Parasitic Love Redux - 21. Running Blind

Connor was exhausted, and Bradley offered to take over driving so he could rest. They weren't going to be stopping at any fancy hotels this time…

He switched seats with the lesbian and pillowed his head on a folded up blanket they'd found in the back. The sunlight strobed through his eyelids and he turned to hide his face in the makeshift pillow.

He surfaced into consciousness after a few hours. It was getting dark again and M was complaining about his stomach in quiet tones. Hannah was driving now, and Bradley was next to Connor, dozing lightly.

"You're probably hungry," Hannah said. "None of us ate today."

"No, I feel sick," M whined. "Like puke sick."

"Trust me. That's your body telling you to eat. It been too long." She sighed and the car fell into silence for a bit. Connor sat up and draped an arm over the front seat. He gently squeezed M's shoulder and the blond gasped.

"Connor," he said. "You're up."

"Yep," Connor said. "And starving. What are we going to do about food."

"What are we going to do about gas?" Hannah asked. "We stopped for another fill up while you were out. We're already down to $66."

Connor glanced at the gas meter. It was half full. "Find a gas station," he said. "We'll fill up and get something cheap to eat."

Hannah huffed. "I could have said that," she said quickly. "We're not even halfway there," she said. "And gas prices are crazy."

"So we starve?" Connor asked her. "M has to eat something. And we need to stay fueled so we can keep driving. We'll make it," he said firmly.

Hannah sighed and got off on the next exit. "Whatever," she said.

The gas station they pulled into was pretty busy. There was a couple teenagers hanging out in front of the building. A boy was doing tricks on his bike and two girls sat on the curb, cheering him on.

Hannah parked next to a pump and Connor got out to accompany her. "We can't let you get robbed again," he said blandly.

"Ha ha," she laughed humorlessly. "Let's get this over with."

They encountered more teenagers inside. Two boys dressed in beanies and band shirts were perusing the candy selection.

"Of course you'd pick Sweet Tarts, Danny," the tall teen said to the fat one. He pinched fatty's cheek. "You're so super sweet!" he lisped.

Danny shoved the taller boy. "Get the fuck off, man. I'm not gay."

Connor and Hannah weaved around the boys and their antics.

"Besides, I just screwed your mom the other night, she was loving the Sweet Tarts," Danny sneered. "She licked the powder off my dick."

Danny's friend snorted with laughter. Connor rolled his eyes and tried to tune the idiots out as he followed Hannah through the little aisles. She scanned the shelves while Connor kept an eye on the Chrysler through the front window. It idled innocently in front of pump 6.

"This was your idea," Hannah bitched and Connor's attention snapped back to the matter at hand. He blinked at Hannah cluelessly. "Are we going to eat a bag of donuts or a loaf of bread?" She gestured to the shelf before them, stocked with kitchen essentials like flour and cooking spray.

"Look." Connor pushed Hannah aside and grabbed a couple cups of ramen from the bottom shelf. "It's a dollar a cup."

"Ramen?" Hannah cringed. "From a gas station?"

"It's better than donuts, right?" Connor said. "And we can probably get some hot water from the coffee machine if we ask nice."

Hannah grabbed the noodles. "Let me handle it then." She went up to the counter and a pimple-faced boy came up to greet her.

Connor waited in the store section while Hannah flirted with the guy at the cash register. Pimples nodded quickly at something Hannah said and pointed to the back corner of the shop. Connor, thinking he'd see what the kid was pointing out, ventured further into the back.

Jackpot! There was an ancient coffee machine on the back counter. A pot of hot water was on the burner… Connor paused and waited impatiently for Hannah to arrive with the noodle cups.

"He says we can use the water for tea," Hannah said as she appeared with the ramen in a plastic bag. "He gave us forks and napkins too." Hannah took the ramen out, one at a time, and lined them up in a row. "What next?" she asked.

Connor rolled his eyes again, frustrated and hungry and wanting to get out of the store quickly. "Peel the cover off halfway," he said, demonstrating with the first cup. Hannah did the next two and Connor finished.

"Then add hot water up to the line," he said, pointing to the little intention inside the cup. "We cover it up and wait a couple minutes for it to cook. That's it."

Connor quickly added the water to the cups and sealed the flimsy paper covers with his fingertip. Hannah watched with interest.

"You're good at that," she said.

"The instructions are right on the top," he sneered. "It not rocket science."

Hannah laughed.

After 3 minutes, Connor checked on the noodles. They were thick with juice and the little freeze dried veggies had swelled into tender bites.

"That smells pretty good," Hannah said, leaning closer.

"Jesus, Hannah," Connor chuckled. "You never had ramen in that castle you grew up in?"

"Why does everyone makes fun of me for that house," Hannah snapped. "I'm not rich. I don't even make minimum wage! I work for college credits!"

She grabbed two of the hot ramen cups and stormed out of the store. Connor sighed and grabbed the last two cups. He turned and stepped straight into fat little Danny, carrying an armful of Sweet Tarts and talking over his shoulder to his friend.

"Ah fuck!" Connor cried as his two ramens splashed down his front. The liquid burned and he threw the styrofoam cups on the floor in anger.

"Watch it, asshole," Danny yelped. He jumped backwards and barely managed to avoid the spray of soup. It splattered on his white Converse shoes and he started moaning. "My shoes! My fucking shoes!"

"You weren't even looking in front of you!" Connor snarled through his teeth. He picked his wet shirt away from his skin. "Fuck! You wasted my fucking dinner!"

"You wrecked my shoes!" Danny yelled.

Connor ground his teeth together. He wanted to rip Sweet Little Danny's head off!

"C'mon, dude, let's just pay for our candy and get out of here," Danny's friend said. He gripped the fat kid's shoulder a little desperately, but Danny didn't listen.

Suddenly, he threw his candy to the floor. "Fuck this, I'm going to beat your ass, fucker."

Connor clenched his fists into tight balls. "I'll happily throttle the shit out of you, if that's what your asking for."

"What?"

"You want to fight?" Connor shoved Danny hard and the kid slipped in the soup and knocked over a display of beef jerky. "Get your fucking hands up!"

Danny stared up at Connor for a long moment, his fat, little mouth hanging open. Finally he swallowed and spoke up.

"I'm sorry about your ramen," he said.

Connor deflated. He folded his arms across his chest and looked around at the mess they'd made. He shook his head in disgust. "You'd better watch your back," he said in a deep voice. "You're going to get your ass handed to you one day, acting like that." He gestured to the teen's general aura of "WTF" and "I don't care".

"Want me to buy you another one?" Danny sneered. "Or do you just want 2 measly dollars?"

Connor flipped the kid off and stalked out of the store, past the pimply kid hiding behind the cash register. He went straight for the car. He didn't even see the other teenagers fucking around in the lot. He had his gaze set on the safety of the vehicle before him.

"Connor?" Hannah was talking to M and Bradley through the window while the steaming ramen cups rested on the roof of the car. She was looking back at Connor though, obviously concerned. Everyone was looking at him, actually…

He reached the car and got in the back straight away.

"Connor?"

"I spilled everything," Connor snapped. "I bumped into that fat teenager in the store and dumped both ramens on the floor and all over myself."

"I-I can see," Hannah said. "Here, let me get your bag so you can change."

Bradley stared at him. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Probably," Connor muttered.

"Here." Hannah handed his bag through the window and Connor took it with a scowl on his face… He was morbidly embarrassed. He wanted to fucking die, right now. He should have beat that kid into oblivion!

"Well, I guess we only have two ramens now," Hannah said sadly.

"Give mine to M," Connor said impatiently.

Bradley hurried to copy Connor's heroic example. "You can have mine, Hannah. And I'll drive for awhile,"she said generously. "Sit in the back and relax."

Hannah hesitated, but Danny had come out to the parking lot now and was complaining loudly to his friend. They were laughing uproariously and Connor burned with anger.

"Let's go," he bit out, and Hannah handed the soups through the window while Bradley climbed over the front seat and took the driver's position.

The boy on the bike circled the car. He grinned at Connor through the window, laughing about something. He had a girl standing on the back too. Her hair blew over her face, but Connor could feel her eyes laughing at him.

He thought helplessly of high school, of being cornered more times than he'd like to admit. His classmates had laughed at him, taunted him, beat the shit out of him… Connor had taken it, too, because he'd had no escape.

"Drive," he said forcefully as Hannah dove into the backseat. Connor handed her Bradley's ramen as the ex-cop shifted into gear and stepped on the gas.

They tore off down the road and veered onto the on ramp. The Chrysler picked up speed rapidly and they passed a few folks cruising in the slow lane.

"What the hell happened in there, Connor?" Bradley chuckled. "Shit, nobody likes you."

"Fuck off," Connor snapped. "I hate teenagers."

Bradley laughed some more. She seemed highly amused and Connor felt like he'd just eaten a lemon whole, he felt so bitter inside.

"Oh no…" Hannah moaned. She covered her ramen and looked out the window, at the gas station they were quickly leaving behind. "I paid with a 20. There was $16 on the pump we didn't get."

"Fuck," Connor cursed. "So, that was a complete waste?"

"Not completely," M said from the front, around a mouthful of noodles.

Connor threw his hands up. "Fuck, well at least two of us get to eat."

"I've got an idea, actually," Bradley said. "If your willing to give me a hand."

"An idea?"

"To get us something to eat," she said.

"What's your awesome idea?" Connor sneered.

"You'll see." Bradley grinned in the rear view mirror and Connor looked out the window, not wanting to look at the enthusiasm all over her face.

What the fuck was she planning?

***

Maybe 40 minutes down the road, Bradley pulled off the highway and into a huge mega Walmart. It was really getting late now… late for little high school teenagers and ordinary 9 to 5'ers, but the place still looked packed.

"What are we doing here?" Connor glared at the sea of cars. He didn't want to fight any crowds inside Walmart. He didn't want to go inside at all if he could help it. "Is your great idea off brand food? Cheap as dirt? Tastes like dirt too."

"That's unfair," Bradley said. "You know, a lot of off brands are made by big name companies and repackaged to sell in stores like Walmart."

"Whatever."

"The packaging is the only thing that's different," Bradley said. "You'd be surprised."

"So, are we going shopping?" Connor sneered as Bradley pulled into a space far from the front doors.

"Not exactly," Bradley said. She parked the car and turned around to look at Connor. "But your coming with me either way. You said you would." She grinned.

Connor huffed. He hadn't changed yet, and his shirt was stained with soup. He ripped it over his head and dug through his bag for a clean one.

Bradley got out as Connor finished changing his top. He followed her quickly, muttering a quick" See ya," to M and Hannah.

Connor saw Bradley had popped the trunk when he got out.

"What are you looking for?" he asked as Bradley shifted their bags around.

"I know I saw it back here…" Bradley said to herself. Connor watched as her whole top half vanished inside the tight compartment. "Here it is." She suddenly emerged with a reusable shopping bag.

Connor glared at her. He felt like stomping his foot, he was suddenly so impatient and upset. He didn't want to go shopping….

"Let's go," Bradley said and she slammed the trunk shut and headed off towards the store.

Connor continued to glare after her, but he followed her inside regardless.

Inside, the self-checkout lanes were jammed with customers. There was only a single lane in the middle with cashier on it. It was in front of the cigarette cases and that lane was also swamped with activity.

"I hate crowds," Connor said. "I hate Walmart."

"They have everything," Bradley said. She looked up at the signs indicating the pharmacy, the housewares section, and then groceries. "Were going this way. C'mon."

Connor dragged his feet and followed slavishly. They went into the back, to the deli section and Bradley grabbed packages of ham and turkey from the refrigerated shelves and tossed them into her shopping bag.

"So, what really happened back at the gas station," Bradley asked, moving down the aisle and around a young mom and her wailing toddler standing in front of the raw chicken. The toddler was pulling and yanking on his mother's hand, demanding she buy him some Pop Tarts while she attempted to make a selection of meat.

Connor glared at the little kid. "Nothing earth shattering," he said to Bradley. "Some punk ass kid knocked into me when I was turning around with the ramen in my hands. He was more concerned with his cool shoes. Fuck me and my fucking ramen," he muttered bitterly.

Bradley chuckled. They were passing the cheese now, and she tipped a pack of provolone into the bag. "We've got to get it together. We're running around like headless chickens."

"No shit," Connor scoffed. They turned to go down an aisle with bread and pasta when two little girls with beads in their hair cut them off and tore down the aisle yelling for 'Daddy'.

"Fucking brats," Connor frowned after the girls. They vanished at the end of the aisle, running further into the store, shouting for their missing father.

"You'd better get used to it. You'll have one of your own soon enough."

"Yeah," Connor sighed.

"I still can't believe M's an alien—"

"Well, believe it," Connor said angrily. "I was abducted by his mothership, and no. I wasn't on drugs."

Bradley snorted. She grabbed a loaf of Italian bread off the shelf and added it to the bag. "Do you like spicy mustard?" she asked as they continued down the aisle and to the left, back towards the front of the store and the checkout lanes.

"I guess," Connor said. "But I'm wondering how we're going to afford that. You grabbed the most expensive cheese in the cooler, you know that?"

Bradley shrugged and led them down the next aisle. Condiments and spices. An old lady was comparing the prices on different sizes of ketchup.

"OK." She grabbed some mustard and dropped it in the bag. "One more thing and we can get out of here," she said and Connor signed, already dreading the lines they'd passed on the way in.

They weaved across a few more asiles before they stopped in the middle of the chip section.

"Have you ever tried Sunchips?" Bradley asked.

"No." Connor made a face. "Isn't it diet food or something?"

"No, but they are a tad healthier than Doritos. And they still have an great taste." Bradley picked up a bag of Harvest Cheddar, whatever that was, looked up and down the empty aisle and then tore the bag open, rolled the top down and shoved it in the bag.

"What are you doing? "Connor asked suspiciously.

Bradley took down a bag of Chex Mix next and did the same thing to it, tucking it away quickly. "Let's go," she said. Then she shouldered the mesh shopping bag and spun on her heel, heading for the end of the aisle and then straight towards the exit.

Connor scrambled to keep up. Bradley wasn't running, but her long, limber legs took large, even steps.

"Are you fucking serious?" Connor hissed when he finally managed to catch up with Bradley. "Are we just… walking out of here?"

"Yep."

Connor looked around for blue vested employees —

"Don't look around like that. Like your guilty," Bradley snapped. "Just look out at the parking lot and keep talking to me. Act normal."

"Fuck you," Connor said through his teeth. "Am I a distraction or something? Is that why you asked me inside?"

"Sometimes it's a little harder to do this alone," Bradley admitted.

They were in the front of the store now and walking behind a massive woman in an electric cart. She puttered over to the registers and Bradley took a quick left, evaded the small planet of a woman, and headed for the door. Connor hurried after her and they walked straight out the door without being stopped, questioned, or even looked at.

"We're parked way in the back," Bradley said, hoofing it out towards the Chrysler.

"Yea," Connor sneered, but his levels of alarm were rapidly decreasing. Nobody was after them. They'd gotten away with free lunch meat and bread. "I wondered why when we pulled in."

"Just in case we got followed and needed a quick, easy escape," Bradley said casually. "Store employees aren't supposed to physically confront someone suspected of theft, but there's always a hero… "

"This is fucked up," Connor said darkly. "Were you taking notes while you worked on arresting your perps?"

"Not at all," Bradley said. "When I was growing up, my parents were addicts. They barely acknowledged me and my brother's existence, they were way too concerned with figuring out ways to get money together so they could shoot up."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a sad life."

"It was," Bradley said. "And a hungry one. My brother and I resorted to swiping food from the convenience store down the block and when we could, we'd go downtown to the big grocery store. There we could stuff our faces with fruit and little snack sized bags of candy and chips we'd stuff in our pockets," Bradley smiled, almost as if the memory was a fond one. "Sometimes there was an old lady working behind the counter in the bakery. She'd always give us both a free cookie."

"That was nice, I guess," Connor said.

"The deli gave out free samples of the meat, and there was this big bin in the juice aisle with those little drinks in plastic barrels… You'd poke a hole in the foil top and drink out of it."

"I know what you mean," Connor said.

"We'd drink a few of those, circling around the store to grab different snacks and samples and stuffing the trash behind products on the shelves so we wouldn't get caught with a bunch of evidence."

"Wow," Connor said awkwardly . "You had to do all that?"

"I was convinced me and my brother would get split up if we went into foster care, so we made sure we had stuff to eat and that we got to school on time and did our homework. I washed our clothes and made us presentable and my brother… he was my rock. He was my reason for everything… "

"So you grew up and became a cop? That's cool," Connor said awkwardly. They were almost to the car and he hoped they'd be able to drop the subject pretty soon. He didn't want to compare shitty childhoods…

"I wanted to be as different from my mom and dad as I could," she said and then slowed down a little. "My brother, on the other hand… Nicky… he ended up getting hooked on the same stuff as my parents. He OD'd three years ago."

"Oh."

Bradley stopped and turned to look Connor in the eye. "I really don't want Hannah to know this stuff," she said. "You can keep a secret, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Connor rubbed the back of his neck. He felt awkward staring into Bradley's dark eyes. He just wanted to get to the car already…

"Good," Bradley said. She reached out and patted Connor on the shoulder. "You know, when you try you're actually not so terrible to be around," she said with a grin.

"Wow, thanks," Connor scoffed. He shook Bradley's hand off his shoulder and finished walking to the car.

"What did you get?" Hannah asked as they climbed into the car, Bradley up front and Connor in the back.

"Bradley stole a bunch of sandwich stuff," Connor said boredly.

"What!"

"Relax," Bradley said, opening the bag of pilfered food over the middle armrest. "Hope everyone likes turkey, ham and cheese."

"Not stolen turkey, ham, and cheese!" Hannah cried. She craned her neck and looked out at parking lot, at the numerous shoppers walking to and fro with shopping carts and bags of groceries.

"Seriously, Hannah… I never would have thought of it, but Bradley seems to know what's she's doing…" Connor said grudgingly. "Walmart can stand to lose a loaf of bread; I think they'll survive."

"That's not the point," Hannah bitched. "What if you got caught?"

"We should have gone back for that gas we left at the last gas station. We need to catch up somehow on our fuel or we're going to be hitchhiking the rest of the way, and guess what Hannah, that's mostly illegal, too!"

"Stealing is all illegal."

"Stealing to eat? It's a moral conundrum. I took ethics briefly in community college," Bradley said with a grin.

Hannah huffed, clearly done with the conversation. Bradley sighed and pushed the shopping bag into M's lap.

"Can you hold onto that? We still need something to drink."

"Oh, I'm so thirsty," M said enthusiastically. He looked into the grocery bag. "And I'm still kinda hungry too…"

"There's enough for everyone," Bradley said kindly. "I saw a McDonald's down the road. They should give us a few waters for free."

"Tell them your dehydrated and pregnant," Connor said. He smirked at Bradley in the mirror as she started the car. She pulled through the empty space in front of them and turned to exit the plaza before she flipped him off over her shoulder.

"Happily go screw yourself, Connor," she said sweetly.

"How about not," Connor said lightly. For once, he wasn't upset with Bradley for being such a loser. He actually felt some strange sort of camaraderie stirring between them.

They went through the McDonald's drive-thru and ordered 4 small waters. Whoever was running the place must have been feeling merciful, because they ended up getting 4 big cups with ice in a handy cardboard cup holder.

Bradley parked them again and started making sandwiches while M carefully handed Connor back some water. M took a sip of his and groaned with relief.

"Those noodles were salty," he said, accepting a ham and turkey sandwich from Bradley. He bit into it and nodded with acceptance. "It's good!" he said around a mouthful of bread and lunch meat.

Connor took three sandwiches and Hannah primly ate one with a few handfuls of chips. Bradley choked down her first sandwich before they hit the road again, a lot more content than before. Bradley turned some music on and started an idle conversation with M about the baby.

Connor and Hannah didn't talk… Connor was a bit discomforted by the silence and by Hannah's unmoving figure at his side, looming in the dark of the car. He glanced over at the girl, expecting to see the little student teacher boiling with discontent, but she was passed out with her cheek pressed to the window. He relaxed and listened to M chat about the baby… It wasn't making him upset like it usually did, either. He was amused by the blond's almost childish idea of motherhood… He agreed with Bradley, M needed to read some baby books. Fast.

Connor got a few hard hours worth of sleep and then, around midnight, he offered to drive. They got gas again, actually filling up this time, and people took piss breaks.

When they all got back in the car, Bradley handed out candy bars she'd swiped.

"This is awful," Hannah said, but she still opened her Hershey bar and took a bite. "Pure sin," she moaned.

Bradley was sitting beside her again and she draped an arm around her casually. "I'm the master of sin. You'd better get used to it."

Hannah blushed while Connor laughed from up front.

Connor ended up driving until early in the morning. Hannah was up next and she offered to take over at the upcoming rest stop.

It was just after 6 in the morning when Connor pulled into a rest stop just off the highway.

M sat up sleepily when Connor and Hannah switched. He whimpered pitifully.

"I'm going to be sick," he announced and then he opened the door and stuck his head out. He heaved and gagged and then painted the asphalt with half digested ham and turkey.

"Ugh," Connor groaned. He was behind M's seat now and grudgingly, cautiously, he reached over the seat and stroked the blond's shaking back. M was crying quietly and Connor gently touched the back of his neck. "Are you OK?"

M heaved again and this time, Bradley sat up in confusion and looked around the dreamy little rest stop. It was nothing but a little building with toilets and a few vending machines. Off to the side, there was a wide patch of grass and a few picnic tables set up.

"What's going on?" she asked groggily.

"We're switching drivers," Connor said. "And M's hurling. What's new?"

There was still some water left thanks to the melted ice cubes. M rinsed his mouth out and dried his face with the back of his hand.

"Would it be weird if I said I was hungry now?" M asked sheepishly.

Connor released him and sat back in his seat. "Think we could make another Walmart run? We'll be in Florida tomorrow morning."

"And we're down to $40," Bradley said. She rubbed her chin as she thought. "Yeah, we should save as much cash as we can. Keep an eye out for another Walmart, Hannah. We'll have to wait until the store gets a little busier, but me and Connor can handle it. Right Connor?"

Connor sighed. "Yeah," he said. This was probably the last time they'd have to do this… hopefully.

They drove for another two hours. They ended up passing a Walmart and a few other grocery stores Bradley said would be good targets, but it was still too early in the morning. When they passed the Walmart, they could see the parking lot in the valley below. It wasn't empty, of course, but it was very sparsely populated.

8 am rolled around and Hannah tuned into a talk radio show with some very opinionated Republicans. Connor's stomach was growling by this point and the traffic had slowed in the past two miles until they suddenly found themselves deep in a rush hour jam.

"Stop at the next store," he demanded. "Let's do this already. I'm hungry and this traffic isn't getting any better anytime soon."

Hannah sighed. "I wish we had Google Maps."

Connor rolled his eyes. "Fuck this. Pull off at the next exit. I'm going to ask for directions."

Hannah shrugged and worked her way over to the right lane and got off on the ramp. They then waited through three red lights at the same intersection coming straight off the freeway. Traffic was horrible.

"Stop there!" Connor pointed at a dumpy diner straight ahead and to the right. He only picked the place because they didn't look too busy. The gas station across the street and the Burger King farther down both looked like they were slammed with business.

Hannah finally pulled into the lot. "OK," she said, parking in front of the dirty looking building. The open sign hung askew in the front window, above an arrangement of dusty, plastic flowers. "Good luck, I guess," she said.

"I'll come too," Bradley said, starting to get out but Connor shook his head and hopped out quickly. He didn't want to make a big deal about this, he just wanted to find the closest Walmart!

He went inside. There was a row of booths along the windows and a bar along the opposite wall. The kitchen was visible through a cut-out behind the bar.

A old lady with dyed blonde hair came out from the back. She was chewing gum and wore an apron stained with sauce.

"You can sit wherever you want," she growled. She had a terrible smokers rasp.

"Actually, I'm looking for a Walmart. Where's the closest one?" Connor said firmly. He didn't want to be confused as a customer or anything.

"Walmart?"

"Yeah. Do you live around here? Do you know where it's at?"

"It's about ten minutes that way," she rasped, hitching a thumb over her shoulder.

"Thanks," Connor bit out. He hurried out of the diner and back to the car. He was about to jump in the backseat when M popped his door open.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he said and Connor's eyes boggled as the boy turned and shimmied out of the front seat.

Overnight, it seemed, M's pregnant belly had grown just a little bit more. It was noticeable though and Connor had a strange urge to touch it.

"What?" he said, blinking at the little blond.

"I have to pee… soooo bad," M said desperately. "Hannah said they'd let me use the bathroom."

Connor huffed. "Yeah, they probably will, but… fuck…" he cursed with annoyance. M flinched and Connor sighed heavily and tried his best to diffuse the anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He took M's hand and pulled him back to the diner. "I'll take you in, but hurry, ok? She said there's a Walmart down the road."

When they came through the doors, Connor pointed out the bathrooms to the left of the lobby. There were two swinging doors, one said Gals and the other, Gents.

"You're a gent," Connor said blandly.

M paused, whining a little in misery and squeezing his legs together as he tried to read the two doors before him. Slowly, he started off towards the Gents' bathroom.

"Hurry up," Connor whispered and M jumped and ran into the bathroom.

Connor stood waiting, arms crossed, for 30 some seconds when the old lady from before emerged from the back once more. She spotted Connor and her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Did you have some trouble with those directions?" she asked in bewilderment.

"No. My friend had to pee," he said tensely.

The old waitress cocked her hip to the side. She put her hand on it and frowned. "The bathroom is for paying customers only," she said.

"Well, he'll only be a minute," he spat at her.

The old lady snorted and shook her head. She went back behind the bar, her eyes following Connor until she disappeared into the kitchen.

Connor rushed over to the bathroom door and knocked quickly, three times.

"Hurry up, M," he said through the door.

"I'm coming!" M's muffled voice floated from inside. Connor heard the water come on and he pressed his forehead against the painted wood, groaning with frustration… They were probably about to get kicked out of this shitty diner like loud, sloppy drunks at a nightclub! Fuck!

The water turned off and after a brief pause, the door eased open and M peeked at him through the narrow gap. Connor yanked the door open all the way and grabbed M by the arm.

"Let's go," he said and they left the place in a hurry.

"Did you get directions?" Hannah asked as Connor and M piled into the car.

"Yep. 10 minutes down that way," Connor repeated, pointing in the same direction the helpful waitress had pointed. Thankfully, Hannah backed out of their parking space without anymore interruptions and they headed for Walmart.

Five minutes down the road, Connor was paranoid the waitress had lied to get some sort of sick revenge on him… He was convinced they were heading in the wrong direction.

"Let's stop and get another person's directions," he said impatiently, hanging over Hannah's shoulder as he searched the horizon for signs of the superstore. "I think that lady in the diner was confused."

"Let's just see if it's down here," Hannah said. "Jeez, Connor. You need to calm down a little. And stop shaking my seat!"

"Sorry," Connor went back to his own seat. He'd been all over Bradley too, stretching across her knees so he could be a backseat driver.

The ex-cop brushed her knees off fastidiously. She glared at Connor, too.

"What?" Connor cried. "I think that lady was fucking with me! She was pissed I wasn't a customer."

"We'll just see if it's down here first and then we'll ask," Hannah said soothingly. "Let's drive just a little farther—"

Connor screamed with frustration. Nobody was listening to him!

They drove a couple minutes more before Hannah chuckled and pointed out the window. "There it is," she said.

The Walmart parking lot was ahead, on the the left hand side of the road. It was decently busy. The lot wasn't empty at least.

"Just park the car. Fuck," Connor sat back with a huff. He felt stupid. "We're wasting so much time and gas," he bitched.

Hannah tisked, but luckily, she remembered the drill from last time. She parked in the back of the lot, right next to an overloaded shopping cart rack.

"We'll be right back," Bradley said, slinging the reusable shopping bag over her shoulder. She got out and Connor stalked after her aggressively.

"You're in a shitty mood for some reason," Bradley said off-handedly.

"I'm hungry."

"Shit, someone give this guy a Snickers bar."

Connor growled. "I hate this shit. I'm always fucking hungry up here. Hannah doesn't feed us."

Bradley laughed. "Poor man-baby."

They entered the store and Bradley turned towards the grocery section. They went through the aisles quickly, grabbing some mini muffins and some Goguet. They grabbed a little pint of milk and then quickly found some plastic cups of cereal.

Connor was amazed. In under 5 minutes, they were heading for the exit. Bradley looped them around the produce section, dumping a bag of fresh, purple grapes into her mesh bag.

"Let's go," she said with a smile. Then she took them around a display of watermelons and they cut across the store through the main aisle, behind the registers and the little shelves with batteries and gum.

"We should have gone straight out the door," Connor said under his breath.

"I think someone saw me," Bradley said back and when Connor tensed beside her, she hissed for him not to look. "Just keep walking. We're almost there."

Connor felt the back of his neck burning. He hadn't seen anyone watching them, but maybe they had been spotted. The store was much less busy this time around.

The exit on the housewares side of the store was coming up, straight ahead and Connor held his breath as they turned sharply at the last round of registers and passed through the first set of double doors.

"You can breathe. We made it," Bradley said as they hit the asphalt of the parking lot. They hurried for the shelter of the cars, weaving between them in a rough path towards the Chrysler in the back.

"I don't think anyone's following us," Bradley said. She peeked over her shoulder every ten seconds or so, keeping an eye out for pursuit. She stopped after a solid minute of this, and looked back at the store boldly.

Connor slowed beside her, feeling an uncomfortable urge to run. "OK. Great. Let's get out of here," he said. "Let's get back on the highway. I'll drive for awhile."

"It's my turn," Bradley said. She started strolling now, totally comfortable with her bag of stolen items. "I'll take over if you want."

"Naw, I'm wired. I want control," Connor said. They had to stop momentarily as a truck backed into the lane they were walking through. Connor tapped his foot. "Hannah drives like she's 80 years old. I can't stand how cautious she is."

"I… can't really agree with you on that," Bradley said with an awkward bark of laughter. "I think Hannah's driving is soothing."

"So what if it is, she goes 5 miles under the limit. She's wasting time," Connor said bitterly.

"Everyone's wasting your time," Bradley said impatiently. "What's the big rush, besides the gas costs? What do you think is going to happen when we get to Florida? Is some sort invisible protector going to come down and sit on your shoulder?"

Connor didn't answer. He was staring straight ahead, at a tall, thin man in a black suit, sunglasses, and a brimmed hat.

"Connor?

"T-that's him," Connor whispered, pointing a trembling finger at the agent, leaning casually against a gleaming, dark blue Camaro a few meters away.

"What?" Bradley scanned the cars before them, glancing over the man in black.

"The fucking agent!" Connor hissed. "That's him! That's the alien fuck that's after M!"

At last, Bradley looked directly at the rogue agent.

He seemed to sense he finally had everyone's undivided attention and the agent smiled hugely in greeting.

"Connor… We meet again," he said, stepping away from the sports car.

"How the fuck do you keep finding us!" Connor cried, stumbling back as the agent stepped closer. Bradley looked between Connor and the agent, her expression drenched in concern.

"Do you honestly think you can hide from me?" The agent asked, his tone thick with sarcasm. "I've been watching you fools scramble across the country for the past two days. It's been most amusing."

"Fuck you." Connor felt his face growing hot. Fear and anger burned under his flesh.

"Wait," Bradley interrupted. "So, you're the guy who's after us?"

The agent laughed mechanically. He stopped in a empty parking space two car lengths away from them, his shiny black shoes planted firmly on the yellow line.

Connor and Bradley stood behind a little rusted Pontiac. It was the only bit of protection they had.

"This is the guy?" Bradley snapped. "Hey! Did you get me fired somehow? Did you report me to my supervisor?"

The agent smirked. His lips were thin and bloodless and Connor felt a chill go down his spine… Where was M?

"Are you going to answer me?" Bradley scowled.

"No," the agent's smirk widened into a creepy grin. "You aren't even worth speaking to, so I'm going to save my breath."

Bradley snorted. She looked at Connor in shocked amazement.

"He's definitely rude," she said harshly.

The agent laughed again, and Bradley whirled around to glare at him. She opened her mouth to say something more, but Connor cut her off.

"Are you going to attack us or something? What do you want with us? I'm sure you know M's like, right over there." He nodded vaguely over the agent's shoulder.

"I do," he said. "And as much as I'd like to go say hello to him, I have a feeling little M will try to start a confrontation with me. And we can't have that… Not in such a public place."

Connor grit his teeth. "Then what do you want?"

"I have a message for M," the agent said casually. "I thought you would be the perfect messenger, Connor."

"What's the message?" Connor asked directly. Maybe the agent would vanish after he shared it. Maybe the fucker wasn't here to slaughter them all.

The man in black smiled wickedly… "The reason he can't reach his Mothership is because I destroyed her."

"What?" Connor's mouth fell open.

"Little M's on his own now," the agent taunted. "On his own with a baby growing in his belly."

"He's not on his own," Connor snapped. "And we're not going to leave him on his own either."

"How noble," the agent said. "But M's got an unnaturally conceived fetus inside him… fighting to get out." He smiled as if the thought amused him, and it probably did. "What good are a bunch of humans in a situation like that?"

"It's my baby," Connor said angrily, through his teeth. "I'm going to help him through this. We'll be just fine."

The agent laughed. "Probably not," he said. "How is that baby supposed to come out of his body?"

Connor didn't say anything. He glared at the agent, his hands balling into fists. He wanted to punch his lights out, but he knew he was next to powerless beside the agent. He wasn't going to risk another humiliating defeat.

"Tell M he can always come to me if he needs help," the agent said. "I'll happily take him and his offspring under my wing."

"You're insane. M will never need your help."

"I hear human births are especially dangerous," the agent said smugly. "And now M's got to depend on the natives. How sad. And stupid of him… He needs our help. My help. Without it, he'll die."

Connor bit his tongue until it bled. He didn't otherwise react though… He wasn't going to fall into the trap of thinking the Man in Black was someone he could physically take.

Bradley didn't know any better though. She gaped at Connor's calm reaction, so unlike his usual self it was almost disturbing in this instance.

"Connor? Are you seriously going to let this asshole threaten your unborn baby and your lover?"

Connor shook his head at her. "I can't beat him… He knows that. He's taunting me—

"He's treating you like you're his little bitch!" Bradley cried. Then she turned on the agent, and took a couple steps towards him.

"Watch this, Connor," the agent said lazily, cracking his knuckles in a menacing manner. He stepped over the yellow line and in an instant, he flashed towards them and over the hood of the Pontiac.

Connor yelled and closed his eyes. He waited to be rushed, but all he felt was a gust of air.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the bright morning light. He jumped back then, gasping in horror as he took in the sight of Bradley's body, lying crumpled on the asphalt.

"Ahhh," she hissed, blood leaking from her hairline and into her dark eyes. "Shit, my arm's broken."

Connor looked down, his stomach roiling when he saw the appendage Bradley was indicating. Her arm was snapped in half like a toothpick. The white of her broken bone peaked through the skin at her elbow.

There was gale of mechanical laughter. Connor looked up and the agent was back in his original position. He stood in the empty parking spot, on the yellow line, laughing and grinning knowingly.

"I could take you out like that, Connor," the agent snapped his fingers.

Connor looked from the narrow, pincher-like fingers and back to the brutal smear Bradley's body represented on the ground. He was truly fearful for his life…

Suddenly, a shopping cart popped violently from the return rack like a kernel of heated corn. It sailed high into the air before curving back to the earth with purpose. It smashed hard into agent's left side and the Man in Black fell gracelessly to his knees.

"Connor!" M shouted and Connor whirled around frantically to see the boy running for him, followed closely by a white-faced Hannah.

"M!" Connor waved the boy over before he crouched next to Bradley. He attempted to brush some of her short hair out of the blood leaking from her split skull, but that just seemed to hurt her more…

When Connor looked up again, the agent was gone. The shopping cart that'd hit him remained though. It was dented and it laid uselessly on its side.

Hannah fell to her knees beside Bradley's broken body. "What happened? Oh, God," she moaned. "Me and M were sitting in the car and… and he started yelling and clutching his head…" she sobbed. "What happened to Bradley?!"

"Didn't you fucking see him?!" Connor yelled and for the first time since leaving the store, he was aware of the other shoppers in the parking lot.

There was a black family across the aisle from them, filling the back of their van with their purchases while they outright stated at Connor and his friends. A young couple walking to the store's entrance rubber necked the situation as they passed. An old, round guy, a dead ringer for Santa Claus, called to them from up in the handicapped spaces.

"What happen'd to yer friend? Y'all need help?"

"No thanks!" Hannah yelled back, her voice frantic. She lowered her pitch a touch as she turned back to Connor, though the panic refused to fade. "Oh God, what happened, Connor? Her arm's broken!"

"The agent was here! Right there!" Connor pointed at the dented shopping cart. "Didn't you see that thing flying through the air?"

"No," Hannah said simply. She touched Bradley's bloodied face, assessing the damage with a sharp eye.

"Well, he was here," Connor said. "And he attacked Bradley." He looked up at M as he spoke and instantly, their eyes meet over Hannah's and Bradley's huddled forms.

"It's true," Bradley hissed. "I saw the flying cart too." She suddenly glared at Connor. "I was trying to stand up for his sake and it almost got me killed." She started to sit up, but jostled her broken arm instead. She bit her lip hard and turned her head, sobbing into her shoulder at the pain.

Hannah stood up part way and dug her hand into her pocket. She pulled out the keys. "Go bring the car around. We have to get her to the hospital."

Connor sighed, but he caught the keys when Hannah threw them over.

"C'mon, M," he said and the blond boy fell into step behind him.

When they got to the car, M thew his arms around his waist and hugged him tight.

"I could feel him," M cried. "I could feel his intent… he wanted to hurt someone and I thought for sure it was going to be you."

Connor turned in M's arms and pulled him close to his body. He kissed the top of his head and rocked him side to side.

"That was your doing, wasn't it? The shopping cart?"

M nodded.

"You saved Bradley's life," he said. "I think the agent was going to kill her, just to make a point." He hugged M tighter and rubbed and stroked his back.

"What did he want?" M whispered.

Connor sighed and pulled away from M's warmth. "C'mon. We have to go help Hannah and Bradley." He couldn't bare to start this conversation now…

Reluctantly, M nodded and the two of them climbed into the car. Connor backed up and drove to the end of the aisle. He went up the next one and spotted Hannah waiting for him maybe 20 cars deep.

Bradley leaned against Hannah's side for support. She clutched her broken arm with her good one and wore a look of utter misery.

Connor stopped beside them and Hannah helped Bradley into the back.

"Go!" Hannah said. "What took you so long, did you forget where we parked?"

Connor flexed his grip on the wheel. He tried not to snap when he asked: "And where the fuck are we going?"

"I saw a sign for the hospital by the highway," Hannah said. "Head back there and follow it."

Connor sighed and did what Hannah asked. He felt like he owed Bradley a huge favor because as horrible as it made him feel, Connor was glad he wasn't the one with the compound fracture.

In less than 10 minutes, they were back at the entrance to the highway. Connor spotted a sign for the hospital right away, and followed it under the bridge and past a large, sprawling graveyard.

"That's comforting," he snorted, gesturing out the window at the field of the dead.

"Stop," Hannah muttered from the back. She was examining Bradley's scalp, getting blood on her fingers in the process. "Connor… Can I use your dirty shirt?"

"For blood cleanup? Sure, good right ahead," Connor said. He rolled his eyes and planned on tossing the shirt in the garbage first change he got.

The hospital was right next to the graveyard, down a long paved driveway cutting through an acre or two of tree-covered land.

Connor pulled around to the side of the large, white building. Emergency was a set of glass doors with a driveway leading up to them. Connor drove up to the doors and Hannah jumped out to help Bradley.

"We'll wait in the parking lot," Connor said, eyeing the empty waiting room through the doors.

"Don't go too far," Hannah said seriously. "We'll have no way of finding you."

Connor nodded and Hannah slammed the door shut and hustled inside with Bradley tucked under her arm.

As soon as they pulled away from the building, M asked Connor about the agent.

He wasn't going to let this go…

"He said…" Connor hesitated as they coasted through the parking lot, looking for a free spot. "He said your mother's dead, M. The agent killed her."

M's face fell. "No."

"He also said you're going to need help with the birth," Connor said. "And he's the only one who can."

"That's not true."

"Who's going to help us, M? We obviously need to be careful about who we talk to—"

"We're going to be fine."

"He's been following us since we left South Dakota," Connor said. "He's been watching us this whole fucking time." He shook his head and slammed on the brakes. "Fuck! We can't keep running! We have to come up with a plan already!"

M looked out the window, towards the hospital. "How much longer until we're in Florida?"

"We've got one more night of driving," Connor said and slowly, he let off on the breaks. The car inched forwards and he angled it for a empty spot on the end. He parked the car and shut off the engine.

"We'll figure something out when we get there—"

"You already said that—"

"And we're not there yet! Are we?!" M cried and Connor threw his hands up in defeat.

"No! I guess not."

M pouted for a bit. Connor noticed he had his hands on his tummy, cradled protectively about his little baby bump.

"We can't keep saying we're coming up with a plan, we need to actually do something," Connor said after a while. Instantly, M bristled, but Connor cut him off before he could verbally reply. "I think the agent wants our baby too," he said, swallowing at the weight of the vile man's threat. In retrospect, Connor felt sick inside, thinking about his little blond boyfriend, glowing and pleasantly plump with child, being cut open by that creeper.

"He can't have him," M said viciously, clutching his belly possessively.

"Then we're going to think up some amazing plans in Florida," Connor said "And our friends are going to help us too… We're going to beat this alien fuck, once and for all."

M nodded. He rubbed his belly in circles and looked out far into the distance.

Connor wondered what he was thinking about… He wondered how M was taking the news of his Mother's death. He seemed fine on the outside, but then again, M didn't seem to be able to look Connor in the face.

"M… Baby," Connor said, much softer than he normally talked. M turned to look at him with interest, drawn in by the unusual endearment. "Are you going to be ok?"

"I… can't believe she's gone," M said and his gaze went back to the sky… searching. "I don't even know how to feel right now," he said with a nervous laugh.

Connor sighed and he reached across the seat so he could gather M in his arms.

The blond fell against his chest with a deep moan of contentment. "Connor… You're the only one I have left now," he cried. He had his lips pressed to the sensitive hollow between Connor's shoulder and neck. It gave him shivers all over and Connor turned his face into M's warmth and kissed his wet cheeks… The poor boy was crying.

"That's not true," Connor said. "You have lots of friends, a dog waiting for you, and a baby on the way. You're totally surrounded."

They both smiled at that. It was such a stupid, goofy moment, Connor thought it felt like a dream. He wasn't entirely convinced he hadn't fallen asleep in the ER parking lot.

They held each other in the warm, cloistered little car. It didn't take long for Connor to succumb to his sudden sleepiness and M, tucked against his chest, was slowly fading like a light, doing the same thing Connor was.

They slept there undisturbed for a couple hours… Fuck, it was nice not to be going a constant 65 MPH. Connor was tired of driving…

One more night of this…