The Pontiac was moving faster than it ever had moved before. The speedometer only went to 120 mph and the needle had buried itself on that mark and stayed there for some time now. Wasn't fast enough. All I could think was that it wasn't fast enough. I pressed harder on the gas and the Pontiac moved even faster. Half way there and still not fast enough. I pressed down on the gas and the Pontiac moved faster still. The rear view mirror was vibrating violently and had become useless but I still had an inch before the gas pedal would touch the floorboards.

The Carter AFB Quad was sucking air so loudly you could barely hear the sounds of the dual exhaust. I had a concealed scoop under the hood that worked like a megaphone when the quad was at full throttle amplifying the sound. Awesome sound like nothing in the world. My beast was THE beast!

It was then that I noticed the rear tires seemed a bit soft. Wide sweeping turns out there in the country but I could feel a `softness' in the rear of the car. I decided not to worry about it. I had bought the most expensive radial-ply tires money could buy and installed heavy duty Monroe shocks. They had to be good enough because I had to leave that hell behind me and it had to be this night and it had to be now!

I was on the long straight away through Lexington and I relaxed a bit knowing it would stay this way for many miles. On a straight highway I was more confident. I had bought headlights double the power of normal headlights and aimed them up to shine for a distance of two city blocks or more. I drove fast at night and needed the advanced warning to avoid hazards. The Pontiac loved straight roads. Soaring down the road the trees on either side passed by in a blurr as they might in a dream.

Suddenly the engine was racing wildly and my headlights were shining into the dark but illuminating nothing. Nothing at all!

I realized my car was airborne and my mind raced to determine how this had happened and what to do about it. I stiffened my grip on the steering wheel so that if the car did land on the road again I wouldn't cause it to roll over because the front wheels were turned. A flash of horror swept over me that some construction company working on the road had dug a huge pit and forgotten to put markers on the road.

These thoughts raced through my mind in the time it would take a person to blink - once.