Gaining a Following
I watched the crumpled wreck of the black sedan retreat into the distance, unsure whether its occupants were still alive, or how intent they were on revenge if they were. I turned to examine the man in the fedora speeding us away from my black-suited stalkers.
The SUV's engine roared as we turned onto a stretch of open road. "I suppose you have a few questions for me," the man in the fedora said.
I opened my mouth to speak just before another car t-boned us, knocking the vehicle into a spinning, screeching whirlwind of burning rubber and shattered glass. I felt something warm and wet on my face. The man in the fedora pulled what looked like a submachine gun from the center console and struggled to open his door when a hail of bullets peppered the SUV from what seemed like all directions.
I blinked at the roaring of the SUV's engine as we picked up speed on a stretch of road.
"Wha--" I began, blinking.
"I suppose you have a few questions for me," the man in the fedora said without taking his eyes off the road ahead.
Trees and bushes rushed by on either side of the road in a blur. Maybe other things were blurring, too.
"What's the matter?" the man in the fedora asked, finally looking my way.
"Somebody rammed us..." I stammered, pointing to the upcoming intersection. No car in sight in any direction. "I could have sworn we'd just been rammed right up ahead."
"Ah," the stranger said as if he understood perfectly, even if I didn't. We blazed through the intersection unmolested.
"See anyone behind us?" he asked. "Our mutual friends may have still called for backup."
"I don't see anyone...what...what's going--"
"Good. Hold on," he interrupted, sending the SUV off road and into a dry streambed that in turn ran through a culvert under the road. It didn't fit, but the man in the fedora jammed the SUV into the culvert anyway, the concrete walls shearing off the side mirrors.
"Out the back door. We can answer questions when someone isn't actively trying to kill you." He racked the charging handle on a submachine gun he pulled out of the center console.
