Oh No, Aliens

This was going to be a long road trip. Hadley ignored him for most of it, either watching shows on her phone or checking on Hershey in the backseat. The cat didn't mind car rides in the least. In fact, he just sat in his bag and politely looked out the window. A few hours in, Hadley groaned in frustration and tossed her phone into a cupholder.

"What, did the hunky hot guy get killed off?" Jack asked.

"The battery died," she grumbled. "Give me yours."

"My what?"

"Your phone," she said. "Your car charger sucks, it takes half an hour just to go up one percent."

"Why don't you just look out the window and enjoy the scenery?" Jack suggested.

"It's all highway," she said.

Jack sighed, taking one hand off the wheel for a moment to take his phone out of his pocket and give it to her.

"4-1-4-1."

"Not very secure," she said, typing the passcode into the phone.

"Don't worry, I'm changing it as soon as we stop," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and flipped through the streaming apps he had. They were silent for another half hour before they started hearing suspicious noises coming from the car, followed by a smoky smell coming from the air vents. Jack cursed under his breath and pulled over to the side of the highway. Hadley followed him out of the car, holding her hair out of her face as cars and trucks whizzed past them at a hundred miles an hour. Jack popped open the front of the car and was immediately hit in the face with a bad smelling smoke with a green tint to it. He coughed and stepped back as he waved it away.

"That can't be good," he said.

"Why is it green?" she asked.

"Well, it's a Leon car," he said. "Suspicious planes, possibly suspicious cars, too. I wonder if they shut down when they don't go where they're supposed to."

"You didn't consider that before we left?" she questioned.

"I'm sorry, but who is the one who got you out of New York in the first place?" he asked. "I'm really trying to keep my cool here. I really am. I've had years of therapy to help prepare for it, but you're really pushing it. If you want to help, then get Hershey and his carrier out of the car and try to call roadside assistance. Here is my insurance card. You already have my phone in your hand."

"Fine," she said. "But I'm doing it because it's what I was going to do anyways, not because you told me to."

He rolled his eyes and continued waving away smoke as Hadley took Hershey out of the car and started walking down a little ways to call the service. Jack looked back down at the car. It was too hot to touch, but one look and even an amateur could see that the car was totally fried on the inside. It was like something had turned it all to ash. He squinted when he noticed something glowing a bright green next to the engine. It was about the size of his thumbnail, but it was glowing bright. He carefully reached out to touch it, but winced when it burned his finger. Still, he didn't feel good about it. He had an idea of what it was, but he was scared to be right. He went back into the car and took a cleaning cloth from the glove box, coming back and using that to pry the green chip from its spot. When he did that, the car almost seemed to sink a little bit. It was fully dead now.

Hadley came back, looking frustrated with whatever conversation she just had.

"Everything is under the company name," she said. "They said you have to contact your representative at work."

"I can't do that," he said. "They'll know I stole the car."

"So what then?" she huffed. "And- hey, what is that?"

Jack held the green chip out to her, and her eyes widened when she realized what it was.

"This is it," she said. "This is what the UFOs are carrying, isn't it? What powers the planes?"

"I think it might be," Jack said. "There are a few things I know for sure. One, whatever this thing is, a person didn't make it. We should probably destroy it so it doesn't ruin anything else. Two, the car is totally fried and we can't call the company. We'll have to get to the next town over and pay for a new rental."

"What are we supposed to do, walk?" she questioned. "With all our stuff?"

He snatched his phone back from her hand. He thought for a moment, then went to the other side of the car and stuck his thumb out.

"Are you hitchhiking?" she asked. "Driving with an alien bug seems safer than that."

"Relax," he said. "I did this all the time as a teenager. It used to be my ride home from school when my foster dad kicked me out and I had to stay an hour away with his weird sister."

Hadley gave him a weird look.

"What did you get kicked out for?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. "Moral of the story is that I used to do this all the time."

For the most part, cars sped past them. Jack was nearly hit a couple of times. It was just starting to get dark, which would have been bad. Hadley sat on the trunk of the car, their two small bags at her feet. Finally an old truck pulled over to them. Inside was a smiley young couple who looked like they lived entirely off of organic smoothie bowls and marajuana.

"Where to?" the girl asked him.

"Just to the next town," Jack said. "Wherever we can find a motel and a rental car."

"Oh sure, that's Briar Glen," the man in the driver's seat said. "It's about another half hour. We'll take you!"

"Thank you," Jack said.

The driver got out and helped them put their things in the back of the truck. Hadley cautiously held onto Hershey's carrier as they got in the strangers' truck and started driving.

"I'm Jupiter," he said. "This is my girlfriend, Juno."

"That's interesting," Hadley said. "Is it coincidence that you guys line up with the mythology?"

"It's not a myth," Juno told her. "We are, really and truly, Juno and Jupiter. Or if you prefer, Zeus and Hera. But we like to use those names in bed, mostly."

Jack sank into his seat, trying his hardest not to crack up at these obvious crackheads.

"Right," Hadley said slowly.

"That sexual intimacy is the way we can travel up to Olympus," Jupiter explained. "We feel the ultimate ecstasy that only true gods can experience. Not to rain on your parade, of course. I'm sure your bedtime endeavors are just enough for your mortal minds."

"Oh, we're not together," Jack said.

"Ew, no," Hadley agreed. "This is an extremely temporary arrangement."

"It's not up to you to decide that," Juno informed her. "It's entirely up to the gods. Venus will decide the fate of your marriage."

"Actually, that would be you, wouldn't it?" Hadley asked. "Isn't Hera... or Juno... the goddess of marriage?"

Juno and Jupiter went silent, and even though it was dark, Jack knew they were red with embarrassment. He sunk even further in his seat as he tried not to laugh. The rest of the ride was a little less in their face, and the couple happily dropped Jack and Hadley off outside a motel. Jack handed them a bit of cash for their troubles and watched them drive off before he burst into the laughter he had been trying so hard to hold back.

"What kind of meth were those two on?!" he wheezed.

"Knock it off," Hadley said. "Let's go get a couple rooms."

He stopped laughing finally and stood up, picking up his bag. Hadley may have tried moving on, but she wasn't fooling him. He saw that smile on her face.