The nobody VS the robot.

Somewhere near Yosemite National Park, a middle aged man jolted up from a deep sleep with such force, he smashed his forehead into the steering wheel of the old Ford truck he was driving. His large calloused hand swept over his brow and it felt wet. He sighed heavily and leaned forward gripping the rear view mirror and peered into it. Intense crystal blue almond shaped eyes embedded with deep laugh lines around the corners stared back at him. His eyes narrowed on the sight of his forehead. The cut was just under the hairline, smack middle on his brow and extended downward about an inch and a half, was slowly bleeding with a smudgy line of blood going right across it, making a nice cross right on his head.

His eyes narrowed even more when he felt a tiny searing sensation coming from the wound and the skin around it began to twitch, and then open and shut, like a sideways mouth trying to speak. Alarmed, with his jaw clenched so tight the muscles bulged out, he could only stare in disbelief as a small white object began to worm it's way out of his forehead. The pain was now gone and he felt only numbness in the area, but that didn't stop him from balling his fist up so hard he could feel his fingernails cutting through the hard calluses on his palms. And just as it slid out, his weathered hand unclentched and caught the object before it hit the ground, in a perfect catch of a born athlete.

The object was white with gold lettering and without a single drop of blood on it. As he studied it closer, it appeared to be a bone fragment, like a sliver of his skull, with the words, "the nobody" spelled out in radiant gold colored lower case lettering. His mouth dropped open in disbelief. He quickly looked up into the rear mirror and saw the slice on his forehead quickly close up and then completely disappear. The blood left on his forehead instantly gathered itself into hundreds of tiny balls and lifted off his skin in a spiral motion, getting smaller and smaller as they spiraled into the air of the close quarters of the truck until they just completely disappeared. His eyes widened in amazement as he roughly rubbed his forehead and looked down at the skull fragment glittering back at him in the dark night He quickly tucked it inside his flannel shirt pocket and snapped it securely shut.

He felt surprisingly clear headed as he started the truck. He felt a twinge of nostalgia mixed with comfort when the old Ford's console lights lit up. Rolling down the window, he took a long drag of the cool forest air and was just getting ready to hit the gas when out of no where a hand slammed down on the hood of the truck with a whack so hard it shook the entire truck. Irritated more than angry he shut off the engine as he tried to make sense of what had just happened, but his irritation quickly faded into concern.

Leaning over the hood of his truck and staring at him through the front window, gasping for air, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with a very serious look on her ghostly white face. Her dark blonde hair was messy, hanging loosely on her shoulders and tangled up with randomly thin braids throughout it. The yellow straw cowboy hat looked like it had seen better days and clung to her back hanging from a thin cord around her neck. Their eyes locked.

With a hoarse whisper she said, "are you one?" He remained silent, staring back through the dirty glass taking in the image in front of him. Whispering louder she croaked, "Are you one?"

Feeling confused, he said, "one what?"

There was urgency in her crow like voice this time, "One of the nobodies?"

At that moment he knew instantly what she meant. He nodded his head and looked at her solemnly. A tiny smile of relief flashed across her face and then in an instant, was gone.

"There are more of us. We must find them. There's not much time. Can I ride with you?" Her voice trailed off as she hurriedly glanced around her. Getting up off the truck, she didn't wait for an answer and slid into the passenger side. She was wearing a black jogging suit with pink piping around it and old brown cowboy boots. The boots were caked in mud and her clothes were covered with burrs. Plopping a big back pack right between them with a grunt, she quickly looked over at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" She smiled again and this time the smile stayed.

He smiled back. "Where to?"

Her smile faded as she dug through her back pack and held up a pamplet that said, 'National Robotics Conference 2016.' "Here. Robots are taking over the entire United States workforce and nobody will have a job anymore."

Without hesitation he said, "hey, that's me!"

"Yep." She said. "And me too."

He started the truck and slowly pulled onto the road. A few minutes went by. Shadows of trees wizzed by, signs, a few other vehicles. It was another hour before sunrise. He glanced over at her. She had fallen asleep. Her face hidden by her messy hair.

"The nobody," he thought, patting his shirt pocket. His fingers feeling the outline of the skull fragment. His skull fragment. He felt a sudden chill and then a surge of strength, and drove on.

Very good!.. I enjoyed it.

originally posted by: EequalsMC2
Very good!.. I enjoyed it.

That's great - thank you