I stare into the darkness for several heart-wrenching seconds, waiting, hoping, praying that Kayla survived. The truck rumbles like a locomotive beneath us as a series of dim lights flash by overhead. As we pass through the tunnel, the pitiful fixtures shine down and illuminate my dad in a grim twilight for a few fleeting moments. Each time he grows dark again, his eyes turn red like he's a ghost or a monster, or both. I know it's a trick of light and darkness, but it's haunting.
I force my gaze to look past him, not to focus on the man who, at the moment, used to be my dad. Peering beyond him, I search for hope that Kayla is still alive. I'll take anything. A flicker of a reflection on the Jeep from the tunnel lights. The slightest growl of the SUV's engine as it continues its pursuit of the semi-truck. Anything. Even...
As the thought dies and my hope dwindles, headlights switch on behind Trailer 2. It's the Jeep. It's Kayla and Agent 24. She's still alive.
In the meantime, while I've been probing the dark to make sure she's okay, my dad inches toward me with a harsh scowl on his face. He grunts with each snake-like advancement.
I push up, intending to back away, but one of the overhead lights whisks by my head, stirring my hair. It was that close to bashing my brains in.
With my dad creep-crawling toward me, I slither backward, trying to maintain a safe distance.
Another light reveals his nose and mouth, twisted into a sadistic snarl.
That's not the dad I've grown to know recently. The Collective has bent his mind.
Three feet from me, he stretches toward me, ready to snatch me by the collar and toss me from the trailer top. But a split second before his hand reaches me, we burst from the tunnel into brilliant daylight, back on the open road, and both of us back on our feet in seconds.
My dad lurches at me and lands a right hook. His knuckles bury into my cheek, launching me toward the edge of the trailer. I slide along the top, friction bringing me to a halt with my head and shoulders out over the roadway. I shake myself and shuffle back to safety, only to rise in time to get nailed by a left hook. The punch sends my body to the other side of the trailer.
That's it, dad or no dad, I'm not taking this anymore, I think with a glare of retribution in my eyes.
I leap to my feet and gain my balance. It's time to get my Agent 23 on...
With these punishing shots, maybe I should refer to my dad as Agent 1? As I turn around, he hits me with a jab to the nose. A warm wetness trickles down my upper lip, and I taste the coppery tang of blood.
I swipe it away and raise my fists.
As I prepare for the battle to come, the drone shifts from the right side to over behind us. I assume the operator is trying to gain a position where the next missile won't affect Zero's precious cargo in the trailers.
The Jeep is out of sight, which means Agent 24 is staying close to the rear trailer to keep the drone from firing at them. Smart move.
What?
He jerks the Jeep into the left lane, drawing up beside the truck so Kayla can get a shot off at the grenades. But oddly, the semi hasn't swerved over to stop them. I wonder why? When I look over the side of Trailer 1, I see a concrete divider separating the two lanes. Either it's a leftover from construction or it signifies a dangerous stretch of road up ahead.
I dodge another punch and shy away, glancing over my shoulder to see a sign revealing a curvy line with an arrow at the top. As I step back, my dad glares up at the drone, which has shifted over to the left to get behind the Jeep. I'm sure the person behind the controls is gaging whether a missile impact will damage the semi, since both vehicles are still near each other.
Up ahead, the mountains rise above us on both sides. There's no more drop-off on our right, now jagged peaks tower above us, providing cover through the winding curves.
As we enter the first bend, I see an opportunity and take a swing—my dad blocks it with ease. We're over halfway down the trailer, nearing the hatch that leads into Zero's hideaway.
I frown. I bet she's the one operating the drone. It wouldn't surprise me.
A missile fires, trailing smoke as the Jeep makes the first curve, hidden by Trailer 2 on one side and an outcropping of mountain on the other.
The missile booms into the cliff face and bursts into rock and flames. The impact rattles my bones. But fortunately, Kayla and the Jeep avoid disaster.
Even though I care little about what happens to Agent 24, I root for him to stay alive because he's driving the Jeep with Kayla in it. A win for the former assassin is a win for Kayla and me, too.
Now that we're crowded by mountains on both sides, the drone hovers behind us, seemingly reluctant to strike again with the vehicles so close.
The semi winds through the dangerous curves, and now my dad is ready to resume the fight. As he throws a punch, I duck to avoid it, but quickly he buries another fist into the top of my head. It was a glancing blow, but it throws me off balance as Trailer 1 takes the curvy highway in stride.
Shots ring out.
Kayla has the assault rifle set to three-round bursts to increase her chances of hitting her target, but also to avoid using up a magazine of bullets in a matter of seconds.
She leans out of the passenger side window, taking aim...
My dad peers up at the drone. He's aware the remote-controlled aircraft is on his side, and I suppose he's wondering when it's going to eliminate the Jeep. While he's distracted, I lunge out with a jab, but he's quick to block it, and counter with a straight cross to my nose.
Rage burns inside me as I yell at my dad, leaping into attack mode.
I don't want to fight him. I've tried to avoid it, but I'm tired of him hitting me.
I strike out with lightning-fast punches: a right jab, a left cross. A hook, an uppercut. A left and right again, but my dad—Agent 1—blocks each blow, his forearms lashing out in defense as if he's toying with me.
My dad is legit, not someone I want to see across from me in a boxing ring, an octagon fighting cage, or on top of a tractor-trailer, whipping through mountainous curves.
I wish Kayla would take the shot. And she does. Another three-round burst, peppers the section between the trailers. Obviously, she missed because the grenades didn't explode. That's when an oncoming vehicle slashes toward the Jeep. It makes Kayla duck back inside, barely avoiding having her head ripped off.
Agent 24 yanks the Jeep onto the narrow shoulder as the vehicles nearly sideswipe each other at high speed, slipping between the concrete divider and the mountainside. There were no sparks or crunching metal. Another narrow miss.
Kayla sticks her head out of the window and takes aim again.
As she centers on the target, my dad grins like a predator about to unleash fury. "My turn."
I back away, but my foot bumps into the hatch on the roof behind me. I stumble but catch my balance, and as my dad swings, I fade backwards, using his forward momentum to sling him past me.
He jumps over the hatch as I pivot around with my back to the rear of the trailers.
"Nice move, Son. Too bad I'm going to have to kill you."
I wince at his words. I can't believe that under the Minder Bender's control, he still knows who I am. Agent 24 told me they had seized his brain too, but then I remembered what he had said. When his mind was bent to the will of The Collective, he remembered everything. But his desires were twisted and devious, compelled to do things he wouldn't want of his own accord.
Now, my dad knows he's my father, but he still wants to freaking kill me.
Where's Kayla's expert aim when I need it most?
I crane my neck for a glimpse of her head and shoulders hanging out of the window of the smashed-up Jeep. The rifle's muzzle points toward the connection joint of the two trailers. She squeezes off another volley of ammo, hitting everywhere but the grenades. She has to hit one of them. Just one. And I know she will, eventually.
I look back as my dad's fist arcs toward my face.
I lean back to avoid it, but the blow lands high on my cheek, spinning me around. I crash into the top of the trailer and roll toward the edge. My tumble stops shy of an asphalt thumping death.
My dad jumps on top of me and digs his fingers into my throat, strangling me as Kayla takes aim again. With all this transpiring, both Jeep and semi wind through the mountain pass with the drone chasing us from above.
With my dad—Agent 1—wrenching my breath from me, the curvy pass straightens, and the peaks on the right fall away into another downward plunge, hundreds of feet to the bottom. While this occurs, the concrete divider ends, making it possible for the semi to smash the Jeep against the cliff face, and potentially giving the drone a chance to launch another missile.
I can only gasp as time runs out for us all.