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

[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.

[cheerleader]

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.]

[phantomrider]

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?

[cheerleader]

[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.]

[phantomrider]

[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.]