Gone

he said.
    He moved the gear to “D,” for drive.
    He pushed the gas pedal down. Nothing happened. He almost panicked. Then he remembered: the emergency brake. He released the brake pull and tried the gas pedal again. The SUV crunched across the gravel at a creeping pace.
    “Hey. Where are you going?”
    Howard. What was he doing out here in the middle of the night?
    Of course: still looking for his bully friend Orc. Always looking out for Orc.
    Howard’s expression went quickly from puzzled to questioning to alarmed.
    “Hey, man, stop. Stop.”
    Jack drove past him.
    In the rearview mirror he saw Howard racing back into the school.
    He should drive faster. But driving was terrifying for Computer Jack. Too many decisions to make, too much attention demanded, too dangerous, too deadly.
    He came to a stop at the iron gate. It was closed. He jumped out and quickly swung the gate open.
    He stood still for a moment and listened. The sounds of the woods. Condensation dripping from leaves and tiny animals rustling and a faint breeze that barely pushed the leaves. Then the sound of a car’s engine.
    Back to the SUV. Into gear and a lurch forward through the gate.
    Leave it open and go. It’s not like the gate would slow anyone down. But it had slowed him down. They were already after him. Panda would be driving, no doubt, he was the most experienced driver, much more experienced than Jack.
    Panda. With Drake beside him. Drake and that monstrous arm of his.
    Jack felt the fear rising within him. He squeezed the steering wheel. Too tight. The top of it broke off in his hands.
    He threw the six-inch arc of plastic away and whinnied in fear. He forced himself to hold the wheel more carefully, control the panic, focus on the driving. Focus on the road as it wound down the mountain, from dense woods to more open terrain and round the spur.
    Lights in the rearview mirror.
    Oh, God. Oh, God.
    They would kill him. Drake would use that whip hand on him.
    “Think, Jack,” he screamed with sudden, shocking vehemence. “Think.”
    This was not a programming issue. It wasn’t technological. It was more primitive. It was force and force, violence and violence, hate and fear.
    Or was it?
    Maybe it was just about clearance. The SUV sat high off the road. The car now rapidly closing the distance was low to the ground.
    Sport-utility vehicle. Four-wheel drive.
    Jack peered at the roadside. A deep ditch all along the right side. A steep dirt and rock wall to his left.
    The car was coming up with such speed. No more than a few hundred feet back.
    There. A dirt road to the right. It might go nowhere. It might go twenty feet and stop. No choice. Jack yanked the wheel to his right and even at low speed, he felt he might tip over.
    But the SUV righted itself and bounced onto the dirt road. Headlights illuminated a bright, featureless circle of dirt and scrub in the inky, moonless blackness. No way to see…no way to know…. He was driving on faith, in the hope that the dirt road didn’t suddenly end in a cliff.
    It was hard to hold on to the steering wheel as it bounced violently. But he couldn’t grip it too hard or the wheel would come apart in his powerful hands, and then he would really be finished.
    Behind him the lights of the sedan were crazy, up and down, veering wildly. The dirt road was harder for the car. As bad as it was for the SUV, it was impossible for the car.
    Slowly, Jack pulled away from the car. Finally, the headlights dwindled away behind him and it became clear that the car had stopped.
    Jack slowed his own pace, making it easier for him to control the SUV.
    He had left pursuit behind. But how would he get to Perdido Beach? The only way he knew was the main road. Would this dirt track lead somewhere?
    The one thing he knew for sure was that he could not ever turn back.

FORTY-ONE
    03 HOURS , 15 MINUTES
    THE DAYLIGHT HOURS passed quietly.
    Sam knew it would begin soon.
    And in just a few hours, it would end.
    Sam kept people on watch at the outskirts of town but otherwise advised people to sleep, eat, try to relax. Caine would come in the night. Sam was sure of that.
    He had tried to take his own advice, but sleep had been impossible.
    He was changing clothes and thinking about the need to eat something despite feeling sick to his stomach, when Taylor suddenly appeared in the firehouse. Sam was wearing boxers.
    “They’re coming,” Taylor said without preamble. “Hey, nice abs.”
    “Talk to me.”
    “Six cars