Californication

43. The Small Woman

The journey was taking forever. You couldn't be bothered to ask Mike when you were arriving because he said it would be five minutes almost half an hour ago.

And besides, what were you meant to do when you got to the coordinates? It's not like there would be a sign in this open desert saying 'Secret Government Base Here All Are Welcome'

You sighed, glancing out the window, watching the orangey yellow ground pass by you.

"Should be up on our right." Mike declared, looking up from the map.

"There's nothing out here." Johnathan answered, continuing to drive the van.

The van suddenly jittered, causing Argyle to wake up with a start, "Ooh, are we there already?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Already?" Will complained, "It's been nine hours!"

He was tired, you could tell. He hadn't slept that night in the car, and he seemed a lot more sad than usual, but when you gave him a reassuring smile, you could tell he was trying his best to lighten up.

"It's got to be around here somewhere." Mike stated, taking a peek out the window.

"What are we looking for, my dudes?" Argyle asked, turning back to face the three of you groggily.

"Some sort of facility." Will answered.

"A fence, a building." Mike continued.

"An entrance, to like, I don't know, a bunker or something?" You added.

"Any signs of life would be nice." Johnathan sighed, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Since when did we decide Nina was a building and not a small woman?"

You all stared at Argyle blankly. It made you wonder why he was with you lot in the first place?

"Sounds like a small woman to me."

Mike looked almost disappointed. It was quite funny actually, you had to stifle a laugh.

"It is not a small woman." Mike confirmed, rather bluntly.

"A small woman in this desert would be hard to see." Argyle continued, clearly not listening.

"Oh god." You buried your head in your hands, the others could relate.

"How is he still high?" Will groaned, sinking back into his seat.

Jonathan ignored his brother and turned back to Mike who was staring at the map again. "Sure you got your measurements right?

"Yes, they're right." He smiled encouragingly. This was another one of those times where you could see why Will and El liked him so much. He really was the heart.

"You're 100% sure?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes."

"Maybe latitude and longitude are wrong."

"Are you really questioning Suzie? She's a genius Johnathan!"

"Even genius' make mistakes."

"Well she didn't."

Argyle broke the serious conversation, "If that small woman was small enough, she could fit behind a small tree."

Jonathan rolled his eyes at his friend, getting quite agitated now, "Stop. Just stop."

He threw on the breaks, almost sending you flying off the bench at the back.

"Ouch." Argyle groaned.

"What're you doing?" Will asked, trying to get back onto his seat.

"I'm stopping us before we get even more lost." Jonathan explained.

You all piled into the boot of the van, laying the map down and reviewing the possibilities. Jonathan lay his hands down, focusing on navigating the map.

"Alright, give me the coordinates." Jonathan instructed and Will began to read them out.

You watched as he plotted them, having no idea where Argyle had suddenly vanished to. Still, that wasn't your problem now.

You all fumbled around with the map, everyone having an attempt at reading it. But every time, you all came upon the same spot. Right where you were.

"It just doesn't make sense." Jonathan sighed, throwing his hands up in the air with irritation.

"It must be here," You added, "Maybe we should start looking."

"But there's nothing Y/n." Johnathan replied, "Nothing."

And that was when Argyle interrupted you.

"Yo dudes, dudes!" He was yelling from about a hundred meters away, "Come and check this shit out!"

"What is it?"

"You've got to see it to believe it, my dudes."

A/n- Random question but do u guys get a notification when a chapter is released or when a book is released??