Over the Road (Anthro Herm x Male Human Story)

Part 1, Honey-Maple and the Hitchhiker

*Chapter Art belongs to Blazbaros*

The truck's pistons hissed as the massive cab and trailer finally ground to a halt. The brake was engaged, locking the huge vehicle and its cargo in place. The driver sighed, thumping their head back against the headrest. Another 700 miles down. Just as many left to go. Just another day. So why did she feel so beaten down and tired?

It was just another standard run across Canada for Gwendolyn Honeycutt. The process rarely deviated; delivering freight for one of the various companies that typically hired out long-distance truck drivers like her was fairly standard. She had already checked into the latest weigh station, as was protocol, been verified, and then driven along on her way. She'd only even stopped at this station to get gas, use the facilities, and maybe grab some quick snack food to munch on while she drove. She wasn't at her quota for the day yet before having to take a mandatory rest. But again, the sense of exhaustion and humdrum boredom seemed unable to be shaken.

Grumbling, she checked her mirrors one last time, readjusted the shoulder straps of her coveralls, and put on her thick winter coat over her furry shoulders. Her trucker hat sat atop her head of golden-blonde hair. A pair of short, fuzzy ears poked out of holes cut in the top of the cap. Digging around in her glovebox with one huge paw, the Ursid woman extricated her toiletry bag and, tucking it under one arm, opened the door of her cab.

Frosty, autumn air blasted into the truck momentarily, making her sigh already. The cold didn't bother her physically, covered in a thick coat of dark-brown fur as she was. Honestly, at any other time, she loved the cold, more than the heat anyway. Her species were built for harsher conditions than others; Anthros were considerably more durable and hardier than any Human could hope to be. It was the view of the ever-grey, rumbling storm clouds that loomed in the distance that made the biting chill of the wind sink through her fur and into her bones. Her old injuries tensed up as she sensed the storm wasn't going to take that much longer in arriving.

A few hours, maybe? Her bones were hardly ever wrong. She wasn't even old, 24 this winter, but the minor injuries she had taken during her military service, compulsory for all Anthros when they graduated High school, tended to play up more when weather fronts like this one rolled in. She relieved the tension in her back, knee, and left wrist by rolling her huge frame and popping the aching areas with loud cracks.

She slammed the door closed behind her, locking the doors with a single chirp of her keys. Another gust of air, tinted with the smell of rain and snow, blew past her, making her ears twitch. It felt like the day it was, a thoroughly miserable one.

Gwen stomped over to the gas station across the huge parking lot. On her way, she passed probably a good dozen or more similar trucks to hers. She even recognized a few of the faded decals on them. That brightened her spirits a little bit. Truckers depended on one another for company and comradery when the road seemed to stretch on too far out of sight and it was just them, the radio, and their thoughts.

The door chimed with a tiny bell as she ducked her head underneath the entrance. It was much warmer in here. A friendly young Male Canine smiled at her and waved and she immediately crossed to the counter.

"Evening, ma'am!" the boy called, looking up at her with respect and wary appreciation for how much bigger she was than him. He looked to be part Doberman and part something else if the natural stripes in his dark fur were natural. He barely came up to her chin with his ears and he was only half as wide across the shoulders as her. As most people did, his brown eyes strayed just a touch south from her fuzzy face to the immense straining front of her jacket, coverall front, and the blouse she wore underneath. Even the slightest movement set her girls to swaying. His ears folded a bit down before he looked back up into her face, grinning sheepishly.