Perfect World. (On Hold)

6: The Stranger.

Name: Jamie

Location: Hot Springs, Black Hills

Time: 0800

"Hey, wait up!" I heard a voice behind me as I walked down the street. I turned, seeing a young man following me. It was the one from the bar, the one who'd had a sticker on his bottle! I sniffed. The tears had been easy, as I'd been needing a good cry anyway. It was almost funny. Almost. As funny as it could get considering the circumstances.

"I heard you needed a way out of town." I nodded cautiously. "I'm a pilot, I'm leaving town for a while anyways, wanna tag along?" 

I eyed him suspiciously. He was very fit, and if he'd had a crew cut I would've been betting military. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, of course. Sorry, Rapid City." My chest tightened. I did want to get out of here, but to the city? 

"When do you leave?"

"As soon as I get to the runway and get the plane going. Are you in or not?" He asked, glancing around impatiently.

"Okay, I can get another flight from there." I said, pretending to have a destination. He nodded. 

"Follow me." He said, leading the way to his truck. I took a deep breath and forced myself to follow him, back straight and chin up, determined to look perfectly confident.

We were silent as he drove. Within moments I noticed he was watching the rear-veiw mirror as much as the road. "Is everything okay?" I asked carefully, resting my hand near my hidden holster. He glanced at me and frowned.

"No need for that." He nodded towards my holster. 

"I was taught never to trust strangers." He smirked at my reply. 

"Well allow me to put your mind at ease; I am a friend, and I know perfectly well why you're fleeing town, Jamie." I instantly reached for my gun- "If you're going to pull that thing on me, at least wait until we're out of town so you don't attract attention." He stopped me.

My heart pounded. I had just gotten into a truck with a cop! "What do you know about me?" I demanded, mind searching for a way to escape the cab without injury.

"Take it easy, when the cops showed up at your hide-out, one of the believers slipped out of the room and sent a message to the believers in Rapid City. I was sent out to retrieve survivers. We had a photo of you on file."

I forced myself to relax, partially believing his words, but determined not to let him gain anything by it. "Well if you are a cop, I think you'd better know that I have no knowledge of locations or anything else useful to you, so you might as well kill me now. But if you are who you say you are, I am very relieved." 

He blinked, now it was his turn to be caught off-guard. Suddenly he laughed. "Wow, to be honest I kinda doubted you were a valuble writer for us, but now I have no doubt!"

"Thank you." I answered quietly. Now that I was more at ease, my mind had drifted back to the events of the last two nights. I realized how sore I was from so much walking and sleeping on the ground, not to mention scraped up from the bushes, and suddenly I was wishing for pain-killers. My stomach growled, reminding me of how light my meals had been. 

I caught him glancing at me, having heard the sound. "So you know my name, what's yours?" I redirected.

"Mark." He replied after a moment, turning his attention back to the road. I noted the lack of a last name, but decided against commenting. I needed to write. I pulled out my laptop and started typing away, writing about absolutly everything on my mind, processing everything that had happened. Finally after half an hour of intense typing, I shifted my gaze to stare out the window blankly.

What should my next article be about? Perhaps I would find something interesting in Jacks journal... My eyelids grew heavy, my eyes felt dry and scratchy like sandpaper. I leaned against the window, head on my fist. I shut my eyes as the world seemed to spin...