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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Uh, yeah, you wanna find my lighter an' smokes? Maybe these guys wanna try some.

[But otherwise, he's good. He's mostly dressed and he's sort of enjoying going barefoot.

The other three look curious at Chrissy's departure as they gesture and try to ask things, but Johnnie just shrugs and waves them on ahead.]

It's fine, she'll be back.

[They don't need to hear the words to understand his cheery lack of concern, and so they shrug it off and carry on, bringing Johnnie and the duck up to the camp.

The other two at the camp are a middle-aged man and woman. Maybe these people's parents? Or aunt and uncle? Hell, all he can do is guess. They give him a good stare, but their new friends explain something or other about what's going on and Johnnie just smiles and does his best to introduce himself by pointing at his chest and saying his name. That also is relatively universal, although the names he gets in return are beyond his ability to remember or reproduce accurately. Still, he does his best to mimic them and gets some laughter out of it. They have him sit and he's given water and a small woven bowl with what looks like some well-fried bugs in it, which is... sort of a shock, but hell, he's adventurous enough to try them.

Crunchy.

The fire gets a big pot of water placed on top of it, but already cooking on hot stones are what definitely reminds him of thick tortillas, and he points and names them as such, which gets a word repeated back that he'll never remember. But hell, it's sort of a connection. Flat breads of ground up grains must be something everyone likes.

By the time Chrissy comes back, he's happily snacking, and grins as he nudges the bowl of fried grasshoppers toward her.]

Hungry?

[It doesn't take her too long to get back to their little camp and get dressed. His things are grabbed and she puts on her own jacket, and makes sure to grab his shoes in case he changes his mind about wearing them. She piles things into her backpack after dumping out the contents into the saddlebag, and she stops at the water to fill up his canteen before making her way back to everyone else.

As she approaches she's struck by how picturesque it is. It's calm and quiet, but bustling in a homey kind of way that makes her excited to join in. A middle aged woman spots her as she heads into the camp, and she calls out for the others. The two guys that met them at the creek come out to get her, and she laughs as they usher her along to where Johnnie is waiting. The offer of snacks makes her grin, and she passes him the canteen as she slides off her backpack and reaches into the bowl.

Only to pull out...fried grasshoppers?

She hesitates, but doesn't want to be rude. Rather than pass them along she tries a couple, and decides they're not her thing. Those tortillas cooking sure are her kind of thing though, and she points at them.]

Please?

[The woman that's nearby says something she doesn't understand, and Chrissy just barely manages to keep from wiggling as she's passed one. She gobbles it down so quickly that the older woman laughs, and hands her another. That one is torn in half and shared with Johnnie.]

Have you guys just been sitting here eating?

Mmm - yeah.

[Well, that's all he's been doing, but in his defense they're all kind of waiting for the pot of water to boil. It's close now, though.

And these tortillas? Shit, man. He grins as he swallows a bite.]

I dunno what these are made of 'cause it ain't corn like I ever tasted, but they're real good!

[To make sure he's made his point, he raises the remnant in his hand at the nearest one of the guys, who is currently otherwise cleaning out the duck's innards into a basket for whatever purpose. He looks over at Johnnie and laughs, nodding. Everyone loves good food, even though he can tell they're sort of laughing at him - not rudely, but he can imagine also being surprised by someone completely loving a plain corn tortilla too.

The duck gets gutted, then blanched and plucked until it is basically just one naked looking thing, not all that different from those grocery store chickens except with its head and feet still very much intact. The older woman comes over to collect the organs and feathers while the guys move the pot, exclaiming at each other while keeping from burning themselves on the hot water and stone rim, then they set the duck up over the flames to cook.

And by now, Johnnie's stomach is really grumbling. Tortilla and bugs has been a snack, not a whole meal, and the sizzling duck fat smells incredible.

While he's watching, the younger woman comes to sit beside Chrissy, and cautiously taps her on the shoulder, then pinches the fabric of her shirt between her fingers. She says something that Johnnie thinks sounds like a question, but he could for sure be assuming wrong.]

Yeah, we dress pretty different, huh?

[Chrissy offers the other woman a smile and holds out her arm where she's wearing one of the bracelets she stole. It's always interesting to her to see different clothes in different places and time periods, and she's sure that's a universal thing. It's probably pretty fascinating to have two strangers show up dressed so strangely.]

I like your necklace.

[They have jewelry in common at least. Chrissy grins as she gently touches at the necklace around the woman's neck. In response, she gets a smile. They both wind up laughing in the way that you do when you enjoy someone's company but have no idea how to actually talk to them. The woman tells her something she tries to mimic but can't say, and they both wind up laughing a little more.

Chrissy's hand is grabbed as she's guided up to stand, and she's hurried over by her new friend into another tent. It must be the girl's space, because she goes to a leather bag and pulls out more necklaces and bracelets. There's really only one option here. Chrissy takes the bracelet off her arm and puts it on the other woman, grinning as she watches the look of awe cross over her face.

Gifts are a pretty universal way of making friends.]

[Off Chrissy goes to make friends, leaving Johnnie with the two young men. They seem cool, but it's tough to communicate, and unlike girls who seem to have some kind of natural bond or some shit, guys have it a little harder. That, and there's two of them and one of him, so mostly the two of them talk to each other, and occasionally look in his direction. Meanwhile, a few steps away, the older woman is doing something to clean and make use of the duck organs with the older man, and then he comes a moment later to set some of those in the fire, skewered on sticks.

He looks slightly skeptical as he looks Johnnie up and down, but softens up pretty quickly with a laugh and some warmth in his eyes as the two guys say something to him. The older woman comes by with more dough for those tortillas, too, stacking up the finished ones so the fresh ones can cook.

Seems like a good moment in Johnnie's view, as the duck sizzles over the fire and as they all wait eagerly, to break out his smokes and light one up. He takes a drag, then offers it to the nearest of the younger men while letting smoke curl from his lips.]

It's good. Makes you feel good.

[Plus the demonstration obviously shows it's not poison.

But any thoughts of that kind of worry melt away as he eagerly takes it from Johnnie for a drag of his own, and then passes it around with a grin and a total lack of coughing. They must smoke something, themselves, now and then because they take to it completely naturally, so Johnnie hands out a few of those cigarettes so they can all have one. Leaves his pack approaching empty, but he has more on the bike. It's worth it to share.]

[Chrissy returns arm in arm with her new friend, who she thinks is called Aponi. It's hard to tell because she thinks her name is longer than that, but those are the closest sounds she can make out and say. As they make their way over to join the others, Chrissy smiles at the sight of Johnnie sharing cigarettes with everyone. It looks like smoking things is universal too.

That's pretty comforting, actually.

She pulls away from Aponi to join Johnnie, eager to wrap her arms around him from behind and give him a quick kiss to his cheek. See, she's perfectly capable of controlling herself.]

I think her name is like Aponi? Maybe. But look, she gave me a bracelet and I gave her the one I was wearing. It's really pretty.

[She glances over just in time to see her friend kiss one of the guys. There goes her theory they're all siblings here with their parents. The sight of young love also being a universal thing makes her smile, and she hears something close to her name being said as her friend points to her.]

Oh hey, that's right! I'm Chrissy. Chrissy - [She puts both hands to her chest, then reaches over to ruffle Johnnie's hair.]

Johnnie.

[Aponi gets the idea of what she's doing and tries saying his name too. Everyone ends up laughing at the attempts, but it's all in good fun.]

Johnnie.

[He says it himself. They're doing names again? Great, actually, because man he couldn't get the hang of them the first time.]

Aponi?

[He tries, looking at the girl, and she grins and laughs but evidently they're close enough that she's going to accept it.

The guy she kissed tries to introduce himself again, something Johnnie thinks sounds like Moolinuko but with more syllables, and the other says Kallitwa or something close enough that Johnnie is pretty sure he gets it down this time when he repeats it back. The older man is something like Cobna that makes Johnnie think of Cobb and that he can remember no problem, while the older woman's name sounds like If, or Ef maybe, a vowel sound in between those two letters.

By the time they've finished playfully poking fun at them all saying each others' names mostly wrong, Cobna moves the organ meats off the fire and passes the sticks around, then takes the duck off as well and begins to carve it with a shining black stone blade.]

Guess we're sharing all this, but y'know what? They gave us so much it works out.

[The duck is not his and Chrissy's alone, but in return they got to try other stuff and hang out and honestly, that's great. This is so much better than sitting around bored in nature by a stream with bugs and fish.]

This is one of the best stops we've made.

[It's just so peaceful and wholesome that it's easy to smile and go with the flow. As portions are handed out, everyone quickly opts for eating instead of trying to make conversation. It's not awkward though, there's a companionable stretch of silence that ends when she's had her fill and she leans over to rest her head on Johnnie's shoulder.

He's on his fourth or fifth wind by now, but she hasn't slept long enough to really convince her body that it's well rested and can keep going. So she yawns, but has the decency to turn her head enough that her face is buried against him.]

How long do you think you wanna hang out here?

[Hopefully he can make that out with how she's trying to murmur in order to stay quiet.]

Hmmm.

[He thinks it over while chewing on a chunk of duck. Even without salt and with minimal spices, it might be the best thing ever - but maybe he's just that hungry. Besides, there's always the appeal of food cooked over fire. There's something primally satisfying about it - some part of him that probably still reacts to situations like these folks here living their lives in the wilderness.

But he's a city kid and is not about to take that too seriously.]

I dunno. Not too long. Nice of 'em to invite us over but I think I could go for some sleep after I eat. Nothin' like a full stomach to knock you out, huh? Besides. These people are nice an' all but I bet they don't want us just hanging out here too long, they got shit to do, I figure. They didn't have to come babysit us with this duck.

Yeah.

[One more yawn, and then she's lifting her head to try and stay awake. If she keeps resting against him, she's definitely passing out.]

I didn't get much sleep, so I'm pretty tired. I think I want to head back to our stuff.

[Their canteen is right there, so she takes it and drinks as much cold water as she can to try and wake herself up. But her stomach is full, she's content, and it's not long before she's going to crash and burn. ]

It's good we got to trade and give them some things though. The duck, the bracelet, those cigarettes. I bet we made a good impression. Even if we can't say their names.

Yeah. Real good little break. An' I think I can get us up to speed on that path when we wanna move on. It's a little bumpy, but we've had worse. Like that sand place? That was fucked up.

[The others are all finishing up too, and Chrissy looks like she's about to collapse, so he decides it's time. He clears his throat to get their attention, then gestures to the food, then the two of them with a sort of hands crossed over his chest and half bow motion. That's kind of like saying thanks?

Laughing and shaking his head as they look somewhere between puzzled and understanding, he stands up and pulls Chrissy to her feet as well.]

Thanks. We're gonna go.

[Why the fuck is he even trying to talk? It's not like simple sentences make it easier for them. He points toward back where they came from, and then turns his head sideways onto folded hands and closes his eyes.

Sleeping is an easy motion to understand, although there's clearly some confusion in the response of the two boys, who try to say something at the same time, then swat at each other and laugh. Sleeping during the day? Weird.]

[Chrissy smiles and waves, and after they've said their goodbyes she leads the way out to head back toward their little makeshift camp. She yawns the entire way, and has to lean up against him more than once when she starts stumbling. It's pretty funny how tired she's getting. Duck must be extra fatty or something, it's like she just ate a big Thanksgiving dinner with how much she wants to sleep right after.]

Do you think they drugged the tortillas or something? It feels like I can barely keep my eyes open.

[She's laughing because that's a joke.

Mostly.]

Anyway, it's really nice to meet people somewhere that don't make us want to burn down where they live. It's good to have stops like this every now and then.

[Despite how drowsy she is, she starts to pick up her pace as she sees his bike edging in closer.]

Kinda feels like the less people have, the more they're doin' the right thing sharin' what they got anyway. But, well, maybe these people have a lot, actually. Lotta land out here an' nobody tryin' to take it all away.

[But they don't have cars, or electricity, or money, so by his standards they don't have much. It's like those beaver trappers they met out east, those were Indians too, and then people like Nesry, or that prohibition town where he was making friends with all the black people who had been shunned of to one side of the place. His friends back home, too. The less people have, maybe the better they are at making friends, sticking together, relying on each other.

Not that he'd ever advocate for giving shit up. He's happy with whatever he has, but obviously he's no fucking hermit who wants to go live in the woods and shoot ducks, not really.

Back at the bike, he tosses his lighter and cigarettes in a saddlebag for now just so they're not uncomfortably lumpy underneath him, then sighs contentedly as he stretches out on the grass with his jacket underneath his head, and holds an arm out for her to curl up next to him.]

I'd get bored here too long though. So I hope tomorrow we go forward, not even farther back.

I still really want to see dinosaurs though.

[Or she thinks she does. They just seem so cool. The reality is probably terrifying. But it's fun to imagine being the only humans alive to see real dinosaurs, millions of years before they're ever born.

She's smiling as she settles in the grass, curled up beside him with her head on his chest. Beneath the trees the sun doesn't bother her, it's shady enough for the summer breeze to actually be a little cool. Her eyes instantly shut, and she ignores the fact she hasn't gotten to brush her teeth or anything in favor of just enjoying how nice it feels to get to rest.]

We'll try leaving once we wake up. You're such a good driver we'll be able to get somewhere else.

[No matter what, she'll always believe in him. It's that unwavering faith that has her smiling as she nuzzles in closer and turns her head enough to kiss at his clothed chest. He can do anything he puts his mind to. Even get them the hell out of nature.]

[On the one hand, he's pretty sure that getting somewhere else has little to nothing to do with his being a good driver.

On the other, way more important hand, he is a good driver. He's a great driver. Fuck yeah he'll get them somewhere else.]

Just you wait, baby girl. I'll get us somewhere new an' perfect. Better every time.

[There is no way he can guarantee that, and having said it, in fact, nearly guarantees he'll take them somewhere terrible. But! He's gonna try his fucking best!

Snickering, he yawns despite himself and throws an arm over his eyes. Sleep is about to come extra-easy.]

[She's asleep before he even finishes speaking. Exhaustion has settled in, and she's glad to sleep into a dreamless sleep. The darkness that overcomes her comforts her, and she rests soundly until the warmth of the sun starts to irritate her face. It's only then that she blearily blinks awake and sits up.]

Mmmph. It feels like I'm cooking.

[But she's not, she's just really warm. That's summer for you.]

Johnnie?

[Her head turns to glance over beside her to see if he's still there.]

[He is up, although he hasn't been for long. The heat also made it hard to keep sleeping - as the angle of the sun shifted, they eventually lost their shade. Besides, he's too enthusiastic to keep lying here when there's stuff to do.

Sort of. The novelty of this place is wearing off fast. And he could eat again, though at least he's not starving thanks to their meal earlier. He's not shooting at things this time, not wanting to wake Chrissy early, but instead he's poking around in the creek to see if there are things like clams or crawfish there. Are there clams in freshwater creeks? Would he know what to do with a crawfish if he found one? Probably not, but it makes him feel like he's a kid again, playing in the ditch that is the LA river during the rainy season.

He hears her call his name and looks over toward her and the bike.]

Just over here! You sleep okay?

Yeah!

[She jumps up to her feet and stretches before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Once they're clear she's able to see him down by the creek, and the sight of him looking around puts a smile on her face. Sometimes he makes it easy to see what he must have been like as a little kid. It's pretty darn endearing.]

Did you find anything?

[The question is called out as she jogs over to join him, feet bare as she hops into the creek. The water feels nice and makes her gasp in delight, but she's not too eager to stand around and play in it for long. As much as she enjoys the peace here, it's starting to get old and she's ready to move on. So as soon as she crouches down to pick up a rock out of the water she's throwing it back in.]

Maybe we'll find a diner or something to stop at if we head out and end up somewhere way in the future!

Yeah, let's do that. I ain't findin' anything we wanna eat. Prob'ly tastes like mud anyway.

[Shouldn't take long to gather up their stuff and hop into a new time. He grabs her for a quick kiss, then grins as he pulls away to go get his shoes back on.]

Anyway, if we end up back even further in time, we could eat a dinosaur! You want dinosaur steaks for breakfast? Could be the only people who ever did.

[For now he will have a cigarette for pre-breakfast, in lieu of anything more sustaining. He pulls on his jacket, lights one up, and stuffs his lighter and the empty pack back in his pocket. He'd toss that, normally, but hell they might need a firestarter later.]

Hey, next city though, let's get us some instant coffee too, 'cause if we end up in a time like this again I wanna be able to have some. That an' more snacks.

Sounds good to me! We just gotta leave lots of room for all the things we steal.

[That's the priority on this trip after all. She's grinning as she bounds out of the water and jogs up to their stuff to start getting it all together. Between the two of them they're ready in no time, and she's quick to get on her shoes and make sure her jacket is on.

It's just a matter of walking the bike back to whatever of the path they were on before that they can still find, and then getting on so he can get them going.]

If you get us outta here in five minutes or less, I'll reward you in the bathroom wherever we stop for breakfast.

[Hopefully that's incentive enough, because she's pretty sure a giant bug she's never seen before just landed on his shoulder. She brushes it off before he can notice it, and glances back behind them as she watches it fly away. What the heck was that thing?]

[He looks over at her with a raised eyebrow, then attempts to follow her gaze toward whatever that movement was. Butterfly? Who knows. Who cares. He smirks as he tugs his goggles down over his eyes and gets on the bike.]

I'm gonna hold you to that. Five minutes, let's go!

[She better get on fast, because he's in a hurry!

It is definitely not easy to get up to top speeds on the little footpath, and when he does go fast it's hard to maintain them, but he relishes the challenge of trying anyway. They fly past that little camp on the hill, probably scaring those people as they roar past. Trees, bushes, river all become - well, less of a blur than he'd like, but blurry nonetheless. He's guessing he's going about 40, top, not 80 or more but it's fine it's what they have and he won't waste time thinking about it. He just settles into the road.

Time slips, and this time around he has no control over it. Maybe it's the fault of the road, he can't tell. All he knows is that he's back on the highway as the landscape shifts around him - a good highway and a busy one at that. It's late afternoon and San Francisco commuters pack the road as they make the slow climb up the bridge over the Petaluma River, and Johnnie stares, eyes wide at their surroundings, then whoops with a fist in the air.]

How's that for five minutes!

[Might take them more than five minutes to get into town though with all this traffic, but he weaves through it as well as he can.]

[This go around, time shifts quickly. It's an abrupt change, and she wonders if he had as much control over doing it. Even if he didn't, it's worth celebrating because it happened so fast. She whoops along with him as she rubs at his back and leans in for a quick kiss to the back of his neck.]

You're getting really good at this, babe!

[It's hard to contain her pride in what he can do, so she lets out another whoop that trails off into a howl, and she laughs as she raises both fists into the air. They're getting so strong it's impossible not to be loud about it. It feels like she's bursting at the seams with pride and wants the entire city they've just been dumped into to know about it.]

There's a lot of traffic, but we'll just weave through them. No problem!

[They pass by a family in their car as she says it, and they honk. Chrissy laughs and bares her teeth and growls. It would be nice if she had an airhorn or something. Then she could just loudly honk at anyone that gets in their way. As they steer to go between two cars, she can see one of them has a big TV screen in the console.]

The cars all look so modern. There's a TV build inside that one! We must be in the future again.

Yeah! Some serious future shit! Well that's great, 'cause we can pawn a buncha the stuff we got, get some good cash for it. That'll take up less space, too. An' we can keep it in that lunchbox!

[All perfect ideas to him, but meanwhile he's zig-zagging between cars, around a bus, ignoring traffic lights entirely once they hit their first one and just zipping through the intersection when he sees a gap.

Apparently some cops noticed because they put their siren on, but there's no way they'll catch up with this many cars on the road that have no good way to move over. Sucks to be cops.

They pass a few remaining orchards, and then it's strip mall city on the outskirts of town. Cafes and auto shops and all kinds of suburban bullshit with their sleek futuristic signs - and hey, a taquería, so at least this is some kind of decent civilization.

Following signs, he turns off the highway and heads for downtown, which means crossing the river again as well as railroad tracks. Then it's all old classy buildings, brick and bronze, right next to shiny new sleek things.]

That's better, outta that fuckin' traffic hell. That was just as bad as LA at peak hours, man, can't believe how many cars there are, I thought we were in fuckin' rural wine country. Hey, there's a barbecue place.

[He's looking for food. Barbecue for breakfast sounds kind of fun. But there are easily a dozen restaurants here, things he's never even heard of. Thai? Vietnamese? Right next to some actual breakfast nook that looks closed at this hour. Several bars, a couple burger places that look kind of high-end, a Middle Eastern shwarma place -]

Oh man, that smells good, whatever that is.

We can go there if you want to!

[Barbecue is fine, anything around them is fine. She's pretty flexible when it comes to food these days. And the smell in the air is really good. Her head turns toward the shwarma place, and she gives a nod over toward it even though Johnnie can't see.]

The future has so many people. They're everywhere. That Thai place over there has a line out the door.

[Which means they definitely aren't going there. Her stomach is definitely growling now though, and it sounds off over the engine, which makes her laugh as she presses against him a little tighter like it will shut her body up.]

[Look he has no idea what exactly shwarma is, but he's going there. Smells too good. He cuts someone off as he pulls a U-turn in traffic so he can double back around and park, all with great enthusiasm. Fuck you, Thai place.]

Well, they're all missin' out over there! This is the place to be!

[And it is busy, even if not totally packed. If it was completely empty maybe he would have second thoughts - maybe. He lets his stomach guide him and his stomach says eat here.

He hops off the bike and goes to get the door for Chrissy, and is immediately mesmerized by the rotating racks of meat behind the kitchen counter. As he watches, one of the cooks shaves a long section off onto a plate with a huge butcher's knife.]

Holy shit.

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