Then and Now

Town to Town

Glenpool, Oklahoma
September 5th

Dean leads Sammy off the bus, being sure to keep an eye on the small crowd of people as they step out into the warm sunlight. Dean was tired, like weary to the bone kinda tired. After nearly 3 months of hopping from bus to bus, town to town, Dean wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep and not wake for days. 

He couldn't, of course, he had to be constantly vigilant. Ready in case the man found them. His thoughts skitter around the memory of Mrs Milligan being killed. Of poor, orphaned Adam being left behind with the police. 

It was as if they were caught up in a horrible race now, waiting to see if the killer would catch up to them, or if the police would get him first. 

Sam had been asking whether this town would be the one they stayed in for school. Oh god Dean didn't want to think about school now, but with the start dates now looming over him he found himself having to make decisions that normally only adults would have to make. He hated having to be an adult. 

Sam was quiet, as he always was in public, looking around with a mixture of interest and fear. Dean hated that his brother saw threats everywhere, but he had had to drum into the boy that you couldn't trust anyone. Not anymore. 

Grabbing their bags - which Dean had stolen from a store back in Iowa City - the two brothers hurry towards the crappy motel they were planning on staying in. Dean had made his first forged ID back when they had been sleeping in alleyways and abandoned buildings, because apparently 13-year-old's couldn't stay in hotels with 'a proper guardian'. If only these people knew that he was their own guardian now. 

~~~~~~

"Son are you sure you're 16?" The man looks from Dean to his ID and back again.

"Yes sir, and you'll see on the reservation that my father actually authorised this, so..."

The man still looks suspiciously at Dean. "Really, perhaps we should call him, just to double check."

Sam tenses nervously, but Dean works to keep his posture relaxed as he shoots the man a charming smile. "Well, that would be great but... dad is over in Australia on a business trip."

The man stares at Dean. Dean just keeps a 'Do you really want to argue with me on this' expression on his face as he stares back.

"Fine, room 24," The man slides a key across the counter. 

His gaze follows them out the door and it takes all of Dean's willpower to keep walking slowly and calmly. His heart was pounding in his chest. Sam looks terrified as they walk towards their room. 

As soon as they're inside, Dean lets out a sigh and slumps against the door. In here the intense heat was significantly less and he relishes in the the cooling relief.

"He's gonna be a problem, we'll have to move on again soon."

Sam's face falls, and he dumps his bag on the floor. "Great."

"Hey, don't be like that, you know we can't stay anywhere too long anyway."

"But what about sch-"

"Well school might not be an option Sammy." Dean feels bad for snapping, but right now they couldn't afford to think about having any kind of normal life. 

Sam just nods, looking crestfallen as he sits down on the questionable bedding. 

"Look..." Dean was too tired for this, he didn't even know what the heck they were gonna do next. "One day we'll be able to stop but..." When would that be? Surely they wouldn't be able to keep running forever, as it was they were starting to grow tired, each bus trip seemed to beat them down another notch. How long was it before they couldn't keep this up any longer? Were they just dead men walking? Fighting the inevitable with all their constant running?