Rachel's Rapture Ch. 02

So, as Rachel and Loudon finished their dinners, Rachel told Loudon the story of her Rapture day. She told him all of it, of how she thought she had been left behind in an apocalyptic Rapture, of how she'd lost her entire family. She told him about her trip to the church, and of her arrival there just in time to hear Brother Eli kill himself. She even told him about how she'd worn men's clothing for the first time in her life.

As Loudon was a true country boy, he had grown up in the vicinity of charismatics; he was somewhat familiar with the apostolic beliefs on dress. He was unsurprised with the obvious fact that this the most embarrassing part of Rachel's story for her to tell. He had, after all, already seen her completely unflattering clothing and piles of uncut hair, so he didn't press her on her clothing or her beliefs. Instead, he asked her about Brother Eli. "I can't believe that you actually saw someone else after the disappearance, only to have him kill himself. What are the odds of that happening? Two people left in one small city and they actually knew one another besides? I would think that the odds of that happening are astronomical! There is no way that was just chance; it has to mean something!"

Rachel thoughtfully replied, "Well... at first I thought that maybe God had left us together on purpose, but I've had other thoughts since that day, and then...there was that biplane."

"Bi-plane, you saw a bi-plane?

"Yes, I saw it when I was in Phoenix. I waved at it, but whoever was flying it didn't see me."

"So, you've encountered three people so far?"

"All men, I guess. God told me to find others, but since you are the only one that I've spoken with, I don't think I'm doing very well."

"The pilot could have been a woman you know," Loudon replied. "...and you've done better than I have. I haven't found anyone."

"That's not true," Rachel said, "You found me. I never would have come here if not for all of your signs."

Loudon smiled ruefully as he admitted, "Those were more of a joke to keep me going than they were a real plan. I'm not really sure that I believed that there was anyone to read them. Until I got home and saw your shoe prints on my porch, I was pretty much convinced that I was on my own. Little girl, I gotta tell you that I think you've shown more initiative than I have."

Rachel looked away in embarrassment; she'd never received a sincere compliment from a man in her entire life. She lowered her eyes in submission and she was silent for a time. She responded as she had been trained, she deferred to the man and asked, "What do you think that we should do next?"

Loudon was instantly taken aback by the girl's posture. He was just a country boy and a traveling musician; he had no clue how to deal with a religiously submissive girl. Not knowing what else to say, he finally stammered out, "Well, I'd like to mark all of the Nation's main Interstate highways. If it worked on I-40, it would surely work with the other main routes. Surely anyone who chooses to travel cross country will use the old road system."

Then he paused for a moment before allowing, "but then again, my truck is barely running now, and to be honest, I'm not much of a mechanic and have no idea how to fix it. I've tried to start a few other vehicles along the way, but I haven't had any luck getting any of them going. I've wondered if maybe I should be looking for one of those electric cars. The power is still on here; maybe they would work better."

"Yeah, I heard your truck coughing when you drove it in," Rachel replied softly, "I think that maybe your gas is just old. Didn't you put stabilizer in it?"

"Stabilizer, what is that?" he replied.

"It's a chemical that you put in gasoline to extend its life. I've added it to all of my gasoline hordes. I'm not sure how long it will last, but so far... so good. My truck is still running fine, although I think that you might be right about the electric vehicles. I hadn't considered switching to them because I had no way to charge them."

"You know about chemicals?" Loudon asked in surprise.

"Not much, only what I've read. I remembered hearing my chemistry teacher mention it, so I looked it up."

"You figured that out on your own? And you did that while I was nursing a coughing truck from place to place making signs with Krylon paint and Sharpies? Rachel girl, I think that maybe I ought to be following your lead instead!"

Rachel looked away again. She didn't like it when people made fun of her, but she knew that God had commanded that women remain meek and deferential to men, so she didn't complain. She said nothing more, merely waiting for Loudon to speak again.

Confused as to why Rachel had gone quiet, Loudon pressed on, "You have functional gasoline stored around the country?"

"Yes sir, but most of it is in California and Nevada," she replied almost reluctantly, but I do have a few hundred gallons stored in the back of my truck. I've tried to save as much gasoline as I could find, but the remaining supplies that I'm discovering seem to be more and more degraded as time goes on. I've been starting to worry about it. I'm not really sure how to recharge a battery either; I've been meaning to look that up."

Loudon's mouth dropped open, but Rachel didn't see it as she was still looking away from him, completely convinced that Loudon was dismissive of her efforts. When she said no more, Loudon said, "Rachel, since we have power here, do you think it might make more sense to move the gasoline stocks here while we work together on finding some electric vehicles?"

Rachel looked up at Loudon and answered, "I was planning on heading to Denver next; do you think we could find electric vehicles there?"

"Oh, it wouldn't do you any good to head toward Denver," Loudon said quickly. "The roads into Denver are impassible now. There was an earthquake up that way and all of the roads are completely destroyed; that is the last place we can expect to find anything helpful! Between the earthquake and the winter snow damage, that part of Colorado is completely inaccessible now. I marked the road signs up that way, but I doubt if anyone will ever come from that direction."

"Then where should we look," Rachel asked quietly.

"Let's try Kansas City," Loudon replied with a hopeful look on his face.

"Okay, we'll take my box truck and my Honda," Rachel replied hesitantly, still looking at her feet and unsure about offering her ideas to a man. "If we can find what we need, we can tow it back with my truck and you can drive the Honda. I mean...if you think that would work."

Loudon let out a sigh as though he was relieved about something, but he quickly thrust out his hand to Rachel, saying, "Let's shake on it; it looks like we are going to be partners."

Rachel risked a look into the man's face and although she wasn't sure what she saw there, she was sure that God must have brought her here for a good reason. Surely his hands were at work in directing her to find this man, Loudon... so she took his hand and did her best to shake it just as a man would have done.