still day 6
Nov. 26th, 2007 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzie"I guess I don't taste that good." Castro shrugged. "Eh, don't worry about it. At least he didn't bite me, right?"
"I guess." Marya looked at Oscar, who was looking at Castro. The second her dog started to growl, she was gone. She didn't care that Castro was the first relatively friendly person she'd seen since she left home, and she didn't care that so far he seemed to be mostly odd and harmless. Oscar was nervous around so few people that when he started acting weird, she had to pay attention.
Castro straightened up on his bike and looked like he was about to push off. "You see much of anything that way?" He pointed down the highway ahead of them, stretching out beyond the van's hood. "Cars, trucks, eighteen-wheelers."
"You came from the same direction I did. I haven't been there yet. I haven't seen anything anywhere. I tried to get off the highway in Columbus but these guys had the road blocked. That was kind of scary. But I haven't seen anyone since then. Just you."
"Huh." Castro scratched his nose. "That's pretty weird. Well, I'm gonna get going, see what's out there. Maybe figure out where I'm going. Kick back, enjoy the road, cruise for a while. I'll remember the other stuff eventually. It was nice talking to you - what's your name?"
"I'm Marya. This is Oscar."
"Well, nice talking to you, Marya and Oscar. Travel safe. Watch for bikes." He nodded his head at her, took his foot off the pavement to put it back on the pedal, and biked past her and down the highway. Marya turned her head to watch him go.
"That was the weirdest conversation I've had in two days," she told Oscar. "He was completely nuts, wasn't he." Oscar didn't look like he was going to argue. "And you didn't like him - what's up with that? Ok, let's get this show on the road. Miles to go before we sleep and all that. I hope the next person we run into is a little more sane."
At least Castro hadn't been dangerously crazy, or even dangerous and sane, not like the guys outside Columbus or the guy in the white car with the handgun. It was an improvement.
Marya walked around the side of the van to let Oscar in the passenger side, then crossed in front to get to the driver's side. There was a teeny dent where the roadblock guy had banged on the hood with the barrel of his shotgun. Asshole, Marya thought. She turned to survey the highway in front of her, wondering idly how fast Castro was going on his bike and how soon it would be before she drove past him. She'd roll down her window and wave and he'd probably wave back. He seemed like that kind of guy. But she couldn't see him. He was gone.
Now that was weird. Indiana was flat as a pancake and the highway stretched straight out in front of her for a stupid number of miles. She could see farther in front of her than one guy on a bike could travel in seven minutes. There were no turn-offs, no exits. She'd be able to see him waiting or even sitting on the shoulder, and the ditch running alongside the highway wasn't that deep. So where did he go? It was like he just vanished.
She shivered and got in the van. That was too many shades of strange for her. Roadblocks she could handle. They were unexpected and she didn't have any personal experience with them, but she knew they existed and knew people who had personal experience with them. Random strange guys on bikes disappearing, that was different. Especially since she'd seen him coming from a long way off. She tried to remember what she'd heard about all the disappearances a few days ago, how people vanished or where or when, did anyone see them actually disappear, what were the circumstances, was there any kind of pattern, was there any warning.... She couldn't think of anything that might make this make sense. Maybe Castro had just run off the road and fallen into the ditch and was just below her line of sight, and in a minute she'd see his head and then his bike and he'd get back on the highway and keep going.
She waited. Nothing. She waited a little longer. Still nothing. He'd gone poof, vanished.
"That's not right," she told Oscar. "That doesn't feel right. We're gonna go." And she started the van and pulled off the shoulder and headed west towards Illinois and St Louis.
She half expected to pass Castro on his bike. Twenty miles later she had to admit he was just completely gone. That might explain why Oscar was so weird around him - maybe the dog knew. Animals were supposed to be able to sense earthquakes and hurricanes and those kinds of things, so maybe they could sense when someone was about to disappear. Yeah, that was her theory and she was sticking to it.
She didn't see anyone or anything else until she had to stop for gas, and even then all she saw were a couple of pigeons. She hadn't thought pigeons traveled that far from large city parks, but evidently she was wrong. Oscar chased after them, or at least chased as far as he could get on his leash, while Marya tested all the gas pumps, found the only one that worked, and filled the gas tank. She wasn't ready to fill the tank from the gas can in the back of the van - she planned to hang on to that until she absolutely had to use it. There was no reason to use her emergency fuel if she could find a working gas pump.
She walked Oscar around the station so he could pee, just in case he had to, and when he seemed entirely uninterested after fifteen minutes Marya let him back in the car. He seemed perfectly happy to hang his head out the window, so she let him do that. Once it got dark she had to turn the heat on, but she didn't mind as long as one of them was happy.
She stopped to eat about an hour over the Illinois state line, and because the relentless blackness outside made her twitchy she turned on the dome light inside the van so she could see. She was tempted to put Oscar's food bowl on the floor of the front seat so she wouldn't have to stand outside in the dark and watch him eat, but it was too cramped in front for him to find a good position to eat from. She settled for opening the side door of the van and putting his food and water bowls on the ground right next to the running board, just inside the circle cast by the light on the van's roof. He snarfed down his kibble like he hadn't eaten in weeks, which was par for the course and made Marya feel better about the weird way he had acted when Castro extended his hand to be sniffed. Aside from that, Oscar was acting pretty much the same as he always had. It was comforting.
Marya let him back in the van when he was done eating and tried to ignore his begging while she ate. He wasn't getting any of her Ho-Hos or chicken, and she didn't think he liked bananas. She wondered how long it would be before she had to break into the cans of food behind the passenger seat. She hoped she wouldn't have to start in on them before she reached California. She wasn't looking forward to eating cold things out of cans and besides, she couldn't remember where she'd packed the can opener. She could eat bread and peanutbutter and jam, though, before she had to open the cans, and she had goldfish crackers. She could give Oscar a couple of fish. There were also baby carrots in the cooler, and she'd have to eat the now-defrosted corn niblets soon too. She wondered if the bag was full of melted ice and if she'd have to cut it open and drain it before she ate the corn. Or maybe she could build a fire and somehow heat the bag without melting it and thus heat the melted ice inside it and cook the corn that way. For once she was really glad her dad had taken her camping when she was younger and had taught her how to improvise her meals. Although she didn't think this was what he had in mind.
She opened the bag of goldfish crackers and gave Oscar a handful. He was a messy eater but a grateful one. But Marya didn't have to sit in the passenger seat with all the cracker crumbs, so she didn't mind.
words: 1471
total words: 43,118
"I guess." Marya looked at Oscar, who was looking at Castro. The second her dog started to growl, she was gone. She didn't care that Castro was the first relatively friendly person she'd seen since she left home, and she didn't care that so far he seemed to be mostly odd and harmless. Oscar was nervous around so few people that when he started acting weird, she had to pay attention.
Castro straightened up on his bike and looked like he was about to push off. "You see much of anything that way?" He pointed down the highway ahead of them, stretching out beyond the van's hood. "Cars, trucks, eighteen-wheelers."
"You came from the same direction I did. I haven't been there yet. I haven't seen anything anywhere. I tried to get off the highway in Columbus but these guys had the road blocked. That was kind of scary. But I haven't seen anyone since then. Just you."
"Huh." Castro scratched his nose. "That's pretty weird. Well, I'm gonna get going, see what's out there. Maybe figure out where I'm going. Kick back, enjoy the road, cruise for a while. I'll remember the other stuff eventually. It was nice talking to you - what's your name?"
"I'm Marya. This is Oscar."
"Well, nice talking to you, Marya and Oscar. Travel safe. Watch for bikes." He nodded his head at her, took his foot off the pavement to put it back on the pedal, and biked past her and down the highway. Marya turned her head to watch him go.
"That was the weirdest conversation I've had in two days," she told Oscar. "He was completely nuts, wasn't he." Oscar didn't look like he was going to argue. "And you didn't like him - what's up with that? Ok, let's get this show on the road. Miles to go before we sleep and all that. I hope the next person we run into is a little more sane."
At least Castro hadn't been dangerously crazy, or even dangerous and sane, not like the guys outside Columbus or the guy in the white car with the handgun. It was an improvement.
Marya walked around the side of the van to let Oscar in the passenger side, then crossed in front to get to the driver's side. There was a teeny dent where the roadblock guy had banged on the hood with the barrel of his shotgun. Asshole, Marya thought. She turned to survey the highway in front of her, wondering idly how fast Castro was going on his bike and how soon it would be before she drove past him. She'd roll down her window and wave and he'd probably wave back. He seemed like that kind of guy. But she couldn't see him. He was gone.
Now that was weird. Indiana was flat as a pancake and the highway stretched straight out in front of her for a stupid number of miles. She could see farther in front of her than one guy on a bike could travel in seven minutes. There were no turn-offs, no exits. She'd be able to see him waiting or even sitting on the shoulder, and the ditch running alongside the highway wasn't that deep. So where did he go? It was like he just vanished.
She shivered and got in the van. That was too many shades of strange for her. Roadblocks she could handle. They were unexpected and she didn't have any personal experience with them, but she knew they existed and knew people who had personal experience with them. Random strange guys on bikes disappearing, that was different. Especially since she'd seen him coming from a long way off. She tried to remember what she'd heard about all the disappearances a few days ago, how people vanished or where or when, did anyone see them actually disappear, what were the circumstances, was there any kind of pattern, was there any warning.... She couldn't think of anything that might make this make sense. Maybe Castro had just run off the road and fallen into the ditch and was just below her line of sight, and in a minute she'd see his head and then his bike and he'd get back on the highway and keep going.
She waited. Nothing. She waited a little longer. Still nothing. He'd gone poof, vanished.
"That's not right," she told Oscar. "That doesn't feel right. We're gonna go." And she started the van and pulled off the shoulder and headed west towards Illinois and St Louis.
She half expected to pass Castro on his bike. Twenty miles later she had to admit he was just completely gone. That might explain why Oscar was so weird around him - maybe the dog knew. Animals were supposed to be able to sense earthquakes and hurricanes and those kinds of things, so maybe they could sense when someone was about to disappear. Yeah, that was her theory and she was sticking to it.
She didn't see anyone or anything else until she had to stop for gas, and even then all she saw were a couple of pigeons. She hadn't thought pigeons traveled that far from large city parks, but evidently she was wrong. Oscar chased after them, or at least chased as far as he could get on his leash, while Marya tested all the gas pumps, found the only one that worked, and filled the gas tank. She wasn't ready to fill the tank from the gas can in the back of the van - she planned to hang on to that until she absolutely had to use it. There was no reason to use her emergency fuel if she could find a working gas pump.
She walked Oscar around the station so he could pee, just in case he had to, and when he seemed entirely uninterested after fifteen minutes Marya let him back in the car. He seemed perfectly happy to hang his head out the window, so she let him do that. Once it got dark she had to turn the heat on, but she didn't mind as long as one of them was happy.
She stopped to eat about an hour over the Illinois state line, and because the relentless blackness outside made her twitchy she turned on the dome light inside the van so she could see. She was tempted to put Oscar's food bowl on the floor of the front seat so she wouldn't have to stand outside in the dark and watch him eat, but it was too cramped in front for him to find a good position to eat from. She settled for opening the side door of the van and putting his food and water bowls on the ground right next to the running board, just inside the circle cast by the light on the van's roof. He snarfed down his kibble like he hadn't eaten in weeks, which was par for the course and made Marya feel better about the weird way he had acted when Castro extended his hand to be sniffed. Aside from that, Oscar was acting pretty much the same as he always had. It was comforting.
Marya let him back in the van when he was done eating and tried to ignore his begging while she ate. He wasn't getting any of her Ho-Hos or chicken, and she didn't think he liked bananas. She wondered how long it would be before she had to break into the cans of food behind the passenger seat. She hoped she wouldn't have to start in on them before she reached California. She wasn't looking forward to eating cold things out of cans and besides, she couldn't remember where she'd packed the can opener. She could eat bread and peanutbutter and jam, though, before she had to open the cans, and she had goldfish crackers. She could give Oscar a couple of fish. There were also baby carrots in the cooler, and she'd have to eat the now-defrosted corn niblets soon too. She wondered if the bag was full of melted ice and if she'd have to cut it open and drain it before she ate the corn. Or maybe she could build a fire and somehow heat the bag without melting it and thus heat the melted ice inside it and cook the corn that way. For once she was really glad her dad had taken her camping when she was younger and had taught her how to improvise her meals. Although she didn't think this was what he had in mind.
She opened the bag of goldfish crackers and gave Oscar a handful. He was a messy eater but a grateful one. But Marya didn't have to sit in the passenger seat with all the cracker crumbs, so she didn't mind.
words: 1471
total words: 43,118
