Gorge, a novel in progress by Michael Gullo (2026)
“Two miles, Stef.”
“Cracker Barrel.”
-beep-
“Pull in.”
“There’s a Cracker Barrel ahead.”
“Pull in here.”
“We’re past it.”
“Why have an offroad vehicle, and you won’t even drive on the grass?”
“I’m not a boy, Phil. I don’t cave to precarious manhood peer pressures.”
“That’s it. No more criminology classes for you. Just pull over.”
“I am.”
“That truck has a Starlink.”
“So?”
“I’m sending Meg an email.”
“Gimme the radio.”
“Why?”
“I think we’re close enough.”
“Here.”
“1616 to 1631. Are you on here?”
“No internet.”
“1631?”
“How do we get around this?”
“1631?”
“What are you on?”
“DOR East.”
“Try Talk Around.”
“I’m not keying up public to find an agent in a cop stack.”
“Try DOR Central. He wouldn’t be on East, anyway.”
“That’s it. 1616 to 1631?”
“You’re probably not close enough.”
“It’s in range.”
“Drive.”
“I’m not driving into a street shutdown.”
“It’s a couple miles – Between 222 and 226.”
“We gotta get around this.”
“Bump it through that break in the trees. There’s a field.”
“There’s a fence, Phil.”
“It’s barbed wire. You’ll tear right through.”
“And scratch the shit out of my truck.”
“I forgot, it’s a mall crawler.”
“Shut up.”
“Grocery gitter?”
“I’m not a boy, Phil. It’s more like Clover’s Taco Bell tractor.”
“1631. Stef, I heard you on Matthew’s radio. It took a second to get online. You still there?”
“Heya, T.J. Did they start yet.”
“You’re nearby, aren’t you?”
“We’re just short of Mount Juliet.”
“Stef, there’s a street takeover there.”
“We know.”
“You’re not in it, are you?”
“We’re trying to find a way around. Did they start yet?”
“Stef. I sent an email. I know it didn’t get to you, but I tried. We swore in last night, and we got detailed with the THP.”
“It’s cancelled?”
“Not cancelled. It got pushed up to last night.”
“Are you at the office?”
“I’m in a cruiser. We’re heading to our detail in Brentwood.”
“Stef.”
“What, Phil?”
“Stef. I need you to listen to me.”
“I know. We’re going home. But we need a charge.”
“Where?”
“I guess we have to go around this and get to the GMC dealer.”
“In Nashville?”
“It’s the only one I know.”
“There’s gotta be another.”
“Do you have a phone book in your pocket?”
“Drive into town. There’s gotta be something.”
“Wait. I have offline maps.”
“Car dealerships are definitely not listed in the atlas.”
“No. We downloaded offline maps ages ago when I started driving all over the state with you.”
“I did that. They expire though.”
“No. You have to set them to auto-update.”
“How do I find them?”
“Give it to me.”
“You drive. Get off at Mount Juliet.”
“How do I find them?”
“Open the Maps app.”
“It doesn’t load any maps.”
“Click my profile on top.”
“There it is. Offline maps. Now what?”
“Give it a second. I have Nashville for sure. Chattanooga. Knoxville, of course…”
“There it is. OH, this is awesome!”
“Search GMC, Chevy.”
“Why Chevy?”
“It’s the same tech, Phil.”
“Nothing.”
“Search car dealership.”
“Way ahead. Get off here.”
“Wow! So this is where they’re turning around.”
“For now. I bet those little anarchists were like racing longer distances.”
“There’s so many.”
“Look at my Bridgefy.”
“It’s too fast to even read the feed.”
“Cadillac. That should work, right?”
“Yeah it should. How far?”
“It’s right here. Take a left.”
“Like here?”
“Now.”
“That’s Jeep.”
“Go to the stop sign and take a right.”
“There it is. Oh, this is new, like brand new.”
“It’s nice. Pull in.”
“Dude. Look at this place. It’s all EVs.”
“Oh, they definitely have a charger.”
“Pull in there.”
“Easy, Phil. You’re not a good Google voice.”
“There’s so many.”
“It’s like they specialize in them.”
“Holy dumb luck. Where’s the charger?”
“There’s a guy. Ask him.”
“Window again. At least it stopped raining. Hey, buddy. We’re in a bit of a jam here.”
“Not today, buddy. Power’s out.”
“How’d you know…”
“You’ve been coming in all morning.”
“So, your power’s out?”
“Everywhere. I came in from Nashville a couple hours ago. We’re on generator power, but the chargers are down.”
“Is there any place? We need a charge to get to Knoxville.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, officer. You could always plug in to the generator – Head over that way, and I’ll plug you in.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“Follow me.”
“You gotta be kidding me. And the FBI tin too. You’re too much.”
“FBI is a letterhead now too.”
“Far be it from me to judge.”
“Got us a charge didn’t it?”
“It’s slow though Phil. Like two miles an hour.”
“What?”
“It’s a generator. We’d charge faster on a tow truck.”
“Pull up here – you could have rode him over on the rail.”
“Get that charge bag out of the trunk.”
“I’m not sure I’ll get used to that, the hood just opening up in my face – isn’t it called a frunk?”
“Just get out and get the bag. I’m gonna try and reach T.J. again.”
“Stef, we’re heading home.”
“Close the door. I just want to offer him a ride home.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Hey there. I think we’re closing in a bit.”
“Can we still charge?”
“I mean --- we close the gate.”
“Stef, how’s this work?”
“Let me see --- The generator has two-forty.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Four miles an hour.”
“Faster than walking, I guess.”
“The IQ has better range.”
“Are you serious?”
“Occupational hazard.”
“What just happened?”
“He tried to sell me an Escalade.”
“Are you really closing?”
“Sales manager just called us in over the radio.”
“Buddy. We need this charge.”
“I know – and it sucks. I need one more sale for third tier.”
“I’m not a big fan of the Caddy.”
“We have a 26 Hummer.”
“The black one?”
“Yep.”
“Is it the same as this one?”
“They didn’t really change anything.”
“Hear that, Phil? Weasel words right off.”
“Oh, I heard it.”
“What are you two talking about?”
“We just had an interviewing class last month, and the whole subject was weasel words.”
“What’s weasel words?”
“You said, really, nothing really changed.”
“It’s not really different. This is a 3x and that’s a 3x.”
“What changed?”
“Are you serious?”
“I have my title.”
“For real?”
“Can you sell a car without the internet?”
“Yep. It’s all paperwork – as long as you don’t need financing.”
“Nope. I have a checkbook in my bag.”
“Do you owe anything?”
“I have my title – what’s your name?”
“I’m DeShawn.”
“DeShawn, get a key. Let’s go for a test drive.”
“On it.”
“What are you doing?”
“They can’t close if we’re on a test drive.”
“That’s sick.”
“I mean. Even if we get an hour charge, we get like four miles. They’re not staying open for twenty hours.”
“Are you really gonna buy a car?”
“Well, if you’re right – my check will never clear.”
“What’s the price difference?”
“I don’t know what the trade’s worth, but if theirs is a 3x, it’s over a hundred.”
“But the new one comes charged up.”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, this is brilliant. There’s no way they sell you a hundred thousand dollar vehicle on a check. They know the banks are down.”
“I, for one, don’t believe this is the end, or whatever. They’ll fix it.”
“They won’t, Stef. They tried.”
“Oh, so they’ll just give up and live in the bunkers?”
“Okay, I hear you. But you have to understand. The connected world isn’t coming back soon. It’s going to take something like years.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Here we go, guys. They were definitely closing. Let’s get out of here before they change their minds.”
“Did you tell them you’re going on a test drive?”
“Yep.”
“Alrighty. Let’s do this. They won’t lock us out, will they?”
“No. They know we’re going.”
“Can they really sell me a truck?”
“So long as you have that title.”
“I didn’t use weasel words, DeShawn.”
“Fair enough, but are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Here’s the fob.”
“Don’t we need a plate?”
“I didn’t get one, but look at all that. No cops for a street takeover. They’re not stopping a dealer vehicle on a test drive – besides.”
“Don’t look at me. Mine’s Federal.”
“Mine’s state. We’re fine.”
“We just got this last Wednesday.”
“Why would a Cadillac dealer get a Hummer?”
“We needed to trade for a customer.”
“It’s used?”
“No. It’s new. We needed to trade it for a Cadillac at a different dealer.”
“Oh, this is nice. I always wanted the black.”
“That Moonshot is cool too, though.”
“Hop in front, Phil.”
“How’d you know my name?”
“I pay attention too.”
“I like this trim better.”
“Is it different?”
“Yeah, the launch edition Hummer had like a moon rover motif.”
“Are they really going to sell her a car with no computers?”
“I mean, she has a trade that’s not even three years old, had to cost her the same money this one costs. Even if she financed it, she paid it off, or she wouldn’t have a title.”
“So?”
“We get an eighty-five thousand dollar vehicle in trade for a one-hundred-twenty-thousand dollar vehicle. And we get a check, and when the bank comes back online, we deposit the check. Plus, she’s a cop, and you’re a fed. I can’t get you the first responder discount though.”
“We can pull that off the top line.”
“Probably not.”
“We could just commandeer it, DeShawn.”
“Good luck with that.”