Chapter... I'm running out of names

"This isn't Washington" Yrsa squinted at the streets

"Heh, follow me" Erika lead the way

They walked beside the busy roads, the air filled with road rage fueled car horns- until they came across a small pizzeria named "big sals"

Wooden seats surround tables barely big enough for a pizza

The walls were covered in different italian sights, and the smell of freshly baked pizza filled the air

At the back, with a view into the kitchen, a brick countertop with a window showed a collection of different types of pizza

"You've been here?"

"I've been a lot of places"

She rang the bell at the front

"Oh shit, customers"

The sound of metal falling over followed by a ow met their ears

And a large man gilded around the corner wearing one of those tall chiefs hats and a greasy apron

"Erika?" he spoke through his thick bushy moustache

"Good to see the place still intact"

He threw his hands into the air

"Aaaa, it's great to see you, who's your friend here"

"She's Yrsa. the outfits, well- a long story"

"Well your welcome to use the bathroom if you have a spare change of clothes" he pointed to his side behind the window

When she left he asked in a hushed tone

"So these are the people your running with"

"Well she just killed two people and saved my life so.."

"It's been a long day?"

"Yeah"

"When's the last time you ate?"

"I don't know"

"The usual?"

"Yes, please"

He went to the back and started cooking, later Yrsa re-joined her on a table

"So what convoluted reason do you know him"

"We moved to new york when I was 15, I was given my first command, this front- stayed for about a year"

"Bet the people here didn't like being bossed around by a child"

"The came around"

He came back in and lay a :golden, crunchy, fresh pizza on the table

Yrsa looked up at Erika

"Thanks" Erika said tried

"If you need me, I'll be in the back"

Erika gestured at the pizza "Have some, bet your tired after all that"

She shrugged and took a piece

As soon as it touched her tongue her taste buds were transported to heaven

"When sal took over cooking, we got so many order we could shut down as a front"

"I'm not surprised"

A awkward silence filled the room

"Thanks for earlier"

"Why?"

"Well you saved us"

"Oh yeah... just date me and we'll call it even"

"Sounds like a deal" a grin formed on her face

'Holy shit it worked' Yrsa screamed Internally

After (somewhat) recovering her self Yrsa asked

"How do we get home?" while eating some pizza

"Don't worry about that"

Erika appeared ca;m but inside she had a million questions a minute

"How DO we get home, how long has it been, what about the cops, what happened to the rest?"

And Yrsa was still screaming internally

They got a hotel room with the money Erika managed to steal,

It was a small mouldy motel, and despite the fact it's (Kinda) new- it still looks like it was built in the 70's and the bed felt like lying on a table

Yrsa woke up in the early hours to find Erika hunched over a desk with a notebook illuminated by a dim light

Yrsa rubbed the sleep from her eyes

"Is everything o.k"

"Oh... yes just thinking"

"It's" she got her phone "4, have you even slept?"

"...no" Yrsa got up and walked over to her

"You need to sleep"

"I;ll be fine"

"we can't be both deprived" she placed her hand on her shoulder

"Erika, don't panic, stand up and move away from the chair, slowly"

Confused but trusting she obliged

"What is it?"

Yrsa had been walking back along with her

She now put her hands under Erikas hips and picked her up

"WAIT NO, what are you doing?"

"Your sleeping, whether you want to or not"

"Fine" she muttered under her breath

Yrsa placid herself onto the bed still holding her

Yrsa was quickly asleep, while Erika took a while longer as her mind was still going a million miles a minute

But for the first time in a long time, Erika didn't have nightmares, in fact her mind was blank for the first time she could remember

Yrsa woke up to Erika resting on her shoulder and she had her leg wrapped around her's, so she couldn't move - not the she wanted to

Her freckled face was at peace, she had always looked slightly tense but now, beneath her messy ginger hair was a version of Erika who hadn't: seen death, never had a home, lived a lonely life, was always in danger and was thinking about revenge, she was innocent to her-self

They lay frozen for a while longer,then the beast awakened

"Ew, why does it smell like beer" she whispered thought sleep

She looked up at Erika with a blank expression on her face

"What time is it?" she sat up and rubbed the her eyes

"Tuesday?"

She got up,checked her phone

It read back 11:43

"Get up were late" she began rushing around picking stuff up

"Why the rush"

"We need to catch a train" she threw Yrsa jacket across the room at her, then returned to stuffing things into a backpack

They walked out into the crowded new york streets

All sorts of cars and people filled the streets and sidewalks

They hastily made their way to and Iron gate with barbed wire and warning signs

"Jacket" Erika held out her hand

Yrsa handed it to her

She covered the barbed wire with the leather side and climbed over it in one smooth move

She looked back at Yrsa

"Coming?"

The Yellow morning sun reflected off her hair

'Hot'

Yrsa leaped over the fence and graped her jacket on the way down

"I thought we were catching a train?"

Yrsa followed Erika around till she stop in front of a deep red train cart

She yanked the door open revealing in being completely empty

"We ride this for a day then..."

"Wing it?"

"Yeah"

Erika jumped in and extended a hand

Yrsa took it and closed the door behind her

Erika pulled out and flashlight then handed it to Yrsa

"Wait Until it gets dark"

Wind whistles through the door

The both had a slight smile that neither could see though the dark

A jolt sent them off balance

"This is the day then"

"Yep" Erika pulled out a book

Yrsa (who was sitting right next to her) couldn't help but nosely read alongside her

Erika noticed this and moved the book closer to Yrsa

They sat like that the most of the day

Hours later They snuck off when it stopped

Running away from the train yard, they found them-selfs on the streets of... Well they didn't know,

Brick buildings housing businesses and people, a stone guardian with all sorts of different flowers - the streets didn't have many car on it

"Do you remember where that train was going?"

"To be honest, I took a gamble - we just need to ask someone or something"

Shes' wounded around for someone and found a shop

A bell at the top of the door when they entered

The employ had a dark green uniform on and was sitting on a chair behind the counter - reading a book

She had long frizzy light brown hair

When the bell went off hse hopped up to the counter

"Hi, were a bit lost, could you help us"

"Where are you trying to get to?"

"Well washington, where are we now"

"Oh, West Virginia?"

Yrsa chimed in with "Mountain mama!"

"Thanks" Erika lead Yrsa out

The same bell went off and she went back to reading

"I think we should hitch-hike" Erika looked to Yrsa

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"How many weapons do you have on you right now?"

"7"

"I think we'll be fine - if we head up the 64 we should be able to get to Louisville"

Yrsa just gave a thumbs up

They wounded thought the forest coved road hoping for someone to pass them

Eventually a coach pulled up next to them

A long haired man with a studded jacked and ripped sleeves popped thought the door

"Where ya heading?"

"Anywhere west, but ideally Louisville"

"Perfect, were heading there, hop on"

'I recognize him' Yrsa pounded

When they entered he lowered his tone

"There's some spare blankets if you need to sleep"

The coach appeared empty, he sat back down and began driving

They sat across from each other

"Your like a paladin of chaos"

"What, good chaos?

"Pretty chaos"

They spent the rest of the day just chatting

As the sun came down something else came up

Puppets - from the back seats, dressed like a barber shop quartet

"Goodbye my coney island baby, farewell my one true love, (true love) I'm gonna go away and leave you never to see you any, leave you never to see you any (never gonna see you any) sail upon the ferry boat never to return again-"

"SHUT UP"shouted the driver

4 lads stood up from behind the chairs laughing

They all wore the same black denim jacket with assorted patches on the sleeves

From left to right

Taller than the rest, long blonde hair - shortest of the group bold bar a thick strip in the centare

Next had a great big bushy beard and a short buzz cut

The next guy looked like a wookiee, hairy as fuck and build like a shit-ton brick house

"Pismere, Yetroll, Munle and Birril" the driver said, without even looking back

"Bier?" Pismere dragged a cooler from the over-head storage

"Sure"

He tossed a bottle at her, it stumbled in her hand but she didn't drop it

She opened in by putting the cap right over a chair and yanking it down

Pismere held the cooler out to the rest of them

They all took one and opened it in sync

"So what's your name's?" asked Yetroll

"I'm Yrsa and she's Erika"

"What ya doing hitchhiking?"

Erika whispered "ad celare verum" or in english "hide the truth"

"Well... were-...." she looked at Yrsa with wide eyes

"My parents kicked me out after finding out about me and Yrsa, I wanted to get away as far as possible"

"That sounds like the plot to a romance novel" said Munle

"Sounds like a romance novel I would read" stated Birril

I hope you're now picturing a massive hairy man sitting with a fluffy blanket and a box of tissues because he gets so emotional

The room fell quiet for a moment

"Want to add a fun chapter?" asked Pismere

"Abso-fucking -lutly"

Cut to a couple of hours later in a club 3 drinks in

Blaring music blinds the ears

Flashing lights and rushing people blur the eyes

"You need to loosen up, have a drink"

Erika was sitting in a 'Quiet' corner

"I am" she gestured to her Cranberry juice

"Wait here" Yrsa began walking to the bar

'Oh god'

She came back shortly with two glasses with what appeared to be chocolate milk

"What is this?" Erika squinted at the glass

"Chocolate Russian"

"They had chocolate milk"

"I hope so"

"Fine I'll have one drink"

Cut to an non-specific time later

Everyone (but Erika) is stumbling down the road signing a song (different songs) holding each other up

"Shame we don't have a drunkards barrel"

"Shut up, you druck mit us,all naight"

Yrsa pointed at her with a jello finger

"Yeah how are ya not, tispy"

"I have no idea"

They wobbled back to the bus and collapsed on the seats

Erika began looking for something online, like Yrsa ability to understand language even after only hearing it once, or why she could go shot for shot with them all night and was still sober,

All she found by the time the sun came up was the name Beku Uku and

And nothing else on them beside the fact they lived in the 1920's

The sun peaked up and she tried to get some sleep

The sun began to shine though the bus, setting off a series of groans

"Turn that shit off" groaned from one of the seats

"How?, it's the sun" from another

Eventually they all but Erika got up, she had put her waist coat over her head

"Why didn't we think of that" muttered Pismere

They arrived in louisville some hours later and parted ways

"Hope we see you again"

"You probably will" Yrsa said with a smug grin

They had been dropped off not far from the city central

Busses were exchanging passengers

The shelter smelt of gasoline and buried tyres

They made some distance before Erika said

"I've been told that the search for you has stopped"

"Cool, where are we going tonight"

"I'm sure someone will listen to our sob story"

"That won't work"

"Holy shit it worked" she said as the door to a hotel room swing open

The walls were yellowed from smoke., the windows faced right into the neighbouring building and the bedsheets looked like your grandma's coach - be it was warm, 'comfy' and (most importantly) free so no-ones going to complain

Erika spent the rest of the night hunched over a laptop and Yrsa spent it turning her brian off

Erika was awoken by a knock of the door

'Who the?'

The time said 7:05

She moved Yrsa's arm and stumbled to the door

"What do you want?"

She opened the door to a middle aged man with the same stubble on his chin as his head, he wear a black suit open and three of his shirt buttons were left unless

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep,we need to talk"

"An Email would've sufficed"

"Somewhere in private"

"Do I know you?"

"You know of US?"

Now neither of them knew what was happening

"What do you what to talk about"

"What you've done to u- sorry I might have got the wrong room, you are Erika?"

"Yeah I am... shit"