THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

005; the hurricane aftermath

No service, no power.

"Great" John B muttered to himself as he awoke with a groan, having checked both his phone and a nearby light switch. The cell towers were all down and the electricity was not working. He sat up, rubbing the heavy sleep out of his brown eyes before glancing around. His home remained intact, at least upon a first look. The sun was shining through the windows and the light chirping of birds could be heard from outside. John stood up with another groan, stretching his arms out with a slight crack of his back. He walked out of his room, passing the guest room by. The door was ajar, allowing him to carefully peak in. Myra was soundly asleep on the bed, her arms sprawled out over the covers and her gentle breathing offering John a moment of relief. He smiled to himself before he walked off, dragging a hand through his knotted hair.

"Yo JJ, you've been outside?" John asked as he walked into the living room, slapping the palm of his left hand across his friend's bare back. JJ was laying half asleep on his stomach, his hair a mess and his eyes a little swollen. "I have polio bro, I can't walk" JJ groaned hoarsely, barely moving. John sighed, leaving his friend behind on the couch as he walked out onto the screen porch, hearing the faint sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. It was humid and bright out, John could practically taste the remains of the storm that had passed on his tongue. The feeling of it lingered, like with every bad storm. They always left something behind, it clung to the air and ground.

"Oh man" John yawned as he walked out onto the yard, his gaze landing on a large fallen tree, "that's no good, that is no good". He rested his hands upon the top of his head, feeling defeat carve its way into his chest. "At least it didn't land on the house" Myra's sweet voice suddenly rang out into the morning air, making him turn around. There she stood in his big sweatpants and t-shirt, effortlessly leaned against one of the wooden pillars of the screen porch. She looked tired, her blue eyes blinking profusely in the light of the day. Her messy blonde hair was pulled back into a loose braid, resting against her neck. John hadn't heard her walking out there, she had been asleep just mere minutes ago. 

"Good morning" John hummed, squinting his eyes as he looked at her. "Is it?" Myra questioned, taking a few steps down from the porch. Her bare feet met the wet and muddy grass, feeling the energy from the earth left by the storm that had passed. John laughed as he watched her approach, her arms crossed over her chest. "At least we're alive" John said, offering up a more positive point of view. "Yeah so it seems" Myra shrugged, a yawn escaping her chapped lips. John let his arms fall to his sides before he nodded once, heading over to the HMS Pouge that the three of them had pulled out of the water yesterday. "Oh man" John muttered once more as he stepped over a few branches, seeing a few new scratches on the old and banged up boat. "Agatha did some work huh?" JJ questioned, seemingly alive and somewhat well as he stood leaned against the very same white painted wood pillar that his little sister had previously been. "Yeah she did" John agreed, picking up some more branches on his way over to the boat. JJ remained still, slowly waking up. He had no shirt on but a can of cheap beer in his hands, a honest way to start the day. "Nice breakfast" Myra mocked him, glancing over from where John was stood towards her older brother. "Nice hair" JJ snarled back playfully, noticing the knots and tangles marking up her braid.

JJ watched John clear up with a sigh, another wave of thunder being heard rumbling further away. "What you thinking?" JJ then asked, putting the can of beer down before he walked over to his friend, passing his little sister by. "I'm thinking that the storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze... all those drum are gonna chase the crab" John said, glancing around before he jumped up to sit on the edge of the old boat. Myra kept her arms crossed over her chest, slowly making her way over to the two boys, her feet dragging along debris and mud. "What about the DCS?" JJ asked, leaning the palms of his hands on the rim of the boat, clearly a little worried for his friend, "wasn't that today?". The look on John's face shifted, indicating that he wasn't exactly up for talking about that, ever. "Nah, they're not getting on a ferry" John then said, standing up to clear away a few more branches that had fallen into the boat. Myra stopped by her brother, both of them giving John B a serious yet empathetic look. "Come on, think about it" John went on, glancing back at them "it's god telling us to fish"