I sure like the feeling of an endless road

[phantomrider]

[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.]

Comments

[phantomrider]

[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.]

[cheerleader]

[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.]

[phantomrider]

[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.]

[cheerleader]

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.]

[phantomrider]

[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.