Dana: I don't own Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Chapter 2
Sterling didn't sleep easily that night, it wasn't unusual that she had trouble sleeping but that night she was more restless than usual and kept waking up every hour. At about quarter to six, Sterling gave up on trying to sleep. As quietly as possible, Sterling slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks and her housecoat. If she couldn't sleep, she'd grab a glass of apple juice and wait for the others to wake up. That was when Sterling tensed violently, she had twenty clones in her basement that only she and Emily knew about. "Oh shit." Sterling thought
Sterling stopped dead when she saw the light on in the kitchen, wondering if someone broke in. She calmed down a little when she saw Emily. Her friend was pacing in circles around the kitchen. Sterling walked in and asked:
"How long have you been up?"
"Over an hour. I tend to wake up early when I'm stressed." Emily said
"I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm surprised I even slept at all. I don't sleep well when I'm stressed."
"Took me forever to fall asleep in the first place. Oh God, do you really think we can really do this?
"I don't know but I think we can. I just have a feeling we can do it."
Emily gave a shaky and nervous laugh.
"For how long though?"
Sterling pursed her lips and shook her head.
"I don't know. But I do know that we won't last long if we stay in the city."
"I'm gonna disappear on mom... she's gonna be so..." Emily trailed off
"Pissed? Scared? Worried?" Sterling filled in
"It's gonna go on our records, that never goes away... we'll never be able to get decent jobs... she's gonna be a mad/scared combo."
"I know... I know... I understand where you're coming from." Sterling said before taking a deep breath "You don't have to come with me... you know that right?"
"I can't let you go by yourself." Emily said, "No, I'm going if you're going."
"Are you sure? Because you're right, if we're caught, this isn't going away."
"If I go home now, I'm gonna regret it later. I mean, I'll regret it if we get caught, but I'm gonna regret doing nothing more. 'Cuz those are refugees depending on us."
"Yeah, they are. We can't leave them. When should we leave?"
"I think we should put it off as long as we can... and we need to find an RV."
"An RV should be easy enough to find. The real problem is where we're going to go. I have an idea where but... never mind, it's a stupid idea."
"So is robbing a store. What's the idea?"
"We go North."
"Where to the North specifically?"
"I... my parents had a couple of friends who had a cabin in the woods. It's in the middle of nowhere and no one aside myself know where it is. Those friends moved south years ago so we wouldn't have to worry about them finding us."
Emily looked at Sterling questioningly and asked:
"Between it and the RV, you think we can house all the clones? Because that's as good a plan as any. The only remote place I can think of – my dad's parent's farm – requires border hopping to the US."
"The cabin is pretty big. And if we get a big enough RV... we should be able to do it without having to jump the border."
"Well, the best of bad options will have to do." Emily hesitated before continuing "I think I'm going to tell mom I'm trying out residence. At least she won't think I'm in trouble that way."
"That sounds like a good plan. I hope you're okay with a long road trip because getting up there will take some time."
"I'll remember to grab my charger cables. And this is all assuming we'll be able to rob that store and get away with it. We need a game plan."
"The thing we really need to do is make sure that there are no witnesses and that the cameras don't see our faces."
"There are gonna be witnesses though. The trick is gonna be making sure we can't be identified. So, scarves covering faces and hoodies."
"Yeah, we'll also need to have one of the boys in the basement with us. For size, you know."
"Do you nominate anyone in particular or should we ask them?"
"I think it best if we ask."
"Yeah. Speaking of whom..." Emily trailed off, looking over Sterling's shoulder
Sterling turned around in her chair to see Rex standing at the top of the stairs. Sterling figured that he had been listening to the conversation.
"Good morning Captain. I hope you slept well."
Emily smiled shyly and tugged at her hair. She didn't say anything. Sterling blew her bangs out of her eyes and asked, well tried to ask at least:
"We uh... ahem... shit how do I do this?"
"Ma'am, I'm under the impression sheltering us will be a massive strain on you both," Rex said seriously
"Sterling. Please call me Sterling, I'm not in the military. And sheltering you and the others is no less a strain that being an autistic, anxiety-ridden woman on this hunk of rock. I'll be fine. I'm just awkward in social situations where I have to ask questions."
"Alright Sterling, Emily. I can't in good conscious expect you to damage your futures looking after me and my men."
"I understand but I can't in my conscious leave you and your men out in the street in a world where everything is radically different from what you know. And honestly, I wouldn't be too surprised if this planet doesn't wipe itself out in a nuclear war in the near future."
"I'm with her. The right thing to do is rarely the easy thing."
"Nothing worth doing is ever easy."
There was a short pause before Emily asked:
"Are you the only one awake? I'm sure we could throw a breakfast together with what we've got here."
Emily sounded far too cheerful in Sterling's opinion but she didn't comment on it.
"I have enough ingredients for pancakes, I can make those if everyone is awake," Sterling said with a slight shrug
"Fives and Cody are awake. The rest are coming around." Rex said
"Well, why don't you tell everyone who's up and awake that they can come upstairs. I'll get the pancake batter ready." Sterling said
Rex nodded and headed back downstairs. Emily glanced around the kitchen and said:
"We're gonna need a big bowl."
"I have one that's big enough and if we need it, we can use another bowl," Sterling said.
"Of course. Good idea."
"I'll grab everything. The recipe book is the yellow one on the shelf, can you grab it for me, please?
"Sure."
"Thank you. I'm gonna need a lot of milk and a lot of flour."
"Right... I'll get those."
"Thank you. The flour bag is in the pantry in the basement. I'll grab the eggs."
As soon as Sterling finished her sentence, several clones began to appear at the top of the stairs. Some were yawning and rubbing their eyes but a couple of them waved at the two girls.
"Morning boys," Sterling called.
"How is everyone?" Emily asked with a nervous smile
"I hope you guys slept well. I'm making breakfast. It should be ready in a bit." Sterling said
Several of the clones perked up at the mention of breakfast, Fives being one of them. Kix didn't say anything, he merely gave Sterling and Emily the analytical doctor look.
"Good morning to you too Doc." Sterling muttered as she stood on her toes to grab the baking powder, "I hate being short."
"I used to be one of the tallest kids in my grade school classes," Emily said wistfully. "You guys eat pancakes?"
"Have you guys ever had pancakes before?"
There was a general shaking of heads and a couple of confused looks at Sterling's question.
"Pancakes?" Ponds asked curiously
"Oh boy. Okay, you'll find out in a little bit. They're good. Especially when I put chocolate chips in them,"Sterling said as she opened the cupboard doors to see that the chocolate chips had been put out her reach. "And said chocolate chips are out of my reach as usual. Emily, I'm gonna climb onto the stove and try and grab them, think you can spot me?"
"Can I try?" Emily asked
She stretched upwards in an attempt to grab the bag but another arm reached past her and grabbed them. Echo passed the bag to Emily, who in turn passed it to Sterling.
"Thank you," Emily said.
"Thanks, Echo. Now, where did I put that measuring cup..." Sterling muttered to herself
"Over here," Emily said holding out the measuring cup.
"Do you need any help?" Jesse asked
"Yeah, I need someone to run down to the pantry and grab the bag of flour. It's a red and yellow bag. I also need someone to grab me the milk please."
"I got the milk."
Sterling noticed out of the corner of her eye, Jesse disappearing down the stairs into the basement.
"Thanks, Emily," Sterling said before she muttered, "I'm gonna need four eggs for this."
Jesse came up the stairs with a large bag of flour in his arms. He set it down on the counter.
"Is this it?" He asked
"Yeah. Oh, and the table needs to be cleared off so that there's space to eat." Emily said, "Eggs, right..."
"I got them," Sterling said holding up the carton. "Thanks for grabbing the flour, Jesse."
As Sterling mixed the batter, Echo, Fives Kix, Thire and Rex set about moving things off the table.
"Thanks, guys." Sterling said pulling out a frying pan "Gotta love non-stick pans."
"Oh yeah; much easier to clean..." Emily trailed off. "Hey Cody, Ponds, you guys mind putting plates and such out?"
"The plates are in the cupboard over the dishwasher," Sterling said. "Thanks again guys."
Cody nodded and got to work. His movements were professional even if he was in a mundane situation. Sterling looked around muttering:
"Where is the... oh right... it melted. Wooden spatula to the rescue."
"Melted?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows
"Somehow, my sister managed to melt one of out plastic spatulas. I don't know how she did it but I get the feeling I don't wanna know." Sterling said, "The first batch of pancakes is ready."
"She melted it?" Rex asked in disbelief
"Food!" Fives exclaimed
"I know Captain. I still have no idea how she did it," Sterling shook her head "Don't forget to save some pancakes for those who didn't get any."
"There's still more coming," Emily said.
"I think I made too much," Sterling muttered.
"Are you kidding? Fives is here. You've made barely enough." Jesse said, "These are really good by the way."
"The maximum number of pancakes that are allowed to be consumed by a single person if four. I made too much. And hopefully, no one upstairs will smell the pancakes." Sterling said firmly looking directly at Fives
"Who's upstairs?" Rex asked
Emily shot Sterling a panicked look.
"My brother, my sister and my mom. It's what..." Sterling looked at the clock on the stove "six in the morning on a Sunday, they don't usually get up until nine."
"You haven't informed them?" Ponds asked confused
"I have twenty strange men in my house. My mom would have my head on a silver platter. My sister would be asking if I was into orgies..." Sterling shuddered at that "and my brother would be trying to "borrow" your guns. I'm not taking any chances. And the fewer people who know you're on Earth the better."
"Yeah... we need to get out of the house and find that RV. Quickly." Emily said
Sterling nodded in agreement.
"When you're all done eating, grab all your gear; so armour, weapons, clothes and charge cables. Then meet me outside." Sterling said
"Quietly. As quietly as possible," Emily said
"That too. I'll be sure to leave a note for mom. So move quickly and quietly. I'll meet you guys outside in a bit."
Rex nodded; he and Cody made a gesture to the rest of the clones around the table. They all finished eating and headed back downstairs to the basement. Emily went to the living room and grabbed her backpack, which held her computer and chargers. Sterling jogged up the stairs and back into her bedroom. She stood and looked at her sleeping sister for about a minute before she started packing. When she came back down the stairs, she was dressed simply in a pair of blue jeans and a grey hoodie. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder, containing clothes, her phone, computer, headphones, iPod and respective chargers. The two girls put their boots and coats on and stepped outside. Sterling stood in front of Emily and said quietly:
"We're doing it. There's still time to back out."
Even though Emily had said that they were sticking together, Sterling still wanted to give her friend a chance to back out. Emily shook her head, she understood what her friend was doing but wasn't planning on letting Sterling go it alone.
"I already called my mom with my phony story. You're stuck with me, Sterling." Emily said
"Then let's rock and roll Emily. First up, the boys are gonna need a change of clothes and shoes."
"So we need transport. Where can we grab an RV?" Emily asked
"There's an RV depot not too far from here, about a thirty-minute walk away. We'll grab one from there. I'll drive."
"Right. I can't drive at all and the guys have only handled speeders."
The door opened and both girls whipped around. It was only Rex and the others. All of them had their armour on.
"Everyone ready to go?" Sterling asked
"Just about, Thire and a couple others are grabbing the rest of their stuff. What's our first move?" Rex asked
"Well, our first move is to get a method of transportation. I know where we can get an RV so that's covered. Next up, get you guys some proper clothes and shoes; not to mention winter gear. Then we grab food, we'll need it. It gets pretty cold and there is a lot of snow where we're going after we grab everything." Sterling said
"How cold?" Rex asked
"How much snow?" Fives asked
"On average, negative forty degrees Celsius and between three and five feet of snow," Sterling said.
Emily made an unhappy noise while Fives let out a low whistle.
"Don't worry Emily, we'll be inside for most of it."
The rest of the clones exited the house.
"You better lock up Sterling, if we're gonna make good time getting where we need to go..." Emily trailed off
"I"ll lock the door. Good thing it's still dark." Sterling said
"I wish we could contact the Generals," Cody said.
"I wish it was possible for you to do so. Unfortunately, our tech isn't very advanced." Sterling said apologetically
"Let's get walking everybody... which way Sterling?"
"Follow me. The depot is close to the library."
The clones followed Sterling and Emily. For a half hour walk, it seemed to go by quickly. No one talked much, there were a couple of conversations being struck up every now and then and sometimes someone would ask a question and either Emily or Sterling would answer. Soon enough, the small group arrived at the depot.
"We're here," Sterling said.
Emily squinted at the various RVs on the lot.
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Emily asked, "We're gonna need keys."
"I think they keep the keys in the main office," Sterling said as she climbed over the fence, the clones following her. "Can anyone pick a lock?"
"Absolutely." Fives said
"Alright. If I were to hide keys to a bunch of RVs, where would I hide them?" Sterling asked to no one in particular
"In the office, I would imagine." Kix said
"Most likely. And probably in a safe. Can anyone crack open a safe?" Sterling asked
"I could." Echo said
"Okay. Anyone who's not coming with me to break into the office and crack a safe, could you guys do one of two things; either find the biggest RV here or get the gates open so we can drive out please?" Sterling said
"I'll handle finding the RV. Rex? Cody? Ponds?"
The three clones nodded, knowing what Emily was trying to ask.
"We'll handle getting the gates open," Rys said indicating him and Jek.
Sterling nodded at them and turned to go to the main office before Emily grabbed her arm.
"Be careful," Emily said.
"You too. Here goes nothing." Sterling said
...
All in all, it took about fifteen minutes for Fives, Echo and Sterling to break into the office and grab an assortment of keys. As they slipped out the door, Sterling murmured:
"I hope they found a big enough RV."
Almost as if Emily heard her, Sterling heard he friend call out:
"Over here!"
The trio jogged over to where they had heard Emily's voice. They found her standing at the side of a green vehicle which happened to be the second longest in the lot. Ponds and Rex both looked pleased with the selection. Sterling nodded, a glint of amusement appearing in her eyes.
"Oh yeah, that will do." She said, "Now to find the right key."
Sterling began to test out the keys to unlock the driver's side door.
"Did anyone see you?" Emily asked
Sterling looked up, it was obvious Emily trying to pretend her stomach wasn't tying itself into knots. She wanted to look cool and collected in front of Rex and Cody. Sterling gave her friend a small smile.
"There's no one here, I doubt I was seen. And I haven't heard any sirens either. I think we're in the clear for the moment." Sterling said
Emily grinned at her friend.
"This is getting kind of exciting, y'know. Let's go hit up the mall." Emily said
"I was hoping you'd say that," Sterling said as she slipped the correct key into the lock.
She unlocked the driver's side door and hopped inside, unlocking the other doors as she did so. She slipped the key into the ignition when she heard Emily take her seat in the shotgun seat.
"Please let this work. Please don't let me fail." Sterling whispered
"We can do this. We can totally do this." Emily whispered back
Emily hoped quoting Rey would bring them luck. Neither girl noticed a bunch of clones looking concerned in the back.
"I just hope someone's listening to grant us luck," Sterling whispered.
She turned the ignition and slowly started to drive. It was a little bumpy at first but the drive evened out as Sterling got used to the controls, drawing on her memories of practice driving in her grandfather's truck. Emily had put on her headphones and cranked up her music. She started singing Phoenix from Fall Out Boy. Sterling slowly started to sing along, her quiet voice slowly starting to get louder as the song progressed. When Emily got to My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark, a few clones; Fives, Echo and Jesse had joined in. Sterling felt a little better at that point.
"We should be pulling up to the mall in a few minutes," Sterling said, "Thank you."
Emily took a deep breath and turned around in her seat to face the clones.
"Okay. Game plan. We need a game plan. Rex? Cody?" Emily asked
"Any ideas boys?" Sterling asked
Rex thought for a minute and relaxed a little.
"You'll need a distraction." He said
"Okay, I figured that much. Its gonna have to be a big enough distraction that a lot of people will notice so we have enough time to get everything. Any suggestions?" Sterling asked
"Fire alarm?" Emily suggested
"That might work. But it would have to be timed just right."
"We can handle that," Cody said, his voice held a faintly amused tone.
"I know, I have confidence that you can do it." Sterling said "But this means we'll have to do out shopping in two groups. One of us will take half of the group to grab clothes and winter gear and someone else will take the other half and get boots and shoes."
"I'll take the shoe shopping," Emily said.
"I'll handle clothes," Sterling said. "You and I both have our phones, let me know when you're ready. Once we have everything and we've left the building, we'll grab food. Then we head North. I'll need someone to handle a map."
"Right. I can't read maps," There was a pause, "It seems I can't do a lot of important things."
"You keep the unit calm. I'll handle the map reading." Ponds said
"Thank you." Sterling said, "Who's going with who?"
In the end, Rex, Fives, Echo, Jesse, Kix, Warthog, Jek and Thire decided to go with Emily. Leaving Cody, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Sinker, Boost, Comet, Ponds, Rys, Razor and Stak to go with Sterling. Sterling parked the RV close to the door and everyone got out. The two groups went their separate ways, Emily and her group heading to Payless, Sterling and her group to Old Navy.
...
Emily walked around slowly, watching as the clones looked at boots. Several of them had already made their selections and were looking over boots for the others who weren't with them. Secretly, Emily was worried about whether or not the cashier would notice that the clones were all identical. And even though her hood was pulled up to hide her face, Emily didn't think it felt like enough cover. She wished she had worn a scarf like Sterling had. Echo appeared beside her and asked gently:
"You okay Emily?"
Emily nodded dully, she was good at lying about how comfortable. She stepped around one of the couches and asked Echo:
"You seeing anything that grabs you?"
"I did see a nice pair of boots over there." Echo said indicating where he had seen the boots
"Great! Let's check the size..." Emily said cheerfully
She felt that saying that aloud would feel necessary since she already knew that one size fits all in that particular case but that it would be less suspicious to pretend that she didn't know that little fact. Echo looked down with a small blush on his face as he whispered:
"I don't know my shoe size."
"Well, that's an easy fix..." Emily looked around for someone who had finished finding their boots. "Hey Hardcase, are you done? Could you come give us a hand over here?"
Hardcase jogged over.
"What do you need Emily?" He asked
"We need to get Echo's shoe size!" Emily said a little too quickly in her opinion
She couldn't help but wonder if she was overdoing it if trying to act normal was drawing attention to herself and the boys. She cast a quick glance at the cashier to get a read on him and nearly had a heart attack when she saw a store hand coming to assist them. Emily picked up on Hardcase saying:
"Well, my shoe size is a ten... Echo's shoe size should be the same as mine..."
Emily nodded along as she watched the store hand help them out. She was trying to focus on the music coming from her headphones which were still covering one of her ears and hoped she wasn't trembling. Emily also couldn't help but wonder how Sterling was coping.
...
In the clothing store, Sterling was slightly calmer than Emily but not by much. The teenager was looking over winter jackets as Ponds leaned over her shoulder. Sterling glanced at him and asked:
"See anything you like?"
"What's AC/DC?" Ponds asked
"It's a band. One of my favourites actually. Did you want one of their shirts?" Sterling asked
"No, I just saw Waxer with one slung over his arm." Ponds said
"Ah. Did you see anything you liked?" Sterling asked
Ponds hesitated, as if unsure how Sterling would react when he spoke next.
"There's one shirt with a cat on it..."
"Grab it and try it on," Sterling said.
Ponds chuckled;
"Alright, I will." He paused. "Are you alright? First missions are stressful."
It was easiest for him and his brothers to treat the situation as a mission, staying safe until the Generals find them. He hoped General Windu was looking for him and the others. Sterling chuckled darkly;
"I'm fine. Let's just say that if I wasn't fine, you'd know. But thank you for your concern."
"You're welcome." Ponds said
"No really, thank you. Outside my parents and Emily, not a lot of people I know care about my mental health. And I've known you barely 24 hours." Sterling said
"In the squad, we have to look out for each other. Maybe it's different for the Wolfpack, the Home Guard or General Skywalker or Kenobi's forces but in my experience, if we're well enough to hold a gun, no one else cares about what's going on in our heads." Ponds said "So it's my job as a Commander to look out for my squad, their moods and their well being. And right now, that includes you and your friend; doubly so because you're both non-combatants."
"Well, if there's one thing I've never had; it's more than one friend who cares about me in that way. Emily is the first." Sterling touched Ponds' hand lightly "Thank you."
Ponds gave her a small smile.
"Come on, let's go find the others," Sterling said
They walked towards the part of the store where the boys had promised to meet up once they had selected everything. Sterling saw Ponds grab the shirt he was talking about and sling it across his arm. Sterling found Waxer first, he was wearing Guardian's of the Galaxy shirt. Sterling couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. She gave Waxer an approving look.
"Good choice Waxer," Sterling said.
Waxer gave her a proud grin. Boil appeared a few seconds later, he had chosen very colourful shirts among his choices as well a pair of black jeans.
"Colourful, good choices too Boil. They suit you well. Dare I ask what Wolffe has picked?" Sterling asked
Wolffe strolled over, he had found the Harry Potter section. Sterling's lips twitched.
"Looks like someone has good taste in books. Now, where are Razor, Stak, Sinker, Boost, Comet and Thire?" Sterling asked
"Still figuring things out," Wolffe said as he nodded towards the fitting rooms
Sterling felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out and saw that Emily had texted. It said that they were about ready. Sterling ignored the fact that half the words were misspelled. Sterling texted back:
Is everything okay over there? We're almost done here by the way.
Everything's fine so far over here. Just say the word when you're prepared.
Some of the guys are almost ready. Don't worry, I'll give the word when we need to pull the alarm.
Roger Roger.
Very funny.
Sterling looked up, taking her eyes off her phone and saw that the rest of her party had returned from the change rooms with their selections. Sterling nodded and indicated that they should get in line. Once in line, Sterling pulled out her phone.
The guys and I are about to check out.
There was a pause before Sterling got an answer from Emily.
I just told Rex and Hardcase. They're both in their positions now.
Alright, we're at the checkout now and the last tags are starting to come off. Get ready.
As the cashier read off the price, Sterling sent a text with only one word.
Now!
The moment Sterling sent her text, the fire alarm went off. Even though Sterling knew it was coming, she still jumped. Everyone in the store all looked up and started looking around, whispering among themselves. No one was really paying attention to the brown-haired teenager surrounded by ten identical men.
"Grab your stuff let's go!" Sterling said.
...
When the alarm went off, Emily jumped a little. She quickly put the surprise of the sudden loud noise behind her as she hissed:
"Run!"
Everyone took off from the store. They were all wearing their new boots as not to lose speed. They easily caught up with Sterling and her party at the RV. Emily watched Sterling skid to a halt in front of the doors to the back, while pulling out the keys as she slid.
"Get in! Get in! Get in!" Sterling shouted
Everybody pilled inside. Emily clung to her phone for dear life, not really noticing as Fives gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Sterling, on the other hand, was more focused on getting out of the parking lot and away from the scene of their crime as possible. She gunned it out of the parking lot, her heart beating out of control while her breathing was coming in rapid bursts.
"Is everyone here?" Sterling asked, her voice shaking slightly
"Y... yeah... I feel like I'm gonna faint but I think we've got everyone." Emily said
Sterling faintly heard Cody doing a quick headcount.
"Everyone's here," Cody confirmed. "Where too next?"
"North. Away from the city." Emily said
"We need food first. Then we get the Hell outta dodge." Sterling said firmly
"Yeah. Or maybe we get out of the city and find food on the highway. There are McDonalds and Tim Hortons everywhere." Emily said
"True." Sterling took a deep breath as she saw the sign for highway 401 coming up, "Now for the true test. I need to merge on the highway. I need to concentrate on this so bear with me."
Emily nodded and fell silent, pulling her knees towards her chest. She was shaking a bit and worrying about the idea that the device Hardcase cooked up while they were driving to the mall. But she was also worried about how her mother and father were going to think if or when they found out about this. Fives squeezed her shoulder again and Emily grasped at it like it was the only thing keeping her from drowning.
Sterling grit her teeth as she drove and was silently praying that she and the others hadn't been seen by the cameras, that they wouldn't crash or worse, get themselves pulled over by the cops or worse, have an anxiety attack while driving. If anything, that was the last thing Sterling wanted to happen. All her focus had narrowed to the pedals beneath her feet, the traffic in front of her and the faint memories of the driver's handbook about merging on highways.
The clones could only watch as this happened. They were only able to worry silently as Sterling guided the RV onto the highway. Sterling tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white and tried to keep her breathing even in an attempt to ward off a possible panic attack. Emily turned her music back on and turned it up, quietly singing to Avril Lavigne that time because she remembered how those songs made her grin. Eventually, Sterling seemed to relax, her grip loosening on the wheel but the tenseness in her shoulders remained.
"We're on the highway. We're in the clear for the moment." Sterling whispered
It was like a switch had been flipped, the atmosphere of the RV was no longer filled with stress and anxiety, it had relaxed and seemed to calm down a bit. Emily pushed one headphone off of her ear and said gently:
"Yeah. Yeah. That's true..." Emily gave a small smile "Hey, I think we just dealt with the hardest part."
Sterling smiled at her friend but Emily noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. She huffed and muttered:
"I hope my anxiety recognizes that."
Emily gave a small nod, her anxiety had already gone nuts and the teenager hoped that it would slow down.
"Hopefully... Does anyone here mind continuing being subjected to my singing?" Emily asked, "Or shall I turn on the radio?"
"Radio. I want to listen to the radio." Sterling let out a deep breath "Just avoid news stations. Or I might have a panic attack."
"Sure thing."
Emily reached over and turned on the radio. Sterling felt a smile creep onto her lips as the family chords to AC/DCs Highway to Hell started playing.
"Ponds, you were asking about AC/DC. Well, this is one of their songs. And a good favourite of mine." Sterling said grinning at the man in question
Emily's smile became wider and more sincere.
"Yeah, this is a classic."
"And it fits the situation."
"Indeed."
Sterling began singing along as the chorus came on. Emily joined in a few seconds later, followed closely by Fives and Wolffe. Ponds and Cody joined in at roughly the same time followed by Rex, Kix, Echo and Jesse. And it wasn't long until everyone had joined in. And after a bit, some of the stress went away all at once.
Multiple songs went by, some of the notable ones including Bohemian Rhapsody, I Was Made For Loving You, Pour Some Sugar on Me, What About Love, If I Had 1000 000$, Pop Goes the World, Rock of Ages, Back in Black, Thunderstruck, Stairway to Heaven, and various others. Sterling had already dubbed the singing as Stolen RV Karaoke. It was when One Way or Another had finished when Hardcase spotted Canada's Wonderland. Or more precisely, had spotted the Leviathan.
"Hey Emily, Sterling, what's that?" Hardcase asked
Emily looked out her window and saw what Hardcase was looking at.
"Oh. That's an amusement park... Does your galaxy really not have any?" She asked
"Judging by Hardcase's wonder-filled expression, I don't think so," Sterling said.
"That's really sad..."
"I know."
"Can we go?" Hardcase asked
Emily glanced at Sterling.
"In for a penny, in for a pound... what do you think Sterling?" Emily asked
"Eh why not... we've already committed three robberies between the two of us, what's some time and Canada's Wonderland," Sterling said.
Hardcase cheered loudly. Sterling smiled gently as she guided the RV off the highway in the direction of the amusement park.
And that is it for now. A big shout out and thank you to my best friend in the entire world, TheGirlWithFarTooManyIdeas for her help with some of the dialogue and scene work in the chapter, be sure to check out her stuff. Next time, the clones at Canada's Wonderland. What could go wrong? Very happy holidays to all my followers and I'll catch you all next time. Read, like and review, please. Later Dana.