The gauge is on "e"

I'm gripping the wheel

The map is so hard to read

I can't see the road; I can only see,

From my hand to my mouth

From right here to the ground

But I'm too far gone to go back . . .

~ 'Backseat' by Juliana Hatfield

Prologue

The road stretched endlessly beyond the car's windshield; miles and miles of faded black and yellow stripes that were barely visible from the wear of cars and precipitation that had browbeaten the color into submission. On either side of the road were flat wheat fields, the wheat itself only a foot or so high from theground. The golden stalks swayed with the force of the light, hot breeze sweeping through, creating the effect of an ocean of gold rippling through the vast fields. The only other scenery there was lied in the distance - brief clusters of green trees and the hint of a small forest far up ahead.
The heated air swirled in and out of the open windows of the 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier, flitting through the hair of the driver until said driver sighed and let one hand go of the wheel to brush the irate strands out of her face. The respite was only brief before the locks began to dance in front of her face once more, and she decided it was best not to fight with the bright red strands. The breeze wasn't going away, and she wasn't about to roll up the windows. And she wasn't that bothered, anyway - it took away the worst of the heat.
And holy cow it's hot, she thought. It was the end of August, you'd think the heat would let up at least a little bit, but of course not. It had to be almost ninety degrees out there. The breeze and slightly cool air filtering out from the air conditioning that didn't quite work was the only relief from it.
Vivid green eyes watched the road in front of her, aware of the simmer in the distance that was heat rising up from the hot pavement, and also aware of the road sign that just passed by - 56. Good. She was on the right track. Green flip flops adorned the feet that pressed the gas, and despite the denim shorts and white sleeveless shirt she wore, she was still sweating. The radio clock told her it was just past two in the afternoon, and her stomach reminded her that lunch had been forgotten.
Robyn sighed noisily, getting tired of the lack of noise. There were sounds - katydids and crickets, and the soft whirring sounds of the engine that had drove her crazy when the car was first bought only a day ago, but since then she had learned to just tune it out as background noise. Usually the radio would be on, but Robyn had turned it off in empathy with the sleeping passenger next to her. She looked like she didn't sleep much the night before, and Robyn didn't mind letting her sleep a little bit longer.
However, she was getting hungry and, looking at the gauge in the corner with a frown, they were low on gas. Very low. Plus she wanted to wake her friend up before she woke up on her own and wondered where in God's name Robyn had driven them. The redhead briefly took her eyes off the road to glance at her companion, curled up on the cloth seat in what looked like an uncomfortable position. One arm dangled out the window with her head resting on it at an awkward angle. Robyn winced at the neck pain she'd wake up to. Reaching over with one hand and keeping one eye on the road, one hand on the wheel to steady it, she shook her friend's shoulder.
"Wake up," she said simply, shaking her shoulder a bit more until eyes lazily opened. Green eyes, not vivid like Robyn's but paler, a color that always reminded Robyn of the sharp end of a glass shard, looked around in a daze until they cleared. She lifted her head, winced, and put a hand to her neck to crack it. It popped, and Robyn made a face." Nice."
Her friend stayed silent, and concentrated on lifting her other arm into the car. She wiggled her fingers, then sighed. "My arm's asleep."
"Mine would be too if I'd laid a heavy head on it like yours," Robyn said dryly.
The other girl rolled her eyes and cracked a smile, then finally paid attention to her surroundings, mainly the wheat fields."Where are we?"
The redhead smiled a little sheepishly, embarrassment brightening her pale cheeks a little."Well, not exactly where we should be. I kinda . . . made a wrong turn a few miles back . . ."
"You don't know?" the other asked with an arched eyebrow.
"No, I know," Robyn said indignantly."We were in West Virginia about fifteen minutes ago, but we passed the border into Ohio. It took me a while to find us on the map, but we're not too off course. We should be able to make up for lost time."
Her friend's brow furrowed and she frowned. Robyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat for the long moment she was silent, but finally, she simply nodded."We'll be fine." Robyn smiled. She should have figured her companion wouldn't be angry - it was hard to rattle her, a quality Robyn admired in her. It made her so much easier to ride in a car with for a day and a half straight, and both knew they wouldn't be getting out of the car anytime soon.
The girl sat upright in her seat and stretched her legs out in her little space."Want me to drive?"
Suddenly remembering what she had originally woken her up for, the redhead replied,"Actually, we're running out of gas. That's why I woke you up. And I'm hungry."
Her friend chuckled."That's typical."
"Oh come on," Robyn glanced at the other, grinning." Admit it, you're hungry too."
The girl grinned back."I'm hungry, too." "Cool. I don't have a clue when we'll hit the next town, but it better be soon or we're screwed."
"Because the car isn't gonna push itself."
Robyn laughed."And neither are we. We wouldn't make it to the nearest tree let alone the nearest town."
Her companion stretched her arms and pressed her palms against the roof of the car while she yawned."Let me see how much money we have."
"I was just gonna ask you that. And hey, when we get gas in the car and eat, then you can drive and I can sleep like a baby."
"Sounds good," she replied. The dark haired teenager had pulled open the glove compartment and was pulling wads of cash out of a tin box. She put the smaller bills back and counted the twenties silently." We have more than enough to get gas and eat out."
"Excellent," Robyn said happily." I'm so glad we found a relatively cheap car. It left us with a pretty nice wad of cash."
The other girl nodded."Yeah. And the car really isn't all that bad. A lot could be said for the air conditioning, but beggars can't be choosers, I guess."
Robyn agreed. The car had been four hundred dollars, mainly because it was used, the air conditioning didn't really work, and the two back windows couldn't open, plus it was the cheapest available they could find on such short notice. The Cavalier was beige in color, and the man who owned it was really nice, so they were in and out with the car and out of New York within the day.
It felt good.
It felt so incredibly good to be away from that damn state and everything it stood for. One could say that they were running away from their problems, but considering the problems both of them had, it was the only sensible thing to do. For the first time in . . . years, Robyn felt remotely what it was like to be free. Not entirely free, but free from what used to be. Her mood predictably blackened as she thought back on the summer - alternately the worst summer of her life. The only good that came out of it was this girl who was, literally, Robyn's only friend in the world at the moment. And really, that was all she needed, all they both needed. She didn't need a lot of friends, just someone she could trust and talk to, so she wasn't alone. Robyn couldn't fathom how she would have done this without her - not just traveling, but saving her sanity.
Their car finally made it to the little forest they saw earlier, and just as they had made the break to the trees, they cleared slightly to show off building establishments and houses.
"Oh, a town!" Robyn gasped, then grinned widely."Score!"
The other girl matched her grin."Hey, maybe they have a diner we can get our meal at."
"Mmm, I don't care if it's two thirty in the afternoon, I'm getting their breaskfast," Robyn sighed dreamily."Eggs, and bacon and pancakes, oh, and milk, too."
The darker teenager leaned forward to read the green sign to their right."Loment: population five hundred."
Robyn snorted out laughter."Well in that case, we can scratch the diner."
"Unless you wanted to go to . . ." she paused to read the sign above the small building."Dinky's Tavern."
"And shoot pool with Bubba over a beer?" The redhead grinned."Come on, where's your sense of fun?"
"My sense of fun doesn't associate with people named Dinky."
Robyn laughed, and at that moment spotted the town's gas station."All righty . . . time to stretch the legs." She maneuvered the car into the station and pulled it up next to one of the empty pumps. She stopped the car and turned off the ignition just as her friend opened her door. They both got out and simultaneously stretched - arms in the air, standing on their tiptoes and giving equal sighs of pleasure.
"Wanna pay?" Robyn yawned. She nodded, and pulled out a twenty and two ones before walking up towards the building. The redhead proceeded to put much needed gas in the car, and lazily took in her surroundings as she did. A red truck was coming down the road, and it pulled into the gas station on the other side of the pumps they were on. She watched it with interest, but when the man stepped out of the truck, she did a double take.
Black hair, tall, muscular . . . from a distance, he looked exactly like . . .
Robyn couldn't move as she stared, long and hard, to make sure her mind was playing tricks on her. Her breath began to quicken and her hand shook as it held the gas pump steady, and when the man looked directly at her, she could clearly see that it wasn't who she thought it was.
But that didn't ease her tension. Suddenly, the girl was back where it all started, and it sucked her up into June, when her boyfriend dragged her to the warehouse and the priest . . . His chanted words echoed through her head, her own cries of fear filling her mind as he tried to force her through it . . . Robyn shuddered at the memory of the empty, cold feeling in her soul, pulling so hard at what was so precious -
"Robyn!" The girl jerked back out of her thoughts and stared blankly into pale green eyes tinged with concern. Wordlessly, the other girl pulled Robyn's hand away from the nozzle and replaced it back on the pump. She led the girl around the car, and opened the door before sitting her down in the passenger seat. Crouching down so she was looking levelly at Robyn, she said calmly,"We're away from there, Robyn. They can't get to you like this."
"Can't they?" she whispered, green eyes wide with trepidation." Do you think they'll give up so easily?"
Her friend's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly got up and walked to the driver's side. She got in, slammed the door, and turned on the ignition." Then they'll have to find you." She drove them out of the gas station and back to the road, and added with a fierce tone," And to find you, they'll have to catch us."
Although Robyn was heartened by her friend's devotion, that dark nagging worry in the back of her head would not go away, even until she fell asleep as the dark haired teenager drove them to a place to eat. She knew that if you ran fast enough, maybe they wouldn't catch you. But that didn't mean they wouldn't stop looking. And it didn't stop the memories from plaguing her dreams.