At least I’ve got you, Wolfie, I thought, imagining that she sat in the passenger seat beside me. She’d be with me ’til the end, whatever it might be.
The miles slid by beneath the tires of Alyssa’s car, carrying me ever closer to home, and whatever awaited me there. Following the slowly winding snake of cars up the mountain I watched lights flicker to life amongst the trees in fleeting glimpses through the clouds and snow, and marveled at their twinkling beauty. My looming death it seemed, had made me sentimental, and I regretted not having spent more time admiring the simple beauty around me. Perhaps if I hadn’t wasted so many years entrenched in self-pity and bitterness, I wouldn’t have been driving towards my death alone.
Three hours after leaving Denver, I turned off I-70 towards Leadville. I’d gone several miles down the road when there was no mistaking the loud bang of the rear tire blowing out. The steering wheel gave a sudden jerk in my hands as the car slid sideways on the slick asphalt before I could wrestle it under control and bring the car to a shuddering stop on the shoulder. I sat in the car for a few minutes, my hands white knuckled on the wheel, adrenalin pumping in my veins.
Not for the first time in my life I wondered what it was I had done, or which deities I had pissed off, to earn such craptastic luck.
I must have been a chronic puppy kicker in a previous life, I thought ruefully as I got out of the car to evaluate just how screwed I was.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growled as I stared down at the shredded tire, the stink of burnt rubber making me gag.
Swiping my hands over my eyes I blamed the moisture I found on the choking smell coming from the tire. I definitely was not crying. Nope, not me, the fearless werewolf. Wishing I’d had the forethought to grab a jacket before I fled the FBI building, I glanced up at the sign a few yards ahead, feeling my stomach sink even further as I read it.
Leadville 20 miles.
For fuck’s sake!
The wolf may give me extra strength and endurance, but even she couldn’t make up for a lifetime of laziness and too much junk food. Five miles would have been an easy distance to cover, even ten miles would be doable despite the snow and wind. A twenty mile trek however, just wasn’t going to happen unless I went wolf, and with my injuries I wasn’t sure that she could handle a journey of that distance over rugged terrain. Leaving me with two options: try to flag down one of the few passing cars, or suck it up and attempt to change the tire myself.
Wishing I’d grabbed some gloves along with my imaginary jacket, I blew on my hands to warm my already chilled fingers and popped the trunk open. Unlike the back of my Jeep, which generally looked like a dumpster from behind a fast food joint, Alyssa’s trunk was well stocked and organized.
What’s she expecting? The zombie apocalypse? I wondered, eyeing the super deluxe first aid kit, space blanket, baggie of energy bars, and shrink wrapped pack of bottled water. I was lucky if my car actually had a tire iron, let alone enough supplies to last through a nuclear fallout. Pushing aside the first aid kit and water I hauled out the spare tire, leaning it against the rear bumper as I dug out the tire iron and jack.
“This is such shit,” I cursed aloud. Thoroughly irritated, I started loosening the lug nuts, grumbling all the while.
Most of the time I don’t see the point in having a cell phone; it’s not often that I venture more than five or ten miles from home, and I don’t have many friends beyond those I converse with online, so owning a cell phone has always seemed like a waste of money to me. Standing there on the side of the road, in the dark, growing sweaty despite the cold and snow, I cursed my frugalness.
Traffic was light at this time of night, most of the traffic consisting of SUVs with skis and snowboards strapped to their roofs. For every one that had passed without stopping I released a litany of curses, hoping they died in a fiery crash, but truthfully I couldn’t blame them. Had I been the one driving by in my cozy car, content with my cozy life, I don’t think I would’ve stopped to help a woman shouting curses at passing motorists. I didn’t notice the vehicle coming to a stop on the shoulder behind me at first, it wasn’t until the lights stopped moving rather than continuing to pass on by that I realized it wasn’t just someone driving by. I felt a thread of tension weave through me at the sound of a car door closing.