On the Road

“Dang, is that 254?? Ughhhh…” Monty sunk into his seat. He clicked the cruise control button to turn it off and put his foot on the pedal.

“What?? That was the best part, this sucks. I hate this.” The song faded out and the commercial for Toyota Corolla began.

He looked out the window a the green trees zipping by and sighed. He missed his exit and there wasn’t another one for 10 miles. Dumb highway design if you asked him. He turned off the radio and drove in silence for a few minutes to reset himself from the series of unfortunate events that had just befell him.

In, 1, 2, 3, 4. Hup. 2, 2, 3, 4. Out. 3,2,3,4.

He went through a couples round of box breathing to pass the time. He kept his eyes peeled for the highway signs this time. He certainly did not want to miss the next exit and drive another 10 miles out of the way. At the next exit he should be able to connect back to route 9 and get to his destination.

“Here we are, 255.” Monty signaled right and took the off ramp. There were no signs for gas or food or amenities. Not a good sign. No sign is a sign, but a bad sign.

“Hmm. Left or right. Maybe, right?”

The street was empty both ways with no cars in sight. Monty hoped this way would connect him with some major roads to at least get his bearings. This seemed like farm country. No stores or even a gas station. Luckily, he was still at 3/4 of a tank, so there wasn’t an additional misfortune. The vast meadows spread as far as his could see. Every few miles he could see a ranch or barn distant in the fields, far from the road. He saw fields of tall stalks, lush green pastures, some swaths completely burned away from what looked like calculated fires.

1/2 tank left. Intersection again. Left or right?

“Maybe I should turn back? It’s so far… But at least I would know the way.”

He slowed down and pulled into the shoulder. He still hadn’t seen another car in the past hour. Plenty of time to K-turn on this narrow road. His front tires went into the dirt but came back onto the road with a little extra gas.

“Back the way we came. Well, me anyway.” Monty waved a hand around at the empty seats around him.

He pressed the gas pedal down. It was a clear road and straight for several miles he could see. The speedometer increased, floating past 60, past 70, slowing at 90. The steering wheel vibrated. Monty felt the power of the engine through his palms. The engine and sound of the car flying of the concrete overpowered the radio. He didn’t dare release a hand from the wheel to adjust to volume. The speedometer stopped increasing at 95. Monty rocketed down the roadway for another few seconds, feeling the speed press him back in his seat. Then he let his foot off the gas and the speedometer quickly declined, as if anxious to get back to a reasonable speed.

Monty looked left and right. Still nothing familiar.

“Let’s try the GPS… No service. Of course.”

Monty continued heading in the direction he figured would eventually get him to some sort of sign to at least orient himself.

No longer minding the speed limit, he almost hoped to get pulled over just for the chance to talk to someone for directions. He was lost among a rural area with few houses now. It seemed less and less likely he would run into a store or gas station to ask for help.

1/4 tank left. Turn around?

As it started to get dark, the trees grew denser surrounding the road and darkened the car even more. His internal compass told him continuing in the same direction would bring him more into residential area, away from his destination.

He pulled off the concrete road onto a dirt and gravel road. There were haunted looking trailers and scrap metal debris encroaching on the road. None of the trailers had lights on inside or outside. It all seemed abandoned.

None of the lots had a driveway, so he had to pull a k-turn in the road again. His headlights lit up one of the backyards as the car turned around. He saw a tall figure with a big stick in its hand. The figure hit something Monty couldn’t see, but it made a loud ringing sound of metal on metal. It was the only sound in the night and it echoed for many seconds.

Monty froze in his car as he saw more figures appear from around corners and behind trailers. None of them had any light sources, but their shining eyes revealed their location. Monty panicked and hit the gas hard. His tired spun in the dirt and gravel, digging a hole but not moving him forward. He twisted his steering wheel and dug in his tired further. Monty took a deep breath and looked all around him again. The figures did not seem to be moving towards him. However, he still wanted to get out as fast as possible.

“Ok, easy…” he pressed the gas more gently and his tire climbed out from its hole.

He drove slowly to not agitate his watchers. Getting to the main road he turned off; he glanced in the rear-view mirror again. the figures had moved into the road he had just driven on and blocked the road. With only the light of his taillights, they were all bathed in red light. Dark humanoid figures surrounded with a red aura. He still could not make out any details, but did not try too hard.

As he turned back the way he came, his phone lit up with a new message.

Mom: Where are you?

“Finally, civilization…” Monty sighed in relief checking his rear view again.