Dissolve (16 page)

“I already planned on it,” Nessa replied.

“We should stop at the one fast food restaurant in town as well, I am starving,” Shane added.

“Okay, gas first and then we can get food,” Nessa conceded.

“Oh, did anyone grab some clothes or anything for Mia?” I asked.

“No, there wasn’t much there, we will have to stop at a Target or something once we hit Kansas City,” Noah replied.

Once we made it to the fast food drive thru, I realized how hungry I was because my stomach gave an involuntary growl. Nessa ordered for everyone and I savored the taste of my hamburger and fries. I washed it down with a Coke and slurped the remainder of the liquid. Finished, I tucked it all back in the bag and stuck it in the floor board beneath my feet.

“Let’s stay someplace just a little nicer tonight, please. I want a good night’s rest. All this drama is draining me,” I asked.

“Fine, but nothing too fancy, we are still on a budget,” Nessa reminded me.

“We can stop in Kansas City for the night and then stop again just past Denver tomorrow night. We should make it to Washington in a few days, it is a long trip by car,” Shane said.

“That sounds reasonable. We are still a ways from Kansas City since there is no direct route from here. We will have to take route 28 to 63 then 70 on to Kansas City. Once we are on 70 we can stay on it for a ways. Then we will have to catch route 87 to highway 80 to Salt Lake City. From there, we will need to hit highway 15 to highway 90 before we reach Spokane, Washington,” Noah read out from the map.

“Whoa slow down there cowboy, one highway at a time. I will never remember all of that,” Nessa said.

“Ok, take route 28 out of Salem and I will let you know when we get close to route 63,” Noah replied.

“Thank you, now you can rest if you want. I will take first shift, but you will have to take second. I am just as exhausted as the rest of you,” Nessa responded.

After that, I stopped listening. The background noise faded out and I was in my head, alone with my own thoughts. Countless trees lined the curvy road out of Salem and I wished I had something to cut the motion sickness I was acquiring. I couldn’t wait to get to Kansas City. I wanted out of this freaky outfit Nessa picked out for me and back into something a little more comfortable. This really wasn’t my style, sexy as Noah thought it was.

For the next few hours, I nodded in and out of sleep as I curled up against the window. Visions of Tom haunted me every time I closed my eyes. It was a cruel way to have to remember the love of my life. Just knowing he was gone was bad enough. Now I had to live with that gruesome picture forever.

I didn’t break back into the conversation until we slowed to a stop at yet another gas station. This darn old car ate up so much gas, but it was better than nothing. Noah stepped out and pumped the gas while Nessa ran in and grabbed the oil. I decided now was a good time to grab some Dramamine and I turned to Shane.

“Do you want anything from inside?” I asked him.

“Sure, a Monster and a bag of barbeque chips if they have them. I don’t care which flavor of energy drink. Thanks Cora,” Shane said.

“No problem,” I answered with a weak smile.

Once inside, I grabbed the medicine and Shane’s snacks. I was feeling so lethargic myself that I bought a bottled coffee and a bag of little cookies to go with it. Then I looked around to see where the heck we were. We had made it to Jefferson City. Only about three and a half hours left. I sighed in relief and paid for my purchases. I was running low on cash and needed to remember to let Nessa know.

When I reached the car, I could see that Nessa had already switched with Noah and was sitting in the passenger seat. She saw me and hopped out to let me in the back.

“Thanks,” I said. Then I slid to the back next to Shane and a still sleeping Mia. I handed Shane his snacks and he tore into them like he was starving and thirsty. I chuckled to myself and opened my own coffee. I chased my Dramamine with it and let out a little sigh as I enjoyed the cold coffee. Before long, we were back on the road, just about forty minutes from I-70.

I sunk back and enjoyed the familiar scenery as we made it back to civilization. We had just about made it to Columbia when Mia rustled. She awoke slowly and bolted upright with fast precision.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“It’s alright, you are with us. We are on our way to Washington State. We didn’t want to leave you there after what happened,” I told her.

Tears began to stream down her rosy cheeks as she remembered the scene that played out just hours before. I leaned over and gave her a hug. I just couldn’t stand to see someone hurting the way that I was.

“It is going to be okay,” I said.

“Thanks, I guess. I don’t know what I would have done if you left me there. All my family and friends were in that house. Everyone except Stephan,” she said bitterly.

“We have to figure out what your power is also. We know that Stephan fed you the same thing we got. It is just a matter of seeing how your genes adhere to it. Hopefully we will find out soon. How is your headache?” I asked.

“My head is still throbbing, but it has let up a little,” she replied.

“Here, I got you some aspirin and a bottle of water,” I said as I grabbed them and handed them to her.

“Thanks, that was very kind of you,” she said politely.

I nodded as I released the items into her grip. Then I sighed as the day culminated into early evening. We should make it to Kansas City by ten or eleven. That was pushing it, but we have a long way to go. Thankfully I drank the coffee and was awake now. Mia was quiet as she sipped on her water. I watched as the sun sets in the west in brilliant hues of orange. It was beautiful and took my breath away.

It was Nessa that finally spoke up. “So Mia, are you from Salem? How old are you?”

“I am from Salem. I am nineteen, but I turn twenty in a few weeks. What a great birthday present,” she muttered, clearly irritated.

“It really sucks. I am sorry that it happened to you. Look at the positive side though. You are with people that understand what you are going through,” Nessa said.

Mia turned to me and her eyes went wide in remembrance. “I am so sorry about your fiancé. I didn’t believe that Stephan could do such a thing, but now…” she trailed off.

“Thank you,” I replied, not wanting to discuss it any further.

“So Mia, are you in school or anything?” Noah asked joining the conversation.

“Yes, I go to University of Missouri St. Louis. I was home for summer break. A fat lot of good the schooling did me.”

“Learning is a good thing no matter what the situation is. It is knowledge you will always have,” Noah told her.

“True, I didn’t think of it that way. I guess I am a pessimist at heart,” she admitted.

Shane eased Mia up into the seat and smiled at her. “I am glad you are okay. We were worried when you passed out.”

“That explains why I was so confused when I woke up.”

“Luckily Shane caught you before you hit the floor,” I said.

A slow blush crept up her cheeks and she turned to Shane with a demure smile. “I guess it is my turn to thank you.”

I could see Nessa’s envious stare out the side window even though I didn’t think anyone else did. I knew she was starting to crush on Shane, but I didn’t know if anyone else knew. Clearly Shane had been preoccupied. I know it was not Mia’s fault, but I couldn’t read their minds either. Who knew what Nessa was gathering from them?

“Why are we going to Washington exactly?” Mia asked.

“We are going there because that is the second and closest state your cousin incinerated. We need to find any clues we possibly can. I don’t know if we can stop him, but we are going to try,” I said.

“I wish I had known what he was truly capable of. What was the other state? Stephan has been gone for quite a while; he said he was traveling with his job. He is a chemical engineer for some prestigious pharmaceutical company. I didn’t have any reason not to believe him.”

“He also incinerated Alaska. I hope we can find some clues as to his plans for everyone else. It is too creepy to think he could do this to the world population,” I informed her.

“I am so sorry. I will tell you anything about him you want to know. I want to help in any way I can, on behalf of my family,” Mia replied.

She showed true sincerity and I began to formulate all sorts of questions for her. I didn’t want to overwhelm her, so I just started with a few. “How old is Stephan? Has he always been this creepy?”

“He is twenty four. Stephan has always been the perfect cousin. He got good grades in school and got a chemistry degree from Washington University on scholarship.”

“That explains a few things. We wondered why St. Louis and not Kansas City since they are both about the same size. Chemistry explains how he had the knowledge to do all of this,” Noah said.

“I can’t believe my cousin turned out to be a terrorist, how scary,” Mia responded with a shudder.

“Yeah, I hope we can figure this out before he destroys the world,” I added.

After that everyone fell silent, returning to their own trains of thought. It had faded into night outside and the dark sky was lit by the stars. The headlights and taillights of cars on the road twinkled in my vision. I hoped we would reach Kansas City soon because my coffee was wearing off and I was slowly fading away. Soon we slowed to a crawl and I looked up to see if we had made it already.

“Are we here already?” I asked.

“No, we are stuck in traffic,” Noah replied.

I let out a groan and looked out the window to see cars lined up as far as the eye could see. “Great, we will never make it at this rate. Are you sure we can’t stop nearby? It is already nine and I am exhausted.”

“I agree it has been a really long day. We can make up the distance if we get an early start in the morning. Besides, stuck in this traffic we aren’t going very far anyways,” Shane added.

“Alright, I will make my way towards the next exit with a town. It may be a few miles though,” Noah said.

We sat in a holding pattern for quite a while before we managed to make our way to an exit with promise. There were at least two gas stations and a few restaurants. As soon as I saw where we were going to have to stay, I regretted my choice. We should have kept driving. Pulling into the run down pink motel, Noah shifted his appearance into a random person he had come across today.

“That is so cool!” Mia exclaimed.

“Yeah, it is pretty awesome once I got used to it. It is getting easier to do the more I try,” Noah said before unbuckling his seat belt. “I will be right back.”

Noah got out of our rusty purple mustang and headed toward the front office. We were all silent as he faded into the motel.

“How is this going to work? There are five of us. Who sleeps on the floor?” Mia asked.

“No one, we take shifts because Cora there likes to dissolve in her sleep,” Nessa replied.

“Oh, that is a good idea then. Who takes first shift?”

“Probably me and Shane tonight, he has had an energy drink and I am wide awake. Cora is tired and Noah has been driving for a while.”

“Sure, that makes sense,” Mia said with just a small note of jealousy in her voice.

Nessa may have read her thoughts, but even I caught that. Shane just sat there in silence, not quite sure what to say. I couldn’t blame him, two girls fighting for your attention was any guys dream. Finally Noah returned with our key and a smile.

“I managed to get a room with two king sized beds. They didn’t even ask for identification. I just gave them the cash and we got a room on the first floor, room 109. There must not be many guests,” Noah commented.

“Good,” Nessa said already stepping out of the car. She went around to the trunk and Noah unlocked it. They got our stuff and we piled out of the back seat.

“Wait, I don’t have anything else to wear,” Mia said as she realized that she was still wearing her grey fitted dress and black pumps. “This isn’t very trip friendly.”

“Sorry, I didn’t see anything at the house so you will have to make do with Nessa’s clothes until we can get you some stuff in the city. They might be a little big, but they will work,” Noah told her.

“Thanks,” she said to Nessa.

Nessa nodded and we made our way into the old run down motel. Noah unlocked the door and we were overcome with the waft of must and mildew. I nearly choked as my senses were overwhelmed with the smell. There were two king beds with cheap polyester comforters in light green. I cringed knowing it was another night in a nasty motel room.

“You’ve got to love the wonderful smell. I wish we had an air freshener for this room. Maybe we can get some for the next time we get stuck in a dump,” Nessa said.

We wasted no time getting ready for the evening. Nessa found a pair of shorts and a tee for Mia and I grabbed another pair as well as a tee. I couldn’t wait to get out of this hideous outfit.

Before anyone else had the chance, I barricaded myself in the bathroom and got changed. Mia went next and Noah just striped down to his boxers. I had to admit he looked pretty good. My eyes trailed the length of his sculpted body and I sucked in a quick breath.