The Last Day on Earth Page 4

  He walked her out to the tree where Lightning was grazing.

  “Good luck,” Tim said as he hugged her tight.

  “You too,” she whispered.

  “I’ll come bug you tomorrow if I can.”

  “Good.”

  Lucy gave him a quick kiss, and then mounted up on Lightning. She looked down at her friend.

  “I love you, Tim.”

  “You too, kiddo.” He smiled back up at her, and then slapped Lightning on the rump.

  Lucy caught one last look behind her before Tim went back into the dark house.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Two months ago…

  Lucy didn’t go into work the next day. She woke up feeling groggy and hungover; Jess was snoring softly next to her fully clothed and drooling all over her favourite pillow. She didn’t remember going to bed. Staring up through the skylight at the bright blue sky, she wondered if yesterday had really happened, or if it had just been a disturbingly vivid dream. Her best friend’s presence lent weight to the possibility that yesterday was real.

  She held her arm up and looked at her watch. 10:00am. She should have been at work two hours ago. She rubbed her aching head and licked her dry lips.

  She rolled out of bed and gulped down the glass of water that was sitting on the desk. A faint buzzing caught her attention. It took her longer than usual to realise it was her phone. She rummaged through her handbag, but not quickly enough to answer the call. She looked at the screen in disbelief. 143 missed calls. Mostly from her mother, a handful each from Steve, Mitch, her friend Katie and two from her cousin Rosie.

  After quick glance in Jess’ sleeping direction, Lucy took her phone downstairs. Mitch was sleeping on the couch, so she went into the kitchen and called her mother. The first call didn’t connect, but the second try went through.

  “Lucy! Finally. I tried to call you,” Liz yelled. Lucy held the phone slightly away from her ear.

  “Yeah 112 times… sorry Mum, my phone was in my bag. I’m okay.”

  “You’ve heard?”

  “If you mean the asteroid, then yes.”

  “I want you to come home.”

  “Yeah, I’m planning to, Mum. Are you okay?”

  “I haven’t slept a wink all night. I keep pinching myself.”

  “Not a dream?”

  “Doesn’t seem to be.”

  “Do you think they’ll be able to fix it?”

  “Fix it?”

  “Divert it or whatever. You know what I mean.”

  “I don’t know, love, but I think we should prepare for the worst. Just in case.”

  “Have you talked to Claire?” Lucy asked.

  “Yes, she called a few hours ago. Tom’s been in Vancouver on a business trip, she’s waiting for him to come home, then they’ll figure out what to do.”

  “Oh. How did Dad take the news?”

  “He didn’t seem all that surprised actually. He’s doing what he does every day, out on the farm, like nothing’s changed.” Lucy couldn’t decide if her mother sounded more concerned or annoyed.

  “You know Dad, he needs to mull things over for a while.”

  Liz just sighed. “Can you come home straight away?”

  Lucy thought for a moment. “Tomorrow, Mum. There are a few things I have to do first.”

  “Lucy, I really think you should come home as soon as possible. I’m worried that people are going to panic and riot, and it won’t be safe for you.”

  “Okay. Maybe tonight. I’ll let you know.”

  “Alright, keep in touch, sweetheart.”

  “I will. Love you, Mum.”

  “I love you too. Be careful.”

  Lucy rubbed her face and stared at her phone for a moment. She called Steve. No answer. She put the phone down on the bench and went into the bathroom. She popped a couple of ibuprofen pills into her mouth and hoped they’d take care of her pounding head. She stared at herself in the mirror. She was pale. Her eyes were all puffy, and her dark hair resembled a bird’s nest more than anything else. She grabbed a cotton pad and some make-up remover and got rid of the remnants of yesterday’s mascara and eyeliner from under her eyes.

  She turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat up. Growing up on a farm during a drought, it had been hammered into Lucy from a young age to save water, and she felt incredibly guilty if she was ever in the shower for longer than three minutes. Today though, she stood under the steaming water until her fingers turned all wrinkly. She slowly washed her hair as she went over the events of yesterday in her mind. Finding out, coming home, Jess coming over, wine, talking, more wine. She vaguely remembered Mitch coming home at one point with a bottle of tequila. That would explain the hangover. Wine didn’t normally give her one. Or maybe she was just getting older. Older… would she get to celebrate her 26th birthday? It was four months away. They said the asteroid was due to strike in two months. Two months. Would it be as bad as they said? Lucy looked down at her hands and wondered how long she’d been in the shower. Her hands hadn’t been that wrinkly since she was a teenager spending hot summer days in the creek behind Tim’s house.

  A loud knock on the door startled Lucy.

  “Hurry up, Lucy! I need to pee!” Mitch called through the locked door. Not for the first time, Lucy wished that their flat had a separate toilet and bathroom.

  “Okay okay, hang on.”

  “I’m hanging on as much as I can!”

  “You’re a guy! Use a bush! ”

  “We’re not on your farm, Lucy, get outta there.”

  Lucy turned the water off and grabbed the nearest towel. Dripping wet, she went and unlocked the door. Mitch barrelled past her and pushed her out, slamming the door behind him.

  Jess was still sound asleep when Lucy went up to her room, so she took a chance and quickly got dressed.

  Lucy shook Jess awake. She muttered and pushed Lucy’s hand away, rolled over and pulled the doona over her head.

  “Come on, Jess, wake up.”

  “I don’t wanna.”

  “I know you don’t, but we have a busy day ahead of us.”

  Jess rolled back over and blinked blearily up at Lucy.

  “Please tell me that it was just a dream.”

  “It was just a dream.”

  “Liar.”

  “Yep.”

  “Thought so,” Jess sighed.

  “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” Jess yawned and sat up. “Jeez, how much did we drink last night? My head does not like me right now.”

  Mitch came thundering up the stairs, glass of water and pills in hand. Lucy bemusedly watched as he sheepishly handed them to Jess. He’d had a painfully obvious crush on Jess for over a year now. At least it was obvious to Lucy; apparently not so obvious to Jess, who feigned ignorance and disbelief any time Lucy brought the subject up. Lucy wondered if the threat of their impending demise would spur Mitch into action.

  “Thanks, Mitch. I’m blaming this on you and your tequila by the way,” Jess mumbled as she took the proffered gifts.

  “Anytime.”

  “Hey, Luce, can I use your laptop?” Jess asked after swallowing the pills with a large gulp of water. Lucy nodded and sunk down onto the floor. Mitch followed suit, leaning against Lucy’s bookshelf.

  Jess reached over, grabbed the laptop off Lucy’s desk and flipped it open.

  “No luck, they haven’t retracted the catastrophic outlook yet,” Jess said after a moment.

  “Bugger.”

  “Oh, the PM put out a statement telling everyone to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. What’s with that? Shouldn’t he be telling us to stay calm and everything will be fine?”

  Mitch nodded. “You’d think so.”

  “Have the Americans come out with anything new?”

  Jess was silent for a moment, scanning the screen in front of her.

  “Nope, not really. Oh, riots and looting in New York, L.A., London and Paris.”

  “Already? Sheesh,”
Mitch exclaimed.

  “How about Toronto?”

  Jess looked sharply at Lucy. “It doesn’t say anything, so I’m assuming no, or at least nothing major.”

  Lucy bit her lip. She was worried about her sister and nephews. How far away was Toronto from New York again?

  “Any mention of Vancouver? Mum said my brother-in-law is there.”

  Jess shook her head. “Melbourne trains are running on a Sunday schedule today. Apparently some of the train drivers turned up for work. At the moment they’re guaranteeing two more days of limited service, no promises after that.”

  Mitch swore. “I didn’t think about that. Glad I have my bike. Although I don’t really want to ride all the way to Geelong.”

  “I can drive you there if you want,” Lucy said. “It’s on my way.”

  “When are you going?”

  Lucy shrugged. “Either tonight or tomorrow morning. Mum’s worried. She wants me home as soon as possible.”

  “Yeah, I don’t blame her. Some of these riots look pretty bad,” Jess said. She was still reading on the laptop.

  “I wonder how long it will take for someone to snap here and start smashing windows,” Mitch said.

  “Yeah, it only takes one or two people, then everyone else loses their heads and before you know it you’ve got a full-scale riot on your hands,” Lucy replied.

  “God, some people are so stupid. There are people in Los Angeles looting microwaves, designer handbags, make up, clothes, jewellery…get a grip people, you’ll need food and water and candles, not the latest Gucci bag,” Jess exclaimed at the computer. Lucy just shook her head.

  “Do they not realise what this means?” Jess asked in disbelief.

  “I’m having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around it myself,” said Mitch. “Besides, they might figure something out. It might not be the end.”

  “Fingers crossed,” Lucy and Jess said at the same time.

  Lucy sat on the front steps to her block of flats. Jess had gone back to her place a few streets away. Mitch was packing.

  She looked up and down the street. It was a hot day. Normally, on a day like this there would have been a steady stream of people, with beach towels slung over their shoulders, making their way to or from the nearby beach. Today she only saw a lone man walking his dog. He nodded grimly at Lucy but didn’t say anything. She nodded back. Even the normal constant noise of the traffic on Ormond Esplanade was muted.

  Lucy heard Steve before she saw him. She watched the end of the street as a young man on a motorbike came around the corner. She stood as he pulled up in front of her and took his helmet and jacket off. He came over and she slipped easily into his arms. He hugged her tight.

  “Hey,” he murmured into her hair.

  “Hey,” she whispered back.

  They stood like that for a few minutes, bodies pressed against each other, drawing comfort, until it got too hot. They leant back and looked at each other. Steve reached down and brushed a strand of hair out of Lucy’s eyes.

  “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay. I guess. How are you?”

  “It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest.”

  “No, I know. I feel like pinching myself. Repeatedly. Until I wake up. It’s not working though.”

  “Pity. I wouldn’t mind waking up either. Did you see the story this morning?”

  Lucy frowned. “Only the looting.”

  “Yeah I saw that. Just more doom and gloom. The American government announced that they have some shelters and they’re having a lottery for places.”

  “Wow. Pity we’re not American. How many places do they have?”

  “Almost a million.”

  “A million! They must have been planning that for a while.”

  “Considering there are over 300 million Americans, it doesn’t seem like much.”

  “I suppose so,” Lucy said. “D’you reckon the Aussie government have any top secret shelters or a lottery planned?”

  Steve shrugged. “Probably not.”

  “Thanks for coming over.” Lucy hugged him again.

  “I wanted to,” Steve replied. He kissed her forehead. “Want to go for a walk?”

  Lucy nodded. Steve took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. They headed down the street toward the beach.

  “How's your family?” Lucy asked while they stopped at the traffic lights, waiting for the green man even though there was hardly any traffic.

  “They’re okay. Worried, of course. I don’t know. Mum’s never really been the type to share her feelings. My sisters talk to each other more than they talk to me. Dad’s stuck in Hong Kong. He managed to get through on Skype this morning.”

  “Will he be able to get back?”

  “I hope so. He’s trying to get on the next flight out of there.”

  “My Mum wants me to go home to the farm.”

  “Yeah, makes sense. What about your sister? She’s in Canada, right?”

  Lucy nodded. “I don’t know what Claire’s going to do. I haven’t talked to her. I just got an email from her telling me to go to Mum and Dad’s in case things get bad.”

  “Yeah… you’re lucky in a way. When do you think you’ll go?” Steve asked. They reached the beach. It was empty save for a lone swimmer a few hundred metres away.

  “Tomorrow. Or tonight. Mum’s pretty keen for me to get out of here.”

  “Oh.” Steve looked down at his feet.

  “What?”

  “Well… it’s just… if they don’t get rid of this thing… I might not see you again.”

  Lucy rocked on her heels.

  “Why am I so dense?” she muttered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about that…wait, that came out wrong. I just…this is so surreal.”

  Steve hugged her. “Yeah, I know. It’s okay.”

  “No it’s not. None of this is. It’s screwed up. This isn’t meant to happen in real life. Just movies and books.”

  “I know.”

  “You could come with me.”

  “To the farm?”

  “Yeah,” Lucy replied, warming to the idea. Steve could come with her - they’d be together. Support each other through this, like a real couple.

  “What about my family?”

  “Um…” Lucy thought about Steve’s domineering mother and prissy sisters on the farm. “Er…”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not sure they’d like it…” Steve said. “And I couldn’t leave them. Not now. They need me.”

  “Of course. I understand,” Lucy said, even though she didn’t, not yet. “But…what will you do if everything goes haywire?”

  Steve shrugged. “We’ll manage.”

  They stood side by side on the beach, watching the waves crash in, undisturbed.

  “It’s really not fair,” said Steve, bringing Lucy out of the trance that the waves had put her into.

  “No kidding.”

  “This’ll probably come out totally sappy, but I finally meet a great girl who I could possibly see myself with for the rest of my life… and it turns out the rest of my life might not be very long at all.”

  “Really? Do you mean that?”

  “Yes. I mean it. I…I think I love you, Lucy Black.”

  Lucy smiled up at him, tears suddenly prickling her eyes. “I think I love you too, Steve Martinelli.” Of course, it took the possible annihilation of the planet for him to finally say ‘I love you’.

  Saying goodbye to Steve was hard, but not as hard as she would have thought. Harder was Jess. After a stop-and-start goodbye with Steve that started in her bedroom and ended on the footpath, filled with kisses and promises to keep in contact, and a half-hearted suggestion for him to come up to the farm for a few days, she’d sent him on his way. She blinked back tears as she set off in the opposite direction towards Jess’ home.

  Jess opened the door after Lucy had knocked four times. Her hair was still standing straight up.

  “Come in, come in,” Jess ushered he
r into the lounge room. Jess’ belongings were scattered everywhere. Her cat, Mergatroid, was sniffing cautiously at a coat slung over the couch.

  “I don’t know what to take!”

  Lucy shrugged. “What do you think you’ll need?”

  “I don’t know! That’s the problem. If the world ends in March, am I really going to need a coat?”

  “Probably not.”

  “But say we survive it, then it will get cold, and I’ll need a coat.”

  “Then take the coat.”

  “You’re really not much help.”

  Lucy shrugged again. “I’m as clueless as you, Jess.”

  “Mitch told me he liked me.”

  “What? Finally! When?” Lucy exclaimed.

  “When you went downstairs to call Steve.”

  “What did you say?”

  “That his timing was terrible.”

  Lucy laughed. “I suppose it is.”

  “I told him if we survived this thing, maybe we could go on a date.”

  “Good, something to live for! Steve told me he loved me.”

  “Why does it take the end of the world for guys to admit their feelings?”

  Lucy spent the next half hour helping Jess pack. She decided to take the coat after all “You never know,” was her reasoning. They packed up her little Hyundai Excel until it was almost exploding.

  “Got everything?”

  “I think so.” Jess frowned at the car. “Too bad if I haven’t, I don’t think much else will fit in there.”

  “True that.”

  They both stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at the overflowing car.

  “Well… I guess this is it, eh?”

  Lucy bit her lip. “I suppose it is.”

  Jess hugged Lucy hard.

  “Good luck, wench.”

  “You too, trollop.” They both laughed.

  “Luce, you need to let go.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  She finally did though.

  “Hopefully we’ll wake up in a few mornings and find out that they’ve diverted it or whatever, and we can resume life as usual,” Jess said.