We fled through the unoccupied house across the street and, after Legolas made sure we were not being followed, he turned to me. "You are free to go wherever you please."
Good joke, except I couldn't laugh at it. "Where should I go now?"
He raised an eyebrow in irritation. "You were just saying..."
"Yes", I interrupted him. "That was before you took my apartment and dragged me here. Do you think I'm just going to walk by my friends' house and put them in danger, too, after you've already made me suspicious? Do you think they won't look?"
I talked myself into a rage. Yes, he had been right, but he was still to blame for everything, damn it! If it weren't for him, I'd be sitting on my couch right now, comfortably watching some soap. Angrily, I waved in the direction of my home. "And if we hang around here much longer, we won't have the time for any conversation any longer. I do hope you have an escape plan!"
He stared at me for a moment, then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to me with a casual gesture. I just barely snatched it out of the air and realized it was a car key. Where had he gotten that from? And how...? I shook my head furiously and had to restrain myself from stamping my foot. What a dirty manipulator! "How did you know I would choose to come with you?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "It was worth a try. I hope you can handle these strange vehicles."
"Yes", I replied dangerously quietly, clenching my right hand into a fist. I'd kill him if I got the chance. I'd get my old life back. I would...
"Are you coming? The vehicle is back there."
I stomped up behind him, and if looks could kill, the elf would have died faster than he could have turned around. I yanked open the door of the car, dropped into the driver's seat, and jammed the key into the lock. It took him a little longer, but I was already starting the engine. I wasn't going to wait.
Ignoring everything, I drove out of the parking space and onto the nearest main road. "Where to?"
"Hamburg."
"Hamburg?! Are you insane? That's at least six hours from here!"
"That shouldn't be a problem with this vehicle."
I scoffed and looked for the next sign pointing the way to the highway. I could ask questions later, I had to get my anger under control first, otherwise I was just playing into the bastard's hands after all.
After a while in city traffic, I had found the right highway ramp and turned onto the acceleration lane. For some time now, Legolas hadn't said anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could only see his intertwined hands, the knuckles stood out white. When I pressed on the gas, he made a noise I knew too well, but rather from a night of drinking. A smile played around the corners of my mouth. So Mr. Know It All couldn't stand the speed. His fault.
I signaled and exited the acceleration lane. Instead of staying casually in the right lane, I sped up even more and lined up on the far left. I was going too fast, but I didn't care. The sickening gulping sounds of the elf felt far too good to me. Apart from that, the faster I went, the more I had to concentrate, and that in turn made me feel calmer.
After a while of icy silence, I pulled over to the right and dropped behind a truck. The anger had faded to the point where I no longer had the itch to push the elf out of the moving car.
What could he want in Hamburg? And how did he know the city anyway? So far, he hadn't exactly given the impression that he was particularly familiar with my world. On the other hand, he was smart and had already screwed me once. If he was only half as clever as I assumed, then he certainly could have gotten the information he needed by now. Besides, if I believe Tolkien, he had several centuries more life experience than I did.
Why hadn't I let go of first aid at the crossroads? Then my biggest concern would be whether or not I had gotten my desired course.

I slapped the steering wheel with one hand, causing the car to veer slightly off course. To my right, Legolas sucked in a sharp breath of air, and I couldn't help but glance at him. He was pale, staring at the passing landscape illuminated by the headlights, while his fingers were clutched around the door handle. He looked like he had when we met on my balcony: tense and ready to attack at any moment, only this time there was no way out for him. Before I could look away, he caught my gaze. "Don't you have to look at the road?"
I turned away, staring grimly at the truck in front of us. "I'm not going to drive for six hours straight. Besides, we're about to run out of gas. You shouldn't have bought a rental car that doesn't have a full tank of gas."
He was silent for a moment, then muttered: "This isn't a rental car."
I whirled around to face him. "What?"
"Well, in that sense it is... I borrowed it."
"Are you saying it's stolen?"
"If you want to put it that way."
"Ha." That was all I could get out. I felt the fear in my stomach like a lump of ice, and it was growing at a rapid pace. Now I wasn't just mistakenly on some stranger's hit list like before. No, the elf had made me also officially its accomplice, after all I drove through the night with a stolen car!
Who would believe me now that I was innocent? Certainly not the cops.
I started chewing on the inside of my cheek. He had cleverly set this up. He was depending on me and now I was depending on him. On the other hand, had there really been no cops in my apartment? The one who had been looking around on the balcony wasn't wearing a uniform that would have identified him as one, but maybe it had been one after all?
Frustrated, I ran my fingers over my eyes. What was the difference? Whether our pursuers were cops or not, they had guns and were apparently willing to use them.
"If the tank is empty, we need to fill it. I can help you with that." Legolas snapped me out of my thoughts.
I raised an eyebrow and asked in an annoyed voice: "And how will you do that?"
"Gathering the material to power it."
I laughed. "Oh yes, of course. Because gasoline grows on every tree, too."
He sat up. "I'm very good at tracking things down. Not as good as Aragorn, but..."
"Jesus Christ! It was a joke, a JOKE!" I clutched the steering wheel, imagining it was the elf's neck. As smart as he was, everyday knowledge wasn't learned from books. "You buy gasoline at gas stations. We've passed a few, but that's not the point."
"Then what is it about?" He sounded a little offended.
"It's about the fact that if I stopped at a gas station, they'd track us down immediately."
"We're way ahead of them."
"Ever heard of the Internet?"
He nodded. "You taught me your language with that."
How did he know that? I passed the truck and noticed that the fuel light had come on. So from now on we had about fifty more kilometers.
"What does this have to do with our pursuers?", persisted Legolas.
"There are cameras at every gas station that record everything that happens there. They would know where we are and where we're going in no time."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Silence spread and I nervously glanced at the empty gas gauge. Stopping on the highway with no gas was one of my nightmares.
After a while, he cleared his throat. "Could you at least pull over without them noticing us?"
I took a deep breath and thought. Instead of stopping at the gas station I could try to pull into one of the parking lots that were often right behind it. I had never seen a camera there before. "Possibly", I reluctantly admitted, "but that still doesn't solve the gasoline problem."
"Is it liquid?"
I nodded.
"Then it can be bottled."
"Yes."
"Could someone else do that for us?"
"In theory, yes."
I felt him become more active next to me and turned my head. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Your wallet."
I shook my head, almost impressed by the way audacity just passed his lips. "It's in my pocket and that's where it stays."
"If you have enough money, you could ask someone to buy the gas for us."
"Who would do that?"
"Someone who needs money."
I shook my head again. "We're out here somewhere in the middle of nowhere, it won't work."
The Elf fell silent and I left the highway at the next exit. As it happened, there was a gas station attached, but what good would that do to us? Who would take a bribe without asking questions?
I headed for the parking lots and picked one that was away from the rest under some trees. After turning off the engine, I slumped into the seat and massaged my temples.
Anger and adrenaline had faded, leaving only fatigue. It was so strong that I found it difficult to keep my eyes open. I heard Legolas get out and the door slam shut behind him, but I didn't care. If he wanted to go, then he should. I just managed to put the seat back a little and curled up on it before sleep overwhelmed me fast.

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