Tales from the Intermediate (gxg)

Chapter 16

They were back in the damned car. Their brief, extremely regrettable trip with the fancy hotel left the aimless card ride perpetually silent until they came to a gas station in the afternoon. They were states away from Mulberry now, yet they still were not safe. They were all thinking the same unspoken thing—would this ever end? What were they to do? Who could they go to for help? Is this how they were going to die? Or was this how they were going to live—in fear, running, exhausted.

The first aid kit, along with their old clothes and snacks, were all left behind in their hotel rooms that they never got to go back to. The car was running on fumes, so Dani pulled into a small gas station in the middle of nowhere. The highway, cracked with potholes, was empty as they pulled into the tiny gas station that had dirt for a parking lot, dust swirling up around the old Challenger that had aged ten years from Dani ramming it through the front of the hotel. Luckily, the windshield was left unscathed, but the hood was covered in scratches and dents. The front left headlight had also been busted out.

Matt was delegated to go into the gas station to get a first aid kit and more snacks using the cash in the wallet Dani had taken from one of the men. Dani got out and fueled the car, leaning against the front and letting the sun shine down on her. It was a warmer autumn day, and the sun soothed her skin as she took her hoodie off and wrapped it around her hips, leaving her in just her tank top.

Farren and Charlie sat quietly in the back seat. "Where do you think we're gonna go?" Charlie asked, and Farren only shrugged, so Charlie thought for a moment. "There's a bigger city not far from here. Maybe it'd be safer to be around a lot of people rather than being alone out here in the middle of nowhere."

"More people means more possibility of seeing gang members," Farren said bluntly, throwing her head against the seat and closing her eyes. "It's fucking pointless."

Charlie felt burned by the heat of her attitude. Farren was in a mood now, but it was for good reason. They were all exhausted, anxious, and agitated. Dani was picking the dried blood off her nose when Matt came back out with a plastic bag in each hand. Dani finished fueling the car and got back in the front seat with Matt.

"Here's a first aid kit," he said as he pulled the plastic box with a big red cross on the front out of the bag, handing it to Charlie in the back. "I also grabbed some paper towels from the bathroom for your nose." He handed a wad of napkins to Dani, along with a bottle of water. "And hot dogs!" He pulled out four boxes with hot dogs in them. "They had one of those things with hot dogs where they spin around on sticks behind the glass—"

"Okay, Matt," Dani sharply cut him off, wetting the napkins with the water and leaning up to the rearview mirror to clean the blood off her face.

Matt went quiet and handed hot dogs to Farren and Charlie, who both took them graciously. He handed them chips as well, and he also got an entire box of cookies, although he kept those to himself and ate several before even touching his hot dog and chips.

"I say we go to the city," Charlie said as they sat in the car in silence, eating and watching the occasional car pass by the gas station, always worried they would pull in and start shooting at them. "More people, more places to hide. It's so easy for them to get us out here in the middle of nowhere. We could hide in the city for a few days until—"

"Until what?" Farren snapped. "Until they find us and fucking kill us?"

Dani, mid-bite of her hot dog, froze and looked at Farren in the rearview mirror.

"This is all fucking bullshit," she mumbled, putting her hands over her face and rubbing her temples. She could feel herself getting more and more irritated, but from the look on Dani's face eyeing her from the rearview mirror, she actually shut herself up and resorted to just staring out the window angrily.