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L o s t

A full night's worth of driving had brought them just barely across the state border by the time the sun was beginning to rise. Sam had been the driver, as Lilly slept with her forehead against the window until he'd pulled her over and settled her head down on his thigh. Just as the sun was peeping over the tops of the surrounding trees, she awoke, sitting up and rubbing her pretty green eyes, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. It wouldn't be long before she'd take over the task of driving so he could get a few hours of sleep; they'd decided early on that she wouldn't drive at night since she wasn't the best of drivers in the first place. Plus his car intimidated her, with its bulk and age and tendency to sputter every so often. A thin layer of perspiration covered her skin with the lack of air conditioning in the late September heat. It wasn't bad, though, as they'd kept the windows rolled down once they'd gotten a good three towns away from home.

"Morning," Sam said, a little late, and reached forward to turn up the volume of the radio which he'd kept down low so as not to wake her. It crackled with static every now and then, but with the tape deck no longer functioning, it was the only source of music they had.

Covering her mouth with her hand, Lilly replied a "good morning" amidst a yawn, propping her feet up on the dashboard as she'd done so many times before. The purple nail polish on her toenails was chipped and faded, and she silently cursed herself for forgetting to fix it before they'd set out, as had originally intended to do. Not that it really mattered to Sam, but she liked to look nice for him, and that included even her toes. But then, she had to remember, from now on he'd be seeing her all the time, whether she looked nice or not. It was both comforting and awkward, really, to realize that he would now know everything there was to know about her, all those subtle things that seemed too unimportant to mention. He'd see everything she normally did when she was alone, because from now on, she wouldn't ever be alone again. Now, until they died, he'd always be with her.

With that, she looked over at him, watching his blue eyes focus intently upon the road, his slender, strong hands gripping the steering wheel. And just from that glance, she knew she'd made the right decision.

- - -

"Are you sure you looked at the map?"

It was nearing seven in the evening and they were lost. Lilly had taken the wheel sometime near noon with Sam's trust that if he slept, she'd be able to find the way back to the interstate from the diner they'd left around four. By five she still hadn't found it, waking him to ask for help, and they'd spent all the time since trying to figure out exactly where she'd gotten them.

"Sam, you watched me look at it while we ate at the restaurant," Lilly sighed, turning onto what looked like a main street. But then, they'd spent a good half hour exploring the backstreets that twisted through expansive cattle pastures, so a main street would look just the same as the rest. Not that she'd admit it to herself, of course, as she was determined to get them back out onto a road they recognized.

"Well I'm just asking, Lilly," he replied sharply. She really couldn't blame him for getting angry. "I knew I just should have kept driving."

"Right, so you could have fallen asleep at the wheel and gotten us killed? At least when you're lost, you can eventually find your way back - there's no coming back from the dead, you know."

"God, aren't there any street names out here?"

"What would you suggest they call these streets? Cattle Lane and Cattle Road?"

"Damnit, Lilly, the sarcasm is not necessary right now." He was attempting to find where they were on the map, holding it all the way open on the passenger side, glancing up to catch sight of any kind of sign or billboard.

"Don't swear at me. And the attitude isn't necessary right now, either. We'll find it, Sam, just be patient."

They were speaking rather calmly to one another; it wasn't much of a fight or argument. Still, Lilly knew that he was irritated, and her own frustration was beginning to build. They seemed to be surrounded by the same grassy fields for miles on end, as though the entire farming industry was trying to swallow them whole. On each side of the car stood cows and horses among the endless grass, peering out at the car from behind their fences as if they'd never seen such a thing. And they probably hadn't, Lilly realized, as anyone would have to be insane to intentionally drive through such a huge, dull place.

"Look, there's a sign for a truck route," Sam said, pointing out to the side. Sure enough, up in the distance stood a feeble, ramshackle wooden sign with the words "Truck Route - Left in 15 miles" painted on its boardface. "We'll be able to find the state road from there."

Lilly nodded, feeling relieved. For some reason, though, she got the feeling she wouldn't stay that way for long.

- - -

"Where the hell are we?" Lilly sighed sharply, turning the key to shut off the car as she leaned back in her seat, bringing her fingertips to her temples. "This is absolutely ridiculous. We took the turn .. we've driven for half an hour, and this sure as hell doesn't look like a truck route. And what is this?"

Sam had become too impatient and frustrated to even speak now as they both looked out to the iron gate in front of which they'd just parked. It was getting close to seven o'clock, the sun already beginning to sink into the horizon, and they'd finally come to a dead end after following the road they'd assumed the sign had indicated as the truck route. Gradually, the area surrounding the road had become devoid of horses or cows or grass; rather, it became rather woodsy, reminding them both of the woods from where they had left home just the very night before. And the road finally brought them to where they sat, in front of an old gate that seemed to be falling apart.

"I think I see buildings further down through here," Lilly said, squinting her eyes to gaze past the gate. "I think .. thank God, Sam, it's a town."

"Are you serious?" he replied, sitting forward to see. There were buildings, far off in the distance, hazy with an early evening fog that he assumed was brought on by the twilight hours. It was impossible to make out the forms of people, though, with the great distance, but he detected the shapes of tombstones in the area that lie between the town and the gate at which they'd stopped the car."Don't like the looks of the cemetary."

"You don't like cemeteries period," she replied, looking at him. "The point is, this is the first town we've come across in a good three hours. We should at least check in to see about directions."

"What about the car? We can't bring that through there, the gate's locked."

"We'll leave it here, I'll just park it alongside the road."

"Great, we can get all our stuff stolen while we walk through a graveyard. Sounds like a lot of fun."

Without replying, Lilly started the engine again, backing the car up just a bit and turning the wheel, pivoting it so it sat parallel with the road, shutting it off again. They both got out, closing the doors behind them, and approached the gate which stood taller than either of them. Strangely enough, though, the cemetery was surrounded by a two-plank board fence, which they easily climbed over, much to Sam's chagrin; graveyards were bad enough, but climbing a fence to get into one? Still, he knew better than to argue with her, and she did have a point. It was odd, though, that this town was in the middle of nowhere, and that the entrance was blocked by a gated graveyard. It made him suspect that they didn't exactly appreciate tourists or visitors .. not that he was going to mention it to Lilly at this point. They'd come this far, after all.