Highway To Hell

[Misty Shore]

Misty cursed quietly.

"No shit. I guess that means we don't even get takeout." There was no venom and little bitterness in her voice. It was a statement of fact.

"You'd have thought that motel could have posted stuff about that. Not exactly welcoming, you know. One star from me. No Saloon and no takeout..."

But her voice tapered away. New, under-used and poorly understood instincts were starting to click into place. A deserted street. Poor lighting. Darkness. Threat of danger. If there was a curfew the local law enforcement would not take kindly to strangers waltzing through their town; out here, ignorance was no excuse and who knew if the cops were bent or just plain mean.

Hooker instincts.

"We should at least get back to the main street, right? Shortest way back to the motel?"

[Tal]

A curfew...

Tal had forgotten.

Had she ever known?

Had she blocked it out?

The pulse beneath her skin quickened. Her nostrils flared. The feeling of the pistol digging in behind her right hip registered in her mind like someone pressing on the purpled flesh of a bruise.

The sound of her breath filled her ears as her eyes swept the deserted desert streets. She'd spent hours walking down streets like this. Hours with only the sound of government issued boots hitting broken pavement, or shifting through dust to keep her company and the chill grip of a rifle in her hands. Hours spent watching, waiting, for any sign of life or movement. Any sign that someone had broken curfew...

"I don't like this," she muttered, her words almost a whisper before rising to a normal volume again. "We shouldn't have stopped in this town. We should have skipped the motel, gotten food, and drove through the night."

[Rory]

"I'm sure the hotel has a little market. Or at least vending machines."

Whatever their own reasons for Hunting, no one likes being hungry.

"Yeah, let's head back, ay? Back the way we came." His pace picked up slightly with a glance spared for Tal's leg. "We'll be all right. Besides, I think we'd all had enough of the van. Driving at night..."

Being without a driver's licence himself made him all kinds of sensitive to driving conditions. When one of the conditions included a vehicle large enough to be batted about by wind...

"Ah, no, just curious." Rory looked over at Ursula remembering she'd asked him a question about his question. Going by every member he'd met, he wasn't the target demographic even if he was interested. "It's probably time for me to start learning about... things."

He offered a shrug, unembarrassed by his ignorance.

"This is still pretty new to me. Anyway? I can go settle up with the front desk when we get back if everyone wants to keep moving. Curfew aside, it'd probably up our chances of a hot meal."

[Tal]

"A hot meal, and a bartender," Tal added, glancing at the two Abbey hunters. She'd said that for their benefit. Or, rather, for her benefit, but to hopefully persuade them to go along with what she knew they should do.

"And I don't mind driving."

It would be a small price to pay to make sure that they all stayed safe. And, hopefully, fed. Even if a truck stop was all they could find.

[Misty Shore]

"Hear hear!"

Misty turned, grinned wickedly and fist pumped the air. Her words sounded loud. Frowning she hunched her shoulders as if willing to disappear.

Attracting notice in a town under curfew was probably not the brightest of ideas.

[Saber Sloth]

Closer and closer they drew to the Motel, but against all odds there were no patrol men, or cars to be found.

The little desert town was quiet. Eerily so.

[Tal]

Tal kept walking back to the Motel, eyes sweeping the road to either side, and occasionally behind...

[Rory]

"Right, here we are."

Rory shook his head slightly as the motel came into view with a turn around a corner. He was mostly trying to shake off the image of the argument that was going to ensue if they rolled into a gas station trying to buy beer after alcohol sale hours. Best case scenario, it would give Misty and Ursula something to do. Worst case...

...who knew what County jail they'd end up in.

"'Preciate that, Tal. I'll go ring the desk and sort out our bill." He sighed. Nothing like a man and three women checking into a motel for an hour or two before checking out. "Why don't I meet you at the van after we all grab our things?"

His legs already ached at the thought of sitting again.

[Misty Shore]

Misty slowly let out a breath and rubbed her arms as if she was cold.

The darkness and the quiet of the curfew had sucked the fun out of the evening.

"You up for night driving?" This time she actually sounded serious.