Bryce Walton

“ He twisted, not thinking at all, and felt his fist sink into the kid's stomach. The kid fell, curled up among the empty oil cans. He writhed and moaned and held his stomach.
"Get up," Stan yelled into the man's face. "Get up—"
The man came up all at once, and his weight hurled Stan clear across the room. He felt the gum machine shatter under him, and the metal grinding into his side as he rolled. Stan felt the grease-gun in his hand as he saw the man lifting the tire tool, and then Stan swung the grease gun into the face, seeing the terrible grin, the blood-stained white smile. ”

“ Head on down the super ten-lane Freeway into the second Middle Ages lit with neon.
Then he was running, yelling at Anna. She was past the shack and stumbling through sand toward the mountains. He coaxed her back and into the car, sickness gorging his throat as she kicked and screamed at him and he forced her into the corner of the back seat.
"Stan, we could run to the mountains."
"The Law wouldn't let us get very far. Remember, the Special's remotely controlled. If we leave the Freeway, they'd be on us in no time. They know when we stop, where we stop. They know if we leave the Freeway!" ”

“ Bergmann said. "All of us, some more than others. You can't blame people for being afraid, suspicious of us. We did unleash the potentialities for total destruction without ever thinking about the social implications or ever bothering to wonder about how our contributions would be used and controlled. ”

“ Anna asked.
Bergmann chuckled. "Arch has turned into a regular man of a thousand faces. He works along the Freeways and watches for those who are at the breaking point and can't stay on the road any longer. Some of those condemned to the Freeways are criminals, others are fools or misguided zealots; and we've got to be careful not to wise those birds up by mistake. Arch has an unerring instinct, and sending our people to us is his job." ”

“ There always had to be whipping boys. In one form or another, he knew, it had happened many times before. Another time of change and danger. There was a quicksand of fear under men's reasoning.
When things were better, they hadn't remained better. ”

“ He smiled again. "It's healthier up here."
He walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. The motor was still running. Stan realized then what Bergmann was doing, and for some reason without definition he started to protest. Bergmann was setting the automatic clutch and releasing the brake. The Special started moving up the road, but there was no one inside to turn the wheel when it reached the hairpin turn about fifty feet ahead.
Stan watched the car gaining speed, its left door swinging like the door in a vacant house. ”

“ Easy, easy does it. In the rear-view mirror he could see that what the Patrolman said had brought a flush of life to her face. She was rigid now, and then suddenly she screamed. "Stan! For God's sake, Stan, don't take any more from the simian!"
"Let's go," the young Lieutenant said quickly. "We've got the report and we'll forward it. There's no call to bait them."
"Shut up," the beefy one said.
"Don't tell me to shut up," the Lieutenant said. He put his notebook away. "This man's never committed any crime. That's why he's on the road. ”

“ A man, lean and healthy for his age—which must have been at least sixty, Stan thought—stepped from behind a rock, and came toward the Special. He was smiling and he extended his hand.
"Doctor and Mrs. Morrison," he said. Anna was already out of the car, shaking his hand. Stan got out. He took a second look, then whispered: "Doctor Bergmann!" ”

“ But hurry out of here before Hal or his kid start phoning."
"But being on the Freeway," Stan said, "they'll catch up with us! What's the use—"
"Stan!" Anna said sharply. "Can't you see? We're getting away!"
"I don't want to run away from it," Stan said.
"You're not running away from anything," the old man said. "You'll find out. Follow my directions and you'll find out. You're not running away. You can get out of the flood water for a while, sit on the bank, until the water drops and clears a little."
Stan looked into the old man's face a long moment. "Who the hell are you anyway?" ”

“ Stan asked. "I've gone along this far. I've had no choice. But now what's it all about?"
"Didn't the old man tell you?"
"No."
"Just remember, Morrison. We're not running away. This is an old Mormon trail. A lot of the old pioneers took it. That marker says that the Williams-Conner Party camped here and was massacred by Indians in 1867. There's an old Indian city at about three thousand feet. I guess we're the first ones to use it for maybe a thousand years. We've got an archeologist up there—Michael Hilliard—who's been going slightly crazy. ”

“ Waiting and studying. Someday they'll need us again. And we'll be ready."
"But who was the old man?" Anna asked.
Bergmann laughed. "Only the greatest physicist of the age. Remember Arch Hoffenstein?"
Stan put his arm over Anna's shoulders and they walked on, and up. He had almost forgotten. But now he never would. Somewhere, Arch Hoffenstein was hitch-hiking along the Freeway with the ghost of Galileo. ”