No Escape

Everyone looked at the smoking car and there was a collective gasp of horror. The airbags had properly deployed, but the amount of blood that began to leak out of the car showed that there was zero chance that the people were still alive.

Several of the more faint hearted people even fainted at this sight. Jiana's mother's breath also hitched slightly, but she didn't faint. Lauren had a look of despair as she asked, "We have a car now, can we turn around and run away?"

Jiana responded flatly, "Where would we escape with a car? We're stuck on an island. The only way to survive is to keep pushing forward."

Jiana looked to her father who was in the passenger seat, only he could do something to help alleviate the fears of her mother and sister. To her disappointment, she saw that he simply stared absent mindedly at the tragedy that just occurred, seemingly in deep thought.

Outside, none of the cars wished to move forward and get on the roller coaster anymore. Instead, some of them tried to drive away. Before they got far, their tires exploded instead. It seems that they had unknowingly been surrounded by tire spokes. It was exactly as Jiana anticipated, the only way to survive was to pass this first ordeal.

Sighing, Jiana turned her engine on and began driving towards the entrance of the roller coaster ride. There was no escape, so she may as well face this challenge head on.

Most of the other cars had already backed away, as if it had the plague or something. As she drove closer, Lauren began to scream into her ear, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO! STOP! TURN BACK!!"

Jiana turned a deaf ear to her sister's protests, and locked the doors to ensure that she didn't accidentally fall out during the ride. Taking a deep breath, she calmly reminded everyone to put on their seatbelts as they reached the entrance. Everyone's eyes were on the black SUV that had just arrived at the front.

The young man behind the screen also turned his attention to the camera pointed at Jiana, watching on curiously. Was she brave or was she just stupid?

Entering the roller coaster, they felt the clamps on the rails grip their car as they were slowly lifted up slowly. The speed was tantalizingly slow. Lauren started screaming, "We're going to die, omg omg omg omg omg."

"Shut up!" Their mother screamed as she was already pale in fright. They all gripped the sides of the car and prepared themselves for their demise.

Lauren, who didn't seem to hear her mother, continued to scream at Jiana, "If we die, it's going to be your fault!!"

As she said this, she gripped onto the back of Jiana's headrest.

Jiana ignored all the noise as she focused on her breathing, concentrating on the feeling of adrenaline coursing through her veins. She was prepared to react at a moment's notice.

The car continued to rise higher and higher into the air, Jiana could also feel each gear in the chain connect as they moved.

Soon, Jiana estimated they were only 3 chain links away from the apex of the ride, she gripped the wheel tightly as she mentally counted to herself. 3…. 2…. 1… Now!

She floored the gas pedal, with her eyes wide open as she stared out the windshield. Even if she was going to fall to her death, she was determined to see it through to the end.

The ride came apart exactly like it had before, but due to Jiana's perfectly timed acceleration, she made it past the apex and they were now in free fall down the other side of the roller coaster. The bad feeling hadn't gone away yet, so Jiana kept her eyes peeled without even blinking as she prepared for the next challenge.

Sure enough, just as their car had reached terminal velocity, the rails suddenly changed and curved. Prepared for the sudden change due to her gut feelings, she turned the wheel with both hands while flooring the gas yet again.

Most people have a reflex of stepping on the breaks when they enter a turn, but that's actually a misperception. In fact, you should only slow down before a turn. Once you've entered the turn itself, you should step on the gas to prevent the car from slipping or overtilting. The gas allows the car to restabilize itself faster in the new direction.

After the turn, they approached a loop that would require the car to be upside down for a period of time. Lauren opened her eyes wide as she saw this and began screaming again, "NONONONONONO AHHHH!!!"

Stepping down even harder on the pedal, Lauren sincerely hoped that she had gathered enough speed to get past this loop. She had selected a heavier car, which meant that it would require a faster than average velocity to get past this loop. If they didn't have enough speed, they would either slide back down and be stuck in a passive situation, or come crashing back down when they reached the top.

Theoretically, if she is able to gather enough speed, she should be able to rely on the centripetal force to get her through the loop with ease. All she had to do was hold the wheel and make sure it stays straight.

The loop was fast approaching. As they entered the loop, time seemed to slow again. They inched up the loop in 3 degree increments, all the sounds in the area entered Jiana's ears slightly muted as though they were extremely far away. The adrenaline in Jiana's system allowed her to analyze and understand the present situation very clearly.

Once they reached the top and the car was perfectly upside down, the car almost seemed to stall for a second and Jiana even felt its grip on the rail loosen slightly. Jiana quickly reacted by pumping the gas pedal even more. The car reacted by sticking back onto the rail with the extra speed and the centripetal force. After that moment in the middle, time seemed to return to normal speed and the car completed the rest of the loop without much trouble.

Sweat was dripping off Jiana's forehead in large beads, but she still didn't allow her attention to waver in the slightest. Ahead, they were headed towards a cliff at extremely high speeds. Jiana quickly jerked the wheel of the car while pumping the breaks in a regular cadence to stop the car from falling over the edge.