Heathen/Nemesis

Forty-Five

The impact flung Donna forwards in her seat, the safety belt preventing her from hitting the windscreen.

She looked round, seeing the Audi reverse slightly.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ she screamed to the unseen driver as the black vehicle came hurtling towards her once more, this time clipping her offside light. She heard the crash of shattering glass as the cars clashed.

The Audi reversed a few yards. This time Donna stepped on the accelerator and the Volvo shot forward, dirt and stones spraying up behind it as she guided it back onto the road. She glanced in the rear-view mirror to see that the Audi was in pursuit.

She pressed down harder on the gas pedal, coaxing more speed from the car, trying to put more distance between herself and the maniac in the Audi, but whoever was driving the pursuing car had no intention of letting her get away. The black car swerved out in an attempt to get alongside her.

The road was scarcely wide enough to accommodate two cars travelling abreast but the Audi ploughed up a grass verge. Earth was sent flying upwards in a dirty wall as the wheels spun on the damp ground; puddles of water at the roadside splattered up the sides of the vehicles.

The Audi slammed into the side of the Volvo and Donna had to use all her strength to keep control of the car. Again she glanced at the windscreen of the other car but she could see nothing through the darkened glass. She spun her own wheel, smashing into the Audi. It skidded slightly and slowed down.

Donna accelerated, seeing a crossroads ahead.

She prayed there was nothing coming the other way.

The Volvo shot across the junction doing sixty.

The Audi followed.

Donna could feel perspiration soaking into her blouse and droplets beading on her forehead. When she turned her head her hair was matted to the nape of her neck. She gripped the wheel, looking alternately into the rear-view mirror and ahead, searching for a turn-off where she might be able to lose the chasing Audi.

The road forked about two hundred yards in front of her and Donna leant forward in her seat, willing the car to greater speed.

The Audi slammed into her again, the jolt almost causing the Volvo to skid, but she regained control and drove on. Her mind was blank. She was functioning on instinct alone. Self-preservation kept her going.

There was the renewed sound of breaking glass as the cars clashed again.

The fork was coming up.

Which way to go? Right or left?

She pulled hard on the wheel and took the left fork.

The Audi followed, spinning slightly on the wet road, the back end swinging round as the driver revved too hard. The momentary lapse gave Donna time to edge away and she pressed so hard on the accelerator she feared she might shove her foot through the very floor of the car.

The road was beginning to rise slightly, an incline that led to a gentle crest. Donna didn’t slow up as she roared up the slope. She was doing seventy when she reached the top.

The Volvo left the ground for precious seconds, flying through the air before finally crashing back down to earth with a sickening jolt that jarred every bone in her body. She winced in pain as she felt a shock across her back at the impact.

The Audi came hurtling over the rise, too, one hubcap spinning away from it as it landed.

Donna grabbed the gear stick, simultaneously pressing hard on the brake.

The Volvo skidded for about fifty yards, its speed gradually slowing.

Donna jammed it into reverse. ‘Come on you bastard,’ she shouted and pressed down hard on the gas. The Volvo hurtled backwards and Donna gripped the wheel tightly, knowing that this particular ploy was going to stop the Audi or kill them both. She didn’t know which.

The impact was massive.

The speeding Audi and the Volvo slammed into each other with sufficient force to buckle the Audi’s grille and shatter both headlights. The Volvo fared little better but Donna closed her eyes tightly as the impact hurled her forward again and sent her crashing against the steering column with enough force to knock the breath from her. But she forced the Volvo into first, the engine screaming as she drove fifteen or twenty yards down the road. There was a loud crunching of gears as she forced it into reverse again, then sent the car hurtling again into the now stationary Audi, shunting it several yards further back. More glass covered the road; she heard it crunching beneath the tyres. There was steam coming from beneath the bonnet of the stricken Audi, water gushing out like blood from a wound. When the black vehicle tried to move away she heard a horrible clanking sound and saw the bumper come free.

The driver reversed and the whole thing came away, dragged for a few feet by the car.

Donna sent the Volvo crashing into the Audi again, then shifted up through the gears and drove off.

The Audi tried to follow but it could not muster its previous speed. Donna saw it in the rear-view mirror, convinced and elated that she’d done it crippling damage. She shouted defiantly for a second, tears forming in her eyes, tears of terror and relief. Her body was drenched with sweat; it was glistening on her legs and she felt moisture beneath her on the seat. Donna wasn’t sure whether it was perspiration or if she’d wet herself in the hectic chase. For now, all she could think about was getting away. Getting back to the hotel. Calling the police.

She looked again at the rear-view mirror and saw that the Audi was turning into a side road, allowing her to go.

Her breath coming in short gasps, she drove on.