His large black pupils anxiously surveyed the road, and the road watched him back. Sweat poured down his face and dripped on his yellow T-shirt. He had no idea how fast he was going, but he prayed it was fast enough. A young woman sat in the passenger seat. She wore a blue dress and was smoking a cigarette. Her composure rivalled that of the man driving, who drew in a sharp, fearful breath, drawing the attention of the sophisticated woman.
“Charlie Brown, darling, you look worried.” She observed. “Look, we’re going to make it out of here just fine, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The man, Charlie, jerked his head towards the woman.
“Oh there’s nothing to be afraid of. Great! Really? Lucy, you’re brother is dead — Linus is dead!” He snapped. “I don’t see any reason not to be worried right now, and I sure as hell can’t understand why you aren’t with me on this one. I know we’re next on Flannigan’s hit list! He probably has his goons trailing us right now.”
Charlie sped around a corner and accelerated as they entered a long, barren highway in between two sets of vast forest. Lucy drew in a breath of her cigarette and, after a tense moment of thought, once again turned to Charlie.
“Listen dear, here’s what will happen: We’ll arrive in Vegas, meet Peppermint Patty and Marcie, then, we’ll take a plane to Germany and we’ll stay with Schroeder. There’s nothing to worry about, Flannigan can’t find us.”
“What if he does, Lucy?” Charlie asked, the tone in his voice conveyed that he was desperately searching for some sort of reassurance. “There’s no question that he’s got the entire town under surveillance. Pretty soon he’s going to expand his horizons. You know what Flannigan’s like; he’s a madman! The odds are against us, Lucy. How can you be so sure?”
“I don’t know!” She cried. “All I know is that we need to be positive about this Charlie Brown. It’s the only way we’ll have a chance.”
She buried her head in her arms and, for and hour, their car was silent. Eventually, she spoke once more.
“We may not know where we’re going, or what we’re hoping to find. But that’s just it. We don’t know. This could be the start of a new life, Charlie, a new chance to get everything right. I think to have hope is what Linus would’ve wanted us to do right now.”
Charlie did not respond, but he considered her words and thought about their circumstances. He tried to have hope, but found it too difficult. Instead, he shook his head and muttered.
“Good grief.”
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