The same questions he had when he drove away were still going through his head passing the first town away from Paradise. He know he had been followed, he just didn't know if he'd done the right thing in driving away. Even worse, he had left Sam behind. If his followers were Mogs, they might figure out Sam was a way to get to John. Bernie Kosar lay next to John seemingly asleep. For the first few miles he had been tugging at John's clothes as to indicate they should go back, but John still thought leaving had been the right thing to do.
A burning light on his dashboard distracted him from his train of thoughts. He was running out of gas and as luck would have it he did not have any money on him. Wow John, you lasted about 30 miles on you own without fucking up. He saw a sign on the side of the road indicating a gas station was coming up. He parked on the side of the road and got out of the car. For a moment he could see Bernie head coming up, ever vigilant. From the back of the car he grabbed the fake license plates he and Henry had been using for years. He replaced them quickly before getting back in the car.
A few minutes later he pulled up at the gas station and filled up the tank. Getting into the gas market he overheard a conversation between the stock taker and the cash register employee. "I'm telling you, I only count 98 bottles of soda, not the 100 you told me there should be." They seemed more upset than they should be, especially if it only considers some drinks. John quickly put some candy bars in his pocket before walking to the cash register. "Hey, do you have any freshly baked bagels?" The man behind the counter looked at him with confusion in his eyes. "Okay, no worries." He walked out the door leaving the man confused. Strange, the question hadn't been that weird...
John got back in the car and drove off without ever paying. He saw the gas meter rising in the first 2 minutes and was glad he was on his way again. Only a few minutes later his phone started vibrating. Sam's smiling face appeared in the screen. John swiped his finger over the screen accepting the call. "Hey Sam, I thought I said I'd call you tonight. Are you all right?" There was a natural worry in his voice, not strange in this situation. "I'm all right John," he was happy to hear it was Sam's voice speaking, "it wasn't what you thought, or actually it was, but then she came and then it wasn't any more. She fixed it, isn't that awesome." His voice sounded excited, but confusing. What the hell is he talking about...? "Sam, calm down. What exactly happened?".
When Sam spoke again he sounded a bit calmer. "I can't tell you on the phone, John. Meet me as soon as possible at the Paradise welcome sign. I'll see you there. Sam hang up straight after. He left John speechless. He was somehow less worried than before, only he didn't know why. Sam's ranting should have only made him feel worse, but the joy in his voice calmed John down. He turned his car around and sped up. With almost double the speed he raced back to Paradise.
It was just over an hour that he was on the road to the welcome sign. In the distance he saw a car standing that he had not seen before. The figure sitting on the hood however was one of the most familiar faces in his life. He parked next to it and opened his door. "Hey Sam, where did you get the new car from?"[color] The smile on Sam's face surely was the same smile he had when calling John. Sam spoke like a teasing child: [color=blue]"I met another Alien, na, na, na na, na. He continued with a normal voice. "I met number 6, at least I think it is 6. In any case she is one of you."
John knew what he meant. He had the same smile on his face that he'd had when he'd found out John was alien. However, John was not inclined to believe this that easily. "Stay here..." The look on John's face was one of mistrust and vigilance. He walked through the small patch of tall grass and saw a girl standing there. She must have been about his age, and the first thing he noticed was her bare legs with the marks on it. She was tall and she looked like she could handle herself. He wasn't sure what to say, he didn't know if the marks were convincing enough for him. "Not to be rude or anything, but you honestly can't think I believe you right away when you say you're an alien. So why don't you tell me something convincing enough for me not to get in my car with my friend, and drive the hell away from this place?" He didn't know what to expect, it wasn't like he had been in a situation like this before.