Dust: Before and After (4 page)

First Night:

Dust watched Sammy as she peeked in the rear view mirror for the hundredth time to make sure her little brother was alright. The light banter that Todd had kept up turned to a stony silence when he finally fell asleep an hour ago. That silence now sat like an invisible passenger between Dust and Sammy.

Dust stared out the window at the passing scenery, trying to think of something to say. It had grown dark several hours before, so there wasn't much to look at as they were traveling through western Oklahoma.

"The landscape was just rolling hills of nothingness," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" Sammy asked, glancing at him.

Dust turned his head to stare at her in confusion. "Huh?" He asked.

Sammy released a loud breath. "You said something," she retorted. "I didn't hear all of it, just the last word so I asked you 'what' so you would repeat it."

"Oh," Dust replied, not really knowing what else to say. "Um, what word did you hear?"

"Nothingness," Sammy bit out in exasperation.

"Oh," Dust replied again, turning to stare out the window again.

Dust's lips twitched when he heard Sammy mutter a few things about weird boys who didn't finish their sentences or something like that. He turned back to look at her. She was flexing her fingers on the steering wheel.

"Alright, I give up," she finally growled. "What about nothingness?"

Dust shrugged his shoulders. "I was just thinking there is just rolling hills of nothingness out there, is all," he said.

Sammy slowed down when a rabbit darted out across the road. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was a normal one. A frown creased his brow as he thought about it.

"Where were you...? " He started to say at the same time as she was asking... "How did you...?"

"You go first," Sammy muttered.

"Okay," Dust said. He figured it was better than making her mad again. "Where were you and Todd when the comet hit?

He watched as Sammy blinked rapidly for a moment before she started talking in a quiet voice. She explained how she was home with Todd while her parents had gone to town. The emergency warning system that they had sounded.

"We went to the storm shelter in the backyard," she explained. "Mom and I had just finished canning a bunch of vegetables from the garden. We stored them down there. I saw the cloud heading straight for us. The ground... The ground shook so bad for a while that I thought Todd and I were going to be trapped. We stayed there for as long as we could, waiting for someone to come, but they never did," she whispered. She angrily brushed at her eyes. "It was like everyone was just gone. Your turn," she said in a stronger voice. "How do you do the things you do? You know, like the way you disappear and how you shot that bolt of lightning out of your hand."

"Electricity," Dust corrected before he thought about it. "I guess that's what lightning is, isn't it? I don't know. I remember being in the basement of the house, then everything went black," he murmured, looking out the window. "I woke up a few times. I saw all this dust and strange lights all around me. I remember trying to touch it."

"And," Sammy said when he didn't continue.

Dust shrugged. "I don't remember much after that," he replied in a quiet tone that told her he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Well," Sammy finally said with a sigh. "I'm glad you can do whatever it is you can do."

"Including fixing the car?" Dust teased.

"Yeah, well, I would have given you that one if you had remembered to get a map as well," she chuckled. "Talking about cars and maps, we need to find a place to fill up soon. We're getting low and I have to admit, I'm tired."

"Okay," Dust replied, peering down the road.

Twenty minutes later, Sammy pulled into the ghostly remains of a convenience store and pulled to a stop. There wasn't a lot left of it. The roof was torn off, most of one wall was gone, and the awning over the gas pumps was twisted around the few pumps that remained.

"I doubt there is anything left worth looking for," Sammy said with a groan.

"You don't know that," Dust replied, staring at the building. "Why don't we change places? You can put the seat back and I'll keep watch. In the morning, we'll see if there is anything worth salvaging and see if they have any maps. I can also check to see if there is any gas left in the tanks. They were pretty well protected since they are buried."

Sammy reached for the key and turned the car off with a tired yawn. Twisting the knob for the headlights, she turned them off. She really hoped that the car started again in the morning. Another huge yawn escaped her.

"Wake me if you need anything," she mumbled, reaching for the door handle.

"Wait," Dust said, grabbing her arm. "We don't know what's out there. You crawl into this seat."

Sammy stared at him with a blank look for a moment before she shook her head. Dust winked at her right before he faded. He moved up through the roof, hovering just above it so he could look around. Below him, he could hear Sammy muttering under her breath and the car rock as she climbed over into the passenger seat.

Dust focused and settled back through the roof, this time into the driver's seat. He waited until he was sitting in the seat before he solidified again. Sammy released a startled squeak and glared at him.

"Next time, give me a little notice before you do that," she growled.

"Sorry," Dust replied with a crooked grin. "It looked okay outside, but I didn't take a really close look. Can you hand me a couple of cans of fruit before you go to sleep?"

Sammy glanced down at the half dozen empty cans and grimaced. He knew what she was thinking... that at the rate he was going through the fruit there wouldn't be anything left. She was probably right. 

He reached out and took the cans from her. Within minutes, Sammy had pushed the seat back, pulled her jacket over her and was sound asleep. He opened one of the cans of fruit and drank the juice before devouring the contents. Once he was finished, he set the empty container on the dashboard and turned to stare at Sammy's relaxed face.

He could make out the sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She was pretty, he thought with a surprisingly warm feeling inside him. She was also smart and brave. Shoot, she had saved his life twice. He frowned when he thought about it, or rather about the devil dog. There had been something different about it.

Turning to look out the window, he stared off into the darkness. His gaze flickered back to Sammy before he glanced at Todd in the back seat. He would take a quick peek around outside to make sure everything was safe before he settled down for the night.

Fading again, he stepped out of the car before reforming. He didn't want to take the chance of waking Sammy and Todd, or anything else for that matter that might be out there. Glancing inside the car once more to reassure himself that Sammy and Todd were real, he turned and began walking toward the remains of the building.

He walked around it first, checking to make sure that nothing was hiding before he passed through the door. The floor was scattered with debris. Empty shelves lay twisted among broken bottles, empty wrappers, and pieces of the roof and walls.

Turning, he gazed around trying to see if there was anything worth salvaging. His eyes lit up when he spotted a scattering of maps along the floor near where the counter used to be. Climbing over a section of the roof, he scrambled over to where the circular wire display had stood.

He squatted down and picked up one of each one map. Standing up, he stuffed them into his back pocket. He spent the next twenty minutes walking through the inside. By the time he was done, he had picked up a bag full of stuff he thought they could use.

A soft sigh escaped him as he sunk his teeth into another Twinkie from the box he had found under a shelf. He paused at the door and frowned. He wondered if it was locked. Pushing against the door, he groaned until he saw that it said pull. Pulling, he was surprised when it opened.

Stepping out, he reached in and pulled another snack cake out of the box. Raising it to his teeth, he tore open the packaging and started eating it. He could feel the sugar high coursing through him. A surge of power swept through him as well now that he had eaten quite a bit.

He walked over to the shell of one of the trucks. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of the napkins he had picked up. He wiped a small circle in the glass so he could peer inside.

A low curse escaped him and he fell backwards, tripping over his own feet as he jerked away. He ignored the contents of the bag as it spilled across the ground. Instead, his gaze remained locked on the pair of sightless eye sockets staring back at him.

"Oh, man," he muttered, standing back up and brushing off the back of his pants.

He swallowed. His gaze instinctively went to the car where Sammy and Todd were sleeping. He was glad that he had decided to explore tonight.

Releasing a deep breath, he quickly picked up all of the stuff he had collected. He placed the bag on the hood of the truck. He would need to check out all the vehicles. There was no way he wanted Sammy and Todd to see this.

A shuddered went through him when he tried to open the door. It was locked. Walking around to the other side, he tried the passenger side door. It was unlocked. Pulling it open, his face wrinkled in disgust.

Climbing in the truck, he shuddered again as he leaned across the skeletal remains and unlocked the door. He quickly pulled back and slid out of the truck. Dust walked back around to the driver's side door and opened it.

"Now, what?" He muttered, staring at the remains of the man. "I really don't want to touch this. I really, really don't."

He looked around, trying to decide what to do. His gaze paused on the store again. There had been several boxes of trash bags mixed in the mess. Turning, he jogged back to the store. Pulling on the door, he cursed when he hit the glass instead. He should have pushed. He shoved the door open and stepped over the debris until he found the section where he saw the boxes. He skipped the small bags and went straight to the huge lawn bags. The last thing he wanted was for the bag to get a hole in it.

"No dead guy's bones littering the ground," he said, picking up a second box just in case he needed it.

He looked down when he stepped on something. His eyes lit up with relief. It was only a plastic bag. He bent and picked the package up, curious when he saw something inside it. It was a pair of large, yellow rubber kitchen gloves.

He forgot to pull the door open - again. Pulling it open, he headed back to the truck. He quickly opened the package containing the gloves and pulled them on before he opened the box of garbage bags. Holding his breath, he pulled the thick, black bag over the head of the skeleton.

"This is so gross," Dust grumbled when part of the body pulled away.

It took him an hour to bag up the three bodies that he found in the remains of the vehicles. He decided he didn't have the time or the resources to bury the bodies. Instead, he carried them as far away from the store as he felt comfortable before dropping them. Not sure what he should do next, he stared at the six bags in uncertainty.

Releasing a sigh, he reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt. He tossed it on the bags before wiping his hand down his pant leg. His mouth opened and closed several times before he groaned.

"Rest in peace," he finally muttered before turning on his heel and jogging back to the store.

Dust grabbed the bag he had packed off the truck and walked back to the car. With a sigh, he realized he was either going to have to leave the bag outside of the car so he didn't make too much noise or take a chance of opening the car door and waking Todd and Sammy.

The problem was solved when Sammy suddenly opened the door and slid out of the car. Dust watched her stretch before she stepped away from the door. She stared suspiciously at the bag he was holding.

"I, uh... I decided to see if there was anything worth salvaging," he finally said.

"What did you find?" She asked softly.

Dust pulled out the box of Twinkies. "There's only two left," he replied with a crooked grin. "I was hungry."

Sammy stared at him for a moment before she shook her head and laughed. Reaching for one, she opened it and took a bite out of it before she released a sigh. Her hand reached for the second one before Dust could grab it.

"Thank you," she replied.

"You're welcome," Dust responded.

"For getting rid of the bodies, too," Sammy added as she walked toward the building.

"Oh," Dust replied, watching her as she walked toward the store. "Where are you going?"

Sammy glanced over her shoulder. "To the bathroom," she said.

Dust watched as Sammy walked away. He blinked when she pushed the door open and disappeared inside. He released a loud sigh and felt around in the sack for some potato chips. Opening the package of chips, he leaned back against the car and started eating while he waited for Sammy to return.

It's good not to be alone anymore,
 he thought.