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Out in the parking lot, two trucks gas up at the pumps. A family eats their fast-food meals in their station wagon with the windows rolled down. Two guys stand by a stack of tires, away from the pumps, smoking like a couple of idiots. And over where the bus was parked earlier, I see nothing but a big empty space.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
I push through the MegaMart doors so hard, the bell jangles like it’s caffeinated. Gonzo’s still at the Captain Carnage game.
“Gonzo!” I snarl.
“Dude, not now! The Teddy Vamps are on me.”
“I thought you were watching the bus!”
“The bus?” He doesn’t take his eyes off the game.
“Yeah. You know, that long, rectangular vehicle that gets our asses out of here and is nowhere to be seen?”
Gonzo finally looks up, wide-eyed.
“Yeah, exactly,” I say.
We race outside to the parking lot and stand in the empty space where there used to be a bus to Florida.
Gonzo swallows hard. “It’s …”
“… gone,” I finish. “Congratulations. We are officially f**ked.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Wherein We Take a Van Ride with Possible Serial Killers
“I don’t understand. I looked outside, like, maybe two seconds before and it was there, dude. I swear.”
“Two seconds,” I repeat.
“I swear!”
“Let’s go to the replay. Hmmm, oh, looks like maybe Gonzo was so busy smoking Little Miss Muffet he forgot. To watch. For the damn. Bus!”
“I’m sorry,” he says, hanging his head like a little kid who just peed on your carpet by mistake.
“Just keep looking for signs of civilization.”
We’re on a dirt road in the middle of freakin’ nowhere. So far, we’ve passed a farm that stank to high heaven, some cotton fields, and four ancient husks of tractors getting their rust tans in the sun. It’s bright and the heat’s beating hard on the back of my neck.
“Try calling her again,” Gonzo says.
“I’ve tried. She’s not coming.” I started yelling for Dulcie the minute we realized the bus was truly gone and we were on our own. But I guess she’s taking that “leave me alone” edict seriously.
o;I’m okay. How is everybody there?”
“Mom and Dad are completely freaked. They put posters up all over town. And people have these brown and white ribbons on their trees that they say they’re not taking down till you come home again.”
“Brown and white?”
“Like a cow.” She sucks in her breath. “The cops are looking for you, Cameron. They traced your credit card to New Orleans. Cameron, why don’t you just come home? Please?”
“I can’t do that, Jenna. Not until I find the guy who can cure me.”
“What are you talking about? What guy?” She sounds like she’s about to cry.
