"AAAHH!"
Natalie Kabra shrieked as the smaller-than-reassuring-yet-surprisingly-resilient life raft sped away from the fake Vesper freighter. She wasn't distressed because they were horribly exposed, or because they were being shot at, but because she'd just made a horrible discovery:
She had a split-end. She thought they were only figments of horror stories.
She quickly tucked it behind her ear, hoping it would be less noticeable until she could get someone to fix it. Now that she'd found a temporary solution to that dilemma, she could shift her focus to more pressing matters.
"Natalie. Do I even need to say anything?" Zai yelled to her from the front of the raft. Natalie's ears felt hot. So he'd noticed. She made her way to the front of the raft to help him turn it back toward shore. At the moment, they were headed toward the open sea, and that was one of the last things either of them wanted. But with both of them pulling on the surprisingly heavy steering stick, they managed to turn the raft in a wide arc back toward the shore.
"What century was this raft made in?" Natalie asked as they righted their course. "The control stick looks like something out of a Charles Dickens novel."
Zai didn't answer. Natalie was starting to irritate him a little. A split-end? She obviously didn't fully comprehend what they were headed into: A wild goose chase to the other side of the world to rescue a couple of distant cousins' uncle and meet up with her brother. And on top of that, why was he involved again? He'd only known these crazy people for less than a week. He just hoped that everyone was still under the impression that he was on this crazy quest with them from the goodness of his heart. Sorry, Amy and Dan, but that is NOT how it works in our world.
...
"Are we there yet?" Dan whined from the backseat. Almost two hours on the road with no salty snacks had made him even more annoying that usual, and everyone else was feeling stressed and bothered.
"No, Dan, we're not there yet. Can't you just try and fall asleep?" Amy grumbled. Dan huffed.
"Of course not. I have jet-lag. That's why I NEED food." He explained. Nellie eyed him through the rear-view mirror.
"Know what, kiddo? I'm kinda hungry myself. Whaddaya say we stop at the next gas station?"
"Now you're talking!" Dan exclaimed. Everyone else in the car was too weary to argue. Nellie looked on the GPS for the nearest rest stop. When she looked up again, she noticed something puzzling in the rear-view mirror: A sleek silver sedan had moved into the lane behind them. Normally, Nellie wouldn't pay any attention to this, but everyone was being extra alert. She did a double take. The car looked very normal, save for one small detail: The car had no apparent sign of a maker: Not BMW, or Jaguar, or Mercedes. Nellie discreetly tapped Alistair and nodded toward the mirror. He looked at her, puzzled for a moment, before he realized what she was talking about. He held a finger to his lips, signalling her to keep quiet. Nellie nodded and switched lanes. The silver car stayed where it was, but increased it's speed. Nellie couldn't tell what the driver looked like, for the windows of his-her car were an opaque red. Nellie pushed slightly harder on the pedal. The rest station presently came into view as they rounded a bend in the road. Nellie pulled the car into it. Dan immediately jumped up.
"Finally." he grumbled. Before anyone could stop him, he jumped out of the car and charged up to the store. The fake-rusty door slammed as he thew it closed behind him.
"Does he even have any Euros?" Amy muttered. Her question was met with silence. That was the way things seemed seemed to be since Zai's and Natalie's death. The change on Ian was especially noticeable. His eyes were dark and bleak, his features pale and hollow-looking. Even his hair had lost it's unnatural shine. Amy felt sorry for him, because she could relate to him. She knew exactly what he felt.
But it's even worse for him, she thought. A mother in prison, a father who is presumably dead, and now, he just lost the last person in his family. At least Dan and I still have each other.
Ian glanced over at her, if she could read her thoughts. She offered him a small smile. He looked away without acknowledging her. She turned back to look out the window-and noticed a car pull into the station next to them. It was a silver sedan, and-she noticed-no maker logo. She tried to get a glimpse through the window, but they were all tinted blood-red.
"N-N-Nellie?" she stammered, "Look at the car next to ours."
"Oh my GODDESS!" Nellie shrieked, "That car's still following us! We gotta peel, peoples!"
"WAIT! Dan's still inside!" Amy screamed. Nellie slammed her palm down on the wheel and swore.
"We can't go inside! We'll be totally exposed!"
"But we can't leave him!"
"Well just wait for him." Matt cut in. "We'll be safe in here, and Dan will come out in a few moments. We'll just have to sit tight until he does."
The seconds seemed like hours as they waited. The car sat next to them, like a silver and red viper, waiting to strike. It almost seemed alive.
Come on, Dan!
...
"We're almost at the docks! On my count, jump out!"
"Okay! But how do we slow down?"
"What?"
"I said, HOW DO WE SLOW DOWN ONCE WE REACH THE DOCKS?"
"UM..." Natalie hadn't thought of that. They were about thirty yards from an isolated-looking loading dock, with a run-down warehouse presiding over it. Empty. The perfect place to come ashore.
That is, if they made it ashore alive. Going at about eighty knots, they would surely be killed in a horrible way upon impact with the loading dock. Zai hadn't died yet, and he still didn't know if he wanted to die now or not. Deep inside, he wasn't sure what he was still fighting for. What more could he possibly lose? Even revenge wouldn't change what had already happened, and that was all he had left to cling to. That, and the fact that he couldn't fail Natalie. He had become obsessed with making sure nobody died when he could've stopped it since his family had all left him.
Alright, I'll fight again. For Natalie.
He looked up. They were only about fifteen yards. No chance of trying to slow down. He would've grabbed Natalie's arm and jumped over the side, but she had already thrown herself in the water. With a calm expression, Zai flung himself over the edge of the raft, seconds before it crashed into the docks.
BOOOOOOOM! The explosion turned the water amber, and debris rained down all around Zai as he kicked to the top. Natalie was about three yards away, kicking toward him.
There, I lived. Happy?
...
Amy felt like the tension building up inside her was enough to make her explode. Was Dan taking a long time on purpose?
Presently, Dan appeared outside the store. He began waving wild at them.
"I think Dan's seen them!" Amy exclaimed. "He's scared to walk out in the open to the car."
"He'll have to make a break for it." Alistair whispered. He rolled down his window and discreetly nodded toward the Vesper car. Dan didn't seem to get the message.
"HEY, NELLIE! CAN I HAVE A FEW MORE EUROS? I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO GET BOTH THE PIZZA CRACKERS AND THE BACON CHIPS!"
Amy's mouth dropped in horror. Was Dan trying to get them killed on purpose? The Vesper car's engine revved.
"That moron is trying to destroy us." Elias said, his voice laced with disbelief.
"DAN! VESPERS!" Amy and Matt screamed at the top of their lungs. Dan instantly understood. He started sprinting toward the van. The Vesper car slowly started to move.
"HURRY!" Amy shrieked. She threw the door open. Dan hurtled across the pavement and threw himself into the car, landing on top of Ian. Ian didn't seem to notice. Nellie immediately slammed her foot down on the pedal, causing the van to squeal out of the station, with the Vesper car close behind.
"They're right behind us!" Dan shouted. Nellie flipped on the turbo engines, and the van jumped forward. But the car in pursuit increased it's speed and glided up beside them.
"What defenses does this heap of fake junk have?" Nellie asked frantically. Alistair leaned over and pressed his hand on the horn. A panel on the steering wheel slid back, revealing a small screen similar to the one in the Vesper Hummer in Hong Kong.
Nellie stabbed her finger down on the 'Smoke Screen' icon. Vents in the side of the car immediately opened up, and a thick, purple smoke spewed out, obscuring the occupant's view. But before Nellie could complain, the steering wheel showed a radar screen, with the Vesper car next to them a pulsing red blip.
"Sweet. But it's not gonna last very long." Nellie muttered. She revved up the turbo boosters, increasing the van's speed to 125 mph. But the red blip stayed level with them.
"What's Plan B?" Elias asked. He was keeping an eye on the screen for other cars on the road, but they were the only two cars on the freeway. He figured that the Vespers had probably blocked the freeway from Calais to Paris.
"We'll need to activate some REAL weapons." Matt said. "But choose quickly."
"Nellie!" Amy shouted. She pointed out the window. The smoke was dissipating, and the Vesper car was coming back into view.
"Oh, poo." Nellie groaned. She quickly scrolled through the other options on the car's defense menu.
"Nellie..." Dan whined. The Vesper car's window had rolled down slightly, and a black muzzle was poking out of it.
"Hang on!" Nellie yelled. Without further warning, she slammed her foot down on the breaks. The Vespers shot in front of them. Nellie then wrenched the steering wheel, so that they were directly behind the Vespers.
"Wait, which one do I press?" Nellie scanned the options in front of her. "Which one..."
"Here, let me." Matt leaned forward.
"Matt, wait-" Nellie exclaimed, but it was too late. Matt had selected one of the defenses. The headlights of the van folded back and two small metal slugs with barbed ends shot out, connected to the van by strong, flexible cables.
"Matt! What did you do?" Amy asked, her voice quavering.
"Watch." Matt grinned. The metal slugs embedded themselves in the rear of the silver car. An instant later, there was a loud buzzing sound.
"Here it comes!" Matt said gleefully. The words had barely left his mouth a loud 'POP!' rang through the air. A shower of sparks erupted out of the Vesper car, followed by a cloud of smoke. The silver car veered off the road into the bushes.
"Those cables connected to those slugs are carrying 200,000,000 volts of electricity." Matt told them, watching the smoking car. "Because the Vespers only use stolen technology to make their cars, this is one of the most effective ways to stop them."
"But...the people inside..." Amy stammered, "Are they..."
"They're fine." Matt said with a flick of his hand. "The metal exterior of the car directs the electric charge into the ground. But the car's ruined, though."
Everybody relaxed slightly at his explanation, except Alistair, who already knew everything about the van.
"Well, at least they're alright." Dan said quietly. Matt smiled to himself and deftly slipped a hand into his pocket.
Not for much longer.
...
Elizabeth twirled a strand of hair around her finger. This stage in the operation was infuriatingly boring, yet extremely delicate.
"Madam!" one of her lackeys blurted. "We've received the signal."
Elizabeth jumped to her feet. "Well, get to it, you imbecile! Are you telling me that you're so stupid you can't even follow a simple command without my instruction every step of the way?"
"Yes, Madam! I-I mean, no, Madam! Initiating detonation!"
Elizabeth sat back and closed her eyes. Why couldn't people just be more like her?
...
Matt tapped another icon on the screen. The electric cables disconnected from the front of the van and fell to the street, looking like tentacles of some electric squid.
"Now let's get moving before they get out." Amy said. Nellie started up the van again. They were just passing the ruined Vesper car when-
'BOOOOOOM!' The car erupted in a gargantuan explosion, blasting the van end-over-end across the freeway.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Everybody screamed as they were tossed around in the car-for a second time.
The car stopped tumbling a good thirty feet off the freeway. Amazingly, the van was virtually unscathed.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Amy and Ian were shaking uncontrollably. Alistair was moaning, and Nellie was a streaky mess of mascara, red eye shadow, and blue eye liner. Matt looked like he was about to puke, and Elias was holding his snapped sunglasses together.
"The Vespers remotely detonated the car." Matt said after what seemed like an eternity. "There must not be anyone inside, after all."
Nobody answered. Nellie reached out, turned up the radio to some French punk group, and tore off back to the freeway, the van poot, poot, CLANGing as if nothing had happened.
...
Natalie pulled herself up out of the water onto a hole-ridden wooden dock, blinking the water out of her eyes. Zai clambered up after her.
"Finally," she panted, "We crossed the channel."
Zai wrung out his sailor's jacket and shook out his hair.
"I never want to see that accursed body of water again." he muttered. Natalie lifted her foot up and inspected her soggy, ratty sneakers. She reached out and grabbed Zai's arm.
"What are you doing?" he asked as she dragged him away, leaving wet footprints on the deserted wharf.
"Isn't it obvious? Look at me!" she gestured to her unflattering clothes. "We're going clothes shopping."