Gone

Chapter 4

Driving an old rusty pickup truck, a male with black-brown shaggy hair had noticed a bright red light in the distance. He thought it might had been another car or even a flare. He had never seen anyone out this late and found it odd that there was in fact someone out in this weather.

As he neared the light, he saw a female with auburn hair jumping up and down while waving her arms. She looked like she had an issue that she wouldn't be able to solve herself. The man sighed. He really had to get somewhere, but he couldn't help but want to rescue the damsel in distress. So he drove a little bit past her before pulling off to the side of the road and backing up to be closer to her.

"Need any help?" The male called as he jumped out of his truck and slammed his door before walking over to the female.

"Yes. My car won't start and it won't go." The female told the male while analyzing him. He had black spots all over him and was filthy. He wore old, tattered blue jean overalls, a red plaid, cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had brown work boots which resembled the steel toed kind of work boots, and he wore thick brown gloves on his hands.

"Hmm. That is a problem. Have you tried checking the ignition switch? Or the starter?" The male looked at her with brown eyes. "It's not the battery, since your lights are still on."

"The what?" She tilted her head to the side letting her auburn hair drape down to her elbows as she put her hands onto her hips. She might have been a full licensed driver, but she still didn't know anything about the inners of a vehicle.

"The ignition switch or the starter. The things that will make your car start up and run." The male held out his hand as he waved to the car, hoping she'd let him take a look at it.

"Go ahead." Caroline stepped out of his way. "I couldn't open the lid anyways."

"You mean the hood?" The male chuckled as he walked over to her car and made lifting up the lid look easy.

"Show off." The female mumbled to herself as she crossed her arms and watched the male work. His shaggy hair would hang down in front of his face, like icicles hanging from a roof's ledge.

"Hmm...." The male hummed as he looked through Caroline's car. He would bend forward to get a closer look.

"Is something wrong?" The female leaned in, curious as to what his noises meant.

"I knew it." He stood up straight and looked at her. He was about a foot and a half taller than the female as they stood next to each other. "It's the starter," he brushed his hair bout of his face, except he had also smudged some black stuff onto his forehead when doing so. "It's broken."

"Alright." The female nodded her head slowly and brought a hand up to her mouth to try to cover up her grin as she tried to hold in a laugh.

"Is something wrong?" The male was confused and oblivious to the mark on his forehead.

"You- when you brushed your hair back, you smudged something on your face. And now you have a black mark on your forehead!" The female burst out with laughter. The male at first didn't look too amused with her, but then he too began to laugh. The two shared the laugh for a few minutes before the cold air wafted through giving them both shivers.

"Do you have a ride home?" The male asked the female as he looked her over.

She shook her head, her auburn hair blew in the wind like the blue car wash wiper. "No. My phone is dead also." Caroline looked down with a sad look. If she didn't have a ride, she might die in the cold weather. The male felt bad for her, but he had already wasted too much time helping her. He inhaled clenching his fists before exhaling.

"Would you like me to give you a ride?" He turned to her. He watched as her sad face turned to a joyful and happy face. It was a face that he hadn't seen in a while; seeing her happy made the corners of his mouth curl up into a small smile.

"Yes! Please if you would!" She smiled brightly and bounced around. She would run to the passenger's side of her car and grab her bag before going over to his truck.

"Ready?" The male looked at the female as she approached with a backpack of things. The female nodded at the male's question

"May I call shotgun?" She smirked softly. The male grimaced before rolling his eyes.

"Just get in." He would then open his door and climb into his seat. The female sighed, but did as told. She walked over to the passenger's side of the male's truck and opened the door. As she climbed into the seat, she noticed a pile of different styles of guns sitting in that back seats of his truck. This unnerved her, but at this point she really had no choice but to accompany the male till she could get her own ride back home. She would place her bag onto the floor near her feet as she closed the truck's door, she would then buckle her seatbelt and lean back. The male would start his truck and begin to drive, heading towards the unknown territory.

"Why do you have so many... guns?" The female stared out the window, hesitant to ask as she feared her life may be in danger if she knew.

"I collect rare and old guns." The male stated as he glanced over to the female. His hands gripped the steering wheel with purpose and he made minor adjustments as he drove. "My brothers are making me a display case for my birthday, so I am taking my collection to them so that they can make sure everything will have a place."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I thought it was something completely different." The female smiled at the male. Her cheeks squished her eyes so that her smile would be the main attraction.

The male sighed and stared out ahead. He was unsure if she had taken his story as truth or if she was still suspicious of him. He would never know. As he drove, he wondered how the others would take to him showing up with the female. He tried not to worry too much about it, yet the thought kept popping up.

As he neared his destination, the male would glance over at the female only to see that she had fallen asleep while leaning against the cool glass window. She looked as peaceful as a sleeping beauty in a fairy tale. The sight made the male smile, it had been years since the male had been able to smile so much in one day. The girl intruiged him, had she been the answer he was searching for?

Coming up the driveway of a building that resembled that of an old rustic cottage, the male would park the truck and then try to move the female into the house without waking her up. He would allow her to sleep the night and maybe she'd be able to go on her way in the morning.