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On the Lam (Wistful Beast and Vermiciro)

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Tinkering and fixing shit, Judith's interest piqued at that. Rare were the times that she encountered a fully-functioning appliance that didn't require a song and rain-dance of appeasement before capitulating to its given function. "You're a fixer." Judith stated, emphasizing the syllable. "Man, can you fix microwaves?" she asked, rambling ahead in story without room for answer. "We went through so many of those fuckers as a kid. Swear t' god, they'd shit themselves at the sight of my elder sister, Merriam. She was so fucking careless. Put metal in the microwave, cooked a burrito for twenty-fucking-one minutes and melted it into the plate. The time she set one a them Arby's foil wrappers on fire was a real kicker. God our house smelt like fuck more times than not."

Absently, memory fleeting in the forgetful waves of inebriation, Judith reached for her glass only to find it empty at her lips. Disappointment subtly creased her lineaments. She wanted another drink, was tempted to snag Callie's, waiving whatever modicum of manners Judith had left. But she didn't. Instead, Judith looked to her plate, sandwich barely eaten. Thought of finishing what remained was nauseating despite the yawning hunger she felt. After drinking, it was unlikely the course would stay down.

"Think they got some styrofoam shit or a bag or... something?" Judith asked. "Pack this puppy up for later."
 
No cars were brought up in Judith's train of thought when the subject of tinkering came about, only microwaves. Then came a tangent on the particular appliance, including the mishaps surrounding it. Constant instances of poor judgement when using appliances drew out a small amused snort from Callie, only a slightly stronger exhalation, fatigue beginning to take a hold of her features. The part that seemed to catch Callie the most amid the instances of microwave failures was the name dropped. Merriam. Who was this? A friend, a sibling? Perhaps the poor lover whose life ended at Judith's hands in one way or another. A prickling feeling, a mere speculation, forewarned the answers that would probably come spilling off of Judith's tongue once the alcohol had finished loosening it. With a suppressed shudder Callie realized she wasn't sure how much of Judith's history she'd want revealed.

As Callie finished off her burger she leaned back into the booth, leaving her fries to sit in the tray until any hungry feeling may arise. Tired eyes fluttered once, the throaty music nearly lulling her to sleep. Judith's voice roused her and eyes refocused. "I'd imagine they'd offer something along those lines if you asked,"Callie answered, not wanting to offer to fetch anything unless told to. Even then she'd hesitate, wishing only to just take a moment of peace in this dingy little place, if that was possible. Again Callie caught the staring glance of the drunkard at the table with the women, nerves beginning a slow crawl. Paranoia would set in soon enough.
 
"Good, good." Judith drawled casually in acknowledgement. Her mouth a faucet from which thought flowed in glut without censor, non sequitur ponderings and memories chained together at the moment of their genesis, she was a rambling brook, slow with the winter of inebriation yet incessant. Nothing more salubrious than alcohol and vented thought. A manifold tonic, it numbed beyond the itch of healing in her palm and ache of split knuckles. Beneath its thrall, the world felt so very present.

Following Callie's perfunctory glance, Judith noted the gent with the wanton gaze. Challenge and indignation sparked in her. Fucker hadn't right to watch them like a fucking peepshow voyeur. Gotta pay for a show, and the cost came in teeth not pearls. Compensation always hurt, parity a hard fall for those in excess. "Fuck is that guy?" Judith asked none too quiet. "You know him, keeps lookin' over hear like a bitch droolin' for rawhide. He say anything to you when you got the drinks an' shit?"
 
Apparently alcohol had removed what volume control Judith may have possessed in a rare sober state, words coming out louder than they should have been. Callie leaned in towards the table closer and widened her eyes, gesturing to the man with short jerks of her head. "He's right there, lower your voice,"she hissed as casually as she could, which wasn't very inconspicuous. The man's gaze lingered before retreating back to the women closer to him.

"He didn't say anything to me...he just keeps staring.."Callie whispered after the man had averted his prying eyes. Suspicion, like a nagging insect, scurried up and down Callie's spine. Why was this man so interested in them? Was he just a drunken pervert, or did he perhaps recognize the two from the news? The latter would be more dangerous in this situation. They couldn't afford to be exposed now, or ever really. Callie didn't want to be a murderer for nothing, as she was horribly guilty as is.

To occupy her nervous mind Callie picked up a semi-warm french fry from her plate and began to nibble on it. The movement served as a distraction, the taste of salt dancing upon her tongue.
 
"Don't tell me what to do." Judith scoffed petulantly, words falling in the wet-slap cadence of drunken disregard. Her senses blunted, solicitous of nothing save the means of prolonging her stupor, Judith was oblivious to the possibility of being recognized by other patrons, let alone apprehended for any disruptive behavior. Her focus was circumscribed to the gentleman with wandering eyes, and the offense they incurred. Judith couldn't overlook it. It was provoking.

Even as the man reengaged his companions, attention turned from Callie for the moment, Judith wouldn't let it drop. The brazen nerve. Like they were a kind of display, exhibits in a menagerie. Judith's shoulder's prickled with the heat of ire. A stare was an invitation, an askance for contact. And Judith was about to give him one, with her fist. "That fucker looks over here one more time," she warned in ultimatum, "I'm gonna leave his face so swollen ain't nobody gonna be tolerating his creep staring. Randy fuck's got enough ass over there, he don't need to be eyein' up yours."
 
Almost childlike in manner, Judith refused to forget about this man. He was most likely some drunken creep and not an actual threat. Some defensive remarks could make him turn away if confronted or they could merely walk away as this man's legs were probably akin to jelly in his liquored state. Punching a stranger into a pulp wouldn't gain them any good attention. The duo could be apprehended for assault and then they'd truly be cooked. Rendered uncoordinated Judith wouldn't be able to pry herself free from the vice grip of a police officer and Callie would simply be too frightened to. They'd be sent to prison for life and that would be that. It was imperative that Judith avoided a brawl with this stranger.

Silently Callie prayed the man wouldn't turn around again. Unfortunately for Callie this wasn't possible. The women seated with the man in question rose from their seats and pushed the chairs in, the metal legs of the chairs grating against the tiled floor. The shrill noise that ensued from the friction cut through the sound of the band for a moment and warranted Callie's fleeting attention. Out the door the women went after bidding a slurred farewell to the man they had left in their wake. He responded with a loose wave and a grin. The grin, slow as molasses yet not as sweet, turned towards Callie and Judith's booth.

"Fuck my life...."Callie mouthed down at the table in a defeated manner. Her muscles froze and she did nothing to stop the explosive fury that Judith was bound to radiate.
 
His smile was taunting Judith, goading her, testing the tenuous restraint she inveterately dismissed even in hours of sobriety. Like a playground dare, "bet you won't", fear of consequence kind of jibe that Judith wouldn't let slide. She couldn't give him the satisfaction of backing down. Not after calling him out. She was set to prove her bite could penetrate deeper than her bark, deep enough to scar. Because mistakes learned leave the most indelible marks.

"See something you like, faggot!" she yelled, words drawn long with whiskey and wayfare-weariness. The music hiccuped, a shock-stutter flinch at Judith's outburst, but the man remained unfazed. That indifference only incensed her further. She forcefully rose from her seat only to clutch the table for support. The bar spun around her, her pulse swelling beyond her body. Beneath cumbersome, stilt legs the floor came alive, rolling with the ebb and flow of an unseen tide. Drunk, Judith knew she was, but hadn't the rational to back down. Not now, not when she felt the fight had already begun.

With inebriated resolution, Judith slid away from the table, her feet scuffing a path towards the offensive patron, her hand out, tracing the furniture to supprot her uncertain balance.

He addressed her in approach, salacious and playful. "You and your friend lookin' for some company, baby?"

Judith wasn't anyone's baby. In liquid motion, as a tendril cuts water to ensnare prey, her arm lashed out, fingering knotting in the collar of his shirt before jerking him close. She could feel the heat effuse from his skin, like summer sun trapped in a parked car, could taste the bitters in his breath. Millimeters apart, pinned beneath Judith truncate gaze, and still he smiled. The wry grin of a brat who wants it rough.

She wacted to chew it off.
 
"Oh, God....Here we go..."Callie mumbled as Judith's taunt sliced through the stuffy room like a warm knife through butter. Mouth bone dry, the predecessors of anxiety crept into Callie's system, muscles taut. Nerves balled up like yarn and seemed to twitch with life. Looking onward Callie remained fastened to the booth as Judith stumbled in the direction of the lascivious patron. His body language suggested confidence fueled by alcohol, as did Judith for that matter. Clearly both participants of the spat had consumed their fair share of liquor.

Like icing on a cake, the man's verbal response only worsened their current situation. As if the nervous stares flicking in between the few workers wasn't a red flag for trouble, the man's phrase only escalated the situation, giving Judith more of an incentive to start swinging. Callie felt helpless and frozen, any words she attempted to make catching in her throat and stubbornly worming their way towards a rapidly beating heart. As a last ditch attempt to diffuse the situation Callie rose to her feet as Judith grabbed the man by the shirt. Raising her hands defensively she stepped away from the safety of the booth, reluctantly, and then said, "Uh...um..J..Judith..W..we s..should be..be g..going n..now.." In emphasis she pointed a lightly quaking finger at the door.

If Callie could have face palmed she would. Damn stutter, Callie lamented, fear plastered upon her face. She awkwardly shifted her weight from foot to foot and kept wide eyes trained on the two drunkards.
 
Callie's cavil was only a ripple in the bar ambiance, an insect trill of disturbance that swelled with the reverberation of Judith's memory. Should be- be g-going, be g- going, going. Stutter-beat obfuscation, catch it on the replay, Judith slowed as the meaning sank in. And further irritated her. She was doing them, everyone, a favor in teaching the man in her grip to keep to himself. She was defending their dignity, their pride and honor. Forbearance was never Judith's forte. And In the thrall of alcohol's caprice that truth was loath to bend no matter how cogent or clear Callie's exhortations be.

The only restraint Judith showed was in the lock of her jaw. Against all temptation to feel him writhe in the vice of her teeth, Judith wouldn't give him the satisfaction of having a woman's mouth against his skin. Soft targets needed no foreplay. Just a pounding, and Judith's split knuckles were restless to give it.

Judith pulled the patron to the tacky floor... eventually. Jerking at dead weight, like pulling an obstinate animal along, Judith hadn't the strength or leverage to move the languid patron. It was only by his own randy motivation, mistaking her roughness to be of sexual and not violent origins, that the pair toppled to a tangle of pawing palms and jutting elbows. The patron pulled her close, craning his neck to lay claim to hers while Judith adamantly clawed for room. All she needed was a breath, an inch to swing. And she won it.

Judith slugged him, jerked her elbow back with whiplash-abandon before pistoning her fist into his temple. A ketchup smear of blood marked their contact, but it wasn't his. Judith's scabs peeled free like stickers, her split knuckles beading fresh blood. Her hair was wild. Her clothes askew, spit at the corner of her lip, and the groping hand of the patron slowly retreating from her breast. Judith felt vindicated, then the floor.

Pain overrode libido, and in defense and fury the man took Judith by the hair, slamming her head into the tile. Nitrogen narcosis, like a diver surfacing for air, pain cut above the waves of inebriation, a razor's edge of clarity before Judith was pulled back under.
 
Words of caution fell on deaf ears. Like a defiant teen it was clear that Judith was going to follow through with her desires instead of heeding any warning. Prying hands clawed at the drunken male with a sort of desperation fueled by a dangerous mix of drunkenness and sheer, unrestrained aggression. A sense of fear held Callie frozen, as stiff as a toy figure, joints fixed.

Eventually Judith managed to pry the drunk male down onto the filthy floor where they grappled. Limbs flailed and flashed wildly, scrabbling for purchase against each other. Callie only moved when she flinched, startled by the sudden dull sound of bone to flesh. Blood splattered out from Judith's knuckles, the wounds reopening, eager to burst. In this turbulent moment Callie observed how animal like Judith's actions were. Unfiltered and with a reckless sort of abandon Judith looked no better than a battered dog, emaciated, face permanently fixated into a sour snarl.

The tide turned when the drunk male grabbed Judith by the hair and slammed her skull into the tiles. Horror played across Callie's features. "Cut...cut it..it out, d..damn it!"she exclaimed shrilly. Her hands clutched the sides of her head in a sense of bewilderment and disorientation, desperate to center herself. It all suddenly felt surreal, no more than a troubled nightmare, but she knew she wasn't going to wake up.
 
Black. Like the dark after a scintillating burst of light, Judith's vision went blind as her head met the floor beneath. Blearily it returned, but not before the pain. Even through alcohol-numbed nerves, she could feel her head swell with pressure, a headache threatening to burst. The levity of a balloon swelling in her skull cut a sharp contrast to the torpor of her body. She was sick, felt sick as hell, but had hardly even a chance to register that before her nose and lip were rent red by another blow to her face.

This time there wasn't pain, only the heat of blood flushing the wound. Her nose leaking rivulets, her lip split like the casing of a hotdog. Judith began to cough, choking on the drops of blood and spit that caught in her throat. She wasn't thinking. Even if she were sober, her reaction as the patron aimed another punch was impulsive. Raw instinct in the deafening throb of violence.

Judith bit him. Before he could strike, in the heartbeats between, Judith jerked herself close by the man's collar and took the skin of his jaw between her teeth. Screaming, like sirens and whistling steam, deafened her ear. She wanted his throat, wanted to feel his pulse in her mouth, but fell short. Still, Judith wouldn't relent her prize. The man had his hand on either side of her jaw, pinching it, trying to pry it open. She could feel hands on her shoulders. The bartender was trying to pull them apart, yelling to the cook to call the cops.

Cops...

That single word in cold clarity. Judith's jaw relaxed.
 
Until Callie's hand came free with a chunk of her hair she hand't realized that in a bout of intense anxiety, she had slipped a hand under her new head scarf to trouble her scalp. Shaky hands readjusted the garment with haste and a few strands of cherry red hair were dropped to the floor and shoved aside with her shoe, laying on the tile in the dirt. What was more concerning was the man holding Judith in place, drunken, brash, and more than eager to inflict damage to the wiry woman of equal drunkenness.

The direct blow to Judith's face elicited a flinch from the frozen figure witnessing the scene unfold with doe eyes. A grimace gave her features a pained look even though she wasn't the one scrabbling on the floor with a punctured lip. The blood was eye catching and alerted Callie of the damage being done to her partner in crime. Coughing erupted from Judith in a way that suggested great discomfort, enough to motivate Callie to at least take a few steps closer to the fallen bodies, almost as if intending to help when her brain caught up.

Suddenly an earsplitting cry burst from the man's mouth and Callie noted Judith's teeth were latched onto the man's chin, refusing to release. Muscle was crushed under teeth insistent on causing great damage. The man's attempts to dislodge Judith were laughably futile. Trying to free himself from Judith's bite was as unrealistic as convincing a bulldog from releasing its prey from its maw. The only factor more effective than force in this situation was the threat of requesting police intervention, a warning given by the bartender that had recently rushed to grab Judith. The bite was finally released.

Callie took this as her cue to act and when the bartender stepped aside ever so slightly, she closed the final distance between her and Judith. Her hands found themselves underneath Judith's arms and as she dug her heels in and tried to pull the drunken woman to her feet, she said, "C'mon Judith...It...it's t..time we left." Callie hoped that what strength she possessed and sheer size difference could help her guide Judith upwards and away from the fight. The car would be her beacon, a method to get away from this place as fast as possible to avoid further conflict or the contacting of the authorities. They had come much too far and sacrifice too much to stop now. Callie became motivated by her unyielding will to ensure the loss of her innocence was not in vain. She wouldn't murder for nothing.
 
Distance appeared as a chill of absence over Judith. The heat of blood and ire between their bodies carried away like a sigh to the wind, she felt them being pulled apart. Feet scuffling, snapping as they pulled from the tacky floor to adjust position. She could feel Callie at her back, a visceral knowing that it couldn't be anyone else. Only Callie. Reliable in that kid-sister sort of way, or possibly more... like a friend, something Judith never knew.

Callie could have taken off ages ago. Should have. Should have known better than to mix with Judith's lot. Could have taken any of the cars and fucked right off. Because what good had Judith ever been to her? Had made her lie, steal, bleed, and murder for a freedom that wasn't guaranteed. Callie could have let Judith die in the motel, could have killed Judith herself if she liked. But didn't. She could leave Judith on the floor of the bar for the police... but didn't.

Judith's feet scrambled for purchase, her back pressing against Callie as she did. The cops were coming. Judith hadn't time to be a burden- She wasn't anyone's burden. Just a lone wolf who'd put herself in a position of weakness, abstaining forbearance in favor of temporary relief. A bar had been no place to get drunk, not with an APB on them. She didn't have time to think of what Callie was to her or why she hung around. They had to leave. Knowing that, Judith resigned control to Callie. Trust extended in desperation.

"Get us out of here." a breathy order as she found her footing, relying heavily on Callie for balance. "Just get us out."
 
As the fight died down Callie was left to ponder for the millionth time how she ended up with someone like Judith in her company. A violent drunk with a lack of evident morality when it came to the desperation of survival. This was the same woman that had sent a bullet into the skull of a little boy. Aimed the gun with care, intentions clear, and watched the small figure drop into a lifeless heap. The same woman who had forced Callie mutilate herself to dispel 'bad blood.'

Such a dangerous person was one Callie would never have wanted to associate with. The sick truth was that she really didn't have to. She could just leave now while Judith was too drunk to register the situation. Never would she have to kill again. So why did she keep Judith around? The reason that first came to Callie's mind was sheer necessity. On her own Callie couldn't function well and wouldn't be compelled to act. Without a driving force she could never survive on the lam. Judith was an excellent motivator and while bringing Callie close to danger on many occasion she was also keeping Callie alive. Dependence was inevitable. The same trait that left her devastated after the divorce.

Suddenly Judith eased herself upwards and used Callie as a support, prepared to leave, understanding the gravity of their current predicament. The threat of the authorities was baring down hard. Callie responded to Judith's weak demand by grabbing Judith's arm and holding it so it rested on her shoulder blades, almost crutch like. It was the same way Judith had held onto Callie a few days ago. Both had reached points of severe inebriation in their travels. Slowly they progressed in the direction of the doorway and exited the stuffy little bar. As the door closed behind them the sound of music was snuffed out.

Once outside Callie made her way towards their car with Judith held carefully, pace practically a crawl considering the drunk woman's lack of coordination. Eventually they reached the vehicle and Callie opened the passenger door, gently depositing Judith near the seat. Then she walked around the front of the car and entered from the other side. In the driver's seat she grabbed the keys of the car from where they were resting on the floor, discarded, the car left unlocked. It was fortunate no decided to steal anything in a place this sketchy looking, but this was not Callie's concern since the car and all of their belongings were still thankfully untouched. The car's engine grumbled to life and once Judith had closed her door Callie guided the vehicle away from the bar, glad to see the old building retreating from the rear view mirror.
 
Distorted ambient voices, soft light, and the warmth of the bar's shared confines cut from Judith's senses like waking from a dream. Outside, the night tucked in around them. The quietude felt alien, unnerving in juxtaposition to the cacophony they'd just left. Judith couldn't remember where they were, where the car was. A cord of fear and vulnerability quietly revolted inside her as she reluctantly clung to Callie, relying on her to bring them to safety. Safety from the threat Judith had brought upon them.

How fucking careless. For all her perspicacity, experience, and will, for all her damn pontificating about doing what needed to be done, regardless of moral or consequence, Judith had fucked them on this one. She smiled wry and bitterly. The cops always did manage to find her drunk. Underfoot, the earth spun on an unnatural axis, gravity pulling her to the left. Her weight slumped dead against Callie, threatening them to walk at an angle. Judith didn't know how they made it to the car. Her mind only registered the change from asphalt to shifting gravel before hearing the car door pop open.

With Callie's persuasion, Judith gracelessly folded into the passenger's seat. She felt like cargo, rock and lumber bundled in skin. Heavy. She wanted to vomit. Like a tangible wall of sound, Judith felt the engine turn over. She hadn't even noticed Callie get in the car. A moment's pause, Judith looked aside and finally noted her open door. It closed with a clumsy jerk of force. Fuck a seat-belt, just drive, drive somewhere far and dark where the searchlights wouldn't find them. That was all Judith wanted.

As they pulled back onto the road, streetlights winking as they passed under, Judith wanted to say something. But nothing apposite came to mind. No joke to bring levity to their situation. No apology as Judith wasn't sorry. Just flippant retrospection. Judith smiled crookedly as she rested her head against the window. "We gotta avoid bars, man" she chuckled darkly. "Cops got a way of findin' me in 'em."
 
Nerves were wound into a cord, one that was pulled taut. Suffocating paranoia enveloped Callie. Her heart beat at a hummingbird like rate and thoughts flashed about in her mind. Worried musing left her silent for now. As she steered the car away from the bar and onto the highway Callie found herself checking the rear view mirror often for signs of flashing red and blue lights. No whooping sirens pursued them. At least not yet.

The prospect of jail and the gravity of shock was enough to prevent Callie from breaking down. With Judith rendered useless by inebriation it was up to the fearful redhead to pull herself together and guide them to relative safety, a hefty responsibility. Callie attempted to quell her anxiety by redirecting her focus. Their surroundings were distraction enough, at least for a few moments of reprieve. Night had descended upon them and left the lingering traces of summer heat in its wake. The sky had began to transition from a rosy sunset color to the deep purple hues of the nocturnal hours. Traffic was not as congested. Stars shone like faint pinpoints, only a handful visible with the remaining shreds of light, littered across the sky like freckles. Dry grass and other pathetic forms of flora framed the long stretch of highway.

Judith had decided to speak up now, offering a scrap of humor in a situation this bleak. "Agreed,"was all Callie offered tersely. Words didn't have a way of finding her easily when she was stirred up. Which was now often considering she was on the lam with a very violent and now drunken woman. Tranquility was a luxury in such a turbulent new life. If 'new life' even was a fitting term here. It certainly was vastly different from what Callie was accustomed to, but very unlike the usual lifer alterations since resorting to a life of crime was not high on people's New Year's resolution list.
 
They were driving away, away from the scene of another, lesser crime. Judith had a way of aggregating them, each an insect drawn by the effluvium of her rotting moral compass. Her iniquity had never been pretty. Not shiny metals or rousing stories. More akin to battle wounds, paper-trail scars that would forever mark her wicked. Something aberrant, an anathema. Judith smiled in thinking such. On the run, prey to the law, and she couldn't help feeling a little arrogant. Because despite all the world's efforts, her spirit still remained intact.

Her stomach, however, felt like it was being corroded to a sieve. Nausea was mounting, and the mixed sensations of motion and rest only worsened her sickness. Judith was going to vomit. She could feel it. Spit slicked her mouth as her stomach threatened to clench. Who knew when they'd next acquire a car, and hell the one they had was good enough not to give up, being ostensibly untraceable as it was. Judith wasn't about to hurl in it. Corpses had already perfumed the trunk with their redolent scent. A pit stop at a car wash would only make the situation worse.

"Pull over." Judith ordered softly after some time, preceding a stabilizing breath. "Pull the fuck over, I'm gonna fucking barf." her patience quickly fraying beneath need. Judith's hand was on the window controls, ready to slowly, agonizingly drop it if Callie couldn't find the means to humor the request. "Please" Judith hadn't even heard herself slip in such a weak, and pleading word.
 
Ahead the road seemed to stretch on infinitely. The car glided over meters upon meters of faded asphalt, the head lights illuminating the crackled surface. For now the only sound present was that of the engine's hum and the sound of the wind outside of the vehicle as they sped onward, leaving behind their recent transgression. Sure enough the authorities would be alerted and they'd halfheartedly search for the woman that had made a show of tackling a patron. That is, if the bartender really intended to carry out his threat.

Where would they go now? Night had descended and left them in search of some sort of resting place, a reprieve from the chaos of the day. A day that had began with mutilating corpses and ended with intoxication. For now they had to keep driving to escape potential threats, at least an hour or so. Callie pondered their dilemma and decided that they could find some place to pull over and sleep in the car, perhaps a vacant parking lot or a roadside rest stop. Somewhere where they could at least catch a moment of rest before continuing their trip north. Before Callie could worry herself with their destination and the means to get there she was interrupted by Judith's quietly uttered demand.

Callie glanced over and quickly noticed that Judith looked a little green. Sure enough the woman threatened that she was about to vomit and Callie found herself turning on the hazard lights, decelerating, and pulling off of the road. As she went about the series of actions she heard Judith beside her just barely mutter, "Please." Such a fragile sounding plea came as a surprise. The current vulnerability of Judith was evident, the hardened demeanor giving away to an alcohol induced weakness. The car pulled to a stop on the side of the road.
 
Head heavy, the world spinning, Judith fumbled with the door latch. Her entire weight against it, she slumped from the car to the dusty macadam of to roadside. It was hot beneath her palms, still clinging to the day's sun. She could have slept there. Like a cat basking in light- no. More cold blooded, like a reptile. Judith felt her stomach twist. It clenched, but still refused to release. Shifting to her knees, bowed like the damned begging supplication, Judith held her stomach tight, awaiting relief.

Her body heaved, lurched and finally the sicky-sweet bile of her stomach spilled forth, pattering wetly to the ground. Twice more her stomach wrung itself before satisfied. Judith sat a moment, breathing hard before she wiped the remnants from her lip. She could only imagine how pathetic she looked. Chuckling darkly to herself, Judith struggled back into the passenger's seat. A person of her status was always looked down upon, powerless to the persuasions of those more affluent. It only made sense that she thoroughly look her part from time to time.

The door closed behind her. "We should- we should find a place for the night." Judith suggested, her voice a croak in the back of her throat. "I ain't in any position to drive, and I'll bet you another beer that you're no trucker able to pull an all nighter." she smiled at her own jibe, head rolling along her shoulders to rest once again against the window. "Nobody seen our car at the bar. Don't worry 'bout cops, just find us a place cozy."
 
With a half horrified, half sympathetic look Callie watched as Judith flopped out of the vehicle. Then she proceeded to collapse and heave roughly, expelling her body of some toxins. Callie idly wished her negativity could be purged like that. While she was certainly not near as smashed as Judith, the day had taken a toll on her. How could it not? After all, today she had beat the teeth out of a mutilated corpse. Then, like the macabre cherry on the top, she had also witnessed her partner in crime shooting a little boy in cold blood. The smell of corpses had lingered in the car and that would perhaps fade with time, but the memory of rotting flesh would always remain imprinted. Now Callie rested her head up against her window and closed her eyes. Waiting for Judith to hopefully pull herself back into the vehicle was more favorable than thinking of corpses or looking at the vomit pooling on the ground.

Finally Judith returned to the vehicle and took her seat again. This served as a cue and Callie switched off the hazard lights before pulling onto the highway again. Without looking at Judith, Callie listened to what the woman had to say. Somewhere cozy. No place would ever feel 'cozy' in their current predicament, but the message was clear enough. Find a place to stay. The mention of a place sort of threw out the idea of sleeping in the car so Callie began to scan exit signs for viable motels.

A few minutes passed quietly. On the side of the road up ahead was a tall sign that flashed, "Vacant," in red letters, pinned underneath some business name that was disregarded completely. All that mattered was that there were rooms available and they had no room to be picky. This place wouldn't leave any mints on the pillows, that was evident. Callie felt the tug of her eyelids and deemed this option a good enough one, pulling off of the highway and steering towards the little motel. "How does this look?"she asked Judith.
 
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