The Great Cleanup - стр. 13
Glancing from under Herman's hand, Anna noticed the barrel shake; a puff of smoke emerged, dispersing quickly. Something white shot across the air before their eyes, hitting neither Anna nor Herman. But it did appear to hit something else, entirely unplanned by the assailants. Turning her head to the right, Anna saw the driver of the car on that side shake a fist, obviously not directed at the riders of the bike. She realized that the marksman from the first car has hit something inside the second. Though, judging by the action of the latter's driver, his life was not in danger.
The second shot from the left-hand car was more successful. Anna saw a small white dart pierce into Herman's arm. He quickly pulled it out and threw it behind his back, explaining into Anna's ear:
“This is probably a narcotic. Sadly, some of it did get into me. I am likely to fall asleep soon, and then you will need to take over again. But I know you can do it. You are so cool!”
These words were very pleasant to hear, but Anna had no idea how she would “take over”, transporting not just her own body, but also that of Herman's: taming the iron mustang was obviously beyond her ability. She realized she would fail, and tears spread over her cheeks.
Seeing that they hit Herman, those in the left car stopped shooting and withdrew their gun. The assailants probably decided to just keep waiting for the narcotic to work and for Anna's saviour, falling asleep gradually, to lower his speed and stop.
But they underestimated Herman's willpower. Yes, the motorcycle swayed. Yes, turning her head back, Anna saw Herman's eyes half-closed. But only half-closed, not closed. The motorcycle was going on, not in a very straight line, but still forward, definitely not stopping. Herman kept a steadfast fight against the nightmarish sleep descending upon him.
Things were apparently much worse in the right-hand car. It looked like the first dart has hit the driver. Either he did not get it out as quickly as Herman did, or he was just weaker physically and morally; after a few erratic zigzags, the right-hand car suddenly shifted left. Herman barely had the time to swing around the car going straight at him.
Turning to look back, Anna saw the horrendous aftermath. The right-hand car hit the left-hand one. Together, they slammed into the concrete crash barrier, were flung up, turned around in mid-air and, crashing onto the road, rolled as one, then disappeared in a powerful flash of fire and cloud of smoke.
Anna gazed at Herman in excitement. He smiled back at her, struggling to keep his eyes open:
“Well, we broke away,” then he nodded forward and to the right, “And this is our crossroads!”
Anna did not ask what crossroads it was. She just kept praying that Herman would not fall asleep before the motorcycle stopped somewhere. She did not want to hit some hurdle and explode like the cars behind them.
Herman lowered the speed. Anna looked around the highway, worried, but realized that her saviour did it simply in order to turn at the crossroads, bringing them onto a smaller road.
Spending a short time on it, they turned onto yet another road, stretching through a forest. Now the motorcycle started wobbling significantly. Anna kept wrenching her neck to check on Herman's state. Now the eyes of her saviour would shut completely from time to time, though they opened up again immediately. His gaze seemed empty, senseless, so Anna kept expecting to hit that birch tree, that poplar, that asp. Yet Herman would not give up, forcing his eyes open yet again and driving on and on.