Rage

Chapter Five

The orange glow of the setting sun bounced off the bushes and pine trees on both sides of the deserted gravel road. Rachel always admired sunsets, she used to watch the sun disappear behind the horizon from the balcony of one of her old foster homes before she would be called back inside. However, this sunset was far from calming.

                   

            "Where are we, now?" Rachel questioned through gritted teeth, the sun directly in front of her glaring into her eyes. She had planned for them to get as far away as they could before ditching the stolen van somewhere remote. She didn't know how far they would get, especially with the licence plate of the car they were in plastered on any local television that happened to be broadcasting the news. To Rachel, they practically screamed 'Hey! This is the stolen van on the news! Come arrest us!'.

            Heather glanced out the window to observe the surrounding forest. "Still in 'Young Forest'," she said, one hand covering her eyes from the harsh sunlight while the other gripped the steering wheel. Rachel had never learned how to drive, she was too busy hopping from one foster home to another.

            Rachel leaned her head against the closed window, her brown eyes shimmered gold as the sunlight hit them. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, but she didn't speak her thoughts as to not worry the cheerful girl sitting to her left. The radio played nothing but static, but Heather provided music as she quietly sang the muffled lyrics to some old song Rachel couldn't recognize.

            "You know what I just can't wrap my head around?" Rachel questioned, bringing Heather's singing to a halt. After a slight nod from Heather, she continued, "why you're still helping me. I mean, why would you help a random girl who's running away from home, and even tried to steal your bike, too." Rachel crossed her arms, turning her head through the bright beams of orange sunlight to face Heather. "Also, you didn't even bring your bike. You completely ditched it back there in the alleyway."

            The trees on the sides on the road were beginning to thin, showing that they were about to exit the forest. "I've said this before," she began as Rachel sighed. "It's like we're connected, like we're one person split in two." As much as Rachel wanted to release her anger out at Heather for repeating her theory, she couldn't help but understand. She felt the exact same. "It's like I feel some other emotion near you. That sounds dumb, considering I haven't even felt other emotions," she chuckled faintly, her hands steady on the wheel.

            As much as Rachel thought Heather's words sounded crazy, she couldn't help but feel the same. She felt drawn to this girl, as if something otherworldly was pulling them together with invisible rope.

            A dreaded realization emerged in Rachel as her stomach growled loudly. She remembered the incident that had originally caused her to run into Heather earlier. Food. "Heather, I hate to break it to you, but I think we need food." Gulping, she turned to face the blonde driving beside her.

            Heather's eyes widened and darted to the green road sign they were steadily approaching. "We can stop at the next gas station in a few minutes." Her gaze moved from the side of the road to the rapidly-dropping gas meter. A crease grew between her eyebrows as she watched the red needle move closer and closer to the large white 'E" at the bottom of the meter. "This thing sure is a gas-guzzler."

            Without another word being spoken between the two girls, they travelled half a mile until they reached a small gas station. Luckily for them, there weren't any customers occupying the single spot. As Heather parked the large van beside the gas pump, Rachel hesitantly jumped out of the passenger-side door.