World of If

Runner

Danny Harper what is a fugitive. He had never planned on being one, but he was. No one plans to break the law, but it happens.

He could still hear his girlfriend, Beth's voice in his head:

"I'm pregnant, Dan." Pause. "There's no way I can keep the baby not with grad school coming up in the fall." At first her voice was hollow as if she couldn't believe they were standing there in the living room of her apartment.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked.

She shrugged.

"Adoption probably, even if I kept the baby..." She sighed running a hand through her shoulder length blonde curls.

There weren't many options, Danny reasoned, the majority of the abortion clinics had been shut down and any other options weren't safe, or cost more money than the average person could afford. Beth wouldn't do that even if she was desperate, Danny knew she knew better.

Then her voice took on an edge.

"Get out of here Dan as soon as word gets around for better or worse they'll be looking for you." She tossed his jacket at him and in her eyes he could tell she was truly sorry. They had messed up and all because of the 1% chance and crappy birth control.

His mouth was dry.

"I'm sorry." He managed to croak.

"Go!" Beth commanded, "Get out of here! The less you see of me the better."

Afterwards she had pretty much slammed the door in his face.

So he had gone home, hastily packed a bag and gotten out of there. Going on foot was stupid, there was no way he would make it that far anyway, the best he could do would be to ask for a ride and probably hitchhike when he needed to.

Lugging a duffel bag he called his friend Matt from a gas station. He was in an Indiana town late enough he helped most people had turned in for the night and the ones that hadn't didn't care enough to look at him too closely.He could blend in, Danny reasoned. He was an average looking twentysomething, with tousled brown hair and a gangly build encroaching on six-foot. He wondered if the kid would have his knobby knees and elbows, but pushed the thought out of his mind. What it made him think of was too painful.

As much as he trusted Matt the less people knew the better.

"I'm going away for a bit." He said shortly, "I'm going to need a ride to the bus station... Look, don't ask questions it's complicated."

Matt hadn't asked many questions at least he could tell by the tone of Danny's voice something was wrong and it was best not to ask questions.

So here he was in the gas station nursing his second cup of coffee. He had withdrawn as much money as he possibly could and for now it was better to pay in cash anyway, anything else he would figure out later.

He was just finishing the coffee when he saw the headlights stop in the parking lot it was a little after 9 PM, and since it was late in the year it was already dark. Grabbing his jacket and his duffel he ran for the car.

"I got the TracFone you asked for." Matt said as soon as Danny entered the car. "What's your plan anyway?"

"Canada." Danny replied shortly.

Matt looked impressed.

"So you really are doing it then."

Danny nodded.

"Rotten luck the birth control failed and not just the condom either." Danny mumbled under his breath.

"I mean, I understand why they have that law to deter rapists and stuff but your average Joe... I mean, really."

Danny grunted.

"They do say it's only 99.9 % effective." Matt commented.

Realizing the comment didn't really help much he fell silent and the two young men made the trip to the bus station without speaking.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the bus depot. Danny glanced at his watch he had almost 45 minutes until the 10 PM bus came. That gave him enough time to plan his route and manage his money. For now, he could manage.

A stiff breeze hit him when he opened the door. It wasn't even mid-October and the temperature was already dropping at night, he turned up the collar of his jacket.

Then he turned to Matt.

"Thanks man."

"Any time." Matt shook his dark hair out of his eyes, looked like he was going to say something else, a flippant remark he thought would make Danny laugh, but thought better of it.

Danny slammed the door and headed for the inside of the depot, planning the route in his head, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan... Those would be his stops then it was only six hours from Detroit to the Canadian border. He could do that, right?

The trip would take him several days, he wondered if he could be out of range of the cops by the end of the week, but that was wishful thinking. Sighing, and shouldering his duffel bag he sank into one of the plastic chairs in the depot, it was going to be a long night.