Natural Disaster

Chapter 4

By the time they had stopped for the night, they had reached a major curve in the river. Launa was thankful for the stopping point and the coolness of the evening as it settled upon them. She sank slowly to the ground, groaning as her hips and knees protested at the amount of usage they’d had over the day. Avi dropped his bag next to her and wandered off, shrugging on his long, brown coat. “Where you goin’?” Launa called.

"Trying to find some firewood," he said, glancing around and bending to investigate some wood.

Launa cleared her throat to catch his attention. “Tinder and fire?” She pulled a lighter and a thick notebook from her bag, “How about yes?”

He frowned. “That’s not very safe, and it won’t last long.”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s better than searching for something that isn’t there.”

A few minutes passed of her arranging rocks to contain the flame she had yet to start, and a bunch of those weird bushes they’d seen along the way were dropped right next to her. “Those will burn,” Avi stated simply, dropping to his knees beside her, and took starting the fire off her hands.

"Thanks." Launa said quietly, handing the lighter over, watching him intently as he lit the plant up and placed it gently among the rest of them. She bit her lip and cursed herself for admiring the length of his eyelashes. Stop that. You need to focus on getting to LA, and then back home. That’s all that matters. She jumped when his gaze flicked to hers.

"You okay?" Avi asked, his green eyes flickering over her face.
She nodded and closed her eyes, rubbing her face with her hand.

"Yeah, yeah," she half-lied, "I’m just tired. And have a headache. Caffeine deprivation will do that to me."

"We have ibuprofen, don’t we?" She felt him lean past her to grab at her bag and heard him dig into the medicine pocket. "Aha. Here." She reopened her eyes to find him offering the bottle to her.

Launa offered him a small smile. “Thanks.” He just nodded in response, digging back into the bag for the single pan they had and a can of anything.

"This sound good?" He held the can up for her to see in the dim light and she agreed, and he went about heating it up.

"I can get that," she protested, feeling bad that he was doing everything, "Here, lemme-"

Avi pointed at her. “Aahh- no. Just take care of your headache. I’l let you know when it’s done.” Launa grumped at him and attempted to mimic his awful frown, the muscles in her face straining to look just as menacing.

He glanced over and spluttered, laughing. “What’s with the face?”

"I’m annoyed at you," she exclaimed, struggling to keep the downturn to her mouth, "why won’t you let me do something to help?"

"Because, you’re in pain." He pushed her in the shoulder in an attempt to knock her down. "Lay down and take care of your headache. I’ve got this, I promise."

Launa stuck her tongue out at him and laid down, curling on her side with her back to him.

"I saw that."

"You saw nothing- just cook." She heard him laugh quietly under his breath.

Their old friend silence overtook them, not a sound breaking through it but the crackle of the fire and quiet trickle of the river. Launa wasn’t used to nature sounds. She was a city girl, without a doubt. The only sounds of nature she was used to were the deafening silence of falling snow and the incessant screeching of magpies and ravens. She suddenly missed home so much that it made her chest ache.