Mona broke into a run, rushing to her small sedan and unlocking it as she approached in a sprint.  She pulled the door open and threw herself inside, immediately closing the door and locking it again.

The white Land Rover roared away from the curb and turned left, heading for her parking lot, while Mona simultaneously started her car and yanked her seat belt across her body.

Once in reverse, she squealed out of the spot uncontrollably, nearly hitting another car behind her, then pulled the shift back into drive and stomped on the gas, squealing again through a tight turn and toward the narrow exit just as the Rover entered the lot behind her.

Clutching the steering wheel in a death grip, she accelerated through one of the lot’s empty intersections, up one side of the curb and down again in a violent bounce.

Behind her, the Rover had no problem with its higher clearance and drove directly over the curb, smashing through a row of decorative bushes.

Heading for the hospital’s entrance, Mona continued to accelerate through the gate’s narrow passage and out onto the open street, swerving hard to the right and once again mashing the gas pedal against the floor.

The power of her humble sedan was surprising, as though awakening to roar like an angry beast.  Shooting forward in and out of traffic, Mona desperately tried to avoid the cars in her path.

She was not a good driver, or an experienced one, leading her to oversteer, swerving wildly back and forth.

“Get out of my way!” she screamed.  “Get out of my way!”

The Land Rover was bigger and stronger, accelerating as it tightly wove in and out of traffic, smoothly closing the distance between them.

Frantically, Mona turned at another intersection and panicked upon seeing another mass of red brake lights in front of her.  She searched ahead for a clear lane, but there wasn’t one.  Less than a quarter kilometer in front of her, the sea of red became solid and united.

Mona swerved to the right, cutting off cars and causing one to brake hard and spin while she headed for what little gap there was—the sidewalk, peppered with dark figures walking.

She slammed her hand against the steering wheel, sounding the car’s horn in a frantic attempt to clear a path.

And people reacted.  Panic-stricken, they scrambled out of the way as she traveled up and over the curb, throwing herself back and forth inside the car while still desperately clutching the wheel, driving through a portion of black gating and glancing off a piece of the stone wall behind it.  She smashed through the narrow gap and into the intersection of the street beyond, where she turned again and narrowly avoided a line of cars patiently waiting for their stoplight.

Behind her, the Rover continued forward, avoiding both the fence and the remnants of the damaged wall.