Crossing the Line

CADE

My ribs scream with every breath. The bike beneath me feels like it's fighting me just as much as the track, the rear tire still smoking from the earlier hit.

But I don't stop.

I can't.

The finish line is just ahead. Three riders are still on my ass, their weapons glinting in the floodlights. One of them swings a weighted chain. Another raises something that looks like a sharpened spik