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Apr. 19th, 2025 at 7:28 PM
[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.]
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
I guess they don't need to lock up at night.
[Her voice is kept low, and as they head inside she's incredibly grateful that even though the lights aren't on there's some sub lighting that at least keeps it from being pitch black in here. They walk through a small foyer that leads to double doors that guide their way into the temple itself. It's definitely different from the church she grew up going to, but there's enough similarities that she smiles a little as she jogs on up ahead.]
There's a lot of seats all around this room, huh? Not exactly like a church where it's all benches straight in a row. And look, a stage!
[Is it a stage?
Probably not. But she dances her way up onto the platform as she looks for a place to hide their stuff. Everything up here looks too noticeable and obvious, so she makes her way back down and looks around the room as fast as she can.]
What about over here?
[There's a couple of wooden boxes that are on the floor against a wall, one that's latched closed with a padlock. The other is just latched without one, and she opens it up to reveal...
Candles.
A whole bunch of boxes of candles.]
Let's try putting everything in here. We'll be back in a few hours, way before sunrise.
[No chance anyone's going to come in here in the next couple hours looking for stolen jewelry. And if by chance someone does, at least it won't be easily traceable to the two of them.
He helps her trot their finds over from the bike into the box. It's a tight squeeze, but with some force and a little shoving, they manage to get it all contained and latched, and Johnnie grins at their success afterward.]
That box'd be fuckin' bulging at the sides if it could. All right, let's get the fuck outta here. Y'know, maybe we don't need spray paint, just gasoline.
[Though spray paint will still be a great find if they happen to spot a hardware supply. Mostly he just wants to burn Dante's shitty hangout to the ground, and if they have to burn their mark into the earth to show it was them, fine.]
Just help me remember which streets we took so we can get back here without losin' all that stuff.
[Once they're both seated, he's off again - time to find themselves the tools they need to give those Jawbreakers all the regrets they'll ever be able to handle.]
I think we need spray paint. Because I mean, we don't even know if Dante is still alive after what I did last night, right? But if he is, we want him to know it was us. And they won't unless we tag stuff around their clubhouse.
[It's one thing to set it all on fire, but she's in a particular sort of mood that demands vindictive destruction.]
Dante was so mean to you yesterday and he really hurt my arm when he grabbed me. So I want him and all his guys to pay for it. I wanna lock them in the clubhouse and make it hard for them to get out when it's on fire.
[Is that terrible?
She's losing the ability to tell what's unhinged and what's normal.]
[The kinds of places that sell paint are usually close to where people need them. On the outskirts, near the suburbs. Near industrial centers and docks. And gasoline they can get anywhere. So he does his best to at least judge the general direction they need to go in to head back toward the harbor, and rockets down the street at speeds far exceeding whatever the supposed limit is.
Sirens, in the distance. Could be for them, could be something else. To the south. They're still in the clear for now, but he'll be keeping tabs.
Fifteen minutes or so dumps them into a stretch of factories lining the train tracks on their way to the harbor, and that's where he finds a hardware store easily enough. They have a tall metal fence and a heavy-looking lock on the gate.]
Guess they get fuckin' tired of people like us. C'mon, I'll boost you up.
[She rolls her eyes as she stares up at the metal fence, but readily moves in closer so he can give her a boost. It won't be too hard for her to scale this thing and get to the other side, and sure enough she's climbing up and leaping over and landing on her feet. Getting the gate open isn't going to work with the lock, so she takes a second and stands back to figure out what to do.]
Hey, babe? I may try breaking in and getting what we need by myself. I'm not sure how to get you over here to this side. There's only the one gate, and that lock looks like a pain in the butt to deal with.
[And maybe see if he can work the lock open with his picks, though he's not expecting it. It's practice, though.]
You wind up with more'n you can hold, just roll stuff under to me an' I'll get it on the bike. Or throw it over, I dunno.
[Or break a fucking hole in it with her weird fucking powers. Cool ones, yeah, but damn. Maybe that's what he should be doing, practicing his own shit, but he can't figure out how to access it without that background cosmic hum - or the purr of his bike engine on a long open road where he can let go of everything else.
Oh well. Lockpicking, it is, while listening to those distant sirens. So far, so good.]
Edited (a head is one word omg) 2025-06-22 02:55 am (UTC)
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.]
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.]
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.]
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.]
[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.]
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.
[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.]
[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?
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.]
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.]
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.]
[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.
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.
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.
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.
[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.
[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.]
[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.]
[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.]