Yellow Lines
Yellow line, yellow line, yellow line, yellow line… it was the only thing Amanda could do. Yellow line, yellow line, yellow line… she had counted up to eight hundred and forty three yellow lines she had passed since… since she had last lost count anyway. She kept her speed at a rather slow forty miles an hour on the freeway, despite having not seen another car on the road. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she was scared even to go this fast. She had never topped 25 on her Uncle’s motorcycle. “My Uncle…” she thought. “My Uncle… my dad… my mom… my brother… where are they?”
It occurred to Amanda that because of the major crisis at hand she hadn’t even spoken to her family in over a week. They were probably worried sick about her. She hoped they had left with the rest of the droves leaving Sunnydale. If not… She shook her head and went back to concentrating on the road.
She had soon discovered during her trip that she was not completely healed from her wounds. The wound in her belly had soon reopened and she had to use her brown jacket to bandage the wound. She needed to get some help, but she hadn’t seen any signs of civilization since she had left Sunnydale. Except, of course, for this road.
She knew she was going south, but she didn’t know what exactly was out here. She remembered her parents taking her and her brother to Disneyland once, when her dad had gotten that bonus, before being laid off three months later, so she knew Disneyland was south of Sunnydale. So perhaps, if she kept going this direction, she would eventually get to LA?
She glanced at the gas gauge. Almost empty. If she didn’t find someplace to stop soon she’d be walking to LA. “Not like I have any money to spend on gas or food or clothes…” Amanda shivered as the wind chilled her bare arms.
Amanda had always hated wearing revealing clothing, and usually wore a jacket or vest to over her arms if she wore a short sleeved short. Even bare arms felt revealing to her. Her arms were going numb in the wind. She just hoped to find shelter soon.
Amanda absently scratched her goose bump covered right arm as she continued on. Something in the distance… a sign? Maybe a gas station! Or a rest stop! Hopefully this place wasn’t abandoned, she needed desperately to stop and rest. Maybe even use a phone to try and get a hold of her parents.
As she approached, she noticed that it was indeed still in business, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a gas station OR a rest stop. It was a biker bar. Amanda gritted her teeth and parked near the road, not wanting them to see her until she had a chance to get the feeling in her buttocks back after all that riding.
She dismounted and stretched. Amanda could FEEL the Slayer strength surging through her veins. During her trip, she had discovered that being a Slayer seemed to… complete her; as if everything up until now was just preparation for the rest of her life. This WAS the rest of her life.
Amanda smiled and removed the bloody jacket from her belly and checked the wound. Just a scar. With time, that would go away completely, thanks to her accelerated healing rate.
She left the jacket on her bike and walked toward the bar. She stopped just outside, glancing at the rows of bikes and listening to the bar noises: Laughing, yelling, cursing, television playing loud. She took a deep breath and walked inside.
The noise seemed to die down when she entered, except for the TV. The smell of beer, vomit, and cigarette smoke assaulted Amanda’s nose as soon as she stepped pass the entryway. She noticed a few dozen heads turn to look at her, bikers and their “girlfriends.”
“Ummm… hi.” She said, almost whispering. “I just need to use the phone…” She saw a pay phone next to the bathroom where a few more men were exiting, and than taking notice of her.
A whistle pierced her ears, than more, followed by laughter. She rushed to the phone and put the receiver to her ear, immediately reeling at the smell of the phone. It smelled like… bodily fluids!
Amanda struggled not to gag and reached into her pocket. She didn’t have any identification on her, but she had a few coins, and a small cross. She inserted the coins into the phone and began to dial her brother’s cell phone number, unaware of the men coming up behind her.
It was ringing! She smiled; maybe this wasn’t such a bad day after all. A hand fell on the phone hook, disconnecting her. “Hey, what the heck…” she managed, looking at the fat, hairy arm connected to the hand that had interrupted her call. She felt another hand grab her butt.
Amanda let out a squeal and turned around. “Hey, who’s the jerk…?!” She started, and than stopped when she noticed the six men who were now surrounding her.
“Hey there cutie, aren’t you a little young to be in a bar?” The one who had grabbed her butt wore a leather jacket, was very overweight, had a long beard but was completely bald on top. The others roared with laughter at his comment.
“Come on Joey, finish up with the runt and then come back to momma!” A biker chick, sitting at a table and smoking a fancy looking cigarette, called out to him. “Hyuk, hyuk, you sure gots purdy skin little missy,” another one said while staring at her bare arms. This one was also bald, had a short beard, and wore a large, toothless grin.
“Me and the boys are just gonna have a little bit of fun with the girl, Ronda!” Joey responded. “Just gonna see if she’s ever known a man.” He leaned his head close to Amanda, breathing heavily, the smell of smoke mixed with alcohol almost overpowering her.
Amanda tried to push her way through them, but they pushed her back hard, pinning her against the wall. “Please… I just want to use the phone…” She managed.
They all started snickering again as more and more closed around her. “Let’s just see what you got in there…” Joey said, reaching forward to lift up her shirt. In reflex, Amanda smacked his hand away, hard.
“She broke my arm!” The man reeled back, howling in pain, crying out obscenities that involved comparing her to a female dog. Another man came and threw a punch, which Amanda easily blocked and delivered a blow into his belly, sending him back into a group of men, knocking them all down.
Amanda started for the door when three other men blocked her path. “We were just gonna make a woman out of ya, and this is how you treat us?!” One of the men screamed, drawing a nasty looking knife.
Amanda kicked it out of his hand, ducking another knife to the right. She pounded each one into the ground, some through the bar window, and some out the door. The bikers were broken and bloody and out of the fight for now.
Several bikers grabbed pool cues and came after her, swinging them. Amanda leapt over them and ran to the other side of the bar, near the pool table, searching for another cue. There were none. She gritted her teeth as the would-be-rapists came at her, swinging their cues.
She dodged one, delivering a blow into the man’s stomach, bringing him to the ground with a crack. Another tried to impale her on the stick, but she grabbed the pool cue and, using the momentum of the attack, smashed the man onto the wall.
Another man was throwing pool balls at her! She used very basic defense maneuvers involving her hands to knock each one away. The man ran out of balls, but then someone jumped her from behind!
It was a lightweight body, feminine. One of the biker girls had jumped on her back and was tearing at her hair. Amanda screeched and tried to shake her off. Another woman came up and began to slug her in the gut. It was still a bit tender from her wound and she feared it would open again.
Amanda ran her back into the wall, knocking the first woman off, and than caught the second woman’s fist and brought it around her back before lifting her up and slamming her onto one of the pool tables.
The man who had thrown the balls at her was still standing, now backing up quickly. Amanda ran toward him, leapt in the air, and did a flying roundhouse kick that knocked him into a nearby table, breaking it.
Amanda stopped, gasped for breath, and looked around, searching for more attackers. It was than that she realized the damage she had done. Men were fallen everywhere, groaning in pain. Some were unmoving. Tables and chairs were splintered. She had demolished half the bar while the other half stood watching, stunned.
Amanda checked her pockets again. “That was my last coin you JERKS!!” She screamed, very upset that she could not make contact with her family. The bartender, who had remained silent until now, called out nervously.
“M-miss? Y-you c-can u-use my phone if y-you w-want!” He pulled out a small portable phone from beneath the bar and put it on the table. Amanda walked through the broken bodies and moaning all around her before arriving to the bar and picking up the phone. “Thanks!” She said cheerfully, and began to dial.
It ran twice, just as it did before, but than cut off in a very familiar chime. “We’re sorry, the number you are trying to reach-“she cursed and slammed down the phone, breaking it. “Oh… sorry.” She said sheepishly to the terrified bartender.
“I-i-it’s ok!” the man insisted. “Please! Just tell me what you want, and you got it!” Some of the bikers were starting to get up and move around now.
“Welllllllll….” Amanda started, looking up, considering. “I sure am thirsty! Do you have 7-UP?”
“S-s-sure.” He said, looking around the bar. He mostly sold liquor, but there were times when one of the biker ladies wanted something that wouldn’t give them much of a buzz. “Is S-sprite okay?” He asked, about to pour her a glass.
Amanda huffed, annoyed that he didn’t carry her favorite. “Fine.” She snapped, causing the man to jump. The glass shook violently as he filled it, spilling a lot, but he got most of the liquid inside.
“By the way, I don’t really have any money…” Amanda said, hoping he wouldn’t get mad and throw her out.
“It’s okay! It’s on me! And anything else you want!” He answered quickly, giving her the glass.
“Ewwww...” She said, scrunching up her face as she looked at the drink. “Could I at least get it in a clean glass?” He nodded, shaking from head to toe, and took the glass away, and went to work finding a clean one.
“H-h-h-hey t-t-there miss?” A voice said to her right, smelling of dried beer and vomit. Amanda held up her fist, ready to defend herself.
The biker sitting next to her jumped back, raising both his hands up. “N-n-no! P-p-please! I j-just wanna t-talk! I s-swear!” He stuttered.
“Oh… okay, but I usually don’t date guys umm… more than two years older than me…” She said with a nervous grin.
The man shook his head. “N-no. No!” He exclaimed, turning his head to watch many of the bikers leaving, humiliated. “I j-j-just w-wanted to apologize for our b-bad behavior.” He took a deep breath and swallowed. “I w-would l-like to repay you, anyway I c-can.”
The bartender delivered her Sprite, in a clean glass. “Me too! Yeah, so you said you need some money? A ride somewhere? A change of clothes? Anything miss…”
“Amanda.” Amanda said, sipping her drink.
“Amanda…” the biker said, repeated by the bartender.
“…just you name it!” Finished the bartender.
“Well… I could use a new jacket… and maybe some cash for the road…”
“S-sure! Sure thing!” The Bartender said, pulling out a small safe.
“Right, jacket, gotcha,” the Biker turned around. “Hey Lucy! You got any jacket this girl could wear?” A slender woman, several years older than Amanda, walked over from a pool table. Her hair was graying much sooner than it should have and her face was covered in wrinkles. A cigarette seemed to be permanently attached to her face. “Why the hell are you-“she stopped when she noticed Amanda.
“…why hello there darlin’!” She seemed to brighten up when she saw Amanda. “I saw you doin a number on those scumbags. What’s a purdy girl like you doing all the way out here alone in a place like this?”
“Oh, Hi!” Amanda said, trying to be friendly. “My name is Amanda, and I’m from Sunnydale, well, what’s left of Sunnydale anyway, which is really weird ‘cause-”
Amanda stopped when “Lucy” started getting closer to her. “You’re quite the talker, ain’t ya?”
Amanda smiled sheepishly. “I talk a lot when I get nervous…”
“Why, there’s nothing for you to be nervous about darlin’, it’s jus’ you an’ me…” she began to lean closer to Amanda’s ear.
Amanda jumped up quickly. “Well, it’s been nice talking to you, but I really should be going…”
“Come on honey, I just wanna give you some suga…” Lucy said, standing up.
“Look, I-I-I only l-like guys, okay?” She stammered.
Lucy wrinkled her nose with a snort. “Pity, I could’ve shown you such a nice time…”
Amanda looked at the biker nervously, who was now laughing. “Lucy, don’t scare the poor girl! She just needs some new clothes, and well, you two look about the same size…”
“Now don’t you just start givin’ my clothes away, Amos! You know how I feel about that,” Lucy said, frowning.
“Come on Lucy… just this one little favor… it’ll make up for the time I helped you rip off that KFC.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Fine, but now we’re even!” She turned to Amanda. “This way sweetie.” She started walking toward a back room, Amanda following her.
About twenty minutes later, when the sun was just starting to go down, Amanda returned. She felt strange wearing this woman’s clothes. They were nothing like she usually wore. And they smelt of smoke and liquor.
“Mmmmhmmm…some of my best work!” Lucy exclaimed, looking over Amanda’s new “look.”
“Are you sure it’s all right? It feels a bit… revealing.” The jeans that had replaced her torn, bloody jeans were extremely tight. The shirt she had worn during the battle was badly torn, so Lucy had given her one of her shirts, which was also quite tight. She also had an old leather jacket that Lucy wasn’t wearing anymore.
“Honey, you look wonderful! Like you were my own daughter!”
“I-I f-feel kind of… slutty… am I supposed to feel like that?” Amanda asked nervously.
Lucy laughed. “Of course sweetie! You wanna attract them boys, don’t ya?”
Amanda glanced down at her new outfit. “Well, no, not particularly…”
“I thought you said you liked the boys?” Lucy said, raising her brow.
“Well, I-I do, it’s just that…”
“Ah, say no more! Just a bit ‘confused’ are ya? That’s normal for a girl your age, just do whatever feels right!” Lucy grinned, raising her arms high and pointing at herself. “That’s what got me where I am today!”
Amanda smiled and nodded nervously. “I-I’ll keep that in mind, Miss Lucy.”
“Ah, call me Lucy!” she smiled in an almost motherly way. “Anything else ya need darlin’?”
“Well… my bike is almost out of gas, and, to be honest, I really don’t know where I’m going.” Amanda answered, rubbing her hands together out of habit.
“Ah, say no more!” Lucy turned around. “Amos!!” She screamed. “Get your sorry, worthless butt over here!”
Amos approached from the counter. “You don’t have to shout! I’m just shootin some pool!”
Lucy smiled, taking her cigarette out for the first time Amanda had seen. “I know dear, I just like getting you over here quickly… it arouses me…” She gave a mischievous grin.
“You’re scary Luce, you know that?”
“I know dear,” she gestured to Amanda. “Won’t you refill our young friend here’s gas tank, and give her an extra can for the road, eh?”
Amos smiled at Amanda, a worried look in his eyes. “Of course… anything for our friend here,” he said between his teeth, obviously annoyed.
“Wow, thanks a lot you guys!” Amanda grinned, completely oblivious to the tension between the two.
“Of course dear.” Lucy nodded while Amos left to refill Amanda’s bike.
“May I ask… why are you doing all of this for me?” Amanda asked, eyebrows raised.
Lucy looked at her, confused. “Why, you proved yourself here today girl.” She took another drag of her cigarette. “Now, while I don’t agree with what they tried to do to you, you have earned the respect of this entire bar. You’re such a frail little thing too…” She added, followed by a “tsk-tsk-tsk.”
Amanda smiled nervously. “Well… thanks… I think.”
“Here honey,” she said, reaching for a helmet at the table behind her. “Wear this, wouldn’t want you to get pulled over with no ID on you, would you?” She handed Amanda the helmet. It was just a regular black helmet, large face piece, a bit bigger than she thought Lucy would wear.
“Wow, thanks Lucy. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Amanda said, accepting the helmet.
“Hell, I don’t mind.” Lucy snorted. “It ain’t mine anyway!”
“Oh, well are you sure it’s okay?”
“Yeah I’m sure. One of those guys you beat up, his name is Bosco. This is his helmet. That boy won’t be back for a very long time.” She snickered. “He ain’t used to a woman getting the better of him.”
“Oh…. Well that’s… good. Thank you.” She said, finally starting to feel comfortable around this woman.
“I keep tellin ya its fine darlin’,” she turned to the bartender, who was just walking over.
“Hey M-miss Amanda?” He started, still a bit nervous around her. “I brought you some cash, just to get ya started.” He handed her a roll of bills. “I hope four hundred dollars is enough?”
Amanda opened her mouth wide, shocked. “Wow I’ve never even SEEN that much mo-“She stopped mid-sentence. She was a Slayer now; she needed to act more professional. She nodded her head, trying to wipe the look of surprise from her face. “Four hundred dollars will be fine, thank you.”
“No problem little lady. You come back next time you’re in the area, ya hear?”
Amanda nodded. “Sure thing.” She said, before turning at the sound of the bar door opening.
“You’re all filled up now, attached another can to your back seat too. Assuming you don’t break down, you should be fine for a while.” Amos said, wiping grease from his hands. “Any idea where you’re going yet?”
“Well… actually, I’m not to sure. I’m supposed to find this big group of girls and like, train with them, but I think they may all be dead now, so maybe I should go searching for…” she realized she was rambling again. “Anything, you know, weird going on?
“Weird how?” The bartender asked.
“Well… do you know of any… evil going around? I’ve… kinda been called to fight it.” She said with a nervous grin. No one was laughing.
“Evil?” Amos said, pondering her words.
“You don’t believe me?”
Lucy chuckled. “Well, figured you had all those skills for something. Lots of folks from all around come here telling us weird stuff. Especially from that town just north of here. What was is it called Fred?”
“Sunnyvale… or Summerdale, or something…” The bartender shook his head.
“Sunnydale,” Amanda finished.
“Yeah, maybe you should head there.” Lucy said.
“I can’t.”
“Why not doll? I’m sure you can handle yourself there.”
“That’s not it.”
“Why not than honey?”
Amanda sat for a moment, not speaking. Until finally, “As of earlier this afternoon, Sunnydale is just one big sinkhole. I came from there… It’s where I used to live.”
“Wow, did you see what happened?” Amos asked.
Amanda looked down. “I’d really rather not talk about it.”
Lucy landed a hard hand on the back of Amos’ head. “What’s wrong with you boy?! The poor girl’s obviously been through a traumatizing experience!”
Amos rubbed his head and cursed. “Ah! Ow! You could have just nudged me or somethin’…” He looked back at Amanda. “Sorry ‘bout that honey, I wasn’t thinking…” Lucy began to mutter something about ‘never thinking’, but Amos continued. “If it’s weird you’re lookin’ for, I’d try LA. Just about an hour south.”
Amanda shook her head. “No, thanks though. LA is already being covered by… another group.” She said, remembering hearing Buffy talk about Angel and his group in the massive city, and what they were doing to battle evil. On second thought, maybe she would join up with them?
“Well… you’re free to stay around here for as long as you want, I’ll get a bed ready for you in the back room.” Lucy said, getting up and stretching. It had been hours since Amanda had walked in looking for a phone and she was tired. She decided to take Lucy up on her offer and soon afterwards, she found herself sleeping in a cot, rank with the smell of alcohol, smoke, and vomit.
Well, sleeping wasn’t quite the word for it. Tossing and turning in a barroom, where she soon suspected many children had been “conceived” was more like it. Amanda didn’t know how long she had been staring at the ceiling, but it had to be well past midnight by now.
Amanda sat up in the darkness and lifted up her shirt a few inches. She looked down and rubbed her belly, where she had been stabbed the day before. No scar! She didn’t even look injured anymore.
Amanda smiled and swung her legs over the cot, landing on the floor. She rose and dressed quickly, then gathered the helmet Lucy had given her as well as the money the bartender Fred had given her and opened the door slowly.
The place was closed down for the night, so she didn’t have to worry about someone seeing her, but she didn’t want to make a lot of noise either. She pulled up one of the back windows and climbed out, heading toward her motorcycle, which was now lined up where the other cycles had been earlier.
She climbed on the bike, pushed her helmet down onto her head, and walked it out of the parking spot. Turing the bike, she pressed down the clutch and started the engine, speeding into the night.
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