SSS 2 - Pay and go

You stand indecisively with Taytum for a second, then bend to get peanut butter cups from the rack for Bian.

“Let’s get out of here,” you say.

Taytum must be pretty weirded out to just go along with what you’re saying, but she nods. You were going to pay with a card, so you have to borrow cash from Taytum to cover your purchases. It feels weird to do this, but you’re doing it in full view of the camera, which now has footage of you and Taytum shrugging at it, then pointing at the money. You both wave at it as you leave the shop. It’s a weird feeling, but not a huge deal.

Besides, you’re definitely running late at this point.

That kicks your anxiety back into gear. To make things worse, as you approach the car, you don’t see Bian.

“Hey,” you say to Taytum, who has stuffed the little vodkas into her pockets. She carries the six-pack in one hand while using her teeth to twist the cap off a vodka. She spits the cap out, drinks the contents, and tosses the empty aside.

“What?”

“Do you see Bian?”

You reach the car and shriek as Bian sits up suddenly in the backseat. She and Taytum look at you like you’re crazy. Bian was lying on the seat with her phone.

“Gosh,” you say, heart racing as you climb back into the driver’s seat.

“I figured out where we need to go,” Bian says. “I’ll trade you my phone for those Reeses.”

“They’re for you anyway,” you mutter, passing them back and taking her phone. You mount it on the dash and look at the route. Nice! You might be late, but it won’t be by much. Leaving early was the right move. Things got weird for a second, but you’re OK now.

You take a huge bite of cookie, a perfect swig of too-hot coffee, and you’re as ready as you’ll ever be.

“Seatbelts,” you chide the others as you start the car. “And no open containers!” you add sternly.

“Or you’ll what?” Taytum replies in a surly voice.

“Or I’ll steal your girlfriend,” you mutter, pulling onto the road.

Bian makes a hissing noise in the backseat and Taytum snorts. Things feel much more relaxed now. That doesn’t last.

The rain is even heavier and the real roads are almost as bad as the backroads. You hydroplane twice without even going above thirty. This is brutal. It’s a hurricane. You’ve lost your cell signal again, but at least that doesn’t matter: you are going the correct way to reach your destination.

Ten stressful, slippery minutes later, you get your hopes up at the sight of lights: but it’s not the place. This is a rundown motel. The lights look weak and the furniture around the dirty little pool is all overturned by the storm. Water pours from all the gutters.

You keep driving. Gurlberg seems like this tiny, unimpressive town, but it’s actually big and modern compared to most of the stuff out here in the swamp. Probably thanks to the university. You thought that you wanted small and quiet, but you don’t want this level of rural. Gurlberg is just right. Now, your decision to join CCL… that, you’re not so sure about. This is not what you signed up for.

You glance at Bian in the rearview. She’s leaning against Taytum, her eyes on her phone. The way that the screen lights up her face and flickers in different colors is pretty cute. Taytum has grudgingly honored your request to not open more **** in the car, so she’s idly watching Bian play Candy Crush. Maybe it’s worth it.

You focus on the road. Five minutes later, you’re rewarded.

The light ahead isn’t as big as the glow from the motel, but it’s stronger and less pitiful. You hit your signal and turn into a small, gravel parking lot. There are only two other cars present.

The diner is bright, but it has no outdoor lights of any kind. Everything more than about five feet from the building itself is pitch black in the storm, which pounds the big windows. The diner is more respectable than that motel back there, but it’s still far from nice.

You aren’t picky on a night like tonight. You remember your mission and park the Traverse back a bit, closer to the road than to the diner. You sigh in relief as you put it in park and kill the engine. Another bite of cookie and a drink of coffee feels well-earned.

“That’s it?” Taytum asks, making a face. Bian leans up between the seats to look.

A couple of seconds go by.

The hiss of a beer opening startles you.

“Vehicle’s not moving,” Taytum says before you can call her out. “It’s legal.”

Was it? Whatever.

“Do we go in? Or wait out here?” Bian asks, saying almost word for word what you’re thinking.

You aren’t sure. This is the meeting place, but there were no specifics. In retrospect, it seems stupid not to have asked for more detailed instructions. You don’t even know what the supplier looks like. They’ll have to recognize the three of you as the three CCL girls that they’re supposed to meet.

Wait in the car?

Or enter the diner?