Reed decided he wanted to drive when they left Rosie's. He didn't want Skylar to have all the fun. Skylar went over some of the finer points of Eleanor's quirks and before long, Reed felt comfortable behind the wheel. After fueling up, they pulled out onto Interstate 8 and headed east. Reed was loving it! They were making good time. Traffic was light. Before long, they got to the intersection of Interstate 10 with Interstate 8. As they started heading south, they noticed a dark cloud ahead of them. Reed immediately knew what it was, but Skylar had never seen anything like it. As they got closer, it got much bigger and darker. 'I'm pulling off the road!' says Reed. No sooner does pull to a stop off on the shoulder than Skylar jumps out to get a better look. By now the cloud is really close. There is a lot of dust in the air. 'Get back in the car NOW!' screams Reed to Skylar through the closed windows. Luckily, Skylar responds when he senses they could be in danger. He hops back in and Reed carefully navigates Eleanor as far off the road as he can possibly get. The next thing they know, they are in complete darkness. Everything disappears. They can't see anything through their windows. Even the pavement they are sitting on. They can hear the roar of traffic whizzing past where they are. Once in awhile, brake lights from a semi blink through the darkness. 'What is this?' asks Skylar. 'Its what some of the media likes to call a Ha-Boob!' Reed informs him. 'They come up very rapidly and cause complete brown-outs in worst cases. Looks like we are in a worst case with this one!' Suddenly, they hear the screech of rubber on pavement and all too soon after a loud bang and crash. They hear something flying past Eleanor, way too close for comfort, but they still can't see what is happening. Soon after, they hear several more loud screeching noises and crash sounds, but the noise seems to be getting farther away from them. As quickly as it got dark, it starts getting lighter again. Before long, they are able to see what has happened around them. Just ahead of them, in the ditch, rests an SUV rolled over on it's top. Further up ahead they see several other smashed cars and trucks. It looks like quite a mess of mangled steel, shattered glass and rubber. They get out of Eleanor and rush up to the SUV. The people inside seem to be okay as they help them pull open a door. They are both able to crawl out, just a little bruised and battered for wear. They thank Reed and Skylar for their assistance. Several Highway Patrol cars have descended on the scene by now and a couple ambulances. 'Boy that was a quick response!' says Skylar to Reed. Reed can only shake his head in disbelief as he surveys the highway in both directions. A patrol car pulls up beside them and asks if they need any assistance. When they say no, he moves on to the next debris. It takes a few hours before they are able to get the okay to get back on the highway. As they drive slowly through the wreckage, they thank their lucky stars they survived in one piece. Still quite shaken by the whole experience, they drive on down to Tucson in silence. ------------------------------------------ M4 characters. Rendered in Poser 9. Post work in Photoshop 7. Thank you for taking a peek! Your support is greatly appreciated!