Chapter 408.

Chapter 408.

Chapter 408. We Encounter a Strange Spaced-out Girl Stranded on the Highway. (1/10)

It’d been three days since we left the first small city we came across. We’d been on the road for four days in total now and today was a Thursday. Whenever evening arrived, same as our first day on the road, we set up camp in thickets of trees throughout our journey. Up to this point, we’d passed through nineteen towns in total which ranged from small to large, with populations as low as 70, to as high as 6,000. As for cities, we’d traveled through six on our journey, their populations ranged from 11,000 to 170,000.

So far, none of the cities were comparable in size to our city, but that would undoubtedly change soon enough. The next city in our path had a population closer to a million like ours. We were only three towns away, about a forty-minute drive from our current location.

Once we got used to driving for extended periods on my motorcycle after the first day, we drove for a lot longer. With our built-up experience, now that we were accustomed to it, we’d be able to make the return trip in two to three days. Which meant we had about a week before we had to turn back and head home.

Initially, we winged it without any clear destination in mind, we mindlessly drove in whatever direction the wind blew, but we finally came to a consensus on where we wanted to visit yesterday. This next city wasn’t our last stop. Rather than this city, our final destination was about a two and a half hours drive away from it.

This final destination was somewhere I’d never gone to before. Well, technically, I had been there as a child with my mother, but that was in the northern part of the continent rather than the southern part.

“Hey, Ran, someone’s stranded on the side of the road up ahead.” Rosa suddenly pointed out from behind.

“So? What does that have to do with us?”

“Why don’t we stop and give them a hand?”

“Why would we do that?”

“Let’s just give them a hand.”

I focused on the curb and discovered a woman standing beside a pickup truck with her right arm stuck out and a thumb up.

It was pretty obvious she was trying to hitchhike a ride.

Was she out of gas or did her vehicle outright break down?

Never before had I given a ride to someone trying to hitchhike a ride. I always ignored such people. They could be dangerous and concealing a weapon or something. They might try to mug you.

“No way. I don’t trust it.”

“What? You’re afraid she’s going to kill or mug us or something?”

“Obviously.”

“There’s no way that’s going to happen. Besides, we outnumber her.”

“What if there are other people we can’t see hidden inside the pickup truck or ditch on the side of the road?”

“Then how about we drive past, you park up further down the road, and I come back and check sneakily. I can sneak up from the ditch and confirm whether there’s anyone in it. While I’m at it I can check inside the vehicle to see if there’s anyone hidden in it.”

“Why go through all that effort?”

“Look, there are some things a girl can’t say outright so easily.”

“Like what? You need a washroom?”

“...”

“What makes her so special that we’d do so just for her and not anyone else?”

“Going off of what she’s wearing it looks like she’s a farm girl.”

“And?”

“I was thinking if we made a connection with a farmer’s daughter around here we could potentially get some free accommodations for a day or two since it’s not too far from the city.”

“Hmm... that’s actually not a bad idea. It’d be safer too. Wild animals have been concerning and there’s no telling whether the weather will be as nice as it’s been the last few days.”

“Exactly.”

“I thought your reason was going to be something really stupid like she’s hot or something.”

“Well... I won’t deny she’s in my strike zone.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Golden hair and sky blue eyes.”

“You’ve got a thing for that combination, don’t you?”

“Ehem. Ehem. Anyway, let’s go.”

“Haaaaah. Whatever.”

Rosa wasn’t wrong, if she was a farmer’s daughter crashing at their farm wasn’t a bad idea. We could let her keep the gas free of charge and if we’re lucky she might offer us a place to stay. It was a calculated move that we could benefit from if things went well.

Rosa hopped back on the motorcycle and we drove a short distance before we pulled over on the opposite side of the road.

“Hey, did you run out of gas?” Rosa called out to the girl on the other side.

Strangely enough, the girl with her thumb stuck out over the road didn’t react immediately. She seemed to be spaced out while she stared down the road in the direction we initially came.

“Haha, she totally ignored you.”

“What’s with her? Go to the other side.”

“Sure.”

I popped a U-turn and rolled up directly to her side. She hadn’t even noticed our presence when we were this close on a motorcycle with the engine rumbling.

Rosa stuck her hand out in front of her face and waved. “Earth to air-headed girl stranded out in the middle of nowhere, can you hear me?”

She didn’t blink let alone respond. She was spaced out to the extreme. She was still as a rock. If one didn’t know better they’d think she was a statute.

“Hmm... maybe I was wrong?” Rosa sounded uncertain as she raised one brow up.

“Wrong about what?”

“Her needing gas. Maybe what she really needs is a reality check.”