Chapter 11
Gas shortages are a terrifying thing. I’ve been driving all morning and most gas stations have put up big signs saying they’re out of gas. Some are limiting it to five gallons per car in an effort spread around the meager supply.
After my planned turn was blocked and I was forced to turn left, I’ve been traveling west for hours, trying to make turns north every chance I get. I figure I’ll eventually get north enough to be able to turn east and find De Sota. At least, that’s what I’m hoping. I’m not exactly a navigator or an expert on Texas geography.
My swollen left hand has gone down to almost its normal size. Now there’s a small purple bruise where the bug bite had been. I’m very, very lucky that it went away so quickly. This morning the swelling was so huge I was terrified. Now I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay.
It’s almost noon and I drive past a gas station with a big silver angel sitting in the parking lot. Well, it’s not an angel in theholy being with wingssense, but it is a tanker filled with fuel ready to fill up the station’s gas pumps. People are already waiting in line, and my car is almost on empty so I jump in line, too. They let us fill our tanks up, and when the manager sees that I’m traveling alone, he also lets me refill the extra gas jug in the back of my car. I’m glad Ethan thought to bring those because it’s what got me to this point after I ran out of gas this morning.
I get back on the road and follow the street signs to the next small town. I’m in a relatively populated part of the state now. It’s still farms and fields for miles, but the towns are a little bigger and I don’t feel quite so alone. I keep checking my phone hoping for the signal to come back. TheWelcome to the City of Blackwellsign I just passed said they have a population of nine thousand. Surely those people have cell phones that get signal.
I let out a whoop when my phone lights up. All the messages I missed when I didn’t have signal just came in all at once.
Not wanting to get in a wreck, I drive a little further until I find a coffee shop that advertises free Wi-Fi. I pull over and flip through all my new messages, feeling a wave of relief at having my technology back again. How the people of the old days survived without phones, I’ll never know.
There’s a ton of messages from April, who tells me that Toby decided to ditch his family and evacuate with her and her family. Now he’s with April and her mom and six siblings. Wow. That’s either true love or insanity. Toby is a good guy, I guess. I’m happy for him. As much as I hate being alone, it’s better than being stuck with so many kids.
I want to text her back but I’m anxious to see Ethan’s texts, and I wonder if he made it to our meeting point.
Ethan:I’m here! Didn’t take long at all.
Ethan:I can’t find you… you must be still driving. Be safe!
Ethan:You’re probably not getting any of these. But I’m bored so…
Ethan:Shit, I fell asleep. Are you here yet?
Ethan:Are you getting any of these?
My heart sinks. He made it and he’s worried about me. My phone notifies me that I have a new voicemail from Ethan, but I skip down to read my other texts before I listen to it.
Mom:How are you doing? Can’t wait for this crap to be over! I love you!
Dad:Stay safe, Punk. I love you.
I smile even though it makes me sad and then I listen to Ethan’s voicemail, which only makes me sadder. I try to call him, but surprise, surprise, it doesn’t connect.
I shoot back an I love you too text to my parents and then message Ethan.
Me:This is a disaster. The road was blocked. I couldn’t go the route we planned. No clue where I’m at right now.
The text doesn’t send, even though I have plenty of signal.
“Dammit,” I curse, resisting the urge to fling my phone through the windshield in anger.
I take a look at myself in the tiny mirror on my visor, and the results are underwhelming. I haven’t washed my hair in two days and I’m still wearing the same clothes I wore when I left my house. I look exactly like I feel. But I’m guessing there’s a lot of people like that who are evacuating right now.
I get out of my car and stretch my legs, tipping my face up to the sun. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, taking in the wonderful aroma of coffee and sunshine. I exhale and inhale again slowly, and I tell myself that it will be okay. I am far enough away that the hurricane won’t kill me or anything, although this area will receive plenty of thunderstorms as the hurricane passes through. I tell myself that poor Ethan is in the same situation, if not a worse one. He’s waiting for me all alone at a Walmart and I won’t be showing up to it anytime soon. He can’t get my messages, so he’s still stuck worrying. I tell myself I’ll be okay. I just need to get through this.
Inside the coffee shop, no one takes a second look at my appearance, and that makes me feel better. I use what little cash I took from my parents and buy a coffee and a chocolate chip muffin, then I settle into a corner booth and put my legs up on the seat across from me. The coffee is flavored with cinnamon, as advertised on the sign that says they have the best house coffee in the state. I can’t say I disagree. It’s pretty damn good. Of course, cardboard would probably taste good right about now. I’m just glad to be out of my car and in civilization.
I connect my phone to the café’s free Wi-Fi and go to my email. I type up a quick one to my parents telling them not to worry and that I’m fine but that I was forced to take a different route.
Then I write an email to Ethan.
Hey babe,
This is a trip straight from hell. OMG I miss you so much. Hopefully you get this soon because I hate the idea of you worrying. My calls to you won’t go through and my texts don’t look like they’re sending. So here’s what happened. One of the roads I was supposed to take on the map we made was blocked. A truck blew up or something and no one was allowed to pass. So I ended up driving east instead of west and I’ve been driving all freaking morning. I’m in a town called Blackwell and I’m writing to you from a café with free Wi-Fi. Hopefully you get this! I don’t want you to worry about me. My plan is to look up a million different routes to De Sota while I have the free Wi-Fi and then set out for the hotel that your parents are at. I’ve been deleting everything I don’t need on my phone so that I can download the maps offline. So if you get this, and hopefully you do, just go to your parent’s hotel and I’ll meet you there.
