Maxie

As silence descended into the the stalled car, the she-creature stopped moaning. She uncurled her head from the fetal position and looked around obviously for the gun that was now in Rog's possession.

"Crap," he muttered as the final engine sound died away. This time the car had stalled out in the middle of the road. He popped the hood, and began to open the door.

"Wait, what's going on?" the she-creature asked, trying to bring a sound of authority into her voice.

He turned back to her, hoping he heard her right because there was still a lot of ringing in his ears left over from the very recent gun fire.

"The car died. I am going to check the engine," he told her, firm grip on the gun.

She looked around in an almost desperate gesture. And as he continued to get out of the car, she reached forward and grabbed his arm. Her hand felt like a frozen skeleton gripping his. Yet it was a strong grip.

"Do something," she whimpered at him. Women, he thought. How had the somewhat sexy she-creature turned into this shrinking mass of dirt in his backseat?

"Do something," he repeated, "I should do something. I should throw you out of my car. Hell, if you had just asked I would have given you a lift, but no, you made demands in another way."

"You wouldn't have stopped to give me a lift," she said in a more quiet tone as if speaking to the backseat itself.

He stared at her, "Stop? I was stopped when you climbed into my car."

"Look at me," she continued, "Why would anyone in their right mind help me looking like this?"

He was getting exasperated. The day was suddenly just a little too much. He closed the door and turned even more to the rear of the car.

And as they continued debating whether he would or would not have helped her, both forgot that they were sitting in the middle of a road. both were sudden;y arguing meaningless points as if they had been married for years.

The car light approaching in the twilight made Rog squint since he was looking in that direction, but he was too involved in this freak show that had suddenly become his life.

He had just asked her, "God, you don't know me and what I would do or wouldn't do. Hell, I don't even know your name."

"Maxie," she had screamed back to match his tone, "I'm Maxie."

Rog was just about to ask her what kind of a name Maxie was, when the lights of the vehicle shining in his eyes became so close they lite the entire backseat.

"What the..." he began right before the truck, for it was a truck, made the first impact. They felt it more than heard it. It was the sound of creaking metal and breaking glass. Maxie was thrown forward into Rog. From far away or so it seemed, they could hear the horn being blown, but at the same time, their car began to move.