W ith the fog lights on, I chug my way into some sort of jungle, with no idea where I’m heading.
The car bumps every other second. I squint, leaning forward, my chest on the wheel. For a moment, I wonder how I’m such a good driver. If so, why did I crash the school bus in the past?
It’s only a few minutes before an army of Jeeps pops up behind me. Their lights are much stronger than mine. I feel like a thief exposed by the watchtower’s light while trying to escape a prison.
The worst part is that I don’t know where I am going. How can I contact the Pillar’s chauffeur to pick me up?
“Hey, Scientist!” I shout at the back of my Jeep. “Wake up!”
I hear no reply from the comatose body in the back.
Instead, I hear the Reds in the Jeeps behind me. They’re telling me to stop and give the Scientist back, or they’ll let their animals loose after me.
Animals?
“Scientist! Wake up. How am I supposed to kill Carolus?”
This time, I get back a sort of response — a snore.
Then I hear the animals let loose behind me. They don’t sound like dogs. I hear them treading the earth so loud my Jeep shakes. What kind of dogs are those?
Adjusting the rearview mirror while hitting another bump in the road, I see silhouettes of oversized animals, eager to eat a piece of me. They’re panting, not like a dog, but...wait...they’re not panting.
They’re roaring.
Am I being chased by lions?
“You still have a chance to stop!” one of the Reds says.
“And you have a chance to back off before I kill your precious Scientisto!” I roar back, mostly shaking when I see they’re really lions in the rearview mirrors.
Not the usual lions you see at the zoo. These are a bit heavier. Fatter. Rounder. Dotted with black spots, and they have sharp, irregular teeth.
I let out the loudest shriek, my eyes bulging out, hardly gripping the wheel. I grip the wheel harder when I’m about to lose control of it.
It’s the teeth that have me panicked.
I know those teeth. I’ve seen them before. They look like the Bandersnatch teeth in my bullets.