Chapter One: Beyond Kilometer Twelve

The production vehicles halted behind him, but no one stepped out. A faint rewinding sound whispered through his earpiece. Then color began draining from everything. A man's unfamiliar voice spoke against the bones of his skull. “Don't stop. Anyone who stops gets edited out.” Lu Xiao released the brake. Color crashed back into the world. The camera car nearly rear-ended him. Shen Mo did not shout. He merely asked, “Who did you hear?” Lu Xiao gave no answer. At kilometer five he smashed through a prop barrier. At seven he swerved around a mine that had not yet detonated. At nine, twelve men stood inside a maintenance station that should have been empty. Their racing suits came from different decades.