Let's Drive Into the Brave New World... (Mage)

Dustin McTavish (a.k.a. Median) has the worst hangover of his entire life, which is saying something, considering the sort of crowd he hangs with. It might have been all right if he'd been able to sleep in this morning, but they'd agreed to get on the road by 9:00 in order to make the most of the day. And did the sun have to be so godawful bright and... sunny? He aims a reproachful look at Inri, lounging across most of the other side of the booth in the full sunlight like a big hippie cat. Not that she's to blame for the sunshine, or his hangover. That's entirely his fault, so he puts on his darkest shades, knocks back a couple of ibuprofen with the biggest glass of OJ the pancake house can provide, and decides to be a man and suck it up. Chalk it up to a "learning experience" - the lesson being to avoid volunteering for the first driving shift if he planned to get ripped the day before a road trip.

After a couple of hours on the road, the thumping in his head has relocated to the stereo, where it blends nicely into Phenex's Underworld remix he's been working on all week. Reptile boy's joined Inri in the back of the Machina Mysterium where, by the sound of things, they're both cheerfully sleeping off the aftereffects of the party. Damned if he knows how a skinny-ass guy like Phenex can snore like that.

He's just thinking how fragging dull most of Texas outside of Austin is when he narrowly misses running down the girl standing halfway off the shoulder. She doesn't stick out her thumb or anything, but he stops about 50 feet ahead of her and backs up anyway. She's still standing there when Dustin walks up to her. She doesn't look injured, but she doesn't react until he's standing right in front of her, his shadow falling across her vacant, unseeing eyes.

* * * * * * * *

I started walking. Managed to make the coffee last until it started to get light, then started in on the donuts, stopping briefly at another gas station to use the bathroom, buy a bottle of water, and wash up. By the time the sun was completely up, I had blisters on both feet and was wishing I'd bought two bottles. Or maybe some sunscreen.

I thought about trying to hitch a ride, but Mom had told me to be careful. I'd heard just enough urban legends and cautionary tales to know that girls who hitchhiked were just asking for whatever horrible fate ended up befalling them in the stories. There were all kinds of godless perverts and murderers out there, and...

About then it finally sunk in that my father and his deacons had probably killed Wayne. My dad was a murderer. And I didn't even know how or why he did it. It was starting to get hazy - I just remembered him reading the Bible and blood dripping down Wayne's face, but the rest of it... I started to wonder if I'd just had a bad dream, sleeping in front of the TV at Vivian's house. Maybe I was still dreaming.

And suddenly, it got dark, and I felt hands on my shoulders, shaking me slightly.

"Hey... hey kid, are you okay?"

He didn't look much like a godless pervert or serial killer, especially not once he took off the dark sunglasses. As soon as I looked up at him he let go of my shoulders and stepped back carefully, giving me a small, unthreatening smile.

"You look like you could do with a bit of shade and a more efficient means of transport. Want a lift? We can take you as far as Frisco if you don't mind spending a couple of weeks in Nevada first. Swear to gods we're not freaky UFO hunters..."

And for a moment everything got really quiet, like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting to see what I'd do. It was kind of scary, and when I opened my mouth to take a deep breath I breathed in some road dust and started coughing so hard I nearly fell over. His pale grey eyes narrowed in concern and he started thumping my back until I finally recovered.

"That sounds like a better idea than anything I've come up with all night," I finally wheezed out, and he grinned and helped me into the back of the van.