Appoca-probs

Is it not strange how beautiful something terrible can be? Levi could not help seeing the beauty in it all as he sprawled out on a lounger perched upon the edge of a roof. For those who think nobody could relax in times like these, they had never met Levi. So relaxed was he that, if it was not for the rumble of the Earth shaking his sunglasses down his nose, he would have drifted to sleep. Instead his eyes drifted over the cracked uneven ground, the sun slowly roasting his skin. It felt Impossible how quickly everything had changed.

Even more incredible was how the one thing he associated with his father remained standing. When the earthquakes started, nobody understood the devastation that was to follow. Not even when the first crack appeared did anyone imagine this. It was only when a crack opened in France engulfing the Eiffel tower and most of Paris did people panic. More cracks appeared, like a soft boiled egg spilling yolk everywhere, only this yolk would burn you alive with it being lava and all. Cracks appeared everywhere, swallowing anything that stood tall and so it was amazing out of everything the Leviathan still stood.

According to his mother, this is where his father got the idea for his name. Of all the wonders of the world, the great land marks, here stood the last evidence of human culture. The coastline of Portsmouth was devastated, the water had fallen through the cracks, this silver and white pole stark amongst the devastation. Atop the pole swimming through the air sat a fish with a body and face of a lobster but spikey fins sprouting from its back and tail straight out of legend. His mother assured Levi his father just liked the name, not because he was a little monster, though she often called him ‘her little monster’ since then.

Levi felt sick rise in his throat as the memories of her death haunted him. He leapt off the sunbed craving company, juddering down the last few steps. His belly gargled at the salivating aroma that hit him. Betty is hunched over the temporary stove they had found in the rubble of a house, her grey hair inches from adding an extra flavour to the meal. He had found Betty in the most peculiar situation. She had been sat in her living room when the whole house gave way around her. She ended up marooned on a little island with nothing connecting her to land. She just had enough room for the armchair she was seated in when her home of 30 years vanished. Whilst everyone else ran, Levi did not feel he could leave her. They had stayed together ever since.

He liked to joke without her cooking, he would have gone insane long ago, chomping on the large stack of energy bars he had found. But really it was just Betty being there that kept him going. Their filial relationship, protecting and supporting her as she encouraged him in dark moments and provided hot food or wisdom. Levi really was a terrible cook. The ground shook again, a small tremor but an ever present reminder. Betty seemed more worked up than usual as she noticed Levi by the stairs.

“I really wish you wouldn’t go up there” Betty berated him “what if a quake throws you off? Really would be a silly way to die”.

“It’d be quick at least” Levi jested. “Don’t think I could if it was a Tsunami, drowning always seemed a horrible way to die.”

“You can swim, can’t ya’?” Betty jokes as Levi sits down at the wobbly table. They had struggled to find it but, after a few scavenging trips he managed to find this worn table and a couple anomalous chairs. Were there still a social media, or internet, there would probably be a phrase for this kind of issue. ‘Hashtag Appocca-probs’ or something just as stupid. This place was a godsend though, a roof for when debris showered from above in the big quakes and a huge source of bottled water. It must have come from a supermarket or factory, but a good ten minute walk, or climb really, were a few hundred bottles of water.

“You’re going to need to take another trip if you want water with your food” Betty said apologetically.

“But I just did a trip yesterday” Levi complained softly “have you used it all up already?”

“You went two days ago, I used the last of what you brought for the cooking” Betty explained. “If you go now, the food should be done by the time you get back.” Levi considered it. He did not need a drink with his food but if he did not go now, he would have to go after dinner, or have to make the journey dehydrated. One slip or fall in the terrains will likely kill you.

“Fine, back as soon as possible” Levi said hefting a rope strapped valise he had rigged up, able to fill much more than a backpack inside.

“Be Careful” Betty seemed to shiver “I got a bad feeling something is coming real soon.” Fear clouded her features as she unhooked the gold chain around her neck. "Take this for luck” she offered him. Her mother had given her the charm when she was younger, a solid gold chain with a heart at the bottom of the pendulum. She had told him all about it in one of their many conversations whilst travelling through the quagmire that is the world. When times were hard or she just felt lonely, she would clasp the heart to her chest and remember her mother. Long since passed though she be, Betty never felt alone whilst her mother’s heart was side by side with her own.

“I’m not taking that, I’ll be fine. You need it more than me, I have the luck of youth on my side” he quipped smart-arsed. She seemed to see there was no convincing him.

“Here then” she motioned toward herself as she did whenever they had to split up. Levi embraced her, as they disentangled she held his jacket by the pockets and whispered “don’t die”. He nodded reassuringly as he looked deep into her eyes brimming with worry.

Levi made light work of the hillocks, over all the mass detritus. The ground seemed to squeeze everything together, causing mountains of oddments and gubbins. He was distrait with how worried Betty seemed. Sometimes he would suggest an abandoned home or shelter that she would dismiss, later to see it in ruins or just disappeared altogether. He had learnt to trust her sixth sense. He had to stop a few times to clean his goggles of dust, but he had soon filled up the case and was trudging back, slower under the added weight. That was when the Earth shook once more. This time it was no slight tremor, all the mounds shifted egregiously.

Spotting a bare filing cabinet, Levi shielded his ears from the tremendous racket as he climbed in with the whole world shifting around him. He could not fit the case in with him, so wrapped his arms through the ropes and held it against his chest. His whole body became numb, his arms aching with the burden of the case. Eventually the shuddering became a rumble and then a vibration. Soon only the odd crash could be heard as everything settled. Levi relaxed his body as the case fell next to him. Then a dread he had only felt once before rose within him.

Clearing the final heap, Levi’s heart plunged through the cavernous crack still crumbling before him. He scanned left and right desperately hoping she had made it out, his feet carrying him forward despite the danger ahead. It was no use, the building had gone. Tears streamed down his face, his knees jarring against the uneven drek. Too many emotions to quantify ploughed through his chest. Shoving his hands as deep into his pockets as possible, he wrapped his head in his coat and screamed at the Earth.

One feeling in particular ballooned inside his heart: loneliness. Even before he found Betty, he had seen see the odd person drifting along without a house or any idea of where to go. Travelling the last couple weeks, they had seen nobody. Nobody alive at least. Levi knew he would not have lasted this long without Betty. Now he was truly alone and he struggled to think why he should not just leap into the crevice after her. Even if he could survive without her, what’s the point? He would just die later, and he would have to spend all that time alone.

Just Levi: alone.

Running out of breath he stopped screaming, hyperventilating in between huge gulps of air. Only as his breathing settled did he feel the metal cutting into his knuckle. Grabbing the chain, he yanked out what he feared it to be, the pendant swinging under his fist. He recollected the hug, how she held his jacket, obviously slipping the jewellery into his pocket. Time paused for a moment as his eyes would not leave the heart swinging in the slight breeze. His eyes lifted heavenward as her words echoed through his skull. Don’t die.

He stared steely at the horizon, determination fillinghim to last as long as he possibly could. Soon the world would shred to pieces. Maybe the lack of air would suffocate him. Maybe he would burn as his broken off section was swallowed by the sun. Maybe he would fall through the cracks too or be buried in mullock. It was nugatory. When he saw Betty again he could say that he tried. That’s all one can really do in life.