Die on "E"

In the future, the world has burned, but the elite live lavishly on the resources that remain, and forced all others into camps of destitute poverty. Those in camps have one chance to change their position. Race. Win, and the road is paved in fame and fortune. Lose, and lose your life. The cars and drivers are linked by a biological interface; what happens to the car happens to the driver. If your energy gauge reaches the red "E," it's game over. The drivers have one motto, "Die on E," but if you win, you might just get out, of the Rat Races.

His finger hovered over the glowing green button labeled 'push to start,' and as he pressed it, Matt said to himself, "Here goes everything."

"Biological Interface Initiated," sounded a robotic voice. "Place hands on steering wheel. Place hands on steering wheel. Place ha . . ."

Matt placed his hands on ten and two on the wheel, and green light from the steering wheel encircled the whole wheel and then projected forward first expanding vertically, then turning and widening horizontally, and then merged with his hands and into his chest until he felt something connect snuggly around his heart.

"Biological interface complete," came the robotic voice, and Matt's biometrics appeared on the Heads Up Display (HUD) on the windshield on the left side, and seven more boxes on the right, each containing the identification and biometrics of the other drivers. Not all had full energy gauges. When you come from the camps, you are already beat up. You race with what you have. Matt was three bars less than full.

"Hey, hey, hey, come in brother. Come in. Talk to me," a voice came through the intercom of Matt's car.

"That you Coach?" asked Matt. Even though they just met two days ago and briefly at that, Matt felt relieved to have Coach in his corner.

"It's me brother, it's me," responded Coach. "I got you. I'll be in your intercom the whole time. Remember, this car is a machine controlled by a biological interface, meaning you can shape, repair, amend, and weaponize the car with your thoughts and will, all it cost is some energy, but we don't count the cost Matt, do we? Tell me baby, why don't we count the cost."

"Because if we count the cost, we might not do what needs to be done," Matt replied.

"Good. Good. You payed attention in training. A driver that listens. I like that. I like that a lot brother. Now you and all the other drivers in this forsaken race come from the same forsaken hell that made you all drop your names into a lottery to get picked for this nightmare so these rich pricks can be entertained and those in the camps can hope of getting out. So you all have some strong reason for being here. You all are hungry. But your reason, your reason for being here, it's got to be stronger than their reason for being here to win. What's your reason brother? What's your why? C'mon brother, I need to hear it again. What's your why?"

“I do it for her," and Matt looked at the photo he secured to the dash. He said it again once more to himself as his hands gripped the steering wheel more firmly.

"I like it. I like it brother. You got to remember your why. Listen to me. In this race, you got to let your why find your way to the finish line. Focus on your why. Your why is your power. It's your strength. Focus on your why. Let your why modify the car the way you need to win this race."

As Matt focused the car transformed into an old style mustang, with armored plate and large thrusters on the back.

"No weapons?" asked Coach.

"No weapons," Matt stated. I'm just going to outdrive them. "It's about the finish, not hurting anyone."

"Let me tell you," said Coach, they are going to try to hurt you. They are going to try to take you out of the race, but I like it brother, I like it. You're like a fighter who can take some punches and go the distance. That's my favorite kind of fighter. You dangerous brother. You dangerous."

"The Race Begins in 15 . . ." an announcement and countdown appeared on the HUD and the drivers revved their engines.

"Ok baby, here we go, here we go!" Coach spoke to Matt. I gotta know. You named her, didn't you? I know you named her. What you calling her?

"8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . ." the countdown continued.

"The same as my girl coach. The same as my girl. Her name is Sophie."

"2 . . . 1 . . ."

The drivers took off and the two to Matt's side immediately sped ahead of him and narrowed into each other blocking off the way. A missile exploded under those cars and sent them flying into the air and Matt pressed through. He zoomed down the track and into the first turn. Then he grunted in pain and the HUD flashed red as he looked at his rear view mirror with a grimace to see gunfire attacking the back of his car. He pushed his energy into reinforcing the armor and he lost another green bar of energy with only 6 left to empty.

"Good job brother, stay with it, stay with it," Coach spoke to him.

A monster truck came up from behind and ran over the car shooting at Matt and that driver disappeared from the HUD on the right side. Only three drivers left.

"Brother, you got to move. You got to move. Is that all you got to show me? Is that all you got. Let's see that speed brother."

Matt grunted and pushed the gas peddle down hard and the thrusters widened and sent him speeding ahead. He spent another bar of energy.

"You're in the lead brother, just . . . swerve, swerve, SWERVE!" yelled coach but it was too late and a missile impacted the back of the car and car shot up into the air and crashed hard on landing. His energy bar was at a one, and his car disabled.

"Brother. Brother. Matt. I can see one bar Matt. I know you are still alive. I know you are sitting in a death trap of a car. But I still believe in you. I believe in you because I believe in your why. It comes from a higher place. You hear me. Your why, it comes from a higher place. If you can hear me, you gotta find that place. You gotta want your why more than you want to live. C'mon brother. Show me. You got one bar. You're not dead yet. Do something with it. Do something with it. WHAT'S YOUR WHY."

Matt was barley conci0us in the car. He could hear his coach like a voice in an out of body experience, but he could see that photo. He could see that photo on the dash. "I . . . I do it . . . I do it for her!"

"Alternate power source detected," came the robotic voice and a beam of green light shot down from above and into the heart of Matt. Green electricity encompassed the car and what was broken, reassembled, stronger, better, and the thrusters became afterburners. The energy bars filled back up to full.

"Now I've seen the miracle. Now I've seen it," yelled Coach.

The afterburners widened and Sophie sped down the track. He passed the car in the second position and he came upon the monster truck but it was no match for his speed. All the monster truck saw a was a green blur as Matt lapped them both twice and sped to the finish line.

There was the lavish elite who wanted to meet him and touch the greatness they had yet to accomplish in himself, but all Matt wanted to do was get back to his camp, and when he did, there Sophie ran into his arms holding her teddy bear.

"Dad, you're back."

"Yeah, I won Sophie. I won. I'm getting us out of this rat race, and he opened the door for her and together they left their old life in the rear view mirror.”

~ ~ ~

Author's note: When I run or workout, I often have in my headphone motivation montages featuring motivational speakers, especially Les Brown and Eric Thomas. While the character in this story is fictional, I would like to express a certain thank you. I don’t know if he would like this story or not, but I at least want to use this space to tip my hat to him and say thank you. We may never meet or know the people we help by being ourselves and doing our authentic work, but to have a positive voice in my headphones has been significant in my life. So thank you again.