"She was lucky," Hobbes said quietly, sometime later.
Darien looked over at him. Maggie was asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. "How?"
"No one found her for three years, until us. If we hadn't come along, who's to say that anyone else would have? She might have lived in Redemption, Nevada for the rest of her life without anyone bothering her." Hobbes' eyes were fixed on the road in front of them.
Darien started to shrug, but stopped so he wouldn't wake Maggie. "But she still would have been gone."
"Were you ever tempted to run?" Hobbes smiled. "You must have been."
"I was." Darien nodded. "Couple times, when Arnaud and Starke were hounding me. You just keep thinking that if you run, you can escape and just live your life. You don't think about all the other stuff." He tightened his arm around Maggie. "Those you leave behind."
"Where are we?" Maggie yawned and sat up. She looked out the windows, but all she could see was long stretches of tan desert. There was a small darker spot ahead on the road and an expanse of darker mountains in the distance. Otherwise, the landscape was bleakly desolate.
"Middle of nowhere. About 120 miles from Las Vegas . We'll stop there for the night." Hobbes told her.
"If you want either one of us to drive, just speak up," she offered.
He nodded and fell silent. Maggie looked over at Darien . He was sleeping, his head against the window, mouth slightly open. The weariness and worry that had been etched on his face was gone and he looked young again.
A loud bang startled her. The van suddenly swerved and Hobbes fought to keep control of it.
"What was that?" Maggie asked.
Darien sat up and looked around. "What's happening?"
Hobbes glanced into the side mirrors as he slowed down. "Blow out. It looks like there's a building up ahead. I'm going to try and get us up there." He drove agonizingly slow. The building grew larger as they got closer, until Hobbes pulled into the parking lot.
"It doesn't look open," Darien remarked as they climbed out of the van. They walked around the front of the van to survey the damage.
The tire was flat, a large tear in the rubber the cause. Hobbes knelt down by the tire. "The rim is still okay. Fawkes, can you get the spare from the back?"
Darien ran around to the back of the van and opened the doors. The spare came out of its compartment easily and he set it on the ground to roll around to the front. As he started to roll it, he noticed a problem. "Uh, Hobbes?"
"What Fawkes? We're on kind of a tight schedule here." Hobbes sounded annoyed.
Darien came around the side of the van with the spare. "It's flat too."
"What?" Hobbes looked up at the tire. Sure enough, the spare tire was obviously soft. "Damn it," he cursed and threw the jack onto the ground. He stood up and walked away from the van. He turned back and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call Monroe."
Maggie took the opportunity to check out their surroundings. It was incredibly hot out and she really wanted to get into the shade quickly. The building was old and obviously empty. She wasn't even sure it was structurally sound. Peering in one of the windows, she determined that the building was an old bar. Darien was already at the door, trying to get in. He saw Maggie coming toward him and stepped back.
"Can you do something?" he asked.
She nodded. "I think so." She placed her hand on the door, just above the lock and closed her eyes. She could feel the tumblers of the lock in her mind and gave them a spin. They quickly clicked into place and she turned the doorknob. The door swung open easily and she stepped inside.
The bright sun shone through the filthy windows, casting the interior in an otherworldly glow. Layers of dust and dirty covered every surface. Maggie sneezed as they kicked up dust walking around. The mirror behind the bar was cracked in several places, giving off strange reflections.
"Looks like an old saloon." Darien ran a finger over the edge of the bar. "Been a while since anyone's seen the inside, I'd guess."
Maggie smirked. "You think?" She wandered around behind the bar. There were a few dusty bottles on the shelf in front of the mirrors, but that was all.
Hobbes appeared in the doorway. "Monroe's sending backup, kids. They should be here in a few hours. Taking a helicopter."
"What do we do until then? We're sitting ducks here, if Cobalt should happen past," Maggie demanded.
"I'm sorry, Maggie. This is the best I can do. Right now, I'm fresh out of ideas." He glanced around the bar. "We're lucky cell phones works out here."
"I know, Bobby." Maggie looked around the bar. Finally, she nodded. "I think we could make a stand here, if we have to." She nodded again and went back outside.
Darien looked at Hobbes. "She's not the same anymore."
"No, she's not."
She reappeared in the doorway, her bag in hand. The cloud of dust that rose as she dropped her bag made her cough. She knelt down and unzipped the bag. Both men watched her curiously as she rooted around for a moment before making a noise of discovery. "Ah ha." Maggie straightened up and turned. "Gun," she said by way of explanation. She held up the two firearms before tucking one into her pants at the small of her back. The other she held on to, checking the clip.
"Do you know who was coming, Maggie?" Hobbes asked, leaning back against the filthy bar.
She shook her head. "Someone with no good intentions. That's all I could tell."
Maggie jumped off the bar, grabbing her gun from the counter as she did. Darien watched her carefully.
"You hear something?" he asked her.
"Not with my ears," she muttered and walked to the open door, peering out. "Bobby?" she called.
He came around the side of the van. "You call me, kitten?"
She nodded. "Trouble's coming."
"Where?"
Maggie closed her eyes and leaned her head to the side. "East. I'd say they're about 10 minutes away."
"You got a plan?"
She shook her head. "Try to make a stand until Alex arrives with help?"
"You and Fawkes stay inside. I'll be in, in a minute."
She nodded and went back inside. Darien looked at her inquiringly. "We're going to make a stand."