Free No Going Back by Matt Hilton

her frustration at her cellphone manifesting itself upon her features so that she looked like she was about to implode.
    ‘It’s no use!’
    The pick-up loomed in the rear-view mirror, growing exponentially so that all Jay could see was the front grille of the large truck. Momentarily Jay thought they were going to be pushed off the road and in reflex she jammed down hard on the gas pedal, winning them a few seconds’ respite as their car surged forward.
    ‘Oh God, oh God,’ Nicole cried like it was a litany.
    ‘Strap in tight, Nic,’ Jay yelled. ‘I think things are going to get worse.’
    ‘Why are they chasing us? What have we done to them?’
    ‘They don’t need a reason. They’re just crazy!’
    As though to prove the point, the driver of the pick-up pulled alongside them, driving parallel in the opposite lane, and it was a good job that the road was otherwise deserted or they’d risk a head-on collision. From the passenger window leaned the young man with the straw-like hair. He was slamming his palms on the outside of his door and yelling obscenities. Jay yelled back, but that only caused the young man to lean out further and reach for her, as if intent on tugging her out of the window. Although it was practically impossible for him to do so, Jay reacted by swerving away, and her offside wheels went off the road and into the soft sand of the shoulder. The SUV was sturdy enough to power through the grit, but it was still enough to cause the steering wheel to judder and almost rip out of Jay’s hands. Beside her, Nicole screamed in terror.
    ‘Call the police, Nicole!’
    ‘I’m trying but it’s still no good!’
    Jay yanked on the wheel, sending the SUV back on to the carriageway and again the pick-up truck hastened towards them. It was so close that Jay could have reached out and touched the hole where a wing mirror was once fixed.
    She snatched a glance at Straw Hair and wished she hadn’t. He had pulled out a gun and was aiming the shining steel barrel directly at her face.
    ‘Pull over, bitch, or I’ll ventilate your goddamn head!’
    In response, all that Jay could think to do was scrunch her head down into her shoulders and keep on going as fast as possible.
    The pick-up continued to parallel them, easily matching them for speed. Jay wished that a huge rig would come from the other direction and smash the crazy men off the road, but she could see way across the desert and nothing moved except their racing vehicles.
    ‘Last chance, bitch. Now stop the goddamn car!’
    The boom of the gun was so close that Jay expected to be dead in the next instant. She even pictured the hot bullet taking out the side of her face and spraying blood and brain matter all over Nicole. When she tore her gaze from the road ahead, she saw that the man was already lowering the gun so that the next shot wouldn’t be fired into the sky.
    ‘OK! OK! Take it easy. I’m pulling over.’
    From beside her Nicole’s voice was plaintive. ‘You can’t stop, Jay. They’ll kill us.’
    ‘They’re only trying to frighten us. They’ll just do what they have to do, then leave us alone once they’ve had their fun.’
    ‘Jay, for God’s sake, don’t stop! You know what kind of fun those beasts are after . . .’
    ‘What else can I do? If I don’t stop they’re definitely going to kill us, Nic.’
    And that was how she’d ended up here, in this coffin-sized structure, covered over with a tin sheet which she now recalled had been wedged over her and then chained down.
    Before this, there had come two horrendous days that she could hardly bear to contemplate. Except the memories kept on coming, little snippets of terror and humiliation that stacked up in her mind, threatening to topple her into an abyss of endless torture.
    Forced to stop, Jay had foolishly wound up the windows and locked the doors of the SUV while Nicole continued her fruitless task of attempting to call the police. Straw Hair smashed the window nearest