Rising: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Read Free

the car.  She just knew what she liked.  She stepped into the middle of the near lane and mentally directed all the drivers for several miles to change into the far lanes.  All of them changed lanes simultaneously but miraculously there were no accidents.  The cars all sped up or slowed appropriately to facilitate the multi-car lane merge.  All the cars except for the candy-red SLK.  It actually sped up and raced straight for Leekasha.  She could sense the apprehension of the driver, an older gentleman with his wife sitting next to him.  Their hearts raced the closer they came to Leekasha, but still the driver’s foot put more pressure on the accelerator.  I could just let them keep coming, Leekasha thought.  It would be a spectacular way to go.  If it actually killed me, that is.  I assume it would, but hey, with what I’m capable of, who knows.
     
    She could feel the beads of sweat on the driver’s forehead.  She could hear his wife’s screams in his ears.  She could feel him struggle to move his foot from the gas to the brake, but she held it there for just a little longer.  It looks so pretty moving that fast.  That’s a really cool car.  The car passed the point of safe stopping distance for most average vehicles when Leekasha released control of the driver’s foot, but not his hands.  There’s no swerving out of the way, she thought.  That would be cheating.  Besides, you’d likely ruin my new car. 
     
    Unable to swerve out of the way, the driver slammed both feet onto the brake.  German engineering is a thing of beauty. Mercedes SLKs are not only gorgeous to look at, they also have German engineering up the wazoo which makes them incredibly functional.  Leekasha walked towards the car as it screeched to a halt.  Its front bumper stopped just inches away from her knees as she bent at the waist to look through the front windshield. 
    “Hi,” she said as she waved to the driver and his passenger.  “Oops,” she said.  “This is only a two-seater.  Where am I going to sit?”
    The driver and his wife were breathing heavily, in a state of shock.  They didn’t answer.
    “I’ll tell you guys what.  You two look like such a cute couple I’d hate to split you up. How about you two just get out, and we’ll switch cars.”
     
    They all stood by the side of the road, with the Mercedes parked in the middle of the road.  The couple huddled together a distance from Leekasha. Leekasha watched for a while, watching the other cars racing by until she found the one she wanted.  A nice safe Volvo SUV with a single young male driver at the wheel.  She had the driver pull into the other lane and stop right behind the Mercedes.
     
    “Perfect,” Leekasha said as she directed everyone to switch vehicles.  None of them said a word as they moved to their assigned vehicles.  They acted as if the whole thing was their idea.
    Leekasha smiled at her driver as they tore down the road, leaving the Volvo behind to merge in with the rest of the daily traffic.
     
    ***
     
    Eleven hours’ driving to Virginia Beach was not so bad when you had the right car and the right company.  Leekasha had both.  Conversation wasn’t much as there really wasn’t any the entire trip.  What’s the point of conversation when you can just rummage around in someone’s head.  It’s kind of nice to be able to skip past all the lies and false pretenses and find out what someone is really like.   I could have used this in a few of my past relationships, Leekasha thought. 
     
    Leekasha had her temporary chauffeur drive the car down the boardwalk and onto the beach.  No one gave them a second look, and the beach patrol never flinched as people scattered out of their way.  Leekasha leaned over and planted a kiss on the cheek of her driver, and said, “Just wait here for me and grab some shut-eye.  I’ll be back in a few hours for our return trip.”
     
    Leekasha proceeded to stroll down the beach.  It