He floored the accelerator and felt himself sink further into his seat.

At first the blip fell back, but proved to be temporary. Within thirty seconds the blip was once more overtaking him and this time at a faster clip. 

“There’s no way a minivan is that fast,” Jimmy said. 

He looked up to see what his rear camera was showing. Sure enough the silhouette of a mini-van broke through showing a white model. The windows were dark, save for the driver side one. 

“Enhance,” Jimmy said.

As the car cut through the fog it left a void behind in its wake. He knew from experience that the void would be filled in less than a minute. 

On his navigation system he spotted a blip. It was fast approaching from behind him. He looked up at his rear view mirror and saw nothing for a minute, but eventually the dark outline of a mini-van came into focus.

He was not about to be passed by a soccer mommy with a load of kids in the back seats. He grabbed onto the steering wheel and the car immediately switched to manual mode. He floored the accelerator and felt himself sink further into his seat.

His target changed course at the half-way mark and headed south. Eventually Jimmy ended up driving along a lonely stretch of road at twice the posted speed limit. I should have intercepted them by now.

He was surrounded by fog, not the white version he remembered when he grew up stretching out over the lake. This was thicker and more pervasive and had a colour reminiscent of rust. 

As a child there were sporadic reports of rusty fog, usually in some remote part of the world. Now it was everywhere, choking out the sun, and somehow was part of the reason why the global average temperature had jumped to twenty-two.

He was immediately assaulted by that new car smell, warm leather, and stale coffee. He was so hungry considered finishing the cup. I’m not that desperate… Yet. 

He tapped in a code into the central car interface and internal systems came alight. When he docked his phone, the target information was transferred to the car and he let the car plot the most efficient  intercept course that would permit him to shadow them. 

Without any time to grab something on the way he popped the glove compartment and pulled out a protein bar. At least that would hold him over in the interim.

“Get to it,” he said dismissively. 

She pushed out a burst of air in a huff and was once again walking. This time her hips were swaying from side to side noticeably. Is she teasing me?

“Talk about the wrong guy,” Jimmy whispered. 

He unlocked his phone, and looked up at the restaurant to find that both of the women were gone. Fuck me.

“I wonder if she’s wearing panties?” Jimmy whispered. 

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked over her shoulders towards him. One eyebrow was cocked and her lips were thin. 

He knew there was no way the blonde could have heard him, because he barely heard it through his skull. And yet there was as though judging him. Who does she think it is? 

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Jimmy said without considering the time. 

“Classes ended hours ago, Sir,” she said. “Walking home after a late-night study session.”

“Get to it,” he said dismissively.