Jack barely had time to finish reading the scroll in front of him before the car behind him collided with the rear of his car. The force of the impact sent Jack forward, and he headbutted the yes option on the scroll. The scroll vanished upon Jack’s acceptance of the quest. He could only assume that whoever was attempting to run him off the road was the pursuers that the quest had mentioned. At least, he hoped that was the case because if not, he had at least two more problems to add to his quickly expanding list of problems.

Jack managed to maintain control of his car despite the impact. He looked into the rearview mirror to gauge the distance between him and his attackers and was blinded by the intense light of the other vehicle’s headlights. The other car was already attempting to hit Jack a second time. More prepared for the force of the hit this time, Jack gripped the steering wheel and floored the gas as the collision occurred. Jack could hear the cracking of plastic as his bumper split. He kept the throttle pinned to the floor as the speedometer continued to rise.

Jack had never been a fan of driving, much less been very good at it. He had a spotless driving record, but that was mainly attributed to never driving more than necessary and being overly cautious when he did. Being in a high-speed chase on the highway in the early morning hours was not ideal.

Luckily for Jack, traffic was almost nonexistent this early in the morning. The car reached its limiter and refused to accelerate any faster, and yet the other car continued to follow him. The pursuing vehicle was back on Jack’s tail in a matter of seconds. He knew he had to do something; he clearly couldn’t outrun them, and he had no chance of losing them on the empty highway. He briefly considered wrecking the car, and he was immortal after all. That idea left quickly as he remembered if his body took too much stress, he would black out again. He was pretty sure wrecking a car at over one hundred miles an hour would do far more trauma than his body could withstand.

“Can you fucking do something!” The voice yelled in Jack’s head.

“What exactly am I supposed to do? I’m terrible at driving; in fact, I’m surprised I haven’t wrecked this thing yet!”

The voice never got a chance to reply as Jack decided now would be the time to do something stupid and drastic. Jack jammed the brake pedal down as hard as he could with both feet. The tires squealed in protest, and smoke poured off them as the car began its rapid deceleration. The other car’s driver attempted to brake, but it was useless, and the car slammed into the back of Jack. Metal crunched and glass shattered as the force of the crash caused the two vehicles to almost fuse together and begin to spin.

Jack gripped the steering wheel so hard that blood flow was cut from his fingers, and they began to turn a ghostly white. He also screamed and screamed and screamed. Jack didn’t stop screaming for at least a full minute after the smoking wreckage came to a stop in the middle of the highway. Jack was beaten and bruised, blood seeping from multiple cuts and lacerations across his body. His right hand was a mangled cluster of flesh and bone where once there had been fingers. He hadn’t passed out, though; he still didn’t know the exact limit of trauma his body could endure before blacking out, but it was certainly more than an ordinary mortal could withstand.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Vita max increased by 10%, total maximum vita 113%. New skill martial arts acquired.” Lady Voice said.

“You mean to tell me whoever was driving that car was a god?” Jack said.

“Looks that way, kid. I don’t know how the hell you just did what you just did, but good on you. You're not dead, and you managed to kill one of those dirty gods.” Asshole Voice said.

“It was luck mostly,” Jack said.

“That’s some good luck you’ve got.”

“Yeah, good,” Jack said, looking down at what was left of his hand.

Jack knew he had to move; it wouldn’t be long before the morning rush hour started, and the smoldering remains of two cars sitting in the middle of the highway were sure to draw the attention of the police. Pulling himself from the driver’s seat with his good hand, he looked at his surroundings. Unfortunately, he was standing pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and forest lined both sides of the highway. He couldn’t just start walking down the road, especially in his current condition. That would draw as much attention as staying with the remains of the car would.

Shaking his head, Jack turned and walked towards the forest; he figured the cover of the woods was his best bet. Halfway across the highway, he stumbled across what he hoped was the corpse of the driver of the other car. The woman was dressed in a black ballgown that looked like something from a steampunk novel. He paused, standing over the body. She was lying face down on the asphalt, and he felt the urge to roll her over.

“Don’t waste your time, Jack. You gotta get the hell out of here. I really don’t want to have to kill more cops on your behalf.” Asshole Voice said.

“I’m still not sure how you did that,” Jack replied.

“I told you not to worry about it. I did what I had to, and that’s all you gotta know.”

“Right, but you’re just a voice in my head.”

“I don’t really see what that has to do with anything.”

“What do you mean you don’t see what that has to do with anything? That has to do with everything; you’re nothing more than a voice. A voice that, frankly, I’m still not convinced is real.”

“You don’t think I’m real? Wow, Jack, buddy, way to hurt my feelings and after everything I’ve done for you. Well, I hope someone else can step in and save your dumbass the next time you decide to get shot.”

Their conversation was cut short as Jack saw headlights approaching in the distance. Whoever was driving towards them was never going to miss the wreckage in the middle of the road, much less the dead body of a woman. Jack took one last look at the body; something was off about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something didn’t seem right.

The semi-truck braked hard as it came upon the accident. Jack could hear the air brakes working over time as they slowed the massive truck to a stop. Crouched low in the trees, Jack watched as the man jumped out of the cab and ran towards the twisted remains of the two cars. The man had his cell phone out and dialed emergency services as he ran. Jack kept his breathing shallow as the man discovered the body of the woman and ran towards her to offer aid. The trucker rolled the corpse over to check on her. As he rolled her body over, her head rolled in the opposite direction. The man immediately began vomiting as the sight was too much for his stomach to bear. The head rolled twice and came to a stop, its dead, wide eyes staring directly at Jack hiding in the trees. Jack swallowed hard in order to keep his meal from returning.

“Hey, you could always kill him, too. I mean, look at him. He’s too busy puking even to notice you. Just walk up behind him. One quick stab is all it would take. Get yourself a lil more vita.” Asshole Voice said.

Having seen enough, Jack slowly backed into the forest, ignoring the voice inside his head telling him to kill.