We didn’t even discuss what had happened right away, just chose an unlucky sentry - Byron went first - and slept.

It was midafternoon before we were all awake and alert again. We gathered to talk before we continued.

“That was a nightmare,” Twinkles said. “How many more cities like that will we need to pass through?”

“There are a few others we can’t bypass,” I admitted. “But Pueblo was the biggest.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Twinkles muttered.

“No offense to Frank, here,” Bolero said, patting the wall next to him. “But I think we need to seriously consider if we want to stay in a vehicle at all. If we’d been walking, we could have gone around Pueblo, no problem.”

“Frank is great on the highway,” JoeyT said.

Bolero snorted dismissively. “Sort of. It’s always been my job to keep you idiots alive. Frank is fast, but he attracts a lot of attention. That’s dangerous.”

“He gives us a safe place to sleep,” Avalanche said, but her tone was thoughtful.

“And how hard would it be to find another semi truck on the road? Hm?” Bolero challenged.

Avalanche tilted her head and shrugged, conceding the point. “Frank is still carrying our food and water. Having those makes us a target, Frank or no Frank.”

“But if we don’t have Frank, how would they guess?” Bolero said. “Who’s going to go into a farm field to start trouble with a group of people pushing a wheelbarrow? It would be slower, yes, but much safer.”

“Hrm.” Avalanche seemed unconvinced. "If we need a rest break in the middle of a field, there's no way to get one. Seems risky."

“What we really need is to be able to fly,” I said.

Everyone looked at me.

I blinked. My mouth had kind of moved on its own, without engaging my brain, but the skepticism on everyone’s faces made me defensive. “What? It’d solve all our problems. Planes don’t need to stick to roads. People can keep their bullshit problems down on the ground with them. None of the monsters fly. Plus, half of us are aero engineers. We can probably figure something out.”

“Vince, you sit at a computer all day,” Davi said. “Have you ever built anything in your life? Flatpack furniture doesn’t count.”

“I used to put together model planes as a kid.”

“Ooo, I bet you’re really good at using superglue. Be serious!”

“It’d be tough,” Byron said. “No way we could get a modern aircraft running, not with all its wiring slagged. And if diesel fuel turned into vegetable oil, jet fuel is probably screwed up too. It’d take Kurt months to clean the fuel lines on a passenger plane. Even if he did, what would we run through those lines? We might be able to run Frank on this crappy cooking-oil crap gasoline turned into, but I doubt there's any kludge that would make it power a system designed for jet fuel. Then there's the problem of getting space for takeoff... pavemimics are gonna mess up the runways bad. I like the idea, but I’m just not seeing it.”

I waved a hand. “We wouldn't have to use a conventional plane. What about something that doesn't use a runway? Something like a hot air balloon or a blimp?”

“You know where to find one of those?” Byron asked.

“No idea!” I said.

John frowned. "We might be able to find one, but we'd need to figure out propulsion. It's a damn hard thing getting anywhere by drifting on wind currents."

I grinned. “See? We’re already making progress. I bet we can figure out-”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Twinkles cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but since you don’t have the materials for literally any of that, can’t you brainstorm on the road?”

“Oh. Yeah.” I shook myself, then held up the map, tracing a backwards “C” of roads away from Pueblo. “I think this is our best bet. If we take 96 to the east, there’s a road that crosses the Arkansas River away from any cities. It adds about 30 miles to our trip, but I think we can still make it back to I-25 before we stop. It’s only a little farther than we went before, and we’d re-join the interstate near a medium-sized town.”

“Does the interstate go through the town?” Bolero asked.

I shook my head. “Nah, just passes near it.”

“That sounds pretty ideal,” Twinkles said. “We’ll have another monster… or something… tomorrow morning, if the pattern holds. If we need supplies, it’ll be good to have stores and stuff close by, but I don’t want to go in if it’s not absolutely necessary.”

“Amen to that,” John said.

…

The following night’s drive was almost blissfully relaxing. The monsters were the same as they’d been for almost six days, and Frank could handle most of them on his own. We even got points for every one he pulverized. Divided in between us, it was only a little more than one per kill, but Frank was killing monsters pretty quickly. It added up.

Even the people we met on the road had become almost routine. We no longer moved in close for negotiations, but met every group with a show of force and references to “the rest of the group.” Seeing 10 capable individuals and hearing about the implied presence of many more helped keep discussions polite.

We also started lying to people. Just straight-up lying.

How did we get the truck running? Animate Machinery.

Yes, it took a lot of points.

We got several Points Siphons, so our driver is ridiculously strong.

Our helmets, mufflers, and ski goggles helped conceal our faces, or we’d never have gotten away with it. John had reluctantly agreed to go along with the plan, but he’d had strong objections.

It worked: Frank, the operational semi-truck, was a tempting thing to steal. Super-Driver, the mysterious person who’d claimed several Points Siphons and could now sling around a semi truck with ease? There was nothing to take! You wanted them as far away from you as possible.

We made excellent time, arriving back at I-25 before dawn had broken. We briefly debated moving on, but didn’t want a new monster’s appearance to catch us in a bad position.

Instead we caught a nap.

“If the monster’s no big deal, maybe we can get more driving done during the day today,” Kurt said.

Rams appeared in the distance, signaling the start of a new “day.” Before I could look for a new monster, the familiar hateable voice that had preceded each new development spoke to us again.

Congratulations! If you’re hearing this, you’ve survived the first duodenary of the Earth Maffiyir!

Your accumulated Novelty had been noted and reset to zero. Most of you have received an award of Money commensurate with your achievement, but those of you who reached the Novelty cap will be receiving an invitation at the conclusion of this message. Accept for an opportunity to claim a unique and valuable Blueprint reward, or decline to be granted a Money reward. You have 75 seconds to decide whether to accept or decline.

Face the challenges before you to grow in strength and earn rewards. Good luck!

How much Novelty had I accumulated? It had been over 100, but after we’d determined that it didn’t seem to affect anything, I’d ignored it. Almost as I asked the question, a window popped up in front of me, partially obscuring my vision: “Invitational opportunity! Accept or Decline?” Beneath the words was a counter. It started at 75 seconds and slipped down as I watched.

“Anyone else getting this?” I asked.

“I’m saying no!” John said. “I’m not up for any challenges.”

“Me either," Kurt said. "It’s probably some kind of combat thing, and I’m not set up for that very well right now. Bolero, I don’t think you should either.”

“Yeah, I definitely took a support build.”

“What about the rest of us? Should we-”

I cut Davi off as she voiced her question. The counter had already gotten down to 60 seconds: that was enough hesitating for me. I had faith in myself. “I’m going for it! Uh, Accept!”

“Vince!” wailed Davi. “You idiot! What if it brings something here? What if it breaks Frank?”

Invitation acceptance registered. Stand by for transfer.

“It won’t,” I reassured her. “It says it’s going to transfer me somewhere.”

“Will it transfer you back?”

“Of course-” I started to say. I was going to clarify further, but a transparent film clapped around me, freezing me in place. It seemed as thin as shrinkwrap, but as unyielding as tungsten.

“Well… if that’s the case, I’m going for it too!” I heard Twinkles say. A moment later: “Hey, it doesn’t say anything about bringing us back. What the hell, Vince?!”

Twinkles’ angry voice was the last thing I heard before I disappeared.