The Longest Highway

by Jay911

Scenic Drive

"What? No, don't go that way."

"What?" Max said, stepping on the brake and halting the truck's progress through the intersection. They'd only gone a mile or two past Hinton, and Kate was already backseat-driving.

"Trust me. 40's a gravel road south of Nordegg. You don't want to take this rig on that mess. Likely to see snow in some parts too. Go straight."

"Are you sure?" Max asked.

"Go straight," the pegasus demanded, her white hoof pointing through the windshield down Highway 16.

Max sighed and wrestled with the steering wheel, aborting the left turn and starting the truck down the highway which ran southwest out of town. He didn't want to go southwest, or south-southwest, or west-southwest, or anything that had 'west' in it. His destination was south and east.

"Don't be like that," Kate said, sitting back down. "I know this area - you don't. You want to get south? This will get us south, a lot faster than the forestry trunk road."

"Looks like she may be right," Duncan chimed in, poking at the GPS with an improvised stylus. "This goes into a town called Jasper, and then Route 93 goes south from there to Lake Louise, and then Route 1 goes to Banff. By calculations, Banff is about... four and three quarters hours from here. So we'll be there by dinner time."

"Yup," Kate nodded. "But it might be a little slower than that - probably gonna see snow no matter which direction we head. The road might be dicey if we do get some snow, so we might not make Banff at all tonight."

"I don't mind stopping in a pull-out; it's not like we're going to go stay in a motel or anything," Max said. He nodded his chin behind him. "This is our communal bed for the foreseeable future."

"Do I at least get a bunk to myself?" Kate asked, looking around her. "Oh hey, I bet I could fit in one of these fold-out shelves if we chucked the microwave."

"The microwave's handy-" Max began, but realized his argument was on the losing side; they needed more room in the heated cab, and they had a microwave and more in the kitchen component of the trailer. "You're right, I guess. We'll move it into the trailer when we stop."

"Awesome," Kate grinned.

Little of interest ensued between Hinton and the gates of Jasper National Park, some 15-plus miles distant. Kate played the part of tour guide, pointing out various landmarks and commiserating with her new friends about the beautiful view. At one point, they did encounter a moose and her two calves, wandering at the side of the road near a small lake. The animals paid little attention to the former humans and their machine - no more than they would have several months before.

"Punchbowl Falls," Duncan read off a sign, chuckling a little. "There're some interesting place names here."

Max countered, "Coldfoot. We've got our share in our country, pal."

"True, I guess so."

"The 'States doesn't have the market cornered on funny names, not by a long shot," Kate said. "My mom's family is from Newfoundland. The places I've visited when we went back there... Come-by-Chance... Goobies... Gros Morne..." She paused and smirked before adding, "Dildo..."

"What??" Duncan burst out laughing.

Max was chuckling too. "There is not a place called Dildo."

Kate stuck a hoof forward and waved it back toward herself. "Gimme the GPS, I'll show ya."

Rather than take it off the windshield, Duncan just leaned forward with a stylus and searched. "Huh. I'll be damned. There's a Dildo Run too. Hey, what's a Dildo Run?" he said to Max, cracking a grin.

"Shut up, there's a y- there's sensitive ears present," he said.

"Psssh! I've heard worse," Kate shot back. Then she jabbed him in the side with a hoof. "And that's for almost callin' me a 'young girl'."

"Hey, I'm driving here!" Max said, squirming out of the way and wavering a little in the lane as a result.

They continued to marvel at the scenery as they carried on, encountering a stretch of road where a large river parallelled the tarmac for several miles, with rock cliffs on the other side. A rail line eventually came alongside the highway as well, and Max raised a point.

"If we ever talk to Alex again, we need to find out where the cars, trucks, and everything else went." He gestured to the train tracks. "Wouldn't you expect to see an empty train somewhere along there?"

"Or empty airplanes crashed to the ground after they ran out of fuel," Duncan nodded, shivering. "Good point."

"Hadn't thought of that," Kate admitted. "All the cars and stuff back home looked like they were all parked. Nothing was 'abandoned' like people just vanished while they were driving."

"Definitely an interesting question," Duncan agreed.

Ultimately, they arrived at the town of Jasper. A quick bit of panic ensued just inside the town limits as a rail underpass stymied the American drivers ("What's 5.1 meters in real numbers??"), but it was dealt with when Kate got up, scrambled past Duncan, and flew out the open window, to "eyeball" whether or not the trailer would fit. She landed on the hood of the truck, turning around to look Max in the eyes. "Yer good!" she called out.

"Don't get scratches on the finish," he replied, idling through the underpass.

"Hey, look, I'm one of those bulldog things!" she responded, turning around again, stepping forward and adopting a pose at the very front of the hood cowl.

"Wrong kind of truck," Max murmured, but had to chuckle along with his unicorn partner's laughter.

To Max's relief (as he was afraid she'd fall and he'd run her over), Kate took off from the nose of the truck and flew on ahead of them.

"Elk," Duncan pointed out, indicating to their left in a meadow between them and the train tracks. Kate saw them too, swooping past and shouting out a greeting. The beasts stopped grazing and looked up, but none fled, which surprised Max.

The road changed from a two-lane highway into a four-lane main street, and Max divided his attention between Kate and the road ahead. The plan was to stop at or near a truck stop, grab something to eat, power up the pumps long enough to top off the diesel tanks, and get moving again.

"Really touristy place," Duncan observed.

"Yeah, I'm seein' that," Max acknowledged. He was feeling less and less confident that they'd find a big Flying J or similar truck stop.

Petro-Canada, he read off a gas station sign. Diesel. He let off the accelerator and started to turn in. Good enough for me. "I think I'm gonna pull in here," he declared. "Probably as good a place as any."

"Gotcha," Duncan nodded. He unbelted and moved back to where Kate had been sitting, to remove the microwave. Max wanted to scold him for unbuckling while the truck was still in motion, but based on how well the seat belt had served him the last time Max had done a panic stop, there probably wasn't a point to it after all.

Kate circled around overhead a couple of times as the two stallions dismounted and stretched their legs. She landed a few feet away and said, "Nothing moving in town besides us as far as I can see. You gonna turn on your lights and siren?"

"Eventually," Max nodded. "Not right now, though - it's too loud up close." The truck was essentially facing the wall of the garages of the gas station, and blasting an air horn and loud emergency siren right at the wall would only cause it to echo and make their ears hurt. "Let's just have our lunch before we get gas."

"Eat and get gas," Kate quipped. She trotted over to help Duncan, who was opening up the trailer.

A lunch of granola bars, bottled water, and some items from a handful of MREs was divvied up between the three of them. As they sat there on the pavement of the gas station forecourt, Kate looked up, behind the two stallions, looking thoughtful while chewing. When her mouth was no longer full, she said, "We need some paint."

"What?" Max blinked in surprise, looking over his shoulder. As he thought, Kate was gazing at the side of the truck trailer. It had no blemishes other than road grime.

"We need to put a new name on there," Kate explained. She put her forehooves together in front of her and spread them wide as she spoke. "Pony Express."

Duncan nearly choked on his saltine crackers.

"We are not putting that on the side of the truck," Max said with a flat expression.

"Why not? Give me a reason."

"I'll give you two," he said, holding a foreleg up like he was counting off with fingers. He looked at his hoof and set it back down, embarrassedly. "First, we're not delivering the mail. Second, we are hardly 'express' considering we keep stopping like this."

"Pssh," Kate said dismissively, waving a hoof. "It still needs something better than 'North Shore Fire Rescue Support' on the side. Something to tell people this isn't just another abandoned rig."

You don't think they'll figure it out from it driving down the road, and having ponies roaming around outside it? Max wanted to ask. He looked over to Duncan, but the unicorn was silently enjoying his meal - though he cast a smirk and a wink at Max in any case.

After lunch was done, Duncan was the first to his hooves. "While you're setting up to 'acquire' some fuel, I figured I'd take little miss artiste over to the market next door and see if there's anything we can scavenge."

Max stood up and grunted with a nod.

"Don't worry," Duncan said, as he walked past Max. "I'll keep her away from the spray bombs."

Max rolled his eyes and went for the generator compartment.

"So what did you get?" Max asked as the two were pushing shopping carts toward him a half an hour later, while he was reeling up the generator's umbilical cord.

"Lots of canned stuff," Duncan declared. "Some more water, batteries, a bunch of those "head light" things, oh! - some pasta, parmesan cheese, spices and salts..."

Kate interrupted. "Shovels, snow brushes, road salt, and kitty litter," she said, identifying the entirety of her packed-full-cart's contents.

"You figure we're seeing more snow, huh?" Max inquired.

"Just about guarantee it, seeing's how cold it feels here," she said. She nodded to the south. "Icefield's probably covered. We'll see in a bit."

The road started out like any other they'd been on in their trip so far - two lanes of blacktop with a narrow shoulder, with pine forest on one side and cliffs or rivers on the other, with mountains in the background. This route went right through the heart of the Rockies, meaning high elevations, meaning the likelihood of snow even in late October was fairly high.

The truck labored on several hills as the road snaked through valleys in between mountains. There were a couple of places where long switchbacks caused the road to fold over on itself as it traded distance and turns for altitude. There was no snow on the roads, but plenty of it on the peaks surrounding the ribbon of asphalt.

"Actually, it looks better than I thought it would," Kate commented, leaning forward to peer through the windshield. "Even better since we won't have to worry about avalanches."

Duncan blinked, eyes widening as he turned to look at her. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. They close the road for hours at a time, drop dynamite from helicopters onto the snowpack, and then once it's stopped... well, avalanching all over the road, they use big loaders to get it out of the way. You could be parked for 5 hours for 'avalanche control'."

"Wow," Duncan observed.

"Good thing it's not that bad today, then," Max said.

"Oh yeah, you probably don't have anything to worry about," Kate answered. "I guess I misjudged."

In fact, there were some areas on the highest parts of the road which showed signs of having been snowed upon at some point, but the daytime sun had melted it. The gravel shoulders and grass ditches had some remnants, but the road was only damp at best.

About an hour into the trip down from Jasper, a large metal and glass construct hung out over the cliffside with a paved pullout and a sign.

"Glacier Skywalk," Max read aloud.

"Oh, yeah, this is a tourist attraction," Kate said with a smile. "You can go out on a see-through floor a thousand feet over the glacier valley."

"No thank you!" Duncan said with a nervous laugh.

"Not even on a bet," Max agreed.

Kate gave her dismissive 'pssh' again. "Wimps," she said.

"We're not the ones who could fly out of trouble if we fell," Max countered, as the truck passed the viewpoint.

A couple of miles down the road, they encountered a cluster of buildings on one side of the road, and several tarmac and gravel paths on the other, snaking into the valley and up onto a gargantuan sheet of ice.

"This is what the road's named for," Kate said, continuing to play tour guide. "The Columbia Icefields. People pay good money to get in big buses with balloon tires and go out on that glacier." She gestured to the ice in between two mountains.

"That might be fun," Duncan said. "A lot of history in that kind of place."

"I don't want to take this thing out there," Max said, "and I don't know how to hotwire a bus. Sorry."

"I was just kidding," Duncan smiled. "But I might take this down in my notepad for a place that humankind should return to when it's back on its feet."

"Hooves," Kate said. "And ponykind."

Max rolled his eyes.

About half an hour later, a large building on the left side appeared, in the middle of a large parking lot type area.

"Saskatchewan River Crossing," Kate explained.

"Looks like a truck stop," Max said.

"Do we stop?"

Max shrugged. "We don't really need the fuel, but it might be nice to stretch our legs, and see if anybody's here."

"Good plan."

With that, Max slowed and turned the wheel.

The airhorn and siren failed to attract any people or ponies, as had been the case every time before.

It was only three-thirty or so in the afternoon, so it was too early for supper and far too early to stop for the day.

Max climbed out of the cab, looking around for Kate. She was stretching more than just her legs - doing loops and rolls overhead, hooting and hollering and enjoying herself.

He waited for her to land, and then approached her. "Hey, got a question," he said.

"Sure. What?" she responded, while poking at her wings to tuck a couple of errant feathers into place.

Max blinked as he watched her maintenance procedure ensue. "Um," he finally said, "what's this Route 11 that goes east from here on the GPS? Should we take it?"

Kate shrugged. "You could, or you could keep going south on 93. Ninety-three'll get you down to the Trans-Canada quicker, and it's a more open road closer to a lot of bigger towns. Eleven goes to Rocky Mountain House, and then you have to take the 22 down through Sundre and Cochrane, which is kind of a quieter road with less people on it."

Max mulled it over. "Thanks," he said. "It's good to have somebody who knows the area along for the ride."

"Like I said, I've been up and down these roads a bunch. Just before all this happened, me and my friends came down here to Banff for a vacation. And when my dad had to come down to Calgary for work stuff, I'd sometimes ride with him and go sightseeing or shopping in the 'big city'."

Max smiled and nodded, watching Duncan emerge from the building with yet another shopping cart full of stuff. "What'd you get this time?" he called across the lot.

"Same old same old," Duncan replied. Still, the cart was packed to the gills with junk.

"What do you do with all this stuff?" Max asked as the cart went by him.

"One of these days I'll show you," Duncan grinned, beginning to unload his haul into the trailer.

Southward they continued, aiming for the village of Lake Louise, at the junction of Highways 1 & 93.

The trip along 93 was much the same as it had been between Jasper and Saskatchewan River Crossing - rocky terrain surrounding a two-lane road. Patches of frost-and-snow-covered ground were here and there, with damp sections of highway in shadowed areas. Max elected to slow it down on the curves and take it easy where the trees blocked the sun from reaching the road, so their trip took longer than the GPS projected.

As such, it was nearly six o'clock by the time the truck reached Lake Louise. The sun was threatening to dip below the horizon, but Kate insisted that they drive into town and go to the town's namesake - the lake beside the grand hotel of the same name. "It'll be worth it," she insisted.

They arrived to find a crystalline lake hemmed in by mountains, with the sun setting in a valley on the far side of the lake from their viewpoint.

"Okay, this is indeed picturesque," Duncan had to admit.

"This shot is on our money," Kate said with pride, which soon faltered. "Well, what used to be our money, I guess. Probably not worth anything any more, is it?"

"Collector's items," Duncan suggested, in an attempt to pick her spirits up.

"So, are we stopping for the night here at the 'Chateau'?" Max asked, indicating the hotel.

"Actually," Kate said, turning and smiling, "Do you have another hour's driving in you? I know the perfect place in Banff to go. I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it'll be worth it."

Max shrugged. "Why not," he said. They hadn't started out nearly as early as usual, so he wasn't too tired. "Sure, let's go."

The truck proceeded eastbound on Highway 1, a four-lane divided highway. It was Max's first time driving at night since the strange event, and he forced himself to stay alert. Once or twice a moose or elk was visible off the side of the road, but they stayed well out of the way and weren't a factor.

Forty minutes after leaving Lake Louise, the truck arrived in Banff. Everything was dark, of course, and Kate had to peer at signs with the assistance of the truck's emergency spotlights to locate their destination.

"Probably stop here in the parking lot," she said, indicating to the left, while the road made a sharp curving turn to the right. "Better than trying to jockey around that curve; we can walk from here."

"What are we walking to?" Max wanted to know.

"You'll see," Kate smiled. "Give me one of those headlamps, and do we have any big lights that can light up an area?"

"Yeah, at least a couple," Max said. "Duncan, can you help her while I get one of those?"

"Sure thing," the unicorn said.

Kate and Duncan remained in the cab as Max dug out one of the battery-powered LED light towers. Carrying it to the front of the truck under one foreleg, he managed not to drop it before he got back to the others. The pegasus had a headlamp on an elastic strap around her forehead and was testing the direction of the beam of light as she moved her head back and forth.

"Okay, up this way," she said, taking to the skies and flying up the as-yet-untravelled part of the road.

The two men carried the other light between them, balanced on both their backs, as they followed her to a building at the top of a hill.

"Is that sulphur I smell?" Duncan mused, nostrils flaring. Then he blinked. "Oh, I know what this is!"

Kate was already flying over a fence and into the building from its 'back door' so to speak. They could occasionally see her light flickering and wavering through the building as she navigated her way to the front door, unlatching it and letting them in.

"Right this way, gentlemen," she said dramatically, turning and leading them inside.

Initially they balked at her taking them to the door of the ladies' change room, but as she nudged the door open, she grinned at them. "It's not like there's anybody changing in here, y'know," she said, and proceeded through. "C'mon!"

Ultimately, all three of them passed through the change room. To Max's surprise, the far end of the room was several inches deep in water - warm water.

"I was right," Duncan laughed. "This is a hot spring, isn't it?"

"Bingo," Kate giggled. "Let's go!" She shoved the door at the far end of the room open and sloshed into the pool.

Max and Duncan followed, lifting the light onto a cement deck surrounding the pool. When it was turned on, despite the cool air, Max was surprised to see steam rising from the swimming-pool-sized hot spring pool. The water, which had been mildly warm inside the change room, was much hotter in the main pool.

"Not bad," Duncan said, pushing off from the side and wading into the middle of the pool.

"I've so always wanted to do this," Kate said, standing on the deck by the far end. She leapt into the air, flapping her wings only twice, and spread all four legs out wide. "Banzai!!!" she screamed just before splashing down.

Max had to admit the pool was a refreshing way to end the day, especially after sitting in the uncomfortable position needed to drive the rig. He treaded water into the pool and found a ledge to sit on, settling into the water up to his chin and relaxing.

Once they had their fill, they appropriated towels from the change room and dried themselves off, and started back for the truck.

"I know I'm being a pain," Kate said, flying backwards ahead of the two stallions, "but there's one more thing I want to do while we're here in Banff."

"It's almost nine," Max pointed out. "We need to get down for rest soon."

"And that's exactly where we're going," she smiled. "Trust me? One more time?"

They drove back down the hill that had brought them to the Upper Hot Springs, and instead of turning left to go back into town, at Kate's insistence, they turned right.

After a short drive, a gigantic structure loomed out of the darkness.

"Holy shit!" Max exclaimed. "Is that a castle?"

"It's a hotel," Kate giggled. "The Banff Springs. It's the most luxurious hotel I've ever seen."

"Cold and dark," Duncan pointed out.

"The dark won't matter with your eyes shut, right? And the cold part is easily rectified. Follow me."

The three ponies' hoofsteps echoed through the stone and marble halls of the century-old building as they climbed the stairs, once again with a light and some supplies.

On the top floor, Kate studied a floor diagram briefly, then hurried down the hall. "Here it is," she said. "The Royal Suite."

"Still cold," Max mentioned.

"Hang on!" Kate said, her wings flaring out as if to indicate her frustration. "The card key won't open without power," she said with sad realization.

Rolling his eyes and resigning himself to not getting any sleep until whatever was in this room was obtained, Max sighed. "Hold this," he said, passing off his end of the tower light to Kate. He lightly shouldered her aside, turned his back to the door, and gave it a buck around the latch, springing it.

"Oooh! Thank you," Kate squealed happily, giving back the light and cantering inside.

The stallions followed her into the ultra-luxurious suite. As its name implied, it was the kind of lodgings royalty or celebrities would enjoy. A number of spacious couches and chairs filled the multiple rooms of the suite, and a king bed adorned the private master bedroom.

"Okay, now, you two and your heat," Kate said after racing through the suite taking in its luxuries. She dashed over to a dark square in the wall, and when she pointed her headlamp at it, the stallions realized it was a grand fireplace.

"It's gas, but I bet we could burn something in it just the same," Kate grinned. "The question is, do we break something up from in here or go cut down a tree?"

In the end, a third option was taken. One of the restaurants in the hotel had a wood-fired oven, and obviously had to keep a stock of fuel for it. All three ponies carried chunks of wood up to the suite.

Max broke some of it up into kindling as the others arranged a few logs on top of the gas element. Once it was ready, they figured out a way to activate a barbecue lighter Duncan had acquired on one of his scavenger hunts, and soon, the fire was beginning to burn.

"This is gonna be good," Kate squealed in delight. "Guys, I'm gonna insist on taking the master bed myself."

Duncan smiled. "Figured you would," he said. "Be my guest."

Max shrugged. "Couch is fine for me," he said, already feeling warmth from the fireplace.

"Okay, so let's stock this up so it burns all night, but don't burn the place down, okay?" Kate said.

Max shot her a look. He didn't want to remind her just where he had come from and why catching the place on fire would not be in the cards.

"Can I go to bed now?" he asked.

"By all means," Kate said. "'Night, guys!"

"Goodnight," Duncan called out as Kate went into the master bedroom. He turned to Max. "Got a particular couch picked out?"

"Actually," Max said, looking around at the carpeted floor near the fireplace, "this might be as good a place as any, especially if I have to stoke the fire all night."

Duncan frowned lightly. "We don't need our driver tired 'cause he was up all night. I can handle the-"

"We're only about an hour or so away from Calgary," Max cut him off. "I figure we're gonna want to stop there, since it's a city of a million people. There's gotta be somebody there, and it'll probably take all day to search it, unless they come find us right away. So I'm not too worried about being tired tomorrow, but thanks anyway."

"Suit yourself," Duncan shrugged. He smiled and nodded at their surroundings. "Beats sleeping in a shelf in a truck bunk, I bet."

"Probably," Max said with a mild laugh, thinking back to conversations from earlier in the day. "Anyway, I'm gettin' my head down. Night, Doc."

"Goodnight, Max," Duncan said, hopping up into an easy chair to curl up.

Comments

[Celefin]

Kate reminds me of a puppy constantly wagging its tail while ruining the lowest ten inches of your trousers by constantly trying to pull you over to something incredibly fascinating. Incredibly annoying and cute at the same time.

[Seeking Dusk]

Okay, I'll admit, I've lost the sinning spark! Woe! So many chapters will have to go unsinned!

I'll still try to give constructive, deep and insightful comments! (Pff. Who am I kidding? I'd likely just prattle on about stuff like I normally do.)

Anyway; Kate is really helping to make this trip as much about the journey as it is the destination. Fun sights, curious stops and places to visit. Makes it a bit more enjoyable than just hours of driving. Max has been promoted to door master though. Nopony 'unlocks' doors like earth ponies.

[Posted]

Kate sure is an interesting one. I can't even imagine how crazy she must have been going while solo for so long. I feel for the next pony they meet as Kate is sure to flying tackle-hug them.

[ThePrinceOfTheNorth]

It is this author's humble opinion that, at least for this chapter, Kate is Best Pony.

[GITPSilverbolt]

She paused and smirked before adding, "Dildo..."
"What??" Duncan burst out laughing.
Max was chuckling too. "There is not a place called Dildo."
Kate stuck a hoof forward and waved it back toward herself. "Gimme the GPS, I'll show ya."

I had to, I'm sorry.

[Topaz Moon]

Nice story so far.

[bluemoon1996]

A quick bit of panic ensued just inside the town limits as a rail underpass stymied the American drivers ("What's 5.1 meters in real numbers??")

Ahh, the good old metric system beats us once again
6420389
Just kick them :3

[Celefin]

6422481
41.media.tumblr.com/37a9ec50e2e7d46a705064ac42585e91/tumblr_nunn10Gga41rasnq9o1_1280.png

And it only takes nine hours.

[Jay911]

6453312 Yikes, this is what happens when I get a block? Okay, churning out another chapter it is!...

(No seriously, I hope to have another one done by the weekend at the absolute longest, hopefully much sooner)