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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[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.]

Yeah, motorcycle jousting! Man, I haven't done that in a while. How's your spear arm, huh?

[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.]

I remember you told me you got hurt motorcycle jousting!

[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.]

[Sure, works for him. He personally would have locked them in first, but - well fuck it, he can do that. The bike's fine. He parks a good several feet away just in case, but then drops the kickstand and hops off to bar the doors with the pipe.

And then while she empties out the last of the gasoline, he does the other critical thing and quickly grabs the yellow and the white cans of spray paint. If there's time they can fancy things up later, really make their mark stand out, but a quick W and E divided by a lightning bolt on the street in front of the building will do the job if that's all they have time for.

That done, he tosses those back in the saddlebags just in time to see a car rounding the corner - one that, when the driver spots them, quickly starts to speed up.]

Outta time, baby girl! Better light it up!

[He wheels the bike around and heads straight for her with an arm out, ready to pull her onto the moving motorcycle if he has to. There's angry yelling from that car, and a reckless gunshot that goes wide - but fuck, if those dudes hit the gas, could they start it themselves? He doesn't want to be close enough to find out.]

[The good thing about partnering up with Johnnie for this stuff is he always supports her ideas and takes what she thinks into consideration. She can tell he maybe would've done things differently, but they work together well. So well that she already has the lighter she grabbed out and is getting it lit when he shouts out to her.

Of course, his warning makes her panic and she fumbles a little. But she doesn't drop the lighter and gets things lit, and hurries over to light another point before she pops upright. That's when she takes notice of the car rushing toward them, with the gunshot following shortly after. She yelps and takes off running toward Johnnie with flailing arms that look like limp noodles. With his much more solid arm outstretched, he's able to grab her as he drives past, but she jumps at the same time to make it easier on him.

She swings her leg so it goes over the seat and she lands on the back, and instantly wraps both arms tight around him as another gunshot fires off. That one goes wide as well but is close, and this time she shouts in fear.

All that noise draws the attention of the men inside, and she hears them trying to get the door open. A downright devilish smile takes over her face as she cackles in delight. They're zooming off past everything then, and she shouts and howls even as they're still being chased.]

We gotta keep these guys tailing us so they don't go help everybody else!

[Phew, scooped her right up and just in time, too. Makes him feel a little extra badass, pulling that maneuver. If only anyone who saw it would appreciate it, damn.

The fire is building quickly on account of the gasoline. Johnnie can't feel it, can't hear it over the bike, but he can imagine the heat at his back and the roar of the flames. The golden light growing stronger and stronger is impossible to ignore, though - until they round the corner at high speed, as he does as Chrissy suggests and works to draw that car away from the burning building.

It only works for so long. Those guys are all yelling, he can just make it out over the engine, and they eventually must have agreed to go back and try and get their friends out because the car splits off from its path and stops tailing them. Johnnie frowns and pulls the bike around to head back down one of the streets parallel to the one the Roadhouse is on.]

Think we distracted 'em as long as we can. Man, it's gotta be a fuckin' oven in there though!

[They should just leave, but he can't. He has to drive closer, go see the whole thing up in flames. And once it's in sight, with those towering pillars of orange and red, he whoops and howls and laughs as they speed on past.

One of the guys in the car has taken a baseball bat and used that to push the pipe out of the door handles, but thick smoke billows out. Anyone still in there is probably going to find it tough to make it to the door in time.]

[She's so focused on watching the destruction and chaos that she doesn't whoop or howl. She sits there and watches, smiling as she takes it all in. If this is what the end of the world will be like at their hands, she's not as afraid of it as she used to be. At least this way she'll have some control over things.]

It's too bad we didn't grab a camcorder yet. This would've been so good to record and bring back for everybody back home to see. Dale and Rigo really would've loved it.

[That just means they'll have to do this again once they do get one. Her arms slide back around him to hug him tight, and she kisses the back of his neck a few times before working around to the spot right beneath his ear.]

Gosh though, I hope Dante's in there. Maybe we should spray paint a few other tags around the area just so they know for sure it was us. In case there's anyone that survives, I mean.

[They're not going to chase those people down and run them over or stab them or anything...probably. They can live and tell everybody in town about the World Enders and why it's not a good idea to mess with them.]

Yeah, my brothers both woulda been all over this shit. 'S fine, just means when we get us a little movie maker of our own, we get to do it again with someone else, somewhere else.

[Surely these won't be the only assholes they run across. And there's always always cops.

He reaches back briefly to give her knee a squeeze in return for the kisses, then steers the bike around to a corner nearby - not right next to the flames, but in view of them down the small side street they're stopped on. If cops and fire crews come, they're not likely to come up from behind them.]

All right babe, pick your favorite color. Let's write all over this shitty fuckin' neighborhood.

[He's getting first dibs - he wants white. It stands out so well, especially at night. Red might be his favorite color, but writing tags with white is always the right move in his opinion. He'll leave all the fancy coloring to the ones who like to get all artistic with it.]

[The louder the commotion gets, the bigger those flames become? Well, the more quietly excited she is. One of her hands rubs at his leg while the other twirls the end of her ponytail around her finger. Her smile is dimpled by the time he gets them moved and to pick out a can of spray paint.

He opts for white, but she decides that red sounds fun for now. She grabs it and gives it a good shake, giggling at the sound as she does. Whatever he starts off with is a little different than her own. She does a pretty W & E with a squiggly bolt, but then uses the red to draw a heart around it.

She's primed after that, and finds a dumpster to spray paint her initials & Johnnie's initials with a lightning bolt between them. By that point he's probably already tagged the whole block, but that's okay. It's the effort that counts here. He doesn't look like he's done though, so she skips along tagging tons of World Ender memorabilia all over whatever surface she can find.]

Hey, I'm just about out!

[It's called out to him as she draws a series of hearts in varying sizes along a wooden fence that's been painted white. It's adorable and she poses beside her handiwork.]

How long do you think we should stick around?

[Johnnie opts for the sort of stuff he usually does - or rather, usually sees. He doesn't go around tagging much back home, that's kid shit. But out here there's a real need, and he'll fill the gaps with paint.

With his can approaching empty, and with his eyes constantly scanning for signs anyone might move in on them, he makes his way back toward the bike - and happens across quite a lot of Chrissy's hearts along the way, which makes him burst with laughter.]

Oh fuck! Yeah, real threatening. Shit, all right, yeah we better get a move on. Fire an' cops'll be headin' toward that building any minute, we don't wanna be here when they get here.

[Fuck this paint can, it doesn't have enough left to be useful. He tosses the thing aside and straddles the bike seat, and gets the engine started.]

Much as I'd love to sit an' watch those fuckers burn to death, I don't really wanna wind up in jail in San Francisco, we got a lot more driving to do!

[She glances back toward the fire and shrugs. It was fun when it started, but she can lose interest in the name of getting out of here and driving around. Having fun is a whole lot better than winding up arrested.]

We gotta go back and find our stuff at that temple, right?

[The fun part of that will be the fact she was so excited by the fire that she potentially has forgotten how to get back where they stashed everything.]

Let's go find it and then head back to the hotel to pack everything up and get outta here. If any Jawbreakers are still around, they're gonna come looking for us.

They better fuckin' come. You cowards too fuckin' scared?

[He shouts toward the fire, but the yelling in return doesn't sound directed at him anyway. They're busy - the ones outside trying to help their friends, the ones inside trying not to die. Nobody is ready yet to come chase after them. Probably never will be.

With a joyous cackle, Johnnie pulls her up onto the bike, then takes off. Before they fully leave the scene though, he does one last loop around the block so he can howl and jeer at the people trying desperately to claw their way out of the building. The people outside have pulled the pipe from the door handles, but there's so much fire billowing out that it looks like they can't get closer.

One of them hears the two on the bike and shouts, and tries to throw the pipe like a javelin. It's nowhere near as effective as he might have hoped, though, so it rolls off with a clang onto the pavement somewhere behind them. Johnnie pulls the front wheel off the pavement in a wheelie briefly just to show off before they're fully out of sight.]

Fuckers! Those assholes are really gonna fuckin' regret ever messing with us. Okay, I think we go this way? That temple thing can't be too hard to find.

It's too bad more of them didn't get out. We could've run some of them over doing wheelies!

[She laughs as they speed away, and once she's sure no one is following she outstretches both of her arms and howls to the night sky. It's great to be able to make people explode and everything, but there's just something about physically lighting things on fire that's really special. It's impossible not to give into the pure joy and rush of adrenaline she's feeling, and her arms wrap tight around him and she holds him close so he can feel her heart racing against his back.

He's mentioning something about the temple right after, and she shrugs even though he can't see it.]

I bet there aren't too many temples around here. There's churches everywhere, but - oh! Turn up ahead! I remember that gas station.

[Whether it's the exact one they went by before or another one similar remains to be seen. But she sounds confident, and she thinks that's the only thing that really matters.]

Oh yeah, yeah me too!

[It's not that hard to backtrack. Their memories combined (and sober) get them back to the temple without too much difficulty. Sunrise is still at least an hour or two off, although here in San Francisco it may even come later - the fog has rolled in overnight and on this side of the hill it's even more obvious, where it has filled up all of the spaces between buildings and the bay, hanging low enough to make visibility start to suffer at the far end of the street.

There's stirring in one of the old homes across the street from the temple - a light on, shadows moving behind the curtains. But Johnnie pays it no attention. They won't be here long. He parks and hops off, striding right toward those big doors to head inside and grab their stashed treasures.

If anyone is especially attentive come morning they might notice the new footprints on the carpet, but by then the two of them should be long gone. Johnnie pops the trunk open and starts dragging out armfuls of their stolen hoard.]

I wonder if they got anything else we can grab while we're here? Don't places like this have wine?

[Or maybe Jewish ones don't. He's fully clueless.]

I'm not sure. I know Catholic churches do.

[But she's not against looking around, and she pauses as she passes by a big book up on a stand. It's not the same Bible she knows, but she still respectfully averts her eyes and keeps on moving.]

I think most religions use wine actually. Usually around where the guy talking gives it out to people, so...

[There's some built in shelves back there, and some built in chests. They're not locked. She opens one and grins as she glances over his way.]

Bingo.

[Two bottles are held up, one in each hand. The lid to the chest drops shut, slamming and echoing loudly in the temple. Her eyes go wide as she startles herself, and she takes a running leap toward Johnnie to hide behind him like something's there that might get her.]

[That loud echoing slam has Johnnie look up sharply with the pillowcase full of jewelry in his arms, but all he can see is Chrissy running toward him, nothing actually dangerous, and he smirks as he puts it together.]

What, baby girl? You scared of some ghosts lurkin' in the back corners?

[He teases, but then looks to make sure there aren't actually ghosts back there - if there are, he can't see them.]

Wonder if they got good wine or cheap shit? Anyway, c'mon.

[Pillowcase, metal lunchbox, other loose stuff - it all gets loaded up in one saddlebag, with plenty of room in the other for the wine. He looks one of the labels over, but it's pretty mysterious to him. Whatever, it's alcohol. Drinkable, or worth a trade to someone else for something better. Or a gift, you never know when one of those will come in handy.]

Hotel next, but I'm thinkin' we better just clear our shit out an' leave. Those cops have seen enough of us tonight. We'll find somewhere else to sleep, maybe up north of the bridge.

That sounds like a good plan.

[He helps her up onto the bike and they're off, and it takes hardly any time for them to find their way back to the hotel. It's quiet and still at this hour, and Chrissy has to stifle a yawn as he leads her into the room and they work together to get their stuff packed up and back into the saddlebags. This hotel was a nice place with a fun pool, but it's exciting to be getting back on the road.

She waits until they've been on the road for a few minutes before resting her chin on his shoulder and turning her head enough to give his jaw a kiss.]

Are we gonna drive over the bridge? I want to howl and shout the whole way across, until we run out of breath!

[He had mentioned resting once they got north of the bridge, which sounds nice. But it would be pretty cool to get to drive really fast across it and make as much noise as possible.]

Yeah! We'll fuckin' make sure they hear us all the way to fuckin'... I dunno, whatever's across the water.

[Just to emphasize, he tips his head back for a howl here and now, right as they race through downtown. Again, maybe, probably, they should have consulted the map. But really, he's not worried. They'll do it if they get lost or if they have a particular place to go. He's driving over the bridge, up the coast, and wherever else the roads take them.

It takes some backtracking through the city on streets they've been on or past but eventually the road takes some broad curves through a big park that reminds him of the one in New York, then lines them up to drive up and over tall cliffs and toward big orange bridge - though in this lighting it doesn't yet look orange. It's a muted brown through the dark and the fog, only turning reddish where the street lights touch it.

There are toll booths here, with arms swung down to make people pay, but Johnnie notes a side entrance without any sort of barrier except cones. What that's for, who can say, but he cackles as he weaves the bike between the cones and races onto the bridge despite a startled shout from the person working an overnight toll shift.]

Woohoo! Yeah, fuck you, you can't make me pay to drive on a goddamn bridge, this shit's for free now, asshole!

[She howls with laughter at that, flipping off the person working with a grin as she glances back. A wink is timed just right, and the shocked employee stares in open confusion as they speed on ahead.]

This bridge is ours! Fuck you, San Francisco!

[That deserves double middle fingers up in the air as they drive past some cars with losers who probably have to get to work early in the morning. What a sad life. She's giggling as her hands drop down to wrap back around Johnnie to hang on like he might go really fast at any given second.]

Oh gosh, babe, I wish we could tag this with a big W and E and make everyone know it belongs to us!

[But this thing is really big and high, and there is probably water down there beneath them, since this is a bridge and all. They'd probably stop to try and tag it and wind up falling in. Then again, stopping is a bad idea since they just dodged paying a toll and they'll probably have cops on their butts again.]

Maybe another day! We gotta go back south eventually!

[They could do that by going east of here and see new sights, but if the urge to tag this stupid fucking bridge comes to them on the way south then at least they'll have the option.

It is a long bridge, too, made longer by the fog hiding the end of it. It feels like they travel forever over that long paved curve with only shadows below them, dark water hidden by the same fog they're driving through, until finally the end of the bridge emerges as the road curves on through shadowy hills.

And it's changed, too. Johnnie feels it coming before it hits - the vibration from the road, ringing in his ears, becomes rougher as the pavement changes to something poor, under-maintained. Johnnie looks up, then around, as he keeps driving - the street lights look decayed, but they exist, flickering and pale.]

Okay, well, least it didn't drop us in the water, we still got a road. I could tell it was happening this time too, right before it hit.

[For some reason. Maybe he's just getting better at this with time, but it's not really the most important thing right now.]

You could?

[He's always amazing, but he's getting stronger each and every day. It's impressive that he was able to tell when the shift was happening, and she gives him a quick kiss to his cheek as she holds on a little tighter. This kind of terrain makes for a bumpy ride, but at least there's still a road.]

The fog's getting really thick out here.

[Which makes sense since they're right by the water. Low visibility and unfamiliar road in a place they've never drove through before sure does make her nervous though.

They ride for a few more minutes before the poorly maintained road becomes a whole lot bumpier. She gasps as it happens, then can't stop laughing at every jostle. There's a minute when she tries yodeling to the bumps, but she really can't yodel and the bumps make her sound more like she's being shaken than anything. It's all in good fun at least, and she settles down when the street lights start becoming less and less frequent, until there's nothing at all. The bike's headlight is the only light guiding their way, and she gulps as she quiets down and tries to help navigate.]

You'd think that there'd be more light barely outside of a big city like that, no matter what time we're in.

I sure like the feeling of an endless road

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