But we don’t run into anyone. And we don’t hear the sound of a single car while we follow 95 south. About ten days out of Alexandria, Jamie points to a Honda on the side of the road, a lopsided grin on his face. The windows aren’t broken and a layer of dust covers every inch except the back windshield. There’s a message scrawled in the dust and almost washed away by rain that makes me snort.
Apocalypse blowout sale! FREE! Runs great! ¼ tank of gas included!
Jamie opens the door and the car starts to ding. He reaches in and takes a pair of keys out of the ignition, and the dinging stops immediately. Jamie holds up the keys to me. A small foam sandal with the words “Sea Isle City” hangs from them.
Jamie gives me a look. “Should... we drive a bit?”
Oh my God, yes. My feet would sing. But none of this feels right. “This doesn’t seem like a trap to you?”
“How is it a trap?”
I thrust my hand at the message. “The ‘free car’ note is a dead giveaway! You probably turn the ignition and it explodes.”
He smirks. “Remember when I left a message on the truck about the free food?”
Again with the optimism. Hasn’t he learned his lesson yet?
“Do you really think someone would rig a car to explode on the side of the road? For what purpose?”
Yes, that’s true. “But why would they leave the car? If they were moving all those other cars out of the way, why leave this one here?”
Jamie looks farther down the road. It’s still empty, and right before it turns, there’s another three vehicles pushed off to the shoulder. “Maybe they found a better car?”
Before I can stop him, Jamie climbs into the driver’s seat. He turns the keys in the ignition and for a moment it cranks and I think it’s not going to turn over. Then the car roars to life—well, as much as a Honda Civiccanroar—and Jamie gives me a wide, childlike grin that makes my stomach flip.
“Get in,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “I’m going to set you up here and Ineedyou to get this right.” I move around to the passenger seat and hop in. I stare at him as seriously as I can while looking at his goofy grin. “You have to back up. I don’t think you have enough road to get to eighty-eight.”
For just a second he looks concerned, and I’m so ready to punch him. Then his smirk returns. He shifts to drive and says, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
“YES!” I shout and roll the window down. “America! He knowsBack to the Future!”
Jamie hits the gas pedal and the car lurches forward. He spins the wheel hard to the left and we get back onto the highway... just in time for him to hit the metal guardrail in the middle of the road.
“Oh,” I mumble, bracing my hands against the dashboard. “But he doesn’t know how to drive.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
My eyes go wide. “Wait, do you really not know how to drive?”
“I lived in a city! I took public transportation everywhere.” He reverses a little too fast and I grapple for the oh-shit handle above the window, because oh shit.
He hits the gas in drive and we speed forward for a moment before he slams on the brakes. Then we lurch again and he hits the brakes as though he isn’t sure how to regulate our speed. I grab his arm.
“So hey! I’m going to say something to you that took my father three weeks of screaming and yelling to finally tell me.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re a shitty driver, now get out. I’m paying someone else to teach you.”
He frowns. “You’re lucky there’s only a quarter tank of gas left.” He opens the door and hops out as the car starts to drift forward.
“Jamie, you have to put it in park!”
I scramble over to the driver’s seat and stop the car. When I turn to look at him, he’s wide-eyed and grimacing. “Sorry.”
“You’re a menace.” But I can’t help laughing as I watch him walk around to the passenger side. Something in my chest loosens and I... feel better. Not great, obviously, but having Jamie here with me, making me laugh, making me feel normal—as normal as I can, given themultiple circumstances we find ourselves in.
