CHAPTER 15 – THE DEATH DERBY 500 (OFF ROAD) PART 1
As soon as the starting light turned yellow Johnny heard a loud bang and then followed by an explosion. Johnny didn't even look back as he knew what had happened. The light turned green, and Johnny floored it. Johnny had seen that seven cars were already out of the race from his on-board computer.
Johnny knew what the explosion was as he thought back to that day. As he drove the prototype over a rough, rocky landscape for the first leg of the race. He recalled his car at a race had been tampered with. He was lucky the race had been postponed for a few hours.
Johnny recalled a bad wreck that ended up with a car flying into a portion of the grandstands. Thankfully, Banzai Bangers even though it was sadistic to the drivers. It wasn't the same for fans on the matter. People had to sit up in higher sections of seating. A car flew into the lower stands had to have the race stopped. A fire had broken out in the lower stands and needed to be put out. Banzai Bangers would only through a red flag on rare occasions and this was one of them.
I'm glad Banzai Bangers cares about the attendees at least. Johnny let out a sigh as he rounded a rough corner. As one of the past clone Johnny's cut him off. Johnny blew out the rear tires as he passed. He looked back as the other Johnny gave him the finger.
Johnny then thought back to the event. Due to the postponed race. He had left his car on the track under the red to get food and sign autographs. About a half an hour into the delay Johnny's car exploded into a massive fireball that consumed six other cars in the process. Johnny remembered looking on in horror as his car detonated. Banzai Bangers could never find the culprit. Which made Johnny mad. From that day on he had his car inspected before and after every race twice.
Johnny wasn't doing so well at this point. Although, he was running just outside the top fifty. His progress was slowed from getting hit from others who kept ramming him or trying to shoot him with weapons. As a result, he had to drive more aggressively. Can I not get hit every few seconds by someone. It is smarter to take the alternate route up the mountain since most vehicles aren't meant for it. He thought in frustration as took an alternate route to avoid being rammed off the road or worse.
. The alternate route was riskier but was shorter in length. It would go up and down a mountainside. Whereas the regular route looped around the whole mountain on a dirt path with gravel. Johnny slowly began the ascent of the mountain as he drove. He paid attention to his surroundings for other drivers. He only caught a glimpse of ten drivers using the mountain road. Many of which had already made it off the mountain.
About half an hour later he made it to the peak. As he crested the peak, he got a good look at the rest of the off-road portion. He stopped for just a few minutes to get a good look at his surroundings. He then looked down the mountain to see where both roads merged back into one route. The road lead over a dry canyon with a wooden bridge leading across. He looked around the canyon in both directions. One side rounded a bend that was blocked by other mountains. The other side led uphill with a wooden dam holding back some sort of black liquid he couldn't identify. An alert made Johnny come back from his site seeing. His on-board computer was letting him know he was running outside the top seventies. Johnny let out a curse to himself as he thought. I cannot be so distracted with the sights… He drove down the mountain trying not to beat himself up over it.
The descent down the mountain wasn't as bad as going up. Johnny had made up time with the alternate route going down. He had made it back to the upper fifties in position as he was now heading for the wooden bridge. He could see a handful of vehicles crossing the bridge in front of him as he approached. Johnny gunned over the bridge not wanting to be rammed off by any rivals. A few were whacking each other as they crossed. He only made it about half-way before the ground began to shake violently. Fearing the bridge was going to collapse, he gunned it to the other side. The part of the bridge soon collapsed from the shaking. Johnny watched in horror as a few vehicles plummeted off the edge of the broken span. He looked back to see the other side of the bridge still stood…
The other drivers on the bridge began to panic. Johnny remained calm although deep inside he wanted to panic too. He put the prototype into reverse as he drove backwards as the ground finally stopped shaking. Johnny let out a sigh of relief. As he did, he heard a loud crashing noise of splintering wood. The sound was soon followed by a loud roar of raging rapids. Johnny looked over in the direction of the noise as he was still reversing. Johnny face soon turned to an expression of horror as he saw the wall of black liquid rushing down the canyon at a horrific speed.
All hell had broken loose on the bridge as the remaining drivers were ramming into each other trying to get off the bridge. Some were going in reverse others had turned around and drove to the other side. Johnny was one of them. Knowing his life was on the line and the other drivers were just clones of himself. He didn't care who he rammed into on the bridge as he made a dash for it. He knocked the others off the bridge as he made his dash. Johnny looked at the wall of black liquid as it was now several hundred feet from the bridge. Johnny had only two hundred more feet to go…
The black liquid started to consume the bridge as it hit it. The first part of the bridge to fall was the side that already had collapsed. Within seconds the bridge began to fall apart all around. Johnny barely made it across as he skidded to a stop. He watched with an expression of horror as the bridge was washed away along with six other drivers who hadn't made it in time. After about a minute the black liquid had completely vanished from the canyon leaving no trace of the bridge.
A message on the prototype's terminal alerted Johnny. It informed him he needed to take a new route. Johnny groaned as he had to go in a new direction.
This is just too much…, thought Johnny as he plotted a new course for the check point…
Johnny sighed with relief as he approached the next starting point, he was running in seventy-fifth position with seventy-sixth just behind him. Taking the detour had cost him a lot of precious time. He could see the checkpoint ahead of him as he drove.
Once again, he took the less traveled routes to keep from getting rammed or blown up. The prototype's suspension taken a beating causing it to rattle. The last ten miles were even more difficult for him. The front left tire had blown. The blown tire cost him serval spots dropping out of the top fifties to mid sixties as each mile passed.
With three miles to go the tire was completely shredded. He now had to go slower. Which cost him even more spots. With half a mile to go the left front rim fell off. At this point he was getting too frustrated. Not wanting to give up any more positions. He pushed the prototype to the breaking point. The front of the prototype was dragging creating a shower of sparks as he limped into the next checkpoint.
As soon as he passed over the marker for the one hundred- and twenty-five-mile mark. Johnny's ears were filled with loud bangs. He looked back as he saw seventy-sixth position explode into a massive fireball. The car wasn't the only one to blow up. Johnny had heard other multiple explosions. That he could hear close bye and far away. They were then followed by rising columns of thick black smoke.