"How long do you have to stay here?"

"Until the people we pick die of natural causes, or however it is they do die. Just not by the Road. Once they've all pa.s.sed on, then we can follow them."

I tried doing a little arithmetic in my head-if you picked five people, and the youngest was only twelve, then how long...?-then realized it was pointless. She was talking about a long time, no matter how you looked at it.

"Can I ask you stupid question?"

She smiled. "You can ask me anything. I won't think it's stupid."

"How do you get by on a day-to-day basis? How do you stay sane?"

She thought about this for a moment, and then shrugged. "Like everybody else does, I suppose. You go to work when you're supposed to, you do your job, then you go home, eat dinner, maybe watch some TV or put in a movie. Hang out with friends. Y'know...normal stuff."

"Watch TV or movies?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hang out with friends?"

"Uh-huh...?"

"I guess I'm asking...what do you do for fun? What do you do to relax?"

"I like to take walks."

For a moment I thought she was joking, then just as quickly realized she wasn't.

She took hold of my hand, leaned up, and kissed my cheek. "We really need to get going."

"Ciera, please, please tell me what's going to happen."

"I can't. I could get into a lot of trouble if..." She broke off, stared at me, and smiled. "Let me ask you something, okay?"

"Okay...?"

"Am I prettier than Dianne?"

No way was I going to lie to her-she was the closest thing to an ally that I had (and something told me she'd know instantly if I tried bulls.h.i.tting her)-but maybe I could respond without actually answering the question.

I touched her cheek and said, "I think you're beautiful."

"Thank you. You're going to race Fairlane."

I remembered Daddy Bliss's words from earlier-Some of us have been able to be Repaired almost immediately, while others-like myself and Fairlane, who you'll be meeting later on-have to make due with more...primitive results-and felt myself shudder. If Fairlane had to make do with results even worse than Daddy Bliss's, I wasn't sure I wanted to meet him at all...so sayeth the King of Understatement.

"A race?"

She nodded. "The Road decided long ago that a race was the most direct and just way to settle a matter."

"What happens if I win?"

She almost giggled. "Silly-you get to leave and go home."

"And if I lose?"

She stared at me for a moment, and then threw her arms around my neck and planted a kiss on me that would have killed a kid half my age; as it was, it left me weak in the knees.

"Then," she said, "you and I can be together."

So it was that simple; win, and I could leave; lose, and here I'd remain. It seemed almost too simple, but at the time I didn't dwell on it. I was only interested in getting the h.e.l.l out. In one piece, if possible.

She took hold of my hand and led me from the holding room, through the offices, and to the front doors. I looked out the windows and saw a long, dark limousine parked at the curb, engine purring. Ciera opened the door and out we went. As we neared the limo I saw, at last, how it was that Sheriff Hummer's car was able to drive itself; a deep groove ran all along the center of both street lanes: the whole city was built on a gigantic HO track.

Ciera opened the back door of the limo and held my hand until I was seated inside.

"This is as far as I go," she said. "I have to do a couple of things to get ready, but don't worry, I'll see you there in a few minutes." She started to let go of my hand and I did something that surprised both of us: I tightened my grip and put my free hand on top of hers.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I...I don't want to...let go just yet."

She gave me a tender smile and nodded her head. "I can hang for a minute."

"Good."

I sat there trying to steady both my breathing and the beating of my heart. Ciera neither moved nor spoke, just kept hold of my hand until I was ready to let go.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome. Tell you something weird-I kinda hope you win, but I also hope you don't, you know?"

An idea came to me. "You could come with me."

"What?"

"You and me. We get the meat wagon and hightail it out of here."

She pulled in a breath, held it, then released it with a soft little moan as she leaned in and kissed me again. "Do you have any idea how tempting that is?"

I sure hoped so. Shame on me.

"But you know I can't. I couldn't do that to my family and friends. But thank you for asking." She pulled her hand from my grip and closed the door, which locked automatically.

The limo pulled away, and I looked through the back window, watching her stand there in the street until the car turned a corner and she was gone.

Strange as it might sound, I missed her.

I looked up front to see that the divider window was up; it was tinted, so I couldn't make out anything about the person driving. I looked around until I found the intercom b.u.t.ton, pressed it, and said: "Can you lower the window, please?"

There was a soft click, followed by a low, steady hum, and the window glided downward. There was no one driving. I should have known.

There was, however, a small television mounted on the dashboard, and as the window finished lowering, the screen flickered to life and I was looking at Daddy Bliss's face.

"This is a pre-recorded message, Driver, so please don't do anything so pointless and predictable as talking back to the screen. They lock people up for that sort of behavior.

"I'm fairly certain that you've by now managed to charm some information from our dear Ciera-I was, in fact, counting on it. So let's proceed on that a.s.sumption, shall we?

"You are being driven to the only stretch of road in our fair metropolis that is smooth blacktop from beginning to end. A three-mile straightaway that my children long ago named 'Daddy's Dead Run'. A bit over-the-top, I know, but their hearts were in the right place and I've never been able to bring myself to tell them that I think it's a silly, melodramatic name, but what is one to do?

"Once this limousine-and isn't it a lovely vehicle? You should help yourself to some snacks and the wet bar, both are well-stocked. Now, where was I? Ah, yes.

"Once this limousine comes to a stop, you will be taken to your vehicle for this evening's contest. You will be driving a car that I personally chose for you. I call it 'The Ogre.' Yes, I know-I have the gall to make fun of 'Daddy's Dead Run' and then name a car 'The Ogre'? It's the little contradictions in one's character that makes one fascinating to others. An enigma, so to speak.

"'The Ogre' was a1964 Triumph Spitfire in its previous life. Allow me to gloat a bit of its history-after all, I designed and supervised its metamorphosis myself, so I think I've earned the right to boast.

"I began with a Spitfire frame that was made ready for a Chevy V-8 engine, Muncie transmission, and modified Corvette rear suspension. When the cha.s.sis was complete-with engine, transmission, rear suspension and third member, brake lines, front suspension with stock rack and pinion steering, as well as new body-mounts-the body from the stock Spitfire was prepared and set on the frame. The electrical systems were re-established and the bonnet added. Its present engine is a 383 Stroker. On the Dyno, she checked out at 470 horsepower and 500 ft-lbs of torque. This a small but very powerful car you'll be climbing into, Driver. It has a maximum speed of 180 miles per hour, and goes from 0 to 90 in just under ten seconds.

"For the first ten seconds of the race, both The Ogre and Fairlane's vehicle will be under the sole control of The Road. Once you have pa.s.sed from the sight of the crowd, control of the vehicles will be given over to you. I trust you can drive a shift. If not-well, then, this could be a short but spectacular contest.

"You have a few minutes before you reach your destination, dear boy. Why not raid the refrigerator and wet bar? G.o.dspeed, Driver. No pun intended."

And with that, the screen snapped off.

I looked out the window and saw the lights reflecting from the ma.s.sive car-cubes along Levegh Lane in the distance, and realized that these dead piles rose so high they could be probably be seen from any place in the city.

I wondered if, very soon, the smashed corpse of the Ogre would be added to them for future Repair material.

12.

FADE IN: a seemingly endless stretch of smooth two-lane blacktop emptying into shadows. Crowds of people line both sides of the road, the men looking tough while clutching at their bottles of beer, the women looking anxious while clutching at the filtered tips of their cigarettes, and the kids-especially the really young ones-looking like they aren't sure how they should be feeling while they clutch at the hands or coats of the tough beer drinkers and anxious cigarette smokers.

...and this is where we came, isn't it?

I climbed out of the limo and saw the Ogre parked in the left lane up ahead, Sheriff Hummer leaning against the driver's-side door. He saw me, gave a little wave, and gestured for me to join him.

I kept glancing at the crowd as I approached him, but after a few seconds of that realized it wasn't the best idea; the people who comprised this crowd-men, women, children (G.o.d, the children...)-were all Repaired to varying degrees, and the fusion of flesh and metal, rather than repulse me as it had before, now seemed to possess an organic correctness that I was suddenly all too willing to accept as being normal...or what pa.s.sed for normal, here. One little girl who couldn't have been more than seven years old smiled at me, displaying a mouthful of spark plug tips that took the place of her teeth. She seemed so proud of that smile, like she was showing off. I smiled back at her, and she blushed.

Don't look at them, I told myself. If you don't look, then they're not there.

Pitiful, I know, but it worked. They were shadows, props, decorations on the periphery, not real, not flesh and bone (and metal and steel, said the voice in the back of my head), and maybe, if I concentrated hard enough, I could Zen-out of this whole mess for a few moments.

"You seem tense," said Hummer.

I looked up at him but couldn't think of anything to say.

Then he did something that surprised me; he stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder and said, "You'll be fine. It's almost over."

I heard the grinding of a large engine in the distance behind us, and as I turned the crowd broke into wild shouts and applause. More lights came on, illuminating the road, and a few seconds later the object of their adulation rolled into sight.

A great semi tractor-trailer crawled out of the darkness, pulling a car-cube, smaller than the ones I'd seen before but still fairly ma.s.sive. Atop the cube four large torches burned, flames snapping against the night, one set at each corner, and in the middle of it all was a raised platform. Daddy Bliss sat there, the wheels of his chair held in place by clamps attached to the base. Large concert speakers were positioned at the sides of the platform, angled outward. Ciera stood at Daddy Bliss's side. She'd changed clothes; she was now dressed in a paisley skirt and tight short-sleeved sweater, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, a scarf tied around her neck. She held a long red kerchief in each of her hands.

The truck crept by, rumbling and growling like a constipated dinosaur, then began a slow, wide turn, moving forward, then back, a little to the left, forward again, the driver doing an impressive job of reversing, until, finally, the car-cube was well off the road and at an angle facing the crowd.

Ciera walked to the side of the cube and pushed something over the edge; a long rope ladder that reached to the ground. She turned, blew a kiss toward Daddy Bliss, and began descending.

Daddy Bliss smiled-a celebrant at the beginning of Ma.s.s-and the crowd's cheering grew even louder. He smiled, nodded his head a few times, then cleared his throat; amplified by the speaks, it sounded as if a section of the ground were splitting open.

The crowd fell silent.

"My children," said Daddy Bliss.

And the crowd exploded once again. Daddy Bliss waited until the roar died down, but it took a minute; Ciera was already on the ground before he started speaking again.

"My children. As you know, our dear Road Mama has been returned to us, and is, as I speak, being Repaired. She will be back among us soon. For that, we have Driver to thank."

The crowd erupted once more, some of them calling out my name-or, rather, the word, "Driver! Driver!"

"The Road," said Daddy Bliss, "has granted us this contest-this trial, if you will-to see whether or not Driver is, indeed, worthy."

Worthy of what? I thought.

"Give praise to the Road. Give thanks to the Highway People. They provide, they sustain, they bless us and watch over our loved ones under their protection."

The crowd as one looked downward and began muttering quiet thanks. Even Hummer removed his hat and bowed his head in prayer.

"Driver," said Daddy Bliss.

I looked up toward him.

"You have done well for us, and have our thanks. You still have many questions, this I do realize. Know that they will be answered soon."

I nodded.

"Very well, then," he said, clearing his throat once more. When he spoke again, his voice was louder, powerful, commanding. "Release Fairlane." Then he looked at me and grinned. "Sounded somewhat ominous didn't it? Apologies. 'Release Fairlane.' Not quite '...let slip the dogs of war,' I'm afraid."

The crowd cheered, but this time I could hear some genuine anxiety at the edges of the sound.

And then something so incredibly absurd happened that I couldn't even laugh at it, as much as it demanded to be laughed at: the concert speakers erupted with the opening chords of AC/DC's "Highway To h.e.l.l" and the crowd as one turned to face the road behind me.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" I said to Hummer. "I got in a wreck on my way out of town and all of this is just some f.u.c.ked-up hallucination that my subconscious has dredged up while my life trickles away."

Hummer grinned, and then backhanded me across the mouth. "Did that feel like an hallucination?"