the zoo."
"The ZOO? As in lions, and tigers, and bears?"
"Yes."
"Well what the bloody hell for?"
"When I saw that horse back there I figured whatever the hell happened didn't effect animals, just people. Well most people anyway."
" So?"
"So ... it'd be a dick move to just let all those animals starve to death in cages don't you think?"
" Fair enough." They walked in silence for a few moments, "I mean don't you think it's a bit of a waste of time is all?"
"You have something against animals, Finn?"
"No no no don't get your knickers in a wad, Leeeooo. It's just maybe our time would be better spent, you know, looking for other people, instead of playing zoo keeper." Leo didn't answer. The silence resumed. Finn started humming the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song, "Hey do you think they'll have cotton candy there?" Leo looked at Finn.
. . .
Evan slowed to a crawl as he edged his way past another accident. The GPS on his smart phone had taken him nearly all the way to Philadelphia on back roads that were mostly deserted but every now and again he came upon a road block. As he got further and further into Pennsylvania he kept checking the GPS to make sure it hadn't lost its heading. Something didn't feel right for some reason. He was headed North East and something internal, something straight up primal in him was telling him it was all wrong. But he kept going anyway and the GPS obliged him with directions for several hours.
"Stop." Came the voice of the GPS suddenly. Evan stared at it for a moment thinking his mind was playing tricks on him but he kept driving.
"Stop. Recalculating. Stop."
Now Evan slowed. It was unmistakable. His GPS was giving him commands it had never given before. "Stop" was not something GPS's were smart enough to know. "Stop" would require an awareness of real-time conditions relative to the immediate vicinity beyond normal traffic. "Stop" would require an awareness that the recipient of your instructions was also not heeding them.
"Okay then. What now?"
"Danger."
"Danger, what the hell do you mean danger." It was then that he saw it. Off in the distance in his peripheral vision was a dark shape in the woods. It moved back and forth through the trees spastically and then shot into the air on non-corporeal dark black wings before it disappeared swiftly in the direction he was headed.
"Recalculating."
"What... in the fuck... was that." he stared out the windshield into the sky searching for the object. It was just a speck but he watched as it launched east like a bird, or a plane or a super hero in blue tights before it was beyond his sub-standard vision.
"Continue North on US-1."
Evan just sat there a moment longer. Something was compelling him to head in the opposite direction. His fucking GPS was talking to him. And some thing was headed east ahead of him. Everything in his entire being told him to head west. He kept thinking of his Mother, he thought about the way things were just yesterday, he thought about Abbey Downs, although he wasn't quite sure why. He thought about the guy in Philly that had no idea that some thing was headed right for him. Some thing that was dangerous . Evan hit the gas of the highlander continuing North on US-1 towards Leo the tosser.
. . .
An empty SEPTA bus was dangling precariously from the Girard Avenue Bridge. Leo knew it must be empty. Just like the mini-van he'd seen floating down the Schuylkill River a mile or so before they got to the bridge. Still his heart jumped at the site of such things. In time he'd get used to it. In the end he might even wish he'd held onto that reaction. Should it ever be normal to be used to this? The Channel 6 Zoo balloon was still in the air as they approached the main entrance from 34th street. A mass of AMTRAK cars blocked the alternate path forcing them to trudge the rest of the way up I-76 before they could actually get
"The ZOO? As in lions, and tigers, and bears?"
"Yes."
"Well what the bloody hell for?"
"When I saw that horse back there I figured whatever the hell happened didn't effect animals, just people. Well most people anyway."
" So?"
"So ... it'd be a dick move to just let all those animals starve to death in cages don't you think?"
" Fair enough." They walked in silence for a few moments, "I mean don't you think it's a bit of a waste of time is all?"
"You have something against animals, Finn?"
"No no no don't get your knickers in a wad, Leeeooo. It's just maybe our time would be better spent, you know, looking for other people, instead of playing zoo keeper." Leo didn't answer. The silence resumed. Finn started humming the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song, "Hey do you think they'll have cotton candy there?" Leo looked at Finn.
. . .
Evan slowed to a crawl as he edged his way past another accident. The GPS on his smart phone had taken him nearly all the way to Philadelphia on back roads that were mostly deserted but every now and again he came upon a road block. As he got further and further into Pennsylvania he kept checking the GPS to make sure it hadn't lost its heading. Something didn't feel right for some reason. He was headed North East and something internal, something straight up primal in him was telling him it was all wrong. But he kept going anyway and the GPS obliged him with directions for several hours.
"Stop." Came the voice of the GPS suddenly. Evan stared at it for a moment thinking his mind was playing tricks on him but he kept driving.
"Stop. Recalculating. Stop."
Now Evan slowed. It was unmistakable. His GPS was giving him commands it had never given before. "Stop" was not something GPS's were smart enough to know. "Stop" would require an awareness of real-time conditions relative to the immediate vicinity beyond normal traffic. "Stop" would require an awareness that the recipient of your instructions was also not heeding them.
"Okay then. What now?"
"Danger."
"Danger, what the hell do you mean danger." It was then that he saw it. Off in the distance in his peripheral vision was a dark shape in the woods. It moved back and forth through the trees spastically and then shot into the air on non-corporeal dark black wings before it disappeared swiftly in the direction he was headed.
"Recalculating."
"What... in the fuck... was that." he stared out the windshield into the sky searching for the object. It was just a speck but he watched as it launched east like a bird, or a plane or a super hero in blue tights before it was beyond his sub-standard vision.
"Continue North on US-1."
Evan just sat there a moment longer. Something was compelling him to head in the opposite direction. His fucking GPS was talking to him. And some thing was headed east ahead of him. Everything in his entire being told him to head west. He kept thinking of his Mother, he thought about the way things were just yesterday, he thought about Abbey Downs, although he wasn't quite sure why. He thought about the guy in Philly that had no idea that some thing was headed right for him. Some thing that was dangerous . Evan hit the gas of the highlander continuing North on US-1 towards Leo the tosser.
. . .
An empty SEPTA bus was dangling precariously from the Girard Avenue Bridge. Leo knew it must be empty. Just like the mini-van he'd seen floating down the Schuylkill River a mile or so before they got to the bridge. Still his heart jumped at the site of such things. In time he'd get used to it. In the end he might even wish he'd held onto that reaction. Should it ever be normal to be used to this? The Channel 6 Zoo balloon was still in the air as they approached the main entrance from 34th street. A mass of AMTRAK cars blocked the alternate path forcing them to trudge the rest of the way up I-76 before they could actually get
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