Nilla stood by the side of Route 46 and screened her eyes with one hand as she watched a plume of dust approaching her from the west. It would be her first ride all day if she actually made this one. She was ready to bolt at the first sign of green and nearly did'but it wasn't Army green, this was the bottle green of a civilian car. A littleToyota , it looked like. She was pretty sure the police only drove American-made cars.
It rolled up to a stop next to her but the window didn't come down at first. She could understand that. She'd been eating out of trash cans for a week, hiding where she could. She had scrounged some clothes out of a dumpster, a pink baby tee a size too small for her and a pair of ratty chinos long out of fashion. Together they made her look like a prostitute. Her stringy hair and the unnatural pallor of her skin made her look like a junkie. People didn't pick up hitch-hikers who looked like her. Not often.
She smiled through the window anyway, bending down to try to make eye contact. There were two people in the car'two kids. White suburban teenagers, going by looks. He had a little wispy facial hair and an Oakland Raiders baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. She had a gold cross around her neck. They both wore black t-shirts, band t-shirts.
The window came down, cranked by hand. This had to be the boy's first car. He probably scrimped and saved to buy it used. He had probably installed the spoiler on the back himself'the paint didn't quite match. Nilla knew she had to be careful with what she said, with what she asked for.
'I'm heading east, to, toBarstow ,' she suggested. She remembered to smile and put a hand on the windowsill. They were less likely to take off if she was already in contact with the car. You learned these things after a week on the road.
The boy looked her up and down, studying her clothes. Her breasts and her hips.
'I don't know, Charles,' the girl whispered, as if Nilla couldn't hear her. 'Look at her.' Nilla gave the boy her best high wattage smile.
'Damn, Shar!' the boy shot back. 'Shut up! I guess we got room for one more,' he offered. He wasn't sure, no more than his girlfriend, but he had teenage hormones to contend with.
Nilla opened the back door and climbed in.
Monster Nation
Chapter Two
Limit: Two Gallons of Water per Person, due to Emergency, Please! [Handwritten sign posted at a CVS Pharmacy, Carefree, CA 3/28/05]
Nilla nestled back in the upholstery of theToyota 's back seat and chewed on a candy bar when she really wanted to swallow it whole. It was the closest thing the kids had to food.
'We were heading down toHollywood , but the radio said you shouldn't.' The girl, Shar, craned around in her seat to look back at the hitch-hiker. 'You're' you're not supposed to pick people up, either. You're not even supposed to drive unless you have to.'
It was an apology. Nilla's mouth was full, so she gave the girl a closed-mouth smile.
'Damn, woman, if I want to go somewheres I'ma gonna do it,' Charles swore, striking the steering wheel with the flat of his hand. 'I got my mind on my drivin', and my drivin' on my mind, you know what I'm saying? Shit, that's just what freedom is all about. For reals. Now see if you can find something on the FM.'
'I just get scared, is all,' the girl said, slumping down in her seat again. She didn't touch the radio. 'They say there's sick people down there. They say they're violent.'
Nilla gave a polite shrug. The girl was still looking at her in the rear-view mirror.
'They say they have glowing red eyes,' Shar finished, and then looked away. 'I get scared, is all.'