“About the same.” I give him side-eye. “I was half expecting you to give me some bullshit about the world needing us to help repopulate. To breed for the good of humankind or some such.”
“I would if I thought it’d work. Don’t think too highly of me.”
I laugh softly. “No fear of that.”
“The motorcycle won’t fit the three of us. Assuming we’re still alive tomorrow, I’ll start looking for a vehicle. Something older without a lot of electronics. So you might as well get the mugs if you want them.”
“You know much about engines?”
“Hopefully enough to get us by.”
“I know how to check the oil and water and tire pressure, but that’s about it.”
“Something tells me we’re going to be learning a variety of new skills in the next few years,” he says. “That’s if we survive tonight and tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
He picks up the small CB radio and turns the dial, searching through the static for signs of life. Keeping the volume low, of course. Neither of us wants to wake Sophie. The first thing we hear is “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M.
“Last night they were playing ‘The Man Comes Around’ by Johnny Cash,” he says.
We wait for the next song, and it’s “1999” by Prince. Whoever is broadcasting has a theme happening. I, for one, salute them. Bonus points for the gallows humor.
“I think I lack the energy to panic,” I say. “Like I know I should be melting down at the idea of having the virus and dying, but I just can’t be bothered. It seems like a step beyond where we’re at right now.”
“It was a hell of a day.”
“You got shot. That was exciting.”
He grunts.
“Imagine the amount of likes and comments we’d get on social media for surviving a day like today,” I say. “What a waste.”
“Your mind fascinates me.”
I smile. “Don’t misunderstand me. I am well aware that social media was a monster slowly eating itself from the inside out.”
“And yet you took part in it.”
“Of course I did. Don’t act so high and mighty. Like you were too cool to be part of the online community of the time. Above the plebeian marketplace of memes and ideas.”
“Would you friend me if it still existed?”
“Fuck no.” I laugh softly. “Are you kidding me? You kidnapped me, dude.”
He grins for like a millisecond. It’s a flash of a thing.
“Where do you think we go after we die?”
Without a word, he rolls his head once more to the side to stare at me. And then stare at me some more.
“What?” I ask.
“You really want to talk about religion and shit right now?”
“Look who’s grumpy when he gets shot. Take a painkiller and relax already.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. It’s so close to being a smile. “I want to be awake.”
