Marissa propped her bare foot on the dash of her boyfriend’s dusty old Honda as we traveled on forested back roads. I leaned my head against the door frame, feeling the fresh, hot air whip my hair around my head. I turned to look at the other passenger in the back seat. Jessica sat solemnly next to me, her hands clasped in her lap. We both knew Marissa could blow up if Daniel said one wrong word. She sat in the passenger seat, foot on the dash, leaning her head on her forehead and breathing as if she was trying to hold back. She probably was.
I took out the wrinkled, coffee stained map of West Virginia out from under the passenger seat. I don’t know why. GPS is running perfectly and the sun is beginning to set so it’s hard to see all the lines of road and highway, I just like to guesstimate where we are and figure out the math to see how many hours it will take for us to get to our beach vacation, a break from work, school and all the bullshit that goes with them. Smoothing out the crinkles of the map takes up the only white noise left after the radio. I don’t really mind. Awkward silence is so frequent with Marissa and Daniel’s bickering, I’m sick of it.
“Christy, why did you even bring that map? I have GPS right here.” Daniel picks up his technological map to show me, as if I hadn’t any knowledge of its existence.
“I dunno… I like my map.” I smoothed out some more wrinkles, creating more crackling noise, for emphasis.
“GPS doesn’t lie…”
“Yes it does, and it does it in that stupid woman’s voice.” Marissa let out a small giggle, barely audible. We enjoy picking on Daniel.
“She doesn’t lie to me.”
“That’s cause you guys talk dirty to each other when no one else is in the car. You desperate little freak.” Marissa laughed out loud. I almost want to pat myself on the back for releasing all the tension withheld in the car. Marissa scoots up in her chair, sitting properly.
“Can we stop at a hotel or something? I don’t want to sleep in the car all night.” Jessica perks up at Marissa’s request. I don’t think she’s used to these mood swings between Marissa and Daniel yet. I go back to my map while they talk about it, marking on the corner more miles and time notes. I’m running out of room in this corner for my calculations.
“Son of a bitch…” Daniel flips his rear view mirror, shielding his eyes from the high beams coming in from behind us. I fold my map and put it away, unable to read it anymore due to the light depletion. I groan, knowing Daniel will get pissed and we’ll be back in the same situation I had just diffused.
“Just let them pass you…It’s probably just some hillbilly.”
“Yeah, well I can be a hillbilly too.” I can feel the engine growl as he presses his foot on the accelerator. Jessica leans forward and smacks Daniel’s shoulder.
“Quit driving like a retard! We’re gonna get in a wreck!” Daniel jerked forward, over reacting from Jessica’s smack. I turned around, trying to figure out what type of vehicle it was (a truck, maybe). All I can see are headlights. It speeds up and rides close.
“Son of a bitch!” Daniel speeds up even more. I hold my breath, fear creeping up my spine. I look back at the vehicle again; it’s still close, too close. The seatbelt locks as my body is pushed forward from the hit or their grill to the Honda’s bumper. “What the FUCK!?” The Honda’s head lights lit up the road, revealing a buck trying to run out from the vehicle’s path. I hear myself screaming.
~*~*~*~*~
I hear something, but can’t quite make it out. Everything seems fuzzy. I try to breathe, feeling an extreme pain course out from my right side. I move my hand down to the spot where it hurts most. There’s something jammed into my side. I choke back a sob, still too afraid to look at my torso which is pulsating with more pain each second. There’s mud on me, why am I on the ground? Screaming. My head is ringing, but there’s definitely someone screaming.
I open my eyes, looking for the source of the scream. The Honda is the first thing in my sight. The hood is crunched up and it’s on its side. Headlights are behind it. The same headlights from earlier. I look down at my side and let out a groan of pain; a giant shard of glass is lodged into me. I’m covered in blood, and dirt.
I turn over and crawl to the car, feeling the glass with every movement. My hands touch the roof of the car first and I prop myself on the crinkled metal of the hood. I see Daniel, sitting against the trunk of a tree. The left leg of his pants is stained red from his hip to his knee and his hands are behind his back. He’s screaming something, but I can’t make out the words; my head is still ringing. I follow his eyes and find someone leaning over Jessica or Marissa. I can’t tell which one it is from this distance. The road is still close. Where’s the ambulance? I look towards the headlights and see another standing figure.
It’s Jessica. I move around the hood, trying to get closer to figuring out what’s going on. The ringing fades as Daniel’s screaming gets louder. Something is really wrong. The truck begins to reverse. Jessica screams and begins to tear at her right wrist. I squint my eyes, trying to focus on her. She isn’t tearing at her wrist, but at rope tied around it. The truck goes into drive, moving past her and increasing the speed. A bundle of rope next to her begins to diminish as the truck moves farther away. I gasp, not believing what’s happening. Her arm jerks in the direction of the truck, almost in slow motion, followed by her body. Screaming again, but it’s different this time, more permanent. I cover my ears, trying to block the sound out any way I can and turn away from the road which has been freshly littered with my friend’s flesh.
“Chris, run!” I barely hear Daniel calling my name, but it snaps me out of my trance. I move my legs, feeling them weigh more than usual. The heaviness of my limbs making running almost impossible, but I move anyways. A gloved hand wraps itself around my arm. An adrenaline induced punch lands in the face of my assailant, except it isn’t his face. I turn my head, finding a white mask instead of a face. He doesn’t say anything, just groans and puts his hand to where my fist had struck. I try to keep running but my foot gets stuck on something, causing my fall.
I turn to see what I fell over and find myself looking at the empty eyes of the deer Daniel hit. Vomit rises up from my stomach as the gloved hands grab me, pulling me back towards Daniel and Marissa.
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