Cherry Blossoms

Ash lined the sidewalk like snow. Cass could remember a time when there was snow. It had been cold and clean and fluttered in the wind, caught on eyelashes and the branches of the trees that lined the driveway. After the snow had been the thaw, where rivulets of clean, cold water had formed snaking lines down the grass like a tree’s roots when it was pulled up, exposing the dark earth clumped into them. After the thaw came spring, the cherry blossoms would bloom down the lane. When the blossoms detached, blowing in the wind to coat the ground like the snow had in piles and drifts down the lane, Cass had always known that’s when it would be time to leave.

As soon as the blossoms cleared from the driveway, Mom and Dad would pile her into the car and drive far away for the summer to a city. For the summer, the walls of the cities kept them safe and secure. There were no storms and plenty of food, and the water inside the walls was clean. For years, Mom and Dad had gone home each and every autumn, to spend the winters in peace, but when the storms had gotten worse they’d had to stay longer. When the winters got shorter, and the storm season longer, they’d spent more and more time in cities each year.

The year Riley was born was the last year she saw the farmstead; the last year she counted time by the cherry blossoms, and the last year of peaceful summer. It had been the last year of cities.

Now, Cass measured time by the ash. One city at a time across the country; one storm at a time. Ash gave her five minutes until thunder, and thunder gave her five minutes until wind. If they didn’t find shelter before the rain, then they were doomed. But their goal was just ahead. Two years of travelling had come to this. The towering walls of the Haven lay just at the end of the road ahead. She and Riley would be safe if they could get to the doors before the rain.The storms were harsh, the wind and lightning too abrasive, tearing support panels from city walls, picking cars from the streets and smashing them into buildings. The storms came through and destroyed everything; even cities. The Haven was the last one left.

Gripping the heart-shaped locket that hung around her neck in one hand, and Riley’s tiny hand in the other, she peered out from beneath the collapsed overhang of what had once been a grocery store. Now, it was a quiet reprieve from the overbearing sunlight. It would burn her skin in minutes, if she wasn’t covered fully. Counting her steps, she trained her eyes on the shade spot across the street. One...Two...Three...Four.... “Keep up Riley, almost there,” Five...Six...Seven- “Good!”

She picked the five year old up off the pavement, to keep the rubber soles of his shoes from melting to the asphalt as she ducked the last few steps herself. They would wait here for a few minutes to cool off before trying the zig zag back across the street. Ash piled higher along the sidewalk, wind picking up, and she wrapped her scarf around Riley’s face, forgoing her own protection to keep him safe. Cass covered her own face with her sleeve, holding her brother close as she counted down.

Sirens fizzed through speakers that had burned out years ago, just barely audible over the distant sound of thunder in the hills. Cass held Riley’s face to her chest as a flurry of wind from the coming storm blew a flurry of ash around them, dusting their clothes an awful muted grey color. With the wind, though, and the black clouds rolling in, they had a window of escape. Setting the boy down on the ground, she secured the scarf better, tying it behind his head and tucking the edges down into his shirt, and then took his hand again.

“We have to run okay? I need you to run with me. Across the street, just like before.” He nodded, and she took his hand, covering her face with the other one. Hurrying, she counted again. One, two, three--Stopping to scoop Riley up as he stumbled, a gust of wind knocked the both of them to the ground. Cass held him close, off the pavement as she felt the searing asphalt burn every inch of bare skin she had exposed to it. Peeling from the ground as soon as the wind let up for a moment, she ran, carrying him this time despite the blood running down her arms now. He cried, but she couldn’t hear it over gusts of wind picking up.

“Look, Riley, you see it?”

At the end of the street, the walls of the city towered high above them.

“We don’t have to run anymore if we can get there okay?”

She didn’t know if he heard or not, but the moment the next gust of wind passed, she pushed him up onto the top of a pile of rubble, holding him until she knew he was secure before climbing up herself. The pile covered the road here, so they had to climb carefully, and quickly to the other side. They were only a hundred feet from the end, if they could just get there before the rain.

Wind blew harder, whistling in alcoves and through long broken windows of buildings around them, knocking Riley from his feet. She caught him by the back of his jacket, diving on the pile of rubble to keep him from falling.

“It’s okay Riley. Hold on, I’m coming.” She dragged herself up onto her hands and knees, trying not to tumble from a pile of loose rock in the face of the wind. As she got her brother back up, the wind picked up. It had been five minutes.

Lifting the rock they were braced on, the wind tossed the pair of them both; sent them careening to the ground. Pain jolted through every joint in her body as she struck the ground, wrapping her whole body around Riley to keep him from being hurt. Taking the scarf from his face, she wrapped it around his waist, tying securely, and tying the other end to her belt. It’s okay, Riley. It’s okay. Come on.

Bracing herself, she picked him up, trying to run with the wind as she sprinted away from the storm. One, two, three, The walls of the Haven rocked in the heavy wind, but did not waver. She aimed for the gate. Again, they were sent tumbling. Four, five, six.

Almost there, the wind shoved her back to the ground, tearing at her jacket. She tugged Riley beneath her, cradling him as wind gusted hard enough to abrade her skin. Just above the rumbling of thunder and wind around her, Cass heard the scraping, grating sound of metal. The city was closing the roof. She was almost out of time. Lifting Riley again, she stumbled and limped along with the wind, turning her back to slam her body against the metal gate to the Haven as they got there. Setting Riley down, she pounded the door, screaming for help.

After a moment, just as the air hung thick and humid around her, burning her lungs, the gate slid open, and a man’s face appeared, unhappy to be there behind a facemask, and plexiglass cover. “Who are you?”

“Cassandra York. Please let us in, the rain is coming,” She begged, holding Riley close as she counted in her mind.

The man looked her over, “How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen. Please, I’ll answer all your questions inside, just let us in.”

“Can’t. No more space.” He started to push the door shut and she screamed, shoving herself into the gap to keep him from locking them out.

“Will you take him?” She shoved Riley forward.

He peered down at the kid, nose wrinkling in distaste, “How old?”

“He’s five. Riley York. Please, if I can’t come in, please let him live. Give him a chance to live.”

The man took Riley from her, and she reached down, untying the scarf from around her waist. The man gave her another look over, squinting in sympathetic annoyance, then turned his gaze back up to the sky,

“Try again next year. End of spring. Right around cherry blossom season- we let adults in in spring.”

The grate slid shut right as Riley started to cry, realizing what was happening, and her scarf blew around her, the wind picking up right as drizzling rain started to beat against her back. Empty, she stood in front of the door, watching the metal and wood as rain picked up harder, beginning to beat against her back harder. The chemicals in the rain burned at her wounds, but she couldn’t make herself cover up.

Turning, finally, Cass looked for somewhere with enough cover to weather the storm. If she could get to the overhang before the rain soaked her through, she would survive it. At least Riley was safe.