Missy felt like she was in a horror movie. The classic high school girl, driving down a dark road, alone, at night, in the middle of nowhere. She could practically hear the creepy music. She had the feeling of a little kid who was left alone for the first time. Taking every little noise to mean that she was gonna die. That “low gas” light had been staring her in the face for what felt like too long. She was praying that her piece of shit car could just get her a little further. The constant humming of the engine and the wheels spinning on the road consumed Missy’s mind. Along with the repetition of “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She couldn’t see anything ahead of her. Her awareness ending where her headlights faded out into the night. Like the world was being created directly in front of her. God knows what was happening behind her. All of a sudden, Missy was 6 years old again. Letting her imagination create demons, creepy dolls, and smiling clowns. Then Missy saw a small light in the distance. And as the light grew closer, her monsters started to fade away. And they vanished entirely when Missy saw that the light was coming from a gas station.

Missy’s temporary happiness quickly left her when she realized she was at about the shittiest gas station she could have possibly imagined. It looked like what you would find a couple days after all of humanity went extinct. She pulled up wondering if the pumps still worked. As she stopped, she saw a man walking towards her car. His clothes were so dirty that it looked like a chunk of the run-down wall had started moving. Missy wasn’t sure whether she should be happy to finally see another person or worried about this stranger who she was hoping wasn’t a serial killer. She was worried about how the man was getting very close to her car. He was limping so much that it almost looked like he was hopping. With his hunched back and long hair she could barely see his face. She just sat there, not knowing what to do as he came up against the window.

“R-r-regular m-m-m-ma’am?”

Missy released some of the air she had been holding in for the past couple minutes and nodded. He nodded and hobbled back to the machine. Missy was able to breathe a little, but she was still very far from relaxing. She was thinking about how after her tank was full, she would race out of there and not look back.

When the man came back to her window he was different. He somehow looked even crazier. He irises weren’t touching his eyelids anymore. He looked deranged. He was shaking but making a significant effort to stay still.

“Th-th-theres a p-problem w-with the g-g-gas”

“What!” Missy yelled through the closed window.

“J-just come t-t-take a l-l-look”

Missy knew what she was doing was stupid, but she figured, if it came to it, she could fend him off long enough to get back in her car. She had nowhere to go. If she left now she would be stranded within 30 minutes. She opened her door and stepped out. Suddenly, the man grabbed her arms. He whispered in her ear,

“C-c-come with me. Th-th-“

Missy struggled and screamed and was able to pry his fingers off of her, all while he screamed unintelligibly. Missy shoved him to the ground and got back in her car and drove away.

As she faded from his view, the man stumbled to his feet and screamed,

“TH-TH-TH-THERE’S SOMEONE IN THE BACK SEAT!”