How come we can talk on our cells?"
"It took me three tries to get through, Marya. I couldn't even get your voice mail. It just wouldn't connect. I think it's the end of the world."
Marya tried not to roll her eyes. She couldn't figure Cass out - either she was calm and normal and surviving ok, or she was panicked. Wasn't Spike shaking some sense into her? It wasn't the end of the world. If it was, their cell phones wouldn't work and the washing machine wouldn't have been able to run three cycles, and the dryer wouldn't have dried all Marya's wet sheets and towels. If it was the end of the world, they wouldn't still be alive.
She didn't really want to think that it could almost be the end of the world, like she and Cass and Spike and Annette and her grocery-shopping husband were all part of the penultimate chapter in the world's biography, and tomorrow or a week from now the universe would turn the page and it would all be over.
It wasn't the end of the world right now, that was all that mattered.
"I'm going to go to California to find my dad," she told Cass. "You wanna come? I might start getting ready tonight, but I won't leave until at least tomorrow. I should pack up the house some, I think."
"Don't go," Cass practically squeaked. "Don't leave me."
"I'm not leaving you, I'm just going to find my dad."
"You're leaving me!”
"I'm not - ok, I'm leaving. But I'm not leaving you, and anyway you were the one who broke up with me and I don't know why I even asked if you wanted to come." If Cass was going to whine and moan and panic the entire way to California, Marya really didn't want her self-absorbed ass in the car. It was going to be hard enough to keep herself from whining and panicking.
"I can't go with you anyway," Cass said, sounding a little superior. "Spike's cousin is coming out from Vegas and we can't go anywhere until he gets here. I'm not gonna leave him a note with directions to chase us back across the country."
Now Marya did roll her eyes, so hard she couldn't believe Cass couldn't hear her. Good riddance, she thought, a little uncharitably. Stay here with Spike and panic at her.
"Ok. I just thought I'd ask. Are you doing ok otherwise?"
"I think so. I'm so glad Spike's here - I don't think I could do this by myself."
You never could, Marya thought, but she knew better than to say that out loud. Instead, she said "I have to get my laundry out of the washing machine and hang some of it up. I'm glad you're ok" - even though you're still kind of a pain in my ass and I don't know how Spike puts up with you - "I'll call you before I roll out of town, ok?"
"Please do that."
"You sure you don't want to come? You can change your mind."
"I'm afraid to leave, in fact. How do you know that what's out there is any better?"
"Well, it can't be any worse, can it? And I really need to know if Dad is alive and ok. Take care of yourself, ok?"
"I'm trying. Spike is taking care of me too."
"Of course she is. I have to go. Bye."
"Good bye."
Marya flipped her phone closed and rolled her eyes again. If nothing else, you could always count on Cass to find someone to take care of her and listen to her complain. That was one of the reasons she broke up with Marya - Marya got tired of listening to the whining and didn't want to be the sole person in charge of whether or not Cass was happy and fulfilled. It was a little exhausting always being responsible for someone else's peace of mind.
Well, Cass had Spike now. Marya hoped Spike was up to the challenge.
She went dowstairs to get the last load of laundry, throw what needed to be dried into the dryer, and hang up the few things that had to air dry. Marya was an unfussy dresser but every so often she'd find something she liked that looked good on her but that couldn't just be thrown in the dryer after it was clean. She still resolutely refused to iron, though. Her grandma used to despair.
Marya put away the things that were already dry and went back to her lists. She'd have to pack up her drumkit and take it with her, because she sure as hell wasn't going to leave it here. What if she found someplace to set it up and play for people again? And she had no idea when she’d be back here, assuming she made it to Cali in one piece and did find her dad.
She ate an apple while she thought and wrote things down and crossed them out and wrote them down again. It was about go to bad and she wanted to finish it off before then. When the last dryer load was dry she put those clothes away, She let Oscar out and back in again, noted that it had stopped raining but was probably still cloudy because the stars hadn't come out, and went to bed. She had a lot to do tomorrow. Oscar climbed on the bed with her, and she slept deeply and didn't dream.
words: 1510
total words: 18,909
She started to make a list of what she should take, changed it to a list of things she had to do before she could go, and got so involved in thinking about how she should prepare the house for her leaving it that she almost didn’t hear her phone ringing. This was one of the few times she wished her dog could hear - how could she be expected to think about packing and moving, AND listen for her phone at the same time? What kind of dog was Oscar, anyway?
Right now, a napping one. Clearly running around the back yard was exhausting.
Marya answered her phone.
"You're still alive," Cass said on the other end.
"Of course I am," Marya said. "Didn't you get my message?"
"You left me a message?"
"Earlier today, yeah." Marya rolled her eyes, although maybe it was worth knowing that Cass couldn't access her voice mail or had no way of knowing she even had a voice mail. Or it could just be that Cass was being self-absorbed and unobservant. Maybe she was just being Cass. "I found someone else in my neighborhood. Well, two someones - I found the wife, and her husband was out at the grocery store. She said her phone was working but she couldn't get online. Is your internet still down?"
"Everything's down. My cell works but the TV is out. It won't show anything."
"That's weird. I have BBC America on now. They're showing old Dr Whos. It's kind of nice to watch something that's not the news."
"The electricity flickered off an hour ago," Cass went on. She sounded a little panicked, and Marya couldn't blame her. "It went back on after like twenty minutes, but now I'm afraid it's going to go out again and just stay off. Spike is cooking everything that was in the freezer so it doesn't go bad."
"I did that this morning." It felt like longer ago than that, but Marya had gotten a lot done today. "Didn't we have this conversation already?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I'm getting scared. What if it is terrorists?"
"Oh god, it's not terrorists. This is happening everywhere, all over the world. The woman I found thought it was the bird flu."
"Wouldn't there be lots of dead bodies, if that was the case?"
"That's what I said. You have electricity now, right? Plumbing? Can you get any stations on the radio?"
"The college station, we get the college station. They were playing songs and PSAs and reading really stupid news. Crazy theories. No TV, no internet, but we have the radio." Cass snorted. "Spike said it would be the last thing we lose, because it takes so few people to run a station. But why is the net down? How hard is it to run a server?"
"I guess harder than we think. I was kind of surprised the public access channel was down too. I was watching it before, and it was just a guy with a mic and a guy with a camera. You could probably do it yourself if you just got the camera pointed in the right direction."
"It's almost like someone's trying to cut us off from each other."
"So why do the phones still work? How come we can talk on our cells?"
"It took me three tries to get through, Marya. I couldn't even get your voice mail. It just wouldn't connect. I think it's the end of the world."
Marya tried not to roll her eyes. She couldn't figure Cass out - either she was calm and normal and surviving ok, or she was panicked. Wasn't Spike shaking some sense into her? It wasn't the end of the world. If it was, their cell phones wouldn't work and the washing machine wouldn't have been able to run three cycles, and the dryer wouldn't have dried all Marya's wet sheets and towels. If it was the end of the world, they wouldn't still be alive.
She didn't really want to think that it could almost be the end of the world, like she and Cass and Spike and Annette and her grocery-shopping husband were all part of the penultimate chapter in the world's biography, and tomorrow or a week from now the universe would turn the page and it would all be over.
It wasn't the end of the world right now, that was all that mattered.
"I'm going to go to California to find my dad," she told Cass. "You wanna come? I might start getting ready tonight, but I won't leave until at least tomorrow. I should pack up the house some, I think."
"Don't go," Cass practically squeaked. "Don't leave me."
"I'm not leaving you, I'm just going to find my dad."
"You're leaving me!”
"I'm not - ok, I'm leaving. But I'm not leaving you, and anyway you were the one who broke up with me and I don't know why I even asked if you wanted to come." If Cass was going to whine and moan and panic the entire way to California, Marya really didn't want her self-absorbed ass in the car. It was going to be hard enough to keep herself from whining and panicking.
"I can't go with you anyway," Cass said, sounding a little superior. "Spike's cousin is coming out from Vegas and we can't go anywhere until he gets here. I'm not gonna leave him a note with directions to chase us back across the country."
Now Marya did roll her eyes, so hard she couldn't believe Cass couldn't hear her. Good riddance, she thought, a little uncharitably. Stay here with Spike and panic at her.
"Ok. I just thought I'd ask. Are you doing ok otherwise?"
"I think so. I'm so glad Spike's here - I don't think I could do this by myself."
You never could, Marya thought, but she knew better than to say that out loud. Instead, she said "I have to get my laundry out of the washing machine and hang some of it up. I'm glad you're ok" - even though you're still kind of a pain in my ass and I don't know how Spike puts up with you - "I'll call you before I roll out of town, ok?"
"Please do that."
"You sure you don't want to come? You can change your mind."
"I'm afraid to leave, in fact. How do you know that what's out there is any better?"
"Well, it can't be any worse, can it? And I really need to know if Dad is alive and ok. Take care of yourself, ok?"
"I'm trying. Spike is taking care of me too."
"Of course she is. I have to go. Bye."
"Good bye."
Marya flipped her phone closed and rolled her eyes again. If nothing else, you could always count on Cass to find someone to take care of her and listen to her complain. That was one of the reasons she broke up with Marya - Marya got tired of listening to the whining and didn't want to be the sole person in charge of whether or not Cass was happy and fulfilled. It was a little exhausting always being responsible for someone else's peace of mind.
Well, Cass had Spike now. Marya hoped Spike was up to the challenge.
She went dowstairs to get the last load of laundry, throw what needed to be dried into the dryer, and hang up the few things that had to air dry. Marya was an unfussy dresser but every so often she'd find something she liked that looked good on her but that couldn't just be thrown in the dryer after it was clean. She still resolutely refused to iron, though. Her grandma used to despair.
Marya put away the things that were already dry and went back to her lists. She'd have to pack up her drumkit and take it with her, because she sure as hell wasn't going to leave it here. What if she found someplace to set it up and play for people again? And she had no idea when she’d be back here, assuming she made it to Cali in one piece and did find her dad.
She ate an apple while she thought and wrote things down and crossed them out and wrote them down again. It was about go to bad and she wanted to finish it off before then. When the last dryer load was dry she put those clothes away, She let Oscar out and back in again, noted that it had stopped raining but was probably still cloudy because the stars hadn't come out, and went to bed. She had a lot to do tomorrow. Oscar climbed on the bed with her, and she slept deeply and didn't dream.
words: 1510
total words: 18,909
no subject