Warhol's Prophecy

74

ALL HE HEARD was an incredible cacophony of sound.

The blaring of the lorry’s horn.

The squealing of tyres on wet tarmac.

The ever-present rumbling of the thunder.

It fused together to create one unholy eruption of noise that filled his head and drummed in his ears.

‘No!’ shouted Rob and wrenched the wheel to one side, desperate to get out of the lorry’s path.

But the other driver saw his predicament and slammed back into him, keeping him pinned in the right-hand lane. Keeping him in the path of the oncoming lorry.

Ploughing through the rain, the juggernaut hurtled down the road, sending up geysers of spray all around it. Its driver was gesturing wildly with one hand, trying to wave Rob out of his path.

Rob stared at the lorry. There were less than fifty yards between them.

He tried to draw back, to slip behind the other car, to get back across onto the correct side of the road.

But the other car dropped back too, shunting him again into the path of the oncoming juggernaut.

Forty yards now.

Rob wrenched the steering wheel to one side, and slammed again into his aggressor, but the car held firm and its driver sent it careening back into the Audi.

Thirty yards . . .

There was no way past.

Still stuck in the way of the speeding juggernaut, Rob glanced down at his speedo.

Forty miles an hour.

That was too fast. He would never avoid the lorry.

Twenty yards . . .

The distance between them was closing too fast. But the other car wouldn’t allow him to pull over. Wouldn’t allow him to get out of the way.

Fifteen yards . . .

One chance?

Rob drove his foot down hard on the accelerator, and the Audi roared straight towards the lorry, as if intent on ramming the massive vehicle.

The needle now touched fifty-five.

And, all the time, the juggernaut came nearer.

Ten yards . . .

Rob pressed down harder.

Sixty-five.

The lights almost blinded him.

He could now hear the roar of the lorry’s engine.

Seventy miles an hour.

The Audi sped past the car on the left, still screaming its way towards the lorry.

Five yards.

He spun the wheel suddenly.

There was barely enough space for the Audi to slip through. As he worked the wheel madly, Rob felt a tremendous crash shake the entire vehicle. He realized that the lorry had clipped his offside rear wing.

But he was through!

Again the Audi skidded on the wet road. He desperately fought to regain control, turning into the skid, and aware that there was now a thick hedge running alongside the road.

Aware that he was spinning straight towards it.

The pursuing car rammed him with incredible force.

As the Audi left the road, Rob gripped the steering wheel with one hand. The other he raised to protect his face.

As if fired from a catapult, the Audi hurtled off the tarmac and exploded through the hedge, carving its way effortlessly through the bracken and overgrown hawthorn.

Rob grunted as he felt a thud, his sternum connected hard with the steering column, and his seat-belt jerked him back, fresh pain shooting across his shoulders.

But the car had stopped.

‘Shit,’ he hissed, unbuckling his seat-belt.

He sat behind the wheel, heart hammering against his ribs, his breath coming in gasps.

Apart from his shoulders and his chest, there was no pain.

Even the Audi’s engine was still running.

He thought about switching it off, then turned in his seat to look back towards the road – through the gaping rent that the Audi had carved in the hedge.

The road seemed deserted.

The lorry was gone; so was the other car.

The only light came from flashes of lightning.

Rob stuck the Audi in reverse and manoeuvred back onto the roadside, but he remained inside the car, looking anxiously up and down the thoroughfare. As if expecting the mystery car to return at any minute.

The road remained empty.

Rob leant forward, resting his head on the wheel, his eyes closed tightly.

‘Jesus,’ he whispered breathlessly.

He had to get home.

Had to tell Hailey about the fucking maniac who’d tried to kill him.

Had to phone the police. Tell them someone had tried to murder him.

He tried his mobile once. NO SIGNAL.

Rob stuck the Audi in DRIVE and pulled away, gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.

The storm continued to rage.