Asphalt Knight (Legacy Version)

Session Thirty Five: Hollow Victory

The crowd immediately stepped back. Michael realized most of them hadn't seen the race due to how difficult it was to fly a drone in-between all of the trains.

However, the Medics new how to do their job.

The crowd parted and an old school Chevrolet ambulance carefully drove through the gap parking about 15 feet from the Foxbody. The ambulance made no engine sound, and Michael realized this particular ambulance belonged to one of the rare Racing Authority licensed crew of paramedics, cleared to use a manually driven car instead of an AutoCab for rapid response. It must have been converted to an electric drivetrain to save cost and increase reliability and off the line acceleration.

Michael motioned to the passengers side of the Foxbody.

"She's in there, there was a big wreck, I pulled her out but the car is still out there, it might cause an accident." Michael said, still in a bit of a panic.

One of the paramedics nodded.

"We'll send in word to the city, the trains will be detoured from around here, that way a tow truck can get to the car." They said calmly.

The next half hour passed in a daze of guilt and exhaustion for Michael. Riley was wheeled away on a stretcher after being removed from the Foxbody.

He hadn't even realized he was still wearing his helmet even though the race was over.

Michael felt tired, guilty and scared. Through his pride and desire to be the best, he caused someone to be severely injured

If he had just hit the brakes and let her by, all of this would've been fine.

Come to think of it, it reminded him of the dream he had Friday night. It had felt so real, it was more like a memory than a dream...

Michael ducked back in the Foxbody and moved it out of the way, shutting it off after parking it off by the sidewalk. He slid his helmet off and put it in the passenger seat.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Michael heard the familiar purring of a 2JZ motor. He turned to see Michelle's BRZ park behind him, followed by a black Racing Authority M5.

Michael stepped out of the Mustang, trying his best to appear as normal as possible.

Michelle stepped out of her car first.

"We won! Dude we won..." Her excited expression faded when she saw the grim expression on Michael's face.

"There was... an accident." Michael sighed.

"oh..." Michelle simply said, backing up and sitting on the hood of her car.

The doors of the M5 opened simultaneously, and Amelia and Nick stumbled out from the back seats, followed by Kalinda who gracefully exited from the passengers side.

Nick leaned against the M5 in a daze, while Amelia stood looking Michael in the eye, a single tear rolling down her cheek. After a few seconds, she sprinted up to him and threw her arms around him.

"You're ok...You're ok!" she said into his shoulder, squeezing Michael so hard it almost impaired his breathing.

After about a minute she let go of him, planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

Nick walked over to Michael and gave him a fist bump.

"You won man..." He said with a slight smile, "Why are you so bummed out?"

"She wrecked. She's going to the hospital."

"So? Why do you care? She wrecked your ride..."

"It was my fault. You weren't there, she could've died."