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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Unless shit's really gone to hell. Or they all left here an' this shit's running on emergency power? I dunno.

[He has to slow down to deal with this road, but Chrissy's admiration is cute and keeps him smiling as he reaches back to squeeze her knee.

And then he has to come to an abrupt stop with a squeal of the tires as his light shines through the fog onto a vertical surface. The road has split, a large jagged crack racing across it, and on the far side, the land has lifted upward a good three feet. Johnnie looks it over, then sighs and kills the engine.]

Guess we gotta make a ramp. I wonder what happened? Kinda makes me think a huge fuckin' earthquake musta hit, that's about the only thing.

[They're common enough here - honestly it's a surprise they haven't had one since she joined him, or if they had, they were too small to notice. But he knows big ones happen. Really big ones, sometimes.]

I wonder if this is when dinosaurs are.

[She stares ahead at the three feet they have to get over, and chooses to be optimistic about that instead of frustrated they have a puzzle to figure out here.]

Not that I think that's the only time when earthquakes happen. It's just...I think it would be fun to use a longneck dinosaur as a ramp.

[That's about all the silliness she can manage given the situation, and she smiles a little as she rubs at his back.]

We can try lifting the bike up, only...I don't think we're tall enough. And I know I'm not strong enough. I could try blowing it up so it's all level...ish, but we'd probably be hit and that would really suck.

[Dinosaurs? With flickering street lights and a broken highway? Well, he appreciates the attempt at humor, if that's what it was, and chuckles at the idea. Yeah, a dinosaur ramp would be real cool.]

Yeah, you could, but I bet we got it in us to make a way up without all that. Save your blowin' shit up for when we really gotta hit someone hard. Or make a real cool explosion just for fun!

[Away from the two of them, ideally.

He hops off, drops the kickstand, but leaves the headlight on so they can see, turning the handlebars this way and that to shine light on their surroundings. Yeah, the road's pretty fucked, but if they have to, maybe they can go around. Walk the bike until they find someplace easier to cross. It's steep though - upward to the left, downward to the right. Headlands of the bay are apparently a real big hill.]

Okay, well, there's that guard rail. Maybe we can tear that apart, it's lookin' kinda broken already. We just need a big enough chunk of it to go up a few feet.

[But it might be flimsy, hard to say. Guard rails aren't necessarily weight bearing. Two people and a motorcycle might be too much.]

One person could go up ahead of it, then pull the bike up while the other pushes from behind until it's up? Once we get a ramp, I mean.

I'll push.

[It doesn't sound fun, but it sounds a lot better than trying to pull the bike up a makeshift ramp. She guesses it doesn't really matter much until they manage to get the guard rail to work in their favor. Claiming roles doesn't do much though, so she hops off the bike and cracks her knuckles like she's going to pry the guard rail to their will bare handed.

She can't, of course, but she still wants to be useful here. So she marches right on over to the guard rail and examines it with her hands on her hips. It's broken up enough she's able to grab hold of the edge of where it starts to curl upward and the tries prying it free. That doesn't work, so she tries the next best thing - pressing her foot against the rail and prying it with her hands. It doesn't budge and she huffs and puffs, before she breaks down in a stream of cursing.]

Stupid fucking guard rail! You're a broken piece of shit and you gotta come off so we can use you! So fucking work with me already!!!

Hey hey, c'mon.

[Johnnie rushes over to help, trying not to laugh meanwhile. She's just so damn earnest and it's cute and he can't help it.

The shitty guard rail is about to frustrate him too, anyway. He finds what looks like a weak, corroded spot and gives it a good solid kick with his heel to try and smash through the rusted metal still connecting it to the rest of the railing, but although it cracks, it doesn't fully break - and meanwhile he's sent bouncing backward, hopping on one foot while biting back the pain from the kick. He refuses to whine about it, he's tough, but fucking ow.]

Shit. Okay, but I got part of it! I can get this motherfucker!

[The answer is just to do it again! Harder! He braces himself this time, heel still throbbing, and sends it forward in a hard kick against that corroded surface. The metal bends and whines and snaps, and its jagged edge slashes through his jeans and leaves him bleeding.]

Asshole! Fuck!

[He's FINE he's fine, it's only a long but shallow cut, fucking guard rail bullshit. He grinds his teeth as he forces himself not to hobble, though he does rub at the cut to try and soothe it.

The warped metal is broken on two ends now - hers, and his. It's still very definitely bolted to a couple of posts, though, in the middle. Maybe they can pull it off of them. He just needs a minute.]

Hey hey, c'mon. Wait a second. Let me look at that.

[It doesn't seem like he's going to leap back into action, so she abandons the rail in favor of crouching down to get a look at his leg. It stinks that it cut through his jeans, and really isn't great that he's cut. But they can treat it whenever they find civilization again. Still, she likes fussing over him so she goes to the bike and finds a clean handkerchief so she can dab up the blood.]

I bet if we work it off the posts, it'll be free. Let's try kicking and shoving the posts away. Is your leg okay?

[They're wood. How hard can that be?]

Yeah, yeah, it's fine.

[She's being all doting and that's great but it's pretty unnecessary. Getting sliced up by a piece of rusted metal is unfortunately not a new experience. It'll sting for a while though.]

C'mon, you can poke at me all you want when we got a better spot for it. Let's get that shit taken apart. I bet that wood's barely holdin' on.

[He gives her a hand up, then goes to test the metal guard rail's connection to one of the posts, giving the metal a tug just to see how loose it might be. That wood is old for sure, eaten by bugs and full of rot.

Well, he still has one good leg, and he'll be more careful with it. He gets on the side of the rail where the post is unobstructed, then kicks at that - with a little less force than he'd given the metal. It doesn't topple over or anything, but he scuffs a pretty good chunk of it off, and the crumbling flakes go raining down the hillside a short distance.]

Shouldn't take too long to beat this shit to pieces.

[She watches him go at it, and decides to get out all her earlier frustration by kicking the shit out of this post. Despite the fact she's been out of training for a while now, she still has pretty okay leg strength. And all of her cheer jumps are focused into kicks as she works at crumbling the pillar down until the guard rail creaks and drops down away from it.]

Yeah! I got it!

[Both hands are in the air as she jumps up and down in victory, but doesn't waste any time. She hops over to the other pillar that's in even worse shape and gives it a kick. Some goes crumbling down the hill, but she recoils a little and winds up hopping back. ]

I got this one started. Do you wanna finish it off?

[While he does that, she goes to the rail and tries pulling it back and away. Her legs brace, ready for it to fly free as soon as he gets the wooden pole down.]

Woohoo!

[He cheers for her on that first one as she jumps around, earnestly enthusiastic. It's more fun to enjoy the process than dwell on the annoyances this situation has presented, after all. And hell, seeing her be all tough always gets him going.

Looks like the second one isn't going to play so nice with her though, and so he strides on over as she hops backward.]

Yeah, I got this one. You ready?

[That's not a real question, he sees here there, ready as ever. So he takes his turn, giving the stupid crumbling pole kick after kick until a few large chunks come flinging off, and the whole metal rail tears away from it, finally free.]

Hell yeah! Okay, okay, so now comes the real fun part.

[This thing is totally not sturdy enough to support the bike's weight fully, he can see that in how it bends. But it's going to have to be enough. It's only a few feet up anyway, if it flexes under the weight, who cares?

It's easy to get the strip of metal into position, and the natural groove in its shape is a great fit for the bike tires as he pushes it into place. But then, as he climbs up to the top of the shifted road with only a few choice words for the sting in his leg, he eyes the bike and frowns. Pulling is not going to be fun or easy.]

You're gonna have most of the weight down there, you really okay with that?

[Once they get the rail in place she's left standing at the base of it, squinting upward. A glance is spared toward the bike and it suddenly looks as heavy as it must actually be, and it seems far from the zippy little rocket they weave in and out of traffic in. His leg is hurt, but even so, there's no denying he's at least twice as strong as she is.

That leads her to hesitating, and he can probably see her thinking it over.]

I want to try.

[It's the simple truth. She desperately wants to prove to herself that she can do it. So she puts on a confident face and dusts her hands off on her shorts.]

So let's give it a try. I might be able to do it!

[The optimism gives her motivation to go over to the bike and get the kickstand up so she can walk it over. But gosh, it seems so much heavier with the saddlebags full of stuff. Still, she can do it. She can do this. It'll be fine.

The look on her face as she stands at the base of their ramp is hesitant though. Knowing she's not strong enough and knowing she's going to try anyway is leaving her feeling something funny she can't put a label on.

Pride? Maybe it's pride.

There's no time to think on it, because she takes in a breath and grits her teeth as she stays at the handlebars and starts making her way up the ramp. As soon as Johnnie can get his hands on it, she's sliding down to the back to push with all her tiny might.]

[Well she doesn't give up, that's for sure, he knows that about her. But man, walking the bike on a flat surface is enough of a pain. Up an incline? No easy feat.

He leans down as far as he can to try and reach for the handlebars, though he overestimates his leverage. Sure, now he can touch, but he can't pull, instead he's just sort of here almost laying on the ramp touching the bike. At least he can keep it from tipping, though, that's not nothing.]

Okay babe, c'mon, take a breath an' then give it a real good push, an' I'll help you from there. I just gotta get it a little closer to me first. Almost there.

[She's already red in the face and sweaty, but she still nods and pushes through the fact she's struggling. The noise she makes as she puts her all into pushing is embarrassing, like she's going into labor or something. It's a pained sound that turns into a little scream as her muscles start to burn and her back aches in protest. Still, she pushes through it to try and get the bike up to him.

Just when she's almost there her arms start to wobble and shake. They give out and the bike rolls back, taking her down with it. Just the handlebars hit her at first, but she crumples down and the bike rolls over her. She curls into the fetal position as soon as she lands back down at the bottom of the ramp, just in time for the bike to topple right over on top of her.

He'll probably come down to help her, but she's quick to start trying to squirm her way out from under it. She can smell blood, and figures her nose must be a little busted up or something. Nothing hurts too bad yet, so she needs to get up so she can try again.]

It's okay! I've got it! I just -

I've got it!

[If she keeps telling herself that over and over again, she'll eventually believe it.]

Oh fuck -

[Johnnie is quick to launch himself forward, springing off the risen section of highway to try and stop the bike and, when that fails, to at least get it up and off her, because the way it's fallen, she's pinned pretty good.

He heaves the bike upright and drops the kickstand, then goes right back over to her, far more worried about her than any dings or scratches on the bike from that. It's durable, it's seen some shit. But it has heft to it and she could've broken a rib or something if it landed wrong.]

Nah, it's way too hard to lift that shit when you're on the ground, I got it. You okay?

[Yeah, she's bleeding, but it's the impact stuff that worries him more than a busted nose or lip. He offers her a hand up, but with some hesitation.]

Can you stand okay?

Yeah, I think I'm okay. Just a little sore where I broke those ribs before.

[Those monsters back in Wilmington were a lot. This? This is nothing. She smiles a little as she takes his hand and climbs up to her feet. There's some pain but it's fine. She's fine. So fine she makes her focus that blood she can smell. She wipes at her nose with the back of her hand, then rubs her hand on her leg to try and clear off the blood. It just ends with red smears all over, but that can all wash away later.

It's as she starts to walk up the ramp that she winces a little, but covers it up with a yawn. Like any of this is boring enough to be tired.]

I'll try pulling this time. We'll get it up there, I promise. I'm not giving up!

Yeah, we'll get it, one more try. Get on up there.

[She seems in good enough spirits, so he sends her off with a playful swat to the butt, then grabs the bike and pulls it back around to the bottom of the ramp.

Once she's up, he settles the wheel in the groove in the middle, and begins to push. It's real damn heavy, and they could take off the bags and carry those separately, but wheels on a ramp should theoretically make it easy enough regardless? Not easy, but doable.

The hardest part comes when the bike is nearly halfway up, just about where she can reach to pull. The weight of it is up higher, giving him a lot less leverage to push. He grits his teeth as he persists anyway, holding it steady and walking it up one inch at a time while his shoulder braces against the side of the bike to help take some of the weight.]

Almost atcha. We got this. We'll get a real nice break once it's up top!

[She's suddenly struck by how mature he's become. He's not a real adult like Alex is, but getting so close. He's not being reckless or impatient here. He's slowly coaching them both through this, and he's doing his best to keep her motivated and strong. He believes they'll get this done on this try, and so she does too.

Her head nods as she focuses on getting ready for the bike. He works it up inch by slow inch, and she makes sure her footing is solid. Both hands grab at the handlebars as soon as she's able, and she digs in and starts working her way back. With him solid and steady behind the bike, they're able to actually make some progress upward.

It feels like it takes forever, and her hold nearly slips a few times. But she always resolves her efforts and grabs the bike again, and ignores the fact she's sore as fuck in favor of getting the job done.

As soon as they've got the bike up, she cheers, and waits until she sees Johnnie there too before she collapses back to lay down with a gasp. She's out of breath, drenched in sweat, and thinks she's going to die of thirst any second.]

Oh. My. Gosh. We did it! We're the strongest people in the whole world. I'm just gonna lay here for a minute though, okay?

Fuck, yeah, you do that.

[That was not easy, and it was only a few feet of pushing. There better not be more of that ahead.

Meanwhile he's going for that water canteen of his. He takes a long drink, wipes his mouth on his sleeve, then leans down to offer it to her.]

Here. Man, that was tough. But we did it! Now I wanna see what the deal is with this place. How long ago did all this happen? Y'know, maybe people went north. Or east! Musta gone east. Anywhere away from the coast, if this was from a big fuckin' earthquake. I hope it's real far in the future.

[Because an earthquake this bad would be devastating. He's aware of that. But then again, taking advantage of the chaos? That could be a lot of fun. Him and the rest of the Enders could raid abandoned buildings for months. Not much stealing to do from actual people though probably, they wouldn't have much to give.]

[She sits up to take the water and drink some. If she knew they'd have access to more soon, she'd chug what's left. But it's probably better to conserve, just in case.]

Even if it's not real far in the future, we'll make the best out of it. All the Enders will.

[It's easy to imagine the group of them causing even more chaos and destruction together. The thought of it puts a little smile on her face, and she laughs as she passes the canteen back to him and tries to climb up to her feet. Her legs are just too wobbly still to do that, so she sits back down and sighs. A rest is exactly what she needs.]

I hope we end up in a different time once we're able to get back on the bike and really drive. Or even if we don't, we're able to find somewhere outside we can get some rest.

[After all that physical exertion just now, she's definitely going to crash and burn at some point.]

Does it look like we'll be able to ride from this point on? Or is it a lot more broken up pieces instead of a road?

[Even as she asks, she forces herself to stand so she can look out and survey the world around them. It's a straight shot for hardly any distance, and then a cliff down to...well, more rocky and jagged road. It's going to be a long time before they're able to get out of this, and her shoulders slump as she silently surveys what they're going to be dealing with.]

Looks real rough...

[He trails off, then sighs, slumping a little as he aims the bike headlight ahead so they can see the state of the road.]

I need a longer straightaway to get us out of this, I don't think that's gonna cut it.

[He doesn't need to know exactly how his time-hopping works to know that it follows a pattern. Enough road to lose himself to the hypnosis of it, that's what it feels like anyway - and that is not enough, that there, before the next drop-off.

But they'll figure something out, they always do. So with a shrug, he turns around to grab their makeshift ramp and drag it up to where they are. They'll need it up ahead.]

I'm good to keep goin' farther for a while, we might as well get through as much of this shit as we can. You still got the energy for it?

I think so. There's only one way to find out.

[It's not like they can just stay up where they're at for long. They've got to keep going. She's sore and tired, but she can ignore it for a while longer. The fact that Johnnie is pulling up their ramp so they can keep using it puts a smile on her face. He's making the best out of this, and she can too. ]

I probably can carry that down, if you want to try to walk the bike.

[See, she's not even going to pretend that she's strong enough right now to do it.]

Or I can put the ramp down and we can see if it holds us riding!

[That would be the way more fun option. She gives a little bounce and jogs over to help him pull the metal up, and as soon as it's level where they are she leans in for a kiss. All of this isn't so bad when they're doing it together.]

[He grins at the kiss, he can't help it. Definitely better to tackle bullshit like this with a smile and a laugh, he's all for that, even if it's deeply annoying that they're being put through it.]

Fuck it, let's try! What's the worst that could happen?

[Probably all kinds of things but whatever. They're going down, it'll be fast even if it doesn't support their weight well for long.

But just to test it, first, just to make sure he's not about to get them wrecked and stranded out here, he takes a stride out onto the makeshift ramp and feels it flex under his feet. Stays put, though. Only bends a little.]

Seems okay! Least we're not gonna be goin' real steep. C'mon, let's go!

[He grabs a dislodged chunk of pavement to push up against the lip of the ramp, so the bike doesn't just push the metal down the little cliff instead of riding onto it. Up onto the bike he goes, then, with the wheel aligned and ready. And once she's on, he grins and lets that engine fire up nice and loud before riding forward. All speed, zero caution - slow and cautious now just feels like asking for trouble.

The ramp warps under their weight and tips sideways, and he yells in surprise as he fights to redirect the bike and keep them upright. At this speed, they're off the ramp in a second though, only to hit a few jarring cracks in the pavement that rattle his bones. He hits the brakes just as hard as he'd hit the throttle, and puts a foot down to keep them from tipping as they come to an abrupt stop.]

Ow. Fuckin' bit my tongue! But hey, we're down!

[Goddamn.]

[That was definitely a risky and bumpy ride. She's laughing at the end of it though, and as they come to that stop she gasps and clings hold of him like she might go flying off the bike. Thankfully she doesn't, and she winds up nuzzling her cheek against his as her chin rests on his shoulder.]

You missed your calling as a stuntman, Johnnie.

[She's only teasing, of course. He does plenty of stunts on a daily basis. He doesn't need a bunch of people watching and cheering him on while he does it, it would go straight to his head.

It looks like the path ahead is bumpy but might be able to be driven, or at least the bike can be walked without too much effort.]

Let's see if we can keep going. If we're lucky, we won't need the ramp again.

[But her head lifts and turns back to look at it. Maybe she should just hop off the bike and grab it so she can pull it along with them as they go.]

[He sees her looking back at it, but yeah, there's no way they're bringing that with them, he decides.]

If we need one we'll make another one later. Or we come back for it. But let's see how far this road'll take us.

[North, then. Through the headlands, skirting around places where the pavement has warped and rippled, dodging fallen trees, and finding relief for sure once the highway curves far enough inland that it seems to have escaped some of the worst of it.

They pass through a city here on the north edge of the bay that, like the road, doesn't look completely abandoned. As the sun begins to rise, he still sees lights on in a couple of the homes and businesses - but it truly is just a small handful. Most of the city is dark, vacant, crumbling.]

Well, I dunno which decade this is but it's future enough. The style of this shit ain't anything like what we got at home.

[Billboards advertising law firms, auto collision assistance, restaurants - he's no expert on graphic design, far from it, but it all reads as future to him with those sleek, clean fonts that have zero sense of whimsy. The abandoned cars look new also, and that's something he understands better, but they haven't done nearly enough travel in decades this far past his for him to really pick up on the year. It's not the sixties, not the eighties. And anyway, he doesn't really care that much.

There's an old blockade on the road ahead, but someone has pulled the makeshift gate apart to make travel easier. For a while though, evidently there was some reason to block this road.]

Someone didn't want anyone goin' north without their go-ahead. Maybe just tryin' to rob people though. Fuckin' toll to escape or shit.

[Or who knows. Maybe the damage is that much worse farther ahead. Doesn't matter now.]

[The road being blocked puts her on edge, and she eyes it critically as they edge in closer to it.]

They could still be here.

[The warning isn't needed, she knows, but it makes her feel better to get her anxiety spoken out in the open. Her hold on him tightens and she presses in flush against his back, her thighs baring down against the bike. She still remembers the time they wound up in some crazy race oriented version of the future and how being a girl made her some kind of commodity. She absolutely doesn't want a repeat of that.

There's no way around though, they have to keep moving forward.

As they pass through the gate her breath catches, and she's on high alert as she looks all around. No one comes storming toward them, no gunfire happens, there's no real sign of life. The area they drive through was once occupied in the time after whatever disaster caused the ground to shift the way it has. There's tags all over the place that she doesn't recognize, but what's interesting to her is it's done in mud and brushed paint that had to drip to dry rather than traditional spray paint.

They drive for about fifteen more minutes before they approach another makeshift barricade. Unlike the one before, this one is closed. Standing at the gate are two masked men, and even from a good distance away Chrissy can see they're carrying shotguns. There's no way around, they can only press forward.]

What do we do if those guys won't let us in?

[Now, that looks serious. And Johnnie doesn't like the look of those shotguns. Playing this risky is fine but playing it stupid is not, and he's pretty sure barreling right toward them counts as stupid.

But one thing is for sure, there's no clear way around. Not without doubling back and trying to head east instead, up into the hills, where the road and the people who live on it are likely to present some curveballs anyway.]

We deal with 'em, I guess.

[Not much choice. They can't exactly sneak up on the guys who are watching them and waiting for them to make a move. So Johnnie carries on, straight forward, stopping the bike when one of these guys puts a hand up.]

Registration and ID, sir. You too, miss. Where are you two heading?

[So that's not just an outright "this is closed", it's a "this is open for certain people if you follow certain rules." Maybe they can work with that. They sure do have a ton of bribes in the form of jewelry with them.]

I, uh, I don't have that shit. Lost it in a fire. Some assholes tried to rob my place an' burn it down. But we're just goin' north, y'know? How's the road look up ahead?

[He says it all with a smile, cheerful enough, like he'd love to play this game if he could.]

I sure like the feeling of an endless road

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