Okay, I noticed I made a huge mistake in writing this story; I messed up the color of Kemper's van, while I was watching the movie, if you can believe that. So, sorry about that.

Chapter Three

Finest Food in Town

The first thing I was aware of after I stopped vomiting was someone's hands on my shoulders, pulling my damp hair away from my sweaty cheeks. I turned back to see who it was but the motion unsettled my stomach again and I threw up once more, retching until I was dry heaving and gagging. Whoever was standing behind me continued to comfortingly stroke my head and hold my shoulders. "You're all right, everything's all right." It was Andy, trying to sound comforting but really sounding frightened and confused. How could he say that everything was going to be all right when a girl had just blown her head off right in front of us? Thinking about it made my stomach turn again but there was nothing left to throw up.

I finally lifted myself up and turned to look at Andy and he smiled sympathetically; his face was pale, and his eyes were round with sorrow. Looking into his eyes I realized that a part of him blamed himself for what the girl had done; he had tried to snatch the gun from her hands but he hadn't been fast enough. Wiping the corners of my mouth, I shuddered and pulled myself against his chest and closed my eyes; it was no good, the only thing I could see was the way the girl had looked when the bullet tore through the back of her skull.

I could hear Kemper whispering comforting words to Erin as he pulled her into his arms and Morgan was pacing around, looking confused and helpless. As I watched him, I caught sight of something on my bare shoulder and narrowed my eyes to get a closer look. Blood and something a little chunkier had splattered onto my shoulder and legs, wet despite the intense heat that was already drying the gore. I screamed and Andy jumped but I didn't pay any attention to him as I started clawing at my shoulder, screaming again when I touched the wet matter with my fingers.

"It's all over me!" I cried, continuing to claw at my skin, shuddering in revulsion and feeling close to vomiting again. Andy grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my shoulders to keep me from further scratching myself and used his fingers to wipe off the rest of the blood.

"It's okay." He said. "It's gone." I nodded by continued to brush my palm across my shoulders, just to make sure.

Morgan continued his pacing, ignoring what was going on around him. "I could've died out there!" He shouted, looking for someone to blame, for anything to say. I wanted to slap him; someone had died in the van, a girl we had been unable to help.

"We all could've Morgan." Kemper muttered. He continued to hold onto Erin, who was shivering in his arms. "I've never seen anyone die before." He said, more to himself then to the rest of us.

Andy wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me against his chest; he was shivering slightly which only made me draw closer to him.

"Most people never do." Morgan snapped back at Kemper, who stood and glared at him.

"I don't see how that's helping us right now, man!" He cried, looking just as helpless as the rest of us. I didn't see how anything was ever going to help us. What were we going to do about the girl? We didn't even know who she was? And what about her family?

Morgan whirled to face Kemper. "Why did we have to pick her up?!" He shouted. "Why the fuck did we have to stop!" I continued to glare at him; he had seen how badly hurt and shaken that girl was, how could he have not wanted to help her.

"She needed help!" Erin cried, bursting into tears but Morgan ignored her. "Look of help we gave her." He muttered.

Andy squeezed my shoulders before heading over to where Morgan and Kemper were peering into the van; I didn't understand how they could continue to look at that poor girl's body. I sniffed and felt tears prick the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over. Erin came over to me and pulled me into an embrace; I let her, relieved to see that I wasn't the only one heartsick about what the girl had done to herself. "I don't understand." I cried. "Why did she have to do it? And why did she have to pick us? Why did she have to pick us?" I dissolved into sobs, crying into Erin's shoulder. Never in a million years would I forget the look in that girl's eyes as she pulled the trigger; there was no emotion in them what so ever.

Kemper and Morgan continued to argue about what to do with the body; Morgan pointed out that the cops wouldn't care about the corpse with the piñata filled with pot in the backseat. At the mention of the drug, Erin pulled away from me and turned to glare at Kemper before stalking off, away from the van and into a field with hip-high grass. Seeing Erin's reaction, Kemper snatched up the piñata and hurled it into the field with a couple of steers.

"Kemper! You can't just throw the shit out!" Andy yelled and I turned to look at him. He looked guilty at having appeared to care more about the drugs then the body in the backseat and I looked away from him before he could do anything about apologizing.

"It's over." Kemper muttered as he headed over to where Erin was standing with her back to us. I watched them for a moment before sighing and dropping down the ground, ignoring the dirt grains as they bit uncomfortably into my legs, and drew my knees up to my chin. I wiped my nose with the palm of my hand and then wiped my hand on my shirt; I shuddered. I didn't think I had ever felt dirtier in my entire life.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Andy kneeling down beside me. "Are you all right?" He questioned and I looked away from him. I didn't feel like talking right now about what I was feeling, which was a long way from all right. Andy didn't leave despite my silence. "I'm sorry." He muttered and I turned to look at him again. What could he possibly be sorry about? "I'm sorry I couldn't stop her."

Something about the look on his face and the hurt in his words tugged at my hurt and a fresh round of tears pricked my eyes. I put my arms around his shoulders and embraced him, pressing my face against his shoulders and sighing. "It's not your fault." I muttered but, even to myself, the words were somewhat emotionless, insincere. It wasn't his fault but somehow I couldn't find the energy to make sure he truly understand that fact.

Andy put his arms around me and held me for a long while, even after Erin had returned with Kemper lagging behind. I felt good in his arms, safe, and it was almost impossible to forget about what had happened in the van and the problem that wasn't going to go away. I closed my eyes and enjoyed that feeling, only because I knew that it wasn't going to last very long.

"So, what are we going to do?" Kemper questioned, looking at each one of us in turn. No one had any ideas. Andy pulled away and stood; I remained sitting, unwilling to look at the van and its contents. Was I know thinking of that poor, dead girl as nothing as an object?

"I'll you one thing." I said and finally turned to look at everyone. "There is no possible way I'm ever getting back in that van."

Morgan glared at me. "Fine, you can stay here." He muttered and turned to study the blood coated insides of the car. "We can't stay on the side of the road forever."

"He's right." Kemper agreed. "I think I saw a sign for a town just after we picked her up. There's gotta be a sheriff's office around."

I wrinkled my nose. There was a dead body in the back of the van and everyone wanted to pile in and go joy riding looking for a police officer. Well, maybe it wasn't joy riding but everyone wanted to get inside nonetheless. "I can't handle getting back inside." I stated and crossed my arms over my chest.

No one said anything; Kemper headed back toward the driver's side of the car and climbed inside, starting up the van. Morgan slowly got into the back and stayed as far away from the girl as possible, pressing himself against Kemper's seat to put extra distance between himself and the corpse. Erin looked over at me and wordlessly headed toward the passenger side of the van. Now only Andy hadn't gotten inside and I wondered if he was just going to leave me sitting in the dirt like the others had.

"C'mon, Pepper, get inside." Andy said and gestured toward the van. "You can't stay out here by yourself." He almost looked imploring.

I stared at him; I didn't want to say by myself but I didn't want to get into that van with the nearly headless corpse either. And the corpse was certainly weighing a bit heavier in my mind. "Sure I can." I muttered. "I'll just hitch a ride from someone else." I waited to see his reaction.

Andy stepped a little closer to where I was sitting. "I guess I can't talk you out to staying but I can say this: whatever drove that girl to shoot herself is out here." He studied me, waiting to see my reaction. It was exactly the one he had been hoping for. I jumped to my feet and followed him to the van; he did have a point, something had driven that girl crazy and killed whoever she had been with. At least, that's what I had gathered from "they're all dead." I wasn't going to take any chances to see whether or not my assumption was correct.

The smell of the body hit me in the face as soon I as climbed into the van; in the Texas heat, the body was starting to rot and stink much worse then what I guessed was normal. I hadn't been around a lot of corpses to compare with. I nearly vomited again but managed to keep from hurling by clamping my hands across my mouth. Andy pulled the door shut and sat down next to me, face drawing up in disgust. As Kemper pulled off the shoulder, the body rocked but remained slumped in the seat; her mouth with still open from where she had put her lips around the gun and her hands were limply at her sides. I noticed that her eyes were still wide open, staring up at the ceiling with the same lifeless gaze she had had before she pulled the trigger.

"Is there anything we can cover her with?" I questioned, looking back at Kemper since it was his van.

Kemper shrugged. "I dunno." He answered. "There's not a blanket if that's what you want."

I looked away and the first thing I saw was the body and those lifeless eyes. Andy shifted beside me and lifted up a newspaper, which he had been sitting on; he handed it to me. "You can cover her with this." I took the paper but wasn't quite sure whether or not to cover her with it. It seemed kinda disrespectful.

The van bumped over a pot hole and the body rocked again, her head slumping a little on her shoulders. I shuddered. The newspaper would have to do. I pulled off the front page and slowly leaned forward, holding my breath the entire time, until I was close enough to drop the print over her head. Instantly, blood seeped through, turning the paper red and making the ink run. I continued to cover her with the rest of the pages as best I could, until only her arms and shoulders were visible. I snatched my bag from where it lay on the floor beside the seat the corpse was on and sat back down, exhaling and wishing I hadn't.

I rummaged through my travel bag until I found the two dollar perfume I had bought down in Mexico a couple of weeks ago from a group of starving kids. I didn't really think the perfume smelled all that great but it was for a good cause and now it was going to come in handy because whatever scent the perfume was supposed to be was definitely going to smell better then the corpse.

Taking the cap off the perfume, I sprayed the mist around the body, waving my hand to get the smell to spread to the rest of the van. Morgan wrinkled his nose when I sprayed the perfume close to him and swatted at my hand, almost knocking the bottle from my hands.

Andy watched me out of the corner of his eye while he continued to study the dead body. "I guess that's what brains look like. Kind of like...lasagna." I turned to look at him. Had he really just said that?

Everyone else in the van turned back to look at him as well. "Okay, I'll shut up now." Andy mumbled. That was probably for the best.

I sat down again, too uncomfortable to be too close to anyone; there was just something about a corpse that didn't put you in the romantic mood. Andy glanced behind him and leaned forward suddenly. "Dude, gas station." He pointed past Erin at a faded wooden sign. I turned to study the sign, which was slowly passing by the van; BBQ: Best in Town, the sign proclaimed, adding something about gas, clothes and tires down at the bottom.

We found the gas station easy enough, though I had a hard time believing that the place was still in business. The building looked like it would fall over if the wind blew hard enough and the single pump didn't look like it would yield any gas. Yet, if they had a phone or knew where the sheriff's office was then it could have been the Hilton Hotel as far as I was concerned.

Kemper pulled in beside the pump and I couldn't get out of the van fast enough. Andy was right behind me and Morgan right behind him. Kemper stayed in the driver's seat even after Erin had gotten out of the car; we stood in front of the store and I studied it closely. It was a creepy looking place, the sort of building a serial killer would hide in and keep the bodies of all his victims. I shuddered at the thought; it wasn't pleasant, especially considering what had happened to the girl in the van.

Kemper finally got out of the van and headed over to Erin, who still wasn't too keen on being around him. "C'mon Erin, let's find a bathroom." I suggested. Erin headed toward the back of the gas station and I followed after her. I could still feel Andy watching me but it didn't make me feel the same it had hours ago. Once this whole incident was sorted out and the corpse was somewhere other then the backseat of the van then I'd be more open to romance.

The bathroom was wooden shack, a said excuse for an outhouse, but as long as it had a sink I didn't care. I could still feel the girl's blood on my shoulders, on my hands, and I just wanted to get cleaned up. I went to open the door but a heavy padlock kept it shut. I groaned.

Erin pulled out a pocketknife, flicked the blade out and stuck it in the lock, twisting it slowly and expertly. I stared at her; where had she learned how to jimmy locks open? "Big brothers." She muttered, as though she could tell what I was thinking.

I leaned against the side of the shack. "I just feel so disgusting right now." I told her and shuddered. She was lucky, she hadn't gotten any of the girl's blood and brains on her; I didn't think I'd ever feel clean again.

Erin worked the door open and it swung outward. The bathroom was nothing more then a shit-stained toilet with flies buzzing around; it smelt worse then the inside of the van. Looking inside, I wanted to vomit and quickly backed away. Erin wrinkled her face up in disgust and let the door swing shut again. "Disgusting." She mumbled as we headed back toward the van.

The boys were still inside and I was in no hurry to get back into the van; I leaned against the hood and Erin stood beside me. "How could you kill herself?" I questioned. Erin didn't answer, she just stared straight ahead. "How could you stick a gun in your mouth and know the second you pulled the trigger that it was going to be all over for you?"

"I don't know Pepper." Erin muttered and I could tell right away that she didn't want to talk about it. Well, she didn't have to talk, she just had to listen.

"What was she thinking?" I continued. "Did you see the look in her eyes right before she pulled the trigger?" Erin remained silent. "They were expressionless, completely blank, like she didn't care whether a bullet shattered the back of her head or not. I wonder what happened to her."

Erin turned to look at me. "Can we just stop talking about this please?" She snapped, face wane and I nodded quickly. I didn't want Erin mad at me just because I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself; she was the only friend I had at the moment and life was hard enough alone.

We stood in silence for a few minutes before Andy and the others emerged from the gas station. I hurried over to him and he put his arms around my waist. "When's the sheriff coming?" I questioned.

"He's not coming here." Andy answered and I looked at him, surprised. "He's going to meet us in some shit-hole place called Crawford Creek or Mill or something."

I wrinkled my nose. "Why? Why can't he just come here?" We were back at the van again and I could smell the corpse from outside.

Andy shrugged and helped me inside. I didn't know where this Crawford place was but it better be close by. The sooner we got there, the better.