call_me_chas (call_me_chas) wrote in morningstar_mnr, @ 2009-06-20 21:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | car, chas, deacon, npc |
Heading west
Sleep had been disjointed at best and so tempers where high the next morning. Deacon had grumbled with the rest of them but after a huge cup of coffee had calmed down. They were getting close to the end and now was not the time to lose focus.
Today they had one of the longest stretches to go - and one of the last that would be in more rural areas and on long stretches of straight roads. Now was the time to really push it because it was a qualifying round. There were eight of them left - and only three would be on the last stretch tomorrow. So by the time they had gotten a few hours out of town everyone was beginning to really push the speed limit.
Charlie checked the mirrors and turned round in his seat to look behind them. Behind the road narrowed to a pinpoint, ahead it did the same. This was going to be a test of raw power and resilience.
And of bladder capacity, he thought. He was being very careful with his fluid intake.
"Let me know when you need to change over," he murmured. "Also when you need another drink."
"I'm good," Deacon said, glancing in the mirror and with a smirk pushed the gas pedal down more. With a deep growl Car shot ahead, gaining on the BMW ahead of them.
Charlie bounced in his seat looking back at the red dot that was the Lamborghini and, just beyond it, the other red dot that was the Nissan. Despite the seriousness of their situation, despite the threat hanging over them, and over him in particular, he couldn't help grinning.
"They don't seem to be gaining," he said. "Bet they are hoping Car busts a gasket or something."
"Yeah well they're outta luck on that one."
Deacon got closer to the BMW and stayed right behind it for a moment, drafting it, then when the traffic in the lane next to it cleared he zipped around and Car shot ahead.
Charlie chair danced enthusiastically, laughing as the BMW's driver scowled at him. "Oh yeah, he's pissed off," he said. "Now let's see if we can keep him that way."
With the laptop out of commission they had had to fall back on their other equipment. Luckily the route was simple - eleven hundred miles of almost straight road across West Texas into New Mexico and on through Arizona.
Whoever needed to stop least, whoever could keep going, whoever maintained the best average, would most probably win.
Charlie saw no reason why it shouldn't be Deacon.
The BMW stayed close behind for a while but then it made a move, coming up along side them and they were nose to nose, going over ninety, when they passed a billoard on the side of the road. A moment later both drivers looked to their mirrors in alarm as a siren sounded and lights flashed.
"Shit!" Deacon breathed, glanced at the BMW's driver - who looked at Deacon - and both floored it.
"Oh bugger, bugger bugger, sorry!" Charlie said, because it was his job to look out for the tell tale signs of police presence. Only in this case there had been no radio on, no radar, and he suspected that perhaps the car had been parked so someone could take a leak behind the billboard.
He shrank down in the seat, as though making himself small would make Car go faster, and crossed his fingers. She did go faster, though whether for that reason or not who knew. But Deacon and the BMW were both racing to get away from the cop and they were coming up on some traffic.
"What do we have in the back?" Deacon asked suddenly. "Anything like that jelly donut? Soda? Anything we can hit his windshield with? If we can get him to stop then that cop might - shit hang on."
The slower traffic was suddenly there and Deacon zipped around one car, cutting off the BMW, and zagged around another on the shoulder.
"Coca Cola?" Charlie offered, rooting through the legitimate cooler. "I could shake it up a bit. Christ ... whoa that was close. D, what if he leaves the road? At this speed he could kill someone. He could kill those cops."
The Bmw was still behind them, just, zig-zagging to try and find a way past, and beyond him was the flash and clamour of the police car.
"We'll get past this first," Deacon said, concentrating hard on the road ahead and having to slow down some or risk hurting themselves or someone else. The BMW - well honestly he didn't care.
They both tried to dart into a space and Deacon made it first - just - ignoring the loud blare of a big truck's horn. The BMW went to the left, on the shoulder, and the police followed and then all three of them were out of the little bunch of traffic and flying down the road again.
Charlie's heart was beating in his ears as he looked back at the plume of dust drummed up by the BMWs wheels on the broken ground on the shoulder. He stared at the way it boiled across the road, caught by the cross wind.
"Yes," he said. "Oh yes, D. Look."
He was already shaking the can hard as he spoke and rolling down the window.
Deacon glanced quickly in the mirrors, seeing the billowing dust and immediately catching on to what Charlie was thinking.
"Perfect," he said and looked ahead again. If he slowed down a bit and then drafted the BMW and swept around on the shoulder...
He shifted gears quickly and the BMW shot ahead of them, Deacon immediately moving in close behind it. He stayed close, moving with the BMW as the driver tried to shake him, obviously unsure what was going on, and the cops got closer behind them.
"You ready?" he asked Charlie and when Charlie nodded Deacon acted.
The Challenger shot from behind the BMW - but not to the open lane next to it but instead onto the shoulder, picking up speed as it came up along side and throwing huge amounts of dirt and dust up in a cloud.
"Now!" he shouted, just as they began to pull ahead.
Charlie lunged for the window and popped the top of the can. Coke jetted into the air, spraying across the roadway and spattering across the BMWs windshield. Immediately the dust mixed with it and the BMW swerved and the wipers flicked, but merely spread the muck in a sticky film. The car swerved again, hitting the shoulder hard and bouncing across the rough ground.
"Go," Charlie whooped. The cops wouldn't be able to deal with both of them.
Deacon floored it and Car shot forward, swerving back onto the road. Deacon glanced in the mirror, seeing the BMW skidding to a halt on the side of the road, the cop beginning to slow down, unsure if he should take what was easy or go after the other. But Deacon made that choice easy. Once Car was firmly back on the road he hit the button mounted on the dash - the one connected to the Nitrous.
Fire flashed from the tailpipes and Deacon and Charlie were pushed back into their chairs as Car shot off down the highway - headed straight for the state line.
Too shocked to do more than squeak, Charlie felt his insides flatten against his spine. The acceleration was brutal, Car's engine bellowing as she sped along the road. It wouldn't last long, Deacon had said, but probably long enough and Charlie rolled his eyes to the mirror to watch the flashing blue lights recede into the distance.
When they were gone and Car slowed and Charlie could move again, he croaked, "Wow! I want one of those for my van!"
Deacon chuckled, eyes flickering to the mirrors but no flashing lights showed up. Yet.
"We need to change the license plates," he said, slowing to normal highway speeds. "Guarantee that cop radioed ahead to state troopers."
He'd thought something like this might be a possibility and so had gotten a hold of another pair of plates to switch out if need be. He just needed a quiet place to pull over.
"Licence plates and how about a go faster stripe in a different colour?" Charlie said with a grin. "Ten minutes tops and it'll wash off with a bit of shampoo when we're done."
Deacon grinned at him. "Have I mentioned I love you?" he asked. "Cuz I do."
Up ahead there was a turn off that lead into the trees and so Deacon took it, getting Car off the road and under cover. When he turned off the car the silence seemed absolute.
"Ok let's get this done quick," he said. "We don't wanna lose ground."
Bottled water got the dust off and charlie used low tack masking tape to block off a stripe along each side of the car, then got his special spray out.
While Deacon changed the plates, Charlie carefully applied bight orange stripes along both wings. Eye catching and not in particularly good taste, they made Car look completely different.
"Done," he said. "Nine minutes twenty. Are we good or what?"
"We are. Okay hop in and let's get going."
They cleaned up and were quickly on their way. There was a moment of nervousness when a state trooper car slowed as they approached, going the other way, but continued on without incident. The change of plates and look to Car had worked.
Now they just had to get to the check point.
More driving shenanigans. Nobody dies.