The Retribution Initiative

Spiders

-Lucas-

I flung myself out of the captain's seat and to the floor of the car. I hunched as low as I could to keep beneath the windows. The dirty carpet was rough beneath my fingers. It smelled (and looked) like vomit. I hardly even noticed. Panic was driving me again. I was suddenly aware of how many windows the vehicle had. The dang car even had a skylight. How could I expect to hide? I was practically sitting in a fishbowl. How did the old saying go? I was a sitting duck.

Despite myself, I curled myself into a ball, hoping to escape the relentless windows. What was I going to do? My car was out of fuel. I was trapped on the highway, soaring high above the ground. My face was on every advertisement board from here to the mainland. Endar drones were following me. I was trapped. My brain buzzed like a staticky broadcast. Nothing. I could come up with nothing. No solution, no genius idea, just blank panic.

My foot was falling asleep.

I grimaced as the nerves tingled uncomfortably. I shifted, trying to free my leg from the awkward position. My foot was going more dead by the second. I sighed, exasperated, and reached down to yank at my lifeless limb. The laces of my work boots, still untied, tangled around a small lever. Grumbling, I tugged at my foot again. The rusty lever shifted out of position. A shudder through the vehicle distracted me from my prickly foot. The car groaned, growled, and hummed back to life.

I stared at the small lever, still tangled in my shoelaces. My brain clicked. "A reserve tank of fuel? I'm saved!"

Elated, I clambered back up to the captain's seat. In my excitement, however, I neglected to remove my shoelaces from the lever. They snagged as I rose, tangling my progress. Instead of throwing myself back into the seat, I slammed my face into the hard chair instead.

"Owwwww!" I clamped my hand over my nose, which felt like it had been shoved into my eyeballs. "Agghhhh, tamik! Stupid chair!" I reached down and yanked my (still-asleep) foot free of the malicious lever. More carefully, I reseated myself and checked the control panel of the car. Sure enough, the fuel gauge indicated I now had about 1/4 tank remaining. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Out of habit, my eyes flicked to the mirror. The Endar trackers were right behind me. There was no doubting it, they had found me. Up close, I could see the silver wiring running down their limbs. They really did look like bugs. What were those ones I had read about? Spiders? Yeah, spiders. The drones looked like spiders. Except these were spiders with silent electric motors, propellers, and a lot of ways to inflict pain.

"Look on the bright side, Lucas. At least they don't know you only have a quarter tank of fuel," I muttered to myself. Of course, was that a bright side? I only had a quarter tank, after all. I had to make this count.

I eyed the drones creeping up behind me. "Let's have some fun, you stupid spiders!"

I leaned into the vehicle's controls as my fingers tapped quickly on the screen. I overrode the highway's control and increased my speed simultaneously. Smooth one, Lucas. My stolen vehicle flew away from the other cars and up into the river of drones, curling in a graceful arc like a glowing orange spark. The cargo drones sensed my entrance and effortlessly swung out of my path. I couldn't help but admire their precision. I had to admit it, modern drone technology was remarkable.

Focus, Lucas. You have to get away from the drones, not oogle them.

The Endar trackers, not missing my burst of speed, leapt from the traffic into the stream of drones. Following me closely, they sped up until they loomed glinting in my mirror.

Time for the fun.

My heart was thumping wildly, but not with panic like it had been all morning. No, this was excitement sending my heart aflutter. It had been a long time since I had been up here. I missed it, I realized. The carrier drones, laden with their packages, swung easily out of my path as I blew by them. The cars below me blurred in a metallic, colorful rainbow. The wind whipped over the blunt nose of my ugly stolen car. I grinned.