The sun was beating down on them mercilessly. Heat rolled off the black pavement in waves, reaching towards the sky in a gray heat, only to be whisked away as the sleek black car shot down the highway. All around, sand piled on top of each other, the hills of yellow and orange being baked into the sight of every person in the vehicle.
High above in the clear light blue sky, the sun beat down on the earth, making Sheena adjust her sunglasses for the thousandth time.
"I hate driving through the desert," she scowled, shooting a glare at the sun as if that'd turn it off.
A light chuckle came from the passenger's seat, "I don't think there's a person who enjoys it, Sheena."
"Well then, answer me this, Colette. Why doesn't anyone get rid of this God forsaken place?"
Colette pondered it, putting a pale hand to her chin. Golden wisps of hair fluttered about in the air conditioning that had been set on 'full blast' since the start of their trip.
"Well," she commented, "maybe it's because sand's so hard to build on."
From the back seat, the oldest member of the group sighed, "You can't 'get rid' of a desert. A whole eco system would be destroyed."
Sheena shot back, "Why don't you get out and walk then so you could enjoy your 'eco system' better?"
"It's just the truth," the older woman responded, not necessarily sounding angry, just tired. "This environment is good for several species of animals and plants."
"Raine," Sheena sighed, "I don't think anyone gives a damn about the cactus population."
Colette giggled, "There are probably lots of people out there who care a lot about cacti!"
That only made the driver roll her eyes. Setting her knee up against the wheel, she began messing with her hair, tying the black mess in a pony tail. Her amber eyes focused on the rear view mirror, where she could see what she was doing.
Meanwhile, the car swerved back and forth on the road, wheels screeching as Sheena rapidly adjusted the wheel with her knee.
"Sheena, stay focused!" Raine snapped while Colette let out a yelp as the car twisted violently on the road before the black haired girl could straighten it out.
The last passenger of the car, a girl with dyed pink hair perched in two tight pigtails, responded with only a hint of annoyance in her voice, "Sheena, no one wants to die today."
The vehicle squealed one more time before finally straightening itself as Sheena snatched up the wheel again, hair satisfactorily pulled up. She flicked her eyes into the mirror again, rolling the amber orbs at the people in the back.
"You guys worry too much."
Before anyone could register what was going on, Colette let out a shriek.
The driver snapped her eyes to the road, but it was too late. Something had darted into their path, the car hitting the large object head on.
There was a horrible crunching sound and the entire vehicle swerved, flipping over several times before sliding off the road and into a crusted pile of sand. Laying on the roof, the engine still sputtered, wheels turning lazily as the four women crawled out of the wreckage.
Each one was sporting minor bruises and cuts, but miraculously, no one had been seriously injured.
"What the hell did we hit?" Sheena fumed, ignoring the wreck and climbing up the small slope of dirt and sand that led to the highway. In the middle of the road, several miles back, a large animal rested. Blood glistened off the pavement as she approached.
The red liquid was already baking to the blacktop, and the dark haired driver carefully stepped around the mess towards the creature.
She heard a rattled call from Colette in the distance, "Is it dead?"
With a sigh, the driver turned to her friends, "Yeah, I think so."
Raine let out a tired sigh, visibly shaken, "What is it?"
Sheena turned to look at the creature, but as she did, she watched as it shifted some, standing on its legs and then scurried off, leaving a trail of blood. Letting out a startled shriek, she jumped back as she watched it crawl into the distance, the waves of heat finally consuming it.
Her friends were next to her a second later.
The pinked haired woman spoke up, "What just happened?"
Colette answered, "I don't know, Presea. I guess it wasn't dead…"
Raine, calming down, shrugged, "Regardless, we need to get back to the car. If we're lucky, we'll have cell service and we can get someone to come help us."
"Yeah, if we're lucky," Sheena pouted, heart still beating wildly in her chest. The crash hadn't bothered her nearly as much as that previously-thought-dead thing leaping up and darting off. With a shudder, she was only reminded of why she hated zombies and the like. It was just so unnatural…
The car was obviously totaled, though they managed to flip it onto its wheels to give the engine a quick test run. All it did was sputter uselessly.
All of them sitting in the destroyed car, Presea leaned back in her seat and said softly, "At least we have protection from the sun."
"Yeah, but not the heat." Sheena let out a long sigh, already feeling sweat tickle her brow. It was obvious that the sticky substance was rolling down her back, her shirt sticking to her curvy frame. "God, I hate being hot." With a growl, she yanked off her purple tank top and let it flop uselessly to the ground. Now sporting just a lacy black and purple bra, she saw that the others were regarding her strangely, but didn't comment.
A moment of silence filled the vehicle.
Raine let out a soft curse, "Well, cell phones are out of the question. I have absolutely no service."
Her back seat companion added, "We've been driving awhile. The last city we drove through is supposed to be the last one for a few hundred miles. Driving, we probably wouldn't have hit the next town till night fall."
"Do you think there are any gas stations nearby?" Colette tried. She was smiling, but the blond bangs that stuck to her face only made her smile seem forced.
The driver shook her head, "We passed one a while back… but even that'd be too far to walk. The next one is probably miles away."
Raine remained composed, "Our only option is to wait until night fall and then follow the highway to the next gas station. Hopefully they'll have some sort of protocol to handle the situation."
"Maybe someone will drive by and help us?" The blonde passenger chirped.
"I haven't seen another car on the road all day, you really think someone will appear out of the blue?" Sheena was irritated. The day was just getting hotter and they were stuck sitting with no air conditioning until night fell. Then, they'd be walking for miles.
Her friend responded back, "You never know. If they were driving the same way as we were, we never would have seen them."
The oldest woman nodded, "It's true. Maybe we'll get lucky."
Sheena scrunched down in her seat, back sticking the leather as she muttered, "Yeah. Like with the cell phones?" but didn't say anything else about it. What was the use of arguing? It was only making the day feel hotter and what she needed to do was cool down.
Silence fell over all of them as time ticked by. Every once in awhile, a short conversation would start, but the heat consumed the words and soon, even short statements seemed impossibly hard to communicate. The four women all sat in the quiet desert air, thinking even becoming difficult. By then, they all had abandoned their shirts, the driver contemplating ripping off her jean shorts. However, she lacked the energy to do so.
Four or five hours had passed when Presea perked up. Her words sounded a bit slurred and her voice cracked in the heat, but she managed, "Do you guys hear that?"
Sheena hadn't even wanted to bother with it, but Colette and Raine soon voiced affirmation. Listening through the harsh silence, the sound of a car motor could be heard.
Hope prickled at the driver's skin, "Someone's coming!"
Colette hoped out of the car, climbing up the small hill and cupping her hands over her eyes to look into the distance. For a long moment, she didn't say anything, but soon, she was jumping up and down with renewed enthusiasm, "A car! I see a car!"
Relief flooded the dark haired woman, "Thank God." Climbing out of the wrecked vehicle, she gestured to the trunk of their car. Raine and Presea nodded and Sheena joined Colette on the highway.
The blonde, hair tied in a bun, was all smiles, "Do you think they'll stop."
"They'd better," was all her friend said.
As the car got closer, Raine and Presea joined them on the side of the highway. It was then that Presea commented about their demeanor, and the three of them went to grab their shirts. Sheena opted to stay on the highway to wait for the car. Until she got into air conditioning, she wasn't going to put anything back on.
Soon enough, a beat up green truck rumbled down the black stretch of pavement, gurgling to a stop near Sheena.
A younger man was inside the car, but he was still probably over the age of forty. He raised an eyebrow at Sheena and stepped out. He was balding, a slight belly hanging over her belt.
He remained by his car, but called, "Are you alright? Do you need help?" It was easy to see that he was ogling Sheena's body. It had to be a tempting sight: sweat soaked skin, top missing and only a pair of shorts blocking the rest of the view…
"Oh, thank God you showed up. We had an accident and our car got totaled. We've been out here for hours."
The man obviously had a hard time keeping his brown eyes trained on her face, "Is there anything I can do? Do you think the car can be fixed?" Sheena glanced back at the vehicle, finally pointing a finger at it. She knew the man caught a glimpse of the mess of metal because he took a sharp breath, "Is anyone hurt?"
"No, thankfully," the driver turned back around and smiled, "We'd just like a lift to the nearest gas station, if possible."
The man stammered for a moment, "Well, how many are with you?"
"Me and three others."
He shuffled for a bit, as if trying to make a decision. He licked his chapped lips as he viewed Sheena several more times. There was a twinkle in his eye as he gave one last look at her chest, "Well, I don't have that much space in my truck. You could come with me and we could call-"
Just then, Presea came over the small hill and onto the high way. Without an expression, she pulled out a sleek black glock from behind her and pointed it at the man, "Or you could wait here with our car."
The man let out a yelp, "What the hell is this?"
Sheena shrugged, "We need a car."
"I'll give you a lift, I swear. Hell, if you want to drive, then go ahead, just put the gun away." He raised his arms defensively, limbs vibrating with fear.
Presea handed another gun to Sheean, who pointed it at the man too, "I really don't want to end up owing you."
"Free of charge, then."
"Oh?" Sheena raised a dark eyebrow, "So you were going to charge me before?"
The man visibly paled.
Colette and Raine joined them on the pavement. Each one held a gun as well.
The blonde smiled, "I'm really sorry that you're a bad person. We weren't going to do this to you if you would've just played nice… but a girl has to be prepared this day and age."
The man blinked several times and then stammered, "Was this a trap or something? Are you guys cops?"
That earned a chuckle from the group, Raine finally answering his question, "No traps. We really did get into an accident. And no, we're not cops."
Presea pulled the trigger, a bullet zinging through the heat and smacking into the pavement near the man's feet, "And we will kill you."
Silence followed, as if the man was trying to decide what to do next. Finally, he managed, voice shaking, "You can have my car. You can have it. Just leave me here, alright? Just leave me alone."
Colette tightened her grip on the gun, "Well, we can't guarantee you'll be alone…"
Right as the man raised an eyebrow, Sheena yanked on the trigger. A bullet slammed into the man's stomach, blood splashing onto the ground below as he collapsed. He let out something close to a gurgle, and all four women closed in on him.
Raine was speaking, "I know temptations are hard to ignore, but honestly, can't you just help a woman out without wanting something from her?"
The man coughed, "I-I didn't say I wanted her body or anything-"
Colette gave a short, light laugh, "But you were looking at her like you did. I'm really sorry, but your intentions were pretty obvious."
"Yes. You might as well atone." Presea's words cut through the thick sludge of hot air around them and the man finally started sobbing.
"Alright, alright! I'll admit that I thought about it… that's why I wanted her alone-"
Sheena slammed the butt of her gun against the man's skull. A sickening crack filled the air as she seethed, "You're a disgusting man, you know that?"
"I would have stopped if you would have said 'no!'"
"But you were going to wait to bring that up until after I was alone in a car with you?" She slammed her gun into the man's head again. "Disgusting."
The man let out a strangled sob, "Well, you shouldn't look like that, you shouldn't-"
It was Colette who pulled the trigger this time. A spurt of blood shot up from the man's leg and he wailed in pain. The blonde's sweet voice covered his agony, "So you're saying she has to dress so she doesn't tempt you? That if she dresses in a way that's tempting then you have the right to her?"
"No, no! That's not what I meant! That's-"
Raine kicked the man in the face, "Oh, shut up. We don't need to hear it."
She turned around and walked off, saying something about 'disgusting men'. The three others remained circled over the crippled man. He was crying, probably cursing God about his fate.
Presea grabbed the man's shirt and started to drag him towards the wreckage, "If you were an honest man, then this wouldn't have happened to you."
Colette nodded, "We weren't going to kill you."
"But now…" Sheena paused for affect, hearing the man cry out as he was tossed down the hill. The mess of metal nearby, the driver took aim at the man's vulnerable figure. "Thanks for the car."
The bullet left the barrel with a bang, hitting the man square in the face. Instantly, he was dead. They all turned from him as if nothing had happened.
It was the blonde who spoke, "I bet the coyotes will find him soon."
Presea nodded, "Yup. We told him he wouldn't be alone."
They all made it to the truck, Raine already seated in the passenger's seat. Sheena went around and climbed in behind the wheel while the other girls squeezed together next to her.
"It's not very comfortable," Raine commented while Sheena started the car up. The guy had left his keys in the ignition, which seemed a pretty ridiculous thing to do in the first place, never mind approaching a stranger on the side of the road.
"It'll get us where we need to go." Presea leaned back in her seat, the plastic coverings squeaking as she did so.
Turning the car on, the air conditioner hit them full blast. The cool air felt amazing, instantly freezing their skin. Sheena let out a content sigh and then put the car into 'drive'.
As they sped down the highway, heat rolling off the pavement in waves and reaching like fingers towards the slowly descending sun, she let out a sad sigh and commented, "You can never find honest men anymore."
Her comment was met with a chores of agreement.
A/N: I wrote this awhile back and decided to finally post it. I actually realized, while reading through it, the connection it has to some of the politics that have been going on in the United States. I just wanted to say: this isn't a response or anyhow related to that. In case anyone was or is thinking that, I'm not trying to make any sort of political statement, it was just an idea that came to me.
Also: SHAMELESS ADVERTISEMENT- If you want to read an interesting story, go ahead and check out Glory's Casket by Emil Lime and myself. It's about a different Chosen's journey of world regeneration, and trust me, it's not as cut and dry as that sounds. Kratos and the Chosen's group run into several problems along the way, and things only get more complicated from there...
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. If so, leave a review. They're always appreciated.
Till next time,
Orangepotato