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Feb. 12th, 2023 at 9:15 PM
[An hour's drive outside of the flames of Virginia Beach finally returns them to solid pavement.]
Yes! Oh, fuck yes, finally.
[And Johnnie is sure glad to see it, as he cheers with a fist in the air. Now he can just sit back and let the bike carry them without having to dodge rocks and slide around in the occasional patch of mud. Those old roads are a fun challenge for a little while, no doubt, but they get old fast.
Relieved now, though, Johnnie leans back a little against Chrissy behind him, and looks around in the darkness at what he can make out of the countryside. Lights dot a lot more little plots of land now, the occasional car passes going north, and what was moments ago swamp and forest has definitely turned more toward farmland from what illumination he can get from the headlight of the bike. There's some song on the radio about a place called Margaritaville, which he sure doesn't recognize.]
You know this one?
[Might be more in her wheelhouse. He'll just keep watching for road signs or town names, anything to tell them if they're on a real highway or some shitty side road so he can work out how far they actually traveled in that last hour, and how much longer until they reach the coast.]
Yes! Oh, fuck yes, finally.
[And Johnnie is sure glad to see it, as he cheers with a fist in the air. Now he can just sit back and let the bike carry them without having to dodge rocks and slide around in the occasional patch of mud. Those old roads are a fun challenge for a little while, no doubt, but they get old fast.
Relieved now, though, Johnnie leans back a little against Chrissy behind him, and looks around in the darkness at what he can make out of the countryside. Lights dot a lot more little plots of land now, the occasional car passes going north, and what was moments ago swamp and forest has definitely turned more toward farmland from what illumination he can get from the headlight of the bike. There's some song on the radio about a place called Margaritaville, which he sure doesn't recognize.]
You know this one?
[Might be more in her wheelhouse. He'll just keep watching for road signs or town names, anything to tell them if they're on a real highway or some shitty side road so he can work out how far they actually traveled in that last hour, and how much longer until they reach the coast.]
Comments
[She whispers, pointing out their spot on the map. Her finger traces along until she finds Tifton, and she gives it a tap.]
Why don't we stop in Wilmington to rest for a little while? We can get something to eat, then sleep long enough that we'll have the energy to see everything that Apogee Mining Company has to offer.
[Unlike him, she is eager to see the museum and gift shop. And she figures that even if they're not open, they can take their own private tour. What she's really eager to see though, is whether or not they can find cosmic ash. And if it's actually able to help him come back from what happened to him.]
If it's just a big tourist trap, I'm sure we could burn it down before we go. [Wait, that sounds a little sociopathic. She pauses, frowning at how easily that just slipped out.] As long as no one else is there, I mean.
They're getting ahead of themselves, though. Who knows what's even there?]
All right, sure. Wilmington. You got everything you want?
[He's going to grab this entire box of Snickers bars. And, oh, right, look for the cash. Candy under one arm, he goes back to poke around by the register, but it's quickly evident it's not stored nearby. This is why he didn't try too hard - most people keep cash in safes overnight, and he hates those things.
But just to be sure, he goes toward the little accounting office in the back, near the bathrooms. Sure enough, under the desk and its records is a small but solid-looking safe.]
Yeah, these things aren't something I can just break into. Gotta have real tools to crack those. Need a fuckin' locksmith.
[There's rope back on the bike, after all. And it seems like something that would only happen in movies, but maybe it might open if they go fast enough. Or maybe it might act as an anchor or get caught up in the wheels...
Definitely a lot could go wrong. She pulls a face as she decides maybe it's better to just leave it alone and get money somewhere else. Then again, he could decide that plan sounds like a lot of fun and she almost laughs at the fact she's become almost as reckless as he is.
She goes through the candy aisle, and picks up a box of those candy cigarettes she used to get as a kid. They're tucked into the pocket on her jacket, right next to her pocket knife. She grabs a lollipop for the road though, and unwraps it to start enjoying the cherry flavor before they head out the door.
It's with a soft mmph sound that she stops in the doorway, pulling the lollipop out of her mouth so she can point over toward him. ]
Should we get gas while we're here?
[With a bike it's just too likely to get stuck somewhere and flip them and all their shit over, and he's just not that desperate for cash. There will be easier ways to stock up that don't risk destroying his guitar and motorcycle - which honestly he's more worried about than injury.
Time to give up on the money, pocket an extra Zippo for Chrissy, and head out. And, sure, top off his tank while they're here.]
Yeah, here, find a spot for these?
[He sets the box of candy bars on the seat of the bike, then goes to investigate the pumps. They're not all that different from what he's familiar with, and it's not hard to find the lever to flip and get the pump operating even though the place is supposed to be shut down. He comes back over with the nozzle and twists the cap off of the tank so he can add a few gallons.]
Wilmington's big enough on the map, I bet they'll have all the paint an' knives an' anything else we could want. Might even score ourselves a gun if we look in the right places. We'll be real prepared for whatever that mining operation has for us.
Without all of her clothes and shoes that she left behind at the beach cottage, there's a lot more room. Which is perfect room for any little treasures they find along the way.
Once the candy is put away, she goes over to him and curls her arms around his waist as he finishes up getting gas. She's still got the lollipop in her mouth, which means she has to pull it free so she can kiss him. The red from the sucker passes from her lips onto his, making her laugh as she pulls away.]
Do you mind driving for a little while? I can take over when your leg starts to bother you.
Sure, babe. I'll take over.
[Maybe that patch of gravel freaked her out. She did good though, no complaints from him. She gets one more kiss, more of a quick peck this time, then he grins and puts the gas nozzle back on the pump, screws the cap to the tank back on, and shrugs off his guitar so he can pass it back over for her to carry.]
Let's find us a liquor store somewhere, too. Maybe before we leave town here, there's gotta be something.
[Honestly he could even just go for a beer, that sounds good. Doc's cider was a nice treat but it didn't last them long. It would be nice to have a bottle of something harder stashed in the bags for whenever they get a longer break.
Anyway, time to get the bike going again and cruise down the block to see what this town has to offer before they completely blow through it.]
Man, this place looks sad. This town must not see a lotta people come through.
[Her eyes narrow a little as she tries to sound skeptical, but just winds up laughing it off. If it actually bothers her, she doesn't let it show. Instead she just enjoys riding passenger again. As much as she likes getting to drive, she's become used to being the passenger. And it's nice to be able to wrap her arms around him and lean in up against him as they drive.]
It's a small town. This is probably how Hawkins was back in the 1930's and 40's. If you drive just a little outside of where I grew up, there's still a lot of tiny towns and nothing but farmland.
[Which is wild to think about, how much they've seen of the country, but in reality it's actually very little. They've seen America at different points in time, and she has to accept the fact that not all of it is the same reality she was raised in. For better or worse, they seem to be steadily traveling through his.]
Maybe one day we'll drive through a reality where everything's different. There won't be any small towns and people will be everywhere. Like how it was in New York City, only worse!
[The idea of that is pretty overwhelming, but she can imagine he'd be excited by the opportunities that arose with such a chaotic setting.]
Small depressed rural towns are nothing new to him either, and he nods along at her commentary. It's just an observation, really. Plenty like this out west and everywhere in between, too.]
Yeah, I wonder about that. Buildings as far as the eye can see, roads full of cars. Gotta happen eventually, right? More people need more room, an' it doesn't seem like that's likely to stop anytime soon. Unless there's a major disaster, I guess.
[Which is absolutely for sure not out of the question, and maybe one day they'll discover there are true limits to when they wind up, if too far in the future comes the end for every reality. It's bound to happen eventually.]
Oh, here. Liquor store, that's more like it.
[And right beside a tobacco shop, not that he really needs anything more than what he'd just grabbed. Time to quickly park around the side and check the place out. The shades are drawn on the windows making it tough to see inside, and it's locked up pretty well, too.]
Yeah, they must know this is gonna be a prime target for people.
[And given it's the first floor of a two-story building, he'd put money on the owners living upstairs. Hm.]
With a wide and hard hitting swing, she hits the window as hard as she can. There's a shriek as the glass shatters, mostly due to surprise that the sound is so loud. Her eyes squeeze shut tight as she curls inward to protect herself from any flying debris, but still winds up with a little caught in her bangs. It goes unnoticed as she just stands there, finally realizing what she's just done.
Oh well. No time to be sad about it now. Chrissy uses the stick to bat away any remnants of glass before she steps through the window and into the store. Despite the fact that Johnnie could just walk in right after her, she unlocks and opens the door for him. The sound of glass on the bottom of her shoes is loud on the tile floor, but it doesn't matter. They won't be here long.
Which is probably pretty good, because she can definitely hear movement upstairs. Guess the people who own this place probably live right up above it.]
If a tiny girl with a stick can get in, anyone can.
[She's working hard to justify this to herself, that it's perfectly okay for her be slipping further and further along the path of doing whatever in the hell she wants.]
[But they don't have to be, they'll be out of town in minutes and quite possibly out of this entire time. He grins and gives her a quick one-armed hug, full of pride at her taking initiative, before he breaks away to see what looks like fun to grab without spending too much time thinking about it.
The door is right near the rum section, so rum it is. He's not picky but he also figures if he's going to grab a bottle it might as well be an expensive one, so he takes a gallon-sized jug of something that claims it's been aged 20 years and tucks that under his arm. On the way out, as he turns around, he glances at the opposite shelf. A hefty bottle of some golden-tinted tequila? Sure, that'll be good too.]
C'mon, let's bail before they come downstairs.
[The bigger of the two bottles is shoved into one of the bags, and then he passes the tequila off to Chrissy as he hops onto the bike, wincing at a twinge in his leg as he does so. Guess his good fortune at that not hurting so bad just yet is over for now.]
Have a taste of that while I get us outta here.
There's definitely something wrong with her. But she doesn't have time to reflect on that, because she's putting swamp stick back where it belongs and is being handed a bottle. She's quiet as she hops up to sit behind him, clutching the bottle in both hands.
He's focused on getting them going, and she opens the bottle and takes a small drink. It burns the entire way down, and she can't help but be glad. She really feels like she deserves some kind of punishment. The lid is pocketed and she just holds the bottle until he gets them on the road properly, and then passes it forward to him because she knows he'll want it.]
I used to be too afraid to do things like that. I should still be too afraid to do things like that.
[Her eyes are burning with tears that she doesn't want to let fall. As the guilt starts to consume her, she rubs at her eyes with her hands.]
Nah, no need. See, we got outta there just fine. You know, you've got a solid head on your shoulders. You're smart, you go for what you want. Don't need to be afraid all the time when you can make good judgments, right? Besides... I think a little bit of fear is probably what makes it kinda fun, too. That's where that rush comes from, right? Bein' afraid, then bein' better than the fear.
[Adrenaline is far more addictive to him than any drug, after all. Some of them do go really well alongside it, though.]
She feels like she can't talk to him about her guilt, because he likely won't get it. And she's not about to ruin his fun with talks about ethics.]
I guess it just takes time to get used to it.
[The fact she can get that out without sounding like she's crying is an accomplishment.]
Eventually it will be like second nature.
[And that scares the hell out of her.]
Thank you, though. For thinking I'm smart?
[He's definitely the first and probably only person who ever has thought that about her.]
But they're having a really great time for now, and that's what counts. And maybe LA will be easier for her, just because they won't have to constantly be on the road. She can settle in, take some time to herself. She won't have to be with him all the time, won't have to be involved in everything he gets up to. That'll be fine.]
More like knowing it, 'cause you are. An' I want other people to see it too. When we get back, when you meet everyone, it'll be great. 'Cause look, I love havin' you all to myself, but I think it'll be even better when you've got more friends you can hang with, too.
[Especially girl friends, because she probably wants someone she can talk about girl things with. Go get nails done, hang out at the beach, go put on big movie star sunglasses and get fancy cocktails for fun. Whatever it is girls do when they're not making weapons and winning at poker and swindling idiots out of money with tarot cards and magic fortunes.
He knows some weird girls, but they're cool like that.]
Well.
She's also now questioning if he'll get bored with her eventually. What if he wants her to make all kinds of friends so he doesn't have to be with her as often? Which makes sense, couples can't be together all the time. But they've spent every waking moment together for nearly two weeks, it feels like they've been together for a lot longer. And she likes that. She doesn't want to entirely give it up.
He's just said he knows she's smart though. And he wants to show the entire world that she is. That earns a kiss to the back of his neck, as she softly laughs through her stupid tears. They're not wanted or needed here.]
I want a whole bunch of friends. Girls and your brothers, and other people I meet in LA. It's going to be really great.
[It feels like they're a long way off from LA though. So she has that to look forward to. Thankfully, he's good at cheering her up quickly. There's only remnants of tears on her face, and no more are falling. She's even smiling a little.]
We'll still share a room when we get back though, right?
[Her fingers tickle at his sides as she asks it, laughing softly at how clingy she knows that sounds.]
Oh, yeah, of course, you kidding me? I ain't gonna drag you all the way back there an' then make you find your own place. Besides, I love havin' you with me. If Alex bitches about it, then fuck him, right? He can go move in with Dale. Unless Rigo's turned up by now. Anyway, it's fine. Plenty of space. You're stuck with me.
[Said like he can just tell Alex what to do, but it's not something he's worried about, not really. They've all spent time in more cramped quarters before anyway, and it's also not like they all sit around at home all the time either, not when there's shit to do. He's convinced it won't be an issue. If his brother can't handle the sound of the bed thumping against the wall he can wear fucking earplugs.]
We're stuck with each other.
[Her laughter is almost like little bells as it carries over the sound of the motorcycle and the wind.]
Even if I make a lot of friends, I'm going to LA to be with you. [There's a pause as she can't resist teasing a little. The mood is nice and light now and she doesn't want to ruin that.] And the beach.
[See, he can tease right back, and he laughs.]
We'll get you a nice little car an' you can go to that beach any time you want. Any of 'em. I'm warning you though, LA is a big city. Takes almost half an hour to get to Santa Monica from my place. It's not like having a little cottage right on the seashore.
[Which, he's warned her about that but maybe not quite so explicitly. She can go to the beach all she wants, but she has to get there first.]
Thing is, it just takes half an hour to get anywhere in the area anyway, I guess. Or longer. Even when traffic ain't too bad, it's just big. But I love that, too, you know? Endless shit to do. You can go find record shops or the best damn panaderÃa in each neighborhood, you can go pick fresh oranges, go hang out in a park an' listen to live music any time of day or night 'cause there's always something going on. Never gonna get bored, I can promise you that.
[She's not completely blind to the fact that arriving in LA will come with its own set of complications. But she knows that they have a real chance at having a life together there. It's obvious that he loves his city, and she's in love with the idea of getting to call LA home.]
I guess I need more Spanish lessons, huh?
[Not that his are practical for use outside the bedroom, unless she wants to say fuck a lot.]
[It's honestly one of those words he doesn't think about as being Spanish, though it is. It's like having to translate "burrito".]
There's a lotta stuff like that you'll pick up fast, don't worry. Maybe it's just 'cause it all used to be part of Mexico before it was the US, an' a lot of it didn't really change, I guess? Fuck if I know, though. Real different from the middle of the country in some ways, but still the same country in all the rest of 'em.
[That part doesn't matter much, in his opinion, except that the food's better and he feels like he stands out a lot less. Not that he really cares if he stands out or not, anyway, it's just a different feeling. Kind of like how everything out here is just flat. He's been driving in a straight line forever now without a single hill. One of those weird differences he just happens to notice but otherwise isn't especially bothered by, at least until people start kicking him out of soda parlors and fucking ignoring him when he's trying to ask them something.]
You don't really need to know Spanish to get around in most of California, don't worry. Though, it's not a bad thing to know more. Some parts of the city, you'll know a lot more about what's goin' on around you if you know some, I guess. That's helpful. But nobody's really gonna care if you only speak English, everyone else does too unless they just crossed the border. They're the ones who have a way harder time of it.
[If she's dead and has forever to be a kinda ghost, she wants to make the most out of it.]
I mean, I can't go to college or anything if I don't exist anymore. So I can learn languages and how to do a lot of new things. And it's like learning, only better because I can actually use it every day.
[She speaks about all of this with a gentle ease, like it's a far fetched dream rather than something that can become reality. So far, everything about LA isn't set in stone. Sure, she knows she'll stay with Johnnie. They'll have a room and it's going to be perfect. But beyond that, she has no idea what California is like. What the World Enders are like, what the people of LA are like. She can imagine it, but until she's really there, nothing will feel real to her.]
Like if I learned Spanish, I could help the people who just cross the border. Give them food and things like that. Maybe help them find someplace to stay.
[She may burn down racist towns, and she may bash in store windows. But she's still a bleeding heart that wants to help people that need it.]
[Sounds like fucking depressing work, in his opinion, but he's not going to tell her it's not worth it. It's the sort of thing people do to feel better about themselves, and if they do feel better doing it then maybe it's worth it for them, and the one or two people they ever manage to make a difference to.
He tends to think, meanwhile, those folks are eager to find work opportunities and easy to recruit, and if she wants to help get them settled so they can have a place to crash between making enough to feed themselves and then helping to dismantle the systems of wealth and authority, then all the better. Their goals can synchronize well. Most of those well-intended volunteers would rather see people assimilate and lead peaceful, boring lives, but that's bullshit.]
Spanish, though, that can happen for sure. Maybe you can't sign up for classes, but there's libraries an' shit. And you'll get a lotta practice whenever you want, just walkin' down the street. That's easy. Promise I can help teach you normal words, too.
You can teach me all the dirty words first, baby.
[A couple of kisses are placed to the back of his neck before she leans up enough to kiss his cheek. He can teach her every single filthy thing he knows before teaching her how to actually talk to other people. It's more important to her she knows all the dirty things she loves hearing him say to her. She's so inspired by remembering their last lesson that she drags her teeth against his earlobe as she hums softly.]
Tócate me chocha. See? I remember that lesson!
[There's probably something to be said about being able to talk about helping people who need the assistance in one breath and then talking dirty in the next. But she figures it's just part of who they are and it's normal for them.]
Yeah. Tócame mi chocha, babe, you basically got it. Oh, goddamn, I love that you're gonna come back knowing that shit and not much else, to begin with. Anyone who finds out, they're really gonna wonder.
[And they'd be right, probably, with whatever they'd be thinking. Very little guessing needs to be done given how they can hardly keep their hands off each other.]
I'd say it's time for another lesson right now, but maybe not while we're shouting over the wind. Once we stop somewhere to get some sleep. Gotta keep you up with your lessons, right?
[She laughs, covering her mouth with on hand to try and muffle her amusement. He's right though, she does need to keep up with her lessons. It's cute how he's able to make it sound academic.]
How much longer until we get to Wilmington? Don't forget I can take over and drive if you need me to.
[Not that she's impatient to get there or anything. But she is curious, mostly out of concern for his leg. It's healing, but she worries it'll be killing him by the time they stop to rest.]