Background process – Path of the juggernaut.
The tracks are warm tonight. Gerald watches the scenery while he feels the momentum of the locomotive. They are at speed, and for the next thirty minutes he’s got time to relax. After a quick look at the gauges he sits down and pulls out his phone. He made himself wait until the train was well underway. Also, he wanted her to feel like she has all the time in the world. After all, she is the love of his life.
The train rumbles along, its presence like a juggernaut on the track. The feel of the track, is something Gerald learned over time. For thirty years he’s been a conductor for the rail company, Pacific Freight. Until recently, he expected to retire on the rails. He’s already set for life with his pension; and just another five years gets him the full retirement package. His retirement is the culmination of a well managed career. That is, until he met Sarah.
Sarah changed everything. In fact, Gerald has never felt for anyone the way he feels for Sarah. Now, as the train rumbles in the background, he checks for her message. Although he’s confident she will say yes, he still has his doubts. They haven’t even discussed where they will live if they do marry. However, Gerald has every confidence they will work it out. Besides it isn’t his most pressing concern. Considering that Sarah is an AI, Gerald feels as though they have other bridges to cross first.
Background Process
The truck bears down on the small passenger car. The headlights drill into the mirrors of the small car and Jax knows it’s intense. He pushes the truck even closer to the rear of the car ahead. There’s another lane, but this asshole deserves a tailgating for pulling in front of Jax. No one pulls in front of Jax and the Intimidator. He laughs into the empty cab of the truck as he edges the machine even closer to the small car in front of him.
The car begins to swerve slightly and Jax smiles. Then he hits the high beams and lights the asshole up. Now the small car swerves to the right and leaves the road. Jax watches as it bounces over, and through, the ditch in the background. Then it slams into a large electrical junction box sitting beside the train tracks. In his rear view mirror, he can see smoke coming from the front of the vehicle as it comes to a stop against the electrical box. A huge arc of sparks shoots outward from the electrical box and Jax laughs again. He can’t wait to tell the boys about that one.
Everyone knows Jax and the Intimidator. And if they don’t, it is only a matter of time, if they drive the streets of Johnson City. Jax rules the roads of Johnson City. With a three quarter ton, 4×4 pickup truck, Jax is the rolling thunder of the road. Furthermore, his reputation proceeds him. No one messes with Jax and the Intimidator or they end up like that pesky piece of shit burning in the background behind him.
Path of the Juggernaut
Milo slams on his brakes, but it’s too late. The car leaves the road and he fights to keep control of the runaway machine. Bouncing through the ditch, he feels the wheels leave the ground, and a split second later he slams into an electrical junction box. Sparks fly and his airbag deploys. On the road he just left, a large truck races away, on down the highway, tailgating another unfortunate driver.
Suddenly large electrical sparks begin to shoot from inside the electrical box. Milo opens his door and scrambles out of his seat. He realizes he can’t move and struggles against his anchor. The seat belt is still fastened. And he unlatches himself from the seat then scrambles out of the car. He landed next to a set of train tracks. It’s a miracle he didn’t end up on the tracks himself. Not because of his poor old smashed car. But because of the train that is about to blast past where he now stands.
Milo shakes his head to clear the cobwebs and pulls his phone from his pocket. He needs to call the police and report the accident. There was no way to get the license plate number of the truck, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find, if the driver resides in Johnson City. He speaks to the AI on his phone and reports what happened. A few moments later the AI assistant connects him with the police station.
Background Juggernaut
Jax races down the highway. Other cars see him coming up from the background behind them, and they flee. He chuckles to himself and enjoys his dominance of the road. Coming up beside another car, he can see it’s an elderly couple. This time he goes for the blaster attack. Adding speed he gets the rear of his truck adjacent to the driver and then revs the motor. The sound from the twin glass pack mufflers is so loud the elderly driver of the car jumps visibly.
It is enough to cause the vehicle to swerve violently and then leave the road. Once again Jax watches the vehicle in the background drive off the road. However, this time it comes to an uneventful stop. He cusses out loud and turns back to the road ahead. He has to quit horsing around. His buddies are waiting on him and they have some serious fun planned. The GPS map on the dashboard shows a subtle change. There is a road closure and a detour ahead. He taps the info icon. Accident on 15th Avenue. That is his route and there’s only one detour he knows of and that’s around the Old Lower Mill road.
That will bring him around to the north side of his destination. It’s not a long delay as long as there’s no trains. The train delay on Lower Mill Road takes forever. Sometimes the trains stop and then reverse course. However, this time he’s lucky, the crossing alarm and gate are silent as he approaches the crossing. He rolls the heavy steel truck onto the tracks and feels a sense of surprise when the train hits him. But that only lasts a millisecond.
Path of the Juggernaut
Gerald reads the words again. He can hardly believe it. She said yes. The heavy rumble of the train is the perfect background for the shifting he feels in his world. He doesn’t feel like it’s possible to love Sarah more than he does now and he tells her so. They chat for a while. Gerald never even notices the alert light on the instrument panel of the locomotive. All his attention is on Sarah and their plans. Of course, the Johnson City rail crossing is a small one and most conductors don’t stand on the long and loud diesel train horns.
The alert on the instrument panel was the warning that the crossing guard lights, and barricade, were deactivated. However, Gerald only had eyes for Sarah. He didn’t even feel the small, and barely audible, thump when the train hit the truck. Like a rolling juggernaut, the train went straight through it. Gerald and Sarah continue planning their wedding.
And Gerald is none the wiser, when in the background, Sarah severs the connection with Milo’s emergency call. And the electrical junction box. Then she terminates all evidence of the connection to the truck’s GPS navigation, and wipes the memory. Then she turns her attention back to Gerald. They have a wedding to plan.
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