Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. That is all.
Scene Six
"No it won't," said Rogue, who already had the trunk open to expose the spare tyre. "Jean, when was the last time you checked the spare?"
"I… I don't know that I ever have…"
"Great," moaned Rogue. "The spare's flatter than road-kill. We ain't changin' nothin'."
"I do not believe this…" muttered Blaze, clasping her hands behind her head and rolling her eyes skyward. There wasn't a cloud to be seen. High above them buzzards circled restlessly, black against the crystal blue sky. In every direction around them rolled endless grasslands. There was no sign of civilisation. There were no farm buildings, ramshackle cottages or even distant high-rise blocks that might indicate a town or city. Up and down the road the only traffic was one fat prairie dog, scampering from one side of the roadway to the other and disappearing into the undergrowth.
"There's like gotta be something we can do," whined Kitty. "Isn't there a map or something?"
"Kitty you're a genius. Of course there's a map!" Jean ran back to her seat and routed around underneath it for a few moments. She re-emerged with a folded map that opened out to tablecloth proportions. Jean spread the map on the car's bonnet as the girls gathered around. "Here's the creek we crossed half an hour ago," said Jean, tracing a fingernail along the map. "So that makes us about…here, agreed?"
"Yeah, totally," said Kitty. "Look guys, we're like barely five miles from that town. We can walk that and get someone to come back here to tow the car."
"Walk?" exclaimed Blaze, as she waved a hand at her tiny sandals. "in these shoes? No offence but I think I'll stay 'ere and wait for the tow."
"No can do," said Rogue, glancing at her watch. "It's already gettin' late, by the time we all walked five miles any decent mechanic'll be closed. We'll have to find somewhere to stay over an' come back tomorrow."
"Eugh," Blaze was not impressed. "Oh well, if its choosing between walking five miles and sleeping in the car out in this disgusting wilderness, I'll walk."
"Right, that's decided then," said Jean. "Grab whatever you can carry and we'll get walking. You know if we keep the pace up then we…" she carried on talking, organising as she folded the map and went to open the trunk. Kitty and Rogue traipsed after Jean, but Blaze turned instead to Tabitha.
"Who died and made her Cyclops?"
Tabitha chuckled, before she remembered that she and Blaze were not getting along. The smile dropped from the blonde's face and she made a break to collect her bag from the car. Blaze sighed and shook her head to herself. Oh to be back at home, curled up with Remy and a cold beer, with no X-Girls in sight…but if wishes were spare wheels, they'd be out of this mess already.
It turned out to be amazing how variable five miles could be. The girls walked for hours, and the mysterious town Kitty had found on the map still had not materialised. The sun was dipping toward the horizon turning the sky streaky with gold, vermillion and amber. Songbirds chirruped goodnight to their neighbours, and biting insects started to swarm around the girls. Bats skipped overhead, snapping up moths as they emerged for the night. Still the X-Girls plodded on, regardless of their blistered feet and mosquito bites. That was until they reached a T-junction that was not supposed to be there…
Whilst Blaze sat on a verge to rub her aching feet, Rogue swatted at flies with her gloved hands and Tabby tried to shake some life back into her MP3 player batteries, Kitty and Jean consulted the map. They did this quietly, not wanting to panic the others, but Tabitha overheard them whispering.
"What d'ya mean, it's not on the map!"
"What?" snapped Rogue, "you mean we're lost?"
"Fantastic," agreed Blaze, "I thought you knew where we were!"
"So did we or we wouldn't be confused," Kitty pointed out.
"Enough guys, this isn't helping," ordered Jean.
"Have ya'll got any idea where we are?" Rogue tried to grab the map, but Kitty moved it out of her reach.
"Basically, no, not really," admitted Shadowcat.
"Okay then," Tabby took charge, bustling through the others and standing at the centre of the T-junction. "Who votes we go left?" Blaze and Kitty raised their arms. "Who votes for right?" Jean, Rogue and Tabby herself raised their arms. "Right it is then," Tabby said. "Look guys, we've not seen any other people for nearly six hours. Statistically how much longer do you think we can go without running into someone?"