“You’ve got a full tank of gas. Follow the map and drive safely, boys. This car here is new,” Lewis tells us sternly, giving two slaps to the hood of the SUV before walking off where his wife is waiting in their other vehicle.
We watch Lewis leave, and then Sheriff April turns to us, his face grim, but his blue eyes hopeful. The hope that I see there makes me uneasy, and I’m not sure how to respond. What if we can’t get to his kid? The last thing I want is disappoint sheriff or bring him back bad news and see that ember hope turn to ash and crumble into nothing.
“You boys don’t have to do this…” he begins.
Madix cuts him off. “Sheriff, you were the first person to welcome us here. We know this town isn’t exactly used to outsiders, but you’ve always gone out of your way to make it feel like home to us. We’ll do everything we can to get your kid.”
A flash of gratefulness crosses his aged features. “I know it’s a big ask.”
I nod. “Yeah, but it’s a direct route using back roads. As long as our supplies hold, we shouldn’t need to cross into any high risk areas or come in contact with anyone. We’ll be back here in a couple of days, so long as the weather is on our side.”
He holds out his hand for us to shake, and when it’s my turn to take it, I pull him in and clap him on the back to let him know we don’t resent him for asking this of us. Sure, it’s a big fucking deal and potentially dangerous, but I respect the shit out of him, and he’s a good guy. “Here,” he says, passing me an envelope from his back pocket. “Give that to my kid. With that, there won’t be any confusion as to who sent you guys.”
I nod and stuff the envelope addressed to Remington into my bag before tossing it in the car.
“We’d better head out so that we have plenty of daylight,” Brant says, looking up at the somewhat cloudy sky.
Madix goes around to shut the trunk and Sheriff idles by the car nervously. “You boys are the best thing to happen to Endstone in years,” he muses. “With your military training and survivalist experience, I have no doubt that Remington will be safe in your hands.”
We nod and start getting in the car. I ride shotgun while Madix takes the driver seat and starts the engine, and Brant and Puddles settle into the back.
Just before we leave, Sheriff April taps hesitantly on my window. I roll it down expectantly, but he seems to stall for a moment, like he doesn’t quite know how to say what he wants.
“Sheriff?” Madix prompts.
He rubs his scruff jaw and quickly looks at all three of us. “It’s just...Remington can be a bit of a...handful. But I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he amends quickly with a shake of his head. He taps the hood and waves. “Good luck. And thank you.”
We watch as he strides away, his last minute revelation floating around the car. Madix puts the SUV into gear and we pull out onto the highway.
“This is fucking crazy,” Madix says as he grips the steering wheel, but the hint of a smile peeking out at the corners of his mouth gives away just how excited he really is for a dose of insanity and the adrenaline rush of a mission.
All Brant and I can do is nod and hold back our own smiles, because he’s absolutely fucking right. This is crazy, and we fucking thrive on it.
* * *
My chin hits my chest hard and it jars me awake. I blink slowly as my eyes follow the winding road that we’re on, and I try to process where I am. I look over to find Brant in the driver’s seat while Madix breathes steadily in the back with Puddles's head resting in his lap. It’s dark outside, so I can’t tell how long I’ve been out. I tap the touch screen that’s nestled on the center-front console of the car, and it lights up, showing nine-thirty-two.
“We’re a couple hours out still,” Brant tells me, his voice tired.
“You want to switch out?” I ask automatically, and I fight the irritation that bubbles up inside of me when Brant’s eyes dart down to my legs. “I lost my left leg bro, I can still drive with my right.”
I know he doesn’t mean to be an ass, but I’m over being treated like I can’t function. I lost my leg from just below the knee down. It’s not like I had a fucking lobotomy. Sometimes I wonder if my injury is harder for me to adjust to, or harder for those around me to deal with.
“I know dude, you just haven’t been interested in getting behind the wheel since… you know...” he tapers off.
“Well that’s because Madix is an anal psycho about his truck and we live in bum-fuck-nowhere so I haven’t needed to drive. This is different. You’re obviously tired and I just took a really long rest, and had an awesome dream about River’s hot twin sisters.”
Brant chuckles. “Why do I feel like he’s going to pop up out of nowhere and kick our asses for what you just said?” he asks with a shake of his head. “Shit, remember that beat down that Magoo got just for staring at River’s family photo for too long?” We both crack up at the memory of Magoo getting the shit kicked out of him while he yelled that he was just looking at the Christmas tree in the background. To be fair, it was a fucking hot picture of the twins dressed up like like sexy Christmas elves.
“Nah, I bet River is jumping out of planes and kicking ass somewhere in the Middle East right now. You’re safe to fantasize about them,” I tease, and release a dreamy sigh. “How the fuck those gifts from God were related to River, I’ll never know.”
Brant laughs, and then we both grow quiet for a beat. “Anyway, I can take over if you need a break for a bit,” I tell him again.
“I was actually thinking we should pull over for the night.”
I roll my eyes and open my mouth to argue. I can fucking handle driving for a couple of hours.
“Not because of you,” he quickly cuts in. “Get over yourself, bro. But I mean, come on, what is this dude going to think if the three of us show up at his house in the middle of the night? There was a sign for a campground coming up, so maybe we should all sleep and then show up tomorrow morning. We might have a better chance of convincing this dude that he’d be better off coming back with us in the light of day, versus showing up like harbingers of death in the dark of the night.”
