The Color of Darkness COMPLETE NOVEL

West

The interstate was free of traffic all the way north to Cheyenne, where we made our first stop for gas at a rough old truck station just north of the city.

While Rick filled his tank up, Nova and I walked inside the convenience store to find something to munch on for the drive. We were the only two people in the store besides a trio of bearded bikers eating hotdogs in front of the front counter. They looked us up and down when we entered, making me feel uneasy, but otherwise seemed uninterested in anything but their lunch.

While I picked through some candy and beef jerky, Nova wandered her way over to the souvenirs and looked at a row of Wyoming-themed shirts. I offered to get some drinks for us, and she said she would have whatever I was having. With a shrug, I filled two Styrofoam cups to the brim with Code Red and started toward the counter, carrying both cups in one arm so I could fish my wallet out of my pocket. With all my luck, my foot landed on a wet patch of floor two steps away from the cash register and I lurched forward, mouth hung open in horror as I watched the two cups fly through the air and hit the ugliest, meanest looking biker square in the face, dousing him in a virtual shower of sticky red soda.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The bikers all put down their hot dogs and turned to face me, a wall of muscle and stale cigarette smoke. I gulped, life flashing before my eyes, and tried to stammer out an apology. Nova was at my side in a flash. She grabbed a pile of napkins from the nearest napkin holder and handed them to the bikers.

"I'm so sorry, guys, my little brother is such a klutz sometimes! Here, we'll help you clean up!" I stared at her blankly but she shot me a look, so I got down on my knees and began mopping up the sticky soda off the grimy floor. The trio still looked as if they wanted to take me out back and beat me to death, so Nova offered to pay for their lunch. Finally, with grumbles and glares, they agreed to her terms, finished cleaning up, and marched outside to their motorcycles.

"Little brother?" I looked at her quizzically as I dropped a handful of sodden napkins in a trash can and paid for everything (including a t-shirt for Nova) before we started back to the truck.

"Trust me, Puck, I have a little more experience with rough characters than you," she said with a knowing smile. "Family is everything to guys like those, and pretending we were family probably saved you a beat-down."

"Whatever," I sighed, admitting to myself that she was probably right once again.

"What took you guys so long?" Rick was lounging against his front fender, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Puck was practicing his ice dancing," Nova said, climbing into the middle with her t-shirt on her lap. Rick cocked his head at me but I just shook mine with a sigh. We pulled out of the parking lot and onto the on-ramp just ahead of the bikers, who seemed to be travelling the same direction as us. As we approached the interstate itself, we were met by several cars travelling side-by-side, blocking all the lanes. Rick flipped on his signal but nobody budged. Cursing, Rick floored the gas pedal and swung out into the lane just as the ramp ended--cutting off the three bikers with a screech of tires.

"Oh, shit," Rick was watching his rearview mirror closely and I turned back to see the bikers switch to the left lane and speed up. Even Nova looked concerned when they pulled up beside us at seventy miles an hour screaming obscenities and throwing us very rude hand gestures. Finally, the biker I had spilled the drinks on swung closest to us and began fumbling around in his saddlebag for something.

"He's getting a gun!" Rick yelled, swerving a little and speeding up. The biker kept up with us effortlessly and pulled something large out of the bag. Nova and I ducked, covering our faces in sheer terror. Then came a thundering BANG! and something wet and warm splattered all over my face. I couldn't help myself: I screamed. I was sure we were covered in Rick's brains and that our lives were about to end in a fiery car wreck in Wyoming.