Chapter Twenty: Southern Cross — Part 5

Though it is certainly raining less the further they journey into the desert, it is still raining every day, and the once barren rock is starting to turn green in places. The rain is light, gentle, warm most of the time, and steady. This time the smell of the rain hitting parched, clay and iron rich ground south of them comes riding along even ahead of the clouds, causing a sharp, primal sense of nostalgia to come creeping into Jynx, as if it is being echoed deep within the marrow of her bones. It is just after noon. The strip of clouds and their rain have started a little earlier than the day before. There is no sound of thunder with this rain. The wind is steady, but not too terribly strong.

Jynx brings the caravan to a stop, and opts to wash up with a little baby shampoo, not wanting to use anything that can’t be easily rinsed off, should the rain cower and leave her with soap in places best left lather free. Behind her, others are taking advantage of the downpour to wash the funk of the road off their bodies. Jynx brushes her teeth, spitting the fluoride onto the side of the road. She’s only an hour out from Tó Naneesdizí, only an hour from maybe finding Tomas, the only man she knows who has crossed one of the fingers on horseback. It has been roughly six weeks since they parted ways in Arkansas, but to Jynx it feels like it has been six years. She wonders if the wear on her soul will start to show on her face, like it has on Joe and Jude.

Jynx changes into her blitz clothes: a kilt that hangs loosely and to the knee; a collard blouse that is loose enough to move in without tearing; boots made for stomping. She considers her clothes sexy enough to draw attention to her, but cut well enough that she can cut loose and lay waste, should a fight break out. ChoCho makes a point of wearing the knife Tomas gave him out in the open so others can see it. She thinks maybe he wants to use it as a signal and a warning. Jynx is reminded that, despite his lack of maturity, ChoCho really is quite intelligent. Joe has, after several minutes, sauntered up the road from the caravan, Blake in tow. He’s got an odd expression on his face, an odd mix of worry and fear.

“Hey,” he says to Jynx, who smiles back kindly, “You sure you know these people well enough to stop in for a visit?”

“Three hundred survivors needing hospitalization, Tomas said, making it obvious that there are probably more who lived. One thing I do know is we’re not sticking around. This isn’t home to me.” Jynx says.

“Just so long as you promise me on that.” Joe says quietly, almost darkly.

“We’ll get you to your shore line, pirate.” Jynx teases.

Joe smiles sheepishly. “You want to load up and get this reunion over with?”

“Yeah, but first we need to pull in the troops and set some ground rules.” Jynx says. “Daria, I believe that’s your department.”

Daria, apparently, has fallen asleep while wrapped in her towel in a patch of the midday sun, not even bothering to dress. The clouds are still swirling gently about, but the road is already starting to dry, and Daria sits up from her dozing state, blinks a few times, until Jynx comes into focus. She’s only been half hearing anything around her, until the last sentence, none of it seemed important enough to interfere with the perfect bliss that is a catnap on a humid afternoon.

“Department?” Daria asks.

“We need to lay the ground rules to the puds, since we’re visiting ken to the south of us.” Joe says. “Apparently you’re the voice of this operation.”

“Oh, yes, I would be the best mouth for that job.” Daria says, stretching somewhat like a cat, ignoring the fact that her towel slips off in response.

Daria starts getting dressed while Jynx pulls out the map. Daria’s strapping her lancer boots on by the time Jynx has the map opened, and is looking for a route to go. Joe leans over the map with her, wondering what she’s going to say. Jynx clears her throat; the moist desert air loaded with spores that cause her lungs some mild discomfort. Her immune system, without really notifying her, is kicking into overdrive, beating back mold and fungus before it can get into her lungs.

“We’ve been lucky, this far, finding fuel for all the vehicles. We’re still at about fifty percent of our reserves heading out from Pueblo, and I am certain, once we cross this last stretch, we’ll have enough in reserve to make the coastline.” Jynx says.

“There should be plenty of diesel in the port cities.” Joe says, sounding suddenly agreeable.

Looking at the map, and at the way the cities fall, the way I see it, we have two choices, to go to the coast and move south, or to go to the coast and move north. What I want to know, Joe, is where you might want to settle your soul.” Jynx says.

“North.” Joe says quietly. “I think we’d be smart to move north.”

“North it is then.” Jynx says, having wanted to move up toward Seattle at any rate.

Like Jude, she doesn’t know how long the daily rains will continue to wash the Earth, and she doesn’t want to bet on being in a desert should the luxury of constant rain prove impermanent. Instead, she puts the map away, the gentle smile leaving her face. She’s barely hearing Daria talk to the puds about the upcoming visit to Tó Naneesdizí, as her mind is on Joe’s seeming change in personality. The man is getting anxious to settle, she can tell. A couple more weeks, three tops, and the lot of them will be settled, she knows, maybe in Oregon, maybe in Washington. Daria’s words suddenly and unexpectedly come into focus.

“… We need to treat these people like family and friend. We don’t know them, but at the same time we need to respect them. These people may be smarter than the Major. They may also be kinder folk, or they could be just the opposite. If they know we’re just passing through, they may be extremely nice to us. ChoCho’s friend may not be in the city, so we have to be polite and keep our fingers from sticking to things that aren’t ours. In other words, this isn’t a scavenging run, so stay close and be well mannered, so we can get through this peaceably, and move on without trouble.”

“Yes Miss Daria.” The Puds says as a group, some of them giggling.

The giggling spreads, and Daria blushes noticeably. Daria looks to Jynx, who nods at her, causing Daria to turn her head to the crowd at the same time that Jynx does.

Jynx speaks up momentarily, her voice unexpectedly loud. “Okay folks, now that you’ve had your pep talk, let’s load up so we can leave.”

“Yes Miss Jynx,” the Puds say again, hoping to cause Jynx to blush like they did Daria.

Jynx will have nothing of it, though she does allow a bit of a smile. She’s hoping Tó Naneesdizí will have enough clean and suitable lodgings to allow them a bit of privacy, because part of her is starting to ache for the intimate kind of attention that she’s thinking only Daria can provide. Jynx isn’t unrealistic about her relationship with ChoCho, but she isn’t going to wait around until he’s ready to accept the closeness that Jynx and Daria will at times come to share. By tomorrow, she knows, her period will have totally ended, and the wanting will turn to something like a need. Seeing Daria blush, just moments before, has stirred in her a specific, powerful yearning: Her nose has already tuned itself to Daria’s scent.

Advertise Here