"I think he's changed," Daniel said.

A brief flash of rage spun across Hunter's face before he managed to look away.

"You always think he's changed," he said.

Daniel wanted to plead more, not for a strong belief in his father, which he didn't feel, but to soothe his brother. He wanted to keep lying to make things better, but he knew it would make them worse.

Hunter laughed. "He really sleeping in the toolshed?" he asked.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "I thought Mom was joking, but she lets the chainsaw stay in the house while he sleeps in the shed."

"That's pretty funny." Hunter turned and smiled at Daniel. "d.a.m.n, dude, I'm glad you're okay. How's Zola?"

"She's fine. Her thumbs don't know what to do with the cell towers out. She misses her friends, and a tree went through her bed and ruined a ton of her s.h.i.t, but she seems to actually be fine."

"This is pretty f.u.c.ked up," Hunter said, looking around at all the trees and scattered branches. Daniel noticed not a piece of the debris had been moved. There were no piles of branches like around his neighborhood. He imagined Hunter and Chen had been rolling around in bed doing whatever couples did while he'd been working his a.s.s off and worried about them.

"We should totally be in school right now," Daniel said.

They turned to the sound of the screen door snapping shut. Chen and Anna came out, plastic grocery bags in either hand. Edward headed toward the Bronco from the far corner of the house.

"You got all your things?" Daniel asked his brother.

He patted his pockets. "Heh. I just checked to see if I had the keys to the car. Yeah, I've got my wallet and phone."

"I packed your other clothes in the suitcase," Chen said. Daniel took bags of food and a gallon of water from her and put them in the back of the Bronco. Anna unloaded her arms as well, then began rearranging the stuff in the back, pressing it all to the sides, leaving room in the middle.

"I guess we'll be sitting back here," she said, referring to the cargo compartment behind the rear seat.

Daniel nodded. He watched his father make his sullen way up the drive, hands in his pockets, chin down, feet dragging. He looked like a whipped dog, and Daniel no longer wanted to know what had been said between them. He didn't want to feel any sorrier for his dad than he already did.

As Hunter and Chen got in the back seat and his father and Edward slid in up front, Daniel felt overwhelmed with how right the pairing felt. The presence of another couple seemed to solidify something between him and Anna-some vicarious romantic energy. We are what they are. He and Anna crawled in the back amid the bags of food and the suitcase. Daniel grabbed the top edge of the hinged rear door, its window down, and swung it shut. It banged and latched with the raw metal sound of an older car, and they were off, crunching the gravel driveway, turning their back on the empty house and ruined family car, working their way down the narrow alley of wounded and broken trees, the glare of the sun dimming as they pa.s.sed through the mottled shade, then out to the unbroken shine and steady thrum of civilized pavement beyond.

23.

The world went by in reverse. Daniel and Anna watched the past from the back of the Bronco, the road sliding off into the distance as they leaned against the back of the seat and peered out the rear window. A tree that they had cut and hauled out of the way just hours before popped into view and then slid away from them. The plastic grocery bags rustled in the breeze. Bits of conversation from the two men in the front drifted back, but in an indistinguishable slur. The deep silence from Hunter and Chen was much nearer.

Daniel felt his body unwind from the several days of tension. He relaxed against the seat behind him and felt the raw terror of his life-not the storm aftermath, but of his normal life-slide out his pores. He felt happy and calm in a way he couldn't remember since childhood. Maybe it was knowing his brother was okay, that his entire family was okay. Perhaps it was the chilly breeze pa.s.sing through the car, cooling the sweat on the back of his neck, making his hair dance on his scalp. Maybe it was the thrill of being one of the only vehicles in sight, or the view of all the destruction sliding over the horizon, reminding him how awesome it was to be alive. He soaked in the unusual state of bliss. He felt his shoulder b.u.mp up against Anna's as the Bronco lurched to the side. He felt Anna press herself closer, so that the contact between them remained long after the limb Edward had dodged disappeared into the past.

Maybe it was all the emotional outpouring of the last few days, the thrill of the unknowable future rushing at him blindly from behind, not knowing when he'd go to school again, not knowing when he'd watch TV again, not knowing when his cell phone would come back to life and continue its unringing mocking. It could have been any or all of these things that caused him to do the unthinkable, the laughable, the it-only-happens-in-the-movies: He reached over and grabbed Anna's hand.

It was so easy. It was like he couldn't not do it. He felt her warm and soft palm against his own, felt her small and dexterous fingers curl around his, accepting. He rubbed his thumb up and down the back of her fingers, marveling at how simple and correct the harmless act felt. Some kind of raw power surged through him, a joy that threatened to burst out through his chest if his heart couldn't contain it. Then Anna tilted her head to the side and rested it on Daniel's shoulder, and she made the unimprovable better.

The world slid into the past. The future came at them blindly. With the wind drowning out the sound of the blinker, the stops and turns took them by surprise, causing them to stiffen and brace for what came next. But they remained like that, leaning on one another, hands caressing hands, fingers learning how they interlocked, and Daniel realized that if it was happening so fast, it wasn't because of anything apocalyptic. He realized that Anna had been waiting just as long for him as he had been for her.

24.

As they rode slowly through town, Daniel was glad for the extended tour and the leisurely pace. He could've ridden in that Bronco forever.

They pa.s.sed a gas station with a line of vehicles all trying to get to a single pump. The rattle of a portable generator and the sight of a man in coveralls working the nozzle gave them a bit of hope that civilization could reopen for business, albeit slowly and at a trickle.

Two police cars sat outside the Save-Mart, their blue lights flashing in circles. There was yellow tape over the front gla.s.s, which was patched with full sheets of plywood.

"Storm damage or looting?" Daniel asked.

Anna let go of his hand to grab the edge of the rear window and peer out. "I hope storm damage," she said, but not too convincingly.

Daniel rubbed his hands together. He felt the residual heat from her skin touching his. He glanced at Anna's hand and had the powerful surety that he could grab it again if he wanted. It was a new power, like waking up one morning to discover you could fly. He could touch someone in a loving way and have them not flinch, or think him a creep. They would even reciprocate.

Daniel had a sudden impulse to leap out of the back of the Bronco and run down the street, screaming at the top of his voice.

"Look at that," Anna said. She pointed off to the other side. Daniel could hear his father and Edward jabbering in the front. His brother cursed.

Daniel leaned forward and peered out the back of the Bronco and off to the side. The hulk of a dozen boats were scattered over the marsh between the highway and the Beaufort River. Normally, the craft were bobbing in the gentle swell or stiff current of the ever-changing tide, like ducks all swimming in the same direction. The high tide and storm surge had pulled their moorings free and had dragged them over dry land before receding. Now they sat on their sides, forlorn and looking like toys, masts angling up toward the sky in unusual angles, the tatters of an unfurled headsail hanging from a forestay like laundry left out to dry. A pickup truck was parked out on a gravel turnout, the driver standing by the front b.u.mper, his hands on the sides of his head, elbows jutting, disbelieving, to either side. Daniel wondered if he was one of the owners, or just a stunned gawker like the rest of them.

"Over there," Anna said.

She pointed across the river. Daniel saw the stern and prop of a boat lost among the trees on the far bank. A small sailboat stood high and dry, tangled in the broken limbs of an old oak. It seemed to be what Anna was pointing at. He heard Hunter and Chen conversing back and forth; he looked to the side to see their faces hanging out the window, eyes wide and darting.

Daniel imagined what the City Marina must look like if this anchorage, known affectionately as "Hurricane Hole" for its relatively nice protection, could be so decimated. He was frankly glad when Edward did a U-Turn at the end of town and started heading back toward home, keeping him from having to see what his dad had been through.

"Doesn't look like much of anything's open for business," Daniel said.

They pa.s.sed the gas station with the single operational pump. Edward didn't even slow down, obviously deciding he had enough fuel to not endure the wait.

"It's only been two days," Anna pointed out. Daniel felt a stabbing fear that she was referring to their hand-holding and the rapidity of his feelings for her. He shook such doubts away. She was talking about the storm, the signs of progress already. She was saying that this was as bad as it would be, and it would only get better.

Daniel nearly reached out and tested whatever was between them by grabbing her hand, but such actions still felt like they needed a moment. It could feel casual and right during a moment, but not just anytime. Right then, it would have felt desperate. Physical, rather than emotional. Daniel marveled that he knew such things. He could now see through walls as well as fly. He wondered what other new powers he'd discover next.

The Bronco picked up speed as they left town, and Daniel and Anna watched the road move beneath them, their chins hanging over the rear door. Sporadic traffic roared by in the other direction. Daniel waved to some kids in the back of a pickup, who waved back.

They turned into their neighborhood, and Hunter whistled at the sight of the tree across the road. Edward steered them through the tight gap once again, the smell of cut wood and sap just as strong as before. Chainsaws were still busy at work somewhere. People were out doing what Daniel had been doing for days: dragging limbs, waving to foreign neighbors, drinking warm water and sweating. He felt like an explorer returning home from a dangerous circ.u.mnavigation. He felt alive with a new knowledge of what the outside world looked like and what other people were going through. He imagined himself going door to door to fill people in, despite the fact that they could just as easily drive through town and gawk for themselves.

Edward pa.s.sed by his and Anna's house and drove to the end of the cul-de-sac. He pulled up Daniel's driveway, past the several neat mounds of debris.

"Holy s.h.i.t," Hunter said, when he saw the size of the tree resting against the house.

Chen said something to him about watching his language as the Bronco squealed to a stop. Doors popped open and the six of them staggered out.

Daniel heard Zola squeal their mother's name. She then ran across the yard and threw herself into Hunter's arms, who picked her up and spun her around. For Daniel, the scene was as bizarre and new as the tree denting their roof. Their mom walked briskly across the yard, tugging her gloves off, and waited for Zola to be set down. She hugged Hunter, her eyes wet with tears. She let go and stepped back to look at him, her hands still on his cheeks.

"You okay?" she asked.

Hunter looked embarra.s.sed. "I'm fine."

Their mother nodded to Chen, then reached out and hugged her. She glanced at Daniel over Chen's shoulder, then her eyes went to Anna and widened.

"Mom, this is Anna."

He wanted to add my girlfriend, whose hand I've held, but refrained.

"Nice to meet you," she said, letting go of Chen and shaking her hand.

"And this is her dad, Edward." His mom turned and waved, thanking him. Edward smiled back, and Daniel saw the way their father was watching the entire scene from across the hood of the Bronco. His mother looked at their father for a second, and his father smiled. Daniel could've sworn his mom nodded his direction just a little as she squeezed Hunter's arm.

"Carlton borrowed a canister of propane from the couple across the street," their mom said. "He's grilling some chicken out back before it spoils. Daniel, why don't you go see if he needs any help." She nodded to Hunter and Chen. "You two can get freshened up. And Edward, we've got plenty if the two of you will join us. It's the least we can do to repay you for picking Hunter up."

"Love to," Edward said, smiling. He rubbed his beard. "Let's unload and I'll go park the car and grab some tomatoes."

"Yum," Hunter said, rubbing his stomach.

Daniel wanted to point out to his mom that Hunter and Chen hadn't been doing much of anything for the past two days and didn't need "freshening up." But Anna was grabbing bags out of the back and forcing them into his hands, his mother shooing him toward the house before he could complain. Before he knew it, he was setting the bags down in the dining room and watching the Bronco back out of the driveway. He could see Anna's face in the pa.s.senger seat as she peered out toward the house. Daniel wondered suddenly if the connection between them would be severed as soon as she was out of sight. What would it feel like to see her again, for the first time post-hand-holding? What were they? How did millions of people go through this and survive to giggle about it on the other side?

Daniel pulled some canned goods from one of the bags and arranged them on the table. He could feel a powerful depression looming if Anna decided their moment had been a mistake. It was easy to imagine only Edward coming over for dinner, telling the rest of them that "Anna didn't feel well," casting a glance toward Daniel as if he'd done something wrong.

Misery and joy, Daniel decided. This is how you know you're in love.

25.

Fortunately, Anna did come over, and a shy smile in Daniel's direction let him know their bond could survive stretching the length of their neighborhood. She and her dad arranged some vegetables on the chopping block in the kitchen. Everyone else was out back, wrestling the furniture on the rear deck into place, picking the twigs and leaves out of the webbed chairs and fussing over the smorgasbord of food scavenged from the cabinets. Daniel could see Carlton and his dad standing by the grill, the chicken hissing and smoking, two small pots on the upper rack spitting with side dishes. The sight of the two men-father and stepfather-standing together amicably seemed surreal. Daniel accepted the plate of freshly sliced tomatoes shoved into his hands and allowed Anna to steer him toward the sliding screen door.

"I think we're almost ready," his mom yelled at the upper floor. Daniel heard his brother shout something back through the open window. The temporary sleeping arrangements had been quickly set: Daniel was moving into Hunter's room with his brother, and Chen and Zola were sharing his. He had tried not to grumble about it too much. His brother had looked ready to be dropped back off at Chen's house.

"Grab a plate," his mom said. She pointed to a stack of paper plates on the table. Daniel grabbed one for Anna and took one for himself. Carlton dropped a piece of BBQ-rubbed chicken on each of their plates. Daniel's father added a scoop of warmed-up canned beans and instant mashed potatoes. To Daniel, the spa.r.s.e fare looked like Thanksgiving.

His brother and Chen joined them on the deck, followed soon after by Zola. Edward went around forking slices of tomato onto everyone's plates. Daniel and Anna sat on the steps leading down to the back yard while the others scrambled for room around the oval table. Their father put his food together last and ate standing, his cup balanced on the deck's wooden rail.

While they ate, Hunter and Edward took turns telling the others about what they'd seen in town, about the gas pump, the cops at the grocery store, the beached fleet of sailboats, all the downed power lines and the wrecked roofs. Zola asked if there'd been any cell phone signal, and everyone was surprised to realize that they hadn't even checked.

Daniel dove into his food and watched Anna enjoy hers. They exchanged smiles while they chewed, as if the two of them possessed a secret. Chainsaws hummed in the distance; everyone laughed and ate and gossiped. Chen seemed to take perverse delight in telling their mom that she'd warned Hunter to park the Taurus out in the yard. News of the car, however, was still a sore spot for their mom, who chewed her dinner and didn't laugh with the others while they recounted their search for the insurance card and their attempts to work the radio.

As far as Daniel could tell, it was the most normal, bizarre meal he'd ever had. Looking up, he could see the limbs of the great oak from the front yard reaching over the peak of the damaged roof. One ma.s.sive broken limb draped over the back and was bushy with leaves. That he could get so quickly used to such newness as the tree on his house made his infatuation with Anna almost believable. Which was stranger or more sudden? As Anna stabbed the last of his tomato off his plate and popped it into her mouth, Daniel slashed at her fork with his as if jousting, and oddly enough wished that nothing in his world would ever change- "Holy s.h.i.t, I've got a bar," Zola said.

"Language, young lady," their mother said, but everyone else stopped chewing and turned to look at her. She held her phone in the air, tilted the screen down and peered up at it. She spun in place, as if trying to divine the pocket of most reception. Hunter and Chen both began digging their phones out of their pockets.

"It's gone," Zola said. She walked down the steps between Daniel and Anna, waving the phone in the air. "Come back," she called after the ephemeral bar.

"I've got signal," Hunter said. He pressed some b.u.t.tons.

"Who're you calling?" Chen asked.

"You," he said. Everyone sat breathless. He lowered the phone and looked at it. "It says the network is full."

"Me too," Zola said, holding the phone to her ear.

"I bet everyone is trying to use them," Daniel pointed out.

"There might be signal but no service for quite some time," Edward said.

"Honey, don't just keep redialing." Their mother snapped her fingers in Zola's direction. "Just try once an hour. Don't waste your battery."

Anna seemed like she was going to say something about the batteries-maybe remind them of her charging station-but chose not to.

"Let's not get all worked up," their father said. "These things will come back in time, but trying to rush them won't make it happen any faster." He gathered plates from the table and stacked them together. Daniel watched his mom as she studied his actions. She handed her own empty plate to him, her eyes darting from him to Carlton.

"Thanks for cooking," their father said, nodding to Carlton. "I'm going to get out of ya'lls hair for a while. Tomorrow, though, I'm gonna want to borrow that saw." He turned and looked to Edward, who seemed to have bonded with their father during the day's ride. "If you don't mind, I'd like to head over and get that rope we talked about, so I'll have it in the morning."

"What're you gonna do in the morning?" Daniel asked.

"We," his father said. He glanced up. "We're gonna get that tree off this house I built. We're not gonna wait around for someone else to come and do it for us."

His father gave him a most sober stare. He stepped between Daniel and Anna and strolled purposefully toward Edward's house.

Edward thanked Carlton and his mom for their hospitality and hurried off as well. Daniel's mom stood still, an empty plate in her hand. She looked up at the broken bough of the ma.s.sive tree hanging over the top of the roof.

"I guess I'd better go," Anna told Daniel, the lilt of her voice seeming to complain at having to do so. She stood up and brushed the back of her shorts with her hands. Daniel stood as well and took her plate, stacking it under his own.

"Maybe I should come over and help Dad carry whatever he's borrowing." He knew it was a transparent excuse to stay near her, but he didn't care. If he could be so bold in the back of the Bronco, he could let someone know he'd rather not see them go.

Anna smiled. She bit her lip and nodded. Daniel threw the plates in a trash bag Hunter was using to gather dishes. He mumbled to his mom that he'd be right back, then chased Anna off the deck and around the house toward the street.

aaaa "That was an amazing meal," Daniel said, making small talk while they walked the short trip between their houses.

"Yeah." Anna turned her head to follow the flight of a startled blue jay. "Your brother seems like a cool guy. And your sister's sweet."

Daniel refrained from arguing the points. "Do you miss your brother?" he asked.

Anna nodded. She kicked a small limb off the street. "A lot. It was cool for a while to have the house to myself, but now it's just boring."

"How do you like being home schooled? And why did your parents choose to do that?"