8:09 PM, Monday, July 22nd, 2018: Interstate 80, Nebraska
A short, pale woman with dyed purple hair who looked to be in her early 20s leaned back in her chair, sipping from a half-open bottle of beer. She gagged as soon as the beer hit her tongue, almost spilling the contents of the bottle onto her lap. She wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist, turning to her companion, an equally young, dark-skinned woman with long, fluffy, curly hair.
"Ugh, Am, we really scraped the bottom of the barrel with this shit, huh?" Jessica said, gesturing at her bottle. "This shit is worse than Bud. Aren't craft beers supposed to be better?"
"I dunno, you're the one that bought it," Amanda replied, keeping her eyes transfixed on the road ahead, and her hands firmly wrapped around the wheel. "You really shouldn't be drinking while we're on the road."
Jessica chuckled. "Never a bad time for shitty beer."
Amanda rolled her eyes and sighed, choosing not to bother arguing.
Silence hung in the air, the only sound keeping the two company being the quiet roar of the road beneath the wheels of their RV. Jessica sipped at the beer in her hands, puckering her lips and making disgusted faces all the while. Despite pantomiming her displeasure, she eventually finished the whole bottle, before tossing it out of the window and watching it shatter on the roadside.
"Hey, Am," she said, breaking the silence. "Have I ever told you about how much better the world would be if it worked like it did in my graphic novels?"
"Oh my god not this again," Amanda replied, the resignation in her voice immediately evident. "Do we really need to go over this every time we're on a highway?"
"Am, I'm serious this time," Jessica continued, seemingly oblivious to her friend's consternation. "We have all these cool-ass superpowers, right? And yet we don't do fucking anything with them. Society places all these fucking limits on us, when we could be so much more. Don't you think people should be doing whatever their Gifts allow them to do?"
"You mean like what we do, robbing convenience stores?" Amanda asked, in a way that sounded almost rehearsed.
"Nah, Am," Jessica said, licking her lips and looking out the window at the sunset. "That's small shit. Baby shit. I'm talking the real shit. Conquering the world shit. Evil empire shit. Think about what I could do if I managed to get in front of the fucking President, Am. I'd-"
"You'd tell him to nuke Alaska," Amanda interrupted, "and he would."
"And those fuckers would deserve it too," Jessica said, with a maniacal grin. "It's what they get, thinking they're the most not-hot shit in the world."
Jessica leaned down, grabbing another beer from the carton next to her feet.
"All I'm saying is, Am, the world would be so much more interesting if the naturally Gifted people could just take whatever they want from whoever they want."
"And what happens when someone more Gifted than you tries to take what's yours?" Amanda asked, already knowing the answer.
Jessica popped the top off of the beer with a hiss, before taking another sip.
"Well it's like the old saying goes, Am, you take a shot at the king, you better not miss."
The duo went silent once again, the roar of the road beneath the tires seeming to grow ever louder as the sun went down. Empty glass bottles collected at Jessica's feet, one turning into two, turning into four. They were getting close to stopping for the night, the next rest stop being a few miles away.
Jessica leaned back in her chair, almost ready to nod off, before she spotted a Nebraska State Trooper vehicle parked on the side of the road some distance. A smile started to form on her face as she reached down to grab one of the empty bottles by her feet. Carefully, she opened the window, her eyes transfixed on the parked car.
"Hey, Am, watch this."
"Jess, what are you doing-"
"FUCK YOU, PIG," Jessica bellowed as the RV barrelled towards the car, throwing the glass bottle out the window, shattering it on the windshield of the other vehicle.
It only took a few moments for the vehicle's lights to come on. They were blindingly bright in the darkness of twilight, the accompanying siren screeching, demanding attention.
"JESS, WHAT THE FUCK?" Amanda yelped, bringing the RV to the side of the road as the trooper pulled up.
Amanda turned, glaring at her so-called friend. "Jess, we have six thousand dollars of stolen cash in the back."
"Relax, Am," Jessica replied, unphased. "I got this."
The officer stepped out of his car, a short, balding man that looked to be in his 50s. He began to make his way to the driver's side of the RV, scowling as he knocked on the door. Amanda gingerly opened it for the man.
"Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over," he began to say.
"Hey, pig," Jessica interrupted, leaning over Amanda and staring into the officer's eyes.
The man reached for his belt, placing his hand on his holster.
"You're pathetic," she continued, "kill yourself."
Without another word and seemingly without thought, the officer pulled his handgun out of his holster and brought it to his temple.
Amanda reared back. "Wait-"
Then there was a crack, a spray of blood, and a body hitting the ground.
Amanda let out a blood-curdling scream. She started breathing fast and heavy, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. She turned to look at Jessica, nonsense words beginning to tumble out of her mouth.
"Relax," Jessica said, quietly, her eyes locked on Amanda's own. "Move the RV to block the body from the road. Then get out and wipe the blood off of it."
Amanda's breathing steadied, her hands immediately moving to do as she was told. Why not, right? It was the logical thing to do if she didn't want to go to prison.
As Amanda did what she was ordered to do, Jessica undid her seat belt, moving to the back of the RV and pulling out a toolbox from one of the shelves. She stepped out of the vehicle, moving towards the police car, toolbox in hand, humming a tune to herself all the while. When she got inside, she started her work, unaffected by what had just transpired.
She only stopped when she spotted Amanda standing a few feet away.
"You didn't just compel me to do that, right?" Amanda asked, staring daggers into her friend.
"Did it feel like you were being controlled?" Jessica responded.
"No, but-"
"Did you agree that it was the right move, and want to do it yourself?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then I didn't use my Gift on you, Am, we've been over this."
The two of them went silent again, Amanda watching as Jessica took the radio out of the trooper's car. Jessica did so with the kind of deftness and certainty that conveyed that it wasn't the first time she had done this, and it probably wouldn't be the last. It was only when Jessica wrenched the radio free that Amanda spoke up again.
"Jessica, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
"I think I would need therapy to answer that, Am."
"Did you even think about the potential consequences before you did that?" Amanda shouted. "That guy probably had a family!"
"Yeah, a hot-piece-of-ass wife and two kids that he beat the shit out of on the regular," Jessica retorted. "They'd probably thank me for the insurance payout they're about to get, you know."
"Jessica! You are not taking this seriously at all!"
"And, Am? Why should I?"
Amanda went silent and stunned, mouth agape, her face a mix of anger and disgust.
"Fuck you, Jess, I'm leaving. You can walk back, if you make it that far."
Amanda spun around, marching back towards the RV in a huff, trying her best not to look at the body as she climbed into the vehicle. When she tried to shut the door behind her, a hand shot out, stopping it in place and then forcing it open.
"No, Amanda," Jessica interrupted, staring into her friend's eyes. "Let's talk this out."