The Travel Column

Enter: Sandra and Bryce

Hey everybody! Been down with writer's block, it seems to be going around. 

Sto

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I pulled over after about 30 miles. The tank was at .5 full, I hadn't kept track of much else. 

"This bus needs to think about dieting, I swear," I wiped my brow and took a breather as I turned off the engine. "Who wants to drive?"

"I call for a break!" Nat yelled from the back of the bus. Carol whooped in response and in agreement. I opened up the door, which made a loud ka-chunk.

The scenery had changed dramatically upon moving along. I had chosen Northward as my destination, hoping to run into somehwere familiar. My hopes were that we wern't in Canada or out of North America. I was confident though, as most people spoke English whereever I had first landed myself. I could recognize a few trees, as well as several bird calls from home. I estimated Northern Califonia or somewhere in Oregon, though I didn't see any reason to bar Washington, Nevada, and Idaho, even Colorado. I joined Carol and Nathaniel outside. 

"Do you guys by chance have edible material?" I joked. We all knew how far from food we would be. I scanned the horizon. We had driven the bus into a forest. I could describe this place as gloomy, alone, or even solitary. It was too dense to be a 'tree farm', but sparse enough to walk through. 

Chup chup chup chup. Turning left, I could vaguely spot the outline of a car. I dashed to the middle of the road and waved my arms. The car pulled over 50 yards away, and two figures ran over. I quickly did a scan of their features, to put in one of my personal stories that I write for a column. 

A woman about my age, her auburn hair wispy and her face freckled, took the lead. She wore athletic-like clothing, including a tracksuit and 'schmancy' track shoes. Her eyes were hazel and looked a little transluscent to me, contacts maybe?

Following her was a shorter man, probably younger than Carol, but older than Nat. He wore casual clothes, and his chin was sharp. He had piercing brown eyes that seemed to look straight into me. When the man smiled, I sighed in relief, as it was warm.

"Hello, is that your bus?" The woman asked with a chuckle. "M'names Sandra Drissen, yours?" I clicked into professional mode, like I did on the job.

"Sestiva Triston, reporter." I strightened to my scarf as Carol and Nat got confused.

"....you can call me Sto."

"Carolina Harethy. Carol, if you please." Carol shook the man's hand, and smiled.

"Nathaniel Sokomore, or Nat." Nat gripped my shoulder instead of shaking. "And yes, that's our bus, as of a couple hours ago." He said gruffly.

"Sorry for not introducing myself." The man strutted up. "Bryce Marethens." He shook our hands in turn and smiled briefly at me. I nodded back.  

"We have been traveling, had this bus lent to us by...a good friend of ours." Nat added. "We've run out of food though." Sandra ran back to her car, and came out with a bag of trail mix.

"We keep it on hand." She tossed it to Carol, who caught it with an

"Oomph!" She laid it on the ground and laughed. "Awesome, are those dried cherries?"

"My favorites," Bryce replied. "Those, and the pretzels, but not the mini ones." Carol smiled and heaved the bag to a stump, and undid the ziploc. Bryce started humming a repetative tune, and I bristled a little. 

"Where you guys headed to?" Sandra asked.

"Seatlle." I pointed North. "I hope we haven't passed it yet. Which exit was it?"

"I'm not sure," Nat commented. "Does the bus have a GPS?"

"Heck no," Bryce chuckled. "But our SUV has one, feel free to use it." He unlocked the red SUV with a 'beep!'. "Go on in, try the stereo if you want, we got the latest." Carol popped a cashew into her mouth. 

Carol and Nat shuffled over to the car, and started configuring the GPS, while I just stood there and considered my options. What if these guys were just mercenaries for Carson?

I didn't have any time to think, as I felt somethingsmall and cold slide up to the back of my neck. Bryce breathed on the back of my throat. I dashed to the car, and nearly fell in, landing in Nat's lap, as it sped off, Sandra with the keys.