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]

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.]

[phantomrider]

[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.]

[cheerleader]

[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!

[phantomrider]

[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.]

[cheerleader]

[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.]

[phantomrider]

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.]

[cheerleader]

[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?

[phantomrider]

[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!