Two Mech Enter, One Mech Leaves (Open)
Jul 12, 2015 19:27:28 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2015 19:27:28 GMT -5
Date: Week 2, Day 7
Where: Route 66 outside of Oatman, Az
Warning: Beware the raving gangs of burros
The air was crisp and dry as the convoy trucked it along the fading blacktop. What could have been a relatively quiet, comfortable ride was disturbed by the broken road that jostled the tires and frames of the vehicles cutting through the stale morning. Already the sun was high over head and glaring down on the road, creating heat waves that made the distance hazy and nebulous. The shoulder of the forgotten highway was slowly being swallowed by drifting dirt and vegetation. A lizard sunned itself perilously close to solid line marking the boundary of the road. A scant inch from it, tires crunched gravel and a beetle as the small convoy kept moving.
A nondescript SUV drove a quarter of a mile ahead of a fairly large semi. The truck was white and bland in every way down to the mundane, dust covered dirt flaps. The sun damaged insignia on the side was for a rental company somewhere out of Utah. Behind the semi's trailer, a dark blue sedan crept behind them at a safe distance. Other than the odd car every half hour or so, they were alone in the long drive along the flat two lane.
The windows of the cars sandwiching the semi were so dark, even if one were to drive alongside they wouldn't be able to tell the number of passengers. Whereas the semi windows were as clear as the dirt would allow. A driver, a younger man with tossled blond hair clutched the wheel and stick shift. Beside him, riding shotgun was a black man with hair cut so short it was virtually nonexistent.
"I'm just saying that even if you destroy it in that timeline, that doesn't mean it doesn't mean it doesn't exist in another time. Which can diverge. That's why they call it string theory." To pound home his point, the blond smacked his hand on the steering wheel.
"Yeah, but if you kill it in this time then you don't have to worry about that shit anymore. It's done. This timeline is safe." Shotgun had slouched in his seat enough to prop his feet up on the dash like a teen on spring break.
"Unless it's a nexus point."
"This isn't Dr W-" Whatever point the passenger was about to make was broken by the squawk of the radio. He dropped his feet from the dash with a guilty look around like the boss lady was riding with them. Sometimes it seemed like that wench had eyes everywhere. Or at least a sixth sense when it came to anyone of her subordinates daring to relax around her. "Say again, Ma'am?"
"I said pay attention. This isn't a field trip." Thana's voice managed to cut over the radio with enough sharpness to cleave skin if she wanted to. Both men flinched reflexively at the curt tone even if she wasn't in the truck with them. They'd been on the end of the tongue lashings enough to know a storm before it hit.
"Eyes on the road, ma'am! It's clear as nothing out here."
"Yes ma'am! We're-" The rest of that delivery was cut off by a string of cursewords as the driver yanked on the wheel hard. Having taken his eyes off the road to glare at the radio, he'd failed to notice the pack of burros inching closer to the road. One male outright stepped across the line right after the SUV passed. Right in front of the semi. MECH soldiers trained for many things. The threat of a wild donkey wasn't one of them.
The speed combined with the jerk of the wheel caused the truck to veer dangerously from side to side. Miraculously the animal was unharmed but the truck's tires sank into the dirt and sand on the side of the road which had been hiding a large rut. The jostle shook the entire truck and its cargo like a mini earthquake. Whatever was inside rattled in its housing before the truck tire blew with all the fan fair of a small bomb going off. Behind the truck, the sedan hit the brakes hard and nearly collided with the burro that had yet to step out of the road.
When the dust settled the truck straddled both lanes at an awkward slant with tire pieces trailing behind it like bread crumbs. The sedan was surrounded by a pack of wild, four legged beasts of burden, and the SUV had braked a half mile up the road. Outside, everything appeared calm and quiet. Inside, the curt tone over the radio was cutting the driver and his passenger into itty bitty pieces as precise as a heated scalpel.
In the back of the semi's trailer, undetected by the small convoy, a signal rang loud and clear to anyone of the right frequency. A quiet, urgent distress beacon called out like a mournful dirge for rescue. Oh, and a light might have beeped. One never knew with new technology.
Where: Route 66 outside of Oatman, Az
Warning: Beware the raving gangs of burros
The air was crisp and dry as the convoy trucked it along the fading blacktop. What could have been a relatively quiet, comfortable ride was disturbed by the broken road that jostled the tires and frames of the vehicles cutting through the stale morning. Already the sun was high over head and glaring down on the road, creating heat waves that made the distance hazy and nebulous. The shoulder of the forgotten highway was slowly being swallowed by drifting dirt and vegetation. A lizard sunned itself perilously close to solid line marking the boundary of the road. A scant inch from it, tires crunched gravel and a beetle as the small convoy kept moving.
A nondescript SUV drove a quarter of a mile ahead of a fairly large semi. The truck was white and bland in every way down to the mundane, dust covered dirt flaps. The sun damaged insignia on the side was for a rental company somewhere out of Utah. Behind the semi's trailer, a dark blue sedan crept behind them at a safe distance. Other than the odd car every half hour or so, they were alone in the long drive along the flat two lane.
The windows of the cars sandwiching the semi were so dark, even if one were to drive alongside they wouldn't be able to tell the number of passengers. Whereas the semi windows were as clear as the dirt would allow. A driver, a younger man with tossled blond hair clutched the wheel and stick shift. Beside him, riding shotgun was a black man with hair cut so short it was virtually nonexistent.
"I'm just saying that even if you destroy it in that timeline, that doesn't mean it doesn't mean it doesn't exist in another time. Which can diverge. That's why they call it string theory." To pound home his point, the blond smacked his hand on the steering wheel.
"Yeah, but if you kill it in this time then you don't have to worry about that shit anymore. It's done. This timeline is safe." Shotgun had slouched in his seat enough to prop his feet up on the dash like a teen on spring break.
"Unless it's a nexus point."
"This isn't Dr W-" Whatever point the passenger was about to make was broken by the squawk of the radio. He dropped his feet from the dash with a guilty look around like the boss lady was riding with them. Sometimes it seemed like that wench had eyes everywhere. Or at least a sixth sense when it came to anyone of her subordinates daring to relax around her. "Say again, Ma'am?"
"I said pay attention. This isn't a field trip." Thana's voice managed to cut over the radio with enough sharpness to cleave skin if she wanted to. Both men flinched reflexively at the curt tone even if she wasn't in the truck with them. They'd been on the end of the tongue lashings enough to know a storm before it hit.
"Eyes on the road, ma'am! It's clear as nothing out here."
"Yes ma'am! We're-" The rest of that delivery was cut off by a string of cursewords as the driver yanked on the wheel hard. Having taken his eyes off the road to glare at the radio, he'd failed to notice the pack of burros inching closer to the road. One male outright stepped across the line right after the SUV passed. Right in front of the semi. MECH soldiers trained for many things. The threat of a wild donkey wasn't one of them.
The speed combined with the jerk of the wheel caused the truck to veer dangerously from side to side. Miraculously the animal was unharmed but the truck's tires sank into the dirt and sand on the side of the road which had been hiding a large rut. The jostle shook the entire truck and its cargo like a mini earthquake. Whatever was inside rattled in its housing before the truck tire blew with all the fan fair of a small bomb going off. Behind the truck, the sedan hit the brakes hard and nearly collided with the burro that had yet to step out of the road.
When the dust settled the truck straddled both lanes at an awkward slant with tire pieces trailing behind it like bread crumbs. The sedan was surrounded by a pack of wild, four legged beasts of burden, and the SUV had braked a half mile up the road. Outside, everything appeared calm and quiet. Inside, the curt tone over the radio was cutting the driver and his passenger into itty bitty pieces as precise as a heated scalpel.
In the back of the semi's trailer, undetected by the small convoy, a signal rang loud and clear to anyone of the right frequency. A quiet, urgent distress beacon called out like a mournful dirge for rescue. Oh, and a light might have beeped. One never knew with new technology.