Waters of Lethe, Book 2

20. Highland

For the next fifteen hours, we drove across mountains and hills, across flat, rolling plains. Across a quiet, eerily lonely expanse of land that I had no clue how people inhabited. Occasionally, we'd come across herds of buffalo and packs of wolves. Even less frequently, we'd see groups of people in the distance, clad in dark clothing, surrounding tents and dim fires.

Off and on for the better part of our drive, Alex also sang.

Yes, sang. Horribly, for that matter, which made me bust out in a fit of laughter that he found offensive.

"Don't stop... believin'. Hold on to that feeeel-eh-he-he-en!"

"Please, stop," I begged. I didn't understand how the Jeep could pick up radio stations at all, let alone a radio station that played every 80s song that Alex knew the words to. Every time the station took breaks, commercials came on in languages I didn't understand, which I found comforting.

"Turn around, bright eyes. Every now and then I fall apart-"

"PLEASE, STOP!"

No matter how much I begged, he just continued to sing. I found out that his favorite artists were Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Britney Spears. In short, I found things out about him that I really didn't care about.

Night eventually fell, which was when he stopped singing. I felt exposed, even though we were nearly completely alone in one of the most secluded areas in the world. Every time Alex hopped out to grab a gas can from the back to fill the tank back up, I positioned my gun in my lap so that I could draw it quickly if I needed to. Everything set me off; each bump we ran over, each time he swerved to keep from hitting a stray coyote, even the headlights. With our headlights being the only source of light for miles, it was like we were basically flagging down the wrong people. If there were people out here like us, more than we anticipated, we were in for it.

I drifted off several times, the cool wind coming through the open windows soothing me. Each time I dipped into oblivion, I'd jerk awake, coming back to the surface to see Alex concentrating at the wheel.

I didn't think about how we hadn't really talked the whole way. I enjoyed the silence because I wasn't much of a talker. I even felt that I never really had been. Words were too loud sometimes. Being five hours away from our destination still, as told by the small GPS that was mounted on the dash, I needed to hear something to stay awake.

"What's your middle name?" I asked him.

It took him a second to realize that I'd spoken. His eyebrows shot up when he looked at me, lips pursed. "Hmm?"

"What's your middle name?"

He looked at me, then past me, then in both mirrors to do his routine hope-no-one's-behind-us check. I patiently waited for an answer as he looked ahead again, watching the road.

"You can go to sleep, you know. I'll wake you if I need to."

I didn't feel right leaving him to do all of the watching, doubling his paranoia that was so evident on his face. "No, I'm good."

He was quiet for a moment, then, "Alex."

"Alex is your middle name? Then what's your first name?"

"Joshua. What's your middle name?"

"Eileen."

He chuckled. "Ellie Eileen," he said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"It's got a nice ring to it."

I nodded. Not a yes, it does have a nice ring to it nod, but a did you just compliment me? nod. "I like Joshua. It's nice," I mumbled.