Chapter 3: Chapter 3- My Way Or The Highway

Lucas was glad to be back on the open road. That jail cell they were keeping him in was starting to feel cramped. The doctor who looked him over down at the precinct advised him not to strain himself too soon with physical activities like riding his bike, but Lucas decided to ignore him. The past four days of traveling had been much more effective in improving his mood than the painkillers the doc had given him. Well, almost. Nothing beat that feeling of zooming down the highway on his trusty mountain bike. 

“Wait for me!” Gia called out. She was trailing far behind him on her own bicycle. Gia’s bike looked way newer and nicer than his but it was clear that she hadn’t been using it for very long.

Lucas eased up his pace until Gia caught up to him. The two cyclists had the highway to themselves. The lack of gas after The Impact had rendered cars obsolete. Bicycles were the preferred method of long-distance travel for regular folk. If you wanted to conserve your energy and arrive at your destination relatively quickly then it was a no-brainer to use a bicycle instead of walking. 

However, road trips tended to increase your chances of encountering bandits or mutants and most people weren’t willing to risk their lives like that. The roads tended to be empty most of the time. Considering the fact that there hadn’t been any repairs in over one hundred years, the highways were in fairly good condition. Other than dodging the occasional rusted ancient car, it was a smooth ride.

“Didn’t mean to leave you behind. It’s just been ages since I traveled with someone else,” Lucas said. “It’s gonna take a while for me to get used to it.”

Gia glanced at him. “I can understand that. But it almost feels like you’re trying to ditch me.”

Lucas burst out laughing as if he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. “Hahaha! Ditch you? Wouldn’t dream of it, buddy!” He said. 

The thought had crossed his mind. The Roaches might’ve let him out of jail, but he didn’t exactly feel free. Having Gia follow him around watching his every move felt almost as constricting as the cell they’d kept him in. The only reason he hadn’t seriously tried to leave her in the dust was that he figured she might make a decent human shield once they finally tracked down Isaac.

“I’m honestly kinda hurt that you would even suggest that,” Lucas huffed. “After all, wasn’t I the one who insisted to your bosses that I’d only agree to the deal if they partnered me up with you?”

“That’s true,” Gia admitted. “It wasn’t easy to get them to sign off on it though. They really wanted a more senior officer to oversee the mission. Why were you so hung up on me being your partner?”

“Are you kidding?” Lucas flashed his brightest smile. “After the way you handled that Callahan weirdo, I knew I could trust you to have my back.”

More like I knew how easy it would be to get away from a rookie like you if I ever needed to, Lucas thought.

“Don’t get it twisted, Spade,” Gia said. “Callahan broke the rules and was an embarrassment to the badge. I was just following protocol and I would’ve done the same for any prisoner.”

“Damn, I thought you did it because you could sense what a pure and innocent soul I am,” Lucas said.

Gia snorted. “We both know you’re far from innocent. And I’m not in the mood for your crap. I still think this little detour is a mistake. We should be heading to your brother’s last known location, not wasting time catching up with your old buddy!”

This again? God, how many times do we need to have the same argument? Lucas thought.

“You’re thinking about this all wrong, Gia,” Lucas said. “As much as it pains me to admit it, going up against Isaac by ourselves would be suicide. He might be a backstabbing piece of shit, but he’s a dangerous backstabbing piece of shit.”

“We need backup,” He continued. “Santi is one of the toughest guys I know and he hates Isaac almost as much as I do. Trust me, he’s gonna want in on this.”

“If you’re desperate for backup then you shouldn’t have insisted that we travel alone,” Gia said.

“No offense, but hanging out with a bunch of Roaches ain’t exactly my idea of a good time. Most of you guys aren’t the sharpest butter knives in the drawer. Again, no offense,” Lucas said.

“How far are we from the town that this Santi guy is supposed to be living in?” Gia said.

Lucas rode his bike with no hands while he pulled his journal out of his pocket to consult one of his hand-drawn maps. “It shouldn’t take more than another day to get there.”

“Great. Let’s ride in silence until then,” Gia said.

Lucas wanted to keep messing with her, but all it took was one look at the withering expression on her face to realize that would be hazardous to his health. Gia had been acting cold since they’d started their journey and no matter how much he tried to lighten the mood she remained frosty. It seemed like the more he talked, the more annoyed she got. 

He just couldn’t figure her out. She seemed much more polite and upbeat back at the station. At first, Lucas thought that she was just grumpy because they were following his plan instead of being laser-focused on Isaac, but it was growing clear that something else was bothering her. 

It wasn’t a big deal though. Sure it would make the mission more pleasant if they got rid of all the tension in the air, but he didn’t care as long as he got what he wanted in the end; Isaac’s head served up on a silver platter. Lucas did wish that they could speed up the journey though. He loved riding his bike but he didn’t want to spend any more time around a Roach than he had to.

A roar erupted from the wild overgrowth of plants that lined the left side of the highway. The sound cut through the silence like a katana. The traveling duo brought their bikes to an abrupt halt. Gia brought a finger to her lips and Lucas nodded. Overhead, they saw a flock of birds flying out of the trees frantically. The birds disappeared into the cloudy skies in what felt like the blink of an eye. Something had them spooked.

Lucas’s hand instinctively reached for the machete he always carried on his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gia’s hands shaking as she gripped her pistol. She caught him looking and steadied her hands. It had been quiet before, but now it was completely silent. No birds were chirping. No crickets. Nothing. It was as if every living thing in the area was collectively holding their breaths at the same time. Lucas and Gia waited for what felt like an eternity but they didn’t hear any other strange noises. No creature came into their line of sight. Whatever it was that had cried out before seemed to be gone.

Gia holstered her pistol. “I don’t know what that thing was and I don’t want to find out. Let's get out of here,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Lucas said. 

They booked it and sped down the highway as fast as they possibly could. Trees whipped by them in a green blur. A sharp pain shot through Lucas’s side from his injuries. He fought through the pain and kept on pedaling. Lucas was caught off guard when a brown shape flew past him. Gia was pedaling in front of him so fast that it looked like she was approaching the sound barrier. He couldn’t help but wonder how the bun on her head managed to keep all of her hair perfectly in place. They maintained their breakneck speeds until their legs ached and they could barely breathe.

Lucas smiled and pushed himself until his bike was about even with his panting travel partner. “Now who’s trying to leave who behind?”

Gia blushed and finally slowed down to a pace that was slightly less dizzying. “I…I just wanted to put as much distance between us and that.. thing as possible.”

“Well, mission accomplished. I think you left it a couple of states behind us,” Lucas laughed.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about wanting to stay alive,” Gia said.
“Nothing. I just thought you Roaches were supposed to be tough, highly trained soldiers. You seem more like a scared little kid.”

“Do you always have to belittle people? You don’t know anything about me!” Gia snapped. “I’m doing the best that I can but-”

She shook her head. “What am I doing? I don’t have anything to prove to someone like you.”

“Didn’t mean to strike a nerve, kid,” Lucas said.

Gia rolled her eyes. “Of course not. You never do.” 

“Wait. Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re arrogant. You’re selfish. You’re a shell of a man who wants everyone around you to feel just as horrible as you do on the inside. And I can’t wait to get your brother in custody so that I never have to see your face again.”

Lucas’ expression was indecipherable. “The feeling is mutual,” he said.

“Sorry,” Gia said as she put some distance between them. “Didn’t mean to strike a nerve, kid.”

BOOM! Lucas and Gia were both caught off guard. Thunder reverberated around them like another nuclear bomb going off. A flash of lightning blazed through the sky moments later with drops of rain nipping at its heels. Within a minute, it was pouring rain like the man upstairs was crying after a breakup. 

Gia and Lucas huddled underneath a tree on the side of the road with their bikes. The trench coat in Gia’s Peace Officer uniform was water resistant and she’d pulled the hood over her head, so she was mostly dry. Lucas wasn’t so lucky. He had a lot of gear in the pannier bags on his bike, but somehow he’d forgotten to bring an umbrella with him. Even a hat would’ve been great in a situation like this. His expression was as cloudy as the sky. He tried his best to cover his head with his arms.

Lucas sighed. “The roads are way too slippery for us to keep riding. And the rain’s coming down so hard you can’t even see two feet in front of you.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Gia said.
Lucas flicked a finger toward the woods behind them. “Let’s find a spot where there are a lot of branches overhead and set up our tents. The branches will keep the tents from getting too wet. We can wait out the rain and then get back on the road when it clears up.”

“Every moment we waste sitting around is another moment that your brother gets further out of our reach,” Gia said. “It’s bad enough that we’re going off course to talk to your friend. But I’m not going to just sit around in one spot doing nothing. We need to press on.”

“Look, you know that nobody wants to catch him more than I do, but you need to use your head,” Lucas said. “If we try to keep going right now one of us could get seriously hurt.” 

He touched the bandages on the top of his head. “Well…more seriously hurt. And that won’t get us any closer to taking Isaac down.”

“So what if there’s a little rain? We need to make progress with the mission,” Gia insisted. “It’s not THAT bad out there.”

A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, disintegrating a tree a few yards ahead of them.

“Then again you might have a point,” Gia said. 

Lucas lifted his bike over the rusted metal railing along the highway and took a few steps into the wooded zone before he realized that Gia was still standing on the road. 

“What’re you waiting for, Princess? A written invitation? Let’s go!” Lucas motioned for her to follow him but she stayed rooted in the same spot.

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“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Gia said. “What if that thing that we heard earlier finds us in there?”
Lucas groaned. “Christ, are you always so tightly wound? We were riding for ages before it started pouring. We’re nowhere near it.”

“We have no way of knowing that for sure. You said it’s dangerous to keep riding but isn’t it also dangerous to head off into the woods when we have no idea what’s waiting for us out there?”

Lucas threw his hands up in the air. “Follow me or don’t. I really don’t give a shit anymore.” He turned on his heel and continued his trek further into the woods.

Gia hastily tossed her bike over the railing and hurried behind him. They trudged through the mud, bushes, and trees until they finally found a spot that would give them decent coverage from the rain. Lucas pulled a worn old tent out of his bag and got to work setting it up. Gia did the same with her pristine standard-issue Peace Officer nylon tent. She had a solemn look on her face as she worked.

Lucas decided to try extending an olive branch. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the rain will clear up soon, and then we’ll be right back on track.”

Gia finished setting up her tent and closed the flap in the front. 

I just can’t win with her. Why do I even bother trying? Lucas thought.

It didn’t seem possible, but the rain started to come down harder. The wind and rain battered Lucas’ tent around like a heavyweight boxer. He was glad that he’d had the forethought to secure his bike to a tree before he entered the tent. The rhythm of the rain was hypnotic and before he realized it, Lucas drifted to sleep.

When he exited the tent the next morning he was greeted by the sight of Gia huddled around a fire. She was eating some of the rations they’d packed before they left the station. A pot of coffee boiled over the open flame. When Lucas got closer, she handed him some rations. He smiled and plopped down next to her. 

Lucas poured himself a cup of coffee. He wasn’t a huge fan of coffee but he didn’t want to refuse and piss Gia off again. It was hard to suppress his urge to gag at the bitterness. He opened the drawstring on their small pouch of sugar and dumped a spoonful into his coffee. The coffee was slightly more tolerable.

“Looks like we’re still alive,” Lucas said, breaking the silence.
“That we are,” Gia smiled. “I might have overreacted a bit yesterday. I apologize. I shouldn’t have let the stress of the situation get the better of me.” 

Huh. Didn’t expect that Lucas thought.

“Apology accepted. It’s big of you to admit that you were wrong. I appreciate it,” Lucas said. 

He took a bite of his rations and his eyes opened wide. “I don’t know what this is supposed to be, but it tastes pretty damn good.” He took a look at the cover of the ration’s tin. “Meat Ration #2? What the hell is that?”

Gia laughed. “Nobody knows what they put in those things. The government is really hush-hush about how they make their synthetic meat in the factories.”

Lucas shoveled the strange delicacy into his mouth. “Well whatever it is, it’s fucking delicious,” He said in between bites. His tin of food was empty all too soon.

Gia picked herself up and started to put out the fire. “If you’re done eating, then we should probably pack up our stuff. And don’t forget the map.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not an idiot, you know,” Lucas said. 

“That’s news to me,” Gia said. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she collected their trash into a bag.

Gia Bellini actually has a sense of humor. Who knew? Lucas thought.

He got up and headed back to the tent. Lucas slipped on his coat which he’d used as a blanket the night before. He checked to make sure that he didn’t leave anything inside the tent and had it disassembled in no time flat. Gia was still working on her tent, so Lucas decided to check his map to confirm the route they’d be taking that day. He reached into the pocket of his coat that he always kept his journal in and felt nothing but air and fabric.

That’s weird.

Lucas checked all the pockets of his coat and came up empty. He thought that he might have put it in one of the bags on his bike but after digging through his small pile of belongings, the journal still didn’t turn up. Panic was setting in when he noticed a small brown item out of the corner of his eye. Lucas looked down in horror at his journal lying in the grass not far from where he’d set up his tent. It was completely drenched. The papers had dissolved into a pulpy mess. His journal entries of interesting memories, and more importantly, his carefully drawn maps of all the places he’d visited were gone forever.

“Are you ready to go?”

Lucas’ eyes darted to his left and saw Gia walking towards him. He instinctively hid the book behind his back and cursed himself the moment that he did. Gia stared at him quizzically. Lucas did his best to appear as relaxed and innocent as possible. He failed.

“What do you have behind your back?” Gia said. She tried to peer behind him but he shifted his body to block her.

“Before I show you, can you promise not to get mad?” Lucas said.

Gia’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“Why do you always assume the worst of me?”

“Because you’re a shifty criminal.”

“Fair enough,” Lucas said “I just want you to keep in mind that everybody makes mistakes and nobody’s perfect.”

“What. Did. You. Do?”

Reluctantly, Lucas brought his hand out from behind his back and showed her the soggy scraps of paper formerly known as his journal.

Gia’s face went pale.“Oh my god. Are you serious right now? We’re lost, aren’t we? What are we supposed to do now?”

“It’s not ideal that we lost the map, but it’s nothing that we can’t handle. I pretty much know the rest of the way there. For the most part. Sort of. I think..” Lucas trailed off.

The Peace Officer stared at him dumbfounded. “How could you be so irresponsible?”

Lucas dropped the remains of his journal on the ground. There was no point in carrying on to it anymore.

“Last time I checked, you’re the person who’s allegedly in charge. So if I fucked up then technically that means that you’re the one who fucked up, doesn’t it”

“Are you seriously trying to pin this on me?” Gia said. 

Her fists were tightly clenched and she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. “Why can’t you take any responsibility for your actions?”

He didn’t have a good response to that, so he decided to flip things back on her. “Instead of playing the blame game all the time, why don’t you offer up some solutions?”
“Are you kidding me?” Gia said. “You’ve shot down every idea that I’ve had! Everything always has to be done your way!”

“It’s not like you’ve given me a fair shake yourself,” Lucas raised his voice. “Ever since we started this trip you’ve treated me worse than something stuck on the bottom of your shoe! What’s your problem?” Lucas said.

“I read your files. I know the type of person that you are,” She glared. “And I know about the incident in Dallas.”

The hairs on the back of Lucas’ neck stood on end. 

“That… that wasn’t my fault,” he said.

“Tell that to Callahan.”

Suddenly it all clicked into place. A wave of memories that Lucas had tried his best to suppress came bubbling back up to the surface. The shouting. The kid. The blood. There was so much blood. And the tears streaming down that man’s face. The pain in his eyes.

Lucas felt lightheaded. “That was his son. That was Callahan’s son. Oh my god.”

He couldn’t meet Gia’s eyes. He could feel the judgment and disgust. And he deserved it. 

“It was an accident,” Lucas tried to explain. “I wasn’t even the one who pulled the trigger! Nobody wanted it to go down that way! Nobody was supposed to get hurt.”

“Nobody was supposed to get hurt,” he whispered.

A blood-curdling howl behind them cut the conversation short. They whipped around and saw a pair of huge piercing blue eyes staring back at them in the darkness. Before they could make a move, a six-foot-tall wolf with a pure white coat of fur leaped out of the shadows and landed not five feet away from them. The impact nearly knocked Lucas and Gia off their feet.

The wolf bared his fangs and sparks of electricity trickled out of his mouth. His fur began to stand on end as he lowered his stance. He was pissed. He was hungry. And he had no intention of letting his prey get away.

“Oh shit,” Lucas said. “It’s a wirewolf.”

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