Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 31: The Hours

After lunch, the two of us returned to the car and continued on our way. Lauren insisted on driving once more, giving me a chance to catch up on lost sleep as we crossed the rest of Ohio. The car slowed to a stop sometime later, the change in atmosphere waking me.

"Where are we?" I asked groggily, stretching in the backseat and peering out the window. "Lauren?"

My subject of interest wasn't sitting behind the wheel of the parked car, but on the hood. She had her back to me, and with all the windows closed their was little chance she had heard my voice. Sighing, I stepped outside and zipped my jacket up to brace from the cold.

"Are we taking a break?" I asked, rounding to the front of the car to make an appearance. We were stopped at a designated lookout point, one that sat at a higher elevation than the other sections of the highway. In the distance the web of freeways were clearly visible nesting below the horizon.

"We're at the border." Lauren mumbled idly, her eyes not leaving the landscape before her.

"The border of..." I pushed her to continue.

"Pennsylvania." Lauren looked at me. "We're going to need to stop in Pittsburgh for a little bit and gather some supplies, then we'll drive to Harrisburg and leave the car there."

I blinked. "Wait, leave the car where?"

"Harrisburg is the closest major city from where we need to be." Lauren explained. "It'll be safe to leave all our things where there's a substantial population, and only take what we need so it'll be easier to go by foot. Also we shouldn't have any more problems with middle-of-the-night ambushes. The closer we get, the less patrol there's going to be out looking for me."

I looked from Lauren out to the distance, contemplating the ramifications of her plan. "I guess that's good... but how are we going to spend nights?" I asked.

"There are small towns scattered all throughout the county." The girl told me. "It won't be hard to find some kind of inn or motel to spend one night at a time, especially in this cold." The girl finally looked at me. "Camila I feel inclined..."

"To what?" I finished for her after listening to the way her voice trailed off. "Are you okay?"

"To give you one last chance to turn back."

I waited, plastering an unimpressed look on my face as hers twisted into a slight fear.

"If you want, you can go back and I'll take care of this on my own. One more chance to go back to safety."

"Lauren." I addressed her sternly. "What did I tell you?"

Lauren held her arm out, motioning for me to climb up onto the roof and let her drape it over my shoulders. I was pulled tight to her side, and gripped her happily as I knew she had lost the bandages that covered her back some time ago.

"That I'm not alone." Lauren replied finally with a kiss to my forehead.

"Right."

Lauren just sighed. "It's just been so long since I've been back. It seems so daunting for some reason..."

I placed a hand on her knee. "You know, when I was little my dad would always take business trips to Pittsburgh. He would rave about the Andy Warhol museum because he had always been into that style of old fashioned pop art."

"Like with the soup can?"

"Yeah, that's it." I nodded. "And Marilyn Monroe."

"Mm." Lauren leaned back against the glass of the front window, taking me with her. We lay there talking for some time, my head against her shoulder and her arm wrapped tight around me. "You know it's crazy... I've taken three full years of my life travelling around this country and trying to educate myself about every aspect of this world. All because there was nothing for me within the walls of this state."