Chapter 2

I heard the crash, metal scraping on metal. Tires were squealing on the pavement, and people screaming as the truck began rolling right over my little car. I smelled gas and oil and blood. I felt a series of terrible crunching jolts, then nothing at all.

* * * *

I just woke up. Sheesh, it’s hot here, almost like Arizona in July.It feels like a dry heat though, so it won’t bother me. It’s kind of dark and smoky smelling, you know?

Where am I? Where’s my car and the city and everything?

All I can see are jumbles like some kind of ruins and a brassy, red-gray sky overhead.

I start to look around, but it’s hard to see very much. I can hear some music in the distance, like a bad garage band practicing. A few distant voices, mostly like people are yelling or screaming. This is so not familiar.

Where am I?