Chains

Chapter 15 - Small Town

Lucy

There's a small town a couple hours further East of our current location according to the map I packed. We found a road and the signs say that the town is called "Evansville". We're following by the road, but keeping to the trees off the side so that nobody can see us if they pass by. The road doesn't seem to be too heavily travelled; we've only seen a handful of cars pass by in the hour or so we've been following it.

It was just past noon when we reach the outskirts of Evansville. It's not large at all, and from what we can tell, most of the people living here live outside the town limits because there aren't nearly enough homes here to house the population listed on the sign indicating we were entering town limits.

Jax is wearing loose fitting jeans and a loose shirt. His hair, which was long to begin with, has grown longer during the time we've been on the run. He can easily pass for a young girl now. We washed our clothes in a small pool along a stream yesterday and so they're clean as we make our way down the town's main street. The first item of business is lunch. I have been craving a burger and fries so bad, and Jaxon will eat just about anything. I have money so we don't have to worry about that; I have been saving all my money for the last few years so we're not going to run out any time soon. I want to find some place with free wi-fi, and a place I can charge my phone as we eat.

It doesn't take long before we find a small diner along the main street. There's only one road that goes all the way through town; that's how small it is, though there are streets branching off either side and we can see some cross streets down each one. The diner doesn't have wi-fi, but I am able to plug in my phone and charge it while we eat our burgers. I realize that Jax hasn't had a burger and fries in over four years. He really seems to be enjoying them. We both got drinks, and Jax order a chocolate shake to go with his. He looks like he's in total heaven as he slurps up the sweet chocolatey goodness.  

I chuckle watching him eat. It's amusing how much he's radiating happiness at the moment.

Jaxon

Oh, Goddess, I don't think I've ever had anything that tasted so good as lunch at the diner. The burger and fries were delicious, but the chocolate shake was sheer heaven. I had forgotten what all these things taste like; and I think it shows. Lucy is grinning at me like a madwoman watching me wolf down my meal faster than I've ever eaten anything in my life.

"Be quiet, you", I warn her but she just giggles at me.

"It's good, isn't it", she grins at me. "You look like you're enjoying it so much."

"Mmh hmm", I murmur around a huge bite of burger. It's not polite to talk while eating.

After lunch, we made our way over to a small park just off the main street and Lucy dialed mom and dad's number on the newly charged phone. She handed the phone over to me as soon as she heard mom answer "Hello?" on the other end.

"Mom, it's me, Jax", I say around a huge lump in my throat. I haven't heard her voice for so long. She Screams, "Jaxon! It's really you? Paul, Paul, come quick! Jaxon's on the phone, it's Jaxon. I'm putting you on speaker phone honey." I had tears running down my face again; I'm nothing if not a big cry baby.

"Jaxon! Oh, Goddess, how are you? We've been so worried about you. We miss you so much honey". They're both talking at the same time. Mom sounds like she's crying and dad too.

"I'm okay", I croak, through my own tears. I haven't heard their voices in over four years and I'm all choked up; it feels so good to hear their voices again.

"Hi guys", Lucy says into the phone. "Jaxon's all choked up right now and it seems he can't talk at the moment". She goes on to tell them everything that's happened in the last few months since we got away from the old pack. They've been so worried about us, not having heard anything at all other than that we had escaped and were on the run. After filling them in on all the details, she hands the phone back to me; I've gotten myself somewhat back under control.

"Mom, dad, I've missed you so much", I tell them. "It's so good hearing your voices again".

"We've missed you too, honey", they both say. "You can't imagine how much we've missed you and how much we've been worried about you. Lucy has been keeping us informed about everything you were going through. We're so glad you finally got away from there. We can't wait until we can be together again; we want to see you so bad".

We talked for a long time catching up and just telling each other how much we've missed one another. Lucy explained our plans to head for one of the bigger towns further to the East. Our parents agree that that's probably for the best for now; nobody wants the possibility of me falling back into alpha Pete's hands again. Finally we have to end the call and we all say how much we love each other before hanging up.

I haven't been this happy in such a long time. My heart feels like it could burst at any second and the tears just won't stop running down my cheeks. This time they're happy tears though.

"Thanks, Luc." I say and she wraps her arms around me in a big hug. She holds me, letting me cry on her shirt for the next hour. I let out four plus years of pain and anguish all at once.

"It's okay, Jax, cry it all out." She says, knowing how much I needed this.

After talking to mom and dad, and my time crying, we went shopping for a few more clothes for each of us. We can't buy much as there isn't a lot of room in our small carry sacks, but we both needed some new clothes because what we have is starting to look a bit the worse for wear. Lucy got us a room at a small motel, the only motel in town. After we locked ourselves into the room, we each took a turn in the shower. I let the hot water stream over me for a long time, steaming up the bathroom. It felt amazing. I think Lucy did the same for her own shower, because she was in there about as long as I was. That night we slept on real beds for the first time since we fled the pack and I felt like I was in heaven again. Today had been such a good day; I wish every day could be this good.