As you go West we follow, till our hearts are at rest.

The highway leaving the city passed as an unremarkable blur, Milan’s mind was far too occupied by the events of the past 24 hours to take in the landscape through the passenger side window of her girlfriend’s car. The late evening air blowing through the cracked window carried the aroma of car exhaust and fertilizer as they gained distance from the city limits. Milan cranked her window closed.

Milan was a young woman with a tall and slender build, her hair was split down the middle, jet black on her left, and stark white on her right. She never dyed her hair, this unnatural colouring was the result of an accident involving her newest fascination with witchcraft, though she has been less inclined to the supernatural after this.

Rebecca performed an exaggerated gesture approximating a gag and a choke, followed by a gesture representing death. Looking for a reaction other than a despondent frown from her girlfriend, Rebecca sighed and rolled her window up with her squeaky and rough window crank. Watching Rebecca struggle with the crank was enough to break through Milan’s frozen expression, smirking a little as Rebecca made an exaggerated cartoonish grunt with every rotation.

Rebecca was only two years older than Milan, but life made her mature faster than she should have naturally. She wore a hand-me-down flannel of Milan’s, and had tattoos that Milan gave her, and some she gave herself.

“We’ll be fine, we don’t have to worry about anyone following us. It’s not like they’ll find him.” Rebecca reassuring Milan.

“we’re still the last people he was seen with. Somebody is going to ask questions eventually.” Milan said obviously still worried.

“And we’ll be cozy and safe in Vancouver with Casey before anyone can know we’re gone. We’ll be okay.” Rebecca said, making sure this was the end of this topic for now. Fiddling with the radio, searching for music they could listen to and relax.

Punk Rock music underlaid with static fills the tense air in the car as they drive in silence. Milan is visually upset about something, fiddling with her black leather messenger bag.

“I forgot the fucking CDs.” Milan mumbles to herself

Rebecca continues to drive in silence but is noticeably saddened by the news that they had to leave behind the mixes they had made together over the years. Playing with the piercing in her lip for any kind of stimulus other than a plain road.

Now past the farms and in a forest of wind turbines, the radio had stopped receiving their home town’s Rock Radio, strengthening the impact that they would never be able to return home. Neither of the girls moved to change the radio, sitting in the static stunned by this feeling.

Looming on the horizon was the city of Windsor, they planned for a detour through Windsor and then through Detroit, then heading back across the border to Highway 1 to save time rounding the great lakes. While they could still text Casey, they told them that this would be the fastest and safest route. before they lost contact with them.

Milan managed to find an American station playing Classic Rock, while neither would have chosen this music under normal circumstances, it was preferrable to the static.

Only stopping in a McDonalds drive-thru in Windsor, the pair passed through both cities quietly listening to the clearest radio station they could, 98.4 FM Detroit Classic Rock Radio, the station bumper burned into their memory enough that they would sing along to the advertisement every time it came on to lighten the mood.

With the sun was long set, the moon was working with the headlights to light their drive out of the city. Eventually the Classic Rock station faded into the sea of static. Now between cities they could only tune into an AM pop music station, this would satisfy them enough. Arriving at a rest stop in a farm town between cities, Rebecca was too tired to drive. The couple folded the back seat down to make a bed in the back seat, squeezed between each other and the luggage they could gather on such short notice, they slept for the first time since running away from home together.