Everybody knows the dice are loaded. (Songs of the Storm, part3) (Cassandra Project)
Joshua leaned against the door frame, watching the cars speed past. He sipped his coffee and waved at harried-looking neighbors stuffing kids, pets and luggage into vehicles. Some had boarded up their windows while others cheated and put thick gray tape-Xs over the glass instead.
Cassie nudged him aside to stand beside him, armed with a cup. “We really should take in the plants. Can't have anything loose flying around.”
He gestured to the windows. “Shouldn't we board up like everyone else?”
She glared at him. “Are we everyone else? Not needed and I want to save the plywood.”
“For what, a rainy day?” He stuck out his tongue. “It's supposed to pouring whole litters of kittens and puppies tomorrow.”
She sniffed. “It may.” She elbowed him. “Quit teasing the neighbors, come in.”
He grinned and followed her back inside. “You do know that this storm's supposed to hit here, right?”
“That's what they say, anyways.” She sat at the kitchen table, raising a hand to stop him before he moved towards the living room. “Don't bother with the news. Nothing's changed.”
He sat across from her. “Tell me the truth, old woman. Is this the storm that will change the city?”
She looked away. “When kids are small, parents tell them not to touch the stove because it's hot yet most kids will burn themselves at some point. Why? Because they have to see for themselves.” She stood up, keeping her face from him. “Don't ask me anything about the storm, please. I have some laundry to do.”
She left the kitchen without another word.
The next day, Joshua stood outside letting the wind tear at his clothes and hair, shouting and laughing as the rain sprinkled on him. He jumped in puddles like a child, kicking water as high as he could. “This was it?!” he shouted. “This is IT!?”
Cassie watched him from the kitchen door, a sad smile on her face. “I wish, dear one. I wish,” she whispered.
They watched the traffic snake along on the news while eating Chinese. “They're calling it amazing that everyone was able to evacuate. Kinda like a drill or something, I suppose.” Joshua slurped his lo mein.
“I guess.” Cassie pushed aside her untouched carton of rice. She tossed a broken fortune cookie aside and pretended to concentrate on the news.
“What did your fortune say?” he asked around his mouthful.
“There wasn't one.”
Life returned to normal, boards came down and people began to go on their way. Joshua came inside from checking the mail, waving a cream colored envelope. “Hey, looks like our invitation to Marty and Halley's wedding!”
Cassie didn't look up from her book. “Send in the RSVP but don't rent a tux. You won't need it.”
He didn't ask, just tossed the envelope on the coffee table unopened. “Just to let you know, Ruiner of All Things Surprise-like and Buzz Kill, Marty asked me to be best man.”
“I knew he would. Halley wants me to be maid of honor.” She closed her book. “I agreed but haven't gone for my fitting yet.”
“Why?”
She didn't say anything, just picked up the remote and turned on the TV. “...current forecast models show that the storm will strength to a category four before making landfall in New Orleans...” She tuned it off and set aside her book. “Now we board the house.”
They watched the Evacuation March from the front yard. “Shouldn't we leave?” Joshua asked.
“Why?” Cassie's eyes were dead. “I would be stopped at every angle. No, the bastards want me here. You can go. You're fired.”
“Fuck you. I quit and I'm staying.” He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
“In which case, you're hired again because I couldn't stand the thought of you not getting paid for this.” A ghost of her old self fluttered across her face. “I guess you should get hazard pay.”
He made a rude noise.
She shoved him away with a hard, brittle laugh. “C'mon, we should get some sleep.”
“It's morning!” he protested.
Her face showed every bit of the fear she had been hiding, all the worry that she wouldn't let him see. Her eyes were haunted by the souls of the future dead, those who would suffer. She took his hand gently, trying all the while to smile. “We'll need our rest.”
They boarded up the house, moving everything that could be a potential missile into the shed that Joshua locked and boarded. Cassie made sure he had a flashlight on him at all times and even went as far as insisting he sleep with his shoes on. She stowed a tarp and a blanket in the attic, which made little sense to Joshua but he couldn't bear to ask questions.
They watched the city empty except for those who had no place to go and those who were convinced the levee would keep them safe. That night, Cassie didn't sleep.
Joshua woke to the sound of a train and Cassie's hand yanking him up. “MOVE!” she screamed, shoving him into the stairwell that ran up the center of the building. He ran, cold fear making him move faster as he saw brown murky water flow around the boards. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, tearing up the stairs without even looking to see if he was on his feet or not.
Around them was an arachnophbic nightmare. Things best left behind the walls were surging upwards to avoid the water. Cassie never noticed, just pulled harder. “MOVE!”
She had left the trap door open. She hit the ladder, releasing his hand and climbing up.
Joshua looked down to see the dark waters swirling up to fill the stairwell, eerily lit by the skylight that only showed angry gray clouds and hard rain. Something touched him and as a reflex, he jumped.
His foot slipped and he hit something hard, cold. He slipped into the water, hardly aware of the darkness closing around him. “NO!” he heard Cassie scream.
The darkness was peaceful compared with the raging chaos outside. Joshua felt the air burn his chest and had the urge to breathe deep of the peace, to let go. He felt his body falling slowly and relaxed.
Strong arms circled his waist, someone pulled him up and out of the peace back to the chaos. Cassie swam to the top of the stair with her grip firmly on his arm. She shoved him at the ladder, pushing him up when he hesitated. “Close your eyes!” she yelled.
He did as she said. Unnamed horrors scuttled across his feet and he shivered with both cold and fear. She took his arm. “C'mon!”
He let her lead him through the attic, fighting the urge to open his eyes. She squeezed his hand. “I have to cut a hole in the roof. Don't move.”
Wood splintered, Cassie cursed and he felt her hand guide him forward once more. “Open your eyes but for the love of all things holy, do not look down!”
He opened his eyes and looked up. She had hacked a hole in the roof big enough for them to fit through. Rain stung him through the hole but the skittering behind him in the darkness motivated him up and out.
Water fell in sheets, slicing through skin and bone to leave a cold that he knew would never leave his soul. Cassie pulled him higher on the roof, covering them with the tarp she had stashed away before.
She was crying brokenly, real raw anger lighting her eyes. “YOU BASTARDS!” she screamed at the clouds. “I HOPE YOU'RE PLEASED!” Her words were barely a whisper in the howling winds. She curled in a ball. “The city... the city...”
Joshua held her close, watching the water cover their neighborhood.