The Runaways

Chapter 12

Hannah, Juliane, and Cody were hungry. Traveling was no small feat and they hadn't eaten since they left, which wasn't necessarily a good thing even if you were trying to conserve food.

Hannah pulled over on the side of the road. "I really think we should eat" she said, speaking what was on all of their minds.

They each found and dug in their equipment bag, searching for something to eat. Cody pulled out a can of ravioli. "We can share this," he said. He forgot to pack a can opener.

"Here," Juliane said smiling. Noticing that he couldn't find a can opener, she momentarily donated her own.

They passed the can around, each taking big bites. The can of ravioli was gone in minutes. Cody found a water bottle in his bag and chugged it down. Water went on his red shirt, staining it a darker crimson color than it already was.

Hannah pulled back onto the highway. She frowned as she looked down at her fuel gauge. "We're almost out of gas," she said.

"Where are we at right now?" Cody replied.

"I think we're close to the Arkansas border," Juliane said, pointing at a sign.

On it was an arrow pointing right, saying a Shell Stop convenience store was close to where they were.

Hannah sighed. "Thank goodness because I wasn't sure we'd make it any farther."

They drove a little farther and finally pulled into the Shell Stop. Hannah opened her wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill.

"Where did you get that?" Cody said, awestruck. He had never owned one, just a stack of twenties.

"I've been saving," Hannah said.

Cody knew that couldn't have just been the case. Hannah was terrible at saving money, but nevertheless Cody disregarded it for the moment.

Hannah broke again through the silence. "Cody you go in and pay for this gas, Juliane you pump it. Cody don't get anything else but gas okay? Oh and only get eighty dollars worth."

"Alright will do," Cody said, and Juliane nodded in agreement to her assignment.

Hannah sat in the truck as this small task went underway. She stared at the steering wheel, hoping this wouldn't go wrong. Trying to stay hidden in this day and age was something few dared and even fewer got away with.

Cody walked in the convenience store. It was old, like it hadn't been cleaned since the 1950's. He walked around, a layer of dust beginning to coat his shoes. The line was long, being that this was the only convenience store around for quite some ways, so Cody decided to look in the cooler.

The cooler was full of many drinks and looked newer than any part of the store. He saw bottles and cans and cartons oh my. He was thirsty, but he promised he wouldn't buy anything.

However, something did catch his eye, a milk carton. He picked it up and observed it. On the back was the stereotypical "have you seen this child?"

Instead of child, it was children. Hannah, Juliane, and Cody were the ones on the back of this.

Who would've thought? Two days and they're already making it a big deal. Cody thought to himself.

Cody knew he had to hurry up and pay for the gas. He had to get out of there.

Cody hurried to the line, the shorter it grew, the more anxious he got. Finally he made it to the front.

The teller was a short old woman, with eyes full of cataracts and glasses that were thick and magnified these many times. It was a wonder she could see well enough to do her job.

"What do you need sonny?" She said as she looked down at Cody. He tried to look away, pretending to pay attention to something else.

"I need eighty for pump number two," he managed to force out as the woman started at him. She slowly took the money but kept staring.

Finally she took the money and gave him the change. He saw Juliane quickly start pumping as he began to walk out of the door.

"Wait," the woman said. "You look just like the boy I saw on the news last night. Said his name is Cody."

Cody looked at her. "A lot of people do say that." He was trying to buy Juliane some more time. In truth, he didn't think he did look like he did a couple days ago much. His facial hair grew quickly and he already had a dark mustache and goatee coming in.

He walked out of the door quickly, hoping Juliane was almost done. The woman came out of the door just as Cody got in the truck.

"Are you almost done?" Cody called quickly to Juliane.

"I'm at seventy dollars!" She said just as the woman came out of the door yelling.

As the pump hit eighty Juliane jumped into the truck. Hannah started it and sped off. Cody looked out of the window, watching the woman run toward them. She tripped as the truck left her in their dust.