Part Three~ Lakeville or Bust

The nearly deserted lot was rather large, for a small gas station inside the city limits. There were only four cars in the lot, and undoubtedly two belonged to the employees, the two parked far off to one side. One of these was an old Dodge Charger, repainted in a deep Metal-fleck blue. This one had a window missing on one side, a piece of plastic taped to it to keep out the snow and cold. Perfection.

Muriel had never stolen a car before, but this was an emergency. She circled around from the back of the building, so no one would notice her approaching the car from inside the gas station. If customers noticed, perhaps they would think it was her own vehicle, but if the employees noticed, she wouldn’t have time to figure this out.

Three years before, she had gotten out of her car to change a flat, and lost her keys beside the road. Unable to find them, after heavy combing of the entire area, she had been desperate to get moving. It was a dark night, on a lonely highway, miles from town. A carload of young stoners had pulled up to help, and she probably should have asked for a ride back to town to have new keys made-- but when they offered to hotwire her car for her, she had decided maybe it was a good thing to learn, and even though they knew how to hotwire a car, they seemed rather harmless. She asked if they could teach her how in doing so.

Hoping she would remember how to do it, she slid into the car quietly, entering through the passenger door, where the broken window was, by simply pushing through the plastic and unlocking the car. Her heart raced. For a moment, a little tiny moment, Muriel reconsidered. “How long do you get for grand theft auto these days?” she wondered, muttering to herself. Then she remembered the events of the last few hours, and that Justice needed her. He was hurt, being chased by some God-forsaken band of evil people, for a reason she intended to find out. She would not abandon him. He had to have someone on his side. She knew how to shoot a gun, how to hotwire a car, how to do several useful things that she hoped would be of some help to the man Muriel now realized she had wanted all along, but had talked herself out of wanting. If she could get out of here fast enough, she should be able to find him. She had a clue as to where he would go, and she would meet him there. Justice would not be going through all of this alone, and Muriel would not be going home with her heart and mind heavy with regrets.
Her memory served her well. The car chattered to a shaky start, and she hopped up behind the wheel and pealed out of the gas station lot as quickly as possible. As she neared the corner, she saw the gas station employees run out and stare after her. She would have to find Justice fast, so she could get rid of this car. Undoubtedly, it wouldn’t be long and they would be looking for her, and the car was rather conspicuous.

Muriel’s heart was still shuddering and quaking, as were her mind and hands. She turned on the radio, hoping it would soothe her. Luckily the owner of the Dodge liked Classic Rock, apparently, and she didn’t have to fumble with any controls.

Justice had a cabin in the woods he had talked about once, a place he had promised to take her sometime, but it had never happened. He had said it was a few miles north of Lakeville, and if she could catch him on the way… Hopefully he was headed there. He had to be. She had no way to find him if he were headed anywhere else. She would need a map. She had to find a place to get one. She searched the glovebox of the Dodge one-handed. She came out with a pack of Marlboro Mediums, an open pack of gum with a few sticks left, a five dollar bill, a pack of lubricated condoms, a pornographic cartoon magazine… HAH! In the bottom of the hefty glove box, she had found an old small and tattered atlas. Still headed in the direction that Justice had been going, Muriel knew she needed to stop in a bit to look at her map, and find Lakeville.

The city was left behind, and she stopped on the side of the road to view the map. She needed to find some back roads, since she was driving a hot vehicle. She was driving a hot vehicle! The realization hit her again and she almost swooned, unable to believe she had done this, praying she would never be caught. Her mind wandered for a moment to herself in a courtroom, before a judge…

“I had to steal the car because my boyfriend had been shot by some bad guys and left me at the gas station to protect me from the guys following him. I knew he needed my help, your honor…”

Muriel sighed, and stopped shaking. “I simply have to stop thinking about that,” she told herself, “I’m already in trouble, so I might as well see my plans through.” She found Lakeville on the map, some 140 miles to the northwest. She had been heading north. She would have to change direction a bit. After surveying the map for a few more minutes, and marking her route with a highlighter that she had found in the car, wedged into the crack in the passenger seat.

“Lakeville or bust”, Muriel said to herself, easing back onto the highway. Her heart was no longer racing, though her mind was. She was determined to see this through. Either she would find Justice, or she would know where he was not.