A Wide Spectrum (A Community Fanfic)

Road Trip

Shayne let her niece go on one condition: she and Vanilla would come with them. The cabin Pierce rented was pet friendly. Two cars were behind each other on the highway. The first car was the guys, Pierce was driving because he knew where they were going. The second car was the girls except for Shirley because she chose not to go. Vanilla was in the back with Annie and Rose. Abed had a walkie talkie and his spare went to Shayne.

"Cineman to Red Rose, do you copy, over?" Abed said in the walkie talkie.

Shayne picked up.

"Red Rose to Cineman, what's up Abed, over!"

"We are now entering the state of Kansas, out of Colorado, over."

Shayne put the walkie talkie down.

"Nilla, I believe we're not in Greendale anymore," Annie said petting Vanilla.

"Right, Kansas makes me think of The Wizard of Oz every time, I wanna nap and wake up in Rainbowville" Britta said.

"We had to leave before the sun went up, it's a 19 hour drive, we might go to a motel tonight" Shayne said.

Rose wrote on her board: "I'm hungry." Annie first noticed her board.

"Rose says she's hungry."

"Well, we could have lunch."

Shayne turned the walkie talkie on.

"Red Rose to Cineman, we are in need of something to eat, over."

"Cineman to Red Rose, Pierce wants to know if you like seafood? Over," Abed said.

"Britta is vegetarian, over."

"The restaurant has other options like soups and salads," Pierce said.

"We can't go in, we can't leave the dog in the car by herself, over...drive thru, over."

"Make a list and give it to me, I'll go in and order, I told you, this vacation is my treat you guys."

"We know exactly what we want, Long John Silvers is a menu quotable place."

They pulled into the restaurant. A list was made and given to Pierce. As he was ordering inside, the two cars were parked next to each other, all windows were down.

"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order please?" Troy said in the walkie talkie smiling.

Abed took the walkie talkie from his friend. Vanilla stook her head out the window, panting and tongue hanging out. Jeff got out of the car to stretch his legs.

"I expected Kansas to be all fields and farms but...I guess not."

"They get a lot of tornadoes here," Britta said.

"Tornadoes exists in a part of the US called Tornado Alley," Annie said.

"Tornado Alley is just where tornadoes appear more frequently, you actually think they only exist in Tornado Alley?"

Britta and Jeff chuckled. Annie just shrugged.

"Sweet child," Shayne said.

"Colorado isn't a part of the Alley, thank God," Troy said.

"Are we ever gonna get a tornado, like if we were in the middle of class and a siren sounds far away, the dean panics and cries into the microphone that a tornado has been spotted in the Greendale area?" Britta asked.

"We hide under our desks?" Annie asked.

"That's for a earthquake, the college has a basement or... uh...super low floors," Jeff said.

"Then we lift our asses up and cover our heads," Britta added.

They laughed. Pierce walked out of the restaurant with containers of food.

"Got everything you wanted. We can eat right here. What were you guys saying about lifting asses and covering heads?"

"Tornadoes," Jeff said as he got in the driver's seat.

"Britta made up this scenario about a tornado hitting the college although Colorado doesn't really get them," Abed said.

"Britta honey, don't overthink," Pierce said.

They were in their cars eating their food. Vanilla had to sit up front so she won't get into the food. They left the parking lot continuing their trip.

After a few hours, it was over twelve hours since they left, the sun was setting. Abed got the walkie talkie out.

"Cineman to Red Rose, we are approaching the very first rest stop in Missouri, shall we stop? Over."

"We shall, I must relieve myself," Britta said in the walkie talkie.

"Britta?"

"...Over."

They pulled into the rest stop. Shayne was walking Vanilla around.

"The roads are getting more country by the hour," Jeff said as he got out and closed the passenger side door.

"Wait till you get to Tennessee, black bear decor all around, especially in our cabin," Pierce said.

"Are there gonna be real bears?" Troy asked.

"Too early this time of year, don't worry your little head."

"Au contraire, they just got out of hibernation until next winter," Abed said.

"First tornadoes now bears," Britta said.

"Tennessee's a part of Bear Alley?" Annie asked.

"All of America is Bear Alley," Jeff said.

"Bears don't hunt us out of cold blood, you won't bother them, they won't bother you," Abed said.

"I said don't worry my young friends, there will be no bears on our vacation!" Pierce said.

Shayne walked to them with Vanilla.

"You guys good to go?"

"Yeah, um...Shayne, have you ever seen a bear?" Troy asked.

"No but I saw exactly what they're capable of, when I was a nurse, I had a patient, very young boy, who was mauled by a bear, he had to have facial reconstruction, his whole face."

"Damn."

Pierce walked to Shayne.

"The kids are getting worked up about bears in Tennessee. I've gone there every year for years, and I only saw a bear around my cabin once, only once, it never intended to claw down the door and eat me up. If we do see one, it's best to stay inside the cabin until it's gone. There, I hope you feel better about the likelihood of bears on our trip."

Rose wrote on her board: "NO BEARS ALLOWED!"

"That's right Rosie, no bears allowed!" Britta chanted.

Rose wrote on her board again: "May I ride with the guys for a while?"

"It won't be long until we eat dinner, so yeah, you can ride with them until we pull into a restaurant."

As they were leaving the rest stop, Rose sat in between Troy and Abed. They played ISpy for the next hour.