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.”
Chapter 54 - Julian
The bike hums beneath me, tires chewing over cracked pavement as we weave around abandoned cars and trucks on the mountain highway. Every bend in the road opens up to another stunning view of pine-covered cliffs and fog-thick valleys below, but I can barely appreciate it.
Because every time I blink, I see Luna. I see her face when I tried to convince her to come with us out on the deck. The look of possibilities in her eyes when she said, "Not yet," to being with us. I see her laughing, flipping me off, hugging me with that soft, sure strength of hers when she dropped us off at the airport. My helmet visor fogs at the corners from my breath and probably something more. I scrub at it with the back of my glove and rev the throttle a little harder. I’ve got to keep moving. We’ve got to get to her.
We didn’t get far yesterday on the bus. Fucking thing barely made it out of Greater Vancouver before it had to stop due to no fuel. Too many people, too much traffic getting in the way. Thedriver parked in a strip mall lot and told us to make ourselves comfortable. Instead, we made a plan and put it into motion.
