Run: Day 7

Word Count: 42,278

Summary of Events:

In their hasty flight from Columbus, Ty and DaNiel got onto the I-71 which carried them nearly to Cleveland before they realised they were being taken east and were able to find a westbound Interstate. The following day they drove through Indiana and Illinois, and as they drove DaNiel found a news station that told them the police at the motel had actually been doing a major drug bust on the other side, which made them both grateful. They stopped for gas at Moline, with Ty electing to go into the store merely to grab some more drinks, but not to pay for anything; unfortunately his thievery was discovered, the police were alerted, and they were pursued on I-80 across the Mississippi into Iowa . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

“Did you not pay for the gas?” DaNiel asked.

How did he answer that right? It was one of those questions that sounded like a yes or a no, but either way the answer would have to be explained if he didn’t want to be called guilty.

“You didn’t pay for the gas,” DaNiel said.

“I did,” Ty lied. “I just don’t like those kind of questions where you can’t just say a simple yes or no.”

“You seem too tense to have paid for the gas,” DaNiel mused.

“I did,” Ty repeated harshly.

“And of course you’re not going to be blamed for it,” DaNiel muttered. “I am.”

“I paid for the gas,” Ty repeated; maybe if he said it enough times he’d believe it.

DaNiel expressed his disbelief profanely.

To Ty’s surprise DaNiel exited off the I-80 and headed southward into the city they’d been skirting; spying a movie theatre, Ty got an idea.

“Go in there!” Ty exclaimed. “Find a silver car!”

“What are you going to do?” DaNiel asked dubiously.

“Change plates,” Ty replied.

“I told you I wanted to do this legally because I, as driver, am the one who gets blamed for everything,” DaNiel replied.

“Do you have any other choice?” Ty asked.

“Thanks to you, no, I don’t,” DaNiel replied, the anger in his voice uncomfortably savage as he pulled into the theatre’s parking lot.

Ty was nearly giddy when they found a silver car — albeit with Iowa plates — that looked nearly identical to his grandparents’ car with an open parking spot beside it.

DaNiel had hardly parked the car before Ty was out and fetching the tools; he switched the front plates first, then the rear plates, hoping like crazy that no one would see him, which would reignite the chase all over again.

Quickly Ty got back in and relaxed in his seat before looking over at DaNiel, who looked utterly livid; Ty wondered if he shouldn’t get out of the car and go watch a movie while DaNiel cooled off.

Noticing a slow turn of DaNiel’s head, Ty reached for the door handle, but DaNiel’s hand reached and hit the lock button like a striking snake, even as his head continued to turn slowly toward Ty.

“You do that again and I’m throwing you out of the car,” DaNiel said, his expression still furious. “I don’t care if we’re moving or not. I told you we were going to do this legally, and you’re not doing it that way.”

Ty squirmed uncomfortably under DaNiel’s gaze. He’d never seen someone this angry before; not even the angriest person he’d ever seen before compared with DaNiel’s rage.

“Do you understand!?” DaNiel shouted.

Startling violently at the unexpected volume and wrathful demand, Ty immediately cowered against the passenger door and nodded. He was grateful that DaNiel didn’t know he’d stolen all the drinks so far, as well as anything of his pickpocketing spree in Columbus; DaNiel might murder him if he knew about all that.