"But I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more, just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door!" My friends screamed in the backseat. I rolled my eyes and grinned at my girlfriend as I tapped my index finger against the steering wheel of my old Pontiac.
Despite it being three in the morning without another car in sight for the past, well not five hundred miles, we were all in high spirits. We had just graduated high school, and this was the first time we could be free without our parents breathing down our necks.
I was with my girlfriend, Evelyn, and our two best friends, Lilly and Charlie. We were travelling across the country, going from our hometown of Boise, Idaho, to the Big Apple, the legendary New York City itself.
We drove along the empty highway for about five more minutes when I noticed a pair of flashing headlights in my rearview mirror. Two honks sounded, and Evelyn and I traded a look.
"What do you think they could want?" Evelyn asked, sounding the slightest bit nervous.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. The two in the backseat had grown eerily quiet. We continued in silence for been three and a half minutes. I couldn't see the car behind us anymore, and there weren't any streetlights either.
All of a sudden, the car jerked forward slightly. I looked around. "Did anybody else feel that?"
Evelyn looked at me, eyes wide. "It was probably nothing."
"Yeah..." I concurred, yet not fully in agreement. "Nothing..."
Two minutes passed, and we felt another bump. This one was hard enough to make Charlie, sitting behind me, knock his forehead hard against my seat. "Charlie!" Lilly screamed.
Charlie groaned and sat back in his seat. "I'm fine, Lil. Don't worry about me." He pulled his seatbelt on, wary of what else could come next.
As I drove, I kept glancing into my rearview mirror, but as always, there was nothing there. The person behind us must have kept their headlights off and was driving at a distance so my taillights couldn't catch them. It was unnerving.
Four minutes later, a sense of calm washed over the car. Nothing had happened, nobody had hit us, and we seemed to be fine. As I let out a sigh of relief, the screech of tires filled my ears. One blink later, and the whole area was lit up. There were at least a dozen cars surrounding us. Somehow, they had all kept hidden the entire time.
Another two honks sounded, and this time, the passenger in the car to my left signaled me to lower my window. "What do you want?" I screamed, hoping my voice could be heard over the roar of all the engines. Somebody needed a new muffler, that was for sure.
"You must be new around here," the passenger yelled back. His greasy hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days.
"We're just passing through." Evelyn ducked lower into her seat as a motorcyclist revved his engine beside her.
"This is our land," he continued. "You can't just barge through without paying a fee. You seem like nice kids, though, so we'll make you a deal. Beat us in a race, and you can pass. If you lose, we get your car."
"Race? In my beat-up old Pontiac? There's no way we'll win."
"Then we'll take your car right here."
"Fine," I shouted, exasperated. "We'll race."
"Good. First person to get to the green sign wins. Ready? Go!"
"Wait! What green sign?" I screamed.
"Figure it out yourselves!" the passenger cackled.
I gritted my teeth and pressed the gas hard. I worked my ass off to get this car, and I refused to lose it. "Come on, come on, come on," I urged. We were gaining on them.
Suddenly, all the lights given by the surrounding cars turned off, and we were stuck in nearly pitch-black darkness. My eyes took a second to adjust, but once they did, I understood why Evelyn had just let out an ear-piercing scream.
In our way was a huge buck staring right at us. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to move, so I did the only logical thing I could do. I swerved left and hit the brakes hard, hoping to avoid the buck. The tires squealed, and the smell of burnt rubber filled our noses. I gagged as I felt the car slam the hidden one beside us, and all I could think of was my mother. My car flipped onto its side and again until it was upside down. The airbags inflated, and I was hit with a mouthful of white nylon.
