The world really isn't so small after all.
Not when you're fleeing civilization, anyway. It sure feels like you could drive forever.
Reaching for the water bottle in my purse, I took note that it was the last one.
"Ian," I turned to him. "We are going to have to stop somewhere soon."
"We're not stopping until we hit the border," insisted Ian. He didn't take his eyes off the road. "Everybody in the States knows my face. They'll—they'll recognize us anywhere."
I did not doubt that after the Incident had caused his face to be plastered all over television again—although this time for a different reason—Ian was right. Glancing backwards and catching Laura's eye, we exchanged a frown.
"That's not going to work with two women in the car. Eventually, one of us is going to need the washroom and unlike you, Ian, we are not going by the side of the road."
"We're not even out of Utah. Hell, or we could be, I don't know where we are," Laura said, and I sighed; she'd grown up in the US and knew the area better, and if she thought we were lost, we were as good as marooned. She leaned forward in her seat and swatted Ian's arm. "Next time we see any sign of life, we're stopping! Better yet, we could stop around that highway sign we passed a little bit back. I swear I saw a desert iguana, I'd put money on it."
"Not the best time to look for specimens, honey," Ian said, the strain in his voice evident despite his attempts to sound calm for us.
"All right, all right, but you've been driving for three hours. If you won't stop for the bathroom, stop for your sanity."
"Two against one, we win," I settled back into my seat and scanned the horizon for a building, a sign, a tree with live leaves...
XXX
The car had been silent for a little over an hour. Ian remained tense but quiet, and Laura was nodding off in the seat beside me. I was fantasizing about drinking a delicious iced coffee, when something caught my eyes at the side of the road.
"A sign!" I nudged Ian's back. "It's a town! Take that exit, Ian!"
Ian mumbled something about backseat drivers, but he steered the red convertible into the right lane, snapping Laura awake. We passed an old, dirty sign that read "Phoenix". Odd name for a tiny place in the middle of nowhere, I thought. The exit took us on to a small gravel road, where the sounds of the highway faded and were replaced by an eerie silence.
As we advanced slowly along the road, I pulled out and unfolded a road map. "I don't know where we are," I admitted. "I don't see Phoenix here—maybe it's too small."
Laura leaned forward and took the map from my hands. She studied it for a moment, then frowned.
"I'm not sure either. Maybe we can find someone here to ask."
Ian raised a hand off the steering wheel and shook a finger at us emphatically. "We're gonna find a, uh, general store and then be on our way south via the main highway." We were beginning to pass structures – mostly dilapidated barns, silos, and boarded-up houses.
"It would be nice to know where the hell we are," I snapped. Ian shot me a warning glance in response.
Turning my attention back to the road, I spotted some figures ahead. "Look! People!"
Both Ian and Laura craned their necks to see what I saw. A small group of children played on the road just ahead of us. They kicked around a battered old football. The oldest in the group could not have been older than five or six.
Ian slowed the car, stopping it as the kids moved to the side for us to pass. He rolled down the window and smiled at them.
"Hey, kids." Ian indicated the direction in which we'd been traveling. "This the way to your town?"
The three children stared back at Ian silently. It was then that I noticed something odd about them. All three wore similar, slightly old-fashioned-looking clothing. They all had blonde hair and blue eyes. The oldest, a girl, wore a long French braid that went halfway down her back.
She broke the silence. "Yes, it is," she said solemnly. "But you'll have to talk to my daddy if you want to go into town."
Ian's eyebrows shot up. Laura and I exchanged a worried glance. I was beginning to get an inkling of what Phoenix might be, and so was Laura.
Driving for a few more minutes, we finally came across a building that did not look abandoned: it was a huge temple with colorful stained-glass windows. The sign identified it as the Holy Temple of the Blessed Chosen. How did such a barren place need such a big temple? Laura craned her neck to look at the structure, squinting her eyes, and then expressions of shock and disbelief passed over her face. I gave her an inquiring look, and she shook her head as if to say, "It was nothing."
I had barely had time to wonder who the Blessed Chosen were when I realized that we had reached Phoenix. The landscape was occupied by humble single-family homes— most of which had seen better days. Many of the overgrown lawns and unfinished driveways were strewn with children's toys. The homes were drab grey and off-white colors with tired, pale accents. Few people were around. It did not escape my notice that most of those we saw out and about were men. Like the children, they dressed similarly; they wore button-down workshirts, khakis, boots, and cowboy hats.
Turning to look behind me, I caught Laura's eye. I was now certain about where we'd found ourselves. Did Ian know?
Ian was distracted, looking around as we navigated the gravel slowly. "Do you ladies see anywhere to stop?"
There was not a single convenience store, or even a Coca-Cola sign anywhere. There were two men leaning up against the side of one of the drab buildings, though, and growing impatient, Ian stopped the car in front of them.
Curious about the intruders in their midst, the men came around to Ian's window.
"Afternoon, gentlemen," Ian greeted them with no trace of sarcasm or snark. He knew we were in foreign territory.
Neither man spoke, but they both narrowed their eyes at Ian. He cast me a quick glance, and I shrugged. Ian sighed and unbuckled his seat belt, stepping out of the car.
Ian's tall, lanky figure and black outfit cut a strong contrast with the two men in prairie clothes. He offered them a hand and shook one, then the other.
"We're, uh, passing through the area on our way down south," Ian explained just as much as he was comfortable revealing. I could hear the wariness in his voice, as if he expected the men to yell at any minute that Ian was the man they'd seen on the news, talking about dinosaurs and subsequently being ridiculed. "We were hoping to find a place to stop and stock up on supplies. Is there somewhere you—you fine folks shop for shampoo and groceries?"
The older-looking man finally spoke. "Nothin' like that in Phoenix," he shook his head slowly.
"We're a closed community," the younger man put in.
Frustrated by the conversation, I turned around to Laura. "I don't think he realizes what this place is..."
"Lots of these places in the Deep South," Laura replied. "Let's help him out."
Both Laura and I stepped out of the car, interrupting the men's conversation. The two men in cowboy hats shifted their attention immediately to us.
We'd been driving along the open highway in the southwest US in August, and the weather was scorching. I wore a red spaghetti-strap tank top with a short tennis skirt and wedge heel sandals, and Laura wore a white sleeveless blouse and navy blue cut-offs, with sandals as well. Normally these were the clothes we felt the most comfortable in, but with the way the two strange men were looking at us, I couldn't help but feel like what we were wearing was the target of their hostile expressions.
I put my unease aside for the moment. "Hello, gentlemen," I said brightly, stepping around the front of the car to join them. "Very sorry to disturb you. We are just looking for somewhere to refill our water bottles and use the restroom. Would you be able to help us with that?"
The men looked at Laura, then at me, then finally at Ian with renewed suspicion. There was something else in the older one's expression, but it was unreadable to me. He raised a hand, tipping his hat back.
"I think y'all better go talk to the Prophet," the older man said slowly. He waited for a reaction.
Laura spoke before Ian could respond. "Sure, we'll be happy to talk to the Prophet."
The older man glared at Laura, then addressed Ian. "She your woman?"
Ian was still trying to process the fact that there was a "Prophet" whom we were en route to see. Taken aback by the man's personal question, he faltered a moment before answering. "Yes." He turned and indicated me with a wave, catching my eye briefly. "They're both, uh... my women."
Suppressing a smile, I looked at Laura. She'd caught that too.
The men led us further down the gravel road on foot. I was unsure if I should speak or if it was better to keep quiet. I followed Ian's lead and stayed silent. As we passed the structures – it was difficult to call them houses— I realized that there were signs of a lot of life around us. It was just hidden behind these walls.
"If we have any hope of getting what we need to go on," Laura had fallen into stride with Ian, "it'll be this 'Prophet' guy that helps us."
Ian snorted. "Of all the places we stop— we find a crazy Bible-thumping cult town..."
"A compound," I put in. Those years of binge-watching Big Love were now proving immensely helpful. "It's a self-sufficient compound. That's why they have no stores."
Ian opened his mouth to respond, but when he saw the older man ahead glance over his shoulder, checking on us, he wisely said nothing.
Soon after, we arrived at a slightly less dilapidated structure, in that you could tell it had once been a lovely family home. Like the other buildings in Phoenix, it exuded an air of being rundown and tired.
"Y'all wait here with JimBob while I see if the Prophet is available to speak with you." The older man disappeared into the house, leaving the four of us in still more uncomfortable silence. Damn! Another lost opportunity to have discussed the situation amongst ourselves.
The rusty door protested as the man opened it partway to lean out."Prophet'll see y'all - come on in."
Suddenly I felt a rising anxiety, but it was calmed as Ian placed a steadying hand on my back. He guided us both up the front steps. "Ladies first."
We followed the man into the darkened front hallway. The interior was only slightly less shabby than the exterior. The space felt crowded, with toys and clothes in various piles on the floor, and the walls were too busy with garish religious paintings and paintings of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs?
Ian and Laura saw the same painting I did. It would have been comical, to see all three of us do a simultaneous double take. Luckily our friend did not notice. He'd stopped outside what appeared to be a study, gesturing for us to follow him inside. The man seated at the desk also wore a cowboy hat.
"Your Holiness, I bring you ... the Second Dinosaur Man."
Startled by the old man's words, the Prophet lifted his head from his paperwork to see what his disciple claimed to have dragged in. The Prophet's eyes widened at the same moment Ian exclaimed, "Dr Grant!"