It was a man and his back was turned to the door. He seemed to be looking up and down the road. Katana hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to talk to a male or female. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. But this was an emergency situation. What if he knew something about her aunt? As she watched, the man stepped off the small porch and began to walk away slowly.
Katana’s heart skipped a beat. She had waited too long. He couldn’t leave. She had to talk to him. She gripped the front door handle and pulled the from door opened with a jerk. It came back so fast it hit the doorstop with a thud.
Ric heard the noise and stopped to turn back. There was the girl in a flowing dark dress, the tips of her shoulders were exposed and she was flushed, making her lips redder and her cheeks pinker than normal.. She didn’t speak but she was looking at him wide eyed and expectantly.
“You are home.” He spoke gazing at her. He was surprised at her outfit, it was the last thing he would have thought she would be wearing.
Katana thought she recognized him now. She was sure he lived on the street. But she wasn’t positive. He hadn’t asked her a question or said anything that needed a reply so she stayed quiet.
Ric felt awkward. She was dressed for a dinner date and he couldn’t remember for a moment why he had come over to talk to her. The bombings, yes that was it, and the power was off, he needed to know if she was okay.
“I came over here to see if you were okay.” He smiled at her, trying to relax himself. “My brother and I, we were in Napa. I didn’t know if you knew what has been going on, but there have been some bombings. I manage a store in the outlets and my brother, he works there too, and a bomb feel right across the parking lot.”
He took a step towards her and paused. She seemed to be listening closely but she still didn’t speak. “I didn’t even wait. I kicked the only customer out and told my brother to get his butt out the door and we left. But by then we could see smoke rising from around the city. And target along the freeway it exploded as we past.” Ric paused again, waiting for another reaction. But there was still not a word from the girl. “We made it out of town and back here, of course. We almost didn’t. The car behind us got hit with debris.”
Katana had been listening closely. She hadn’t heard anything that would imply her aunt was okay or not. But she had heard many things that confirmed there were dead and injured people in Napa and beyond. If the news was right about the bombings that meant the news was right about the nuclear bomb. In that case there would be millions of dead or dying.
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