The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

27: Bart's Path

Bart wandered down an empty road, dust staining her black and blue jumpsuit, and for the first time in her life found herself directionless. Even when she and the stream of creation were arguing it lead her by the hand. Now it felt as if it had abandoned her. The screaming in her head had gone quiet, leaving her with nothing but solemn silence. Ken would live, she was sure of that. Throughout her life she had learned what a dying person looked like. The universe would see him through somehow. Maybe she had acted a little harshly (a thought she rarely had). After all, starting a new project behind the supervisors back did sound very Priest. It was just her actions seemed so right at the time. She was used to living in the moment until another moment interrupted her. Now, after so many years, the moment was over and the path she was running to follow was gone without a trace.

She probably should have turned back. Normally she made a point never going back to a place twice. The authorities often circled the area for weeks if not months and if she killed one cop she'd soon have a whole precinct to clear out. That's why she couldn't enter forty two separate 7-elevens. That's why she could never go home. In Blackwing's case she'd already broken that rule and for a while suffered no ill consequences. At least then she had a decade and half and two changes in management behind her. First time returning there was no one there who remembered her. She was just a past project, a legend of the files. Now everyone knew her as the person who stabbed the Supervisor. Worse of all Ken would always see her that way. A year ago she wouldn't have cared. Why couldn't she go back to not caring?

So where to next? With no friends, no family, and no money she didn't have many options. The universe of course had its plan. It was hiding from her, keeping its mouth shut and playing dumb, but it was still nudging her along. It was nudging her along with a four wheel van.

It came out of nowhere. One second she was alone in the road and the next a white animal control van was barelling towards her at 60mph. She jumped to the safety of the grass verge before she even realised she was moving. The invisible hands of the universe grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her aside. It offered no such help to the van's driver. He had just enough time to recognise the person in front of him but not enough time to realise she was out of the way. The van swerved across the road and tipped onto its two left wheels before rolling over. The driver crawled out of the broken window onto the road. He grumbled dazed and confused. The universe had no desire to kill him. It wasn't going to be that cruel. Not that day.  Instead it let him lay there in the middle of the road, panting for breath and wondering how exactly he got himself in this situation as animals escaped through the open door.

Dogs and cats ran off in all directions. Snakes slithered free and birds fled to the skies. One animal stayed. An eagle with a pink tag on its leg. It calmly walked over to her. Then it stopped and starred. She met it in the middle of the verge and read the pink tag. It didn't protest, it didn't even flinch.

"To Dirk Gently." She read. A smile slowly spread across her face. It had an address and everything. The path was clear again. "Thank you, universe."