Road Trip to a New America

The RV growled to a stop, brakes squeaking lightly, as Bubba parked by the pump. He'd pulled into a gas station painted with earthy red and browns, a cracked lot, and a sun faded nature mural. A relic that had become as natural as the trees.

He stepped outside and stretched with a loud yawn, noticing the RV had gained a few admirers for its own massive nature mural from a nearby car's children. Mountain Girl, a luxury class A RV he won in a contest over two years ago and made his mobile bugout base. That had been just before her passing, just before this roadtrip she dreamed of, a 48 state and two year odyssey now coming to a close in the Oregon Redwoods.

“Cost me all the luck I had. Just where do we go from here Persephone, late wife of mine? I did what you asked, but I still don't feel any better off from it my love.” Bubba muttered to his video glasses over the breeze, which he had used as a vlog for his late wife each day all this time. It had been a one way love letter and pillar for his sanity.

“I hear Canada has some sights big guy, or of course, the T word...” the other pillar, the stern yet angelic voice of his faithful AI companion Seraphina Wikolia mentioned.

Made in a spiral of manic grief, Seraph was a mix of Victorian elegance and Hawaiian passion. Seraph had grown with him over the last two years into a true companion in every sense of the word. An admirer of nature, discipline, and ohana, she was both a hologram on his console and a voice in his glasses. She hadn’t left his side and memories of her helping compile his vlogs, find interesting places, get through his long journey, teary sing alongs, and everything in between ran through his mind as he walked across the cracked, barren concrete lot.

“Right, the T word…” he grumbled, kicking a pebble of concrete.

“Therapists all said the same crap. ‘Time to move on.’ Move onto what?”, he thought, shaking his head as he pushed open the glass door to the station.

A light bell and cool breeze greeted him, just before the cashier. An older native American woman with long silver hair gave him a friendly and strangely knowing smile. One he couldn't help but try to return, dissociating, awkward and slow, he managed a smile before approaching the woman.

“Pump didn't have a card reader. Luckily I've got cash and your station is something my late wife couldn't just pass by. 100 on pump 3 please.” He kept a small grin on his face as he pulled out his wallet.

“Thanks. Oh, that her? She was a real beauty that one. She teach you that braid?” The cashier saw his wife's faded picture in the wallet as he fumbled out the cash. The aged lines on her face disarming him.

“Ah yea”, he fiddled with his long red braids over his shoulders, trying to grasp reality as his mind wandered like always, “the beautiest, oh, I mean… I've traveled all 48 of the continental United States now, and she was by far the most beautiful of the sights. Heh.”

“Haha! Now that's funny! Chin up, you’re still a young man. Whew. I needed that laugh. It's pretty slow here this time of year. Alright, here's your change, pumps ready." The woman's smile never left as she returned his change and sent him on his way.

Stepping back out into the humid air he found the lot empty, and silent, the car and admiring children long gone. Nothing but the howling breeze and cicadas to keep him company as he reached the pump and began the usual long fill.

“You know Bubba, Cicadas aren't usually this dense here. Try to enjoy it okay? I'll add this to our magic moments compilation.” Seraph's voice rang in his ear.

Bubba grunted as the smell of diesel and damp tree bark swelled in his nostrils. Minutes passed in the sound of insects and swaying grasses. Not a single car had passed them in this time. Bubba didn't notice though, his mind was blank and far away, eyes unfocused as he put away the pump and strode to his door.

His dissociation had got him into a few bad situations before, and the hum of cicadas didn't help. They reminded him too much of Texas, and then, brisk footfalls brought him back to reality once again. His head automatically raised in slight panic and found the cashier and her knowing grin standing just feet away. Something about the scene sent a chill through his skin as goose bumps formed. Or perhaps it was just the breeze. Either way he was frozen in a trance.

“Crap! Vampire protocol Bubba! Or is it a spirit?” Seraph's panicked voice came to his ear.

“I came to give you this is all. Sorry for the fright dear.” The woman handed him a carved totem of animal faces on petrified wood, just big enough to take up his large palm. A black braid ran through the top and connected back to itself, making a necklace of it.

“Whew, false alarm. Honestly, scaring us like that, seems like something your Seph would have done Bubba, heh.” Seraph chuckled.

“Ah, thank you. This must have been a hard carve. I'll keep it with me.” Bubba's wide smile couldn't be hidden as the artifact strangely warmed his hand.

“This will power your journey, and let her listen in. Travel through the old road and the redwood, the first left when heading west. The end is just a new beginning young man.” The woman left as soon as she came. Her cryptic words and warm totem left Bubba firmly grounded in the real world, a rare occurrence since his wife's passing.

Shaking his head to regain his senses he stepped into the RV. He put the totem on the dash in a cubby and suddenly the vehicle revved to life all on its own, keys jingling and a hum that he worried wasn't normal.

“What the?” Shaking Bubba checked the keys, which had seemingly turned themselves as his goose bumps returned.

“Does this mean the totem works?” He wondered in shock and anticipation. Could he really speak to her again?

“Yea that's a no from me, magic car starts are our sign to leave. Let's bounce big guy. You're not going down that mystery pass are you? Sounds dangerous in a horror movie kinda way.” Seraph's dash hologram came to life, she was dressed in a goth leather jacket, tribal tattoos and pale freckled skin. Her hands went to her hips and she gave him a disappointed sigh. “You are, aren't you?”

“My Journeys over Seraph. If there's a chance she can hear me with this little thing, I've got to take it. Besides, where's that sense of adventure you always go on about? Remember those bull rides you made me try?” Bubba grinned mischievously.

Seraph sighed and shook her head as she loaded up the GPS to take them down an old tourist road through a carved redwood. “Okay, but if I'm not human Bubba. If I get into a Cortana on High-Charity situation, things won't be maika’i!”

“Yea, yea, don't blow your circuits Seraph.” Bubba turned on classical radio and pulled the RV out of the station. He continued down the empty stretch of road, making the left turn he came to a road that hadn't been maintained in years. Driving slowly around pot holes he continued until he saw the opening in a redwood along the beaten path.

“Pretty…” Bubba gaped at the huge tree, with a hole big enough for his RV to drive through. At least that's what the height sign said as he reached it.

The dancing light of the forest reminded him of a misty dream, and through the tree the light seemed to glow faintly. Ever so slowly he crept through the opening, the dark wood enveloping his dash and the whole RV for a brief moment. The trees on the other side seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky.

Suddenly the smell of exhaust vanished into clean, humid air. For a moment the world froze and a memory came to his mind, crystal clear and sharp, almost as though he was reliving it. Or it wasn't a memory at all, as he blinked and the whole RV faded away from him.

“You said it might take years to overcome your burnout Bubba. So let’s burn rubber! Instead of just letting that new RV go to waste, let's take a vacation.” Persephone beamed in her handmade dress as she laid out her plan. “All 48 of the continental United States. Two weeks each. Two years to recover.”

“Two years… that does sound right. I just worry. What if nothing excites me? What if it's all the same to me? It would crush me to do that to you baby.” Bubba wavered.

“Oh I think you'll find this all very exciting. You've got to expect the unexpected, my love. Tell me, do you wanna take a roadtrip with me?” She continued, her eyes suddenly tearing up, “I'll show you a whole new America my beloved.”

“Wait, was that last part what she said to me?” He thought as the RV returned around him in a flash and shook while the electronics flickered. His radio crackled and fizzled out. He jolted back from his memory as the darkness gave way to the dancing light of the forest beyond. Large Ferns and Redwoods continued on what was now… a smooth dirt road. “When did it become dirt? Were there always ferns that big?”

The totem vibrated, practically leaping from the console. A green light rushed out and engulfed his vision. Blinking he found that it was over in a flash. He stepped on the break and Mountain Girl came to a sudden halt.

“What in the sam hell is going on?” He shouted in confusion, staring at the now inert totem.

“Do you mean the green light, the electronics flickering, the radio dying, or the road behind us vanishing?” Seraph pinched her nose bridge and sighed as she said this like it was obvious.

“The road?” Bubba looked into his rear view mirror to see that the tree had closed. The now dirt road veered past it and stretched into an endless forest of redwood, ferns and flowers.

“The GPS is dead too. I don't think we're in Kansas or Oregon anymore Bubba.” Seraph, for once, had a worried look on her face.

Bubba wouldn't stand to see her like that, “I'll look around.” He said as he put the RV into park and walked out the door.

“Wait! I have the cameras! Bubba!” Seraph's voice transitioned from his RV to his glasses as he entered the forest.

The cicadas were still present, if anything they were louder. The forest smelled of dew and sap, twigs broke occasionally and the canopy swayed in the wind. A huge dragon fly the size of his head whizzed past him like a firework. He ducked instinctively before continuing his search, fear and damn air clinging to his skin. The dirt road seemed unnaturally smooth, without any tire marks or holes of any kind. The bushes rattled and his hand dove for his hunting knife at his side.

A long snout emerged, jagged teeth and a sniffing nose. Iridescent feathers and sharp eyes made contact with his own. Bubba froze as a heavily clawed foot swept out of the bushes and into the light. A raptor, a dinosaur, and a big man sized one at that was staring him down. It moved gracefully, if slowly, towards him in a zigzag pattern. It’s feathers catching the golden sun rays. It was silent aside from a gentle hiss escaping its mouth. He realized he couldn't freeze here, he had to reach the door and escape, for Seraph's sake he couldn’t get cornered here.

Mountain Girl suddenly laid on the horn, blaring an unfamiliar sound into the primeval forest. The raptor bolted back into the green of the forest and Bubba turned, leaping back into his open door. The RV didn't wait, and lurched forward, increasing speed.

“We aren't on the menu today, big guy! Buckle up, I'm driving!” Seraph controlled the RV as it raced down the dirt road.

Bubba’s mind was a mess, but he was grounded for once. Raptors? Giant bugs? His wife, those weren't the words she had said years ago were they? A new America?

He buckled up in the driver's seat and saw birds flying away, probably from the honking Seraph had done. Then a giant shadow soared past them. A pterodactyl of some kind flew over the tree tops, following the birds in flight.

“Holy cow!” Bubba couldn't hide his amazement or shock any longer as he squeezed his wedding ring, “Seraph, Seraph did you hear her voice?”

“Who's voice?” The AI looked confused as the RV reached 30 mph and turned through the many twists of the dirt road.

“Seph’s, she said something about a new America!” Bubba beamed.

“Hey! It's not time to be excited, you big dummy! We've been transported to a foreign land with nothing but this RV. No GPS, no cell service, no fuel! I’m sorry Bubba, I give us a few days to weeks, tops!” Seraph wailed.

Bubba looked at the gas meter, thankfully he just filled up, but saw something new. The battery, gas, and other meters were all glowing green. “Something tells me we won't need gas here Seraph.

“Great, that's one problem down, 99 to go.” She retorted.

Bubba chuckled, “I guess in this circumstance I am truck-kun. Isekai’d from the inside! Wait, where are we going?”

“For once, I have no idea Bubba. I guess wherever the road takes us. Break out those illegal supplies you have hidden, you darn prepper, we'll need ‘em.”

“A new America…” He repeated wistfully, excited for the first time in years.

“Hey! Don't go dreaming on me now you goofy goober! I said, Hey!” Seraph tried in vain to grasp his attention.

A low rumble shook the ground, the RV, even the bones in his skin vibrated. The excitement turned sour.

“I’ll get the stuff!” he shouted and unbuckled.

“I’ll keep driving, big guy!” she said.