Death Drive

Chapter 22

"We have to go back," Naomi said. They had stopped their car on a back alley once they figured they had gotten far enough.

"Let's just do what Thomas told us to and leave the city," Jason snapped. He was still tensed from their earlier ordeal and squeezed the steering wheel like he had forgotten how to let go.

"But-"

"He would not like for us to risk our lives for his. Besides, we could not even get close to the building, even if we wanted to." His voice sounded close to breaking, which he tried to mask with anger.

"Let's just head for the coast. He'll catch up." She swallowed, looking miserable, and turned to gaze emptily out of the window.

They hadn't really asked Lucas anything, so he stayed silent. That didn't bother him, quite the opposite as he didn't know what he wanted to do next. Going back to the house would be too dangerous, so that was out of the question. But to leave and head to the woods was a horror of a different kind, to be left without the modern comforts he was accustomed to. He could not enter his carefully crafted virtual space without an internet connection! Even the augmentations would cease to work when the connection cut, eradicating the protective layer between him and the harsh, ugly reality around. And where would he get his medication?

But he could not just get out of the car since he knew he would not last long on his own. He would have to find a way to contact Routh and explain he had overreacted earlier and would now be glad to follow him if he was allowed to stay in the city. He had put out some messages online, trying to contact him, but thus far he had received no answer. So, for the time being, he would just have to go along with the others.

They set out the quiet streets as the sun rose, casting more shadows than light amidst the tall buildings. Their progress was slow as they took every corner carefully and had to look for detours numerous times. The sun had come up when they neared the edge of the city, the clear dome of their vehicle offering no protection from the blinding blaze, and the cooling air of the AC didn't quite reach the back seat, even on full blast. A grey car slowly creeped down the road and they ducked out of sight in their seats. Lucas turned on his laptop's camera and lifted the laptop up, using his it like a periscope to keep an eye on his surroundings. On the screen he could see the obese man inside the car had stripped down to his underpants in the heat and glistened with sweat despite fanning himself with both arms. Was the car trying to kill him via dehydration, or simply conversing energy? Once the way was clear they drove up a ramp to the raised highway to examine the way ahead.

The vista opening before them made her gasp and Jason curse. Surroundings the city was a ring of vehicles stretching from one side of the horizon to the next, gleaming in the otherwise bare desert like teeth in a desiccated corpse's mouth, swallowing them down. One of the cars darted ahead, chasing away some birds and returned to its spot.

"These one's are not letting anything pass," Jason said, the statement resounding in their minds like a death knell. "We are not going anywhere."

They headed back, unsure where to go, unsure if it even mattered where they went. They were stuck as surely as the people being roasted alive within the vehicles encircling the city. They came across a rundown mall that seemed deserted and parked by the entrance. They headed in to gather some supplies and their thoughts.

The welcoming signs and virtual personnel greeted them as they stepped in, and everything gleamed like polished and waxed a minute ago. The grand ornamentations on the walls and ceiling were meticulously realized.

"What a dump," Jason said.

At first, Lucas was at a loss with how someone could be so unappreciative of such beauty, but then realized he was not wearing any reality augmentation gear. He hesitated before doing something he didn't normally do and peeked over his glasses. Without them correcting his refractive error he could only see a blur of his surroundings, but he figured that was most likely for the best. What he could make out was the mall was a drab shell of dirty, grey stone, the stores that were so welcoming in the virtual world mere holes in the walls with shelves empty apart from stickers with QR codes that matches with products one could only see with VR glasses. The wall ornaments were replaced with crude graffiti, the infomercials with dated posters peeling of the signs. He had seen enough and adjusted his lenses, entering a reality more to his liking.