beyondtheline | I sure like the feeling of an endless road

I sure like the feeling of an endless road

[A few hours of open road makes for easygoing fun. It's great to be traveling again, and the feeling of Chrissy leaning up against his back, holding on tight while he whips ahead on a wide-open freeway through the pitch black of night is like nothing else. The last time they were racing up and down this freeway, they were on the way to go burn a bunch of people's lives down - but now that's hours back, back with the rest of the city. They've left the lights and have nothing to look at but the pavement in Johnnie's headlight, the glimpses of stars shining weakly through hazy clouds, and occasionally an oncoming car.

Johnnie hasn't exactly been trying to tune in to his senses or abilities or whatever it is he has - he's just been cruising, letting the night go by, enjoying their plunge northward without a care or a thought. So it is deeply irritating when the pavement quickly fades to a well-worn dirt track that almost tosses him and Chrissy to the ground, and it takes all of his skills to get the front wheel under control and to slow down before they hit a rock that really might launch them into the nearest alfalfa field. Or whatever it is that's here, whenever they've found themselves. Somewhere pre-freeway. Boo.

But there are a few lights ahead, and he did need a stop to pee, so, fuck it.]

Well, shit. Y'know, I dunno exactly where we are. Last sign said San Jose was still fuckin' hours off. You good? That was kinda shaky.

[As long as this dirt road stays packed, they can drive it, but it's going to be slow. Good thing they're almost to somewhere.]

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[Sadly, the thought of using what she can do to force the gate open doesn't even cross her mind. Her heels kick up as she jumps in excitement at Johnnie approving of her going in alone. A quick jog up to the front door has her trying to jiggle it open, but of course it's locked.

That's okay, the doors are glass. There's some garden things for sale off to the side, and she grabs one of the dog shaped little statues to slam against the door a few times until the glass shatters. The statue is set down at her feet and she pats it head before stepping through broken glass and through the jagged opening in the door to the inside.

There's signs hanging up near the ceiling, and she makes a beeline straight for the aisle labeled as paint. She finds a giant paint bucket and fills it with cans of spray paint, lots of black and red and yellow. There's a few cans of neon orange she grabs for good measure. On her way out she finds plastic gas canisters, but can't carry them along with the bucket. So she runs that out to the fence and starts rolling each can under to Johnnie one at a time.]

Are those sirens getting closer? I gotta run back in and get a couple of gas containers!

[It's hard to tell if the sirens are coming for them. Maybe she shouldn't chance it, but they really do need those containers.]

[Oh hell yeah, paint. One by one, he grabs those as she rolls them until his arms are full. That lock isn't opening tonight, he's abandoning it for now.]

I dunno, they're goin' in and out. Maybe when they go behind buildings or somethin'. I think we still got time, but you better hurry!

[He's excited, though. Racing the cops to burn some assholes' clubhouse to a crisp? Best kind of night there is. Any minute now the cops could turn down this way and catch them before they get out - so they just have to be faster, and he's good at fast.

Once the paint is all tucked away, he turns back toward the fence, and now those sirens are definitely louder. He takes one glance back toward the road, then shouts through the fence.]

Hey, you better hurry! If you don't have 'em just get out here, we'll get 'em somewhere else! Get some bolt cutters instead so you can get this lock off!

[Hopefully she can hear him yelling. With that, he runs and hops onto the bike. He can lead these assholes in circles all night if they get here before she gets out. He'll make sure they don't catch her trapped in there.]

[Oh, she hears that. She hears him calling to her and the sirens edging in closer, and she pushes herself to run as fast as she can. She grabs only one gas container and jogs the store until she finds tools. A bolt cutter is surprisingly easy to find, and she's panting for air as she makes it back to the gate and crouches down on her hands and knees to shove the bolt cutters beneath the fence.

Only they don't fit, so she curses and hops up to stand. They're not hard to use, she just isn't as strong as he is. Still, she's able to get the chain and lock broken on her third try, and tosses the bolt cutters aside so she can use both hands to pull them free and get the gate open.

He's not there though. Gosh, those sirens are awfully close. He's not being chased by cops right now, is he? If he had to leave her here because she was too slow, she's going to be so mad at herself.]

[While part of his mind hopes Chrissy is making her way out safely, most of his focus is on distracting the cop car that has found him. It's a pretty funny game, actually - driving just fast enough that they can't catch him, but just slow enough that he doesn't lose them. These cops are fucking nuts, though, reminds him of home - they're happy to speed right up to where they can almost ram him from behind if he's on a straightaway for too long. And unlike him, they know the city - all it takes is for one of their friends to catch up and cut him off and he might find himself trapped in some narrow alleyway with no way to escape but on foot. And he doesn't love those odds.

He leads them in a long chase before turning tightly and doubling back. They'll probably figure it out eventually, but for now he's clear, for a few minutes, leaving them far behind as he zigzags through tight corners and back alleys. The abrupt change of direction has him returning toward the hardware store - where Chrissy must be hiding, hopefully. Looks like she got the gate open at least.]

We got two minutes, c'mon!

[He shouts toward the gate as he approaches, then parks, but he keeps the engine running - and his fingers anxiously tap out a beat on the handlebars as he directs his gaze from the gate back toward the road behind him.]

Johnnie!

[She's so happy to see him that she comes running, bolt cutters in one hand and the gas container in the other. The bolt cutters get tucked into a saddlebag and secured, then she's hopping up and getting the gas can on her lap. She leans in closer against him, just enough that she can kiss the back of his neck with a relieved sigh.]

I was worried you had to ditch me or something! Let's get outta here, okay?

[There's not a single ounce of her that wants to end up arrested. At least not before they wind up setting Dante & his gang on fire.]

Were they chasing you?

[Her head turns to glance back behind them as she asks it, as she still hears the siren moving somewhere but vaguely getting closer. Johnnie's a good driver, he'll get them out of there and somewhere else really quickly and they can find a gas station to fill up at.]

[Boy, she doesn't have to tell him twice. The moment she's on and has the stuff secured, he guns it, throttle wide open to continue to scoot on down the road at a rapid clip to try and make more room between them and the cops.]

Yeah! Well, I was makin' 'em chase me 'cause I didn't want 'em to come by here with us sitting still! Figured I'd drag 'em away from you then come back. So far, so good, but these fuckers are relentless. Almost as bad as LAPD.

[But cops are cops so that's not surprising. They're all assholes, all out to stop people from having a good fun night doing whatever they want to do. Like robbing places and fucking with enemies. It's so unfair.]

We're gonna have to go pretty far outta our way before I can turn back around. But, babe, don't worry, shit like that happens again? I ain't leavin' you behind! They'd have to put me in fuckin' jail first.

That's so sweet, Johnnie.

[Not the most romantic thing he's ever said to her, but it's right up there. She never thought he'd willingly leave her behind, but hearing him reassure her puts a smile on her face and she gives him a little squeeze as best as she can with that silly gas canister pressed between them.]

I don't always need you to, but I still like it when you protect me.

[He's the only person in the whole world that ever does it the right way.]

But hey, let's drive for a little while then stop and fill this thing up. Maybe we can tie it onto the back of the seat somehow so I don't have to hold it!

[That way both of her arms will be free to be firmly around him and she can cuddle up while they're on their way to pay a destructive and violent visit to their new friend Dante.]

Yeah, we'll drive for a while. I bet any gas station around here's gonna have a bungee cord or somethin' we can swipe to hook that thing to the seat.

[It'd be a helpful investment in general anyway. Maybe a couple bungee cords so the bolt cutters can get strapped down under his leg. They're stable enough for now but there's got to be a more space-efficient way to carry them.

When the sirens have died down for at least ten minutes, Johnnie decides the cops must have given up - they've truly lost them with all the zig-zagging and the racing down straightaways. He circles back to the last gas station they passed, and pulls up to investigate.

This one is still staffed apparently, late into the night. There's an attendant at a register inside, and a car ahead of them just now pulling away, and he can't work out if that's helpful to them or not.]

Could drive around to a closed one maybe, there's gotta be somethin' that isn't 24 hours here, right?

[As he wonders, the attendant looks up at them sitting still on the pavement there, and pokes his head out the front door.]

Hey there! You need a hand?

[Of all the places for a guy to be super helpful...]

Huh? Oh yeah, I need to use the bathroom! Can you show me where yours is?

[The guy smiles and motions for her to come on in.]

Sure. The men's room is out back, but we got one inside for the ladies. You okay pumping gas, man?

[He's clearly only asking Johnnie to be polite and offer customer service, but he's already heading back inside to show Chrissy where to go to the bathroom. She's hoping that will give Johnnie time to get the gas in the can and find something to tie it to the bike with while she goes to the bathroom and then talks the guy's ear off for a while.]

[Oh perfect, Chrissy just took that and ran with it. She's so damn good at that.

Johnnie waves the guy off and fills up the gas can, then fills up the bike while he's at it, because damn, would sure be a shame to run out at the wrong time and he's getting low after all that running around earlier.

She's doing a great job keeping the attendant occupied while Johnnie wanders in to poke around the shelves. A couple bungee cords tuck into his jacket easy enough, along with a stick of jerky and a candy bar, he's feeling snacky. Make that two candy bars, since she'll want one too.

And then he slinks back out, hoping she's keeping an eye out for him doing just that so she can rejoin him without him ever having to deal with the attendant. He might wonder later about the payment for the gas but by then they'll be long gone.]

[She has to really chat the guy up, play flirt a little, make him think she's interested in what he has to say. It enables her to grab a lighter from right near the register when he's focused on her face and not her hands, and she pockets it to gift to Johnnie. When she glances out the big window and notices Johnnie back near the bike she excuses herself and waves goodbye, jogging out to join him.]

I got you a present in there!

[It comes out an excited song, and she struts a pretend guitar as she hops around until she settles at the back of the bike where he's securing the gas canister with a bungee cord.]

And it looks like you got what we needed, so we should be good to go, huh?

[She gives a little tug to the bungee, and gasps in amusement at the sound it makes as it slaps back down into place.]

Uh huh. Better scram before that guy notices what just happened right under his nose.

[He leans in to give her a quick kiss, then catches the surprised expression through the window on the cashier's face and gives him a cocky eyebrow raise before hopping on the bike.]

Time to fuckin' go, hold on tight!

[It's unnecessary, the speed at which the bike takes off and the engine noise that comes with it, but Johnnie howls with joy at his own stupid display as they tear off into the night.]

All right, now we just gotta remember the way to the stupid fuckin' clubhouse. Follow the tags, right? At least I remember kinda what part of town it was in, we'll find it.

[Her laughter is loud, but is quickly cut off by her howling along with him. They're not in their pack here, but they're lethal and effective together. They can be ruthless and efficient, and right now their prey drive is switching on as they make their way across town. Johnnie knows where he's going to get in the general area, and as he signals they've reached it she keeps her eyes peeled.

It only takes a few minutes to find the first sign of tagging, and it guides them the right way. It's not so late that the Jawbreakers are all hanging out in one place yet, and the streets are full of them on high alert. They're definitely noticed as they drive through, and Chrissy holds onto Johnnie a little tighter as she eyes a group of four guys that are so built that it looks like they could break her back over their knee if they wanted to.]

I was gonna ask how we're supposed to get them all into their clubhouse. But I think we've got guys following us.

[Actually, there's a lot of girls with them. Gangs sure do become a lot more girl oriented in the 80s. That's pretty progressive. It's too bad they'll have to die with everybody else.]

Oh hey, take a left up at this light. We definitely went that way to find Dante.

[Oh yeah, there's guys following them all right. Even though a lot of them are on foot and they easily speed past, a few minutes more and there are new headlights on the road, new cars tailing them. But they haven't been shot at yet. These guys are cautious after what happened last night - even as they clearly want to run the two of them out of their turf.

Johnnie takes the left with a nod, agreeing that it looks familiar. From here, it was pretty straightforward - if a few extremely brain-dead kids could get them there, then there wasn't anything difficult about it. Just a matter of following along until they see the lights of the Roadhouse down the next block.

So Johnnie slows a little, intentionally, making sure they're noticed and that people have time to catch up, before he zips on off to a side road.]

I want 'em in the building. If they come here lookin' for us an' lose us, they might all meet up to make sure everyone knows we're back. Kinda hoping they do, anyway.

[She's on high alert, her head on a swivel and her eyes looking all around. It registers with her that she probably looks like a paranoid weirdo, but she'd rather be alert and catch sight of someone that might shoot at them. Memories of Johnnie being shot in New York City come back to her, and she doesn't want him to have to go through that again.]

Let them have a few minutes. Keep driving, we need to find something to secure the door so no one can get out.

[There's a few windows in the place people can jump out of, and that's fine. But she'd much rather make them panic by locking them inside. Dante may not even still be alive. If he is though, she wants him to get the message he really fucked up right before he dies.]

There has to be some kind of lumber or something somewhere around here. It's an industrial area.

Lumber's big an' heavy an' we'd have to carry it on the bike. I'd rather just make sure the fire starts at the door so they can't touch it. But I dunno, maybe if we find a metal pole.

[Aluminum or something like that. Is that a thing? Maybe fiberglass. Something hard to break but easy for them to carry on their way back.

She's right though that this is going to be an easy place to find whatever they want to find. It's only a few minutes of driving further before he spots a construction supplies yard and pulls up to the fence. Locked up, just like that hardware store, but the fence is chain link and they have bolt cutters.]

Go ahead an' look. I'm gonna stay here an' keep an eye on things.

Okay.

[She kisses his cheek and hops off the bike, grabbing the bolt cutters before she heads over toward the fence. Time is of the essence here, and she hurries her way over to work at the lock until it breaks. There's no problem slipping through the gate, and she walks at a brisk pace to look around.

It takes her a few minutes to find a metal pipe, one that's light enough for her to pick up and long enough to secure a door. She grabs it and runs back out to the bike, and tosses the bolt cutters to him as she climbs on the back and takes a second to figure out how to hold the pole so they can get going.]

I hope this thing will hold. I guess even if it doesn't, we can use it to hit people with.

[Which sounds pretty fun in its own right, honestly.]

Yeah, motorcycle jousting! Man, I haven't done that in a while. How's your spear arm, huh?

[All said while getting the bike going again, and with a roar of the engine they're back on the move.]

Y'know, it's one a' those things that sounds way easier than it is! 'Cause if you hit wrong you'll fuckin' fall off, or pop your arm outta socket! But damn if it don't feel good when you knock the other guy off instead!

[Honestly, how did any of his friends survive childhood? Or adulthood. Barring him, yeah, yeah.

He takes a circuitous route back toward Dante's, mostly to give them all more time to gather up. Hopefully not too much time, though - the last thing he wants is for them to all be in cars cruising up and down looking for them. But if that's what it comes down to then whatever, burning the building down with a few people in it still sends a message. As long as Dante is dead before they leave town, he'll be content.]

I remember you told me you got hurt motorcycle jousting!

[She can vaguely remember him telling her that in passing when they first met and were on the road, and how proud he was of himself. The memory brings on fond laughter that only amplifies as he keeps on talking. Yeah, she's pretty sure she'd end up with the arm out of socket but maybe she'd luck into getting some guy off his bike.

It feels ridiculous to be holding the pipe as they drive along, and by the time they reach the area around the Jawbreaker clubhouse she's hoping some guys are outside so she can joust the pipe right through them. There's no one really outside though, but she can hear a whole lot of voices inside the old warehouse building. Which is pretty impressive, they're not right up against it. But someone inside is getting everybody fired up.

She laughs as she considers it's poetic somehow since they're about to be all burned up.]

Even if it's not everybody, it's enough. Let's get the gas poured all around first, then we can try locking them in.

[It makes more sense to her to do that, just in case they're caught mid gasoline pouring and have to stop and take off running. They don't want to waste valuable time putting a metal pipe in the door handles.]

Here, I'll go pour.

[She's feeling awfully brave and confident. It would've been terrifying to her even a month ago to have to be the one to go up alone and pour gasoline around the perimeter of another gang's hangout. And look at her now, all eager to get the job done. The Ender better be proud of her and her progress, wherever he is.]

[Sure, works for him. He personally would have locked them in first, but - well fuck it, he can do that. The bike's fine. He parks a good several feet away just in case, but then drops the kickstand and hops off to bar the doors with the pipe.

And then while she empties out the last of the gasoline, he does the other critical thing and quickly grabs the yellow and the white cans of spray paint. If there's time they can fancy things up later, really make their mark stand out, but a quick W and E divided by a lightning bolt on the street in front of the building will do the job if that's all they have time for.

That done, he tosses those back in the saddlebags just in time to see a car rounding the corner - one that, when the driver spots them, quickly starts to speed up.]

Outta time, baby girl! Better light it up!

[He wheels the bike around and heads straight for her with an arm out, ready to pull her onto the moving motorcycle if he has to. There's angry yelling from that car, and a reckless gunshot that goes wide - but fuck, if those dudes hit the gas, could they start it themselves? He doesn't want to be close enough to find out.]

[The good thing about partnering up with Johnnie for this stuff is he always supports her ideas and takes what she thinks into consideration. She can tell he maybe would've done things differently, but they work together well. So well that she already has the lighter she grabbed out and is getting it lit when he shouts out to her.

Of course, his warning makes her panic and she fumbles a little. But she doesn't drop the lighter and gets things lit, and hurries over to light another point before she pops upright. That's when she takes notice of the car rushing toward them, with the gunshot following shortly after. She yelps and takes off running toward Johnnie with flailing arms that look like limp noodles. With his much more solid arm outstretched, he's able to grab her as he drives past, but she jumps at the same time to make it easier on him.

She swings her leg so it goes over the seat and she lands on the back, and instantly wraps both arms tight around him as another gunshot fires off. That one goes wide as well but is close, and this time she shouts in fear.

All that noise draws the attention of the men inside, and she hears them trying to get the door open. A downright devilish smile takes over her face as she cackles in delight. They're zooming off past everything then, and she shouts and howls even as they're still being chased.]

We gotta keep these guys tailing us so they don't go help everybody else!

[Phew, scooped her right up and just in time, too. Makes him feel a little extra badass, pulling that maneuver. If only anyone who saw it would appreciate it, damn.

The fire is building quickly on account of the gasoline. Johnnie can't feel it, can't hear it over the bike, but he can imagine the heat at his back and the roar of the flames. The golden light growing stronger and stronger is impossible to ignore, though - until they round the corner at high speed, as he does as Chrissy suggests and works to draw that car away from the burning building.

It only works for so long. Those guys are all yelling, he can just make it out over the engine, and they eventually must have agreed to go back and try and get their friends out because the car splits off from its path and stops tailing them. Johnnie frowns and pulls the bike around to head back down one of the streets parallel to the one the Roadhouse is on.]

Think we distracted 'em as long as we can. Man, it's gotta be a fuckin' oven in there though!

[They should just leave, but he can't. He has to drive closer, go see the whole thing up in flames. And once it's in sight, with those towering pillars of orange and red, he whoops and howls and laughs as they speed on past.

One of the guys in the car has taken a baseball bat and used that to push the pipe out of the door handles, but thick smoke billows out. Anyone still in there is probably going to find it tough to make it to the door in time.]

[She's so focused on watching the destruction and chaos that she doesn't whoop or howl. She sits there and watches, smiling as she takes it all in. If this is what the end of the world will be like at their hands, she's not as afraid of it as she used to be. At least this way she'll have some control over things.]

It's too bad we didn't grab a camcorder yet. This would've been so good to record and bring back for everybody back home to see. Dale and Rigo really would've loved it.

[That just means they'll have to do this again once they do get one. Her arms slide back around him to hug him tight, and she kisses the back of his neck a few times before working around to the spot right beneath his ear.]

Gosh though, I hope Dante's in there. Maybe we should spray paint a few other tags around the area just so they know for sure it was us. In case there's anyone that survives, I mean.

[They're not going to chase those people down and run them over or stab them or anything...probably. They can live and tell everybody in town about the World Enders and why it's not a good idea to mess with them.]

Yeah, my brothers both woulda been all over this shit. 'S fine, just means when we get us a little movie maker of our own, we get to do it again with someone else, somewhere else.

[Surely these won't be the only assholes they run across. And there's always always cops.

He reaches back briefly to give her knee a squeeze in return for the kisses, then steers the bike around to a corner nearby - not right next to the flames, but in view of them down the small side street they're stopped on. If cops and fire crews come, they're not likely to come up from behind them.]

All right babe, pick your favorite color. Let's write all over this shitty fuckin' neighborhood.

[He's getting first dibs - he wants white. It stands out so well, especially at night. Red might be his favorite color, but writing tags with white is always the right move in his opinion. He'll leave all the fancy coloring to the ones who like to get all artistic with it.]

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I sure like the feeling of an endless road

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