17 Chapter 17

I got one more block before the first aftershock came. I looked over my shoulder back toward the ocean and saw the water receding. Oh. Shit. I started to run inland, which wasn’t uphill yet, but would be and, anyhow, distance counted. Buildings had fallen down along the road, cars were skewed, and people were running amok, or standing around looking stunned, or running into and out of buildings. There was a lot of noise, rumblings, roarings, screamings, cryings.

I almost stumbled over a boy. Well, not a boy, a young guy, twenty maybe, Asian or Filipino, slender, his eyes alive with fear or excitement, and blood dripping down off his forehead and eyebrow, which were cut. He was dressed okay, but his shirt was torn and his shorts barely staying where they needed to be. He handed me a candy bar and still had three others.

“I got hungry. Can I have some of your beer?”