Linus turned his Jeep onto the familiar streets and began driving toward Meadowfall College. The radio was playing his favorite song, and he was humming along.
Three blocks down, the Jeep shuddered and rolled to a stop.
Right in the middle of the road.
Crap!Linus tried to start the engine repeatedly, but the Jeep didn’t respond.
The cars behind him began to honk. Someone yelled. His chest squeezed.
Before Linus could panic, a motorcycle stopped in the next lane. Its rider began to reroute the cars behind Linus into their own lane, causing the cars behind the bike to honk.
Linus winced, secretly relieved that he wasn’t alone in this.
When there was an opening in the middle lane’s traffic, the bike moved over so it was right behind the Jeep. Its rider turned around and began redirecting the traffic in their lane, like a rock parting a stream.
Only then did Linus remember to turn on his emergency lights and call a tow company.
While he waited for a tow truck to arrive, Linus emailed his students that his next class was canceled. There was no way he could make it to the college in time.
He peered around his seat at the biker, half-expecting the biker to continue on their way and disappear. But the biker stayed andkept on directing traffic, until there were no more cars behind them.
Then, there was blissful silence.
Linus sagged into his seat and exhaled shakily.I can’t believe I got so lucky.
With the road clear, the motorcycle started up again. Linus waited until it was passing him to wave his thanks.
The biker flashed a peace sign and rode off, their face hidden by a mirrored visor.
And now there was nothing left to do but wait.
Just in case this time was different, Linus tried to start the engine again. It didn’t work. At a loss, he opened his Youtube app to check his latest messages.
CagedDragon:Seriously, Prof, thanks for all your help with my latest question. It helped me fix this bug that I couldn’t squash. You’re the best.
Linus smiled. CagedDragon had been an avid watcher of his videos for years. They’d had several conversations about programming ever since Dragon was a first-year computer science undergrad. Dragon had since graduated and found a job in the industry.
And yet he still returned frequently to Linus’ videos for a chat; it warmed Linus’ heart a great deal.
Dr. L. Bentham:You’re very welcome. I’m glad I was able to assist.
Linus looked up when a motorcycle zoomed past. It looked oddly like the one his savior had been riding.
He chatted with his friends, then answered a few work emails.
A similar motorcycle passed him again five minutes later.
I think I’m imagining things,Linus told himself.Or maybe I’m noticing motorcycles more now that a few bikers have helped me.
Because this wasn’t the first time—there had been a few other occasions, when a mystery biker had fended off an alpha who wouldn’t stop harassing Linus.
The bikers never took off their helmets, though, and they never stuck around for long.
Linus didn’t want to say it, but maybe... they were like a group of guardian angels.
Half an hour later, the tow truck arrived. Warily, Linus squeezed into the cab of the truck, hitching a ride with the alpha driver to the nearest repair shop.
He clutched his phone the entire time, too aware of how close he was to the uniformed alpha.