road2

Isaac and Taylor had decided that on this third tour, they were going to see more of the country. Zac was under the impression that they'd already seen it at least twice, but apparently he was wrong. So instead of riding on the bus, like they usually did, they were taking turns driving Isaac's car. Zac really didn't care one way or the other, but there was no way he was going to ride on the bus without them.

They were enjoying a much higher degree of anonymity on this trip. It surprised them a little at first, but they liked it. It was almost like being normal people again. Zac figured that it was due to three things. One, they didn't have a huge entourage with them (the entire Hanson family did not go on this tour); two, they stayed in smaller hotels; and three, the average age of their fans was higher (no mobbing teenies). Zac had a feeling that Taylor kind of missed the screaming hordes, but he definitely knew that he didn't.

If you pull into a hotel parking lot in a big bus, and need 10 rooms, you're going to attract attention. But now, Isaac could just walk into the lobby and get one room for the three of them without anyone ever looking at him twice. They stayed in one room, for old times' sake. Isaac had finally moved out of the house the year before, and they all three thought it would be fun being together again.

It was very late in the evening, after the Kansas City concert. Isaac and Taylor were sitting at the small table in the hotel room, looking over the map, and deciding which secondary road to take tomorrow. Zac acted like he was watching the Kansas City news, but he was really listening to his brothers. He would never admit it to them, but so far he was having fun riding around on back roads. If only it had been summer, he would have been enjoying it even more. Where was I when we decided to do a tour in the winter, he thought.

"The bus usually took I-70, but look, if we go down Highway 50 here," Isaac was saying, tracing the road with his index finger, "we go through a bunch of smaller towns and avoid the interstate altogether." Isaac hated traffic.

Taylor wrinkled his nose and slumped back in his chair. "Yeah, but I bet the speed limit is lower too." Taylor loved to drive fast, much to the annoyance of his older brother. Personally, Zac liked it better when Taylor drove. They got through the boring parts faster.

Isaac leaned across the table and tugged on Taylor's shirtsleeve. "Hey, Sammy Hagar, look, it goes through Jefferson City. That's the capital, we can go through the building..."

Taylor popped back up and was interested again. He'd decided, for reasons known only to him, that he was going to visit the capitol building in each state they drove through. With this added to the 'drive our own car, stay in one hotel room' factors of the trip, this tour had been more like a family vacation where they stopped to play for people before moving on to the next touristy thing.

"OK. But you get to drive since I know the limit's going to be 55 and you can do that." Taylor smirked at Isaac, who ignored him. They often had disagreements over how fast to drive.

"I'm not sleeping there," Taylor muttered to no one in particular. They rotated which two got to sleep in the beds. The losing Hanson slept in a sleeping bag on the floor.

Zac swallowed his chips and followed up with a swig of Dr. Pepper. "Ike, you ask me this every time. You know I don't care which way we go, just as long as you stay awake to give me directions when it's my turn to drive." On Zac's turn two nights before, keeper-of-the-sacred-road-map Isaac had fallen asleep and they had been lost in the middle of Kansas, at night, for a couple of hours.

"Fine then." Zac returned his attention to the local station, which was now showing a really old rerun of `The Simpsons'. He yawned. "Just let me know when we get there."

The next morning started out fine. They ate a big breakfast, and actually left at a decent hour. They had to be in St. Louis sometime before midnight; the show wasn't until tomorrow night. Isaac only got turned around once on the freeway, and ended up in the parking lot of the Independence Center mall. Zac gleefully teased him about it. Isaac finally got on the right road and soon they were cruising east down Highway 50.

It was actually as boring as Zac had figured it would be, although he had to admit that Missouri was somewhat less boring than Kansas. More towns. The scenery would have been nice if it had been any season but winter. After you've seen one leafless tree and snowy cornfield, you've seen them all. It was during one such expanse of nothingness that the car started choking. At least that's what it sounded like to Zac.

"What the hell?" Taylor leaned way up and looked out of the windshield, apparently trying to see under the hood of the car,
which was of course impossible.

"Oh, I do not like the sound of that." Isaac winced as the car started to shudder. He pulled onto the shoulder, and turned off the car. He and Taylor struggled into their coats and got out. Zac hopped up into the front seat so he could see better. Sure, he could get out, but what was the point? It was cold and windy. He didn't know anything about cars. Come to think of it, none of them did.

Isaac got the hood open and was immediately covered in black smoke. Taylor quickly jumped upwind. Isaac slammed the hood closed, took a few minutes to finish gagging while Taylor pounded him on the back, and they both got back in. Now the car smelled like smoky exhaust rather than old French fries. Taylor tried rolling the window down, but the wind was bitterly cold, so he reluctantly rolled it back up and their noses just suffered.

Zac smiled slyly. He loved moments like this. "We're gonna wait for AAA to send us a tow truck. While you MEN were out freezing, I gave them a call. Luckily we're right by the mile marker so I could tell them where we are. They're sending someone out here."

His brothers turned and just looked at him, wide-eyed. They still always seemed surprised when he did something responsible, even though he was 19. It irritated him.

"OK." Taylor shrugged and turned back around. "That was easy." Zac thwapped him on the back of the head. Taylor shot him a dirty look.

Isaac, after finally getting the map unfolded, ran his finger along Highway 50 and stopped at a little black dot that said `Warrensburg'. "That sound right, Zac?"

Just then, the tow truck showed up. Isaac and Taylor got out. Zac flopped over the seat again and rolled down the passenger side window so he could hear. The driver came over, laying his finger along the brim of his oily ball cap in a casual salute, smiled broadly and said, "Mornin', got some trouble here?" Zac, who had elected not to get out of the car until he absolutely HAD to, rolled his eyes and quietly said, "Duh." He rolled up the window. He felt a bad mood coming on. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea after all. This would never have happened on the bus.

Isaac and Taylor talked to the driver, Isaac using his hands way too much as usual. Zac figured he was trying to describe the choking noise. The truck driver kept nodding his head but you could tell he wasn't really listening.

All four of them piled into the cab of the tow truck, which had a strong odor of tobacco and oil. Zac involuntarily gagged, and his breakfast threatened to come up. God is trying to kill me with smells today, he thought, annoyed. I hope it's not a long way to town.

Luckily Warrensburg was close, and after they finished at the garage, the brothers walked up the street to the closest hotel, a Holiday Inn Express. It was about noon, but none of them felt very hungry. Issac really needed to take a shower after his smoke bath, and Taylor declared that he was taking a nap.

Not excited by the prospect of spending the afternoon cooped up in the hotel room watching television and listening to Taylor snore, Zac decided to go look for a laundromat. "I'm going out," he said. Isaac and Taylor nodded more out of habit than anything. They knew by now where he was going, although neither one of them quite understood the reason.

"Beep me if you need me." Need me? Hah. He clipped his pager onto his belt, pulled on his coat and left. The wind had stopped blowing, fortunately, and even though it was January, it didn't feel that cold now. Zac walked across the parking lot, and trudged up the road to the highway. A sign at the intersection read Highway 13. Oh great, thought Zac, unlucky 13, great sign. This really is my day. He shrugged, and started walking south on unlucky 13 anyway, towards the fast food restaurants. Surely he'd find what he was looking for if he walked that direction.

After about a half-hour, he found himself on the edge of a college campus. CENTRAL MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY, he read on a big sign. 'Home of the Mules', the small print said. That has got to be the one of the weirdest
mascots ever, Zac thought, laughing out loud, which got him a dirty look from a passing girl. Zac gave her an exaggerated bow as she swept past him.

Fifteen minutes later he had walked the length of the campus and was standing in front of a Dairy Queen. He stood on the sidewalk, hands deep in his pockets, and contemplated abandoning his original idea for a peanut buster parfait instead when he glanced at the building next to the DQ and there it was. A laundromat.



		Chapter Two

Isaac and Taylor had decided that on this third tour, they were going to see more of the country. Zac was under the impression that they'd already seen it at least twice, but apparently he was wrong. So instead of riding on the bus, like they usually did, they were taking turns driving Isaac's car. Zac really didn't care one way or the other, but there was no way he was going to ride on the bus without them. They were enjoying a much higher degree of anonymity on this trip. It surprised them a little at first, but they liked it. It was almost like being normal people again. Zac figured that it was due to three things. One, they didn't have a huge entourage with them (the entire Hanson family did not go on this tour); two, they stayed in smaller hotels; and three, the average age of their fans was higher (no mobbing teenies). Zac had a feeling that Taylor kind of missed the screaming hordes, but he definitely knew that he didn't. If you pull into a hotel parking lot in a big bus, and need 10 rooms, you're going to attract attention. But now, Isaac could just walk into the lobby and get one room for the three of them without anyone ever looking at him twice. They stayed in one room, for old times' sake. Isaac had finally moved out of the house the year before, and they all three thought it would be fun being together again. It was very late in the evening, after the Kansas City concert. Isaac and Taylor were sitting at the small table in the hotel room, looking over the map, and deciding which secondary road to take tomorrow. Zac acted like he was watching the Kansas City news, but he was really listening to his brothers. He would never admit it to them, but so far he was having fun riding around on back roads. If only it had been summer, he would have been enjoying it even more. Where was I when we decided to do a tour in the winter, he thought. "The bus usually took I-70, but look, if we go down Highway 50 here," Isaac was saying, tracing the road with his index finger, "we go through a bunch of smaller towns and avoid the interstate altogether." Isaac hated traffic. Taylor wrinkled his nose and slumped back in his chair. "Yeah, but I bet the speed limit is lower too." Taylor loved to drive fast, much to the annoyance of his older brother. Personally, Zac liked it better when Taylor drove. They got through the boring parts faster. Isaac leaned across the table and tugged on Taylor's shirtsleeve. "Hey, Sammy Hagar, look, it goes through Jefferson City. That's the capital, we can go through the building..." Taylor popped back up and was interested again. He'd decided, for reasons known only to him, that he was going to visit the capitol building in each state they drove through. With this added to the 'drive our own car, stay in one hotel room' factors of the trip, this tour had been more like a family vacation where they stopped to play for people before moving on to the next touristy thing. "OK. But you get to drive since I know the limit's going to be 55 and you can do that." Taylor smirked at Isaac, who ignored him. They often had disagreements over how fast to drive. "Zac?" Isaac turned towards his brother, who was lying on the bed stuffing his mouth with corn chips. "Mmmph?" Zac answered, spitting crumbs all over the rumpled bedspread. "I'm not sleeping there," Taylor muttered to no one in particular. They rotated which two got to sleep in the beds. The losing Hanson slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. "Does that sound OK to you?" Isaac asked. Zac swallowed his chips and followed up with a swig of Dr. Pepper. "Ike, you ask me this every time. You know I don't care which way we go, just as long as you stay awake to give me directions when it's my turn to drive." On Zac's turn two nights before, keeper-of-the-sacred-road-map Isaac had fallen asleep and they had been lost in the middle of Kansas, at night, for a couple of hours. "I'm driving," Isaac stated, rolling his eyes. How long is it going to take Zac to get over that? "Fine then." Zac returned his attention to the local station, which was now showing a really old rerun of `The Simpsons'. He yawned. "Just let me know when we get there." The next morning started out fine. They ate a big breakfast, and actually left at a decent hour. They had to be in St. Louis sometime before midnight; the show wasn't until tomorrow night. Isaac only got turned around once on the freeway, and ended up in the parking lot of the Independence Center mall. Zac gleefully teased him about it. Isaac finally got on the right road and soon they were cruising east down Highway 50. It was actually as boring as Zac had figured it would be, although he had to admit that Missouri was somewhat less boring than Kansas. More towns. The scenery would have been nice if it had been any season but winter. After you've seen one leafless tree and snowy cornfield, you've seen them all. It was during one such expanse of nothingness that the car started choking. At least that's what it sounded like to Zac. "What the hell?" Taylor leaned way up and looked out of the windshield, apparently trying to see under the hood of the car, which was of course impossible. "Oh, I do not like the sound of that." Isaac winced as the car started to shudder. He pulled onto the shoulder, and turned off the car. He and Taylor struggled into their coats and got out. Zac hopped up into the front seat so he could see better. Sure, he could get out, but what was the point? It was cold and windy. He didn't know anything about cars. Come to think of it, none of them did. Isaac got the hood open and was immediately covered in black smoke. Taylor quickly jumped upwind. Isaac slammed the hood closed, took a few minutes to finish gagging while Taylor pounded him on the back, and they both got back in. Now the car smelled like smoky exhaust rather than old French fries. Taylor tried rolling the window down, but the wind was bitterly cold, so he reluctantly rolled it back up and their noses just suffered. Isaac sat staring at the steering wheel for a couple of minutes. "Well," he finally said. "It's not on fire." "Oh, joy. Now I'm not gonna get to go to the capitol building." "Taylor, quit being such a baby. Geez." Isaac rolled his eyes and coughed a couple of times. "Well, then, what are we gonna do?" Taylor whined. Zac smiled slyly. He loved moments like this. "We're gonna wait for AAA to send us a tow truck. While you MEN were out freezing, I gave them a call. Luckily we're right by the mile marker so I could tell them where we are. They're sending someone out here." His brothers turned and just looked at him, wide-eyed. They still always seemed surprised when he did something responsible, even though he was 19. It irritated him. "OK." Taylor shrugged and turned back around. "That was easy." Zac thwapped him on the back of the head. Taylor shot him a dirty look. Meanwhile, Issac had pulled out the road map. "Where are we, anyway?" "The mile marker says 78. Last sign I saw had a long word starting with W," Zac answered. Isaac, after finally getting the map unfolded, ran his finger along Highway 50 and stopped at a little black dot that said `Warrensburg'. "That sound right, Zac?" "Well, it's long and it starts with W, could be." Just then, the tow truck showed up. Isaac and Taylor got out. Zac flopped over the seat again and rolled down the passenger side window so he could hear. The driver came over, laying his finger along the brim of his oily ball cap in a casual salute, smiled broadly and said, "Mornin', got some trouble here?" Zac, who had elected not to get out of the car until he absolutely HAD to, rolled his eyes and quietly said, "Duh." He rolled up the window. He felt a bad mood coming on. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea after all. This would never have happened on the bus. Isaac and Taylor talked to the driver, Isaac using his hands way too much as usual. Zac figured he was trying to describe the choking noise. The truck driver kept nodding his head but you could tell he wasn't really listening. All four of them piled into the cab of the tow truck, which had a strong odor of tobacco and oil. Zac involuntarily gagged, and his breakfast threatened to come up. God is trying to kill me with smells today, he thought, annoyed. I hope it's not a long way to town. Luckily Warrensburg was close, and after they finished at the garage, the brothers walked up the street to the closest hotel, a Holiday Inn Express. It was about noon, but none of them felt very hungry. Issac really needed to take a shower after his smoke bath, and Taylor declared that he was taking a nap. Not excited by the prospect of spending the afternoon cooped up in the hotel room watching television and listening to Taylor snore, Zac decided to go look for a laundromat. "I'm going out," he said. Isaac and Taylor nodded more out of habit than anything. They knew by now where he was going, although neither one of them quite understood the reason. "Beep me if you need me." Need me? Hah. He clipped his pager onto his belt, pulled on his coat and left. The wind had stopped blowing, fortunately, and even though it was January, it didn't feel that cold now. Zac walked across the parking lot, and trudged up the road to the highway. A sign at the intersection read Highway 13. Oh great, thought Zac, unlucky 13, great sign. This really is my day. He shrugged, and started walking south on unlucky 13 anyway, towards the fast food restaurants. Surely he'd find what he was looking for if he walked that direction. After about a half-hour, he found himself on the edge of a college campus. CENTRAL MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY, he read on a big sign. 'Home of the Mules', the small print said. That has got to be the one of the weirdest mascots ever, Zac thought, laughing out loud, which got him a dirty look from a passing girl. Zac gave her an exaggerated bow as she swept past him. Fifteen minutes later he had walked the length of the campus and was standing in front of a Dairy Queen. He stood on the sidewalk, hands deep in his pockets, and contemplated abandoning his original idea for a peanut buster parfait instead when he glanced at the building next to the DQ and there it was. A laundromat.

	Chapter Three Fiction Adrift