Big City Hero UNOFFICIAL BOOK TWO

Chapter Eleven: On Top Of the World.

Charlie's P.O.V:

He screamed.

Loudly.

Right in my ear, if I might add.

Also, I think I am now deaf. Thank you very much, Coal, I always wanted to go deaf in my right ear.

In his best defense though, I was screaming too. No, sorry, you didn't stumble into a peaceful scene of Coal screaming his head off. Rather it's both of us screaming for our life. Why are two recently graduated fairly full-grown men screaming? I'll tell you why: it's because I am currently getting us both killed.

How? You ask. I'll tell you how just as soon as I stop screaming.

"Charlie Andrew Roberts! Pull over now!" Coal yelled. He grabbed my arm just in case we crashed and he could absorb the shock.

"I don't know how to slow down!" I screamed back, gripping the steering wheel tighter as panic seized me. The feeling like I was going to be sick only increased.

"Why didn't you tell me that before we left? You no good for nothing, incompetent, immature, careless, reckless best friend!"

"Hey, at least I wasn't the one who almost fell to his death and scared his fiancée to high heaven!" I shot back, grimacing when we narrowingly missed the oncoming semi-truck. Whew, that was a close one.

Coal stared at me, mouth slightly askew. "You didn't just say that." He scowled and dropped any clues as to whether he was joking or not. "I was prepared to absorb the shock when I landed. I've told you time and time again, shock absorbing is not a visible thing!"

I clutched the wheel so tight that it started to bend. Why do I always forget I have super strength? "Well that doesn't mean we weren't any less worried! Why do you think she told me to go save your ungrateful butt?"

Coal slammed back into his seat and sent me a death glare. "Pull over."

"How?"

"Push in the clutch, let you foot off the gas and shift to first gear."

"From fifth straight to first?" I asked, getting my hand ready to shift the gears like he said.

He let out a breath in a rush. "Shift from fifth, to fourth, to third, to second, and then to first. Never skip gears."

I nodded my head. "So, let my foot off the gas?" I asked, my heart thumped at the thought. "But I'm going fifty-five miles per hour, are you supposed to go that fast in fourth gear? There's a car behind us, what happens if they slam into our back? Which one is fourth gear?" Is this what a panic attack feels like?

Coal's face went slack. "That car is a good couple of miles away, you can go fifty-five in fourth gear, the engine will slow you down. Go to fourth gear before you get us both killed!"

Eventually, I slowly and clumsily went down the gears. I moved the car over the rumble strip and onto the shoulder of the highway a good distance from the traffic. I pushed in the clutch and brake and brought us to a grateful stop.

We sat there quietly for a few minutes, each staring straight ahead silently.

I dared a glance at Coal only to find that there was no emotion on his face to tell me what he was thinking. He used to be so easy to read, but ever since he became First-In-Command, he grew so distant that it's hard to tell what is going through his head.