Drive to Survive

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty

"Howdy there sweet darlin', y'all ready for a ride on my tractor?"

Hunter swaggered into the Ferrari garage up to Dylan, who was stood with Carlos and Charles as the rest of the team packed up for the day.

"For fucks sake." Carlos grumbled at the implicit innuendo.

Dylan, however, was giggling and she wrapped Hunter in a tight hug, "Awesome! You're in full farming mode, I'm so excited!"

"Only for you, doll." He chuckled, going back to his less exaggerated accent.

Dylan beamed before speaking to her cousin, "So we'll be back late but nothing crazy. The farm is only an hour or so away, right?" She looked back at Hunter to be sure.

"Yup. I'll have her back safe and sound this evening." He confirmed, a reassuring nod to the watchful Carlos who smiled his approval and gently pushed her away.

"Go, have fun."

"Thank you! See you tomorrow!"

Charles and Carlos waved them off as the pair left the Ferrari garage and headed down to the car park. They caught up on their days as much as they could with risking any inter-team details. It was a tad more difficult now they were working with separate teams; whilst neither of them would ever compromise the other, sharing confidential information, even accidentally, was a one-way ticket to being fired.

Nevertheless, they found loads to talk about and soon they were cruising down the highway towards Hunter's hometown, singing along to cheesy songs on the radio.

"Have you heard the new Noah Kahan one? The bonus track? I still can't get it out my head, it's just got a hold on me." Dylan said, putting on 'She Calls Me Back'.

"I thought there was a certain promise made..." He reprimanded her in a sing-song voice.

"It's not a sad song!"

Hunter chuckled and let her play it anyway, cringing at her terrible singing as she belted the lyrics out. He returned fire with some obnoxious country music straight after and they took it in turns choosing songs, turning the drive into a karaoke session.

True to his word, it really wasn't that far a distance but the last half an hour was a twisting series of dusty, country roads and at a certain point, the Sat-Nav gave up and they had to just rely on Hunter's local knowledge of the area.

For Dylan, driving through Hunter's town was like seeing another world. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen in England, where the buildings were all packed closely together to account for the small land mass available. Here, there was endless land to share and each property stretched farther than she could ever have imagined.

They turned through what looked like the centre of a town and there were a couple of restaurants, a school, some administrative and law enforcement offices and what looked like a small, makeshift hospital. Not to be missed was the huge church at the centre of all of it, with a stretching graveyard behind that likely housed generations of residents' families.

Hunter pointed out various places along the way with funny stories from his childhood. It was clear that he absolutely loved the town he grew up in and he spoke about it with firm pride.

After a few more minutes of driving, they turned up a dirt road lined with fences and trees. At the end of the track was a huge farm-house with a wooden porch and a towering stone chimney. Hunter parked his car out the front and they climbed out.

The warm evening air wrapped around Dylan like a comforting blanket and she breathed in, smelling the fresh outdoors and distinct smell of nearby animals. Now that they were at the end of the track, she could see the land that stretched all around the property. Sprawling green fields and irrigated soil surrounded them on either sides and there were various tractors and other farming equipment sat around the site.