On the Road…
"Dude, can you turn that crap off please?"
John Malcolm Booth rolled his eyes and smirked before picking up his phone and selecting the Spotify app. He scrolled through his custom list until he reached the song currently playing. His thumb brushed over the pause key…and then moved to hit "play" on the next track below it.
"~I threw a wish in the well, don't ask me I'll never tell…~"
"NO!"
Booth laughed as his friend Adam thrusted his finger toward the volume dial and pressed it, cutting the song off right at the chorus. His brown-haired, buzzed head friend then collapsed back into his seat and began rummaging through his backpack. They'd been on the road now for almost three days out of their week-long spring break road trip. Once they got caught up on their studies at the University of Michigan they were off, and were now cruising along a freeway in the Texan outback on their way to Houston.
"That steak dinner cannot come any sooner," Adam murmured.
"Dude," Booth deadpanned. "We just ate five minutes ago, literally. Like, we just left town Five. Minutes. Ago. It's only 1:23 in the afternoon; we have three hours until we get there. Until then, enjoy the cacti."
"Brah, it is like 183 degrees out here. I am sweating off everything I just ate."
"Just go back to reading Superman, Adam."
"Supes could get us there in three seconds flat," he grumbled.
"Cause you know, all those superheroes are way overpowered and their abilities are ridiculously over the top anyway," Booth retorted. "I'll just stick with The Walking Dead where everyone is normal…but with zombies."
"Well what about Harry Potter and Eragon? Their powers are over the top."
"That's magic; there's a difference," Booth said defensively. "Why don't you read something where the superheroes aren't in god-mode all the time?"
"Cause there's nothing else dude," Adam answered as he held up the comic in between them. "DC is the only publisher of superhero comics in the world. Other people have tried to start their own companies throughout the years but they never really got off the ground. The closest anyone got was a guy named Lee or something who almost started up his own company in the 60's, but he died of cancer before it was finalized and the money he was saving went to his family instead."
"Eh," Booth shrugged. "Walking Dead and Archie is all I need."
"Whatever, man."
From there they drove on in silence, but within thirty minutes Adam decided that he needed some shut eye and so leaned his seat back to take a little nap while Booth focused on the road. An hour after that though, Booth felt a change in the air; his ears popped and static electricity danced across his skin, making his hairs stand on end. And finally, the boom of a thunderclap jolted him out of his seat and caused him to grip the steering wheel white-knuckle tight.
"Um, Adam?"
It had been clear skies mere moments ago, but now the sky was near black with thick storm clouds that billowed across the sky as far as they eye could see. Lightning strikes bombarded the landscape for miles it seemed.
"Adam?"
But despite the sudden change in weather conditions, his friend was practically comatose in his seat. So, he opted for slapping him repeatedly on the shoulder with varying degrees of force to coax him awake.
"ADAM!"
Adam then shot up, his eyes wide in panicked confusion, his head swiveling this way and that.
"W-what," he stammered. "What gives man?"
"Look out the window and tell me what you think gives!" Booth shouted. "Three guesses as to why, and the first two don't count!"
Adam obeyed and gazed out the passenger side window in both awe and terror. "Whoah! What the-?"
KRAKOOM
A lightning bolt suddenly slammed into the ground a few feet ahead of the truck, the heat melting the two front tires and causing it to flip forward. The two friends landed hard on the roof of the cap, but they were still buckled in, albeit hanging upside down now. Their heads were swimming, but Booth tried his best to retain consciousness and get ahold of the situation.
"Adam, g-get outta the…" He said in a daze.
KRAKOOM
It was at that moment another bolts ripped through the cab of the truck, filling it with a blinding white light and blistering heat. But before they could cry out in fear and pain, everything went dead silent and their vision dropped to utter blackness.