The sun started to set in the west, ending another peaceful day in the Nevada desert.
At the intersection of State Roads 160 and 159, one of the black Chevy Suburbans from the MGM was parked off in the desert about twenty feet from the road.
It turned off its engine, and the two men inside watched the sparse traffic with eagle eyes.
Another Suburban drove off on State Road 160, looking for any blue Prius heading into Vegas.
Way down State Road 95, about twenty miles northwest of Vegas, the other Suburban from the MGM pulled off the road about twenty feet and turned off its engine.
The two men inside, with eagle eyes, watched all the sparse traffic that headed in the direction of Vegas.
Another Suburban drove off down State Road 95 looking for any blue Prius heading into Vegas.
The sun settled down below the mountains, and darkness soon fell upon the area.
Inside the Prius, Albert’s eyes started to droop since it was a long drive down State Roads 120 and 6. They drove through Tonopah and made it through the small town without being detected by any police officers.
But after they passed the road that led into Henderson Park, Albert’s eyes closed, and he fell asleep behind the wheel.
Britney’s eyes also started to droop.
Then something felt strange, and she opened her eyes to see the Prius drift into the other lane. She quickly looked over at Albert and saw that he had fallen asleep.
“Wake up!” she cried out, shaking Albert.
Albert woke up in a little daze and then glanced out his windshield. His eyes widened in fear when he saw his car in the other lane and quickly whipped back into the correct lane. “I’m so sorry,” he said, all embarrassed.
“We need to pull over and get some rest,” she said, then followed up with a big yawn.
“You’re right,” he replied while he yawned. “We can’t get a hotel room. Way too risky,” he added.
She looked around at the dark desert. “Let’s pull over off the road out into the darkness. Nobody will see us,” she stated.
Albert slowed the Prius down and pulled off the road. He slowly drove into the dark desert until he was three hundred feet away from the road. He stopped the Prius and turned it off.
Britney reached around to the backseat and grabbed the loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and the box of plastic knives. “Dinner?” she asked while she held up the jar of peanut butter.
Albert noticed the full Moon outside. “Dinner by moonlight. Nice,” he replied, then cringed inside and wondered if he messed up.
Britney smiled while they had the Moon in full view from the windshield. “It is romantic,” she replied while she finished making Albert’s sandwich. She handed it to him.
They didn’t notice a star that got brighter and then dimmer.
After fifteen minutes of eating their peanut butter sandwiches, Lay’s potato chips, and beef jerky dinner, they relaxed and stared at the full Moon.
“I need to go use the, ah,” she hesitated with the rest of her sentence. “You know what,” she finished while she grabbed the door handle.
“There’s a flashlight in the glove box, watch out for snakes,” he replied.
Britney removed the flashlight from the glove box and her revolver from the passenger floor.
She opened the door and stepped out into the darkness of the desert.
The second she walked away from the car, Albert reached over to the passenger seat and removed the laptop. He opened it up. “Ginger,” he quietly said to the monitor.
The Heavenly Chat website appeared. “Sleeping out in the desert under the moonlight. That’s very romantic, Albee,” Angel 12978 quickly said in a sweet tone.
“You can trust me, nothing’s going to happen. We were just too tired to drive,” Albert replied and felt a little guilty.
“Don’t mess up this opportunity, Albee,” Angel 12978 replied.
“I won’t. We’ll head into Vegas as soon as the sun wakes us up,” Albert replied. Still, it didn’t dawn on him that his Angel meant not to mess up the opportunity for a relationship with Britney.
Albert saw Britney head back to the car in the moonlight. “Gotta go,” he quickly said, then slammed the laptop shut and promptly dropped it back into the bag.
Britney sat back down in the passenger seat.
“No snakes?” he asked.
“Not even a scorpion or rabbit,” she answered back.
“We’d better get some rest. We’ll have another exciting
day ahead of us tomorrow,” Albert replied while he reclined his seat all the way back.
Britney reclined her seat all the way back, and they both closed their eyes.
Albert opened his eyes and glanced over at Britney. “She’s beautiful,” he thought, then closed his eyes.
Britney opened up her eyes and glanced over at Albert. “He’s kinda handsome,” she thought, then closed her eyes.
It was quiet for the rest of the night for the two Suburbans parked off the Nevada roads. They didn’t see one single Prius on the roads they staked out.
The sun rose in the east, indicating the start of another day.
Albert and Britney woke up once the sun’s rays entered the inside of the car.
They both smiled at each other, then realized they had morning breath and avoided getting too close.
“Good morning,” he replied while he tried to keep his mouth away from her.
She smiled back to avoid her bad breath coming out.
After they took turns using the desert as a bathroom, they drove south on State Road 95 and ate beef jerky for breakfast.
At the same time, at the Desert Rock airstrip, the Bell Huey helicopter was towed out of the hangar.
Two pilots prepared the Huey for flight while a fuel truck loaded its fuel tank.
Fifteen minutes later, the Huey started its engine, the blades whirled around, and it soon ascended off into the air.
It flew off to the north toward State Road 95.
The Huey flew over State Road 95 in search of Taylor’s blue Prius.
An hour later, the Huey pilot had this strange feeling that overcame him. “Let’s check the other road,” he told his copilot, then he banked the Huey to the left.
“No sight of our risk,” the copilot said into his microphone during the left banked turn. It headed south with the plan of flying over State Road 160.
It was lucky for Albert and Britney because the helicopter turned around five miles south of his Prius.
Later that day, Albert’s Prius drove down State Road 95, where traffic was light, and they were just sixty miles northwest of Vegas.
“I wonder how far we are from Vegas?” Albert asked.
“Oh, I would guess between fifty or sixty miles,” Britney replied.
The Prius sputtered and shook while it started to slow down. Britney and Albert looked concerned.
“Did we run out of gas?” Britney asked.
Albert looked at the fuel gauge. “No, we should have enough gas to get us to Vegas,” he said, looking baffled as the car sputtered and shook a little.
They drove a little farther down the road, and the car shuddered and shook a little more violently.
The shuttering and shaking stopped. It was quiet while the car slowed down even more.
“Ah, man!” Albert cried out while he coasted his car off to the side of the road.
The car coasted to a stop in the desert. Albert cranked the engine. Nothing. He cranked it again. Nothing. “Not now!” he yelled out while he banged his dashboard.
“We can’t call a tow truck,” Britney said while she looked at the desert.
“I can’t believe I have trouble with this Prius. It’s always been dependable,” Albert said while he cranked the engine for one last attempt. Nothing.
“We’d better get away from the car, as I can imagine they’re out there searching for us,” Britney said.
They both got out of the car.
“How will we get to Vegas?” Albert said, a little worried, while he walked around the car and stood next to Britney.
“It’s way too risky to hitch a ride. Besides, there are very few cars on the road. So, I guess we’ll have to walk,” she replied.
“Walk? You mean in the desert? The steaming hot desert?” he responded, a little concerned.
Britney looked around the desert. “Yep. We’ll have to keep our distance from the road, so nobody spots us,” she added, then looked at the sun. “Would you have any hats by chance?”
“I have two in the trunk,” he replied.
“Good because that sun will fry us in the afternoon,” she said.
Albert walked over to his rear hatch and opened it up.
Britney walked over and joined him.
He reached inside and removed two Schooner Bank Cachalot hats. He handed one to Britney.
“Looks kinda dorky,” she said while Albert quickly put on his hat.
“But it sure keeps the sun off your head,” he replied and didn’t care how he looked.
She looked up at the scorching sun, then at the hat. She started to feel the sun’s heat and quickly put on the hat.
Albert reached inside the trunk and removed a small emergency road kit bag with a strap.
He closed his trunk, remembered something, reopened the trunk, reached inside, and removed a folded green car cover. He tucked it under his arm and slammed the trunk shut.
They walked back to the passenger door, and Britney reached inside and grabbed the three revolvers.
Albert reached inside and grabbed the laptop bag.
Britney opened up the front pocket of the bag and dropped the three revolvers inside. She zipped up the pocket.
Albert started to close the passenger door.
“Wait,” Britney called out, and Albert kept the door open.
“We’ll need some food,” she said while she leaned inside the car and grabbed the grocery bag.
Albert then reached inside, opened the glove box, removed a tube of sunscreen, and closed the door.
Britney looked the area over. “Let’s cross the road and get out of sight and keep on walking south,” she said.
So Albert, with the laptop bag and emergency kit strapped around his shoulders and the car cover tucked under his arm, walked across the road.
Britney followed with the remaining food and revolvers.
“What’s with the car cover, if you don’t mind me asking?” she said.
“I don’t think we’ll make it to Vegas tonight, so we’ll need something to sleep on in the desert,” he replied and liked the idea of sleeping with her under the stars.
He looked down at the laptop bag and felt a slight sense of guilt.
They applied sunscreen on their exposed skin while they walked off into the desert and headed in a southerly direction.
Then every time a car or truck drove down State Road 95, they squatted in the dirt to avoid detection.
Meanwhile, the Huey flew numerous flights over State Road 160 searching for the Prius.
“No sight of our risk anywhere,” the copilot said into his microphone.
“Report back to the airstrip and wait for further instructions,” Gino replied from the radio.
The Huey banked to the right and headed north back to the Desert Rock airstrip.
Back at the UAS building in San Bernardino, Kirby and Grant anxiously waited in Kirby’s office for some good news for once.
Grant’s cell phone rang. He looked at the viewfinder. “What do you have?” he answered the call.
“The chopper didn’t see a Prius on those roads into Vegas, so I sent them back to the airstrip,” Gino said from Grant’s cell phone.
“Damn it! I want those two found!” Grant yelled into his cell phone.
“I know, sir,” Gino answered.
Kirby was in deep thought. “We need to get to Vegas to make sure those two don’t become a threat,” Kirby called out from the other side of the room.
“We’re coming to Vegas. Have a ride waiting at the airstrip,” Grant told Gino.
“In work,” Gino replied, then disconnected his end of the call.
“Let’s get out of here,” Grant said. Then they walked out of Kirby’s office.