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Apr. 19th, 2025 at 7:28 PM
[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.]
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
I dunno, they're goin' in and out. Maybe when they go behind buildings or somethin'. I think we still got time, but you better hurry!
[He's excited, though. Racing the cops to burn some assholes' clubhouse to a crisp? Best kind of night there is. Any minute now the cops could turn down this way and catch them before they get out - so they just have to be faster, and he's good at fast.
Once the paint is all tucked away, he turns back toward the fence, and now those sirens are definitely louder. He takes one glance back toward the road, then shouts through the fence.]
Hey, you better hurry! If you don't have 'em just get out here, we'll get 'em somewhere else! Get some bolt cutters instead so you can get this lock off!
[Hopefully she can hear him yelling. With that, he runs and hops onto the bike. He can lead these assholes in circles all night if they get here before she gets out. He'll make sure they don't catch her trapped in there.]
Only they don't fit, so she curses and hops up to stand. They're not hard to use, she just isn't as strong as he is. Still, she's able to get the chain and lock broken on her third try, and tosses the bolt cutters aside so she can use both hands to pull them free and get the gate open.
He's not there though. Gosh, those sirens are awfully close. He's not being chased by cops right now, is he? If he had to leave her here because she was too slow, she's going to be so mad at herself.]
He leads them in a long chase before turning tightly and doubling back. They'll probably figure it out eventually, but for now he's clear, for a few minutes, leaving them far behind as he zigzags through tight corners and back alleys. The abrupt change of direction has him returning toward the hardware store - where Chrissy must be hiding, hopefully. Looks like she got the gate open at least.]
We got two minutes, c'mon!
[He shouts toward the gate as he approaches, then parks, but he keeps the engine running - and his fingers anxiously tap out a beat on the handlebars as he directs his gaze from the gate back toward the road behind him.]
[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.]
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.
[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.]
[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?
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.]
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.]
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.]
[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.
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.
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.
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.