Chapter 6-Hitchhikers Anonymous

                “Do you even know where we’re going?”

                I looked over at Cody. He had gotten first turn at driving.

                “Well?”

                He shook his head. “Maybe we can find a few others. Does it matter, really?” I shrugged. He was right-it didn’t matter where we went. Once Jerry found the car missing, we could be anywhere.

                “Hey, I’m really tired. Do you mind if I sleep for awhile?”

                He shook his head. “Go ahead, you’re gonna need it. But, hold on.” He pulled over to the side of the highway. “I wanna check the trunk for anything real quick.” He got out of the driver’s seat and went around to the back of the car. I pushed a lever on the side of my seat, and the back of it folded back. I turned sideways and put my arm under my head. Before I could think, I was asleep.

                I started dreaming. It was dark, and silent. Except for someone screaming. It was a male scream, and I was running towards it. The screaming got louder, and then I saw someone huddled on the ground, facing away from it. When I got to the other side, it was Cody. He was bleeding from a gash on the side of his head, his leg, and several wounds on his chest. I told him to calm down, everything would be alright. Cody looked at me with wide eyes and told me to run, before I got attacked. I told him that I didn’t know what he was talking about.

                There was a growl behind me. I turned and saw this beast, something I didn’t recognize. It was taller than anyone I’ve seen, but it didn’t look human. It had grey and brown fur, pointed ears, and a muzzle dripping with saliva and a red liquid I didn’t want to identify. I froze, fearing for Cody more than me.

                I heard him calling my name. “Cammie…Caaaaammie…” I looked over at him, but his lips weren’t moving. I turned back towards the beast, and it lunged at me.

                “CAMMIE!”

                I woke up. Cody was standing outside the car, on my side. He was shaking me. His eyes were terror-filled. I bit my lip, not wanting to remember the dream. Cody pulled the blanket off of me. I hadn’t realized it was there.

                “Cammie, we need to go. The car ran out of gas, and we don’t have any way of getting a hold of anyone who can help us.” I nodded and started up. Cody took the blanket and neatly folded it. He opened one of the back doors and pulled a couple of boxes out. One had sport bows, the other arrows. “I case we need protection or food.” I nodded and got out.

                Cody handed me the blanket, and we started away from the car. We were broke, didn’t know where we were going, and trying to hide from the government.  And for some reason, I was happier than I could ever be.

                Maybe fifteen minutes later, we were still walking along the freeway. We hadn’t thought of anything, so until the car was honking at us, we hadn’t really thought about hitchhiking.

                “Hey, you two need a ride?”

                Cody and I exchanged looks.

                “Free ride,” I said.

                We raced to the SUV. The woman there smiled and told us to get in. “I’m on a road trip, but nothing’s planned, so I can give y’all a ride. Where are y’all headed?”

                I said the first city I could think of. “Atlanta. We were in Florida for a vacation, but our car broke down on our way back.” Cody gave me a silent thumbs-up.

                “You look a little young to be out on your own,” the woman said. Cody shrugged.

                “My dad was with us, in another car. We left our stuff with him, thankfully. He’ll know what happened when we get back.” I smiled when Cody said this. He could make a story up just as well as I could.

                “Alright. We can stop for lunch, and dinner if it takes that long. I can pay for it, my pleasure.”

                I nodded my thanks. I was still tired, even with sleeping through Cody driving. He was probably even more tired, and it showed. His eyes were half-closed, and he was moving slowly. I leaned over and whispered in his ear.

                “Go ahead and sleep.”

                He nodded, then fell asleep. His head fell onto my shoulder. I didn’t mind it, for some reason. I didn’t mind anything, at that point.

                Life was good.