1. Fractured Memories

Will Austin woke up to the familiar sound of a stock car firing up and revving. Such had been his mornings for the last two years. He poured himself some coffee, lit a cigarette and attempted to nurse his never ending headache.

Will was a man of average height and a bit of a stocky build. He was almost thirty but his piercing hazel eyes seemed to belong to a man far beyond his years that had seen too much. He had a large scar that went through his right eyebrow stopped short of reaching his eye lid, then resumed under his eye for another inch and a half. The other scars managed to stay hidden under his dark brown hair and beard.

It had been exactly three years, four months, and twelve days since the accident that had ended his illustrious career as a stock car driver. After that accident he developed a heavy reliance on Tennessee's finest whiskey and pain pills and simultaneously depleted his fortune.

Will pondered on how he got to be in the shape he was in. He could remember the morning before the accident, the smile of his wife when they crossed into Florida from Alabama on their way to the beach and nothing more. Every thing else was fuzzy until he woke up in the Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center four months later.

He had lost everything that day. His beautiful wife Anna, his favorite car, his career, his health, and his ability to drive. The never ending migraine was a result of the accident after all. About that time he heard the familiar awkward footsteps of his friend and business partner Logan Johnson shuffling towards the door that separated Will's living quarters and the rest of the shop.

Logan Johnson was a mountain of a man in his late twenties. He stood at an impressive six foot eight inches and weighed every bit of three hundred pounds. Yet his face still resembled that of a teenage boy and his voice exuded the same childhood enthusiasm you would find in a ten year old boy. He wore a knee brace thanks to a series of unfortunate football injuries that now presented themselves in his awkward gait.

"Yeah I'll be out there in a few minutes." winced Will.

"Well do you think you could quit wallowing in your self pity a little quicker? I've got this car ready and we need to be in Talladega by 6PM if we want Cole to test it for us."

Will turned and gave him a smirk, swallowed a pill and washed it down with some coffee. "You think I'm going to let that spoon fed punk test would could be the fastest car to hit that track before me?!" bellowed Will before letting out a laugh that caused his migraine to briefly intensify. Logan could only roll his eyes and close the door. He was well aware Will was being serious.