Бэд гайз гонятся за главными героями.
"If they already hooked them a ride, we're shit out of luck, Norv," John said.
Norville shrugged. "Percentage play. It's quarter past one in the morning. With the rationing, traffic's thinner than ever. What's Mr. Businessman going to think if he sees a big guy and a little girl trying to hitch a ride?"
"He's gonna think it's bad news," John said.
"That's a big ten-four."
А героев тем временем подбирает какой-то бородатый парень, любитель бейсбола, Стейнбека и полицейских сериалов, который не только не берет с них денег, но еще и предлагает пять баксов.
"You positive you couldn't use five?"
"I guess I could," Andy said reluctantly. "Would you write down your address for me? I'll mail it back to you."
The driver's grin reappeared. "My address is `in transit,'" he said, getting out his wallet. "But you may see my happy smiling face again, right? Who knows. Grab onto Abe, man." He handed the five to Andy and suddenly Andy was crying - not a lot, but crying.
"No, man," the driver said kindly. He touched the back of Andy's neck lightly. "Life is short and pain is long and we were all put on this earth to help each other. The comic-book philosophy of Jim Paulson in a nutshell. Take good care of the little stranger."