[stone angels, part II]

[morelikeasponge]

"Look out!"

It's a good thing Peter hasn't met Niki yet, because if he had, the door handle would be pulp. Luckily, his strength is all his own, and the only damage is to his whitening knuckles.

Comments

[gonna_live]

"Shut up I'm tryin' to concentrate -- "

At least Kaylee's hands are at ten and two.

She's leaning over the wheel. Her head does not graze the ceiling when the car hits the curb, and jumps.

[gonna_live]

"Not until we get as far away as we can," she says, a little shakily -- but slows down. "Okay." A deep breath. "Okay. I -- we need to lose 'em. Can we go...is there another way? There is, ain't there?"

An arrow off to the left points the way to I-95. Kaylee aims for it without waiting for a response.

[morelikeasponge]

"Sure," says Peter, a moment after they whiz past the sign.

[gonna_live]

Kaylee rakes a (shaky) hand through her hair. "Less you want to go back and find 'em -- just -- "

She takes another deep breath.

"Captain would say to do somethin' they won't expect. And...I don't know what they're gonna expect, but -- think goin' through Philadelphia's not the way to do it."

[morelikeasponge]

"Where'd the map go?"
NISSAN VERSA
He pulls himself up to peer over the backs of their seats. The map's found its way to the floor behind them. Peter looks at Kaylee. Look at the road. Looks at the map.
NISSAN VERSA
"One sec."

[gonna_live]

Kaylee nearly gets an elbow in her ear; in response, she pulls the car over. And waits. "Hurry it up. We got to get lost before they find us."

[morelikeasponge]

He pops up again a moment later, bangs and map waving. "I got it."

The climb back into the front seat is even less graceful.

"Okay, I think -- we want to go through Baltimore? So that's..."

[gonna_live]

One of the longest days of Kaylee's life, is what it is.

Through Baltimore (with a stop for french fries and milkshakes along the way), over through West Virginia, back into Kentucky, and outside Lexington Kaylee throws up her hands and informs Peter that if they go any further today she's going to scream, so they find a motel on the outskirts of town, sit at the Denny's next door poking tiredly at the map while they eat bad food and drink worse coffee. By the time they retire, Kaylee has stopped to check over her shoulder more than twenty times, and she's still shaking -- from too much caffeine, rather than from any kind of fear.

The dream that night is no more than a remembered sentence by morning: Once I was strong as well as beautiful, but now my strength is almost goneIn the morning, Kaylee rubs haphazardly at her wet hair with the threadbare towel, slips her wedding ring off of her finger, and pockets it, just as though it's a natural part of getting ready for the day. Up I-75 and I-71, to Cleveland; they manage to make it to