" Neither the weather nor the bus’s tardiness, however, had done anything to dampen Driggs’s exuberant mood. Not only had he never been to New York City (or any large city, for that matter), but this particular form of transportation was also a first for him.

“I have a bus ticket!” he exclaimed upon boarding.

The driver did not share his enthusiasm. “Yes. You do.”

“Where do we sit?”

“Right here,” Lex said, shoving him into the nearest open seat. “Now shut up before we get stabbed.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she said through gritted teeth, “that probably half the people on this bus are carrying weapons. So just sit down— no, sit down!” He had gotten up to look inside the overhead storage compartment. She grabbed his shoulders and forcefully pushed him onto the seat. “Sit down, look out the window, and eat your candy.”

Driggs took out a Snickers bar and happily munched away, occasionally pausing to marvel at the appearance of roadkill.

“Flat as a pancake,” he’d say to the window "

― Gina Damico , Croak (Croak, #1)