Chapter 17: Taking Turns

  “Should we rehearse my plan to take out Eve one more time?” Abeona asked Wheeler.

  “Your plan? I helped come up with it!” he complained in disbelief.

  Abeona’s charm stretched its limbs as it hung from Wheeler’s rear view mirror. “So does that mean I can blame you if anything goes wrong?” she chuckled.

  The ground throughout the abandoned building site was strewn with tire tracks from where Wheeler had been practicing. Since he had nowhere else to go, he’d simply stayed at their meeting point.

  He had whiled away the hours getting used to his truck body. A lot of the basics had come surprisingly naturally to him, but in this relatively clear plot of land, he had the opportunity to really cut loose and experiment with his capabilities. All there was to get in his way was a random assortment of old building materials and other miscellaneous junk that had been left to rot.

  He’d even discovered a few new uses for his special abilities, or “truck tricks” as Abeona had named them.

  The night had already settled in, once more Wheeler and Eve’s improvised arena was enveloped in an ominous darkness, illuminated solely by Wheeler’s headlights.

  Wheeler checked his dashboards clock. “Eleven-Fifty Five, you think she’ll show up again?”

  As her figure crossed its arms impatiently, “You just make sure you keep your mind on the job.” Abeona insisted. “Remember, this isn’t date night big guy. You’re here to hit her, not hit ON her.”

  Wheeler’s wipers twitched. “You make it sound like I was flirting with her. I’m pretty sure attempting vehicular homicide doesn’t count as flirting.”

  “That’s true...” the goddess admitted. “Although with how much she was enjoying it, I’d say Eve is a girl who enjoys flirting with death.” She quipped. “Just make sure to stop holding back, Smash her like a bug on your windshield.”

  Wheeler noticed Abeona seemed even more temperamental than usual. “You’re a little bloodthirsty tonight.” He commented.

  “Yeah well, the longer you go without increasing our transportation numbers, the more danger Project Isekai is in.” Abeona explained. “I just want to get the ball rolling. It’s been about three weeks and we haven’t even added a single soul to the tally.”

  Before Wheeler could respond, he was interrupted by a figure entering the abandoned construction site. It was Eve.

  “Hey mystery truck guy, ready for round two?” Eve called out.

  As she stepped into the centre of the site, Eve was met with something she was not expecting. The young woman stood her ground as instead of just one truck, a small army of trucks stared her down. Their collective headlights blazed like a bonfire. Although the rev of their engines sounded somewhat muted.

  Without hesitation the trucks all simultaneously sped towards her, Eve shouted “Oh you lot wanna play dirty and gang up on me huh? Well bring it on!”

  As the trucks approached, Eve’s bravado began to melt away, she was cornered. There simply wasn’t enough space in the site for her to avoid them all. She sensed the earth beneath her feet tremble as the tsunami of trucks drew ever closer.

  Eve couldn’t put her finger on it, but as all the trucks sped towards her, something felt off, it all seemed somewhat unreal.

  The sound of the trucks were too silent, the vibration of the ground as they approached too mild. It was a risk, but if her hunch was right...

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  She made a quick decision, betting everything on this gut instinct that was now guiding her actions.

  Stepping calmly to one side, out of the central truck’s path, Eve closed her eyes and braced for impact, hoping her intuition was correct. She uttered what could have been her last words as a jolt of doubt flashed in her minds “If I’m wrong... I’m sorry... Lily.”

  Instead of the merciless crunch of steel, Eve felt a cool pleasant breeze rush past her left side. She opened her eyes to see a single truck rushing past her, the rest having vanished like phantoms .

  “They WERE Illusions, I knew it!” Eve wiped the sweat from her brow and grinned. She then turned and saw the truck stopped behind her. She could sense an aura of fury radiating from it. She could even picture the driver in her mind. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles whitening as he seethed with rage.

  “I’m not sure how you pulled off those illusions, but I saw right through them. Ya gotta try better than that!” she cupped her hands to her mouth and bellowed in triumph.

  While the truck didn’t actually have a driver, the truck itself, Wheeler was indeed seething. Not necessary from missing Eve, but from Abeona’s chastising him. “Looks like your plan was a complete failure.” The goddess shot.

  "Oh now it was my plan suddenly?” Wheeler fired back. “Before you said it was your plan.”

  “Hey what are ya waiting for?” Eve had unknowingly interrupted their conversation. “C’mon try again, betcha can’t get me, betcha can’t get me.” Eve was dancing mockingly while chanting taunts.

  “Plan B?” Wheeler asked Abeona

  “Plan B!” Abeona confirmed. “Phase one, active your miniature mode.”

  From Eve’s perspective, the truck simply vanished into thin air. “Hey where’d you go!?” she exclaimed

  In reality Wheeler had simply shrunken down to toy size. He stealthy began to navigate the junk strewn terrain. The various pipes, blocks and barrels now appeared mountainous, as he got into position to enact plan B.

  “Is this another illusion?” Eve’s breath was visible in the cold night air as she peppered the currently out of sight truck with questions. “Are you some sort of trucker magician? Do you do birthday parties.”

  Eve’s queries were met with nothing but silence. The dodging daredevil was left scratching her head. “Where are you?” she demanded.

  Put of the corner of her eye, Eve spotted some movement. Instead of the truck however, she saw a young boy. Looking at him Eve estimated he was about seven to eight years old. He was running around, kicking a ball in a circle.

  Eve called out to the boy. “Hey kid, what are you doing out this late?”

  The boy simply ignored her, carrying on with his game.

  “It’s not safe for kids around here, where are you parents?” Eve asked, once more the boy gave her no response.

  A cold chill ran down Eve’s spine as she heard the sound of the truck’s engine revving. She looked up to see it had somehow snuck around to the other end of the construction site without her noticing.

  “How the hell?” Eve began to wonder until she was distracted from her train of thought as the truck began barrelling towards it’s target. But this time the target wasn’t Eve, it was the boy.

  “HEY KID GET OUT THE WAY!” Eve screamed in an attempt to warn the boy. The child however was somehow oblivious to the oncoming danger, still playing with his ball as the truck raced towards him.

  Gesturing wildly, Eve tried in vain to get the boy’s attention. There was only one thing for it. Eve sprinted towards him at full speed. She was closer, she just hoped she could get to him before the truck.

  Eve dived at the boy, mere inches before the truck reached him. She stretched out her arms, her muscles burning under the strain as she attempted to push him out of the truck’s path.

  Only for her to phase through the boy and go sailing directly into the path of the oncoming vehicle. It had been a trap, an illusion. It appeared that Eve had unwittingly thrown herself directly into death’s waiting embrace.

  Eve felt the truck’s solid metal grille press against the sole of her trainers. She pulled upon all of her strength to kick off the surface and allow momentum to carry her just barely out of range.

  She crashed onto the earthy ground of the construction site, watching as the trucks wheels narrowly squeaked past the top of her head. She laid in the mud, miraculously unharmed. Her breaths were ragged as she recovered from avoiding the closest of calls.

  The truck swung round to make another approach as Eve staggered unsteadily to her feet.

  “Looks like she’s on the ropes,” Abeona beamed. “Finish her off.”

  Wheeler was just about to resume his assault when...

  *BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP*

  Eve held up her palm in a ‘stop’ gesture. “Hold on.”

  She pulled out her phone and turned off the alarm. “That’s it for tonight.” The young woman then let out a big yawn and stretched. “I gotta go home and get some sleep.”

  Wheeler was too stunned to react as Eve ran up to the side of him and patted his fender. “You almost got me good that time.” Eve laughed. “Now that is exactly the level of challenge I was hoping for!”

  With a thanks and a wave goodbye, Eve was gone, leaving Wheeler to try and process exactly what had just happened.