How Not To Be A Groupie

"I think we should start walking back," I said, surprised either of them heard me over their discussion. Angus and Phil looked at me, then at each other, then at me. "If we can't get a ride back to Sydney then we'll have to walk. On the way back we can look around for Bon."

"Walk?" Angus asked. "When ya' haven't eaten since last night?" He looked very unsure of it all and folded his hands together. "I don't know..."

"I'll be okay," I said, not knowing for sure if I'd be okay to make the journey or not. But it wasn't me they should be worried about. "What else can we do?"

"It's a long way back," Phil said. "An' then we gotta walk downtown to make it to the interview."

"Which is why we should start now," I said. "If we stick around town looking, it'll be hours before we get back home." I wasn't sure my idea was the smartest but it was something. The only other thing I could think of was finding a policeman and asking him for a ride. "Or we get a police officer out here to take us back and look for Bon."

"We really don't need the police involved," Phil said. "Not yet." A rickety old car drove down our street slowly, like the driver was looking for something. The windows were tinted and loud music played from the radio. The bumper was seconds away from falling off and the paint was badly in need of a touch up. None of us gave the car any attention, hoping they'd pass right by. They did, but it was slow and unnerving. "Maybe we do," Phil muttered, watching the creepy car turn a corner. 

Angus stood from the stoop with his water and checked his watch. "She's got a point, ya' know," he said. "If we start our way back, maybe look for any one we know, we can make it back before dark."

"Alright," Phil said, seeing there was nothing else to do. "An' if things get bad, then we get the cops."

"You're sure you can make it?" Angus asked, checking me over. I felt much better but that didn't mean I wouldn't cook in the sun while we walked. My water was still pretty full and if I rationed it out, it'd last me a while. 

"I'll sure as hell try," I said. "And no splitting up." We didn't need to end up on national news after getting killed by some maniac like in the horror films. 

"Aye aye, captain," Angus smiled as we started back down the street. While running from the angry bus driver we failed to see which neighborhood we stampeded into. Of all the friendly neighborhoods in the area, this was not one of them. No gardens, no living things aside from rats. Blinds were pulled shut and the wind blew stray garbage around. Not even any festive Christmas decorations. Chills ran down my spine and I tried not to let my imagination wander.

"We'll start at the bus stop," Phil said, keeping his eyes open for it. There were plenty of signs for crosswalks and school zones but none for buses. "Take the road south an' hope for the best."

"Should we find a map?" Angus asked. Instead of answering Phil looked down every corner for a street with a bus stop. Finally we found a scratched up yellow sign next to a bench. "Is this the right one?"

"Should be," Phil said, looking it over. "Hard to tell, we left in such a hurry."

There was a tiny map on the glass of the booth surrounding the bench. I went to check it out but felt helpless about it. Reading maps wasn't my strong suit. Angus looked it over with me and put his finger on one spot. "That's us," he said. "South is this way. So..."

Phil joined us and traced his finger down the paths. There looked to be a park nearby and also a school. Bon probably wouldn't be in either of those places. "Does Bon have any other friends that could be in the area?" I asked.

"We could try a pub," Phil said. "They might at least know who he is."

"There's one a few streets down," Angus said, pointing in some direction. "Maybe they have a phone we can actually use."