I Am The Highway Part 2
“And what is this stop in regard to?” Arnold asked as Wiyot, Calian, Takoda, and Halian stared at Greg and Sheila.
“We are searching for two particular creatures”. Sheila explained. “It appears as though you maybe be crossed up in their wake”.
“Crossed up? How is that possible?”
“That is what we are wondering”. Greg said. “If you don’t mind we would like to search your vehicle”.
Wiyot, Calian, Takoda, and Halian were all stuck frozen. Wiyot looked at Greg and then looked past him to the hills. He then put his eyes back on Greg as he scratched the surface of the back passenger door’s handle.
“You don’t have a warrant, do you?” Arnold asked.
“That we do not”. Greg said.
“Then I am under no obligation to allow you to search my vehicle, is that correct?”
“That is correct but…”
“So, with that I will have to politely decline sir”.
“Excuse me, what’s your name?” Sheila asked.
“Arnold”.
“Arnold. I understand that this may be an inconvenience, but I can promise you that the ramifications of this have a greater impact than just the confides of this conversation”.
“Oh yeah? In what way?”
“Unbeknownst to you our tracking shows that there are two creatures that are supposedly gone from the face of the earth in your pickup truck without your knowledge. And the discovery of those creatures could advance human civilization as we know it”.
“That all sounds fine and dandy”. Arnold said before he lit up a Marlboro red. “But I don’t see how and why an extinct creature would be in my vehicle”.
“I understand that this may seem a bit out of left field”. Greg started.
“A bit?”
“An understatement to be sure. But all the same, the truth is stranger than fiction because fiction obliged to stick to probability and the truth ain’t”.
“Is that so?”
“I’m afraid so”.
“Well, as nice as that sounds if you do not have a warrant then I have no reason to continue talking to you so good day”.
“Wait!” Sheila cried out. “I think if you just allow for us to perform a search of your truck that we could get to the bottom of everything and make it clear for you.
“Nice try, but no mas on that one”.
Arnold started the ignition in his pickup truck back up and as they began to roll. Wiyot stared out back through the rear windshield and saw that Greg and Sheila were staring right back at him. He returned to his seat as Calian, Takoda, and Halian were all had a slight shake to their body language.
“So, uh…” Arnold started. “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know who they are”. Wiyot said.
“But why are they following us?” Arnold asked. “And how?”
“I don’t understand either”.
“Maybe they’re just con artists. Takoda suggested. “Probably no big deal”.
“They looked official to me”. Arnold said. “And they said that they have tracking. I wonder though, what creatures were they looking for? I mean, I heard about there being out on the loose, but you don’t think that’s it do ya?”
There was deadline silence between Wiyot, Calian, Takoda, and Halian as Arnold continued to drive. Arnold looked in his rearview mirror and saw that all four of them will sitting still. He turned his head back and as Wiyot looked at Arnold with blank eyes.
“Ya know?” Arnold asked.
“…There’s a lot of things going on that don’t make sense”. Wiyot said.
“Like what?”
“You take this truck out to work every day, right? I doubt that you remember starting the car and driving down the gas station half the time. In way that doesn’t make sense, but you’re used to it”.
“Yeah okay, but what does this have to do with some extinct animals?”
“I think what Wiyot is trying to say is that there’s more to us than what meets the eye”. Calian said.
Arnold’s eyes widen before he pulled over and stopped his truck. He stared at Takoda and then turned around and stared at Wiyot, Calian, and Halian. He was without speech as his jaws started to drop down. He began to regain his composure as he sat back in his seat and took a couple of deep breaths.
“You’re telling me that you four are…” Arnold began.
“Yeah”. Wiyot interrupted.
“But, how is that even possible?”
“We’re not exactly experts either”. Calian said. “But at the end of the day, we are who we are”.
Arnold took his left hand, rubbed his face, massaged his temples, then dropped his hand down to his chin. He scratched strains of grey hairs on his chin as he looked at Wiyot, Calian, Taokda, and Halian. He opened his mouth, but no words were able to come out. He began to quiver a bit as sounds began to escape from his vocal cords.
“Well”. Arnold started. “They always said that seeing is believing. But I can’t believe what I am seeing”.
Wiyot took off the right sleeve his jacket which revealed to Arnold his right wing. Arnold’s eyes widened once again upon as his eyes laid sight on Wiyot’s wing. Wiyot watched as Arnold stood frozen with the others doing the same. Arnold rubbed his eyes and planted his eyes again on Wiyot’s right wing.
“I believe it”. Arnold said.
“I understand if you don’t want to help us out anymore”. Wiyot said. “But thank you for getting us to this point. You’ve been a big help”.
Wiyot, Calian, Takoda, and Halian all began to walk away from Arnold. Arnold, still frozen, stared at them as they began to go off to the right. As his body started to loosen up again, he soften his gaze on them. He then began to walk towards them, his pace speeding up step by step.
“Hey!” Arnold cried out, stopping the four in their tracks. “Can’t just leave you guys out here like that”.
The four of them stood still as they stared at Arnold in total disbelief. Wiyot looked into Arnold’s eyes before a smirk crept up on his face. Takoda and Halian began to smile as well with Calian nodding his head.
Arnold took the four of them to a rest stop with a gas station. Arnold parked his truck at stall 12 next to the windshield cleaning fluids. Wiyot, Calian, and Takoda made a direct b-line to the restroom while Halian went into the convenience store. It was a small and simple one that had all the basic name brand products. Halian looked around as he picked up a bag of chex mix.
“Hey”. Sheila said as he put his hand on Halian’s back. “Can we talk for a second?”