DISCONTINUED

Chapter 70

*** A/N: Chapter / scene song from playlist - SAVE ME (Queen) ***

*** A/N: Chapter / scene song from playlist - ANCHOR - REIMAGINED (Skillet) ***

*** A/N: Chapter / scene song from playlist - SUNRISE (Coldplay) ***

Luna refused to take her foot off the gas for at least 5 minutes, which at the speed they were travelling put quite a distance between them and the border. She'd been checking the mirror nervously as they drove but there had been no sign of anyone or anything following them. Still, when she finally decided to slow down and eventually roll to a stop she did so hesitantly, ready to take off again at the first hint of trouble. But she needed a break... just a few moments to catch her breath.

Not daring to turn it off, she shifted the car into "Park" and sat with her head resting on the steering wheel and her eyes closed. As her frantically beating heart gradually began to settle down, she allowed a smile to slowly creep over her face. She started giggling to herself, quietly at first, but before long she was full out, wild-eyed laughing as she leaned her head back and screamed, pounding the wheel with her fists.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

She turned to Bo, wrapping her arms around his neck and yanking him towards her. "We did it Bo! We actually DID IT!!"

Nothing. No response.

She stopped laughing as suddenly as she'd started and felt her face drain of color as a horrible thought slammed into her chest, briefly taking her breath away. She held Bo close, afraid for a moment to know the truth. No. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was still breathing. She gently pulled away from him and carefully leaned his limp body back against the seat.

He looked up at her with eyes that wanted to close, swallowing deliberately a couple of times and licking his lips, until eventually he was able to quietly say the words that seemed to take all his energy to speak.

"You're a horrible driver Lu" he whispered, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

She looked at him with a sudden new fear. She'd been so fixated on just getting across the border. But as she now stared into Bo's tired eyes, eyes that were becoming less "Bo" all the time, she realized that getting out meant nothing unless she could find help - help that she didn't even know for certain existed - before it was too late. Perhaps she'd never truly believed that they'd even make it this far, or if they did that somehow the rest would just "fall into place". But now they were up against the clock. Time was their enemy. Her first priority was to get far enough away that Bo didn't just drop dead at 8pm like he was supposed to. After that she knew he'd continue to steadily deteriorate - and he was already bad... really bad - unless she found help. No. Until she found help. She'd find help. She had to.

She stuck her tongue out at him as playfully as she could, but his eyes were already closed. Placing a hand lightly on his knee she whispered "Hang in there Bo" under her breath as she grabbed the wheel and headed off down the road toward what she could only hope was the help that she, that Bo, so desperately needed.

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It started to rain, lightly at first, then big heavy drops that smacked against the windshield, forcing Luna to slow down, her visibility blurred. "Why aren't the wipers coming on?!?" she said in frustration, not realizing that in this old car they weren't automatic like they were in all modern vehicles. She said it mostly to herself, not expecting Bo to respond, and he didn't. He'd only been awake or conscious or whatever for about half of the time that they'd been driving, and he hadn't spoken much more than a few mumbled, barely recognizable words. Soon the windshield was completely covered in rain which, thankfully, actually made it a bit easier for her to see. She pressed the accelerator down again and drove on through the rain and the fading evening light, her body tense as she hunched forward over the steering wheel and focused her attention on keeping the car on the road. The road that to this point had been completely void of any sign of civilization.