Chapter IV: On the Road
Terra and Raven entered the bus depot. It was poorly lit, dirty and smelled like urine. Raven cringed in disgust. She had no idea where Terra was taking her. It was late afternoon when they arrived and she wondered when the others would get worried about her.
Terra made a beeline for the ticket counter. The attendant was seated behind a thick plane of glass. Raven followed Terra and halted slightly behind her. The man behind the counter stared at them awaiting their request.
"When's the next bus to Vegas?" Terra asked.
A muffled voice came over the intercom. "Twenty minutes."
"We'll need two tickets, but we're getting off at Max's truck stop," Terra replied.
"You'll have to tell the driver," the intercom voice replied. "One way or round trip?"
"One way," Terra replied.
"That's $183.75," the attendant announced.
Terra pulled our several crumpled bills then checked her money before sliding it under the glass. The attendant printed out the tickets, placed them in a ticket sleeve and slid them back to Terra along with her change. "Bus loads in ten minutes from stall five."
"Thanks," Terra gathered her change and tickets then turned to Raven. "We've got ten minutes before we load. Do you need to hit the bathroom?"
Raven glanced over towards the restrooms then nodded no. She could hold it until they got on the bus. She felt even more out of place here than at Terra's school.
Terra made her way over to one of the benches, slipped off her backpack and sat down. Raven paused then followed her and took a seat next to her. Raven could not feel anything unusual emanating from her traveling companion. She decided to remain silent until the bus started loading.
A driver entered the room and loudly announced the bus to Vegas was loading. The smell of diesel fumes wafted over the waiting room as several people stood up and made their way towards the door. Terra rose and slung her backpack on then adjusted her load. She made her way towards the driver and handed him her tickets. The driver opened the ticket sleeve and removed a copy from each ticket, folded it in his hands then stuffed them in his pocket before returning the ticket sleeve to her.
"We're getting off at Max's truck stop just across the state line," Terra explained.
The driver nodded and waved them through the door and towards the bus. The other riders were loading their luggage into the underside compartments. Raven coughed as another blast of diesel fumes from the idling bus hit her. She followed Terra towards the bus door.
"Shouldn't we put our stuff underneath?" she asked.
"No we can't," Terra paused as she explained. "We're not getting off at a designated stop so we'll need to carry our luggage on board."
"You've done this before?" Raven asked. Terra seemed pretty familiar with this routine.
"Lot's of times," she said above the idling bus engines. She turned sideways and slid through the bus door then up the steps towards the seats. Raven waited for her to reach the top of the steps before following behind her. The inside of the bus had an upholstery smell to it but it was much quieter than outside.
Terra paused as she surveyed the remaining seats. The bus was not very full so she was able to find a seat close to the front. She slid out of her backpack and placed it on the window seat and sat down along the aisle. Raven took the seat behind her and slid over to the window and looked out at the bus terminal loading area. The sun was quickly setting.
"How long before we get off?" Raven asked.
Terra glanced back at her, "Probably about five hours or so. Try and get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there." She turned back forward, leaned over against her backpack and closed her eyes.
Raven sighed; it was going to be a long drive without music to listen to or a book to read. She watched as Terra quickly drifted off to sleep in the seat in front of her. Where the hell were they going? At least she didn't feel any sense of danger. In a few minutes the driver got on the bus, closed the door, strapped himself in his seat and slowly backed the bus out of the terminal.
Raven looked out the window and watched the city fall away behind her. The sky turned orange then faded to a beautiful purple before the stars came out. Raven soon fell asleep to the dull hum and jostle of the road as the bus took her and Terra into the unknown fields that stretched out beyond the city.
