Invictus

Chapter 16: Trenton

According to the Uber app I downloaded, the nearest car was ten minutes away.

So when a car immediately came speeding towards me at ninety miles an hour on a quiet residential road, the first thought in my head was not that Uber's customer service was on point. Also, I noticed through the headlights of the car that there was clearly someone in the driver's seat. Uber had automated all their vehicles a long time ago. Robots drove cars for shuttling services now, not people.

This wasn't good.

I tried to prepare myself for whatever was heading towards me. My nerves were going wild, and my adrenaline was blazing. If someone was looking for a fight, they'd get one. I was not in the mood tonight.

My guard relaxed as a black, boxy looking piece of metal on wheels rocketed past me. I didn't recognize the design, but it must have been over forty years old. It let off it's horn as it passed. It sounded just like the General Lee Dixie horn ringtone Donnie had put on my phone as an April Fools prank last year.

If this were any other day, I probably would have laughed at that.

The car did a sharp turn, it's tires screeching as the rubber burned against the asphalt, and stopped right in front of me.

Inside the car was an Asian kid who looked to be around my age. He had jet black hair, a tiny nose, and some of the most wacked out eyebrows I'd ever seen. His outfit looked like he'd purchased it from an Army Surplus store. He wore a white t-shirt with camouflaged fatigues and had the world's biggest cigar in his mouth.

He put the cigar aside as he went to roll his window down.

"Z! What's up man? It's been awhile." His voice was incredibly flamboyant, almost feminine.

I looked over his car, around the street, and then finally back at him.

"I know you?"

"Yeah! Well, wait..." His eyes rolled up into his crazy eyebrows and then he shook his head as if to correct himself. "What I mean is that we eventually get to know each other really well." He shrugged his shoulders as he smiled back at me.

My body went rigid. What did that mean? He must have seen my concern because he responded with, "Oh calm down Z, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help."

We both stood in silence staring at each other. He smiled like an idiot, I however, had a bitter and unconvincing expression on my face.

After a long period of awkward silence he spoke again, "We have to get Kya." He said it like I was supposed to know what he was talking about.

"How do you know about her?" I asked angrily. Hearing her name infuriated me.

"Pssssh. Z, honey, I know everything." He waved me off, turning his head away dramatically as he spoke.

This was weird. He didn't seem threatening, but he also hadn't shown that he could be helpful either.

"What you mean, 'get her'?"

"She's part of the team." Again, he said it as though I should have known this.

"Yeah. No way. She killed my best friend."

"That was an accident." The Asian kid cringed at his own words, "Shouldn't have said that." He muttered to himself, eyes closed.

"How you know he's dead?" I asked him. I pitied the sadness I heard in my own words.

"Look, get in the car. I'll explain everything on the way. Promise." He made a placating gesture in my direction.

I shook my head. "No way."