Gold Fever (m×m) ✔

VIII: A promise to keep

《 ELIAN PHOENIX 》

On the morning of our third day, the vote to go ahead with our journey to Tennessee was unanimous. Najwa wanted to go because she couldn't wait to see her mom, and Rio and Rain because they were getting paranoid about being followed. Me, well, I was sick and tired of having nothing else to listen to but Miley Cyrus. 

The purple of my side had turned to black and it only hurt if I twisted my torso or jumped too high, and my jaw was merely reddened without any swelling. We had even eaten a filling breakfast. All in all, I'd say we were doing exceptionally well.

Anyway, I started to feel less splendid as the walk went on and on. We hiked through the rest of the forest, then dragged our blistered, aching legs through monotonic streets. There was no sound of traffic, as gas was one of the first things people started to hoard, but just the sound of birds chirping away and our heavy breathing. 

"How much longer will this road go on?" I groaned. The straps of my backpack were digging into the flesh of my shoulders and my lips were parched. On top of all that, I had a persistent headache from spending too much time in the sun.

"I know, baby." Najwa turned to look over her shoulder, the tone she was using telling me she didn't mean the word baby as a pet name. "But do you see any houses around? Yeah, me neither. We'll stop as soon as we can find a place to spend the night."

I groaned again, but didn't argue. And so, the trek went on. The sun had already disappeared into the horizon by the time we managed to find a vacant house to stay in.

The air was stagnant and there were molded remnants of a breakfast left on the kitchen table, but no golden statues on sight, which likely meant that the family had left in a hurry. The kitchen cabinets hung ajar, as someone had scavenged what was to be scavenged from the house long ago.

While the others searched through the cupboards for anything edible left behind, I headed upstairs. No one said anything about it, because they believed I was just looking for music and books. Which I was, of course, but there was something I needed more urgently, so I headed to the bathroom. 

From the mirrored cabinet, I found more painkillers and an expired packet of Guardium. I pocketed the painkillers and a tube of toothpaste, because you could never have too much of those. Still, it didn't take away the problem I had, the one which was growing more pressing as the days went by. I took a deep breath and closed the mirrored cabinet. Soon I would have to put my thinking cap on and do something about the problem, but that would have to wait.

On a more positive note, I found three CDs: The Velvet Underground, The Queen is Dead and Universal Mother. Not necessarily my favorites, but some stone-cold classics and they all beat Miley Cyrus. I also carried downstairs a thick black hoodie and a green knit cap, shaving cream, deodorant and a lighter. The others would go and pick up anything they wanted, so I needed to claim what was mine first. 

"Please tell me you can do your magic and make coffee out of this?" Najwa pleaded as I joined her, shoving a packet of coffee grounds in my hands.

"I think you might have mixed me with a coffee maker." I hummed, even though I knew fair well what she meant. My mouth watered at the thought of coffee and I was going to make that machine work even if it was the last thing I would ever do.

I measured the grounds and added water from one of our bottles, then stared at the coffee machine like I was challenging it to a duel. At first, nothing happened. I took a deep breath and focused all my energy into that one task. And then, slowly, the machine was brought to live. My temples started to throb to the rhythm of my heart and my ears clogged, yet I had a good motivation to keep going.