Hijacking the taxi

After the taxi driver alerts the police dispatcher to the presence of Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon, Sophie reacts instantly. She leans forward, plunges her hand into Langdon's jacket pocket, yanks out the pistol she had earlier taken from the Louvre guard, and presses it to the back of the driver's head. The driver drops his radio and raises his free hand. Sophie commands him to stop the car, and he obeys, trembling. The dispatcher's voice crackles over the dashboard, broadcasting the names of the two fugitives. Sophie orders the driver out of the taxi, and he complies, keeping his arms raised. She then tells Langdon to take the wheel. Langdon, who drives an automatic in the United States, is forced to take control of a manual-transmission vehicle. He pops the clutch, the tires howl, and the taxi lurches forward, fishtailing wildly and narrowly missing a woman with a cell phone who dives into the woods. Sophie shouts for him to go easy, but Langdon yells back that he tried to warn her he could not drive a stick shift. The hijacking transforms their escape from a passive flight into an active, chaotic pursuit, forcing Langdon into a role for which he is entirely unprepared and deepening their dependence on each other's improvisation.