HOLLOW EARTH
EXPLORATION CLUB
ZM finally came out of the bedroom sometime after midnight.
Found me down in the shop finishing up the bike.
She walked slow circles around it for a while.
Checked wiring.
Clearances.
Paint.
Looked over everything twice like she expected me to miss something.
Finally stepped back and gave me a small smile.
“I’m sure whatever yuppie piece of shit you built this for is gonna pay you plenty and park it in his living room.”
Told her:
“It’s not going anywhere.”
She looked at me for a second.
“You kept it?”
Nodded.
Thought she was gonna ask why.
Instead she walked around the bike again slower this time.
Told her authentic bikes were different.
History mattered.
Either I kept those, donated them to museums, or sent them back where they belonged.
She leaned against the workbench while I talked.
Told her I’d rebuilt a lot of bikes over the years people thought were gone for good.
Indians.
Harleys.
A Vincent.
Even a Nimbus.
Even rebuilt the ninth Indian Chief ever made.
It’s sitting in the museum in Springfield now.
She looked over at me for a second.
“You never told me that.”
“Never seemed important.”
Didn’t say much after that.
Just walked her toward the back of the shop.
Past the lifts.
Past the storage racks.
There was a set of old barn doors behind everything most people probably assumed just led to another storage room.
Pulled them open.
She stopped walking.
Complete bikes.
Frames.
Original tins wrapped in old blankets.
Engines sitting on stands.
Crates stacked with parts nobody was supposed to still have.
Things people spent entire lives looking for.
She walked through everything slowly.
Ran her fingers along old tanks.
Stopped to inspect factory stampings.
Pointed out details most people wouldn’t even know existed.
Then she stopped in front of a set of shelves stacked with wrapped parts and just stared at them for a second.
Reached up and pulled one down.
Still had one of her old inventory tags hanging off it.
She looked at it.
Then looked at me.
Corner of her mouth twitched when she looked back at me.
Tilted the part toward me slightly.
“You had this here the whole time?”
Didn’t answer.
She laughed once under her breath, shook her head, and put it back on the shelf.
“In the home of the Legion Fish Fry.”
“Seemed safe enough.”
She went back to digging through parts still smiling to herself.
After a while she finally stopped digging through parts and walked back over to me.
Grabbed my hand like she’d already made up her mind about something.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“You did good on the bike. Least I can do is buy you a beer.”
Think that was the first time I’d seen her look genuinely relaxed since she got back.
Shut the lights off in the shop.
Headed over to the Legion.