Night-Owl Trucking

Monday, 5:57pm

"Go on up, I'll be there in a minute!"

Amity slowly climbed up into the open passenger door of the truck and peered inside. Soft red leather wrapped around the two seats in the cab, as well as the extra armrests attached to the inner door panels. The same soft leather covered the bottom half of the doors and stretched across the ceiling, while dark brown stitching held it all neatly in place. It looked well-cared-after, but the sheer amount of the red leather surprised the golden-eyed girl. What did I expect? she wondered, Bare metal and rivets? She reached out to gently run a pair of fingertips over the leather, pressing down to feel the spongy padding underneath. Perhaps the leather helps with the acoustics? She had a feeling it would be loud in the cab while they were on the road. Amity looked down at the door beside her and blinked at the black metal crank on the inside of the door, confused for just a moment. Right, this truck is older than I am, she chuckled. A dark red matte fabric—more burgundy than maroon—covered the floor, with textured black plastic floor mats in front of the captain seats. The wooden dashboard probably wasn't the truck's original instrument panel, but it was an impressive addition to the cab's design; the slab of oak had been lacquered and polished to a cherry-red shine. Gold-trimmed dials and gauges littered the gently curved wooden panel, clustered on the left side for the driver's benefit. Amity gently ran a hand over the smooth, warm wood. Aside from air-and-heater vents, she only had two vertically-stacked glove compartments on her side of the dashboard.

A cluster of knobs and toggle switches were mounted on the headliner above the driver's seat, with a smaller cluster in the middle aisle behind the seats. Half were labeled with old, black sticker strips with white typewriter text, but she couldn't read them from where she stood. Near the middle of the dash was the cab's only concession to modern technology—a relatively new GPS and entertainment system couched in a custom-made wooden housing that closely matched the rest of the dashboard. A positively ancient CB radio was bolted atop the dashboard, set back toward the windshield, its small handset mic with a curly-cue cord dangled from its notch on the radio's faceplate. The speaker hissed softly in the hush of the rig, the volume knob turned down low. Her laptop bag was resting beside the CB's squat, black metal casing. Where'd Luz put my bag? Amity wondered as she looked around, then put a knee in her seat and turned to her left to peer over the headrest.

A sleeper compartment hid behind the two stand-alone captain seats, and Amity felt her heart thud painfully in her chest at the sight of the cramped single mattress tucked under the overhead storage bins. A small stretch of floor space separated the captain's seats from the cabinet-and-bed structure, just enough for a person to possibly lay down. There's only one bed, she thought as she winced when she realized her siblings had already been in the truck. They know, Amity sighed. She leaned forward to peer into the back and nodded to herself when she saw her backpack sitting behind her seat, eating up a large fraction of the open floor area. Eda had cautioned her to pack light, to travel light, and she had done her best. She'd packed the barest minimum of clothing and toiletries, but she'd tucked a few unfinished components and tools into her backpack before securing her lab.

"Okay," Amity muttered softly, turning to drop gracelessly into the passenger's seat, "Okay... We... We're doing this." She exhaled and reached up to grab the seatbelt. She glanced out the still-open door and saw Edric and Emira standing a few long strides away, at the end of the next truck bay's peninsula. They gave her a wave and a smile, and she raised a hesitant hand in return.

Then her siblings glanced at something—or someone—near the back of the trailer, and they both gave her a wicked grin. Emira held both hands up next to her face and pretended to fall asleep, eyes closed and snoring, as Edric pointed at her with both hands and hissed, "Luz!" He pointed at Amity and hissed, "You!" before curling up behind his twin and throwing an arm across her stomach. "Like this, see?" He wiggled closer as he looked at Amity, "Big spoon!"