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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[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.]

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I sure like the feeling of an endless road

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