The Saturday afternoon warm breeze gave the illusion that the heat was going to calm down, and by evening possibly be cooler outside, but Lewton's weather tended to trick people into a false sense of promise. The air was thick, and the humidity was inescapable. Even those in front of a fan couldn’t escape the sticky nature of the heat, and the dark bitumen road scorched whatever touched it. Most people wouldn’t be outside for long at this point in the day—just a quick pop out and back into a dark and sheltered room, where they would feel comfortable.

But as the two bicycle wheels of Roadrunner zoomed down Ferrinton Way, the heat wasn’t even a concern. The chain zipping around as the bike picked up more and more speed. The pedals rotating around in a circular motion with ease as the bike was already traveling at high speeds. Richie Lynn’s sweat dripped down his forehead as his legs moved quicker than they ever had, projecting the bike forward as quickly as he could.

“Take your next left onto Jackson,” Billy Hilton ordered, guiding Richie quickly through some of the quieter streets. Billy gripped onto Richie as tightly as he could, but his busted arm ached with agony, so he found it hard to stay balanced as Roadrunner jolted from left to right with Richie’s force on the pedals.

“How close is he?” Richie yelled as he swerved the bike onto Jackson Street to his left. Billy glanced back from the buddy bar to see the distance between them and Ryan. Ryan Castlebrook’s stolen red Schwinn Paramount road bike was designed for speed compared to Billy’s BMX. Billy Hilton knew that they couldn’t outrun Ryan on flat, straight roads because his Diamondback Viper, being a BMX bike, just couldn’t compete with the light frame. And with both boys on the back weighing the bike down more, they would need to take the bike off-road for any chance of escape. He could see Ryan Castlebrook gaining on them and was now only about fifteen meters away.

“He’s gaining!” Billy advised, trying to think of the best possible way of escape. Billy Hilton knew that the Pit was dangerous, but he had also never seen Ryan like this before. He honestly thought that if Ryan Castlebrook caught them, there was a possibility that they would both be put into the hospital at a minimum. He could see him increasing with every pedal, and the distance was closing to only a few meters away before Billy had an idea. “Take a right through to Harrows Crossing!” Billy exclaimed.

“When?” Richie couldn’t see any right turn at all and was worried because if he missed the turn, the road directly ahead started to incline upwards. His body was already exhausted from pushing the bike as fast as he could.

“Now!” Billy screamed, knowing that there was a small paddock between the Greens' and Osbornes' houses leading into Harrows Creek. The entrance was tight, but if they could take Roadrunner off-road for a little, they might be able to increase their distance before they got closer to the pit. Richie banked the bike hard to his right, using the back brakes suddenly and then releasing them again, pedalling full speed ahead. The bike's right pedal scraped the road, causing a loud scraping noise, but the bike found the entrance, and they were now off-road on a dirt path leading them to the creek.

Billy glanced behind and saw that Ryan missed the turn-off as he was focused more on speed, but he could see him brake suddenly and start to turn the bike around. The tight cornering had done what it was intended to and gained a little distance between them.

Harrows Crossing had been a dry creek for as long as Billy Hilton had lived in Lewton. There were stories that a long time ago, it used to have flowing water when it rained heavily, but for the most part, he never went down into the creek and only passed by because he was worried about snakes or other wild animals that had made a home down there. Roadrunner bounced on the dirt track, and with every jolt, Billy’s arm throbbed with more pain. Billy Hilton's grip loosened around Richie as he readjusted his hold, and for a brief second, when they hit a big dip, Billy thought he would fly off the back of the bike, but Richie’s arm almost knowingly held him in place as he let go of the handlebars with his left arm just for a moment and helped keep Billy safe on the back.

“You okay?” Richie Lynn asked, concerned for his friend.

“I will be if we can get through this,” Billy replied as he looked back, checking where their chaser was. Ryan, who was now also riding in Harrows Creek, didn’t seem to be gaining on them as quickly; in fact, the distance seemed to be increasing as the bike pumped along the bumpy track. “I think we won’t be able to lose him before the Pit,” Billy said, defeated.

There was a pause before Richie answered.

“Then we just do the Pit,” Richie answered, knowing that he couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer. “How do we get there from here?” Richie was confused with the town's layout.

“There’s a small entrance onto O’Brians Road,” Billy began. “It’s pretty much at the point where you can’t go any further.”

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“Okay, and then the Pit is just there, right?” Richie questioned.

“Yep,” Billy advised.

“Hey, Rich,” Billy Hilton said softly as he gripped his friend. “I’m scared.”

“So am I, Bill,” Richie Lynn agreed. “But my mum has these stupid sayings.” Richie Lynn began. “Fear may feel heavy when you're alone, but together, it becomes something we can carry."

Billy Hilton smiled briefly before the pain in his arm became real again, wiping the grin away. He looked back and could see how persistent Ryan Castlebrook was, still doing everything he could to catch them.

“Okay, coming up, you’re gonna have to take a left into the alleyway before a sharp right where the Pit is,” Billy Hilton said quickly.

“Got it,” Richie answered, mapping it out in his head and readying himself for the quick consecutive turns. It seemed that the creek was coming to an end, and Richie Lynn knew that in the next few moments their fate would play out. Roadrunner, dirtied from the dust being flicked up, charged onward as the tyres gripped the ground effortlessly underneath.

“Turn!” Billy Hilton screamed as he hung on tight, his arm throbbing with excruciating pain. It was the worst pain he had felt in his entire life and he didn’t know how much more of it he could take. The only thing that he could relate this pain slightly to was when he was five, and he had tripped and rolled his ankle badly. The swelling of his ankle made him look like he had an elephant’s foot, keeping him on crutches for a few weeks. Even that paled in comparison to the constant pulsing agony he felt in his arm. It felt like there were insects biting his arm from the inside. The turn and sudden braking of Richie made Billy’s arm push against Richie’s back, and as the pressure built up, Billy screamed in pain. “Arrrggh!” The bike tilted with Richie’s tight cornering, and as he leaned back up, Roadrunner rebalanced and they were in the alleyway, only seconds away from the steep hill called the Pit.

“Hold on!” Richie Lynn pleaded to his friend, screaming on the back of the bike as he now banked the bike to the right, leading them sharply onto O’Brians Road.

“We’re almost there!”

Again, Billy glanced back, and Ryan Castlebrook was still swerving after them. Billy didn’t know if Ryan would be stupid enough to follow them into the Pit, but he was about to find out. Richie Lynn didn’t hesitate at all when Roadrunner came to the edge of the Pit for the second time that day. Where previously the two wheels had stood grounded at the top of the hill, this time they jumped off the steep decline at high speed, and both boys felt they were in the air momentarily as they saw the ground move ever so far from the wheels of the bike.

The steepness of the hill showed on both Ryan’s and Billy’s faces as they grimaced, not knowing if they or the bike would survive. The back wheel seemed to hit the ground first with a clunky bounce, throwing the front wheel forward at a speed that would rival any car. Without knowing the physics behind it, the boys stayed glued to the bike as it bounced, picking up further speed.

Then Roadrunner did something unexpected. Where the boys thought the uncontrollable speed would cause them to topple over, the bike seemed to correct itself, balancing their weight perfectly. Billy had heard the concept before—how speed could actually make it harder to fall off a bike. When the wheels spun faster, they created an invisible force that kept the bike upright, helping Richie stay in control even when the path was treacherous. It was as if the bike was stabilising itself with each rotation of the wheels, pulling them forward like a magnet, and the faster they went, the less Billy Hilton felt the risk of tumbling off.

Billy glanced backward to see Ryan Castlebrook pull to a stop at the top of the hill, anger clearly displayed on his face.

“Shit!” Ryan Castlebrook screamed, not risking the dangerous drop himself. “I’ll find you!” he pointed angrily as he quickly rotated the bike around and darted off unseen in the opposite direction.

As the decline started to ease off, Richie Lynn skidded the bike to a stop, and the boys finally came to a halt. They sat there muted for a few seconds as they processed what they had just done.

“We’re alive!” Richie elatedly stated. “Can he cut us off by going another way?” Richie huffed out of breath.

“He has to double back. It’ll take him a good 15 minutes,” Billy stated exhaustedly. “But we’ll be long gone by then.” He let his feet touch the ground as he stepped off the bike. “We did it.” Billy Hilton paused. “We survived the Pit.”

“And Ryan,” Richie Lynn added with a smile. “How’s your arm?” Richie jumped off the bike and took Billy Hilton’s arm in his own. He could see what looked like a giant blister weeping with liquid in the middle of his forearm.

“Ah man, that looks messed up.”

“It’s probably one of those rare cases where it does feel how it looks,” Billy stated, not looking directly at his arm because, for some reason, that made the pain worse. Billy pondered briefly how visually seeing his injury tricked his brain into feeling it more.

“I’ll survive though,” he smiled up at Richie. “Because of you.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Richie replied. “I’m sure my mum can take a look at your arm?”

Billy weighed up his options. He thought about what his own mother would say to him when she saw it. It didn’t take him long before he answered his friend.

“Yeah, that sounds like a great option.” Billy Hilton jumped back onto the back of the bike. “Just take it a bit slower now,” he said. “You know, on the bumps.”

“Will do,” Richie replied.

As Richie Lynn slowly pedalled away on Billy Hilton’s bike, a new bond had been made between the boys. A bond that was formed through that day’s traumatic events, where each boy felt they knew each other on a deeper level, no matter that they had only just met that day. It was the shared connection of standing up for one another and putting oneself in harm’s way.

It was this moment that their friendship was solidified. Unbelievable as it was, both boys laughed, relieved, as Roadrunner slowly rolled down the rest of O’Brians Road.