#am I laying down Themes too heavy handedly??? summer is the Season Of Trust for them I can't wait to really get into it

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Prev

The sudden flames in the mist and puddles along the road cause a steam reaction that temporarily blinds her, and Dany spends too much precious time scrambling to her feet. What before was ugly gray-yellow in the mist is now blazing orange, and the beam of the telephone pole is blocking her best pathway out of the flames. All her bags weigh her down and trip her over and over again, and by the time she gets untangled from the straps that tangled when she fell, she's surrounded by fire and heat.

"Robin!" She shouts, not knowing if she's yelling for help or to check that he's still alive. There's no reply, and her heart thumps in her chest. "Robin!" She can't see anything. Before all this she probably needed glasses. But the blurriness in her vision now is caused by heat and fear, though she refuses to acknowledge the latter.

Her ears are ringing nearly as loud as the fire is roaring around her. At least the wind is still, held down by humidity. Dany stands in the midst of the building inferno, turning slowly, frantically. It's nearly impossible to see. Something drops against her face and she reaches a hand up to touch it. It's a raindrop.

She prays for miraculous timing, but as the rain picks up, it only becomes harder to see and hear. It's all she can do to avoid the heat around her, but there's a path clear now and she takes it. The drainage ditch on the other side of the road is wet enough to be safe, she thinks. It's the best chance she has right now. Something keeps her tethered to that street, much as it may be safer to get far away.

She looks up, staring through the smoke and steam and mist, when she hears a cry of her name. "Dany!" It's Robin. Dany can't see him, but she throws a hand up and waves it on the off chance he can see her.

"Robin!" She shouts again. "Over here!" Her voice is ragged and dissolves into a barrage of coughing the more she tries to yell, but at least they're both alive.

"Dany!" Robin stumbles toward her, nearly falling into the ditch headfirst and looking like he's about to hug her. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "I'm-" she's about to say fine when the air crackles sharply again and she sucks in a breath. She grabs Robin by the back of his hoodie and drags him with her. "Get down!"

Lightning doesn't often travel horizontally. But it's the end of the world, so it may as well do now. The flash of white light hits nearly right over top of them, drowning out the still-crackling blaze of the electrical pole that had been knocked down in the first place. Dany doesn't let go of Robin. When they look at each other next, with his sweatshirt twisted by her grip on it, their eyes are wide.

The rain keeps falling for nearly an hour. Lightning strikes three more times, once close enough that the hair on the back of Dany's arms stands up, with thunder loud enough they can't speak over it. The entire time, until it's been twenty minutes without thunder, Dany doesn't let go of Robin. She doesn't think he's stupid, not stupid enough to try and move, but this is security.

She hangs onto her bags, and she hangs onto him. That's just the way it works. She doesn't think about it any deeper than that. She can't afford to. And Robin doesn't mention her death grip on him, either. He's smart enough to know not to question things that even she won't address. He just walks a bit closer when they take back up the trek afterwards.

Dany, attention fixed on seeing through the remaining fog and listening for any telltale warning noises, doesn't speak. She thinks maybe enough was said through the looks exchanged in that ditch. Maybe too much, she thinks. Maybe she'll never know why she's let Robin stick around. She doesn't really want to, anymore.

She won't give him her full trust, either way. That's one thing she can't do. The list of those is growing. She grits her teeth and adjusts the bags again. She keeps trekking on.