DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS.

Chapter 15

Beyond LA

No one's POV

The gang sat in silence as Beck drove them in the SUV. The vehicle was pathetic; it could barely hold together and suffered a lot of danger from the storm. It was a big surprise for them when they heard the engine turn over. Fortunately, the car had a full tank of gas, so they can go the full distance. Unfortunately, as it is a SUV and there's no power anywhere, the gas will burn up quickly due to its poor mpg.

Their destination was unknown. All they knew was that they were heading due north in their car and had to stop for supplies. They were currently on the Interstate 5 heading north, as the path created by the Guard the previous night led them to it. Beck believed that the Guard set up a rescue zone and base camp north of LA and that they could find refuge there and they may have power. He decided, reluctantly, to speed up the Jeep, so that they were doing at least 85 mph.

"Babe, there's a rest area up ahead." Jade pointed out to the right. Everyone looked where she was pointing and there was a rest area coming up.

"Yup," Beck replied and maneuvered the car to the right and got off the road and moved to the area. He slowed down and stopped in front of the restrooms there. Beck put the car in park and turned it off, pulling out Jade's scissors carefully to avoid cutting himself.

Everyone hopped out of the Jeep and moved towards the vending machines next to the restrooms. The vending machines had beverages, chips, crackers, and candy in them.

"How do we get at them?" Tori asked, knocking on the window of one of the machines. It's a plastic guard.

"It'll be hard, that's probably polycarbonate and that shit's strong." Robbie added.

"NEEERRRDD!" Jade shouted, pointing at Robbie accusingly. Robbie looked hurt from her insult.

"Jade, cut it out please." Beck muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Jade simply smirked at Robbie then pouted at Beck as a form of apology.

"If we can find a big rock, we might be able to get through the shield." Andre stated. He walked over to one of the nearby drinking fountains and tested it. Water flowed out of the spigot on the top. Andre studied the water as it flowed. The water was clear and didn't seem contaminated with any foreign bodies. He bent down and took a little sip and turned the fountain off.

"How is it?" Cat asked him.

"Seems alright, but let's try to get at those foodstuffs in the machines." He replied and everyone was looking around for a rock big enough to break the plastic shielding. They moved to the edge of the road, where the concrete and tar met with dirt and rock. Beck picked up a rock around half the size of his head and walked to one of the vending machines and chucked it as hard as he could at it. The rock delivered a glancing blow on the shield and dropped to the concrete. There was a crack that was heard when the rock hit the machine. Beck moved closer for a better look and traced a crack in the shield with a finger.

"I'll try again, but find some more rocks around this size, then we can bombard theses shields with them, so they break faster." Beck reported and the others went to look for more rocks. He picked up the rock and moved to his original position and threw it again. Another crack formed and the first one spread a little more. He repeated this a few more times, but the stubborn plastic wouldn't break. Beck's arms were getting tired and he was sweating and dehydrated. He went to a water fountain and took a couple of sips of water before going back.

"Here, we got some more." Jade said reappearing with a couple of same-sized rocks in her hands. She was followed closely by the others, each with a couple of rocks that were similar in size to Becks.

"Alright, let's form a line over here." Beck ordered and everyone stood next to each other in a line, facing the vending machine that Beck nearly broke through. Everyone took a single rock and readied themselves to toss them at the shield.

"Ready?" Beck asked.

"Ready!" everyone said together.

"3. 2. 1. Now!" Beck shouted and everyone threw their rocks as hard as they could at the machine. One didn't reach the target; a couple hit each other and bounced off the shield without doing damage; and a couple hit the shield and it finally smashed.

Cheering, the gang grabbed the other rocks and repeated this on the remaining vending machines and after a couple of minutes, the machines were ready to be broken into and their contents taken. And everyone was tired from throwing the rocks. They all went to get some water at the fountains before they proceeded to remove the smashed shielding from the machines.

"Does the Jeep have any bags that we can use to fill up?" Andre asked, panting still. Beck pushed his sweaty hair out of his face and shrugged and went to the Jeep and opened the trunk. There were a couple of large duffel bags inside. The bags had names on them and were camouflaged. They belonged to Army personnel.

"Guess, they won't be needing these." Beck replied meekly, opening the bags and examining their contents. Inside the first one was a pair of binoculars, a large container for holding water, some flares, a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter. The other duffel bag also had a large container for water, and also had a sleeping bag with its own bag to hold it, a first aid kit, and a flashlight with LED lights. Not bad at all.

"We'll definitely be needing this stuff; let's put them in one of them and fill the other with supplies." Andre stated. He and Beck transferred items from the second duffel bag into the first one. They took the second bag with them to the machines to be filled up and the water bottles to be filled with the water from the fountains.

"Alright, we got some military equipment in a duffle bag in the trunk and we can put supplies in this one, and there may be room to fit a couple of supplies in the other; we also got a couple of water bottles that can hold quite a bit of water." Beck explained to the others. Tori took the water bottles and filled them to the brim with the cool water from the fountains while everyone else filled the duffle bag with supplies. The machines had multiple brands and flavors of soda, crackers and chips and many brands of candy. In no time, the duffel bag was swelling from all the foodstuffs put inside of it. All the compartments were full to ensure maximum use of its space. The vending machines were a few items short of being completely empty. Everyone grabbed a drink and a snack and sucked them down and took the remaining items to the first duffel bag in the Jeep and managed to fit them in.

The gang then climbed back into the Jeep and Beck started it again with Jade's scissors and they hit the road again, ready with supplies that'll last them a day or two. Unfortunately, their gas won't last them too long.

Chapter 15. R+R plz. 3 or so chapters left in DOTS.