After hours of driving south on numerous highways, the Grand Am had crossed into New Mexico. It immediately went west into Arizona. That night, it stopped at a motel in Kayenta, Arizona. Sora and Kat were taking bags out of the Grand Am while CAC was in the motel room. "I think we should be careful about him," said Sora. "You never know what a weirdo like him will do while we're sleeping." Kat slammed the trunk shut. "I think you're just paranoid, but if you want to stay awake all night, be my guest." She started walking inside the motel. "Fine," said Sora. "I will." She followed Kat inside. "I did notice one thing," said Kat. "It's warmer. We don't need our jackets anymore." "Whatever brings your spirits up." "Come on," said Joe. "We are going to Wyoming. Davis really needs some help running the state." "What make you think that's your job?" asked Tai. "Let's just go over there." Joe took out some car keys and pressed the remote keyless entry. They heard a faint boop, boop. "My wonderful Shadowfax. Come look!" He ran out of the forest and they saw a bright red Ferrari. "You named it Shadowfax," said Matt, shaking his gorgeous head. "Unbelievable." "Two-seater, I'm afraid," said Joe. "TK can come with me." "Then we'll make good use of these crotchrockets," said Tai. "All right!" Matt ran to the Aviator, still on the side of the road, and popped the trunk. Soon, they were off on the highway, Matt and Tai trying to keep the Ferrari in view. They drove for about an hour until they reached I-25. After that, it was tought to spot Joe ahead. Sometimes they would see a flash of red, but most of the time, they had to just trust that he was still on the Interstate. About 20 minutes later, they saw Joe turning off onto a highway, and they were able to keep him in their view for a little while. It seemed like no time at all until they were slowing down for the city of Laramie, Wyoming. They stopped at the City Hall, and Joe stopped them on the sidewalk. "Best let me do the talking." He started up the stairs. Two men were standing by the door. "Hey!" cried on of them. "You can't go through here." "I need to speak to Governor Davis," said Joe. The man looked at the vehicles parked on the street. "Those are very similar to what we drive here. Are you friends of Ken?" "No," said Joe. "Cody let us borrow those," said Tai, referring to the crotchrockets. "Didn't he tell you?" The man looked troubled. "Oh. Well, the Human Serpant said you can't see Davis." "Can we just see Davis?" asked Joe. "Look, I ... uh, brought back his Ferrari, too." "OK." The man looked at them uneasily. "But I can't let you in with so many weapons." Joe looked at his companions, and they started removing their weapons. Tai had the UZI Submachine Gun slung across his back, and his Superglued Knife. "Please be very careful with those," he said, feeling naked without his toys. Matt handed over his small-caliber hangun. "That was a gift from Kate Hudson; don't break it." TK gave them his Swiss Army Knife. "Uh, they can spring open easily, so watch out." The two men looked at Joe. "Don't you have anything?" one asked. "Nothing." Joe spread out his arms. His 45 fell out of his coat pocket. "Damn." The two men confiscated the 45 and opened the doors for them. Someone was sitting at the desk at the far end of his office, but his head was laying on the desk and they couldn't see his face. A girl stood behind his chair, and a man who had green skin was sitting cross-legged on the desk. "Uh," said Joe, distracted by the green man, "welcome, Davis. Or ... well, it's your town, so maybe you should be welcoming me." The head on the desk lifted, and they saw his sallow face and red-rimmed eyes. He lifted a finger in attempt to point it at Joe, but he was pointing more at a corner in the room. "Why should ... I ... welcome you, bee-yatch?" Davis slurred. "He's drunk," whispered Tai to Joe. The green man stared at them with his beady eyes. He had a shaved head, and there were bead implants on his forehead instead of eyebrows. He only wore jeans, and had tattoo patterns all over his green skin. They looked like snake patterns. "You alwaysth are bringing bad newsth," the green man lisped. His tongue was split down the middle, just like a snake's. "The Lizard Man," said Joe. "You do not know much, so keep your disgusting forked tongue behind your ..." Joe peered closer at him, " ... fangs?" The Lizard Man grinned, sticking out his tongue. Indeed, his canine teeth were long and pointy. Joe shook his head and ran to the small counter on the side of the room. "He'sth going for sthe coffee!" screamed The Lizard Man. The police officers standing by the door ran for Joe, but Tai, TK, and Matt held them back. TK ran to knock The Lizard Man from the desk. Joe poured a cup and brought it to Davis. The girl standing behind the chair watched him warily. Davis drank the coffee. He put the empty mug down and slowly stood up. The girl came to his side to keep him from stumbling. Joe pulled her away. "Davis and I have things to talk about." "Go ... Yolei," Davis slowly said. He turned to Joe. "What the hell was in that coffee?" He followed him outside. "Look at your city!" Joe said. Davis looked down the street. "Oh, it's lovely," he said sarcastically. Cody ran up the stairs. "How wonderful to finally see you sober!" he cried. Joe spoke up again. "War is coming. You need to get the women and children to your refuge sites." Before Davis could answer, one of the police officers came out with The Lizard Man. "He liesth! He liesth!" he was crying. "Davisth, he isth trying to trick you!" Then we writhed out of the policeman's grasp and ran down the street. "Well," said Joe, "good to be rid of him." "I'm hungry," said Davis. "Let's have something to eat." "I have just one question," said Joe, when they were all sitting at the table. "Can I keep Shado-- uh, the Ferrari?" "Go ahead," said Davis. "It obviously loves you." Kari and Mimi climbed into a nook on a tree for the night. They really didn't want to lay in the snow. In the morning, they awoke to see two big green eyes staring at them. They screamed and fell out of the tree. Tree caught them. "Treemook," said Tree. "Let's go." He started trudging through the snow. He took them north through the Black Hills. "We have our Treemook at Mt. Rushmore," Tree said. The he started saying, "hoom ... hoom," over and over again. It was starting to get annoying. Soon, they stopped at the base of Mt. Rushmore. Kari climbed onto Tree's shoulder to get a better look. More trees were coming into the area. She could see them moving from the high seat she had. Mimi climbed up beside her. "Cool." When all the trees had arrived, they started talking to each other, and the words consisted only of "hoom," "hum," and "hm?" They spoke for a long time. "I wonder if they've said 'Good Morning' yet," said Kari. "Just think," said Mimi, "what if Tree has to take roll call?" "Maybe he'll let us explore some caves or something." Kari yawned. "He sure woke us up early. I wonder what Treeish is for 'yes' or 'no.'" Tree noticed them. "Ah, I suppose you can go to Rushmore Cave. Forgot you were an impatient folk." Mimi and Kari climbed down and found the shop connected to Rushmore Cave. They paid to get a guided tour and waited for the tour guide. Some other people showed up for it too. When they were in the cave, Mimi whispered to Kari, "I think I'd rather listen to Tree talk." When the tour was over, Kari and Mimi ran back to the Treemook. Tree noticed them and waved. "We have discussed the situation," he said. Mimi and Kari waited for his decision. When he said nothing, they wondered if he had fallen asleep. Mimi coughed loudly. Tree opened his eyes. "Yes?" he drawled. "What have you decided about Ken?" asked Mimi. "Ken?" Tree looked back at the Treemook. "Well, we talked about him, but I didn't know there was something to be decided." "He's killing trees!" she cried. "Beautiful, young trees! Baby trees! Won't you do something?! Oh, the humanity!" Kari rolled her eyes. "Oh, would you just shut your green, environmentalist, vegetarian mouth." All the trees in the Treemook had crowded around Mimi as she spoke. There were murmurs of "hoom" and "hum" again for a couple minutes. Tree addressed the girls. "You can go with Maple tonight; you should get along with him." A different tree came up to them and picked them up. "Bye, Tree," said Kari. "But what did they decide?" asked Mimi. "They're not doing anything," Maple replied. "This war is not ours. We are but humble trees." "What?" Maple laughed a deep, rumbly laugh. "No, no, we are going to Chicago to beat Ken up. He deserves no less." "Yes!" The girls slapped hands. "Watch the leaves," said Maple. Kat woke up before Sora and CAC that morning. Sora apparantly hadn't stayed up all night to watch CAC. She quickly dressed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. They should enter into Nevada later today, she figured. Sora came into the bathroom to pee. Either she didn't notice Kat, or she just didn't care. "We're moving along nicely," said Sora on the pot. "Should we stop at the Grand Canyon?" "No." Kat put her toothbrush back into her little bag. "I just want to get this over with. I'm getting excited." Sora flushed and came over to the sink to wash her hands. "Why?" "Just because it's taking too long." They were driving south and reached I-40 about three hours later. "Is there something weird about that forest?" asked Sora, looking out the window. Kat glanced at where Sora was looking. "Eh ... mayyyybe ... " "Drive the Interstate, Precious," said CAC from the backseat. "Drive to get to Nevada." They stopped in Kingman for a late lunch, then headed north on Highway 93, following CAC's directions. "The scenery is so plain," said Sora. "You must've been asleep when we went through the Painted Desert." Kat checked her fuel gauge. It was on E. The only town that wasn't 15 miles off the highway would have to wait until they got across the Hoover Dam. She just hoped they'd make it. They barely made it. Surprisingly. "13 gallons!" exclaimed Sora. "It's a friggin' good thing that we didn't die in this figgin' gas station." "Yeah ... weird." Kat was looking curiously at the gas pump. She swiped Gisele's card. "I wonder how much longer we can use this card?" Sora opened the door of the Grand Am. "It was found in a Limo. I bet it gets us all the way back home." Kat got in the driver's side. "What now?" she asked CAC. "Should we get into Vegas and try to double our money?" "Girls are not old enough," he skulked. "Besides, the road is closed." "What?!" both girls screamed. CAC cowered in the backseat. "Why didn't you tell us before?" asked Sora. "Because girls did not ask." Kat rolled her eyes. "Well, it's only common sense to warn someone when a FUCKING ROAD IS CLOSED AHEAD!" "I don't suppose we could walk," said Sora. "Through the desert, huh?" "Well, we have to get through somehow." "Bad, bad place!" shouted CAC. "Girls must not go there! Do not bring it to Him!" "I'm going, whether you like it or not," said Kat. "There ... there is another way into Nevada," he stuttered. Sora looked suspiciously at Kat. Kat sighed. "I've got no choice," she said. CAC took out the map. "Go here, around here, and up here until on edge of Utah--" "'Around here?' 'Here' is the Grand Canyon!" "Do you want to pay for gas?!" yelled Sora at CAC. CAC cowered again. "It is the only way. The only way!" "Oi." Kat turned back onto the highway. "Fine. Just ... if you're playing a fucking joke, it's going to cost you." |
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| The Two Cities part three |