Chapter 39: Race

BOOM! There was the honking of horns and screeching of tires to be heard overhead and I haven't everything happened in such a rush that it took me a moment to realize I was on the bike. And the fact that it was moving on its own at least for now.

As my brain gets adjusted to the new dimension-or probably the real one, I look around to find most of the players riding too. I theorize that everyone took a different tunnel. Not each tunnel worked for everybody. And then our tasks were variable too. What was done was done. If Jorge was right, then maybe all this confusion IS to bring me down. Then the way I feel what to do, a lot like intuition, could also be a trick.

This probably wasn't the time for philosophy, for a mild beep notified me that I had run off-track from the main route. And I was in last place right now. I hit the speed. The route for this race was apparently different from the previous one. But some roads were interconnected. That was a convenience the result being that I knew one shortcut.

I tried that one out and that put me in the tenth place. There were a total of sixteen players for now. The main route was bustling with activity. Too much traffic. The player in front of me crashed into a car. There was an explosion and the player was sent flying six feet in the air not to mention badly burnt. Once again, I wanted to pay tributes to the CGI programmers.

A notification appeared once more. The game got paused. And that now-familiar voice rang everywhere.

"THERE WILL BE NO MORE DIMENSION CHANGING

ALL PLAYERS LOAD YOUR GUNS.

THE ONE TO SURVIVE AND REACH THE FINISH LINE FIRST WINS.

GET READY IN:

FIVE

FOUR

THREE

TWO

ONE"

The game commenced. I heard gunshots. I loaded the gun in one hand and my the other I was barely holding on to my bike. And speaking of that, the bike is long enough for me to lie down which would probably reduce the risk of getting shot. It was dangerous all the same. Now wasn't the time for experiments either. Having players behind your back also makes you vulnerable. For me, it meant six players. I remembered that my rocket had the rocket booster and I turned it on. I shot blindly. I was losing my balance on the bike due to the speed. The grip was loosening too.

I didn't get into any accident if you didn't count me bumping into another player. That did not result in any sort of injury. Then, I felt bullets being shot at me. The health notification popped overhead. It was a little more than half. I looked back to see the shooter. Two players had probably teamed up against me to take me down. I felt angry. At that rate, I'd run out of health and when I'll be resurrected, everybody would reach the finish line!

Keeping all that in mind, I spotted another glass building. I knew I could break in easily. It will also be safer for now. I increased the speed and crashed inside.