Despite what the outside of the beetle looked like, the inside was, well it wasn’t great, but it was better than I expected. What I had extended to find was the car gutted out and empty with holes in the floor and roof. But surprisingly, everything was in there, even if the faux leather on the seats had been peeled away in large strips. The floors were also intact, but the mats were muddy and looked like they should’ve been replaced years ago. The only thing that didn’t look outdated was the dashboard and console. They didn’t look brand new, but the matte black finish was solid, if not a little dusty.
It wasn’t until I had gotten into the car that I realized it was missing two things. The first were seatbelts. The second was car keys. I thought maybe the car had one of those buttons that started the car, but no, it was the standard ignition. In a panic I checked the back seat, the glove compartment, the pockets in the doors and underneath the front seats, which I regretted immediately when my hand came back dusty and wet. Finally, I remembered something I had seen in movies. I flipped down the sun visor and sure enough a key fell into my lap.
As I turned the key there was a whine from the engine, and I was worried that it wouldn’t turn over, but after a couple seconds the engine started and I let out a relieved breath. The dashboard lit up and the menu appeared on the console screen. The highlighted cursor was already on Diagnostics. I selected the option and a myriad of meters appeared ranging from the normal things such as the speedometer and fuel gauge to a wire frame representation of the beetle with percentages placed on the sides and front as well each tire. Thanks to some of the video games I played I realized that this must’ve been my car's health meter.
I backed out of that menu and selected Navigation next. A compass and a GPS came up. The compass was pointed southwest. The GPS map only showed me with a small faded circle around it and a blinking diamond at the top. Again, with my prior game knowledge, I figured that this was the one of those kinds of maps where you could only reveal what was around you by traveling.
“Mr. Walker.” Tooty’s sudden voice made me jump. “The door will be opening in thirty seconds. When it opens any monsters or mobs nearby will be able to enter the facility.”
“I thought the garages were safe,” I said, staring at the radio. I assumed that’s where the voice came from.
“Garage zones are safe, however this facility does not count as a standard zone. And remember once you leave, you will be unable to exit your car. If you do…”
“I’ll get erased, I get it already.” I gripped the steering wheel.
There was a pause before Tooty continued. “I’m glad you understand, but there is no need for rudeness Mr. Walker.”
The last few seconds felt like they took an eternity. While I didn’t know much about this place, the only thing I was sure of was that I had to get to that blinking diamond. If I knew video games, then it would probably be that first garage zone they were talking about earlier. But like with other games, they weren’t just going to let me get there without a fight and with no weapons there was no way I was going to be able to make a stand. Realizing that it might be best to have it on hand instead of trying to fumble for it like a person trying to text their friends, I selected the Loadout menu, which brought up several other options. I selected abilities and the cursor hovered on Nitro 1.
“Opening the door now.” Tooty said.
With a loud grinding the door slid open. The light from the outside did nothing to penetrate the darkness around me. It was as if the darkness was a wall. Outside I saw the same red lit sky from the bridge tutorial. There was no bridge this time however. It was a wide open area that stretched far. It was flat with no landmarks. Far into the horizon was a mountain range.
“Time to leave.”
“What happens if I don’t leave?” I asked Tooty.
“Then you will be returned to your world.”
“Really?”
Tooty laughed. “Of course not. Now get moving.”
I sighed and lightly pressed the gas pedal. The car moved slowly and exited the facility. When I was all the way out I checked my rearview mirror. The door closed and blended into a stone wall making it look like there wasn’t anything there before. The wall itself stretched on in both directions.
I drove forward and decided to keep the speed at an even 45 miles per hour. This is what I had practiced and it was the most comfortable for me. Of course my mother did have me practice with higher speeds on the highway, but I tended to get nervous if a driver got within a hundred yards behind me. More than once I had to pull over to the side to let the cars pass so I could continue unabated. That would only last for about five or so minutes before another car showed up.
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I glanced down at my map to make sure I was still going in the right direction, when I noticed something new on my map. Three red dots were clustered together and were moving on the edge. According to my map, they were to my left so I looked out my driver's side window. It didn’t take long for me to see them.
There were three short vehicles that looked like a combination of a dune buggy and a formula 1 race car headed in my direction with a cloud of dust blowing behind them. As they got closer the name indicator appeared above them.
Goblin Buggy: Enemy: Combat Danger:2
I pushed on the gas and the engine whined as it struggled to click into gear. When it finally responded the Goblin Buggys reached me and sped past behind me. All three of them then turned around and drove towards me. Each of them had roll cages on the top of the car which allowed me to see their wrinkly green skin and pointed ears. Close up I could also see that each of their cars had bones and ripped sheets of fabric waving off like flags.
“Tooty,” I called.
“Yes, Mr. Walker.”
“How far until my destination.”
“Your ETA is approximately two minutes and fifteen seconds.”
Two of the goblins pulled up to the sides of my car and began to close in while the third one stayed back a few yards.
“I meant distance.” I said pressing the pedal farther down.
“I’m sorry, but if you want more specialized information, you need to purchase them at a garage.”
I cursed, something my mother would’ve punished me for. Even at sixteen she still made me eat a bar of soap for even thinking of the f word.
I tried to gain more speed, but the car seemed to top out at seventy five, which really wasn’t that fast, especially since the goblins seemed to have no trouble keeping up with me. The one on the right jerked their wheel and slammed into my car. The force pushed me into the other one who also slammed into me. The sudden change of direction almost made me spin out but I was able to keep my hands on the steering wheel and keep the beetle somewhat straight.
Both goblins cackled with laughter and came at me again. I slammed my foot on the break. The goblins barely missed and hit each other instead. The one behind me fell out of position to avoid rear ending me. Unfortunately, none of this made them crash. With a surprising amount of grace the two goblins that were now ahead of me managed to unstick themselves and turn wide to meet their partner and begin following me again as I tried to pick up speed.
They did not move to overtake me again. Instead they spread out in an inverted V. From their hoods, small mounted machine guns sprouted up and fired. I let go of the steering wheel and ducked down just as a chorus of pings hit my car. When it stopped and sat up and grabbed the wheel to straighten the car, thankful that it had only veered slightly off course. I looked in my rear view mirror. The bullets had only managed to crack the back window.
“Are the windows bullet proof?” I asked, taking in a deep breath.
“No,” Tooty said. “Each part of your vehicle has its own damage rating. When that rating reaches zero, then it breaks and must be repaired by a mechanic at a garage zone, or a roadside assistance kit.”
“So what is my windows current damage rating?”
“At this time, that information can only be accessed from the Diagnostics menu. An upgrade must be purchased for me to be able to tell you.”
“Oh yeah?” I said sarcastically, “and can I buy a different voice for you as well.”
There was a pause before Tooty responded, “Yes.”
Another quick round of gunfire pelted the car, cracking the window even more. It thankfully held, but the spider webs that had formed in the cracks made it almost impossible to see through.
“I guess they have to reload after each burst,” I mused out loud.
“Correct,” Tooty said. “Because the size of the gun on the Goblin Buggy is relatively small, they must replenish ammunition more frequently.”
“Wait, you can give me information about the enemy?” I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I asked.
Tooty laughed. “Of course not. That’s not how it works. You need to figure things out on your own, which makes it more rewarding when you do. All I can do is confirm if the information is correct.”
“This is insane.” I slammed my fist on the steering wheel.
“Yes it is. But this is what you agreed to Mr. Walker. “
“Just tell me how long until I reach the garage.”
“Approximately 43 seconds.
Since I could only guess when the next round of fire would hit, I said screw it and finally selected the Nitro. The words Nitro 1 appeared on the windshield along with a three second countdown. As soon as it reached zero, several things happened. The first was that the force of the car launching itself forward pushed me deep into my seat making me feel like an astronaut going through centrifuge training. We moved so fast that everything outside of the car became a blur.
The second thing that happened was that the back window had shattered and glass rained inside the car. Bullets flew into the now open hole and tore through the headrests and embedded themselves into the windshield. One of the bullets whipped through my loose hair strands, missing my skull by millimeters.
It wasn’t until the Ntro wore off and the rear of the car tilted that I realized that the goblins had also managed to shoot out my back left tire. My first instinct was to slam on the brakes, but somewhere in my rattled brain I remembered that doing that would make the brakes lock up and it could cause a wreck. So instead I kept my foot on the gas and pushed down hard.
“Mr. Walker,” Tooty said. “I have some good and bad news. The good news is that you’ve managed to reduce your ETA from 43 seconds to 4. The bad new is,” I saw it before she said it, “that at your trajectory, you are going to crash into the garage zone door before it can fully open to you.”
And that is exactly what happened.