The Walk

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Logan flicks water from his eyes, knocks on the door.

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Footsteps inside, cautious.

Door flies open.

"'ey," greets Logan.

"You're okay!" Jimmy squishes him with a hug.

"Yea, just wet. Stupid rain."

"Uh. Right. C'min." Jimmy steps out of the way, closes and bolts the door behind.

Logan makes for the washroom.

""I'll grab you some dry clothes!""

"Thanks." Logan drops his backpack, pulls his drenched shirt over his head—

"Should've known /**you'd**— "

/*splack*!

"—Aaaaa!" Claire scrapes the wet cloth off her face, scrunches her nose. "/**Gross!**" Examines the shirt. "What's the grey stuff?"

Logan checks his reflection, picks at his hair, shrugs. "Dunno. Was coming down with the rain." Smiles at Claire. "I tried not to think too hard about it."

Claire takes a half-step back.

"It's probably just ash," explains Jimmy. "Lots of the north side and most of Garigal are still on fire." Sets a bundle of clothes on the vanity. "C'mon, Junior. Let's give the man some privacy to get dried and changed."

"You have good water?"

"We're trying to conserve." Jimmy smiles apologetically. "Sponge baths for now."

Logan grunts, digs a washcloth from the linen cupboard.

Jimmy and Claire shuffle off.

Logan shuts the door, sighs, strips off, soaps up the cloth, scrubs as thoroughly as he can.

The cloth comes away stained with grey grit (ash), red dust (Australia), and what looks like standard street-and-Logan grime.

Nothing blue, Blue, or glowing.

Logan exhales, rinses, towels dry. Frowns as he swims into Jimmy's clothes. Shrugs, hangs his own over the shower curtain rod, strolls into the family room.

Claire's cross-legged in her favourite chair pretending to read.

""You eaten?"" hollers Jimmy from the kitchen.

"Yea, stopped for snacks on the way in," replies Logan.

Claire snorts.

Logan rolls his eyes, folds onto the couch, grumbles, "They were gonna go bad otherwise."

"You're hopeless," says Claire.

Shrugs helplessly.

Rattling from the kitchen.

"Where's your mum?"

"Visiting her family out near Orange."

"Missing all the excitement."

Jimmy chuckles as he strolls in with a plate of sandwiches. "And it's a good thing. Poor Beth would've had a heart attack with all the racket."

Logan scoffs. "You didn't hear /**racket**. I was most of the way to Richmond when they started sending the jets." Grimaces. "Took /**hours** for my ears to stop ringing."

"'ichmon'?" says Jimmy around a mouthful of egg salad. Swallows. "How did you get here?"

"Walked."

"That's twenty-five kilometers!"

"Hoofing it's the only way to move east right now. All the trains and traffic are rolling south and west."

"So, why /**are** you going this way?"

Logan smirks. "Because I wanted to check on your old man—"

"Oi!"

"—and Jack's probably a basket case in Summer Hill. So I'm headed over there."

"At least let us give you a ride."

"Save the petrol. Wouldn't get three blocks for all the cars."

Jimmy concedes.

"What's it like out there?" asks Claire.

"Reminds me of those nasty bush fires last year." Logan shrugs. "Dark skies and a lot of panic." [1]

"So, like, there aren't zombies or rotting bodies or anything."

"Not that I could tell." Cocks an eyebrow. "What kind of books are you reading, exactly?"

"Books? What're books?"

Logan rolls his eyes.

"Seriously, though. The news makes it sound like the apocalypse out there."

"It doesn't look much like it. 'least not between Richmond and here." Grins. "Maybe it'll get more exciting as I get closer to downtown."

"You are completely bonkers."

"Guilty," grins Logan.

.

[1] Worst natural disaster I could find that all three of them would be familiar with. Cyclones/typhoons don't normally come as far south as Sydney, there weren't any particularly nasty floods in the general area, and aside from these fires, not much really got close to Sydney.