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to each other, asking how everyone was. The couple from the new car climbed on to an empty porch, dripping wet. Rachel considered doing the same, but if the water kept rising, soon it would overflow the porch, forcing people higher. She wanted to keep moving, but she couldn’t just swim to safety. As she realized none of her options were good and another rush of anxiety threatened to overwhelm her, a kayak appeared at the kitty corner before her. It was paddled by a young man in a baseball hat, green windbreaker, and a small backpack.  Rachel’s heart leapt.
    “Hey!” she cried. “Kayak kid!”
    He saw her and paddled over. As he drew closer, Rachel  guessed he was around her age. Maybe younger.
    “Hey!” he called back.  “Get in!”
    He pulled up to a porch and after walking up a few stairs shedding water, Rachel clambered into the other seat, putting her backpack on backwards so she could wrap her arms around it if she wanted.
    “I’m looking for my friends,” the young man explained. “I’m Tim, by the way.”
    “Rachel. Where did you find the kayak?”
    “At the house where I was staying. When it started flooding, I brought it in from the shed. Read about it in a book. This guy had a canoe and got around that way when the cars were useless.”
    “The water is going to keep rising. We need to go inland.”
    “What about my friends?”
              “They’re heading inland, too, I’m sure. Everyone else. Or they’re idiots.”
    Tim turned the kayak around and began to head in the direction Rachel pointed towards. She still wasn’t sure what to look for, but there had to be aid workers showing up at some point. They glided past more homes flooded up to their porches and floating cars. The rain had begun to strengthen again and Rachel worried about the wind flinging debris at them. After a few minutes of silence, Tim tried to make conversation.
    “So do you think this is it? Flooding and rising water?”
    “Like that’s not bad?”
    “That’s not what I mean. Like, I don’t really know what tsunamis do this far in. You really only see footage of the big wave, but that’s right at the shore, and then it breaks and just floods everything.”
    “That’s basically it.”
    “How high do you think the water will get?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Tim was quiet again. Rachel hugged her backpack and wished there was another paddle so they could move faster. She looked at the dark clouds billowing on the horizon, signaling the arrival of more storms.
    “I guess the coast will be the first place to see workers and choppers,” Tim mused. “Since it’s the worst there.”
    “Yeah.”
    “So we’re kind of on our own for a bit, huh?”
    It wasn’t a real question, so Rachel didn’t reply. The black clouds grew fatter and Rachel saw veins of lightning cut through them.
    “It’s heading right towards us,” she said.
    “We should find a place to hole up,” Tim suggested. “Can’t be exposed like this.”
    After knocking on the door of a house and finding no one home, Tim pulled the kayak up on the porch and into the house. As Rachel helped him maneuver it to the second floor, they heard the crack of lightning and windy rush of rain as it began to pour again.
    “Damn,” Tim sighed. “Water’s just coming out both ends, huh?”
     

5.
                  The house looked like several people had already come through it. In addition to the toppled furniture from the earthquake, the bathroom cupboard had been rummaged through and all the dresser drawers were open.
                  “Here’s some blankets, at least,” Tim said, emerging from one of the bedrooms. “Looked like a kid’s room. A girl. I hope they got out ok.”
                  Rachel wrapped a blanket around herself, her clothes clinging to her chilled skin, and thought about the Buckley’s. They hadn’t gotten much of a head start; how far did they drive before the water rose