I know this chapter kinda sucks, but deal with it, okay? I'm swamped and I'm not thinking right lately. peace out and rock on!!

The next four days were nice. We got to sleep and eat and shower like real people. We were kept away from people, but that was fine. We had each other and our stories of camp. That was the calm before the storm. One day we were looking out of our window and we saw Pendanski's truck. We looked at each other in terror. 'We're screwed!' I thought to myself as we put the clothes that Mrs. Strong gave us into our backpacks. We watched carefully. Then a little movement under a half-cover in the back caught my eye and a little of Zero's hair poked through.

"Alan! I think some of the guys are in the back. Let's go through the window and get the heck outta here!" I said, opening the window.

"Okay, but if we get caught, I'm blaming you," He warned.

I laughed. "Alright. Fair enough." We climbed out the window and knocked on the covering. "Guys? Who's back there?" I asked.

Naomi stuck her head out of the opening. "Everybody. I'll hot-wire it. X, you come up with me. We don't want nobody dead back here."

They ran up front and we climbed in the back. We were off in under a minute. Ricky wouldn't let go of me. "I missed you."

I half-choked from the lack of air. "I missed you too, Ricky, but could you let me breathe?" He complied and Zero was next to cut off my air supply. I had to laugh. He was like a cuddly teddybear. "Hey Z."

He grinned up at me. "I missed you, Cola."

I just smiled. "Missed you too. I'm going to kung-fu you, buggy!" I whispered in his ear. He started to laugh.

Magnet waved at me from across the truck bed. "Hey, hermosa! Consiga su asno blanca flaca aqui y abraceme!" (hey beautiful! Get your skinny white ass over here and hug me!)

I rolled my eyes. "No. Por que debo? Usted acaba de llamarme una muchacha blanca flaca! Por que el infirno debo abrazarle?" I teased. (No. Why should I? You just called me a skinny white girl! Why the hell should I hug you?)

He smiled sweetly. "Porque usted me ama. Y porque le falte. Te amo Astrid." (Because you love me. And because I missed you. I love you Astrid.) He said in a syrupy sweet voice and gave me puppy eyes I couldn't resist. I hugged him tightly. He held on to me. "La vez promixa usted funciona, deja una nota. Naomi era hysterical por tres dias. Y fui preocupado de usted a partir del tiempo que le encomtramos hacia fuera fuimos idos hasta que le vimos, "he said sincerely. (Next time you run, leave a note. Naomi was hysterical for three days. And I was worried about you from the time we found out you were gone until we saw you.)

I sighed. "I missed you guys too." We drove well into the night, napping on and off, switching drivers every once in a while. Ricky never left my side. When I woke up from one of my many naps, Zero had his head in my lap, Alan was using my foot as a pillow, Caveman was using Zero's foot as a pillow, Ricky had his arm around me, Naomi was asleep in X-ray's lap, and X was awake, watching me. Magnet and Armpit were driving. "What?" I asked quietly.

He sighed. "Listen Cola, I missed you."

I pursed my lips. "And I'm supposed to care?" I asked haughtily.

"I wish you would. We're a good team, leader-wise. I told everyone that when I left, I wanted you to take over. But, ya know, we're not at Greenlake anymore. But still."

I sighed. "Listen X, I know we're a good team. But that doesn't mean that I'll get all friendly again. You screwed that up majorly. Squid and I... we're together now. And we love each other. Just leave me alone, okay?" He nodded and turned away, looking at Naomi. The truck sputtered and slowed to a stop. "Crap."

The guys woke up tiredly, mumbling. Naomi stayed asleep. "Yo Mag, what's wrong?" I asked.

He opened the window to the truck bed. "We ran outta gas."

Zero walked over to the five gallon gas can. "I think this has some in it."

"Hand it here," Armpit said. Zero handed it over and he filled the tank. "Alright, someone's gotta take over driving. We're beat."

"Not it old school," Alan suggested. I knew what 'not it' was. We did that in grade school to decide who would be 'it' and whoever was last to yell 'NOT IT' was 'it'.

Caveman and I both yelled, "NOT IT!"

Every one laughed at us. "I said old school. Whoever yells it first has to do it. Get up front you two," He laughed. I swatted at him and Caveman and I went up front.

I drove first. It was a stick shift, just my style. I learned on a stick shift when I was13 and had been driving them ever since. "Hey, Cola...."

"yeah?" I asked.

He rolled down the window. "Did you and Squid.... You know... uh.."

I laughed. "Have sex? No. But we're gonna get married when I'm 18."

His eyes got big. "Sweet."

I couldn't help grinning. "I know." We drove in silence for a while, then I looked over a him. "Do you have a girlfriend?" His head jerked up and he shook his head, blushing. I had to smile. He's a cute guy.

We drove in silence for a while until he noticed that I was falling asleep. "Hey, you want me to drive? You're falling asleep at the wheel." I braked and we switched places. "Cola... where are you going home to?"

I smiled. "I have a savings account that I've been having money put into since I was 8. No one but me knows about it, so me and Ricky are probably gonna have to live in an apartment or something. It'll be cool. We get along pretty good."

He laughed. "Yeah. He was freaking out when he saw that you were gone." I nodded, smiling. "Go to sleep. You look like you need it." I happily complied.

When I woke up a few hours later, we were stopped in the desert and the trucks gas gauge was on empty. I rolled my eyes and got out to where everyone was sitting in the sand. "It's about time, Cola," Magnet laughed. I took his bandanna and tied it around my head. He rolled his eyes and snatched it back in a nanosecond. "Mine. As in not yours."

I sat down next to Alan and he put his arm around me. "What's going on?"

"We're out of gas. Either we wait for Pendanski to come find us, or we keep running. Either way, we'll get caught eventually. We need your vote on what to do. We're tied with Naomi undecided."

Ricky and I locked eyes. "Let's run. I have a bunch of money in my savings account. We can do it. It could be... fun."

"Woo! Go Cola!" Pit yelled. I laughed. That boy is so strange. Gotta love 'im though. If you can stand the smell, he's a big teddybear.

"Come on, guys. If we sleep during the day and walk at night, it'll be a lot better. Let's at least get started," X spoke up. We all nodded and got up, ready for whatever might be thrown at us. This would be an adventure, I could tell.