Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 4 – The Knight Before Christmas – Part 2
Chapter 1
It was the dead of the night, as dark as pitch. She was too far from the highway for anyone to see or hear her. There was no one who could help...
She was dead.
She squeezed her eyes shut. She gritted her teeth. Her whole body tightened, anticipating the gunshot.
A roaring filled her ears. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it would burst. It only took a second.
Then all hell broke loose.
The roaring became louder, like the snarling of an engine going full throttle. The two men not directly busy with killing her moved away. One shouted. “Hey!”
Why wasn't she dead yet? Why hadn't the man pulled the trigger? What was going on?
“Close your eyes.” A voice said in her ear.
“They're already closed.” Kat gasped. She scrunched them tighter closed anyway.
Suddenly, there was a blinding light bleeding red between her eyelids. It pulsed rapidly and erratically. It was too quick, too much, it overloaded her senses. She felt sick.
Something heavy fell to the ground next to her and the pressure holding her down was gone. The red light disappeared. Without thinking, she scrambled away, crawling along the ground as quickly as she could.
The world tipped and spun. She was extremely disoriented. Where was she going? She was going to get shot like this. She got to her feet and limped forward, lurching from side to side.
A large shape stopped in front of her. If only everything would stop moving, she could figure out what it was. She reached out. Her fingers found cool, sleek metal. “KITT!” She sobbed in relief.
“Get in.” K.I.T.T told her impatiently. “They'll recover in another minute.”
Kat fell forward, into the Driver's seat. She pulled her legs in after her. K.I.T.T closed the door and peeled off. His GPS was malfunctioning, so he didn't know where he was going. He drove up onto the highway as he tried to contact F.L.A.G.
There was no response from F.L.A.G. His communications were disabled as well.
He zoomed silently down the highway, weaving through the cars effortlessly. At least his automatic steering was still working. He zoomed in on the large green sign up ahead. They were on the I74. He would follow it as far southwest as he could, and head back to New Mexico.
He checked up on Kat. She had passed out across both of the front seats. The bleeding in her leg had slowed some, but she was staining the seat. “Katherine.” He called.
She opened her eyes briefly. “What?” She mumbled as she closed them again.
“Other than the wound on your leg, are you harmed?”
Kat shook her head, then groaned. “Just tired, and dizzy.”
“My Dazzler is a bit disorienting, even when you have your eyes closed.” K.I.T.T explained.
Kat frowned, keeping her eyes shut. “What's a Dazzler?” She mumbled.
“A dazzler is a type of a directed-energy weapon employing intense visible light, usually generated by a laser.” K.I.T.T replied.
Kat smiled weakly. “You stole that right off of Wikipedia.” She accused.
K.I.T.T refused to acknowledge that, even though she was right. “It's just one of the Compliance Weapons that are available to me now that Attack Mode has been unlocked.”
Kat's chest shook briefly, like she was trying to laugh, only failing. “Compliance Weapon, I'll have to remember that one...” K.I.T.T wondered what she was finding so humorous.
She opened her eyes slowly. “Oh good, not as spinny anymore...” Spinny? Was that a word? He couldn't find it in his dictionary.
She smiled faintly. “You saved my life KITT, thank you. Again.”
There was a strange look in her eyes. Pain was there, he could recognize that, but combined with something else. He covered up his confusion by being flippant. “Anytime.”
“What happened to you, though? Why did you got nuts like that and shut down? Was it because of those weird weapons they used?”
“Those weapons generated an extremely high electrical charge. It crashed a few of my systems, including my CPU Core. You're lucky I managed to reboot in time.”
“I am.” Kat agreed. “Was that you making that roaring engine noise? You've never made a noise like that before. You always run silent.”
“I keep a few sound files of engine noise, to help me better impersonate a car with a normal engine. I used one to distract the men holding you.”
“You sounded pissed.” Kat commented.
“Then I chose the right one.” K.I.T.T replied. Kat smiled again. She was getting paler. “Kat, you should do something to staunch the blood coming from your wound.”
“You're right.” Kat said faintly. She struggled and sat up in the passenger's seat, her legs on the Driver's seat. She still seemed to be disoriented. Possibly from the blood loss and trauma. Her heartbeat was fluttery, erratic.
He folded the Driver's seat down halfway. He opened the back compartment, revealing the first aid kit. Kat grabbed some gauze from it and pressed it against her wound firmly. She had a grim look in her eyes.
“That man wearing all black.” She began. “He's the leader. The others listen to him. He's the one behind all of this.” She paused, her face filled with pain. “I think he's the one that killed Sam.” She looked over at the stereo. “He knows your weaknesses KITT. The fire, the electricity. He knew your doors could be opened if you shut down.”
K.I.T.T calculated what she was saying carefully. “How does he know?” He asked.
Kat shook her head. “I don't know.” She hesitated for a long second. “Maybe someone is helping him.” She said at last.
That didn't make much more sense to him. “How could anyone else know my weaknesses?” K.I.T.T asked.
Kat hesitated again. “Maybe someone from FLAG is helping him.” She suggested carefully.
K.I.T.T thought about that for a long time. Nearly a minute. “Anything is possible.” He hedged. “But it's hardly probable. The team is so dedicated.”
Kat nodded. “I know. I can't think of any of them that would help someone hurt you. If there is a leak, maybe they didn't have a choice, or they didn't realize you would get hurt.” Her voice was getting weaker. “It's just something to think about...” She leaned back heavily against the passenger's door.
K.I.T.T was pushing 100mph, but they still had four states to go through. “Kat, if you authorize Pursuit Mode, I can get you back to FLAG in two hours.”
“Then go into Pursuit Mode. Why are you asking me?” She asked weakly.
“You're my Driver, you know that.” He spoke as he changed. He folded in the back sea, bringing the trunk forward, making himself smaller. The distance between his wheels widened, he drew closer to the road. He accelerated, eating up the pavement. He hit 450mph and pushed harder.
His wheels were getting hot from the friction of the road. His nano-skin could disperse the heat to other parts of his shell, but after an hour of driving, it would be completely worn off. It didn't matter now, he still had his Molecular-Bonded Shell.
Kat had passed out again. His speedometer crept higher. He had to be careful. He had the potential to go much faster than he was capable of withstanding. His shell would survive anything, but he was filled with very sensitive equipment that could and would break down.
His first priority was getting Kat safe. She was weak and hurt, bleeding badly. Plus, the ones that tried to kill her were still out there. The ones that had killed Sam...
His programming told him that it wasn't %100 certain, but it was becoming more and more likely. Especially because that was what Kat believed. K.I.T.T was programmed to trust her absolutely.
His thoughts continued as he drove on in the night. Closer to safety. But was it really safe there?
If someone was helping their enemies, giving them information on his weaknesses. Was he putting Kat in more danger now?
No. F.L.A.G was still the best place for Kat. He would watch her closely just in case. He would make sure she stayed safe. He would not fail again.
He would never lose another Driver again...
