The bus rolled away from the construction site, its heavy wheels groaning against the cracked highway. Every two hours, it paused for five-minute restroom breaks at roadside shacks and half-abandoned drive-thrus.
Inside, the cabin slowly filled with the buzz of conversation.
Maya quickly found her rhythm with the women on board. Laughter rose and fell in waves as they swapped stories—husbands who couldn't cook to save their lives, kids who mysteriously vanished at chore time, and family recipes guarded like nuclear launch codes.
One woman, plump with warm eyes and a sharp tongue, leaned in. "So, darling, what brings you out here with this sweaty lot? You're too pretty for cement dust."
Maya smiled and nodded toward Arin, who was mid-argument about Tyson vs. Ali. "I'm with him."
A round of playful gasps and raised brows followed.
"Oooh, that one?" another woman teased.
Maya smirked with affection in her eyes. "The one with more noise than brain cells? Yeah, that's mine."
They burst into laughter.
"I mean, no offense," the first woman said, fanning herself with an empty snack wrapper. "But if I was your age and looked like that, I wouldn't be on a bus full of cement monkeys—I'd be drinking wine in Santorini while some Greek guy named Dimos massaged my feet."
"Girl, you're settling," another chimed in.
Maya shrugged with a grin. "Maybe. But he's got his uses."
"Oh, do tell," one whispered with mock scandal.
"Well," Maya leaned in, her voice playful, "he cooks, he fixes shit around the house, he brings me coffee every morning. And" she lowered her voice dramatically, "ahem,he's very good with his hands."
The group erupted in laughter, one woman nearly choking on her chips.
"What the!" the oldest woman cackled. "You ain't talking about fixing plumbing now, are you?"
Maya winked. "Let's just say, when he's under the hood, everything runs smooth."
There was a beat of silence before the bus echoed with howls.
"I like her," one of them said, wiping a tear from her eye. "She's got spunk."
"And clearly gets spanked," someone muttered, which only made it worse.
Maya chuckled, leaning back in her seat. "Y'all are trouble."
"Always," said the first woman, sipping from her lukewarm tea, "but the fun kind. haven't laughed this much since my second husband accidentally glued his nuts to a car battery"
"WTF!!" some of them shouted.
Meanwhile, Arin blended in with the younger workers. It didn't take long before a friendly chat spiraled into a heated debate about boxing legends.
"Ali was untouchable," one guy insisted.
"Mike would've steamrolled him in the first round," Arin shot back.
"You're delusional."
"Bro, Tyson was a monster."
Rajiv, sitting a few seats away with some of the older workers, just laughed. He was playing thumb wars with a kid while arguing gently about politics.
Carter? He slept through the whole thing, arms crossed, mouth slightly open.
Eli stared out the window beside Rajiv, quiet for a long while.
"Miss the good old days," Rajiv asked him, he murmured. "The Shift changed everything."
Rajiv glanced over. "I heard you were a PhD. Why not stay in teaching?"
Eli gave a bitter chuckle. "Wasn't cut out for it. And my last institution wasn't exactly the kind for teaching."
"What did you do before that?"
Eli smirked. "Made radioactive bugs."
Rajiv blinked. "You what?"
The nearby workers looked over, confusion all over their faces.
Eli chuckled. "You ever heard of the Man-Eater Wasp?"
"Yeah," someone said, "saw it on National Geographic once. They lay eggs inside living animals and their kids eat them from the inside out."
A few workers winced audibly. Rajiv grimaced and turned away. "God, that's disgusting."
"Exactly," Eli said, raising a finger. "In the '50s, they were a real problem. Hit American cattle farms hard. Farmers were losing entire herds. So, we used radiation to control their population."
"Wait," Rajiv asked, "what do you mean by 'control'?"
"When you hit the males with the right dose of radiation, it sterilizes them. Female wasps only mate once in their life and lay around 400 eggs. You release sterile males in the wild, and… poof. Population drops off a cliff."
"That was decades ago though," another worker said. "Why were you still releasing them?"
"They're resilient little bastards," Eli said with a shrug. "Still breeding in places like the Amazon. Too costly to wipe out completely, so we just regulate the numbers every month."
"And then?"
"Then the Shift happened. War broke out. Some private firm bought the facility and kicked me out. I've been job-hopping ever since."
The conversation quieted at the mention of the war.
Rajiv's eyes darkened. He glanced toward Arin, who was out of earshot, still joking with another group.
He muttered under his breath, "The war was the worst part."
He thought no one heard. But Eli did. And he noticed that glance, too.
What was that about? he wondered.
Later That Evening
The light outside had turned golden. Maya watched the rolling landscape blur past, her hand gently stroking Arin's hair as he rested on her shoulder. The star was setting slowly, bleeding orange across the sky.
The bus came to a stop in an open clearing.
Carter stretched, groaning, then grabbed the mic.
"Alright, you wannabe Lakers—this is your campsite for the night."
A woman raised a hand, voice skeptical. "Can't we just rent a motel nearby? This place looks like a horror movie waiting to happen."
Carter stared at her like she'd just asked if they could take a detour to Disneyland. "Oh yeah, sure. Let me just summon a five-star spa resort from my ass."
The woman blinked. "I just meant—"
"This ain't a picnic, sweetheart." He jabbed a finger toward the road behind them. "Next motel's five hours down a dirt road that eats tires for breakfast. I aint risking a broken axle for some hot shower and minty ass pillows, one wrong turn and we're snake food."
She muttered, "Still better than dying from tetanus out here."
"I heard that," Carter said without missing a beat. "And guess what? Still don't care."
He grabbed his flashlight and popped the door open. "Convoy's ten minutes behind. Lads, get off your asses, clear the area, and maybe try not to trip over your own balls."
The bus hissed as the doors folded open, and a collective groan echoed through the cabin as the workers stood.
"This is such bullshit."
"God, this job's a fucking STD with a paycheck."
"Next time Carter opens his mouth, I'm shoving a tent pole down it."
Outside, dust kicked up as boots hit the dirt. Arin was still half in dreamland when Maya nudged him gently.
"Wake up, lil' mister," she whispered, lips brushing his ear.
Arin stirred like a lazy cat, eyes half-lidded. "Huh? [yawn] Maya… where are we?"
"Open field," she muttered, "Carter says no motels."
Arin groaned, rubbing his face. "That asshole."
"How do you even tolerate him?" she asked, mock-offended. "If he talked to me the way he talks to you, I'd put a pipe wrench through his balls and tell HR it was an accident."
Arin chuckled, stretching with a pained grunt. "The money's good. I can tolerate a bit of verbal abuse and unmedicated narcissism."
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Got it, Money talks and rocks."
"Go help the guys, sleepyhead," she said, smacking his butt lightly as he tried to stand.
Rajiv appeared beside them, looking weirdly fresh for someone who'd spent eight hours in bus-seat purgatory.
He clapped Arin on the shoulder hard enough to jolt him. "Let's go, son. Time to pretend we know how to pitch tents."
Arin staggered forward like a drunk. "Yeah, yeah… Wait, pitch what now?"
"Not what you're thinking, Romeo," Rajiv smirked.
Arin grinned sleepily. "A man can dream."
As the two stepped out, Carter stood near the bus gate, squinting into the distance. The growl of an approaching vehicle cut through the quiet.
A dirted black SUV rolled into the field like it owned the place.
Arin squinted. "Uh… we're expecting company?"
Rajiv frowned. "That doesn't look like a supply vehicle."
Carter stepped forward, flashlight swinging in one hand like a weapon. "Who the hell are these guys?"
Arin and Rajiv exchanged a look.
Rajiv gave him an upward nod, 'You know anything?'
Arin puffed his lip and shook his head, 'no clue.'
"We've got some company," Arin muttered.