Disappearance (13 page)

I put the remaining toilet paper back in the trunk and start filling up my tank. I get through one full jug and most of the way through the other before it spills over. Some of it gets on my hands and, although I love the smell of gas, this is the last thing I want to happen right before I'm about to eat.

I planned on making a sandwich, but I don't feel like touching my food now. I grab a bottle of water and try to rinse my hands, but even soap and hot water isn't enough to get rid of this smell.

With that, I get back in the car and grab a box of cereal. I'm not completely fed up with cereal yet, although I'm getting close. How I would love a nice grilled chicken sandwich and fries – or a big fat steak – right now. I turn the car back on and see the gas gauge points to full. I have more than enough gas to get to Nashville now.

In five miles I see a rest area I could have stopped at had I waited just a few more minutes. But then the next person driving on the highway wouldn't have a nice surprise on their tires.

I have no reason to stop now, so I continue on and decide to take a break from the Beatles; I've had enough life-changing epiphanies for one day. I put in one of the Metallica CD's, a band I loved listening to growing up. It's a miracle I turned out normal with all the heavy death metal I used to listen to.

The darkness comes fast as I make my way toward Nashville. I didn't think about it, but since I'm a little farther west I have a few more minutes of daylight than I would have if I were in Ohio.

I had wondered if the highway lights were all solar powered, and I learn that this is not the case. It's really dark out, and I have to go below the speed limit to stay on the road. Driving at night makes me tired, and listening to Metallica only helps so much. I open up an energy drink, thankful I thought to grab them at the mini-mart earlier. The taste is awful -- just as I remember them. I only get through about half of it before I can't stand the warm taste anymore. I pull down the window and throw it out. I'll have a littering day today; tomorrow I'll get back to my morals.

Road signs are still easy to see with the light-reflector gizmos attached to them. Our government has obviously thought through a nationwide apocalypse and made reading signs at night with no electricity as easy as possible.

The energy drink gives me caffeine jitters. I notice I'm tapping my leg and playing the drums against the steering wheel. I do this for an hour and a half until the caffeine wears off and I crash. I'm only twenty miles from Nashville, but I decide to call it a night. It's been a long day and I'm physically and emotionally drained. Cujo #2 had my adrenaline pumping at full force, and I think my body is recovering from that.

I pull over to the side of the road and turn the car off. I thought I would be in Mobile lying on the beach, but instead I didn't even make it to Nashville. I'm not even halfway there. I tell myself I'm in no hurry, but a part of me feels guilty for not making it farther.

I remind myself there is no set time I need to be there, no schedule I need to follow through on. It's liberating knowing I'm free to do whatever I want, whenever I want tomorrow and nobody can stop me. Like most people, my workday consists of doing things other people tell me to do. I show up at a certain time, stay for a set number of hours, and leave at a set time. It's depressing to think about how little control I have over my life. I get two days out of seven each week when I can do what I want, but even then I have to take into consideration what Abby wants to do.

I feel like a puppet with too many people pulling the strings. They tell me to jump, and I ask how high without considering whether I want to jump in the first place.

For the past three days, I've called all of the shots. I can't remember the last day where I could truly do whatever I wanted. Even before entering the real world, there was school and only doing things my parents would let me do.

Never have I had complete freedom, and it's not like I'm unique in this fashion; most people are the same way. No wonder most people are unhappy with their lives!

The plan for tomorrow is to go to Mobile, but I can go north, east, or west if I want to. I can do what I want on my own terms. Thinking about that brings a smile to my face – a smile that stays with me as I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 13

When I wake up I realize I slept with my car lights on.

I check the dashboard hoping to see the lights still lit up but they're off. Great! I've killed my battery and I'm fifteen miles from Nashville. Doing the calculations in my head, that's seven hours of walking I have ahead of me.

The keys are still in the ignition. I close my eyes and try to calm myself down. If I turn the key and the car doesn't start, I can get through this. Sure, I'll have to walk a good part of the day to the city and another good distance to find a car to break into, but I'll survive it. It would really suck, but I'd survive.

I place my hand on the key and turn the ignition. The engine chugs for a moment then stops. I turn the ignition off and try again. Much to my delight, Abby's BMW starts up this time. My day isn't ruined –- well, not yet anyway.

The BMW must have some kind of stupidity feature built in that saves power if you leave it on. It's moments like these when it pays to have spent a little extra. If I were here with my Cavalier, I would be out of luck and smashing something with my ax.

I get out of the car and stretch my legs trying to wake up. It's unusually warm for this time of year, although I'm sure some of this has to do with being farther south.

I always wake up hungry, and today is no exception. Even though I'm getting sick of cereal, I can't imagine fixing peanut butter and jelly for breakfast. I get in the car and pour myself yet another bowl of cereal.

Instead of eating in the car, I walk around and eat, soaking in some sun and the nice weather. The scenery is absolutely beautiful with rolling hills and the many colors of the trees' leaves. Autumn around here must have photographers drooling. If you can't capture beautiful outdoor shots here, you should pick a different profession.

I sit on the trunk and soak in the scenery. The only thing that would make this more perfect is a warm cup of coffee –- and civilization to return, of course.

I get back in the car and make my way to downtown Nashville. I've been there a couple times, once during a basketball camp and the other with Abby when we were on our way to Mobile for a cruise. I don't remember much except that it looked like a nice town that was easy to get lost in.

Today I don't have any reason to explore the city. The plan is to drive through to see if I can find someone and then leave. If I happen to run across a gun store or anything else that piques my interest, I'll stop in.

The fifteen miles goes by fast, and before I know it I'm downtown. I can't believe I didn't have the energy to drive this much farther last night. Nashville is beautiful, and if I didn't dislike country music I could see myself living here. The road I drive down has several restaurants –- burger-and-fries-type of places. There's also clothing and other random shops on every corner.

I drive around looking for any signs of recent life. At this point, I don't expect to see anyone. I just want some indication of why people left and where they went. If everyone wants to pack up and leave then so be it. I just wish someone had told me the plan.

I drive a few more blocks, mainly looking for a gun store but keeping my eyes open for anything else. When I continue to see nothing but abandoned restaurants and tacky-looking stores selling useless junk, I make my way back toward the highway.

I haven't drifted far from the highway this time, and I remember exactly how to get back. Sure, this will involve driving down the opposite way on a few one-way streets but at least I won't get lost.

Just as I'm about to make an illegal U-turn, I see it. A couple blocks ahead, a black car blazes through a stoplight and speeds out of sight.

Ditching my safe path to the highway, I hit pedal to metal and chase after the car. I turn onto the street the car was just on and to my surprise the road is long enough that I can still see the black car a few hundred yards ahead and moving fast.

The car makes a right turn behind a building, which takes it out of my view. I fly through intersections and stop lights. If a car happens to cross any of these intersections now I'll be a dead man at these speeds.

I make the turn and, just as I do, I see the black car going out of view again. It's moving fast but I'm getting closer. I see the highway up ahead and it looks like that's where they're going.

When I turn again I expect to see the black car, but it's gone. There's a left turn, which leads to the highway exit ramp. Or did they go straight into a series of apartment complexes? It's a guess but an easy one; I make the left turn onto the spiraling exit ramp.

At the speed I'm going, I can feel the torque of Abby's car. I slow down so the car doesn't flip over. Once I get onto the highway, I'm overjoyed to see the black car again. It's only a couple hundred yards away.

I drive Abby's BMW as fast as it will take me. Inch by inch I gain on the car. I'm close enough now that they should see me and slow down, but why aren't they? Do they not care that I'm here? Or are they scared and trying to get away?

I'm not going to let them outrun me this time. I don't care if I wreck the car or run out of gas leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere; I'm going to catch up.

As I inch my way closer, I can almost see the make of the car. At first I thought it was a black BMW like mine, but it looks a little different. I'm only fifty yards away now, so I start blasting my horn. If they haven't seen me yet, my horn should definitely get their attention. If they don't slow down now it's because they really don't want me to catch up to them.

Not that it matters now, but I just realize I'm not on I-65. Instead, I'm on I-40, wherever that goes. At first I think this is a mistake but the sign is clearly marked. I have to pause for a moment to remember if I-40 is what I'm supposed to be on to get to Mobile. I'm almost positive it's I-65 but I don't have time to look at the map. I can figure out where I-40 actually goes later.

The black car is in the right lane, so I start to move toward the left and get alongside them. I check the speedometer and see I'm going 115 MPH! Other than an airport runway, this is the fastest speed I've ever traveled on land.

I have to maintain peak focus because at this speed, anything less than driving perfectly straight could lead me into a fishtail and flip the car. I've read stories about people dying in car crashes where they were only going thirty-five miles per hour, so triple that and it's a near certainty I'll be dead.

I'm alongside the black car now but I can't see the driver yet. I look forward and see there's a bend in the road ahead, which I'll have to slow down for. I don't trust myself taking a turn at these speeds with a car next to me.

Inch by inch, I make my way next to the black car. I honk again, trying to get their attention so they'll slow down. I've already far exceeded the speed I'm comfortable driving, but I give Abby's car one last push forward so I can see the driver. I'm now completely parallel to the car and turn to look.

There's nobody in the car.

I peek forward to make sure I'm not going to crash; the turn up ahead is only seconds away. I look back again at the car to make sure my eyes didn't deceive me, but again I see there's nobody in the driver's seat. The steering wheel is turning ever so slightly, but nobody is in that car. Not in the driver's seat, nor the passenger or back seat. It's completely empty!

To avoid a collision, I slow down enough that I'm a little behind the car when I make the bend in the road. The black car doesn't slow down at all.

With the massive torque being put on Abby's car, I have to slow down further to keep the car from flipping over. The black car is far riskier than I am, but I guess if there's nobody inside it's easy to take chances.

I pull into the right lane so I can draft behind it. I look closely at the driver's backseat to see any glimpse of a head or anything, but there's nothing there. I watch closely for a couple minutes and can't believe this is happening.

Seeing no good reason to chase after it any longer, I ease up on the gas pedal and watch as the black car takes off in front of me. I make a complete stop on the highway and it's not long before the car is out of view.

What was that car, and why was nobody inside? I've read about self-driving cars but never seen one in person. I know in some states it's legal but still requires someone to actually be in the car in case something goes wrong.

Why was it going that fast? Did it malfunction? I look down at my map to locate I-40 and see I'm going east instead of south on I-65, where I planned on going.

From the article I read, self-driving cars can be programmed with a destination address in their little computers, and then they use GPS to map out where you are and the best path to get to your destination. It has a sensor at the top that figures out if there are cars around you, when to stop at stop signs, what lane you're in, and all the other information you need to know as a driver. I watched an online video where someone tested its capabilities by walking out in front it, and it automatically slammed on its breaks. Pretty impressive technology.

The self-driving cars I've seen each had a big video camera that sat on top of the car to monitor its surroundings. This car didn't have that; it looked like a normal car. This only makes my day even stranger; not only are there no people around, but now I have a magical car driving around entirely by itself.

Something I'm starting to realize is the pattern of my car sightings. I see a car every morning around this time. I can't remember anything the first day, but on the second day a car drove by when I was coming out of the supermarket. Yesterday morning, I saw a car driving on the opposite side of the highway. And now today, I had my run-in with a car with no driver.