Road Scip

Chapter 12: No One Left Behind (Katie)

A/N: AHHHHHH I'M SO PROUD OF THIS ONE FOR SOME REASON

"Run!"

Dr. Abner's voice rang through the hot desert air. Despite the scalding temperatures from the oppressive sun and the heavy baggage she was carrying, Katie ran as fast as the wind. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. It was all a blur.

Before they knew it, the girls had reached the car. Katie stopped to catch her breath. She pulled out the hot metal car keys from her pocket with her sweaty hands, gasping. The car's trunk was opened, and Katie quickly stuffed their bags in. After closing the trunk, Katie dashed inside the car to the driver's seat and slammed the door shut.

Katie heaved a sigh of relief. "What should we do now?"

"Uh, drive away?" Natalie said.

"Yeah, but what about Dr. Abner?"

"Someone will pick up his magic necklace thingy eventually."

"But we can't lose him!" Katie said. "He's our—"

Natalie interrupted. "But he's gonna—"

Katie tried again. "We need—"

"He's annoying!"

"That's kinda rude, and will you let me finish?"

"Fine."

"He's our guide, it's safer with an adult, and plus, he needs a ride," Katie finally said.

"You're no fun."

Katie started the car and turned it around, making sure to keep the roof of the convertible closed for safety reasons.

In the distance, Katie could see something that looked like a figure waving at them. She doubted Abner had survived, so maybe someone had picked his amulet up? Then again, he could have just—

"Katie! That weird murder celebrity guy is there!" Natalie said.

"Oh." Katie still continued to drive in that direction.

"Are you crazy?!" Natalie shouted at her sister.

"Just please—"

"No!" Natalie pressed the button to take off her seatbelt and climbed to the front, grabbing the steering wheel from Katie, who fought back surprisingly little.

Natalie made some wild, out of control turns, considering she was too young to drive and was in a very awkward position. The car skidded from left to right, to the protest of the one other person in the parking lot.

Katie observed that Natalie was actually still headed in the same direction, though she wasn't sure what Natalie was planning to do. Was she going to run the weird person over? There was no way Natalie didn't have a plan, right? Thinking about it, she probably didn't.

"STOP!" came a male voice outside, muffled by the fact that the car had its roof and windows closed. "IT'S ME! ERIK!"

To Katie's surprise, the weird, murderous man resembling Hollywood superstar Shia Labeouf was wearing a silver pendant that glimmered in the hot Arizona sun, with a deep red ruby in the middle. A doppelganger of a famous actor had just been possessed by the one and only SCP-963, Dr. Erik Abner, PhD.

"Let him—"

"Hey! He's trying to steal Abner's identity!" Natalie shouted.

"No, he touched the amulet. He is Abner," Katie explained.

"Oh."

Katie unlocked the car doors, and Abner-in-Labeouf-doppelganger's-body hopped in the front passenger seat.

"What happened?" Katie asked.

"So," Abner said, "This guy tried to eat my dead body, but he touched the amulet, and now I'm here. No one noticed the crime scene...yet."

"That's not very reassuring," Katie said.

"Wait," Natalie said, "He tried to eat you?"

"Yep."

Natalie was a little pale, but also looked a bit like she wanted to laugh. "Actual Cannibal Shia Labeouf?"

"Well," Abner said, "Technically it wasn't actually—oh. It's that one song, isn't it."

Natalie laughed. "Yeah."

Katie sighed and started driving.

"So," Abner said, "Where to next?"

"I was thinking maybe—"

"Not you, Natalie. Katie."

Natalie grumbled something under her breath.

"I was thinking we should stick to major cities, and maybe take a more direct route, y'know? Natalie has always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, the only reason why we're here," Katie said. "God, that was stupid of me. Let's head there, and then tomorrow we'll go to New Mexico."

"Sounds good," Abner said.

As they drove into the hot Arizona desert, Katie noticed the surprisingly colorful rocks and scenery. The earth looked painted with rich reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, and Katie could spot the occasional blossoming green cactus here and there. Despite how hot it was, even with the AC, Katie felt satisfied with coming here. She was glad that she took a detour. She could tell her sister was, too, even though Natalie tried not to show it.

It was nighttime now. It was cooler, and there were millions of stars, little pinpricks of light like tiny rhinestones in the sky.

"It's beautiful," Natalie whispered.

Growing up in the city, neither of the sisters had ever seen such a full night sky. Abner was less impressed, but Katie could still tell he appreciated it, too.

Out in the distance, some ways away, was another hotel establishment, this one larger than the last. Katie parked their cars there and they walked inside.

A smiling man greeted them at the reception desk, and Dr. Abner checked in.

"Why," he remarked to Dr. Abner, "You look like Shia Labeouf!"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I get that a lot."

The man handed them their room keys, and the group thanked him. Katie followed Natalie and Abner into the elevator, pressing the floor 3 button. They found Room 304, and unpacked their luggage there. After getting ready for bed, Katie started typing away on her laptop.

"Hm...add a quotation mark here, remove this sentence, maybe change this?" Katie mumbled to herself as she revised her work. "Let's see, this line of dialogue is unnecessary, this paragraph needs to be more descriptive, and god, I suck at writing. No, he wouldn't act like this, he's not supposed to know about..."

"You should go to sleep," Abner said.

"Alright, I guess." Katie closed her laptop, put it on the nightstand, and closed her eyes, blissfully unaware of what would befall her in the next chapter.

The sound of roaring and screaming rudely awoke Katie.

She got out of bed and rubbed her eyes. "What was that?"

Natalie was still sleeping, but Abner was also awake. "I don't know."

Katie approached the window and pulled back the curtains, peering out of it. It was dark outside, but she could just make out the silhouette of something gigantic and moving. 999 gurgled happily in curiosity.

"Can you see any better than I can?" Katie asked. Abner took a look.

"Well, it's a large animal, maybe a liz—oh."

"What?" Natalie asked curiously, now awake.

"SCP-682 is loose."'