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Joy Ride - and ABH
by Sherrie
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Disclaimers: Grand Master Lucas owns Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan lock, stock, and....ah...yeah, barrel. Damn. I guess Iıll just have to put them back when Iım done. I got no money-honey, so donıt come looking to sue me for any.
Scenario: youıre a long way from home on a dark road in the middle of nowhere.
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<<blink>> <<blink>> <<blink>>
"Oh shit!" you curse to yourself. If only you'd remembered to gas up at that last stop you made. The annoying low fuel level light continues to mock you.
<<blink>> <<blink>> <<blink>>
"Okay, I guess I really had better find a gas station quickly," you mutter.
Outside, the nighttime countryside is black and forbidding. Overhead the moon is just the merest sliver of light. Your headlights donıt pick up on any road signs. This particular stretch of highway seems to be deserted...no headlights to be seen in either direction. Your concern rises a few notches.
You know that you can probably get another 15 or 20 miles out of your car when the level gets down this low, but thatıs not much comfort when youıre at least 100 miles from any significant civilization. All you can hope for is some small town gas station or roadside service station. Still, the radioıs not even picking up much out here.
There!!! Up ahead! A sign reflects your headlights! You slow a bit as you get closer.
OSHAWTOWN - NEXT EXITı the sign reads. Relief floods through you.
Another 100 yards up the highway, an exit beckons to you. You take the exit and slow to a halt at the end. Another sign, this one tiny in comparison to the highway sign, points off to the right. OShawtown - 12 milesı.
"Oh no," you groan. You're going to be lucky to make it, you're certain. Well, it's not like you have any options. Maybe if you can at least get most of the way there, you can walk the rest of the way. This area of the country is supposed to be that land of plenty where all the people are friendly and helpful. You laugh at the recollection of your friend's tale of the helpful travelers and the donated condom.
You turn your car onto the little two lane road. No lights can be seen from any direction. The trees and bushes crowd the twisty road, lurking high overhead like hairy giants. Here and there, gravel roads lead off from the 'main' road and head off deeper into the darkness. The trees hug every curve of the road.
You come to paved intersection, almost missing it in the darkness. There on the side of the road, another small sign points to the right. OShawtown - 6 milesı.
You twist the steering wheel around and point your car down the right-hand road. This road is virtually indistinguishable from the previous road. The trees still crowd close, interspersed only by the occasional gravel road.
<<sputter>>
Your heart leaps into your throat! Oh man, if you don't come to a gas station quick, you're going to be stuck and out of gas!
<<cough>>
"Come on car....just a little bit further!" you beg.
There!!! Ahead!! A light!
<<sputter>>
"Come on....just a bit more.....almost there!" The light up ahead multiplies. In the breaks of the trees you can just barely make out a large lighted sign and the lights from a small building. "Yes!" you shout. It's a gas station all right.
<<sputter sputter cough wheeze>>
Your car's engine dies *just* as you pull into the gas station. You coast to a stop in front of the station's single pump. You breath a huge sigh of relief and step out of your car.
Several minutes later, your car refueled (and then some!), you walk over to the small building where the station attendant waits. Inside, the gas station sports a small selection of snacks and drinks. You grab yourself a soda can and a bag of chips to munch. In the back of the small store, several guys in baseball and cowboy hats are busily grabbing cases of beer from the refrigerator.
You take the soda and chips up to the old geezer at the counter. He eyes you suspiciously as you place your items on the counter. "Gas too," you comment as he hits a few buttons on the cash register.
"$13.57," the man wheezes, sounding not too unlike your carıs engine on fumes.
You fumble with your wallet and pull out some bills. Behind you, you can hear the men from the back of the store shuffle up toward the counter. The smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and engine grime hits you like a wave. You can feel their eyes on you and your skin crawls. You canıt wait to get out of there.
The old geezer's eyes shift back toward the men as he takes your money. He doesnıt say a word as he hands you the change. One of the men behind you leans forward towards the counter and spits into the trash can on the floor. Uck, chewing tabacco. Gratefully you take your change and make a quick exit from the store.
Back in the car, you start up the reluctant engine and pull out of the station just as the three men get into a large, beaten up pickup truck parked next to the station. You hadn't noticed the truck earlier, sitting in the shadows where it is. Two more men in cowboy hats in the back of the pickup holler something at you, but you can't hear it over the noise of your engine. Your car's tires squeal a bit as you pull back out onto the road at tad too quickly.
You don't go but a mile before bright headlights stab at you from your rear-view mirror. Muttering in dismay, you flip the mirror to try and avoid the worst of the headlights. You also accelerate just a bit more to stay ahead of whoever or whatever is behind you, but the vehicle keeps pace, even closing the gap slowly.
Ever so slowly the vehicle draws closer and closer until theyıre just a few feet off your bumper. You are really getting panicked now. You've kept accelerating, but on this twisting road you don't dare go very fast. And with the distraction of those headlights, you really don't know if youıve missed the turn to get back to the highway. All you can do is keep going, and keep hoping!
<<SMASH!!>>
Your car jerks, whiplashing your neck slightly. Oh my god, you think to yourself, that truck rammed me!!! Panic and terror well up in your chest, curling your toes and sending adrenaline screaming through your body. Your heart pounds like a locomotive and your hands start to shake like jackhammers.
<<CRASH>>
Another ram from the truck behind you sends your car skittering along the road. A horn blast from the truck make your chest contract and your throat close up. Terror now settles in your belly like the stomach flu, gnawing away at your insides.
Behind you, you can hear the whoops and hollers of several men. The engine of the truck revs up again and you brace yourself this time for the onslaught.
<<CRUNCH>>
You almost lose control of your car this time. You've got to get out of here somehow!!
<<SMASH>> <<squeal>>
This hit was more on a fender than your back bumper and it skews your car sidewise and down onto one of those gravel roads you vaguely remember seeing once before a lifetime ago.
You desperately try to maintain control of the steering wheel. The gravel churns and slides under your car's tires as you accelerate again. The men in the truck did not seem to anticipate your sliding off the road onto this path, as you loose sight of their headlights for a moment. All you can think of is getting away from them, any way you can, and you hope that maybe they won't follow your car down this trail.
But your hopes are crushed as you glimpse headlights again in your rear view mirror. Terror sweeps through you again and you push your foot down hard on the gas pedal. Your car fishtails on the gravel, sending small rocks flying through the air behind you.
Faster and faster your car travels along the winding gravel road. The truck behind you easily keeps pace, it's horn blaring wordless obscenities at you. Panic has you deep in it's clutches and every sense seems heightened. But even that doesnıt help you as you turn into an ever tightening curve.
Time seems to slow down.
You can see every piece of gravel on the road in front of you.
You can feel every bounce of your car.
You can sense the tires losing their grip on the ground.
You can see the trees coming closer and closer, finally meeting with the front of your car.
You can see no more.
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