HARMONY

Part 34 "...on the dirtiest part of the floor"

Michelle pulled into her garage. With mental inventory, she noted the sold items. A wave of pleasure washed over her—most belonged to Steve. In the far corner leaned remnants of Steve's fishing gear. Next to it, Drew's little pole and red tackle box.

In Zombie movements, she entered her house. Oh my god. Picked clean as if hungry crows had pulled meat from a dying animal. Her legs took her up the stairs. To Drew's room. She sat in the middle of his bare floor and sobbed. I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry.

The ringing.

"Damn you phone!" But the phone would not stop. It rang and rang and rang.

Her heart soared when the ID had Russ's number. "Bail? Bail?" were the only words her lips could form. "Bail for Drew?"

"It's Mom." Russ's voice trickled out with the drops of a rusty faucet. "She left on her oven and burned down the kitchen." Pause. "She's okay."

"Burned down her kitchen?"

"She's going to stay in our guest room, with you, until we can find an appropriate assisted living place."

"Oh my God," Michelle whispered.

"So, I took out the King and put in two twins for you and Mom, until---"

"Until what?" she said, not even recognizing her own voice.

"Until we get you and Mom back on your feet."

Michelle curled in a fetal position on the dirtiest part of her floor. She dropped the receiver.

"Shelly? Shelly? Are you still there?"

And how are Claire and Sophia doing?

The 18-wheeler edged along the two-lane desert highway. Ginger rays painted the rearview mirrors as titanic tires spit pebbles. Lurching and weaving, the road beast seemed to be searching for a place to belch and pass out.

"You gonna need to find the lights," Sophia said as she leaned over from the passenger seat to search the dashboard.

"There's like too many buttons and they're not even labeled."

"Ya, I'm sure he was planning to get them all color-coded."

Claire clicked and snapped, flipped and twisted, turned and pushed. Windshield wipers flapped, the horn blew, and lights flashed.

"Oh my god, this is so crazy."

"What's crazy is you acting like you're landing a plane," Sophia said. "Just keep watching the road so we don't end up in a ditch again."

"It wasn't a ditch. It was an indent."

With the lights blaring from all sides of the truck, the girls turned their attention back to the map.

"You gonna have to learn how to brake when we get to the city."

"I can totally break." Claire leaned a little forward on the steering wheel. "It's turning that freaks me out."

Sophia's head snapped up, her eyes large—her face hard. "No, you better not turn. There's jus' too much truck. You gonna wipe out a whole city block."

"So we're like gonna just go straight until...until we need gas."

"Gas? We can't fill up for gas. It takes like fire hoses and cranes and shit."

"Fire hoses and cranes?" Claire tightened her grip on the steering wheel and accelerated. "This is so messed up"

"Slow down girl!" Sophia grabbed the dash board. "We got to figure this out."

"How much time until we---oh shit, please tell I'm so not seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Across the desert horizon, the spectacled lights of a city swelled against the darkening sky.

"That's gotta be Phoenix," Sophia said. "Maybe we just stay on the straight roads until we find a big ass parking lot and stop."

"Ya. That would be totally cool except nobody puts a big ass parking lot at the end of a street. You usually have to turn to get into them."

"Well, you got any ideas?"

Claire nodded and licked her lips. "I was, like, thinking about that radio thing and then, like, asking for some advice from other truckers."

"You telling me we gonna say 'breaker breaker, we stole a truck and we don't know how to stop or turn'

"I said, I can stop."

"That's what you say..." Sophia craned her neck. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That. Shhh, listen."

"Oh my god. They sent the Navy Seals to get us."

The girls looked up and out the windows trying to see the source of the sound. A searchlight spilled in a circle just in front of the truck.

"Ain't no Seals. It's a police copter which means there's cars following us."

"Like you know."

Just as Sophia turned to answer, squad cars roared up on either side. "Pull over," the loud-speaker blared.

After fumbling with buttons, Claire managed to roll down her window. "Ya, um, you guys need to give me like tons of room."

"They don't give a shit about you needing room." Sophia leaned over Claire. "Driver can't stop or turn!"

Police cars surrounded them on all sides. The megaphone blared with slow measured words, as if speaking to a toddler. "Just take... your foot......off the gas."

Claire smiled at Sophia. "That might work." 

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