by Alex Schuler
“What idiots.” He focused on the road ahead and turned his attention back to his music, quietly singing along.
He notched the speed up to fifty-five miles per hour. He was catching up to the red Tesla. The other vehicle faded away behind him. The laptop still blared a speed warning. He briefly considered slowing down. Part of him wanted to get far away from both cars, but he knew he might risk ruining the test. He wondered what Sam would do. He quietly laughed as he tapped the cruise speed back down to forty-five miles per hour. The digital speedometer behind the steering wheel began decreasing—fifty-three . . . fifty . . . forty-seven. The alarm switched from the speeding warning to the ominous, steady, continuous blare that Ted dreaded hearing. His heart went to his throat as the self-driving system returned control to the driver.
“Shit!” Ted raced to grab the steering wheel to keep the Touareg centered in the lane of the curving road. He looked ahead to see what had caused the system to go offline, and his jaw fell open. A petite woman walking a Great Dane was directly ahead, both were standing a good two feet inside the roadway. He would hit them. Ted panicked. There was nowhere to safely turn. The right side of the road was filled with trees. To the left was the narrowest of openings. The back of the red Tesla was even with his front wheels. The black one was behind him somewhere in his blind spot. But how far back, he could not be sure. In a split-second decision, Ted impulsively jerked the wheel to the left to try to snake between the two cars to avoid the woman and her dog.
Ted’s reaction time was too late. The Touareg hit the dog, the leash dragging the owner. The animal’s howls of pain lasted only a second, echoing in the blackness of night. The front of the VW hit the back corner of the red Model S, forcing it into an uncontrollable spin. He kept both feet against the brake pedal and swerved back to the right. His instinct was to get away from the red Tesla but then the black one plowed into the rear of Scorpion, sending Ted crashing into the steering wheel as the airbag deployed. A thump against the driver’s side mirror caused him to turn just in time to see the body of the driver of the black car fly past his window.
The red Model S spun into the opposite lane of oncoming traffic, slamming sideways into a minivan. Ted looked in horror as the minivan shuddered and wobbled, unable to steer. The Tesla and minivan merged into one, with the Tesla forcing the other vehicle into a guardrail until both cars slid to a stop.
The stereo in the VW somehow continued to play. Ted’s ears rang from the explosion made by the airbags. He looked around, checking his hands and seat belt as his heart raced uncontrollably. He caught his reflection in the rearview mirror glimpsing his face. He gasped as he noticed a few small lacerations across his nose and forehead. Horror overtook him as the reality of what had just happened began to sink in. He struggled to catch his breath. His hands trembled as he fought to release his seat belt. Once free, he flung his door open and fell to the ground.
One of Scorpion’s headlights was still on, aimed straight ahead, showing a clear road. Ted checked the front of the car. The passenger’s side, around the headlight assembly was dented and smeared in blood. He ran behind the car in a frenzy.
The black Tesla, the driver’s window shattered, was wedged at an angle into the rear of the Touareg. Ted wheeled around as he recalled seeing the driver’s body fly by his window. He suddenly spotted someone resting in the shadows just beyond the reach of the VW’s one working headlight. He sprinted ahead and stopped just short of the body. Ted felt a wave of nausea as he took in the sight. The driver was completely mangled—head, arms, and legs all twisted into impossible positions. A pool of blood was forming beneath the man’s deformed head. At least he assumed it was a man. He honestly couldn’t tell. He knew there was nothing he could do to try to help the person. He turned and ran across the roadway, backtracking to the other wreckage.
The red Model S had pinned the minivan against the guardrail. The front corner of the navy Dodge Grand Caravan was utterly demolished and the electric vehicle was jammed beside the driver’s side of the van. Ted grabbed the door handle of the Tesla and yanked it open. Inside the young man was covered in blood. Ted was relieved to see the man’s eyes darting back and forth.
“Hey,” Ted said, his voice shaking. “Are you okay?”
The driver rolled his head to face Ted and attempted to speak. Instead, he coughed, spraying Ted with blood. Ted stumbled backward, his hands trembling as he attempted to wipe his face clean. He fell to his knees beside the open door.
“I’m . . . I’m going to get help,” Ted said. His hands were still shaking as he searched his pockets for his phone. He realized it must be somewhere inside the VW. Just as he was about to stand up, the man inside the car reached out and grabbed him by his shirt. Ted leaned forward and gripped his arms. The look of terror and fear in the driver’s eyes sent a chill through Ted’s body.
“I’m sorry,” the driver said. “Tell my . . .”
“No!” Ted cried. The man’s eyes remained open as he let go of Ted. Ted shook him, trying to get him to stay conscious. The man’s frail body flopped back and forth in his grip. “Don’t you die on me! Don’t you die! No . . . no . . .”
He gently let go of the guy and tilted his body back against the seat. He stood up and started walking back to Scorpion to get his phone. An infant’s cry stopped him in his tracks. Ted spun around and ran to the front of the minivan. A woman was unconscious in the driver’s seat. The entire driver’s side of the Dodge was blocked by the Tesla crushed against it. The smell of gasoline and motor oil filled the air. Most of the minivan’s engine was either shredded or pushed into the firewall that protects the passenger compartment from the engine bay. Sparks flickered from wiring dangling from the destroyed engine bay.
Ted ran around to the guardrail, finding the Dodge sandwiched between it and the Tesla. Climbing atop the rail, he peered inside the front of the van. The woman behind the steering wheel was covered in blood. She barely even looked old enough to drive. He couldn’t tell if she was alive or not. He moved a few feet back to check the second row. The baby, now screaming, was in an infant seat in the back. A wave of relief went through him as he saw that the baby seemed unharmed. He pulled at both door handles with a sick feeling knowing there was no way he was going to get them opened.
“Think, Ted, think!” He looked around and found a rock resting along the embankment. He grabbed it and ran back to the van. He realized he couldn’t smash the glass without spraying the child and didn’t want to risk doing the same to the driver. His temples throbbed as he struggled to figure out what to do. How could he be able to crunch complicated math formulas in his head but have no idea how to get that baby and driver out of this van? His thoughts stopped dead when he saw the orange glow on the opposite side of the minivan. “Shit!”
Hopping the guardrail he rushed to the middle of the road, finding flames licking one full side of the Tesla. He knew he was running out of time. With the rock still in his hand, he ran to the back of the minivan and smashed the window of the hatch. Inside, the baby’s screams grew louder. Acrid smoke filled the air. Ted studied the jagged shards of glass along the base of the shattered window to figure out how he could safely pass through the opening. It suddenly dawned on him to pop the hatch. He dropped the rock and tried the handle. The hatch groaned and creaked as it moved an inch before stopping completely. The passenger’s side was dented and mangled from the impact with the guardrail. He yanked and pounded and kicked the door but could not get it to work itself free. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the flames around the Tesla rose.
Picking the rock back up, he cleared the edge of the shattered window as best he could. Smoke was filling the inside of the van as he stepped onto the bumper, dragging himself through the opening. He cried out as bits of glass sliced into his torso and legs. The rear of the minivan was filled with bags and a stroller. He wrestled with them as he crawled to the child—a baby girl dressed in pink, her mouth open
and tongue flailing in a tightly drawn face that shook as she screamed.
“Hey little girl,” Ted said, his bottom lip quivering. The baby turned and looked at Ted, crying even louder. “It’s okay. Stop crying. I’m . . . I’m going to get you out of here.”
A glow pulsated behind him. He coughed and turned to look out the driver’s side of the minivan. Flames were now dancing between the Tesla and Dodge. He wiped back tears as he struggled to figure out how to free the child seat.
“Lady, are you okay up there?” He leaned forward and grabbed the woman by the shoulder. Her lifeless body slumped sideways against the center console. Ted’s breathing was erratic. He could not seem to get enough air into his lungs and felt the world around him begin to spin. Squinting, he looked at the belts connecting the child and seat and ran his fingers across the straps as his hands shook wildly. He could feel the heat of the flames as they began prying their way inside the van. “How the hell does this work? I can’t see anything!”
Ted’s mind was a blur. His thoughts drifted to Sam and her daughter. He knew Sam would know how to operate something as simple as a child seat. Sam. An emptiness spread throughout his whole chest. He wished she were here. She would know what to do.
Smoke poured in through the minivan’s shattered windows. He coughed as he tried to rip the child seat from its anchors. The infant’s cries turned into gasps and screams. He gave up and grabbed the baby, pulling at her through the straps. The child fought back, flailing her arms in confusion.
“I’m trying to save you!” The flames rumbling and crackling rose higher around them. He sobbed as he wrestled with the baby and the child seat. The walls of the van felt like they were collapsing around him as each second passed. He cried in pain as his back began to tingle. He spun around to find the fire inside the van. The fabric on the ceiling ignited. Still, he fought to free the tiny, helpless infant. The heat on his back was becoming too much. He could feel the skin on his back start to burn. The tight confines of the van were filled with the smell of oil, gasoline, and melting vinyl and foam.
Ted looked at his hands with anger, as if they were to blame for his inability to free the child. The glow of the fire shone across the inside of the van, illuminating the blood dripping from his hands. He wiped them dry to see how badly they were cut. He stopped for a split second when he noticed the scar on the palm of his right hand—from Frankie many years ago.
“No!” He shifted to the back cargo area and tried to pull the baby through the top of the straps. “Please, God, help me! Help me!”
Flames crawled across the ceiling of the van, hot red tentacles searching for something to embrace. Ted’s body shook wildly as he took one last deep breath. He knew this was his last chance. The bitter taste of burning lithium-ion coated his throat. The heat inside the van made it impossible to see clearly. His face was wet with sweat and streaming tears. With a single primal roar, Ted gave one last pull. He howled as the baby girl slid up and back into his arms.
“Thank you!” He held the girl tight against his chest and spun backward atop the bags and stroller in the back. He looked through the shattered rear window. Thankfully, the fire had not yet reached this part of the vehicle. The escape route was clear. The bottom edge of the window was covered in bits and pieces of blood-covered shards of glass. He shielded the baby from the heat and flames with his own body but there wasn’t room for both of them to go out of the vehicle at the same time. He was going to have to get out first and then grab the baby. Gently he put her down next to one of the bags in the back. The sharp glass shards lining the back broken window made it impossible for him to get himself and the baby out without getting cut. He was going to need to clear some of the shards first. Spotting a pile of reusable shopping bags near his knees, he grabbed two to cover his hands as he took hold of the shattered rear hatch.
The car was emitting sickening pops and groans and the roar of the fire had reached a deafening level, drowning out the screams of the baby. He carefully swung his right leg through the jagged opening, using the canvas bags to protect himself as best he could. The heat was unbearable. He closed his eyes and flung the rest of his body through the window. The bag covering his left hand snagged a piece of glass, slicing his hand open. He crashed to the ground, landing on his right shoulder. Exhaling a sigh of relief as he pulled himself up to his knees, he coughed several times to clear his lungs. “I’m coming, baby girl.”
The detonation of the Grand Caravan’s gas tank was instantaneous. The blast blew the back hatch off the van, slamming it into Ted, sending him and the rear door a dozen yards backward. The sound of the explosion echoed against the towering trees lining the roadway, their leaves aglow from the flames that raced into the sky.
Ted came crashing to the ground a few seconds later, landing in the embankment next to the guardrail. Dazed, it occurred to him slowly that he could not hear a thing, the world had gone silent. At first, he didn’t understand what had happened. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the stars dotting the night sky. He rolled his head sideways to see the Tesla and Dodge completely engulfed in flames. He realized in horror that there was no way the baby had survived the blast.
With all his strength, Ted willed himself to stand up. His knees and hips buckled as he struggled to balance himself. Even at this distance, the heat was intolerable. He took a few steps forward before falling to the ground. He sat upright on his knees and looked down at his torn denim jeans and blood-soaked shirt.
“What have I done?” he cried. “God help me, what have I done?”
40
Ted stared listlessly at his hands resting atop his legs. His head hung low, his back slumped. Oliver had been yelling at him for fifteen minutes straight. Ted knew before entering his boss’s office that his career with Where2 was over, and he’d mentally tuned out of the berating he was receiving. His left hand was bandaged. The lacerations across his body from the accident were somewhat severe, requiring stitches in both legs as well as his left palm. His left thigh and hip were heavily bruised.
“Are you even listening?” Oliver asked. “Look at me.”
“I hear you,” Ted said as he slowly raised his eyes. “Can we just cut to the chase?”
“Chase? That’s an interesting choice. Tell me, Ted, were you busy chasing those Teslas before the accident?”
“The question’s been asked and answered. Repeatedly. All I’ve done since coming back to work is answer everyone’s questions. Are we done?”
“We are. Senior management held an emergency meeting last night. The vote was unanimous.”
“I’m fired.” Ted let out a long, slow sigh. Aside from his physical wounds, he felt emotionally shattered. But he was surprised, now that the moment was here, that he actually felt relief. Everywhere he went at Where2, he felt judgment. The eyes. The whispers. He wanted it all to end. “I thought you would have at least waited for a full review of the data before firing me.”
“Your guilt or innocence is irrelevant. We can’t risk the exposure, Ted.”
“Oliver, I told you. There was nowhere to turn.”
“This isn’t just about the accident, Ted.” Oliver shook his head as he began rifling through a pile of papers on his deck. He paused to inspect a stapled collection before passing it to Ted. “We’ve been contacted by GSI. They’re claiming patent infringement and theft of intellectual property. Your lidar controls are being challenged.”
“What?” Ted’s heart sank as he scanned through the pages. He didn’t waste the time reading any of the details. He thought back to the fight he’d had with Sam six months ago. Her discovery about the stolen data had never surfaced again. He was shocked to see it now spelled out in black and white. He tossed the papers onto Oliver’s desk and returned his gaze to his injured hand. “Everything I brought to Where2 was mine.”
“The lawyers will have to decide that. Look, Ted, you’re a great engineer. There�
�s no way we would’ve gotten as far as we have without you. But, at the end of the day, you’re a liability. We need to cut the cord.”
Ted ran his fingers gently across his bandaged left hand. The stitches still ached, the wound throbbing in sync with the beat of his heart. He flipped his hand over and rubbed his injured palm against his thigh, accidentally brushing against another set of stitches on his leg. He looked up and asked, “What about the project?”
“I’m putting Nico in charge. The partnership with Volkswagen is on thin ice, but I’m confident we can keep them. The future and vision are still there, Ted. Just not with your involvement.”
Oliver stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. Ted pushed his chair back and struggled to stand up, his left leg wobbling in protest. He turned and slowly walked to the closed door, slightly dragging his foot. He had no interest in shaking Oliver’s hand. Instead, Ted stopped at the door, and without looking back, said, “I never thought anyone would get killed. I’m so sorry.”
“You better pray they don’t find you personally at fault. If I were you, I’d lawyer up. Good luck.”
Ted turned the polished nickel door handle, took a deep breath, and entered the hallway. His office was one floor down from Oliver’s. In spite of his injury, he decided to take the stairs hoping to avoid seeing anyone else. Once inside the stairwell, he fell back against the steel door in a sob. Five days ago, he had been heading out on what should have been the final test of his autonomy system. People died. An infant. Right in front of him. He had no job, his wife had filed for divorce, and he was facing at least one potential lawsuit.
How did I get here? he wondered. His ears echoed with the cries of the baby girl trapped in the minivan. He could not get her screams out of his mind. I tried. I really tried.
Using his forearm to wipe his face dry as he fought to calm himself down, he descended the stairs and opened the door to the hallway. Lori, Nico, and Harry were all standing outside his office door waiting for him.