Chapter 5

 

 

“How did you do this?” she demanded as they were ushered behind the gate. “One of Marta’s cousins?”

“Nope,” he said. “I bought plain old tickets. Saw it was coming to town and it sounded like fun.”

“You bought the tickets months ago,” she realized.

“Before our date on July 4th,” he admitted. “I saw that it was going to be on the same day as a challenge date and couldn’t resist. Plus I got a deal.”

“Even at a discount these must have been expensive,” she said.

“I thought it a nice investment,” he said, his fingers threading into hers.

They were led to a man outfitting the others with helmets. As they joined the group, they were given a safety speech. It sounded like the exact opposite of everything she’d learned in high school. Hit the other cars but try not to hit the drivers. The doors were reinforced to protect them but a hard enough hit could break bones. Protect the engine and try to hit with the trunks. Don’t do the jumps unless they wanted to die.

“We don’t have to do this if you’re worried,” he said.

“Are you kidding?” she said. “I can’t wait to crash into you.”

“I think you did that eight months ago,” he said with a laugh.

Excitement and worry seeped into her chest and escaped in a giggle. She leaned up to kiss him and then pulled her helmet on and strode to the car with the unicorn on the door. She ducked past the bars welded onto the roof and then shut the door, but it was already dented and it took two tries to get it to shut. A woman appeared in the window.

“Don’t worry about the car none,” she said. “After they’re wrecked they’ll be fed to the big trucks.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Kate grabbed the steering wheel and examined the interior of the car, which was about as trashed as she expected. The passenger seat was missing and the remains of the back seat were a dingy mess of brown cloth and torn leather. Dirt and bare wires were visible, the bones left from the stripped vehicle. Just trash waiting to happen. But not yet. It still had a final ride, and she was the driver.

A slow smile spread on her face as she turned the key in the ignition, the car coughing to life. All around her the other cars turned on and she looked to Reed. Sitting in the green Honda next to her car, he smiled as their eyes met.

“Ready?” he called.

“No!” she laughed.

The woman from earlier stood at the front of the cars and told them to spread out around the exterior of the arena, and when the announcer called for them to start, they were free to rumble. The other drivers revved their engines. A woman in the car next to Kate’s fidgeted nervously as they waited, and Kate realized she was doing the same.

An employee pressed a button to raise the gate and the driver of the first car stomped on the accelerator, sending his car bouncing into the arena. He turned into a donut on the dirt, his white car kicking dirt all the way into the stands. They cheered him on but the woman shouted for him to get out of the way.

“What do we do if we’re the only ones left?” Reed asked.

“We see who wins!” she shouted, eliciting a grin.

The other cars accelerated away and Kate went next, entering the arena amid a roar of cheers. Her heart soared as she drove to a corner, overwhelmed with the size of the ruts in the dirt. From up in the stands they’d been large, but on the ground they were enormous, and the car bounced over the giant troughs left by the monster trucks. She squeaked in surprise when her helmet struck the bar on the ceiling.

She took a breath to steady herself and then drove to the nearest corner. She backed into the corner and tried to steady her hands as she watched the others take their places. She swallowed and checked her mirrors, and laughed at herself for the habit. Then she put the car into gear and readied herself to crash into other cars, and the car driven by her boyfriend. She’d never felt so nervous and excited.

“Let’s go!” she shouted, voicing the emotions roiling in her chest.

 The announcer named each of them, and she took the time to lean out and wave when her name was called. Filled with adrenaline, she felt like she could sprint a mile. The horn blared and she flinched, and then stomped on the accelerator. Her car leapt forward and she struggled to keep on track, aiming for the nearest car. They’d said that if they used the engine to ram other cars their car would probably die first, but she didn’t trust herself to drive backwards.

Four of the six cars converged on the center, while two hung back, clearly hoping to wait for the herd to thin. On impulse she swerved away from the larger collision and spun around one of the jumps. Her car bounced on the worn shocks and she slammed into the seat belt, but spotted the car coming around the other side of the jump.

The man’s expression registered surprise and he tried to swerve, but hit a rut and spun. She braced for the impact and yanked on the steering wheel, sending her trunk into his car like a baseball bat. Her rear door on the opposite side smashed into the front of his car and bits of metal went flying.

She heard high laughter and abruptly realized it had come from her lips. She pressed on the gas and surged forward while the other driver tried to escape. But the impact had damaged his wheel and a grinding of metal came from his front tire. Seeing the opportunity, she braked and shifted to reverse. Then she stomped on the gas pedal, sending her trunk into the front of his car.

She slammed into the seatbelt as the impact rattled her bones and then looked over her shoulder. The other car was already trying to retreat and her blow sent it into the wall, where steam rose from the engine. Obviously furious at the quick exit, the driver shouted and hit the wheel.

“ . . . would have thought the unicorn would be such a shark?” the announcer roared, and Kate suddenly heard the upswell of noise.

The sound was deafening, a cacophony of screams, shouts, and stomping of feet. Was someone singing? Or was it music? The roar was punctuated by the rending of metal and the snapping of plastic as another car crashed into the back of Reed’s Honda.

A wide grin spread across her features and she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Then she stomped on the gas pedal and streaked across the arena, hunting. The battle had pushed to the other end of the arena, out of view from her and her previous victim. Dirt splattered the wall, kicked up by her tires as she careened around the smashed cars. She bounced her way toward the three remaining cars smashing into each other like brawlers in a bar. The fourth had collided into the row of crushed cars and looked much like them except for the steam rising from the engine.

Kate spotted Reed, still in the game but trying to extricate himself from between the other two cars. The green Honda was a mess. Its trunk was open, its doors bent, and the front corner was misshapen. She vacillated between striking him or another, but then a woman aimed for Reed. Anger surged within Kate and she turned toward her.

Going as fast as the slippery dirt allowed, she streaked across the arena and smashed into the front of the woman’s car just before she hit Reed, the impact sending her spinning away. It also sent Kate into the driver’s side of Reed’s car.

He rocked away from her and then stared at her, so she raised her hands helplessly. “Sorry!” she shouted.

She then laughed and put it into reverse to back up—but the other car slammed into Reed, knocking her to the side as well. She yanked on the steering wheel and tried to escape, but the impact had damaged the other driver’s engine and he began to swear as his car rolled into a rut and didn’t move.

Kate gestured to the woman’s car and Reed nodded, and together they accelerated toward the remaining opponent. They all struck head on, and the woman’s car died, rolling backward to bounce off the side of a ramp. The collision had sent Reed off course and around the ramp. Kate gained a devilish smile and pressed down the gas, sending her car after him. He saw her coming and swerved. The damaged front of her car slammed into his trunk, sending them both spinning.

Steam rose from her car, indicating the radiator had been cracked. Realizing she didn’t have much time, she tried to retreat and accelerate again but Reed shifted to reverse and followed her to the wall, smashing her like a mosquito. Her car promptly died, leaving Reed the victor.