Lab Baby

Graveyard

"Hey."

Seonghwa awoke with a start, looking around with panic. Coral giggles slightly, "Damn, you were tired! You slept for a whole four hours!"

Seonghwa sits up straight, "Where are we?"

"Pulling into our first gas station," Coral smiles, turning into a small building with only four pumps outside. She parks the bus and turns it off, turning to him, "I'm going to go pay for gas, do you want any snacks or anything? Are you craving anything?"

"Salt," Seonghwa nods, "Anything salty."

She giggles, "Not too much salt, it's not good for the baby if you're blood pressure is high." She opens the squeaky door and hops out of the driver's side of the vehicle, walking from the bus to the small store. Seonghwa sighs as he sits there waiting patiently in the bus.

As he sits and waits, a car pulls up with red and blue lights and large letters spelling out "Sheriff" flash at him in gold. His heart races as a man in an officer's clothing steps out and walks inside the small store, holding the door for Coral as she came out. Seonghwa looks down at his hands in his lap, not trying to make the officer see him. Coral was carrying three bags of snacks with her as she walked closer to the bus, opening the door first to drop off the snacks then giving Seonghwa a smile before going to fill the gas tank.

Seonghwa kept his head down as he waited for her, not wanting the officer to see him just in case he came back out. He jumps in surprise when Coral opens the door and slides in, sighing happily, "There! All filled up and ready to take off again," she held up two bags packed full of snacks and smiles proudly, "With some snacks!"

Seonghwa nods, looking around for the officer. But luckily for them, they were pulling out of the gas station when he left the building with an item wrapped in aluminum foil and a large styrofoam cup.

Coral chuckles, "Why so nervous?"

"I'm not," Seonghwa answered quickly, wincing at his tone.

"Mhmm, sure," Coral smirks, "It's okay if you're running. In a way, I kind of am too."

"I think my crime is more serious..."

"Really? You killed someone?"

"No."

"Stole?"

Seonghwa hesitated and Coral laughs, "Lighten up! I'm not going to turn you in! If I was, I would've done so when I first heard you were running from something."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"I don't have a phone," she smiles, "I threw mine in a river after buying this bus, then took off without another word to everyone I left behind. They were going to lose me anyway..."

She sighed, staring out the window as she drove them further away from their pit stop. Seonghwa didn't press it further, listening to the soft music playing in the background as Coral drove. The sun started to set, and as it grew darker Coral and Seonghwa were starting to get tired again. Coral pulled off on the side of the road, taking the bus off the road completely as she drove straight into a wooded area.

Seonghwa frowns, "What are you doing?"

"Extra cover," she shrugs, "no one will find us if we sleep in the woods tonight. It's also relaxing to me to hear the crickets and woodland critters scatter through the forest while I'm sleeping."

Seonghwa nods, not questioning the woman who has been the kindest to him alongside the gentleman at the store giving him free food. When they venture further enough into the woods, Coral shuts the bus off and unbuckles her seatbelt, "And now we make camp."