𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. riding high

"You might wanna reschedule your meeting tonight, Pope." Bennie teased, laying the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Uh... Plan B. We can uh... public transportation." Kie reasoned, resting her elbow on the side of the truck. "We can hitch-hike, we can rent bikes, We can sell Bennie."

Bennie gave Kie a side glare, JJ looked further into the hood of the truck, "Yeah it's the radiator."

"No, no, no. You do know what this means, right?" Bennie stressed, pacing around the grass. "This is Heyward truck. Heyward's truck! He's gonna come over here and kill all of us at the same time!"

"Yeah, he might. He might." JJ teased, facing back towards the girl who gave him a look.

Eventually, the group would get the truck over to a repair station. Pope stood over beside the man explaining everything alongside Bennie, and Kie and Red sat in the truck in silence.

JJ began walking over towards the girls, resting his arms on the side of the tailgate. "In the middle of nowhere. Dudes in heaven right now, 'Gotta know the calibration point before you do anything with the intake, JJ. You do the" JJ glanced up, looking at the two girls in silence. "Hey, You alright?" Asked JJ, tapping on Kie's shoulder to get her attention.

Kie shrugged, "My mom is so worried that I'm gonna be a pogue, that she's willing to send me to boarding school."

"Well, I guess that's what you get for hanging out with the wrong crowd, Kie," JJ replied, taking a sip from his hip flask.

"I mean, I'm not gonna go," Kie assured. "It's too late anyway, I already am who I am."

"It ain't all that bad." JJ pointed towards Pope and Bennie. "Look at that guy over there. He would do anything for us. That's a pogue if I've ever seen one. Bone deep." JJ directed his gaze over to Bennie. "Jet too. She's too loyal to turn against someone who tried to kill her. Do you have any idea how determined she was to find John B? She never gave up hope, and she was right." Kie smiled softly. "That's just one man's opinion though."

Pope looked over at Kie, heading inside to pay, followed by Kie. A couple of minutes later, the two came back to the now-repaired truck, driving it out to an empty field where they hoped to get even a glimpse of sleep in the back of the truck.

As everyone was settling in, Red hopped out of the van, gaining Pope's attention. "Where are you going?"

Red turned to the group, "For a walk."

"Why? You know there are coyotes, right?" Asked Bennie, sitting up.

Red shrugged it off, "I just need some air."

With that, Red strut off into the forest part of the field, surrounded by trees, and no company but herself, she liked it better like that.

Red examined the trees, trying to determine the breed by looking at the leaves and sizes, but wasn't an expert in that, so she didn't end up determining many.

She eventually found a tree and sat down beside it with her thoughts. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let anyone see her at her weakest, even if she was alone. Yet she couldn't hold it in any longer, as hot tears rolled down her face.

Red was brought out of her reminisce when crackling leaves could e heard around her. She whipped her head around, revealing a coyote, standing there staring at her.

Red's breath hitched, knowing that if the coyote saw her as prey or as a threat, it can and would attack. She didn't move but waited for the coyote would.

The coyote took one look at the girl, before charging away from her, further into the wooded area.

Once Red was sure the animal was gone, she slowly stood up, jogging back to where the others were, not saying a word about the coyote. It just didn't matter.