Tear Down the Cobwebs

“The next person to add something to my plate will have to watch me carve their stomach out with the splintered remains of this thing,” I threatened. Blake's outstretched hand froze as I slammed the spork into the plastic table, narrowly missing him. He dropped the half-eaten slice of pizza and drew his hand back quickly. He just had to try it, didn’t he?

Seriously though, why did they have to give us sporks? Was whoever supplied us with utensils too cheap to buy us separate forks and spoons? They don’t even offer sporks at gas stations. Maybe it was some sneaky way of keeping us from all killing each other. Obviously they didn’t know me at all if they thought that would work. If I really wanted to, I could figure out a way to kill a person using a Styrofoam cup.

“Remind me never to try and steal food from your plate,” someone said behind me. I turned around, recognizing the voice.

“Be careful what food you take from her,” Hunter replied. “Some are safer than others. Right now though, the problem is adding food to her plate.”

“I don’t see the problem with that,” Balz said, squeezing into the space next to me that Zach had recently vacated. “You definitely need to eat something healthier than your M&Ms for breakfast everyday.”

I rolled my eyes. “This has to be the fourth time they’ve refilled my plate. I’d say that’s more than enough.” His eyes widened in shock. What can I say? I can eat more than anyone would ever expect. “So anyways, what’s up with you?”

“I was actually coming over here to see if I could kidnap you for a little while.” Great. We’d been on tour for three days now, and I was already being kidnapped. And it looked like my band had no problem with it.

“As long as you return her in one piece,” Aaron offered. “Even if that means you have to glue her back together.” That was comforting. But then again, Balz might do a better job of gluing me back together than Aaron would. I’d look like the statue of the discombobulated chicken we saw outside the airport a few years back.

I threw my plate into the trashcan before jumping on Balz’s back. I had no idea where we were going, and this way I wouldn’t be distracted by something and wander off into Wonderland. He started off walking before suddenly running, without warning, as fast as he could. I buried my face in his neck, not wanting to have flies and gnats and whatever other kind of flying insects there were flying into my face. Bug guts on the windshield were one thing. Bug guts on the face are a whole different thing. I didn’t look up until we stopped moving as fast as we’d started running.

“Prepare to be dropped in 10, 9,” Balz began counting down slowly. I looked down to get ready for the landing. Fuck. He was on the bottom step of someone’s bus, and I was going to be dropped to the asphalt below. Fuck no. No, no, no. Not going to happen.

“If you drop me, I’ll make sure no hot chicks will ever want to even talk to you,” I warned, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly.

“Okay, okay” he gasped. “I can’t breathe. We’re going down!” I hid my face again as Balz fell forward, onto the bus.

“What the fuck!?” I heard several familiar voices shout, followed by several sets of footsteps running towards us. I looked up to see a confused Chris, Angelo, Ghost, and Ricky.

“I learned that when the zombie apocalypse occurs, I’m not using Balz as my getaway vehicle,” I explained, attempting to free my arms.

The guys laughed and drifted back to the seats I assumed they were in before the interruption. I accepted Ricky’s outstretched hand, allowing him to pull me up. “Ryan’s going to be carrying around Allie, so he’s out of the picture. I’d suggest Chris.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. “He is the tallest, so he can cover the most ground with each step.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Balz complained, still lying on the ground. “I don’t need any help here.”

He was answered with a chorus of rolled eyes and sighs. I dropped into the empty seat next to Ricky. A moment later, Balz managed to get himself up and into the seat on the other side of me. Annoyance flashed across Ricky’s face. There was no way it was because he wanted me to himself.

“So, tell us about you,” Balz said, pulling my attention back to him.

“Uh,” I hesitated. What was there to say? What could I say? Definitely not much, that’s for damn sure. “The band and I are all from Vegas. I’ve been friends with them for most of my life, and we’ve been living in our van, driving around the country for the past few years together. We haven’t been back since we left.”

“What about your family?” Fuck. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask about that.

I rubbed the palm of my hand, thinking about my answer. “Growing up, it was just my father and I. I ran away from home for good when I was 15, and the band left Vegas not long after that.”

“Damn,” Angelo whistled. “Sounds like you’ve had some adventures.” Looking around, I could see a variety of emotions on the guys faces, ranging from wide-eyed shock to worry.

I shrugged my shoulders, buying myself time to think again. “I guess you could say that. We’ve had some rough patches while on the road, but we always seem to make it out alive.” I had to change the subject somehow. “Getting on this tour was the best news we’ve ever gotten though.”

Fortunately that worked, and the conversations spiraled off from there. Eventually, it was realized how late it was, and I had to get back to my own band. Despite what had been said before, I was driving the van tonight.

When I stood up, Balz wrapped his arms around me tightly, attempting to keep me there. With Chris’s help, I disentangled myself and was given hugs from the rest of the band, except for Ricky, who offered to walk me back to the van.

I followed Ricky off Motionless’s bus, and across the dark parking lot. “I’m glad you joined us for a while,” Ricky said eventually.

“Me too,” I agreed. “But next time, do I have to be kidnapped?”

“Alright, alright. We’ll send you a letter requesting your presence next time.”

“And how should I expect this letter?” I laughed. “By carrier pigeon?”

“That part will be a surprise. For now, you’ll just have to wait.” We were near my band’s van by now. Ricky pulled me into a tight hug.

Never before had someone’s hug been so comforting. No, I couldn’t let it get to my head. I was a friend and nothing more. The kiss on my cheek meant nothing more either. There was no way it could. I watched Ricky’s figure fade into the darkness before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Have a good night?” Aaron asked cheesily.

“Yeah, what happened with you and Balz?” Zach asked.

I rolled my eyes, flipping him off. “We went to their bus and hung out with the rest of the band and Allie. Then Ricky walked me back here.”

“That better be all that happened,” Hunter cut in, warningly. It was amazing how easily he could take the role of a real father.

“Yeah, Hailey, we don’t need any babies popping out in this van,” Blake added sarcastically. My jaw dropped as the others busted out laughing. Sometimes I really wondered how we’d made it this long without trying to kill one another.