They called the man Flash Lightning because of how fast he was, but his name was Chase Cooper. He was only 27, the youngest person working for Caslow Trucking, and Esteban had brought him on years ago on the word of Jim. Esteban was looking for a long-haul driver and Jim claimed that Chase was the best of the best when it came to long hauls and that’s why Esteban had picked him to take the Dallas load that had $5,000,000 riding on it; Broker Adams had promised to pay Esteban $2,500,000 for the load and Chase’s cut of that was $500,000.
Chase stood about 6 foot 2, had a slender build, honey-beige olive skin, and straight, short, black hair that was combed forward. He had a couple of tattoos on his arms as well and he shook his head as he drove through the dark, only being a few hours away from his destination, his cruise control sat at 100mph. His truck was one of legend and couldn’t be missed: a Kenworth T680 with an American flag paint scheme.
“Breaker 1-9, Flash, did I just pass you?” came Statler’s low, raspy voice over the CB.
Chase smiled as he reached up and keyed the mic. “I should’ve known that was you in that big blue Freightliner Classic.” He stated with his low-pitched voice.
“Well of course it was!” said Statler with a laugh.
The CBs that they spoke through used special technologies and frequencies that made them superb to have; back in the old days, CBs could only reach 15 to 20 miles, but these CB radios could reach cross country.
“What’re you hauling over there, Flash?” Statler asked. “Saw you had that big 53-foot van trailer with you.”
Chase laughed. “Yeah, Road Warrior… I’ve got a load of medical equipment.”
“Wow, no wonder that bet was so high.” Said Statler in a surprised tone. “What was the bet?”
“Company Man said I couldn’t get it there any quicker than 15 hours with the hammer down, I said I’d have it there in 12 and a half.”
“Woooo!” Statler exclaimed. “You sure are gutsy, Chase, I’ll give you that.”
“You’re not kidding, but this thing has a suped up R.A engine in it and I’m running more horses than there are alive on the planet…”
Chase was suddenly interrupted by the sound of machine gun fire, the bullets ripping into the passenger side of his semi-truck but not making it past the quadruple armor plating or being able to make it through the level 8 ballistic window.
“Hey Statler.”
“Yeah, Flash?” asked Statler.
“I’ve got a bit of trouble over here.”
“What’s going on?”
Chase shook his head. “It looks like I have some of Owens’s crew on me; they just fired a whole clip into the passenger side of my truck, and I can see them driving up on my side. Looks like they have a pickup running behind me, I think they’re gonna try to hijack the load.”
“I’m almost turned around; I’ll be back that way in a second.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think you’re gonna make it in time.” Said Chase as he slammed his accelerator to the floor.
“That guy Owens.” Said Statler. “You’d think that after he lost the competition all those years ago that he would’ve learned his lesson, but no: he’s gotta hold a grudge and…”
“Statler, buddy, I know you mean well and everything but I’m in a bit of a fix here.”
Chase’s semi topped out at around 140mph and he checked his mirrors seeing the two cars and pickup truck far behind him.
Suddenly, Chase watched as a large blue Freightliner Classic appeared and slammed into the cars and pickup, sending them all into or over the guardrail.
“Wooo! Statler! That’s what I’m talking about!” Chase exclaimed gleefully.
“You ain’t out of the woods yet, little buddy.” Said Statler as he straightened his rig out and started pursuing Chase.
“What do you mean, bud?” asked Chase confusedly.
“I mean you have 2 guys on your trailer-top and they’re trying their best to get up to disconnect it from your truck.”
“Blast!” Chase exclaimed. “Are you kidding me?”
“Not at all.” Statler assured.
Chase held his CB in his hand mic, staring out his windshield as he thought and then he nodded and let out a defying chuckle, he knew he didn’t have time to slow down and wobble the trailer to shake the men off, but he had another idea.
The man called Flash Lightning keyed his mic again and spoke.
“Hey Statler, watch this.”
In an instant, Chase reached up and pulled the handle that handled the brakes on the large dry van trailer, causing the wheels to lock up, the trailer going into a sideways skid, the back of it shooting out and around the left side of the semi-truck, tipping as it did.
Chase kept his wheels straight and jammed the gas in order to start correcting the skid, and he watched with laughter as he saw the three hijackers go flying from the top of the trailer, disappearing over the canyon to his right as they screamed in terror.
“Wooo!” Statler shouted. “Boy, I don’t know where you learned skills like that, but I commend you for that move: I would’ve never thought of that. I was trying to catch up to you so I could bump your trailer or something, but this ole thing doesn’t have the horses you do.”
“Thanks for the help, Road Warrior, I’ll catch you on the flip-side.”
“Take it easy from here on out, Flash, I’ll see you when you get back to Vegas.” Statler assured.
A few hours later, Chase sat at the delivery site, his freight being off-loaded as he spoke to Esteban and Broker Adams on the phone.
“That Owens character.” Said Adams with frustration in his voice.
“Yeah, but what are we going to do about him?” asked Esteban.
“Don’t worry one bit, kid.” Adams replied. “We’ll put him to a stop; you mark my words: I’ll go to the bosses about this.”
“In any event, guys, I’m gonna have to bow out of this race until I can get my truck back to Kali’s Custom shop and get it repaired.”
“And I think you’re entitled to a bonus for what you went through.” Said Adams. “I’m going to up my payment to you all: let’s just make it an even $3,000,000, that way we can get our long-hauler back on the road as soon as possible and make sure he has a good payment to cover his pain and suffering.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Said Esteban. “And Chase…”
“Yeah?” Chase responded.
“Call me in the morning, and make sure you watch yourself on your way back to Vegas.”
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