“There’s a big building just to the west of it that should catch the brunt of the wave and most of the crap it’s pushing.”
“It’ll be crowded—”
“Probably. But it’s our best hope.” James took another drink of water. Despite the grim conversation, he was still concentrating on energy and hydration. “Squeak. There has never been a mess like this before. It’s gonna be—well, a challenge.”
“We’re gonna be on our own for a bit, won’t we?”
“Yeah,” said James sourly. “It’s gonna be an adventure all right.” He looked to the street, at the desperate stream of cars filling the boulevard. A terrible thought was finally becoming real.
“That bad, huh?” Hu asked.
“Worse than that,” James said. “Worse than anyone can imagine. Hate to say it, but a lot of people are gonna die—”
And even as he said the words, he realized just how impossible an idea it was. He couldn’t comprehend that all this—the cars, the buildings, the people, everything—was about to be wiped away. And yet, he couldn’t deny it any longer. The magnitude of this thing—James couldn’t speak it, but he realized that somehow he was still hoping that this was somehow all just a colossal mistake, a false alarm, and that maybe somehow—
He finished the last bite of his protein bar, took a last swallow of water, and tossed the empty bottle at a darkened storefront. It bounced harmlessly to the street.
“—But not us. Not today. Come on, let’s go.”
Two blocks west of La Cienega, James and Hu turned right on South Stanley Drive. Halfway down the second block stood a white two-story building. Once, it had once been a private residence, but now it was subdivided into three Tetris-shaped apartments, with a handicapped access ramp cutting through what had once been a lush front lawn.
At the bottom of the ramp, underneath the inevitable palm tree, Pearl sat waiting in a lightweight folding wheelchair. She had a carpetbag on her lap and she held the leash of a large, sloppy-looking beast that might have had some pit-bull in its parentage, but probably dumpster dog as well. She waved happily when she saw “the boys,” James and Hu. They pedaled to a stop in front of her. Several cars passed them in the street, drivers looking for alternate routes.
James looked unhappily at the dog.
“Oh, don’t mind Fluffy—he’s just a big friendly goofball.”
“Fluffy?” Hu raised an eyebrow.
“That’s what we call him. His real name is—never mind. He’s Joey’s dog, but Joey’s off in Bakersfield or somewhere, so we keep Fluffy when he’s traveling. Mrs. Petersen hates it, but she’s afraid to complain or we’ll tell the city about her cats.”
“Some people—”
“Tell me. She went screaming out of here with a dozen cat carriers the moment the president said tsunami. But the old bitch wouldn’t take us. Didn’t want to be in the same car with Fluffy. Selfish old bitch. And I just couldn’t leave Fluffy behind. He’s family.”
James sighed. “I admire your gumption, Pearl, but sometimes—”
Pearl’s expression changed then. “Honey, where’s your car?”
“We didn’t bring it,” said Hu. He waved his hand to include the bicycles and the trailers. “This was faster.”
“Are we in trouble—?” Pearl asked.
“I don’t think so—” James pointed. The top of the LFP building was visible even from here. “We’ll go up there. It’s high enough. If the wave is only a hundred feet high when it hits the shore, by the time it gets this far inland, it’ll have lost most of its power—”
“James! What are you talking about?” Pearl half-rose out of her chair. “Not a hundred feet! Three hundred!”
Both James and Hu stopped in mid-word. “What—?”
“Three hundred feet! It’s what the guy on the internet is saying! The one in Hawaii—the one who measured it!”
“Oh, fuck—” That was Hu.
James didn’t say anything. His expression went ashen. When he finally did speak, it was almost automatic. “No, no, it can’t be, the president—”
“Honey, that sumbitch is just plain wrong. Or stupid. The guy on the internet is an actual geologist. He’s the director of the Volcano Lab. Now, who ya gonna believe? The politician or the scientist?”
Hu touched James’ arm. “What are we going to do?”
James ignored it. He leaned in, grabbed Pearl’s arms, stared into her face, and almost shouted, “Are you certain? There are a lot of cranks on the internet.”
She met his stare, unflinching. “James, honey—what do I do for a living? I do research, remember? For the studios. For that stupid movie where you two met. I didn’t just google him. I did the whole data-dive. This isn’t bullshit. He’s for real. Three hundred feet.”
James released her, whirled away, furious. “Fuck,” he said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck, fuck, fuck.” He turned to Hu. “Remember that map I hung in the office? The one that showed the effects of global warming—what the coast line would look like if all the ice caps melted and the sea level rose two hundred and sixty feet?”
Hu nodded. “Yeah. Everything up to Boyle Heights would be underwater.”
“Yeah. Well, if this guy’s right, this is gonna be worse.”
Hu said, “Okay, okay, okay—but we’re not dead yet. I’ve got an idea.”
“It’s too late—”
“No, it isn’t.” Hu pointed east. “The subway! The La Cienega station. It’s across the street from the tower. Remember how excited Pearl got when it opened? If we can get onto a train, we can get all the way downtown in ten minutes, fifteen.”
“And then what? We’re still in the disaster zone.”
“We’ll do what you said. We’ll figure something out.” Hu rubbed his chin. “I dunno, maybe the Gold line out to Pasadena. Maybe Chris and Mark can put us up. They’re always having those big sprawling house parties. If not—I dunno. Maybe Amtrak to my cousin in New Mexico? If we have to pitch the tent in some park, we can do that. But let’s go.”
“Oh, hell—if I’d known you boys didn’t know, I’d have wheeled myself over—” Pearl’s face crumpled. “Oh, boys, I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid, you could have gotten up into the hills by now—”
“Stop it, Pearl.” That was James. “You’re family. Shut up and let us rescue you!”
Just out of her field of vision, Hu tapped his watch meaningfully.
“Right,” said James, as if the matter was finally settled. “So let’s get out of here. Um—” He fumbled with one of the ropes on his bike trailer. “Here, tie this to—um, loop it around yourself—and we’ll pull you.”
In reply, Pearl handed him Fluffy’s leash. “Here. Tie this around your handlebars. The monster-dog will help pull.”
“Really?”
“Really. Let him lead. Don’t worry, people will get out of his way. Real fast.”
“We’re gonna be a whole circus parade,” said James, but he took the leash.
Fluffy led the way. He pulled his own weight, and half of Pearl’s too—up the side streets back to Wilshire, a block east and the subway station was directly ahead. The station had only been open a few months, a promise for the future, but this would be its last day of operation. Even if the system survived, there would be nothing left above ground for anyone to come to.
James was right, they did look like a parade. But Pearl was right too. People saw them coming, saw Fluffy grunting and slobbering in the lead, and they moved fast to get out of the way.
They had to wait a few minutes to cross the street. James kept glancing at his watch. Hu put his hand on James’ arm. “It’s okay. We’re gonna make it. We will.”
“Cutting it close, too close,” James muttered.
“Sloan’s teddy…”