​     Gramps got back on the phone as the three of them neared the van. ​

     "Yeah, we're standing right outside. Open up your side door. Let us in."

​     At which point, the door, indeed, slid open. As Trevor climbed in, he noticed that there were four people already inside. The Valids? They looked around the same age, maybe three or four years older than Trevor himself. He smiled at the cute blonde who drove, but then he thought, oh yeah, that's right. She can't see me. I'm fucking invisible. 

​     A young man sat strapped to one of the chairs in back. The whole van seemed specially designed for the Valids in many ways. The car seat this one young man sat in also seemed to be a wheelchair in some weird way, an assistance vehicle. The seat had wheels. He was a chubby guy, very pale and pasty. He reminded Trevor of a dumpling, kind of. His spindly legs seemed lost in his billowy slacks.

     "Is everybody in?" he asked. 

     The side door slammed. The young woman in the driver's seat hit the gas, and off they went.  

​     Another young woman sat in the front seat, on the passenger's side, or at least Trevor assumed she was a woman. Her voice was high like a woman's. Trevor got the feeling she was kind of on the short side. Trevor barely saw her head over the top of the car seat. She had to turn around from where she sat to get a look at everybody, and, man, she was hideously ugly. It was like someone had pulled the skin off her skull, then put it back, only they didn't go a very good job. 

     "How many of you are there?" she asked. "We're starving. We were just about ready to have lunch when you called."

CONTINUE