Second Chance

Chapter 97

"You're insane, Justin!" Maria yells over the wind rushing past us.

"I know, but it's the only way to lose them!" I respond, as I drive up a winding ramp at almost full speed.

The biker gang is close behind us, so hopefully we can get away from them somehow in the mall. We're in the parking garage area right now, but I soon make it onto the platform that leads directly into the building. Luckily, the automatic doors are open, and I speed through them without having to break any glass in the process. However, Maria lets out a squeak of terror as I make a sharp right turn into the main area with all the stores and shit.

The way this mall is set up is that the top floor is basically one big balcony that wraps around the entire interior of the building. Below that is the ground level portion with more stores lining the walls, and a giant water fountain in the middle. Looking down at it now, it must have been very impressive when this place actually had power. It's still in pretty good condition though, as if it's been untouched in years.

I don't have much time to take in the scenery though, I have to focus on losing these guys that are still on my tail. My first thought is to find an elevator and take it down to the ground level, but I come to realize that is a stupid idea because the elevators don't work anymore. I could take an escalator down, but there's a good chance that we would go flying off the motorcycle or crash it and die. So no, not a fantastic option either.

Probably the best idea is to hide in plain sight, and that would be easy enough to do, but I can't do it with these guys five feet behind me. Right now, the only thing I can do is take tight turns in every direction, and hopefully find a place they can't get to.

As I'm rounding another corner, I come in sight of a maintenance hallway, and I abruptly take it. My stomach lurches as I tilt to the left, and Maria screeches in alarm, but I manage to steady myself before we go skidding to the floor. Up ahead, I see a narrow escalator, and a sign in front of it saying 'out of order'. I decide to take a chance, and drive straight through the sign. Immediately after, we start up the stairs, and it gets very bumpy and uncomfortable very quickly. In hindsight, this was probably a mistake.

"Justin!" Maria cries, gripping onto my stomach tighter and burying her face in my shoulder blade.

I don't say anything, I just step on the gas and make it up the last few steps. I glance back, and to my delight, the biker gang has stopped at the bottom of the escalator.

"Justin, stop!" Maria suddenly shrieks, and I quickly turn my attention back in front of me.

Very near ahead is a giant slab of wood that I very much can't drive through that's blocking the entire damn path. Beyond that, from what I can see at least, is another hallway filled with stores that were never finished.

I slam on the breaks and turn the motorcycle to the side, so we skid to a stop only a few inches away from the wood. We obviously can't go this way, and back down the escalator is the motorcycle gang probably trying to figure out how to get up the stairs, and to my right is a dead end that looks off probably to the water fountain. Basically, we're trapped, and I can only think of one way out of this.

"Maria, I'm going to do something really stupid." I inform my girlfriend, turning around and starting forward again.

"No! Whatever you're thinking, don't do it." She pleads, but I ignore her.

I speed up, and get closer to the dead end that's a glass railing that I can easily break through. I do that seconds later, and I am yet again free falling with Maria screaming behind me. Again, really stupid idea, since we're at least thirty feet in the air, but I keep the momentum of the motorcycle going, and to my relief, land on the ground level safely.

"Holy shit." Maria breathes, as I loop around the water fountain and speed down another hallway.

I can hear the distant yells of the motorcycle gang, and a moment later, see them basically fly down the escalator directly across from us. I hope that they will just crash and die at the bottom, but they manage to hit the ground level and keep on rolling too.

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath, and take a turn down another narrow hallway.

I notice this one has a gate at the start of it, and I'm struck with an idea. I slow down a little, and the moment I see a crevice in the wall, I make a sharp turn into it and skid to a stop. Moments later, the five other motorcycles come roaring down the hallway, and the moment they are past us, I screech out of my hiding spot and race out of the hallway. I immediately slam on the breaks and spring off the bike. Maria yells at me to get back on, and the gang down the hall yells at me that they're going to kill me, but I pay no attention to them. I yank the gate that I saw earlier, and it clatters forward. I manage to pull it all the way across the hallway, acting as a barricade. Once I lock it in place, I run back to my motorcycle, and a second later the lead gang member crashes his bike into the gate, nearly breaking the hinges.

Realizing I don't have a whole lot of time to escape, I speed away and make it to a different section of the mall. Ironically, we're now in the beauty section, and I decide to take refuge in a bra store. Great.

Maria and I wait in silence in a changing room, and after what feels like hours, the distant sounds of roaring engines and shouting finally fade away, and at last I feel safe. We leave the changing room and get back on the motorcycle, which has been hiding in an assortment of bras hanging on wall hooks, and coast out of the store.

After doing a quick loop around the now dead quiet mall, I realize we're finally alone. Maria and I get off the bike when we make it back to the water fountain, and she grins at me. "Great, now that that's done, let's go shopping!" Fuck me.