Chapter 1

	Alex walked out of the Casey's with two slushies, one in each
hand. The sun was low in the sky, and cast a golden hue to the darkening
landscape. The tall shape of Alex's van made an elongated shadow that
stretched off to the east, almost swallowing the station wagon parked
beside it. Squinting in the sunlight, he walked over to the
vehicles and handed a slushie to a young woman leaning up against an
Oldsmobile Cutlass wagon.
	"Strawberry," Alex said and began slurping as he leaned
back on his Astro. "So, what do you think?"
	"I dunno. This is just too weird," Nariko said. "Guns? On the
Shaggin' Wagon? My brother wouldn't do that. It doesn't make any sense."
	"Ok," Alex paused for effect, "but you know what makes even less
sense? The way people have been mysteriously dissapearing around here.
You turn your back on a guy for a minute and he's gone without a trace.
Your brother and me were trying to get to the bottom of it. Looks like
he got in a little too deep." Alex slurped on his slushie and considered
the effect of his last comment. "Sorry. I guess I don't need to remind
you about what happened."
	Nariko stayed silent as she slurped, thinking about the past few
days. Her brother had been gone for seven months. When he left, he only
described it as "important," and she'd been wondering where he was ever
since. Now that she knew the truth, she almost wished she didn't. "So
you're saying there's a bunch of people out there with guns on their
cars fighting each other?"
	"Fighting to hide something, looks like. Something big is going
down, and they don't want anybody to know about it."
	Nariko leaned back against the Shaggin' Wagon. "I just can't
do this. I've never killed anybody. It's just not right. There has to be
a better way."
	"There's not. Look, he told me to find you. He left you the
wagon. He said you could hack it."
	The fading sunlight lent golden highlights to Nariko's jet-black
hair as it cascaded down her back. The sun also flecked her dark brown
eyes with glowing embers as they looked toward the sky. It was growing
darker and colder by the moment.
	"Fine, whatever." Nariko got in her wagon. A second later the
engine roared to life and she peeled out of the parking lot and onto the
road. Alex quickly got in his van and followed her.

	"That's more like it," Alex said over the CB.
	"I have to do something," Nariko replied.
	"Cool," Alex said and passed her. "Now follow me. I've got a
place where you can cut your teeth without getting hurt." After a few
minutes they arrived at what looked like the world's largest sandbox.
	"This place used to be a gravel yard where you could get all
types of rock, sand, even small boulders. It's been abandoned, so I use
it to keep my skills sharp." Alex gunned it and made a dusty donut in the
gravel to accentuate his point. "There's a few piles set up for jumping,
and a kind of obstacle course is laid out around the perimeter. First
off we'll practice a few basics. Try doing a 180. Get up to speed, and
then turn the wheel sharply while jamming the brakes."
	"You want me to do what?"
	"If you don't want to die in your car, you're going to learn to
fight in your car, and in order to fight in your car, first you've got
to learn how to drive your car. You've got to unlearn all the stuff they
taught you in driver's ed, or you'll find yourself staring down a rocket
while checking your blind spot. The car is an extension of you. You'll
learn to use it as though it were your own legs."
	"OK, now explain that 180 to me again?"
	Alex sighed. "Ok, first, get some speed. You can't do anything
if you're not moving, so never stop moving. Second, turn the wheel fast,
and slam on the brakes. The turning will create angular momentum in your
car, and locking your brakes reduces your traction so you'll keep
spinning."
	"Angular what?"
	"Momentum... It's not important that you understand that part,
just do it like I said."
	"OK, here goes nothing," she said and accelerated away, kicking
up a few rocks along with a cloud of dust. After accelerating, the wagon
lurched sideways, began to skid, and whipped around. Alex cringed as the
car spun too far and slid sideways before coming to a dusty stop.
	"Jeez, you all right in there?" she heard over the CB.
	Struggling to regain her bearings, Nariko reached for the CB
mic. "Yeah. It's a little harder than it sounds," she replied.
	"It's alright, you're just beginning. Try it again, and take it
a bit easier this time." Night soon fell on the makeshift training
ground, and for the next few hours, Alex taught Nariko the ins and outs
of combat driving, targeting, and weapon systems. She was a quick study,
and as her brother had predicted, she didn't dissapoint him. It was time
for the obstacle course.
	The obstacle course consisted of a short straightaway to build
up speed, followed by some mounds to slalom around, and a sharp
right-handed hairpin curve at the end of that. After this was a patch of
rough, lumpy gravel ending in a 90 degree right hand turn. A large
sweeping left turn followed, with various targets to shoot at along the
way. Finally, there were several small piles to go (or jump, if you were
going fast enough) over, leading to a final jump for maximum air. The
par time was 45 seconds.
	Twin beams illuminated the starting line of the course.
Nariko's Oldsmobile was lined up at the start, and she was awaiting
Alex's starting signal. She looked over to see Alex sitting on top of
his van with a stopwatch and a flashlight. It had been a long day. For a
long moment she wondered about her decision to follow her brother into
something that might mean her life as well. Still, if it's something he
believed in, she had to try.
	Alex's flashlight blinked twice to signal the start of the time
trial. She gunned it, kicking up rocks and a tail-light colored cloud of
dust.
	Picking up speed, she easily herded the wagon through the
slalom. Using sideways momentum gained from rounding the last mound, she
braked hard, causing the back end to swing out, pointing her towards the
exit of the hairpin. Small mounds and ruts in the uneven gravel made the
soft suspension of the family hauler heave and pitch, but Nariko managed
to keep the car moving relatively straight, until a bump bounced the car
sideways. Out of the rough stuff, she straightened the car and took it
smoothly around the right hand turn.
	"Now for the hard part," she thought, as she reached forward to
the dash and flipped off the weapons safety switch. A red light lit up
in the dash, indicating that with a gentle pressure on the trigger
paddle, she could now release a very unforgiving hail of 7.62mm rifle
bullets at whatever was unlucky enough to be in front of her car at the
time. The first target approached the crosshairs, and she squeezed the
trigger. She first target escaped unscathed, but the other four
succumbed to her leaden storm. With one quick motion she flipped the
safety switch off, and the red light died. Just ahead of her were the
gravel ramps. It was time to fly.
	She took the first one cautiously, more by instinct than by
conscious thought. Noting that she didn't bottom out when coming down
from the first mound, she gave the next hill a little more speed. The
car came down in perfect rhythm, then bounded over the next pile. At the
final jump, Nariko floored it. The wagon's suspension bounded, then
rebounded, tossing the car into the air.
	"Whoa." Alex sat slack-jawed on the rusted roof of his Astro.
It just wan't natural to see a family vehicle fly through the air like
that. In a perverse way, it was something beautiful. Or it was, until
the beast came down heavily on the front wheels in a screech or tortured
metal. Alex nearly forgot to hit the stop/start button on his stopwatch
as the cruiser stumbled across the finish line. He leaped down into his
van and called over the CB radio.
	"Jesus! You brought that thing down hard! I hope nothing's broken."
	Nariko didn't move for three or four seconds, as she tried to
release her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. With one shaky
hand, she shifted the car into park, and grabbed the CB mic.
	"I'm fine," she said. /Not entirely true,/ she thought. The
landing was pretty rough.
	"I meant the car."
	Her fear melted as she scowled at Alex through her dust-covered
window. He caught her deadly visage and shuddered inwardly. /If looks
could kill,/ he thought.
	"I'm glad you're OK, too," he added, struggling not to make it
sound like the afterthought that it was. Thinking quickly, he changed the
subject. "You hungry?"
	"Ooooh, yeah. I'm starving."
	"Cool, follow me."

	Fifteen minutes later Alex pulled into the drive-through of
a mostly vacant Arby's. "Go park while I get our food, OK?" Alex called
over the CB.
	"Why can't we just go inside?" Nariko was tired of sitting and
driving.
	"It's quicker this way. I don't want to sit around and advertise
our presence." Nariko was confused for a moment, but then remembered
that the car she was driving had been, well, /modified/. It was best not
to sit in a populated area when you've got 854 rounds of Soviet-made
rifle ammo sitting in your car. "What do you want?" Alex asked.
	"I don't care. Something good."
	"Roger." Three minutes later Alex rolled around to the exit.
"Let's go."
	They drove for another fifteen minutes to a place that might
have been a close cousin to the Middle of Nowhere. Alex pulled off into
a small clearing in the side of the road. Nariko parked next to him,
and got out. Alex exited his van, carrying a bag full of what, to her,
smelled like a feast. Alex turned the whole thing upside down on the
hood of Nariko's Oldsmobile.
	"Why Arby's?" Nariko asked while grabbing a random sandwich
and a bag of curly fries.
	"I like their roast beef, of course. That, and it's on the edge
of town."
	Nariko was already tearing into a Roast Beef & Swiss. "What
about drinks?"
	"Oh, yeah." Alex walked back over to the van, and opened the
rear door. He pulled out a box full of various drinks in aluminum cans
and set it down on the Cutlass's hood along with the sandwiches.
	"Is this also part of your plan to stay out of sight?" Alex
picked up a Roast Beef and unwrapped it. He took off the top bun and
began emptying a packet of Horsey Sauce on it as he explained.
	"No. Fast food sodas are a rip. You pay like a buck and a half
for a paper cup, some soda, and a lot of ice. Cans in a 24 pack are
about a quarter a piece." As if to accentuate the point, he slapped the
top bun back on his sandwich and took a huge bite.
	"Oh."
	Alex climbed onto the hood and leaned back against the
windshield, relishing the taste of processed roasted cow. A moment
later, Nariko followed suit, settling in on the other side of the sea of
fries and condiment packets.
	"I'm sorry you had to get tangled up in all this."
	Nariko continued eating her sandwich, unsure of how to
respond. /It's his fault I'm here, isn't it? No... This was started by
my brother. And I have to finish it,/ she thought. She pulled a soda pop
out of the box and opened it. "It's too late for apologies. I have to
set things right."
	"So, you're OK with the killing?"
	"I didn't say that."
	The two ate in silence as a slow, thick breeze filtered through
the treetops, filling the air with the sound of rustling leaves. The sky
was cloudless, and the stars shone brightly. A slice of silver moon
peeked between shifting branches, and an owl hooted in the distance.
Alex finished his sandwich and picked up a box of fries and another
packet of Horsey Sauce. He squirted the packet out onto his empty
sandwich wrapper and ate his fries, giving each a bath in the sauce
before popping it into his mouth.
	"Do you put that stuff on everything?" Nariko asked as Alex
dredged another fried potato stick through the spicy mayo.
	"Yeah, sure. Horsey Sauce is the universal condiment. Not only
is it good on cold and hot sandwiches, it's great on fried food, baked
potatoes, hot dogs, salad, and scrambled eggs."
	"Scrambled eggs?" Nariko stared incredulously at Alex.
	"Oh, yeah. With some tabasco sauce. It's the best."
	"That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard."
	"Really? You don't get out much." Alex smiled as he finished the
last of his fries, then leaped down off of the hood. He began throwing
the excess condiment packets into the box full of sodas.
	"It's late. Better get some sleep. There's a guy I've got to
ask a few questions tomorrow. I want to get him early while he's still
bleary-eyed and confused."
	"Questions?" Nariko's eyes shot him a querolous look.
	"The guy's a junkyard weasel. I've heard he supplies most of the
local car gangs with their guns 'n' ammo."
	"Oh."
	"Well, g'night." Alex took the box and threw it in the back of
his van, then climbed inside. Nariko heard the door slam shut. Staring
up at the stars, she pondered.
	"What have I gotten myself into?"