She tried sending another message to Dante, but the result was exactly the same.
Patty put her phone away and looked at Kevin. "Kevin, how's it going?"
Kevin was wearing headphones, constantly tuning the radio station.
As a radio enthusiast, he knew several common public channels and police frequencies by heart.
"Still trying..."
Kevin took off his headphones, his face tense. "It might take a little more time."
The vehicle traveled smoothly along the highway for about ten minutes.
Outside the window, the scenery remained an unchanging vista of mountains and blue sky; no monsters jumped out, and no criminal gangs appeared.
As time passed, the tension everyone felt began to slowly dissipate.
"Ha! See, I told you!"
Scott, who had been holding his breath, finally found his opening.
He sat with his legs crossed, looking at Patty with a boastful, triumphant smile. "Patty, look, I told you that you've been watching too many horror movies. It's been this long and there isn't even a bird in sight."
"You were just too worked up back there, but it's okay. It's normal for girls to be a little timid."
Scott leaned forward. "With me here, I'll definitely keep everyone safe. Don't make such a fuss next time, just relax."
Right then.
BANG!!
A loud explosion erupted from beneath the vehicle. The RV began to buck and jolt violently, as if they had suddenly driven onto a road made of jagged stones.
The front of the vehicle swerved uncontrollably from side to side, the chassis rocking wildly as the tires screeched against the pavement, leaving two charred black marks on the ground.
"Fuck!!"
Brad, who was driving, cursed loudly, his hands gripping the steering wheel desperately as he tried to stabilize the vehicle.
The interior of the coach was instantly plunged into chaos.
Scott, who hadn't been wearing his seatbelt, was flung right off the sofa and slammed into the liquor cabinet, blood streaming from his forehead.
Minxie screamed and covered her head, while Kevin held onto his radio equipment for dear life, hunkering down in the passenger seat.
Only Patty remained calm.
Having dealt with demons since she was a child, she didn't panic like the others. Instead, she quickly lowered her center of gravity, grabbing a handrail with one hand while her other hand instinctively reached for the backpack she carried.
The cool touch of metal gave her a slight sense of security.
Screeech!
With a final, ear-piercing sound of grinding brakes, the RV left several winding skid marks on the highway before finally coming to a stop at the edge of the road, safe for the moment.
"Son of a bitch! Brad! Are you a pig?! Do you even know how to drive?!"
Scott scrambled up from the floor in a pathetic state. Clutching his forehead as blood seeped through his fingers, he roared with a contorted face.
"My head! Damn it, what if this leaves a scar?!"
Brad was equally shaken. He had barely managed to keep the vehicle steady and prevent it from flipping over. Hearing the accusations, his temper flared as well:
"The tire blew out, what do you want me to do?! I checked every single tire before we left!" He slammed the car door open and jumped out in a fit of rage to check the situation.
As soon as he rounded the back of the vehicle, he froze.
The rear right tire was completely flat, the rubber shredded into uneven strips, and a pungent burnt smell lingered in the air.
Brad crouched down to examine it closely, finding that the damaged rear tire seemed to have been sliced open instantly by something incredibly sharp.
He instinctively looked back at the highway; the road surface was smooth, with no spikes or tire deflators in sight.
"Fuck!! God damn it!!"
Brad kicked the ruined tire hard, clutching his head with both hands as he backed away a few steps. "We're screwed!"
Patty and the others gradually climbed out of the car.
"What happened?"
Patty walked up and asked.
She looked at the shredded tire, turned on her phone flashlight, and crouched down. Beneath the light, she noticed a reflective foreign object embedded in the tire.
"What's this?"
She slowly reached her hand into the tire, gripped the object, and pulled it out with a grunt.
Squelch!
A bizarrely shaped four-pointed shuriken was now held between her fingers.
This strange weapon looked exactly like the ninja weapons from those action movies Sephirot had dragged her to watch late at night.
However, it wasn't made of metal; it seemed to be crafted from some kind of biological bone, with the edges of its four points ground to a razor sharpness.
The center of the shuriken was wrapped and joined with an unknown leather that felt like...
Human skin.
"Bone?"
Kevin looked at the thing in Patty's hand, his expression growing tense. "Is this a shuriken ground out of some kind of animal bone? It's hard enough to cut through a steel-belted tire?"
It was worth noting that the steel layers in a steel-belted tire could withstand punctures from nails, yet it had been sliced open by a plain, unassuming bone dart?
"Who would do something so malicious?!"
Minxie looked at the destroyed tire, her heart aching. "Throwing something like this on a highway? Don't they know it could kill someone?!"
"This is a rented luxury RV; we're definitely losing the entire security deposit now..."
"It's definitely a prank by those local hicks!"
Scott approached, clutching his forehead. He glanced at the bone dart with a look of utter disgust. "People in these poor areas just hate the rich. They find any way they can to spite us."
"Forget about who did it for a second."
Patty interrupted the group's complaining and looked at Brad. "Where's the spare? Let's get it on and get out of here."
The air went silent the moment she said it.
Brad looked conflicted. He glanced at Scott and stammered, "Uh... the spare... we didn't bring it..."
"What do you mean we didn't bring it?!"
Minxie shrieked.
"To make room for a few more cases of beer and Scott's grill..."
Brad decisively threw Scott under the bus.
Seeing everyone's eyes turn toward him, Scott looked away guiltily and forced an excuse:
"Who the hell could've predicted we'd be this unlucky? Besides, people who drive luxury cars don't change their own tires; they just call for roadside assistance!"
The group: "..."
The sky gradually darkened as night fell.
Caw...
A few crows flapped their wings and landed on the treetops, tilting their heads as their crimson eyes watched the humans setting up a camp nearby.
In the center of the camp, a spark of red rose.
They planned to spend the night here and see if Kevin could contact a rescue team; if not, they would have no choice but to try driving on the ruined tire during the day.
The campfire dispelled the night chill. The five of them sat around the flames with their pitched tents behind them.
Each held a can of beer or a soda, their faces marked by exhaustion and unease.
Patty had strongly opposed camping in such an uncertain environment, suggesting they stay in the car with the doors and windows locked while waiting for Kevin to get through to rescue services.
However, Scott insisted that the space inside the car was too claustrophobic and cramped for resting comfortably, accusing Patty of making a mountain out of a molehill.
He even insisted on having a "wilderness BBQ party" at a time like this to lighten the mood.
"Come on! Everyone, it's a little setback, but this is still our spring break!"
Scott raised his beer, trying to take the lead in breaking the deathly silence.
"Cheers! To adventure!!"
"Cheers..."
The others responded half-heartedly, clearly not in the spirit.
(Translated by yourtl.app)