Unsteady (Phan)

Chapter Nine: Setback

Tuesday, August 9th 2016

2:09 am

"GOD DAMN THIS THING!" Monte shouted, kicking the flat back tire of the bus. Everyone was moving around and mumbling sleepily. They were only about an hour away from crossing the New Mexico border into Arizona. 

"Honey, calm down please this isn't going to do any good!" Shannon shouted back at her husband, who was kicking the tire again.

Eli shifted next to Phil and nearly fell over, half asleep. Phil draped an arm around his shoulder and allowed for Eli to lean on him while they waited outside. Not only had the tire went flat, but they were nearly out of gas as well. The plan was to stop in as soon as they got into Arizona and refill the tank at a truck stop, allowing for everyone to take showers, too. Lucy came back around from the other side of the bus and everyone turned their heads towards her.

"Well, I told them where we are. It's gonna take them about four hours to reach us but the good news is they're bringing some gas to hold us over until we get to a stop to refill."

"Four hours?" Aubry- a short, purple haired girl said from over where she was standing.

"Four hours." Lucy nodded, looking exhausted with the idea. "Until then we have to wait around. We can run the bus for the air condition, but the guys on the phone suggested it would be best to tough it out since they can only bring so much gas. We're gonna have to safe all that we can." Eli sagged into Phil then jolted back up, mumbling an apology. 

Phil sighed. They had been doing so well up until now. They stopped a couple times along the way- Monte and Sammuel were the only ones familiar enough with the roads to drive in Lucy's place, and Monte had a bad knee so they had to switch every six hours or so when it locked up. They got food and stocked up decently on snacks and drinks- everyone paid a little contribute, refusing to let Lucy pay for anything herself. Monte had only been on his shift for a few hours when the tire blew, they spun a couple of times before he got the bus back under control and was able to ease it off to the side of the road. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't basically in the middle of no where- at least 60 miles or more on either side of them to the next town. 

"I'm sorry, guys." Lucy sagged against the bus, her hand in her head. 

"It's not your fault, Lucy." Phil spoke up, causing Eli to jump back awake again. "A few hours set back won't hurt us, will it?" He addressed the others. Some hesitated before shaking their heads and agreeing with Phil. He didn't blame them- he wanted to get to California as quick as they possibly could. It was itching away at him from his insides. He wanted to be reunited with Dan already, and without a doubt he knew that everyone else wanted to be reunited with their family as well- even Lucy would be anxious to be getting to Austin, although Phil was the only one who knew that much about her. But they had already waited so long, and Lucy was trying her hardest. With everyone else contribution, the plan had went by smoothly up until now. 

"I brought Cards Against Humanity if anyone wants to play...?" Al spoke up shyly. Attention was adverted to him, some people giving him a confused look. "What? I knew it was going to be a long trip, it's always good to have a pastime on you!"

"I'm in." Eli said sleepily from Phil's side.

"Yeah, count me in too." Phil said.

"I don't see that we have anything better to do, really." Lucy spoke up. Slowly, the others agreed. Tired and in sour moods, the group was moved to the other side of the bus where everyone sat down out of the road. They formed a large circle as Al went into the bus to receive his box of cards. Phil got up and told Eli to save his spot, and he followed Eli into the bus and took his camera out of his bag for the first time. Phil followed Al out the door and Phil sat next to Eli again, setting the camera on the far side on himself as Eli leaned back on Phil's shoulder and yawned.