Page 23 of We Are Yours

Nothing but fucking trouble.

The horn of the train was no longer at a distance, no longer echoing through the cold breeze, no… now it was right in front of me.

Blaring.

Blasting.

Sounding off.

Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo! The train whistled, flickering the beaming headlight, warning me to get off the tracks, but I didn’t heed the warning. I decided to play with it instead.

I gunned the throttle, triggering my tires to skid across the rocks as I reached top speed. Swerving from one side to the next, I practically dumped my bike to the ground, almost dragging my knees with it. I didn't let up, jumping the tracks a few times to catch air, causing the suspension to protest when I landed.

The bike was screaming no.

My mind was yelling yes.

My body was in autopilot, like it’d been most of my life.

The motor revved up and down with every jump and bump I hit.

The train whistled louder, two long, one short, followed by one long bellow.

Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!

The RPMs on my bike were spinning out of control, rising higher and higher, causing the bike to shake as I lost myself to the intense game. Another horn sounded even closer this time, piercing through the evening sun.

Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!

Red lights flashed, and smoke suddenly filled the air as the train came barreling down the tracks, getting louder and louder every second it approached. The polluted air made it hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to feel as if I wasn’t suffocating from the inside out.

Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!

Exhaust smoke trailed out of the tailpipe of the bike while I continued to push the limit, redlining the engine seconds later.

But nothing was going to stop me.

Not the tires smoking as I hit seventy.

Eighty.

Ninety miles per hour.

The brakes on the train squealed, protesting against the tracks with the flashing red lights blinking all around me.

Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!

The train’s brakes pumped harder, clinking against the tracks while barreling toward me.

Woooo! Wooooooooooooooooooo!

And just like that, I shut my eyes for a moment, and all I could see…

Was her.

When the horn blared one last time, I opened my eyes and saw that it was right there, just a few feet in front of me.

I smiled.