Origins: Bumpy Start

She yelped and outstretched her arms to try to catch herself. Her left hand, balled into a fist around their passport cards, landed squarely in the middle of Will's crotch. Her right hand skipped across the dashboard as she craned her neck back, trying vainly to stop her momentum. Her left temple connected with the steering wheel, finally stopping her forward motion and sending an unpleasant jolt down her body.

Will strangled out a sound, blinded by the pain in his groin, as he felt the RV slowly come to a stop on the snowy shoulder. He would have curled into a ball, but Winn had come to a rest, half-crumpled in a heap in his lap, facing her own side. For now, he just did his best not to vomit from the pain. Winn, unmoving and holding her head in her hand, was making a mewling noise like helium escaping a balloon.

As soon as he could speak, he did: "Oh my God, I am so, so sorry. Are you okay?"

Realizing their proximity, she immediately stopped making the noise, though tears still stained her eyes. She scrambled to get upright and over into the passenger seat. "I'm fine. Let's get going." She wiped her eyes quickly and jerked her head to the right, unwilling to let him see her tears, her embarrassment, or both. Taking the opportunity to distance them from what had happened, Will quickly merged back into traffic.

"I'm really sorry. I should have been paying better attention. It's just, you know because you did the same driving school- I CAN'T get in an accident. I'd most likely lose my license, and I really need this job."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been teasing you about your name. Instant karma, I guess."

Will's face flushed again as he remembered the reason for the near-collision. "It really is a ridiculous name, though. I think my parents wanted me to be some sort of distinguished professor or something, but I mainly just got made fun of. Everybody at work knows me as Will, so I normally don't think about it."

"You think your name is embarrassing? I was named for a cartoon character."

"Wait, really? I knew your name was Winnie. But, like, the bear?"

"Yeah, my mom was really big into all that doofy stuff. I was, too, when I was little, but, you know."

"Yeah."

Neither of them really had anything more to say at this moment. It was pleasant finding something relatable in each other, but the embarrassment of the near-collision was still palpable in the air.

They were coming up to the border now. They saw more and more signs with instructions for which lanes to use and what items were prohibited. There were about 10 lanes open, and their rig was the fourth in the line for large vehicles. Will glanced over at Winn, ready to ask her for the passport cards, when his breath caught in his throat.

In Winn's tumble, a huge tear had been ripped through her sweater and camisole, extending from her armpit nearly the whole way to her waist. Freed from the stitching holding the side together, the "front" of both garments were drooping forward off the slope of her breast, which moved gently as she breathed. The wings of her bra, unscathed by the accident, stood out boldly against her creamy white skin, a deep royal purple. He could see the faint outline of her ribs beneath, and the soft swell of her breast was just visible through the tear above. Her stomach, which betrayed just a hint of baby fat, shook gently as she shivered, somehow unaware that her clothing had ripped open.

The lacy material of the purple bra left little to the imagination, and feeling his manhood throb in response, he finally woke from his reverie and snapped his head and eyes forward. He leaned slightly forward, hoping to hide his growing erection and make it look like he was intently watching the road. But the heavenly vision may as well have been seared onto his retinas.

"Ummm...."

"What?"

"Again, I'm really sorry, and I promise I haven't been looking, but..."

For the first time since getting back in her own seat, Winn turned her head to the left and looked herself over to see what Will was talking about.

"Ope!" she blurted. Her arms, which had been relaxed at her sides, snapped like a mousetrap over her chest, and she tried in vain for a few seconds to close the rip with her right hand. Her close-fitting cami had provided what support the bra hadn't, and there was no way she was going to be able to put Pandora back in the box. The left bra cup still peeked out, contrasting vividly with her gray and white clothing and pale skin. Will locked his eyes forward and tried to pretend like this sort of thing happened all the time.

"Dammit, I just bought this sweater! I was already short on cold weather clothing; do you have some safety pins or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Pretty much just a tire iron and zip ties, and I don't think that's gonna help. I've got an extra hoodie in my luggage- you can borrow it until we find a store. It's under the bed."

With that, Winn rose from her seat and, still clutching her top to her, made a three-quarter turn to her right so that she didn't have to face Will. She quickly strode back into the bedroom at the rear of the coach.

Relieved that she hadn't seen his stiffening erection, Will quickly tucked it up into his waistband. It stuck out over three inches from the top of his pants, but hiding it under his work polo would have to do for now. It certainly wasn't going away.

They were next in line. Aware that his passenger wasn't beside him, he considered what to tell the border guard, a slim, stern-looking mustachioed man in a Canadian mounted police uniform. Will told himself that the fastest way to cross (the Easy Direction, the Droppers had called it) was just not to mention Winn.

The 18-wheeler in front of them at last pulled away from the guard shack, and Will eased the rig forward. He stopped directly in front of the window. He knew that there was no possible way the guard could see or hear his companion.

"Hello sir, what brings you to Canada today?"

"Hi. I'm delivering this motorhome to Alaska from Michigan."

"Right. Paperwork, please." Will immediately didn't like the man's attitude. It seemed dismissive, and he wondered if he had made the wrong decision in trying to expedite the crossing. He handed over his documents, careful not to include Winn's passport card.

"Any weapons or drugs?"

"No, sir."

"Anyone else traveling with you today?"

At this, Will hesitated for the briefest moment before quickly saying "No." It was enough, however, to raise the border guard's suspicions.

"Are you sure? Pretty simple question, seems to me."

"Sorry, I just normally travel with a partner, so I had to think for a second."

"Is that right?"

Will could feel his face burning, and he knew that the jig was up. "Sir, I'm very sorry, but yes, I am traveling with my partner Winn. You see, she just fell and tore her shirt and had to go change. I'm very sorry for lying, but we're in a hurry to get this delivered, and I thought it would look more suspicious if I told you the truth."

What little kindness may have appeared in the guard's face immediately vanished. His hand slowly strayed under the counter, and Will nearly choked with panic when the officer pulled out a shotgun. "I want you to pull into that parking space right there," he indicated with his left hand while holding the gun in his right. "Immediately, then shut off your vehicle. Do not leave your seat. Tell your... partner..." he almost seemed skeptical of the word itself, "...not to move a muscle."

His hands shaking, Will shifted into drive and crept as slowly as he could into the parking space the guard had pointed to. At the same time, he called back loudly to Winn: "Don't freak out, but a Canadian mountie might be coming aboard. He said not to move."

"Um, okay?"

"Just tell him the truth if he asks you any questions." Will was terrified, but he tried to make his voice sound reassuring.

He turned the key in the ignition, killing the engine. The silence was insufferable. Even the noise from the traffic had died down. Unfortunately, Will noted, his erection had not. What the hell was going on? It's not like he hadn't seen a hot girl's bra before. Jeez.

He was startled by a knock at the RV's interior door, which was located about six feet behind the passenger door. "Um, it's open?" he called out, wishing not to stand up and call attention to his hardon.

Thankfully, he heard the door opening and felt the RV shift as the officer rested his weight on the first step. Will kept his hands on the steering wheel and turned to face the mountie over his shoulder, who was already staring him down.

"I'm gonna ask again. Are there any drugs or weapons in this ve-hicle?" He pronounced the 'h' in 'vehicle' with extra emphasis this time, perhaps to underscore the seriousness of the situation.

Will did not need the encouragement to be truthful, and answered that and many other questions. "Absolutely not, sir. No weapons or drugs, or anything else besides our clothing. Winn's my partner. She's only been on a couple trips and doesn't have her sea legs yet. She's in the bedroom in the back."

He looked confused. "When's your partner?"

"Huh?"

"You said, 'when's your partner?'"

"Oh, no. Winn. W-I-N-N. It's her name. Winnie."

"Surname?"

Will realized he hadn't looked at her passport card. "I, uh, actually don't know."

"You don't know your... partner's last name?" He paused again before the word 'partner,' chewing it over.

"I mean, she just started driving. I don't really know much about her at all. We paired up to take a route no one else wanted."

To Will's great relief, the officer seemed to turn his attention to the unseen passenger in the back. "Miss?" he called out.

"I'm here." Winnie responded from behind the closed accordion door to the bedroom.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really; my face and wrist hurt."

The officer turned and looked directly at Will, but continued to speak to Winn: "Now, why's that?" Will's blood ran cold as he realized what the mountie suspected and what scene lie waiting to be discovered: a beautiful young girl with a possible black eye and torn clothing who, it would seem to the mountie, he had attempted to sneak out of the US.

Winn paused for a moment, perhaps collecting her thoughts, and her partner willed her to speak and interrupt the accusatory silence. "It's my fault. I fell." Oh, no.

His suspicions seemingly confirmed, the officer glanced down at Will's passport card and back at Will, then stepped fully onto the step. "Mr., uh, Rhodes, I'm going to ask you to please step out of the vehicle. My associate there, Ms. Kene, is going to ask you some questions while I speak to your passenger." He didn't even say 'partner' this time.

Will turned to his left and noticed for the first time another identically-dressed mounted police officer at his window. Her face was above his eye level, because she was astride a massive horse, at least 18 hands high. The woman was very large, making apparent the need for this particular horse.

"Whoa, Prince. Sir, please step out of the vehicle and come with me." The woman eased the horse away from his door to make room for him to open it and step out. Meanwhile, the officer already inside the RV had ascended the remaining steps and walked sideways toward the stern, keeping an eye on Will the whole time.

"Um..." Will started in a lower voice, trying not to be overheard. "Can I just answer your questions from here? I'd feel better not leaving the rig; it's very expensive and we're responsible for it until we drop it off." His throbbing erection had not subsided, and he had no wish to expose his shame to this woman, who probably already thought he was some sort of human trafficker or something.

The woman wasn't having it: "Sir, please comply now, or I'll be required to use force."

Tears sprang to Will's eyes. He was so incredibly embarrassed. He felt like he was back in middle school, being asked to stand up and conjugate verbs in front of his Spanish class and the achingly beautiful Ms. Artez. He still hated Spanish to this day. The rush of emotion did nothing to calm his aching groin.

Noticing the tears, the mounted officer faltered slightly. It took her off guard; normally she dealt with drug mules and gun runners- she wasn't used to them breaking down and sobbing, at least until the interrogation room.

She adopted an almost conciliatory tone. "Your vehicle will be just fine, dear. No one will fuss with it, parked right in front of the guard shack like that."

"No, it's not that. I..." he struggled mightily to compose himself and admit the inadmissible. "I... have an erection." Even though he was still leaning toward her to mask his crotch, this last part he said so quietly that the mountie spurred her horse forward to hear him better.

"What's that, eh? Speak up!"

"Uhh, I have an erection. I'm sorry."

Finally grasping the situation, the border guard's eyes widened. "Oh. OH! An erection. Um...." Her eyes unconsciously glanced down at his lap, then quickly away, toward the guard shack. She clearly stifled a small smile.

After a moment of thinking, she pulled out a notebook and said, "'fore we go in, I suppose I can ask a few questions here." She began asking Will basic questions: where he was from, how long he planned to be in Canada, more information about Winnie, and the like. She took extra care not to look at him as she wrote, keeping her gaze locked on a little red notebook she had taken from the saddlebag.

"Thank God," he thought as he realized his erection had mostly subsided and the woman's questions started to sound less like an interrogation. Just as he had begun to feel more at ease, he felt movement in the rig and turned to look behind him.

The stern-looking guard was walking with a timid-looking Winn toward the front of the motorhome. He looked initially surprised to see Will and Ms. Kene still there, but masked this emotion quickly and began speaking even before they reached the front.

"Young man, I'm going to give you two pieces of advice. First, don't lie when you're crossing this border. Trust me, it doesn't make you seem less suspicious."

Will nodded, his ears burning and head rushing in shame. Winn looked momentarily confused, and Will resolved to tell her the whole story later. He now noticed her standing there wearing his hoodie, and he was gobsmacked by the vision. None of the girls he had dated had ever worn his clothing, and he had to admit that he saw the allure. She looked GOOD.

The hoodie itself was nothing special, just a plan light gray thing with a company logo. Will had purchased the "work-appropriate attire" a size too big to be more comfortable, and it looked sexy as hell draped across Winn's slight frame. The graceful slope of her shoulder, and the strap of the bra that would now haunt his dreams, were visible.

"Second, and more importantly, you need to take better mind of your partner, here. You'uns can't be walking around a moving coach like that. Especially not when it's slick as a frog fart out there!"

Will and Winn laughed, taken aback by the mountie's uncouth simile, and what remained of the tension seemed to dissolve.

Winn had taken her seat at Will's side, and the driver grimaced to notice a red welt forming above her eye where the steering wheel had made impact. He felt bad; the pain from being punched in the jewels had almost totally subsided, but Winn would wear this mark for weeks. Meanwhile, the mustachioed officer stepped out of the RV and walked around to Will's window. He rested his hand on the window frame while he spoke to them through the opened window, the gun nowhere in sight. "You two better get on the road now. Day's wastin'."

The traveling companions agreed, and as soon as the guards were clear of the vehicle, they high-tailed it out of the parking lot heading north.

Since the radio had been turned off for the stop, it was awkwardly silent in the cab for several minutes. Neither felt like turning on music right now, but neither felt like being the first to address the elephant in the room either.

Finally, Winn spoke. "Thanks again for the hoodie. It's really comfortable." She was still turned to face the window, but Will saw from the silhouette of her cheeks that she was smiling.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm sorry for using you as a human crash test dummy."

"Haha, right? Well, better than what that guard thought. Yikes."

Will nodded. "Thanks for not selling me down the river. Uma probably would have pretended to be kidnapped for shits and giggles," Will commented, referring to one of the contractors who had a taste for pranks that inevitably got out of hand.

"No kidding. Doesn't help when that guy has a boner for waving his gun in people's faces," Winn said. She immediately tensed, and looked hesitatingly at Will for a moment, before quickly looking away.

Will thought carefully before going with his gut. "So, um, does that mean you heard me talking with the other guard?"

Winn sat silently, pretending to look out the window but secretly watching Will in the passenger mirror, her heart beating much harder than normal. Will stole a quick glance sideways and saw that the tip of her left ear, the only bit of skin he could see, was bright red.

After a long silence, she spoke. "It's really not a big deal. Sometimes I get, uh, well..." She hesitated, then seemed to commit, even though she kept her head turned away from Will. "You know, on the road. Sometimes. Not all the time. But when the road's the right kind of bumpy, or I'm in the middle of a good book, or..." She trailed off, realizing that she was probably totally weirding the guy out. AND she had to sit next to him for the next six days!

The discomfort of realizing she had been exposed to him was nothing compared to the way she felt now. For God's sake, she had just told her mentor that she got off on bumpy roads! How would she be able to look him in the face again? "Maybe I could just catch a taxi to the airport and fly home and never speak to him again," she thought hopefully.

Will, paralyzed with fear at the thought of "raising the flag" again in Winn's presence, brushed away the brief mental image of this petite beauty shuddering to orgasm in the seat he currently occupied and attempted to change the subject. "So, uh, for future border crossings, what IS your last name?"

"Warlow. Did he say yours was Rose?"

"Rhodes. With a 'd.'"

Again, they sat in silence for a few moments, the hum of the road matching the resonant frequency of the RV's shell somehow, both occupants slowly relaxing after the events of the day.

Again, it was Winn who broke the silence. "When you put them together, it kinda sounds like 'Road Warriors.'"

Will sat contemplating for a moment. In the months since he had begun contracting, Winn was the first driver with whom he'd felt a real connection. Connection was important in this industry, he reminded himself. You can't spend 70 hours a week driving next to someone without it. At least not without going crazy, he thought, remembering some of the Corpses he'd met this fall.

"I like it. It's got a nice ring to it. Plus," he added, "it's kind of appropriate, given your battle wounds."

She laughed and pulled down the visor mirror to check herself out. "Man, you weren't kidding. That's gonna leave a bruise for sure. Oh well, worth it."

Will looked confused. "Worth it?"

"Yeah," she said coyly, looking over at him. "I mean, I did get to touch your junk." She snorted a quick laugh. In his surprise at her boldness, Will nearly drove into a passing SUV. He looked over, astonished at this unexpected side of her, and their eyes met. Her eyes were shining, but to him, they didn't look teary right now. He smiled, holding her gaze.

He reached out his fist, almost like he was flexing for her. "Road Warriors."