"Alright guys! Time to go to the border!" Ethan announced to Braxton and Arthur, who were all back in the car. They both reluctantly gave a half-assed cheer, and slightly raised their hands above their heads. "Oh c'mon! Gimme more enthusiasm than that!" They both shake their hands, and Ethan just gives up and turns around.
He turns on the GPS, and sees that the border is only 3 hours away at this point.
"Ah shit 3 hours longer! How big is this fucking country!" Arthur whines and moans, Ethan and Braxton have sort of just tuned him out somewhat after hour 10. He has noticed it, but he chose to keep talking either way.
The roads out here in the middle of nowhere were all super bumpy and probably not safe, and since that day was coming to a close, the whole experience just felt super eerie for everyone involved. Braxton was continuously staring out the window, having his mind feel really numb for some reason. The only thing in his mind was whether or not Maria was doing okay back home. Then, a bump shot him out of his daydreaming, and back into reality. Where Arthur is poking at his arm to notice him.
"What bro…?" Braxton looked mildly annoyed at his presence. He gave him the middle finger so he would hopefully fuck off.
"The hell you doing, looking out the window like you're depressed or somethin'. Keep me company man!" Arthur whined into Braxton's ear, which made Braxton push his face away from his ear. "I'm thinking right now man! Shut up!" Braxton told him off. Arthur wasn't going to let that stop him though.
"About what?" He asked.
Braxton sighed, and turned his whole body towards Arthur's position. "Do you think that Maria is doing ok?" He inquired Arthur about.
"I mean, yeah. Probably. Why?" Arthur wanted to know more. "What do you like about her or something…?" he gives Braxton a sly smirk after saying that. Which made Braxton's face flush a tiny bit.
"W-what?! No!" Braxton denies the allegations. They both were getting noisy, so Ethan honked the horn of the car, which made them both shut up for a second. "What's this about Braxton liking someone?" Ethan said with intrigue in his voice. Braxton's face turned even redder. "Oh fuck off—"
Just then, the car seemed to come to a slow spot, spitting something out as it did so. The three of them all froze, and wondered what just happened. Ethan opens his car door, and hops outside before closing it behind him. Arthur and Braxton watch, as Ethan walks up to the front of the car, and lifts up the hood to see what's wrong. By the look on his face of pure disbelief, they could both tell that something was terribly wrong. The two of them, both quickly hop out of the car themselves, and run over to where Ethan was standing with his hands over his eyes. They looked at the exposed engine, to see that the thing was smoking and really hot to touch.
The three of them were scratching their heads, not knowing what to do at this moment. Braxton was going to say something, but he caught his tongue before anything noteworthy came out.
Arthur looked around the area, and saw that there was a small town, not that far away from where they broke down. He tapped Ethan on the shoulder, and pointed out what he had seen. Ethan lit up when he noticed the opportunity; tapping Braxton on the shoulder, and told him about it as well. The three of them come to the conclusion of pushing their car, all the way to wherever this place is.
Braxton is the first one to get behind the car, and start pushing. Even though his leg hasn't fully healed yet, he can still tough it out. Ethan also comes around after a second, and starts to help him with pushing.
"You should probably sit this one out…" Ethan warns him. Braxton just gives him a thumbs up, and grits his teeth through the pain. Arthur is the final one to come around, he slowly waddles over, while loudly sighing. "No fear bro! Arthur's here!" Braxton couldn't show it at the moment, but he felt that comment through his soul, it was that corny. "Just push the thing!" Braxton gritted his teeth, and got ready for the three of them to all push with all their hardest. Ethan counted down from 3, 2, 1; they all used all of their body into moving this large hunk of metal down this long, skinny road. For Braxton it was specifically horrible. He could barely think, smell, or even breathe. He could sure as hell feel everything though. To the point of feeling like his body was going to go numb.
"Okay… guys… we're almost… halfway… there…!" Ethan announced to the group, making them both realise that they might die from fatigue at this rate.
They could all see what the town truly looked like from where they were. It had a big sign over it that said: Welcome to Quélkunstown directly over the entrance. People were running around all over the place, doing regular things that communities would do on a day-to-day basis. They also seemed to be somewhat richer than places like Sorina, or Tempest. With them seeming to have a lot more tech.
Arthur was amazed at how futuristic he thought this place was. He was so infatuated in fact, that he forgot to hold on tight to his section of the car, making it roll back a little bit, and onto Braxton's poor foot. He screamed in pain, and both Ethan and Arthur were wondering what could've happened.
"Hey there you three! Is your friend okay there…?" a random civilian comes up to Ethan's side of the car; gut then notices what happened to the kid in the middle.
"Yeah… I'm fine…!" Braxton blurted out, before fully letting go of the car after going through hell. "So… what do you want from us?" he catches his breath, before sternly prodding at the girl for an answer. Ethan tells him to calm down for a minute, before doing anything else. Arthur also forcefully picks him up, princess style. "Hey! Let me go!" Braxton tries to protest this.
"Nope! Your resting in my arms now" Arthur in the end made the final decision on the matter.
"It seems that you guys need some sort of assistance, correct?" The lady asks.
"Oh don't worry! We'll be fine—"
Arthur whacked him in the shoulder, and shushed him before he could protest. "Thanks lady!" Arthur said to her before running off with Braxton still in his arms. Ethan gives her a little wave. Before calling them back from the car. He then got back to pushing the car, with the help of the lady and some other guy that was on the other side of said car. The other residents watched as Arthur ran around the town, with Braxton in his arms, and he looked around the place with fascination in his eyes.