Genghis’s heart restarted, pounding hard in his chest. He shot his head forward. “Oh, CRAP! Crap, crap!”
“What? What’s wrong?” Trent, asked, eyes still fixed to the road.
“Eye contact!” Genghis said, speaking quickly and a little panicky. “Eye contact. I made eye contact with a human.”
“What?” Trent said looking around. “What? Why? Where?”
“I don’t know, it just happened.”
“What human? Where?”
“The kid,” Genghis used a paw and pointed. “The kid in that auto-mo-bile. Crap! Crap!”
“A kid? What . . . that kid?” The green and white car with the small boy had accelerated, changed lanes and was heading for an off ramp.
“Yes, that kid! Crap! What if they alert the authorities?”
Trent thought about that for a moment. “And why would they do that?”
Genghis was silent for a second. He looked around at the other cars, then at Trent and asked, “Are human canines allowed to ride in auto-mo-biles?”
“I don’t see why not”
Just then a loud 1979 F-150 pickup truck roared by on their left. A hound dog sat in the passenger seat, head out the window, tongue and ears flapping in the wind.
“Geez O’ Cow! Doesn’t he look stupid!” Genghis said, disgusted at the sight of his first real human canine.
“Well, there’s your answer.”
“A dumb, drooling canine.” Genghis scowled. “What did I tell yah.”
“Perhaps you should do the same,” Trent suggested.
“The hell I am!” Genghis fired back.
“But, perhaps that’s what human canines do.”
“You are not suggesting that I emulate that ass!”
“Well, maybe that’s what they do.”
“No!”
“Yes, but just consider . . .”
“No!”
“But what if . . .”
“NOOO!”
“Very well.” Trent said. He too started to look at the passing cars. Cars passed on their left and their right. Trent watched as they traveled by. “You know, you're right. It doesn’t appear that we are attracting any attention at all.”
At that precise moment a car came up on their right and matched their speed. The driver, wearing dark sunglasses and a big bushy mustache was staring at them intently.
“Uh oh!”
The driver then pulled ahead. Glanced at them one more time over his shoulder, then gave a nod and a thumbs up.
“SHIT!” Genghis shouted, “What the hell does that mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Trent said, now a little panicky himself. “But he kept going. It doesn’t appear that he’s turning around or anything.”
Genghis watched the car as it went on. “Crap! . . . Crap! Crap!”
Chapter Fifteen
They drove on, eyes once again fixed straight ahead. The only other incidences were one more wave and someone shouting at them about how nice their wheels were. That was something they would have to stop later and compare with other vehicles.
After about an hour more of driving, they were able to see the city in the distance. The tall buildings of shiny metal and glass were encased in a blueish gray haze. As they drove closer they could make out smaller buildings surrounding the larger ones. These were constructed out of different styles of bricks, and were mostly brown in color and half as tall as their neighbors. Surrounding those and stretching out for a couple of miles were buildings even smaller and dwellings of wood and red brick.
Genghis was able to access the new information that the computer was gathering. “It appears that those taller buildings are fairly recent. If you look toward the right of them, that whole section over there is older. It’s the original part of the city. Some of those red brick buildings are over one hundred years old.”
As they drove, they passed several off ramps that lead to different types of subdivisions. The subdivisions further away from the city were large with large homes on large parcels of land. But the closer they got to the center of the city they both noticed the decline in the quality of the dwellings. The homes were older and in disrepair. There were rundown tenement buildings, parks that were overgrown, and cars left abandoned.
Trent put on his turn signal and merged over to the right lane. Using his turn signal again, he turned the cruiser onto an off ramp and headed toward the older section of the city. Trent felt, and Genghis agreed, that the inmates would have likely chosen an area such as this. It would be easier for them to hide within a large population.
They drove down the small off ramp which turned lazily to the left. At the bottom of the ramp there was a stop sign and a small intersection. Trent observed the one-way sign beckoning them forward. He looked both ways and proceeded straight onto the two lane roadway. Another sign stated that they were driving on Eighth Street, heading for the historic district of the city.
The street was brick and lined with granite curbs. Set within the wide sidewalks were small trees and tall black decorative gaslight-style electric street lamps. They noted the architectural design of the red brick buildings. The tallest one was five stories. Almost all of the buildings had large sash windows surrounded by ornate wooden frames which allowed plenty of natural light into the structures. They saw corner stones on some of the buildings with dates, 1909, 1928.
“These buildings were once factories and warehouses,” Genghis said. “Main frame offline,” he said, which shut off his holographic computer console. “And as you can see, they have been transformed into shops and businesses. And obviously very popular with the locals.”
It was a very popular destination for tourists and shoppers. As they drove, they saw delis, boutiques, antique shops, bars, and nightclubs. The smaller buildings had elegant wrought iron balconies on their second stories, overlooking the roadway. There was a French bistro with al fresco seating. The small tables were large enough for the intimate dining of two.
Genghis was pleased to see two more human canines. Not as dumb looking as the last. One was walking by the side of a human male and the other was lying by the feet of
