"Fuck!" Sadie screams, rattling the nozzle of the gas pump, trying to get something, anything to come out, but nothing did.
"It's not going to work," Millie says behind her, reaching around and take the nozzle from her, sliding it back into the slot. "We'll just have to push the car back." She twisted the gas cap back on and closed the flap, walking to the back. Sadie huffed, following closely behind. "This is bullshit" she said.
"I know, love, but what choice do we have?" Millie kissed her forehead gently, breathing in the scent of Sadie's dirty hair, and placing her hands on the back bumper. "Ready?" Sadie joined her hands next to hers, pushing with all her might. The car rolled slowly, the incline of the parking lot practically killing the pair. They pushed on, right down the road to the motel parking lot. They pushed it as accurately as they could into a parking spot and each wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
"Well what now?" Sadie asked, throwing her hands in the air and sliding down the side of the car to sit in the dusty ground. It rose up around her, tickling he nose and causing her to sneeze.
"We could always steal another car." Millie suggested, sweat still dripping down from her hairline. Sadie stared at her, a look of annoyance playing across her features. "I'm serious, five cars may seem like a lot but it's not, really, in the grand scheme of things." Sadie just shook her head.
"We have been doing this shit for one year and seven months, Millie! When does it end! When do we settle!" Sadie wailed, her eyes brimming with tears and her hair tangling in the wind. She threw her head back dramatically to emphasize her words, but only succeeded in hitting her school on the metal door.
Millie sighed, sitting next to Sadie in the dust. "You didn't have to come, you didn't have to say yes. You don't have to stay. You can always go back."
"I don't want to leave you." Sadie protested.
"And I don't want you to leave. But I need you to be safe, comfortable. You didn't help me murder my father, you didn't do anything-"
"I helped cover it up."
"But no one knows that! They don't have to know that! I'll take you back as close as I can, you can go back and say I kidnapped you. I can find somewhere to be where they can't find me and you'll get back to your life."
"I'm not going back." Sadie said. "I chose to come, I chose to love you, I'm choosing to stay. I'm just tried is all."
"You're dirty, too. Go take a shower. I'll scout out cars for us to take." Millie planted another soft kiss to Sadie's forehead before standing up, wiping the dirt off of her already dirty jeans. Sadie did the same, and headed into the motel room, the door slamming shut behind her.
We can't do this to her, Millie thought, hands coming to her face to run her eyes. She was racked with guilt from asking Sadie to join her. She had gotten through the first couple months by telling herself it was for Sadie's own good, that she had to, but she knew that was a lie. She knew she didn't have to do that. And yet she did.
She shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind. She looked around the expansive desert, looking for a car. It was filled, being a cheap motel off the highway at dusk. All Millie needed to do was find an easy target.
A a little grey car, a Saturn, maybe, pulled into the motel parking lot just then, a man and a woman hopping out. Their laughs were heard all the way across towards the parking lot, their stumbling feet evidence of their gluttonous consumption of alcohol. Their motel door slammed behind them, giggling loud from behind it.
"Bingo," Millie muttered. She rushed over to the car, popping open the driver's door and thanking god no car alarm went off. She stepped inside and looked for keys and sure enough, in the couple's drunk state, they left them in the ignition. She stepped out of the car but left the door open and went to the motel room.
She grabbed the bags of clothes the pair had left, down to just one duffel bag of clothes that hadn't been ruined and still fit, and a bag of personal hygiene. Millie even remembered to grab the picture Sadie had taken with her stuffed inside a book, along with the other few books she had stolen along the way. She left one outfit and the shampoo for Sadie. Everything was packed into the trunk of the car, including the motel's pillows, some towels, some of The free soaps, and a cooler of ice.
"So you found a car" Sadie said, dressed in a long sleeve shirt and shorts with a towel wrapped around her hair, sneaking up behind Millie, the shampoo in her hands. Millie merely nodded, inspecting her packing job.
"We need to go quickly" she finally said, closing the trunk and walking around to the driver's side, stepping in and Sadie doing the same on the other side. Millie started the engine, keeping a close eye on the motel room if the owners, and crept out of the parking lot, headed for California.
