Page 52 of Help Me Remember

“I don’t know what’s more annoying, that you’re somehow making sense or that despite being unable to remember hardly anything, you can still make stupid pop culture references.”

“Make up your mind while we get through this. Maybe it’ll help,” I said just as the car caught up to our back bumper.

Gritting my teeth, I took the next turn, hitting the gas pedal just as we began to clear the curve. It wasn’t the smoothest motion, and even I felt my stomach twist in anticipation as we reached the line that ran along the division between the road and thick woods to our right. Messy as the maneuver was, it worked enough to prevent the red car from bashing into the back of us as we took the next turn. I knew it wouldn’t work a second time, and as I watched, they quickly gunned it and swerved around me.

“Ballsy,” I muttered as they gained on us. The road shrank to two lanes, and my view ahead was blocked by the constant curves. Either they were confident no one would come down the oncoming lane, or they simply didn’t care. Neither was of great comfort to me.

“Dylan!” Eric barked from beside me, and my head snapped toward the window. The car had gained quickly, the passenger side window was already down, and I saw the gun poking out from the interior.

“Hang on!” I barked back as I saw the muzzle steady and aim directly for the interior of our car. With a grunt, I switched my foot and immediately slammed on the brake. Eric and I lurched forward, but the red car shot ahead, and the bullet completely missed us. “Christ, someone’s getting impatient.”

“They’re not trying to capture us anymore,” Eric said, the queasiness returning to his voice.

“Yeah,” I drew out, forcing the car to slow again as the red one braked hard. “And apparently, they’re more confident behind the wheel than I am.”

“That’s…not very comforting.”

“I have the nagging feeling I’m a lot meaner than they are,” I grunted as I whipped around the car to prevent them from running us off the road. “Now get down.”

We were fast approaching the point where the woods stopped, and only the cliffs remained. I needed to keep to the left of them, so if we did go off the road, it would be into someone’s yard or into the thin woods on that side. Getting run off the road on the right would mean death for both of us.

The sharp report of another gun reminded me there was one other factor at play in this little battle.

“Fuck!” Eric barked, squirming as a bullet hit the glass, and I heard the dink of metal striking metal.

“Agreed,” I hissed as I felt a sudden burning line of pain in my side.

“Dylan?”

“Stay down! I’m going to do something stupid.”

“Not comforting!”

“Not trying to be!”

I adjusted the speed and swerved as much as possible to throw off our attacker’s aim while I waited. More bullets rained down on us, and I hoped that for the next few seconds Eric wouldn’t get hit.

“Are you bleeding?” he asked in horror as we came around the next large curve. One that just happened to involve a heavy drop-off on the right side of the road.

“No,” I lied, growling as I pulled as far to the left as I could before rapidly dropping my speed. “Brace yourself. I’m not an expert at this shit.”

Which I proved immediately as I swerved hard to the right. My aim was off, and instead of hitting the back end of the car where it would have spun them, I slammed too close to the center. Metal crunched, and I heard the squeal of our tires as they tried to get away and I tried to pull loose.

“Dylan!” Eric screamed from the passenger seat as we barreled toward the cliff's edge.

“Son of a—”

I slammed on the emergency brake and cut the wheel hard to the left, desperately trying to get free. With a grind of thick plastic and metal, our car tore free of the other. I had enough time to register the red convertible sliding in a harsh screech of tires toward the edge, only to tip out of sight.

However, my little maneuver had cost me all control, and the brakes weren’t working. The car swerved and weaved drunkenly as I fought to regain control. Realizing we were going either left or right no matter what, I made the easiest decision between the two.

I opened my mouth to warn Eric, and then a tree trunk was in front of us. I heard rather than saw the horrific crunch and the sound of shattering glass. I flew forward, feeling something firm slam into my face, scratching and burning as I was thrown back against the seat.

The world spun around me, and I wondered what had happened to Eric before my head slammed into the side of the car as we came to an abrupt stop. Stars erupted in front of my eyes, and I struggled to clear my vision.

“Dylan?” Eric muttered from beside me. His voice was strong, though, and I could only hear the tremble of fear and adrenaline.

Good, I thought to myself as the darkness around my vision grew thicker, covering everything until all I could hear was the ticking of the engine and Eric calling my name.

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