Apartment 905 by Sahin, Ned (readnow .TXT) 📕

The woman passes the man and slaps my window.

“Please! I will suck your dick! Whatever you want!” she says. Kathleen wants to speed up, but the pits on the side curb slow us down. Tires get off the ground, and bumpers hit the ground several times as we try to get away.

I turn back and reach the backdoor lock. As soon as Toshi manages to close the door fully, I push down the lock pin. The man gives up and frowns as he stares at us.

Kathleen finds an opening on the left lane and finally speeds up, increasing the distance from the couple. They look more desperate as we get farther. The woman sits on the road and holds her head between her hands. The guy continues to stare at us.

A heavy weight on my chest drops. I hope this was a good decision.

“Do you think we did the right thing?” Kathleen asks.

“I hope…” Toshi says from the backseat. He is watching the city buildings getting smaller in the horizon.

“We do what we have to do to survive...” I say. Whatever we decide, if it keeps us alive, it’s a good decision. I try not to upset myself for the choices we can’t reverse.

I see a road sign that reads, “Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests.”

We are in the right direction. There was an alternative way that goes up North and then West, but we wanted to keep going West to drive through the forest instead of deserted open land. Based on the map Rowan gave us, both ways end up at Salt Lake City anyway.

We plan to drive as much as our gas is good for, but we need to give ourselves a break for the night. It’s almost dark. Kathleen finds an uphill fire trail and drives a few yards into it, so we aren’t visible from the main road. We cover the car with branches and bushes. The car’s dark green color helps it to blend in with nature.

We eat our sandwiches while talking about our trip so far. We have left half of the road behind. Despite several troubles we have run into and difficult choices we have made, I would call it a successful trip.

If we find more gas on the way, we can make it to Kathleen’s grandparents in Salt Lake City tomorrow. If we have to walk after the car runs out of fuel, it will take several days to get there.

I wonder how Sunshine is doing. I move the colorful beads on the wristband she gave me. It reminds me of the two days I spent in heaven on earth. It also gives me the energy to be more hopeful about the future.

As I watch the stars in the clear sky, I think about our conversations in their home, on the town’s main street and boutique stores. I hope our drawings she had hung in their living room reminds her of our plans to return back to Purple Haze. Visiting her after finding my family in San Francisco is at the top of my travel bucket list. I hope nothing harmful gets near the people of Purple Haze and their peaceful town stays as is.

Chapter 27

We might have made the wrong decision about choosing the mountain road. There are not many abandoned cars on this road and the ones we see are already siphoned.

Our tank is almost empty. The map shows at least 400 miles more before we arrive in Salt Lake City.

“Maybe we should just hitchhike?” Kathleen says. I like how sarcastic she is even in the most stressful situations.

“We hide. You convince somebody to pull over and give a ride to all of us!” Toshi says with a chuckle. It’s not the worst idea if there were any cars on the road.

“Can you please stop a luxury RV, Kathleen? It wouldn’t say no to a nap on a memory foam now,” I say, adding to the sarcastic vibe.

Kathleen rolls her eyes.

Even though we are in a good mood and having fun about our situation, our car is not joking around. It loses the acceleration, and the engine all of a sudden goes idle. I pull over right away.

“This is it, I guess.” I get a closer look at the tank gauge.

We get out of the car and prepare for the walk. We divide all the food and water into three bags. I take the useless shotgun. Toshi carries the bow. Each of us still has knives that Harmony gave us.

We wait for about half an hour sitting on the side of the road. As expected, no cars show up. There are only birds, squirrels, a deer family, and a fox around here. They share curious looks with us. They must be wondering what happened to the humans who love hiking and skiing on this mountain.

After spending the entire night sleeping on the driver seat, my neck and back have been hurting since I woke up. I stretch my arms and legs. We will be on foot again.

We walk inside the forest, but we keep the road in our sight so that we don’t get lost in this endless jungle. If we hear any vehicle approaching, we can jump back on the road.

It’s still early in the morning. I think about the best times for our lunch and dinner breaks as well as where we would possibly spend the night at.

“I can’t wait to see my grandmother and her cat. And her plants!” Kathleen says. She has a different focus.

“She’s always optimistic. We talked when the virus started spreading in the US. She thought it would be over by the weekend.” Kathleen’s eyes brighten up as the memories with her grandparents come to her mind.

“What kind of plants does she grow?” I ask. I hope they are edible.

“Almost everything... Lettuce, broccoli, tomato, green onions… You name it! You will love her sunny spinach salad! I hope she