beyondtheline | Tornadoes and skeletons and nacho dogs, oh my

Tornadoes and skeletons and nacho dogs, oh my

[So this is how he gets away with it, then. Cruz, a skeleton, with a skeleton horse, lives in a skeleton of a house with a skeletal barn attached - and he remains unseen, his home apparently abandoned, all the way on the outskirts of this thing that's barely a town.

Well, you do what you gotta do, and Johnnie won't turn down a kind offer of a safe place to stay the night. He can't help but grin at Chrissy having such a good time riding that bony horse as he pulls the bike in through the barn door and parks it to the side, then hops off.]

Hey man, we owe ya for this. Here.

[See, this is yet another reason it's good to stock up on alcohol. He finds their most recent stolen bottle of tequila and pulls it out as he saunters over to their host and offers it in an outstretched hand.]

On us. Uh, if you drink, that is. You do drink, right?

[Normally that would be a dumb question to ask but the guy appears to be actual bones. But, bones that can smoke, without lungs, so he can probably drink without a mouth, right?

That earns a laugh from Cruz.]

I sure do, fella. You don't have to, though. I'm not looking for any kind of repayment, just helping out a couple folks in need.

[Johnnie shakes his head and waves that attempt off.]

Nah, it's all yours. Or if you really insist, we can all split it tomorrow, the three of us an' the rest of your crew. Can't wait to meet 'em. They all skeletons too?

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[Oh, she likes the sound of that game. Her eyes go wide, and she eagerly nods. It's no fair that just his voice alone can make her shiver the way it does. He has to be aware what talking into her ear does to her. She's a puddle of goo when he tugs her along after him, and she's busy imagining his little game the entire way back to the bike.

Those thoughts are still in her head as they get on and head back out, and it isn't until they're back on the road that she finally responds.]

I think that if I don't get to play that, I might die all over again. So we have to do it. Or else!

[Like she's at all threatening, especially when she's grazing her teeth against the back of his neck before softly kissing the spot she's just reddened.]

Maybe we can tomorrow night?

[He sighs under the feel of her teeth and reminds himself to focus, meanwhile, on the road ahead as they zip on past the outskirts of Lordsburg.]

Sounds like we better do tomorrow night, or else.

[Or tomorrow day. Tomorrow any time, after they've both had a chance to clean up and get some sleep, probably. He can tell it's been a busy, tiring one that's just now starting to catch up to him when the graze of those teeth doesn't quite start getting him hard, even though he feels that shiver run down his spine. They'll get their picnic breakfast, find somewhere to crash, and then after he can cover her in desert flowers.]

We'll be in Coachella Valley by tomorrow evening, before the sun goes down. We'll get us some flowers there, they oughta have a bunch blooming right now. I'll give you a little history tour, too. That's technically where the gang started, you know that? That's where the Ender was, back when he was alive.

[Palm Desert by evening. That means Los Angeles by midnight, if everything goes smoothly. Just under 24 hours away, so close he can almost feel it, if a city is a thing that can be felt. But it has a heartbeat of its own, a pulse that beats to the rhythm of traffic and music and dance and good food, and all the best things.]

Really? [Her voice has that genuinely awestruck tone to it, not at all mocking in her surprise and enthusiasm.] Maybe we can catch a glimpse of him there. If he still shows up sometimes, he'll want to welcome you home.

[She knows that's a silly idea though, and shrugs it off. She's more excited about the fact that they're entering Ender territory soon. They'll be home, and she'll finally be able to be a part of a family that accepts her for who she is.]

Can I tell you something though? [She already knows she can, but she still struggles with shifting to something more serious that she wants to say.]

We're so close now that I'm getting nervous!

[Okay, maybe it's not that serious. But it's a real thing she's feeling. She's going to be meeting his brothers in a day or two. And she knows Johnnie will vouch for her and he swears that both brothers will adore her, but that doesn't stop her from letting some of that social anxiety creep in.]

[He keeps from commenting on the thing about catching a glimpse of the Ender. It's hilarious to him how she treats him as some kind of legendary creatures - and, okay, maybe he is but there are better places to find the dude than Palm Desert these days. It's cool though, he'll casually introduce her at some point back in LA like it's no big deal, just to watch her eyes bug out.

At her admission of nervousness, his smile softens, and he reaches back and around to cup the back of her head and scratch his nails against her scalp for a second.]

You're too damn cute. You'll be fine, no need to be nervous about anything, babe. Get excited, how about? You're comin' home to a way better place than the one you left. You'll have more friends an' more fun than you know what to do with.

[Her eyes close as she soaks up that affection, the contact enough to comfort her and stop her heart from racing too much. It's hard when she gets all that nervous energy with no real outlet.]

Oh, I'm really excited. Honest! I'll finally have a real home. One that I want to be in.

[Which is a pretty big deal, in her opinion. She knows that he's aware it's a big deal to her, so she doesn't bother saying so out loud.]

It's just hard to believe we're finally almost there. We've been through so much to get to this point.

[Her arms tighten around him, and she smiles as she relaxes.]

Sure have. Funny how when I left, I figured, a week across the country, a week back, just mostly me by myself to see what that was like.

[Well, not by himself always, since obviously he was planning to pick up the occasional girl here and there on the way. But mostly by himself, and look how long that lasted? And look how much good she's done him, too? Knowing what he does now, if he'd really had to tackle any of that stuff alone he might've landed in a lot more trouble than he did. Either that or he'd still be out there starting a firestorm across the whole south.]

Anyway, almost there's not the same as bein' there yet. Still got a whole state in between us an' California, and hours of California before LA. Anything could happen, you know how shit goes for us. That highway up there could drop off into some ocean that turns up a few thousand years later.

Johnnie!

[She laughs, but playfully reaches up to press her hand over his mouth.]

Don't say things like that, they might actually happen!

[She's giggly though, and getting squirmy in the seat. They might need to find a place to stop and have their breakfast picnic in the next couple of hours, or she'll wriggle her way right off the bike.]

If we run into another monster or something, I'm blaming you.

[Well, that calls for retaliation, and so he playfully acts like he's trying to talk despite her hand, making some dumb mumbling sounds, then bites at her fingers until he breaks free, laughing.]

Okay, but wouldn't it be cool? Knowing this is all ocean some day, out here in the fucking desert? We're the only people who get to see all this shit. Nobody's gonna believe our stories when we get back.

[Maybe there are others, though. He's open to the idea of that, because if he's learned anything through being black-brained it's that each individual person is nothing special and very little that seems unique actually is. They're all just pointless grains of sand in the whole beach that is Earth, after all. Fucking dust drifting around in the dark.

It doesn't upset him as much as it should, probably.

He drives on until they finally cross the border into Arizona, and onward still until the faint pink-green glow around the rim of the sky hints that sunrise is coming. They're up in the foothills of big low mountains, some tail end of the Rockies where it's desert, but the desert has trees, and a sign for a viewpoint makes for a good excuse to pull off the road, finally and look out at the landscape below.]

All those lights out that way must be Tucson, then.

[Stopping when they do is a great idea. They get off the bike and head over to admire the scenery, and she gets a chance to move around. The view from here is beautiful, and she moves to stand in front of him and guides his arms to wrap around her so she's wrapped up in his embrace. It's surprisingly chilly out here this morning, and he keeps her nice and warm.]

You're like a walking map, babe. [Which she finds amusing, but not enough to laugh about it. She's busy looking all around and committing the view to memory.]

Do you want to sit out over here? Or drive a little longer and see if we can find somewhere else? We could eat here, but I don't know if we'd be able to stay and sleep.

[He laughs at the walking map comment. I-10 just makes it easy, aren't too many big cities out this way unlike back east, but sure. He'll take the compliment, as if he's memorized every detail of a route he's never driven before rather than watching road signs and knowing where the major landmarks are so they don't get lost.

And with the chill, he's glad to wrap her up in his arms and nuzzle close.]

Seems like a good spot to eat, don't you think? We can spread everything out, see the sunrise from up here real easy, then cruise on down that big long hill into town an' crash at a motel. Or just camp out here if you want, go find a nice shady spot in the trees to sleep, but we gotta get farther from the interstate if we do that.

[Camping actually sounds pretty appealing, as long as it doesn't get way too hot. But it's still April, it'll probably be fine. They had worse back in Florida.]

Camping sounds really fun, actually. Like we did when we were up at the lakes.

[so she's all for finding a nice spot off the interstate to do that. They've stayed at a lot of motels and all kinds of places in between. But she has a certain fondness for crashing outside. Her hand rubs at his arm and she hums a little, still taken with that view. It's hard to make anything out, but the sky itself is so pretty.]

Let's eat now, and we can find -

[The sound of loud footsteps make her go quiet, and she turns to try and see where the sound is coming from. She can't make anything out, but the sound of crunching gravel is unmistakable.]

Do you think that's an animal on the other side of the road?

Yeah, maybe? Wonder what it is.

[Wonder if it's edible, more like. If he wants to start a fire to heat his coffee up, maybe he can also cook some wild game and feel super accomplished and nice and full before he dozes off.

Time to investigate. He tries to keep his own footsteps quiet and moves slowly as he creeps back toward the road and looks over the edge, where gravel slopes away from the road bed and leads downhill. There, in the thin predawn light, is a thing his mind wants to read as "deer", but it's like no deer he's ever seen, and it's certainly not one he wants to eat. Its hide thins as he looks up from feet to the shoulders, and by the time his eyes reach the head, it's entirely skeletal. Flesh stretches, weblike, around the ears and the base of the antlers - and those antlers, holy hell. They're ghoulish, clawed hands that writhe as the creature nudges its bony nose through prickly shrubs.

Well, there will be no shooting this thing for breakfast, that's for sure. He mouths what the fuck in Chrissy's direction, and then silently watches, puzzled and kind of fascinated, as the earliest rays of light coat it in gold and pink.]

[There's a lot of things that she's afraid of. Even with as brave as she's become, it's impossible for her not to feel fear with things that are unnerving. This animal should terrify her. And maybe on some level it does, making her worried there's going to be monsters in the area or something. It's just that it's so majestic to watch it eat, and the morning light just barely touching it is beautiful somehow.]

It looks like a nice deer.

[She whispers to Johnnie, keeping her eyes on those antlers. Is that thing a deer? It's hard to tell.]

I don't think it wants to hurt us.

[Right at that moment, it slowly lifts its head and looks straight toward them. The antlers seem to writhe in a way that signal they're the ones listening instead of the animal's skeletal ears. After a few drawn out moments of staring, it goes back to grazing. Chrissy glances up at him with a look that says wow, before rushing back to the bike to get her camera out of the bag.

It doesn't take her long to get it, but by the time she's back, the creature is already gone. Guess it doesn't like getting its picture taken, she thinks.]

[He watches the creature while she runs back for the camera, and when she returns, he's still there watching the grass, the hills, the sunlight as it slowly filters into the sky.]

Too late.

[He frowns, still a little bewildered by the sighting, and stands and brushes dust off his jeans. But he hasn't looked away from that spot. He motions to it with a hand.]

I don't really get how it left, though. It was right there, then it took a few steps and it was like it just walked through a hole in the world.

[In fact, he wants to go check this out. Food can wait another minute. He picks his way down the hill to where the thing was, and looks at the grass, the bushes, the prints in the dirt, circling the spot so he can see it from different angles. But there's nothing to see, not that he can find.]

I dunno. I wonder if that's what it looks like to other people when we slip through different times, though.

I think so. Sometimes when people look at us, I can tell they don't see human. They see something else. But I don't know why some people see us like that and others don't. It's just one of those things.

[Like the monsters. They just came through a hole in the world. And she and Johnnie, they just travel through time, and somehow she's in his version of Earth. She must have fallen through to it in that dark, scary place.]

I think maybe that place where I died beneath Hawkins, it's one of those holes in the world. There have to be a lot of others like it.

[She glances back up in the direction they came from, before looking in the other direction. Standing about ten feet away from them is the same animal as before, curiously watching them as it munches. It's glowing so beautifully in the pink and gold glow that the sight actually takes her breath away, and she feels
a little choked up.]

Johnnie, look. Turn slowly so you don't scare him. [She reaches out and touches at his arm, both to brace herself and to signal to him that he really needs to turn right now.

Things that come from the darkness must feel the same energy coming of one another. It would explain why those ocean monsters were so drawn to them back in Wilmington, and why this animal now is so fascinated with them. It shows no sign of aggression, no sign of fear. Chrissy could raise her camera to get a picture, but she's so taken with the dark beauty of seeing this up close that she actually doesn't want to share the memory of it with anyone else.

This is better remembered by just Johnnie and herself. She isn't sure anyone they're going home to will really understand or even believe them.]

Edited 2023-06-17 18:08 (UTC)

[He turns, slow and careful, and -]

Oh.

[He barely lets the sound out, almost just mouths the word, as he stays still and watches it. Whatever this thing is, it's kind of magnificent to watch, and he's content to let it be. It's almost like he feels some kind of connection to it, like they're both things that shouldn't quite be here but are, and maybe this deer-thing feels that too. It's probably nonsense to think that, but whatever, he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone.

For as long as they stand still and quiet, the creature slowly noses its way toward them as it plucks green leaves off the tough desert plants. It clearly isn't ignoring them, as it seems to be watching them just out of the corner of one hollow eye socket, and the hands of its antlers remained cupped toward them like listening ears. But it comes nearly within reaching distance anyway, until it picks up its head and looks uphill behind them, toward the highway. Eventually they can hear it too - the sound of a truck approaching on its way to Tucson.

The thing looks directly at the both of them, then, before turning away and again stepping through some unseen gap in reality, a glistening oil-black split in space that swallows the deer-creature and leaves no visible trace just as the large truck and its trailer pass on by.]

Woah.

[She's completely awestruck after that encounter, and has a bounce to her step as she takes him by the hand and leads him back up toward the bike.]

Come on, let's eat.

[The walk over to their things doesn't take too long, but as soon as they've crossed the road she's pulling him in close for a kiss. It isn't anything pressing, just sweet and lingering contact. But when her stomach growls, she pulls away with a laugh and goes over to open the saddlebags to pull out what they "bought" at the store earlier.]

I didn't find a big blanket, but they had normal ones at the end of one of the aisles. I think we can both fit on it.

[That's at the bottom of the paper sack, but it's easily pulled out and draped over her arm. With a sweeping nod of her head, she motions for him to lead the way over to find the perfect place to sit out and enjoy the sunrise.]

[That kiss gets her a smile, and then as she pulls out the blanket and bag of goodies, he steps aside to gather up whatever he can scrounge for a fire. It's not much, but there are trees here at least, and branches below to break into suitable pieces. They're already as dry as tinder, but a handful of grass won't hurt to get them going.]

For sleepin' on? Sure. Here, how about over this way.

[Back down the side of the road a ways, then off it to where they can face east. The turnout looks north toward the city, but this is better for the sunrise itself, since that's what she's after.

It's a little steep in places, but he finds a spot where some rough old rocks make decent seats, and where the tree branches don't overhang the view. Before sitting down, though, he scrapes a spot down to the soil and piles up his armful of kindling to start his fire. No pot to boil water in, but the thermos is stainless steel, and so it'll just have to do, once they get out all the stuff in that bag. He has a long drink of water from the jug before filling up the thermos to boil, then makes himself comfortable on a big flat rock.]

Want some?

[Water, that is. He'll share the coffee when it's ready. Meanwhile, he pats the spot beside him for her to come join.]

[She quickly nods. That water is absolutely needed and wanted right now, and after she takes a sip from the jug her body screams for more so she takes a longer drink and then one more after. That thirst she's feeling is quenched then, and she passes the jug back to him.]

You know, it feels like today has been really long.

[Not in a bad way, of course. Just noticing that they've had a series of long nights all in a row. She'll actually be glad to rest after encountering Jason again. She's pretty exhausted after letting out all those emotions back in Texas.]

But I think it's been one of our best days together. Let's get a picture okay?

[She scoops up her camera and hands it over to him, so his longer arms can get a picture of the two of them sitting side by side.]

[Oh yeah, picture. Good, she remembered. He takes the camera in one hand and holds her close with the other, his arm around her waist, then smiles for the shot - though he winks at just the last second, because what's a regular smile for if instead he can be cocky about how good he has it? Here they are, on top of the world (or at least, some rocky foothills), enjoying the sunrise after a wild, wonderful night.

He chuckles quietly as he hands the camera back, then lights himself a cigarette to work on while he waits for the water to boil. He flicks embers out into the sky, watches them drift with the sunbeams.]

So, you got breakfast in that bag? I didn't see what you wound up grabbing. An' then I'll tell you the shit I said I would, too, just general stuff to start learning before we get back home.

[She flaps the picture that prints out through the air to get it started developing. It's set aside with the camera, and she works to start unloading the things inside the paper sack.]

I didn't find much. But there's a jar of cherries, some little powdered doughnuts, and some fresh blueberries! They might be a little warm and mushy now, but I bet they're still good.

[Everything is quickly set out, including a couple of small things she hadn't mentioned to him. It's not a huge breakfast spread, and she's definitely missing bacon. But that can be had once they're back in LA. She promptly reaches for one of the little doughnuts and bites off half. Powdered sugar gets all over her lips and chin, and she laughs as she enjoys the taste.]

It's probably not enough to tide us over all day. But we can stop after we've been on the road a couple of hours later on.

Well you know me, I'm not picky. It all sounds real good.

[She gets a grin and a kiss on the cheek, and then he's reaching his fingers right into that jar of cherries, which are more than sweet enough to overpower the taste of cigarette smoke. With those swallowed, he sucks cherry syrup off his fingers and goes for a doughnut.]

Let's see. Well, some a' this is better waited on until I got a map to show you stuff. But basically, while we have most of east LA, or at least the parts that matter, those guys we ran into in El Paso are one of the holdouts. They're to the north, an' then Kennel Club is north of that. Tumbleweeds base themselves out east but kinda like us with our bikes, they're mostly in shitty pickups, not just on foot, so like us, they cover more turf than the others. But, see, a lotta these guys, it's like, "you stay in your sandbox, I'll stay in mine". Right? For some of 'em, turf isn't a tool, it's all they got an' so they put every fuckin' ounce of energy into holding it 'cause they ain't shit otherwise.

[Clearly he's unimpressed by some of their neighbors. But he gets it, they can guard their neighborhoods and keep the peace there all they want so long as they don't start making trouble outside their borders. Eventually they'll all evaporate anyway, like little water droplets on a burning log.]

[She picks up on the impression that he doesn't think much of all the competition, but she can't say that she blames him. Now that she gets a little more of what the whole turf thing is about. She gets the impression it's vital to having power in the big cities, and extra important to whatever the Enders have going for them in LA.

There's really a lot lacking when they don't have a map, but they'll get one of those soon enough and she can start visually putting things together. For now, it's okay for her to nod in understanding and think over what he's telling her.]

Who names their gang Kennel Club? Do they go to dog shows or something?

[She laughs a little, almost in disbelief. The World Enders is such a cool name! And the Tumbleweeds isn't cool, but at least they're not the Kennel Club. Woof.

She woofs out loud, under her breath, as she reaches to grab a cherry from the jar. Her fingers are licked clean right after popping it into her mouth, and she waits to hear all about his canine oriented neighbor gang.]

[He chuckles at her reaction, at her already picking up that it's more fun to make fun of the local idiot kids who think they're hot shit than to take them too seriously, and waves a hand.]

Nah but they got dogs. Lots of 'em. Rottweiliers an' pit bulls or whatever. I dunno, it's kinda fucked up. They win a lot of their cash gambling on those dogs though so I guess it works for them.

[He shrugs and blows out a plume of smoke, then gets up to have a look at the water. It's hot, bubbling, not boiling exactly, but close enough. He tucks his hand into his sleeve to grab the thermos given it's probably too hot to touch otherwise, and sits back down with it so he can dump some of that powdered coffee and give it a shake.]

So those are most of our immediate neighbors, but since we run cargo outta Long Beach an' also since we have a couple dealers parked downtown most nights, we always gotta keep our eyes open. That's the real thing to know. If you're on the edge of our zone, or if you're in a contested spot we don't fully control, you gotta be there with people, always gotta have someone who has your back. You know, people get sloppy an' we lose 'em. An' that sucks, babe. That hurts.

[And not just that it hurts the crew, their operations, but it hurts him and everyone else individually, losing friends to deals gone bad or mistakes turned lethal. He knows it, and he's just put everyone else through it himself with his own stupid mistake. Should've been more careful, shouldn't have poked his nose into something on his own. He didn't know what exactly he'd gotten himself into, though. It's sure as hell not his fault, he's the victim, not the fucking murderous thugs that came for him.]

[That last part makes her go quiet as she thinks over how easily she could hurt him by unintentionally being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's going to have to be really mindful to keep her eyes open and be more aware of what's going on around her.]

So when I go out, at least at first, should I always make sure to have someone with me?

[It's different when no one knows who she is, but she's pretty sure it'll be a quick thing for her to be known as Johnnie's girl. And whenever she joins the gang herself, that ups the risk a little more. The most important thing to her is being safe, and making sure she never does anything too stupid.]

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