Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

didn’t want to leave Peter behind.   He was visibly flagging now that he’d seen his goal.   It’s like he’d lost the will to press on.
    “Don’t give up, we’re almost there.”
    “I know,” he said breathlessly.   “I’m coming.”
    We made it to the exit and got off the highway, coasting down the slope all the way to the bottom of the big concrete incline below the highway.   Off in the distance I could see two gas stations on opposite sides of the street from one another and a giant sign that said ‘Cracker Barrel’.   Back in the day, that chain of restaurants had been one of my favorite places to eat when my dad and I took road trips.   They had the best candy store attached to the restaurant.
    Bodo was waiting down at the bottom.   “Do you want me to bring da bike up dare again?   Or are we staying down here?”
    I looked up at the slope and then off at the service stations, gently lifting Buster from the basket at the front of my handlebars.   “I don’t know.   I was originally thinking go up, but now … I feel like I want to be able to just take off without worrying about getting bikes down.   Just in case.”
    “I agree,” said Peter, sitting down on the ground.   “Let’s stay down here tonight.   Can we eat now?   I’m starving.”   He tipped his water bottle up and almost drained it, putting the remaining bit in the bowl for Buster who wasted no time drinking every last drop.  
    I walked over and handed Peter my bottle.   He looked like he needed it more than me.
    “I can’t take yours,” he said, trying to push it away.
    “I can make more.   We have cooking water and bleach.   But I’m sure it’ll rain later, so don’t worry about it.   Drink.   You don’t look so hot.”
    “I don’t feel so hot, either,” he said, no longer arguing.   He finished my bottle and then laid back, right on the gravel.   Buster laid down in between his legs, resting his head on Peter’s thigh.   Peter didn’t move a muscle.
    I gestured silently at Peter so Bodo would see, and he nodded.  
    “I will get da camp site set up for sleeping if you want.”
    “Yeah, go ahead.   The sun’s moving over there, so do your best to find a spot that will still be in the shade in a few hours.”
    “Of course, yes, I will do dat,” he said, digging out the tarps.
    I got out the parts for the water catcher and set it up just outside the shelter of the highway overhead.   I knew that even with blue skies now, the clouds could come in quickly and bring the rain with them.   We were lower on water than I liked to be, especially since I was planning to make pasta with sauce tonight.   Peter really looked like he needed the calories and I had a terrible craving for tomatoes that was getting harder and harder to ignore.
    I went back to the site that Bodo had set up, and sat down.   “Bodo, have you ever had a garden?”
    “Yes.   My mudder always had one when I was growing up.   I had to pull da weeds all da time.   Dat was my chob.   One of many.”
    “I want tomatoes.   Real ones, not the kind from a can.”
    “Dey are easy to grow.   I can do dat for you.”  
    Hearing him say that warmed my heart.   I’d been taking care of my own survival for so long, and now Peter’s, it was nice to hear that someone was going to do something for me for a change.
    Bodo looked up from his organizing and smiled at me.   “You look happy about dat.”
    “I am.”   He had the nicest blue eyes I’d ever seen on a guy.   I’d noticed them before, but for some reason, they looked even bluer today.
    “Goot … I mean, good.   You are very pretty, but especially when you smile.”
    I looked down at my dirty, raggedy fingernails and laughed.   “Wow, Bodo, you don’t set the bar very high, do you?”
    “What does dat mean?” he said, a confused expression on his face.   “Set da bar?”
    “Never mind.”
    “You think I am making a lie, don’t you?”
    “Not necessarily.   But I haven’t had a shower in weeks and I’ve probably never looked worse in my entire seventeen years of life.”   I looked up and smiled at him anyway, happy with his effort, even if it wasn’t true.   “So I find it hard to believe you can see beneath the grime to anything that looks appealing, but I appreciate the gesture.”
    “Well, what I see looks pretty good to me.   Plus, you are very strong, like my mudder was.   She loved me a lot and I loved her too … but I also