The Day I Said Goodbye || MAC

2: Inferno

Stampy continued to drive quickly along the road, breathing in and out quickly. The tears still melted down his sweating red cheeks and his jaw continued to shiver in the surreality of it all.
He was driving past 80mph up the motorway to get to Squid.
"Slow down, Stampy." Said the voice, harshly.
He shook his head, slowing down to 70, but just wanting to get to Squid as soon as possible so he could help him in some way.
"Squid's fine." The voice added. But Stampy refused to believe this,
"No he's not!" He shouted, "you shot him!"
"We've also shot your girlfriend." Added the voice.
Stampy's face went still and pale, he took his foot off the accelerator and the car began to slow down significantly.
"N-no you didn't..." he uttered,
"Just in the foot."
"What the fuck?! No you didn't!" He cried, his mouth dropping while he pulled over onto the hard shoulder, trying to find a way to turn around.
"Don't turn around! Do not turn around!" Yelled the voice in his ear.
"I don't care what you say! I have to get to her!" Gasped Stampy, his brain an absolute cluster of madness.
"If you turn your car around I will shoot her in the head."
Stampy stopped the car and leant his head in his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes were a war zone and his fingers shivered and gripped his hair while he audibly whimpered and tried to make the reasonable decision.
"What do you want from me..." whispered Stampy, wiping the tears from his green puffy eyes. "I'll give you all my money, I'll give you anything... just leave them alone."
Then Stampy's phone rang, he was shocked to see that it was Squid calling him.
Without waiting for the voice's comment, he answered it.
"H-hello?" He answered, trying to get himself together.
All he could hear was heavy breathing for the first few seconds. "M-mate... I'm so sorry..."
"Are you okay?" Stampy asked him, his eyes wide as he heard Squid cry into the phone.
"Y-you're gonna be asked to do something and- and..." he took another few breaths.
"Are you behind all this?" Stampy uttered, still unfocused as he sat in the car, his mind unable to concentrate.
"N-no... I mean... yes. Yes. And if you don't do what that voice tells you then your girlfriend is going to die!" Cried Squid.
"I don't believe you." Said Stampy in a low voice, genuinely not believing Squid and suspecting that he was being blackmailed. Stampy had seen him get shot on the webcam earlier.
"This voice.. it said I have twenty four hours to save you." Stampy said,
"Let. Me. Go." Growled Squid.
"No." Concluded Stampy harshly. Wondering what was on the line.
"Please! Please just do exactly what the voice says!"
Stampy looked down,
"Okay." He told him. "Okay.."
"Thank you." Said Squid, his voice shaking.
"It's okay.." Stampy Replied in a broken voice, turning on his engine again.
"Thank you." Squid repeated before the phone hung up. Stampy drove back onto the road and as he expected, the voice started to speak in his ear again.
"I want you to drive as fast as you can." Said the voice, "and don't stop."
"Who's life depends on this?" Stampy asked with dread as he began to speed up past 80mph, but there was no response.
"Now go out that exit onto the small lane way."
Stampy did exactly what he was told, indicating off the motorway onto a tiny country lane.
"Keep driving fast."
It was beginning to get dark, so Stampy turned on his full beam headlights.
"Turn off your lights."
"I'm not gonna be able to stop if-"
"If you go less that 70 miles per hour your girlfriend will die."
Stampy was terrified. This lane wasn't wide enough to fit two cars through it, and the bushes on either side were too high so he couldn't see around the jolting corners.
Little did he know, that coming in the other direction was Squid with his broken foot being told exactly the same instructions.
"I'm going to die if someone is coming the other way." Said Stampy out loud, thinking only of Sqaishey, then of Squid's words, and the constant repetition of 'thank you' to him..
then all at once, Squid's white Mercedes came charging around the corner. Stampy jolted to the left suddenly as did Squid. Their wing mirrors crashed together before both cars rolled and stopped suddenly.
Stampy remained upside-down in his seat with his eyes wide open. The airbags had blown and his jaw was shaking uncontrollably. He no longer had the competence to speak. The shock was too overpowering.
The voice in his ear kept on speaking.
"Joseph? Joseph are you alive? Can you hear me?"
But Stampy didn't respond, nor did he even listen. He didn't even contemplate the considerable amount of pain that he should have been screaming about.
Another car pulled over to help, and by the looks of it and ambulance was called.
Stampy wondered if Squid was okay.. if that even was Squid. Of course it was Squid, who else could it be? Anyone else.. but it must have been Squid.
Stampy wasn't even panicking. His breathing was in fact fairly normal. But he didn't dare move a muscle, he felt as if he was trapped, paralysed in this alternative universe. How could this be his real life? How could this be actually happening to him?

Then the paramedics came along, Stampy was able to see Squid's body being dragged on a trolley-bed into the ambulance. He had an oxygen mask over his face and looked in a bad shape from Stampy's brief glance.
"Hello? Hello sir- sir can you open the door?" Asked a young, brunette female paramedic.
Stampy tried to move his hand towards the door but nothing happened. He shook his head, thats when the panic began to draw in.
"Alright Sir, we're gonna help you out, okay?" Offered the lady, opening the door of his destroyed Fiat 500 and taking a look at Stampy while he remained mostly upside down in the car.
"Is... is he okay..?" Breathed Stampy, referring to Squid.
"I don't know, sir. I'm sorry. But let's just focus on you first."
Tears began to meander from Stampy's face. The initial shock had gone, now was the reality.
"H-he's my f-friend." He added, trying to catch his breath. "H-he s-said something was g-gonna happen.. h-his leg got sh-shot-"
"Careful Joe. You know what's at stake if you tell the police." Intruded the voice.
Stampy thought only of Sqaishey as he was dragged away with the oxygen mask, he suddenly felt exhausted. All he could think about was the voice in his head... was it Lee? And what did it want from him? Was Squid okay? Was Sqaishey okay?