Chapter 15

Sawyer drove along the straight, four-lane highway surrounded on both sides by thick forest. It was a warm summer night, the kind of night that envelops you and breathes energy back into weary limbs. Crickets chirped softly in a cacophony of sound. The noise floated through the open back windows of the car.

This was the second night that Kate and Sawyer had drove through the darkness after leaving the house behind them. When the sun crept over the horizon yesterday, they had just crossed the Illinois and Indiana border. They found an inconspicuous place to pull over on the side of the road to try to rest for the day. Sawyer had given Kate the back seat, while he tried to recline in the driver's seat. But positions didn't really make any difference, as both were still too uncomfortable to get much rest.

A few hours ago the Kentucky border had passed beneath their tires. Sawyer thought of how much distance was now between them and the house. He was relieved to get Kate away from the place. She had tried to act that staying there, breathing the memories of her past, hadn't bothered her. But there were times when Sawyer saw through her façade, moments when she thought he wasn't looking. She would stare without seeing at the little details of the house and pain would fill her eyes.

Sawyer knew that Kate was strong. She had to be with the past she lived. But he also knew that just because a person is strong doesn't mean that they can't have their weaknesses as well. Hers was her dark history. When any thought of it floated back into her consciousness, her being appeared so fragile and vulnerable. During those times Sawyer wanted nothing more than to comfort her. Her strength along with the times she was exposed provided her character with such depth. Sawyer gravitated toward her because of this, because he could relate to so much that she had experienced.

Sawyer also felt regret at leaving the place behind. It was their home for those few short days. And in that brief span, there were so many times that Sawyer knew he would never forget even if he lived for the rest of eternity. He and Kate were closer now. Closer in a way that he had never been with a woman before. The newness of it would leave a lasting imprint on his mind.

He looked over at Kate sitting in the passenger seat. She was resting her head on the door while gazing forward at the oncoming road with beautiful bright green eyes. She had brought her legs up into the seat as well, her knees angled toward the outside. Her dark hair was caught in the current of the moving air blowing it every which way. She seemed not to notice it. Or she had given up trying to control it. There wasn't anyway to pull her short hair back now.

"So, Freckles. You regret cutting your hair now?" he asked with a sly grin.

She smiled, laughing inwardly at how Sawyer tried to assert his opinions through the questions he asked. Even though he tried to hide them with smart remarks and sarcasm, his attempts failed miserably in subtlety.

"No, Sawyer. I'm not. I know that it had to be done to increase my chance of not being noticed. I'm willing to sacrifice my vanity for something that's more important quite unlike someone else I know," she said, knowing that she was instigating a fight but she didn't care.

"Hey, don't say that! I let you cut my hair, didn't I?" he said in mock offence.

"Not without a fight you didn't," Kate stated.

"That wasn't protest. I was just tryin' to give you a hard time," he said, knowing full and well that it was the lie of the century. He still missed his long locks every second. He tried covering with, "If you want to see me fight, you should try to crawl into my bed at night."

At this point Kate could do nothing more than laugh in disbelief at what Sawyer said. Did he actually think she would buy that bs?

"You mean if I want to see you wave a white flag, I should crawl into your bed."

"Sweetheart, somehow I think you have the impression that I would just sleep with you on the first chance I got. Now how did that happen?"

"Well Sawyer you've made enough suggestive comments," she said.

She knew that he was saying such backward things just to entertain her, to make her smile. It was something that he often did that she found so endearing about his character. He had done it so many times that Kate had come to identify it as something that was uniquely him.

The rush of the air moving through the windows and the lonely music of the crickets invaded the car for many moments as Sawyer tried to think of a witty comeback but found himself at a loss for what to say. Instead he just changed the subject slightly.

"Why didn't you let me cut your hair?"

"Do you remember what you did to your own when you tried to cut yourself on the island? You totally butchered it."

After waiting a sufficient time for his comeback, she asked the question that had was bothering her all day.

"So where are we going?"

They hadn't discussed it at all. Kate didn't much care at the time. She was too tired to worry.

"Thought we would head down to a house in Louisiana. I have some cash stowed away there that would probably be useful. Then we can head back toward Texas, skip the border if we need to."

All of it sounded fine to Kate. It was similar to what they had discussed a few days before, except for the detour for the money. But one other thing about their travels irked her.

"Shouldn't we be taking back ways? Staying off of the main roads? That's what I did. It worked pretty well."

"I'm glad it worked for you, but it makes more sense this way. The back roads aren't traveled much and a person is much more likely to take notice of us. On the highway, there's more people but most of them are so distracted with their own hectic lives that they'll just see us as another car in their busy days. Besides, the highway's faster."

Of course it made sense but Kate would still have been more comfortable if less people were around. She was willing to take the chance that the one person they meet on a deserted road would recognize them more than risking the busy lanes. But what he said about the time issues stopped her from fighting.

A quiet fell between the two. Unconsciously, Kate's thoughts drifted back over the past few days. She was revived to be gone of the house that evoked such horrible memories of her life. Staying there was uncomfortable. The essence of the house had haunted her waking moments. Something in the air pervaded her body. Every detail of the house seemed to get some sort of sadistic pleasure out of mocking her past. She knew it was crazy but the house did make her soul crawl back into its hiding place.

But in a way, some of those memories had been replaced with the minutes she spent with Sawyer. While everything else around her reminded her of her sins, Sawyer stood as a safe haven within the terrible world. He understood. He knew. She could sit beside him for hours with nothing but silence. She was inexplicably comforted by his presence. Kate couldn't help but feel safe with Sawyer by her side.

It had been just a week and a few days sense they had been rescued. To her, the experience on the island seemed to have occurred in another lifetime. She couldn't remember what a guava tasted like or the unique flavor of the water. It was still there of course, the memories were. But they had already began their procession toward the back recesses of her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the blaring music that suddenly fell within the car. It was so loud that Kate could feel the bass beat within her body.

"Son of a bitch!" Sawyer exclaimed as he tried to fiddle with the radio knobs before quickly turning it off again.

"Just needed something to keep me company," he said in soft undertones.

Kate watched as he squinted, trying to figure out which controls were which. If the highway hadn't been so straight, she would have disapproved of his actions. She couldn't help but be amused at the comical expression on his face as he tried to change his focus from the dark radio back to the lit road.

"Do you need help? Want me to grab your glasses?"

She didn't give him a chance to answer as she leaned forward in her seat to switch the radio back on and turn down the volume. She changed the station from the loud rock music to a late night news program. Sawyer let out a sigh of irritation.

"I would've got it eventually. And what's this crap you want to listen to?"

"It's called the news Sawyer. You know, it's the place where they tell you what's happening in the world? I thought we should check to see if anyone's reported us since we left."

"Of course I know what the news is! Besides we shouldn't know if they have any clue where we are. That's the first thing about running. You never look back to see where your chaser is. Because as soon as you do, you'll trip over a big rock."

"Sawyer, we're not looking back. We're just listening," Kate stated, pretending that she didn't understand Sawyer's analogy.

"Kate, you know that's not what I meant," Sawyer said, his voice tinged with frustration.

"I know. But I've always listened to the news when I travel, especially at night."

That wasn't the only thing. What she had heard Jack say back at the laundry mat still haunted her thoughts. It shouldn't. She didn't know why she cared anymore. There wasn't anything she could do about it. But he had betrayed their friendship in an unforgivable way. She was hoping to here him again, to make sure her ears didn't betray her the first time.

But she hated that she was thinking about Jack at the same time. Why did he deserve to be on her mind? She knew that she hadn't heard wrong. She wanted to forget about him. She needed to devote her attention toward Sawyer. The ironic thing was that she knew she was allowing Jack to infiltrate her thoughts as a distraction. Things were happening too quickly between her and Sawyer. Even though they had spent time in the island and developed workings of a relationship there, she was still scared of being with him.

Sawyer watched anxiously as the needle of the gas gauge began to fluctuate erratically. The fluorescent orange line jumped between the bright turquoise marks that indicated less than a quarter and above half. He could feel the gas pedal go soft as the fuel pressure began to drop. He knew he should have stopped many miles before now. He hoped that they would run out before they had time to refuel.

Luckily, the next exit ramp wasn't too far away and a gas station was only a few hundred yards farther. The motor cut out just as the reached the bottom of the ramp. Sawyer skillfully coasted the car to the station.

"Hey, you need anything?" Sawyer said poking his head back into the car before going in to pay.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks."

Kate wasn't quite adjusted to the brilliant white lights of the gas station. She couldn't believe that Sawyer had run the car out of gas. It made her fearful about his judgement.

How could she trust him with their safety when he couldn't even notice when the car was on empty? She quickly pushed the thought to the back of her head crediting her sleep-deprived mind with the nonsense as Sawyer reemerged from the building.

Sliding back into the driver seat he said, "Freckles, I think we're going to have a money issue. We're not going to have enough to get us to Louisiana."