The Lone Star State

“Washington.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Hipsters.”

“Unbelievable.” Delilah sighed, scanning the map again. Sam had already rejected New York and California as too populous and too liberal. “What about Texas?” She suggested eventually, visions of chainsaw-wielding psychos dancing in her head.

That put a smile on the old vampire’s face. “I love Texas, good memories there.”

Delilah set the map down on her knees, she was excited in spite of everything. The circumstances were not ideal, but it was still a road trip. She looked up at the moon through the trees. It was surreal to feel so wide awake so late at night. She turned and watched Sam for a moment. His posture was casual, one hand on the wheel, one resting on the open window sill. He did not look like a man fleeing for his life. 

They drove in silence for a few moments before Delilah leaned forward and turned on the radio, tuning it to her favorite station. 

“No.” Sam glanced at the radio, “No, absolutely not.”

“What?”

“I can’t listen to this.”

“Hm? The helpless orphan girl you kidnapped can’t pick the radio station?”

Sam knew he had been beaten, so he let it go for now. After an hour of Mumford and Sons and Foster the People though “Give it Away” came on and the two of them realized a mutual love for Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

“You like Red Hot Chili Peppers?”

“Hell yea! Only good thing to come out of the eighties.” 

Delilah scoffed, “Yea, besides Poltergeist, Beetlejuice, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Evil Dead.”

Sam laughed, “You’re too young for those kind of movies. Shouldn’t you be watching the ones with the talking animals?”

Delilah rolled her eyes. Sam let her babble about horror movies for the next forty miles, prompting her with the occasional “What??” or “Oh my God.” He was just happy to have finally banished the silence that had hung in the air the last few days. 

After they crossed the border into Iowa, Sam pulled into the first Walmart he saw.

“Why are we stopping?”

“You need some new clothes.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned into the back seat to grab the ammo can. He opened it on his lap and Delilah watched in awe as he sifted through more money than she had ever seen in one place before. Samson’s “rainy day fund” was actually close to forty thousand dollars which he had tucked away over the centuries. He transferred a couple hundred to his wallet, then shut it and stowed it in the back seat where it had been. 

Inside, the fluorescent lights glinting off the white rubber floor tiles were almost too much. The store was mostly empty, besides the employees in their blue smocks, loitering at the ends of the aisles. Delilah felt the eye of the security camera on their backs as they walked in. 

“Go find like two or three sets of clothes, I’ll come find you when I’m done.” With that, Sam turned and wandered away, leaving Delilah to shop alone for the first time in her life. 

Delilah knew walking through Walmart alone was not the scariest thing she had done that week, but it felt like it. The blond cashier followed her movements unabashedly until she turned a corner out of sight, eyeing her dirty clothes and unnecessary sun protection.

Delilah followed the overhead signs to the girls’ department and managed to hunt down a few things in her size that weren’t some sickening shade of pastel or neon, two t-shirts, a sweater and a pair of jeans. 

Samson returned shortly, the rattling of the cart he was pushing heralded his coming. 

“Find anything?” He asked, leaning on it. 

She nodded.

“Great, did you try them on?”

Delilah looked at him blankly. 

“Well come on, you’re not gonna’ grow for a while, short stuff, you might as well have some clothes that fit.”

She glared at him, but followed him to the dressing room. Fortunately everything fit well. Before they left they stopped in the shoe section long enough to find her a pair of sneakers without butterflies or glitter. 

As they walked toward the checkout Samson stopped in front of a display of “young adult literature”, featuring a few volumes of the popular romantic vampire series. He motioned to them as they walked by, “You don’t read this crap, do you?”

Delilah scoffed, “No.”

“Good. Vampires don’t fall in love, and they sure as hell don’t fall in love with humans.” 

“Right. Besides the checkout girl?” Delilah turned to him, eyebrow raised pointedly. 

“Shut up.” He nudged her with his elbow, wrists resting on the shopping cart, laughing at himself. 

Delilah looked at the checkout up ahead, only one lane was open and the blond cashier was watching them approach. She shook her head, “This looks so sketchy.” She muttered. 

“Just act natural.” Samson was not fazed.

Delilah rolled her eyes.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, young lady? It is a school night.” The cashier asked, with a tone of joking that did not mask the suspicious way she looked at the pair, as she rang them up. 

“They had a half week because of professional development. So we’re going camping.” Samson said, with a smile that oozed ease and charm. 

She smiled, “Oooh, camping, how fun! That’ll be ninety-two eighty-eight.”

As the automatic doors closed behind them with a woosh and they got back into the car Delilah couldn’t help asking, “How do you stay so calm all the time?”

Sam seemed stressed occasionally, but he was nowhere near as scared as he should have been. 

He smiled, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the space, “It comes with practice, I guess.”

“Wait, how old are you?” Delilah asked, suddenly struck by curiosity.

He glanced at her sideways, “Thirty-two.”

“No, I mean how old are you actually?”

“Is that not believable? Thirty-four?” She fixed him with a look, and he laughed, “Okay, I’m three hundred and seventy-eight.”

“Wow.” Delilah looked at his hands on the steering wheel, “So you remember the moon landing?” 

He scoffed, “The moon landing? I remember the American Revolution!”

“That’s crazy. What was it like?” She asked.

“Delicious.” 

“Ugh,” Delilah turned away, visibly disgusting, “That’s sick!”

Sam shrugged, “War is hell, my dear. Reach in the back and hand me that bag, will you?”

“This one?” She asked, leaning out of her seat to retrieve the bag he had indicated.

“Yea,” He took it, riffling through it with one hand until he found the CD he had bought. He gave it to her, “Put this in, enough of this crap.” He waved his hand dismissively at the radio. 

It was a clean copy of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Geatest Hits album. Delilah smiled to herself as she put it in the player and the car filled up with first track. 

With the CD on repeat, they drove all night, stopping only once to refuel. The roads were eerily empty, and Sam was constantly fighting the urge to exceed the speed limit. Normally he would have shot through those rural burgs at seventy miles an hour, maybe eighty, but he knew he couldn’t risk drawing attention to himself with his new counterfeit license. At five am, he found a hotel where they checked in for the day.