1 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: This happened when I was eighteen, making the road trip 2 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,679 from my hometown to my new college. I had all 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,199 my stuff shoved into the trunk and back seat of 4 00:00:16,199 --> 00:00:20,679 my cheap SUV. This was not only my first long 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,239 road trip alone, but was also going to be my 6 00:00:23,359 --> 00:00:26,320 first time being away from my family for an extended 7 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:31,800 amount of time, so my nerves were reasonably high. Anyway, 8 00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:34,880 the directions I was taking said it was six hundred 9 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,200 miles total, which I split into two days of driving. 10 00:00:39,399 --> 00:00:42,000 I was taking whatever route the maps had me take, 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,640 and it estimated i'd make it to the hotel at 12 00:00:44,679 --> 00:00:49,079 eleven p m. But with possible traffic, gas stops, and 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,640 getting food, I knew i'd likely get there much later. 14 00:00:54,479 --> 00:00:57,719 By seven, the sun was fully gone and most of 15 00:00:57,759 --> 00:01:00,960 the cars were gone too. Every once in a while 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,600 a car would pass by and I'd see their headlights 17 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,120 slowly fade out in front of me, but for most 18 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,000 of the drive it was just me. This actually made 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,680 me really tired and bored. Around ten, I decided i'd 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,799 stop at the next gas station before making the final 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,719 stretch of the drive. About ten minutes later, I exited 22 00:01:22,719 --> 00:01:26,760 the road and entered a gas station, Being so far out. 23 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,159 This wasn't a town or anything. It was literally just 24 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,840 a gas station with a few pumps in a tiny 25 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,359 convenience store. I didn't see any other cars on the 26 00:01:36,439 --> 00:01:39,480 road or in the lot, and not even any lights 27 00:01:39,519 --> 00:01:43,680 from any nearby houses or buildings in the distance. I 28 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,079 pulled right up to a pump and got out to 29 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,319 start topping off my tank, and as I looked around, 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,480 I almost got jump scared by a guy walking up 31 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,640 to me. In comparison to myself, he was much older, 32 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,760 probably fifties if I had to get and he honestly 33 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,640 looked homeless. But regardless, being approached out here wasn't something 34 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,120 I was expecting, and his short smile didn't make me 35 00:02:11,199 --> 00:02:16,919 feel any more comfortable. I do you need something, I said, 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,280 hoping he wouldn't walk any closer. The man stopped a 37 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,159 few feet from my car and looked around almost cautiously, 38 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:31,879 before responding, take the exit back onto the highway. I 39 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,919 looked at him, confused, not sure if I was understanding 40 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,199 him right. He pointed behind me at the exit I 41 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,280 came from and repeated himself, take the exit back onto 42 00:02:43,319 --> 00:02:48,560 the highway. After a second, I said okay, and the 43 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:53,039 man walked off, but I was still really confused. The 44 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:55,560 exit I came from that he wanted me to take 45 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,360 again was a one way road, so by his logic, 46 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:01,680 he wanted me to drive on the wrong side of 47 00:03:01,719 --> 00:03:04,919 the road and do a U turn back onto the highway. 48 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,639 It just didn't make any sense. I looked out at 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,879 the entrance road, the obvious one that I was supposed 50 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,879 to take, and there were no signs of any construction 51 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,000 or anything blocking it. It just looked like an empty 52 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,120 ramp back onto the highway. As I put the pump 53 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,919 back and got in my car, I glanced over at 54 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,599 the man who was now just sitting against the side 55 00:03:29,599 --> 00:03:33,240 of the convenience store. The more I thought about it, though, 56 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,439 the more crazy that man seemed just to be sitting 57 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,400 out here saying nonsense. I thought maybe this was some 58 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,000 kind of trap or something, so I went with my 59 00:03:43,159 --> 00:03:45,840 instinct and drove out of the lot and toward the 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,159 entrance to the highway. As I merged onto it, though 61 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,960 I realized pretty much all the street lights were out, 62 00:03:55,039 --> 00:03:58,400 I slowed down, thinking maybe this was a construction zone 63 00:03:58,479 --> 00:04:02,439 or something. I kept my eyes focused on the road 64 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,960 directly ahead, making sure to be cautious of anything, but 65 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,719 while I made my way through the unlit road, I 66 00:04:10,879 --> 00:04:13,759 saw only a brief outline of a figure to my 67 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,319 left before a pickup truck came out of nowhere and 68 00:04:17,439 --> 00:04:22,040 stopped right in front of my car. Every door opened 69 00:04:22,199 --> 00:04:24,959 as four men jumped out of the truck and started 70 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,759 running up to my car, holding weapons of all kinds, 71 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,920 metal bats, machetes, knives, and not even anything covering their faces. 72 00:04:35,759 --> 00:04:39,480 They just had this emotionless gaze, like they felt nothing 73 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,879 of what they were doing. I quickly started backing up 74 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,519 as they got just a few feet away from my windows, 75 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,639 and once I got far enough back, I suddenly saw 76 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,920 the outline of dozens of people coming out of the 77 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,879 shadows off the side of the road. A few even 78 00:04:57,959 --> 00:05:01,319 tried chasing my car as I frant reversed out of there. 79 00:05:02,439 --> 00:05:05,879 As soon as I could, I turned around and sped off. 80 00:05:08,319 --> 00:05:11,800 I called nine one one once I felt I was safe, 81 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,240 but for some reason I never got a call back, 82 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,959 no update on it at all, almost like they didn't 83 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:24,480 even check on it. Ironically, though, it was the creepy 84 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,079 old guy at the gas station that tried to prevent 85 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,279 me from even getting caught up in that mess, or 86 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,600 at least that was what I assumed he was doing. 87 00:05:33,879 --> 00:05:37,279 Either way, I was incredibly lucky to get out of 88 00:05:37,319 --> 00:05:40,759 that with my life, as I have no idea what 89 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,040 that was or what they were all planning to do. 90 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,639 It was a typical Friday after my college classes were 91 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,879 out and I was spending the night doing door dash. 92 00:06:03,319 --> 00:06:06,439 This was my regular routine, dashing on the weekends to 93 00:06:06,439 --> 00:06:09,800 help me pay for all my living expenses while on campus. 94 00:06:11,439 --> 00:06:14,079 The night started well, getting a lot of orders done 95 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,480 and making a good amount, and then it hit a 96 00:06:16,519 --> 00:06:20,600 stalemate after the big dinner rush, very few orders were 97 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,360 showing up, and the ones that did they were very 98 00:06:23,399 --> 00:06:27,680 low paying, basically waste of time orders. But then, after 99 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,279 an hour of aimlessly driving around, an order came through 100 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,199 that wasn't too bad. It was eight miles away, but 101 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,800 the payment was well worth it. It was nothing absurd, 102 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,120 but enough to make it not a rip off like 103 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,639 a lot of the other ones were. I accepted the 104 00:06:44,759 --> 00:06:47,199 order and ran into the restaurant to grab the bag, 105 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,759 then hopped in my car and started driving. The map 106 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,600 said it would take thirty minutes, which I think was 107 00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:57,839 the longest of any orders I'd done. Up until this point, 108 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,319 most of the houses were right aroun on campus, because 109 00:07:01,319 --> 00:07:04,480 any further than fifteen to twenty minutes out it becomes 110 00:07:04,519 --> 00:07:08,759 pretty much just bare fields of grass. As I got 111 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,920 to that twenty minute mark, it became just that very 112 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:17,000 few houses, mostly sitting far out in fields of crops 113 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,519 and nothing else. The rest of the ten minute drive 114 00:07:21,839 --> 00:07:26,399 was on this empty road going along these farms. Then 115 00:07:26,439 --> 00:07:29,560 I made it to the house. There was a dirt 116 00:07:29,639 --> 00:07:33,639 driveway connecting to the road, leading through a large field, 117 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:38,800 and in the far back was a small house. Driving 118 00:07:38,839 --> 00:07:43,079 through the field felt very eerie. Even though I'm not 119 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:48,480 one to get nervous without reason, this felt different. As 120 00:07:48,519 --> 00:07:51,600 I got further out from the road, the only sound 121 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,839 was the low rumbling of my car on the dirt. 122 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,920 I parked out front and got the back ready, then 123 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:05,079 left the car on. As I stepped out, the night 124 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:08,680 was quiet and the house was dark, having only the 125 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:13,519 porch light on to illuminate the outside. I walked through 126 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,199 the unkempt grass and up to the porch, knocking on 127 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:22,120 the door. As I waited, I looked back at my car, 128 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,240 sitting in the dark with the field of pitch black 129 00:08:25,319 --> 00:08:30,240 behind it. A moment went by. Then I knocked again, 130 00:08:30,639 --> 00:08:34,120 but there was no response, not even the sound of 131 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:38,159 anyone inside. It didn't take long for me to realize 132 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,720 the strangeness of the situation, seeing no lights on in 133 00:08:41,759 --> 00:08:45,399 the windows and noticing how decayed the house looked up close. 134 00:08:46,519 --> 00:08:48,679 The only thing that made me think it couldn't be 135 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,679 abandoned was that I had an order for this address 136 00:08:52,039 --> 00:08:55,879 and the porch light was on. I looked at the light, 137 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,159 thinking why would that be the only light? But I 138 00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:03,799 some odd chance I happened to recognize the top portion 139 00:09:03,879 --> 00:09:07,799 of the casing having a cheap solar battery. It was 140 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,279 just an automatic light that charges during the day and 141 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,799 turns on in the evening, meaning nobody had to be 142 00:09:14,919 --> 00:09:18,799 here to turn it on. Just as I was piecing 143 00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:22,440 this all together, though, I heard a rumbling sound behind me. 144 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,759 I turned, seeing a car driving down the dirt path 145 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,279 and coming up right behind my car. I stood there 146 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,519 and stared at their headlights until a man stepped out. 147 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,039 I yelled from the porch, asking if this was his order, 148 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,919 but he didn't reply. He just stood right next to 149 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,080 his car and didn't move or speak. I felt my 150 00:09:49,159 --> 00:09:53,919 adrenaline spike as I began realizing how horrible this situation 151 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:59,240 likely was. The silence of the night only reminded me 152 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,759 that there was nobody here to help. I was stuck 153 00:10:02,799 --> 00:10:05,519 in the middle of a field, between an empty house 154 00:10:05,799 --> 00:10:11,240 and a stranger. In a split second instinctual reaction, I 155 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,919 dropped the bag and sprinted off the porch, running behind 156 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,639 the house and straight into the field of grass. I 157 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,480 looked back, seeing the man coming up behind me. Frantically, 158 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,799 I continued running, and the further route I got, the 159 00:10:26,919 --> 00:10:30,480 thicker and taller the grass became, until it was covering 160 00:10:30,639 --> 00:10:34,519 all views of direction. By then I knew the guy 161 00:10:34,639 --> 00:10:39,399 had no chance in following me. I slowed down, catching 162 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,759 my breath as I carefully moved through the crops and 163 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,440 tried to be quiet in case the man was still 164 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:51,840 trying to find me. Eventually I made it to someone 165 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,600 else's yard, and from there I got to a road 166 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,360 where I had enough signal to call for help. Police 167 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:00,759 picked me up and went to check on my car, 168 00:11:01,159 --> 00:11:04,840 but of course the man was gone by then. I 169 00:11:04,879 --> 00:11:08,120 was surprised, though, because my car hadn't been looted and 170 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,360 the bag of food was still on the porch of 171 00:11:10,399 --> 00:11:14,320 the abandoned house, but that could only mean that the 172 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,720 man had other intentions, likely far worse than just robbing me. 173 00:11:32,879 --> 00:11:35,360 I was delivering a truckload to a company on the 174 00:11:35,399 --> 00:11:39,919 far west coast, coming from the East coast. The route 175 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,440 across the country is what I've taken many times before, 176 00:11:43,759 --> 00:11:47,639 being a truck driver for almost twenty years. It's always 177 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,360 the same every time I make one of these drives. 178 00:11:51,039 --> 00:11:55,840 Same roads, same truck stops, and same everything. Over these 179 00:11:55,879 --> 00:11:59,519 twenty years, though, I've never really had anything crazy happen. 180 00:12:00,159 --> 00:12:03,360 I've had a few odd scenarios, but they'd never amounted 181 00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:06,519 to anything. So when I was driving this route again, 182 00:12:06,879 --> 00:12:09,480 I had no worries in my mind. It was just 183 00:12:09,519 --> 00:12:14,360 another day on the job. About twenty hours into the route, 184 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:18,159 a storm started coming over and slowing down my driving. 185 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,320 It was late too, so by then I was already 186 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,360 looking for the next truck stop to sleep at. As 187 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,519 I drove, though, a very sudden light appeared behind me. 188 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,200 The road I was on was flat and straight, so 189 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,720 I would have seen them coming in my mirror, but 190 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,120 it was all of a sudden that they were right 191 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,279 behind me. Maybe they had just turned on their lights 192 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,360 or something. I didn't know, but they very quickly came 193 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,120 right up to the back. I kept my eyes on 194 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,639 them until they got so close that they were completely 195 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,759 covered by the trailer. All I could see were their 196 00:12:58,799 --> 00:13:03,240 head lights reflecting off the back, but then their lights 197 00:13:03,279 --> 00:13:09,240 shut off. I maintained my speed and kept looking back 198 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,679 at my mirrors, trying to see if they were still 199 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,919 behind me, but I had no way to know. For 200 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:17,919 someone to turn off their lights in the middle of 201 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,840 a heavy storm was insane, though, and to be tailing 202 00:13:21,919 --> 00:13:28,600 behind me so close was just as insane. Thankfully, the 203 00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:32,000 sign showed a truck stop was only five miles ahead, 204 00:13:32,399 --> 00:13:34,799 so at least I knew I was close to getting 205 00:13:34,799 --> 00:13:38,720 away from whatever this was. I didn't want to jump 206 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,240 to conclusions based on just some weird behavior, but as 207 00:13:42,279 --> 00:13:45,759 a trucker, it's hard not to think about the possibility 208 00:13:45,799 --> 00:13:49,200 of it being an attempted robbery, especially when alone on 209 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:53,960 the road at night. For the rest of the five miles, 210 00:13:54,279 --> 00:13:57,840 I saw no signs of them behind me. I was 211 00:13:57,919 --> 00:14:01,039 still on edge because I couldn't really see see anything anyway, 212 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,120 but I started feeling less worried as I was coming 213 00:14:04,159 --> 00:14:07,919 in on the truck stop. I pulled in, trying to 214 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,720 check my mirrors to see if they followed, but with 215 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,799 the rain and lack of lighting, it was really too 216 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,320 hard to tell. The truck stop was mostly empty, though 217 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,440 aside from a few trucks at the gas pumps. I 218 00:14:22,519 --> 00:14:24,519 pulled off to the side and parked in the middle 219 00:14:24,519 --> 00:14:27,919 of the lot. After waiting a minute and getting some 220 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,279 of my stuff organized, I opened the truck door and 221 00:14:31,399 --> 00:14:34,519 leaned my head out, looking along the side of the trailer. 222 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,519 I was drenched from the rain in just a matter 223 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,840 of seconds, but from what I could tell, there was 224 00:14:41,919 --> 00:14:46,919 no car behind me. I closed the door and finally 225 00:14:46,919 --> 00:14:50,080 felt a bit of relief. Grabbing my pillow and blanket 226 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,639 from the passenger side, I locked the doors, turned off 227 00:14:54,679 --> 00:14:58,919 the truck, and tried to get some shut eye. The 228 00:14:59,039 --> 00:15:01,879 rain pounding on the metal roof made it easy to 229 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,200 fall asleep, blocking out any possible sounds coming from other 230 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,600 trucks pulling in and out. When I woke up, though 231 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,120 I felt I had only been asleep for a few minutes. 232 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,200 I looked around, seeing it was still dark out and 233 00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:22,240 the storm was the same, if not worse. But before 234 00:15:22,279 --> 00:15:26,399 I could check my mirrors, a loud thump shook the truck. 235 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,159 My eyes opened wider. I reached for the door handle 236 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,080 and opened it. Looking out at the back of the 237 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,720 trailer through the rain, I could barely see the outline 238 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,960 of a car with its headlights off and two men 239 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:48,399 moving around in front of it. Terrified, I hesitated to 240 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,639 step out and confront them, and as I sat there 241 00:15:51,759 --> 00:15:56,039 in that moment of hesitation, the door suddenly slammed against 242 00:15:56,039 --> 00:15:59,519 my body, shoving me back further into the driver's seat. 243 00:16:00,799 --> 00:16:04,120 Another man stood outside, yelling at me to stay where 244 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,799 I was, then slamming the door again. His right hand 245 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,720 was shoved in his hoodie, and with two other men 246 00:16:11,759 --> 00:16:15,919 behind the truck, I was in no position to try anything. 247 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,320 I could feel the truck's shake as I just sat 248 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,679 in place, with the guy outside my door watching my 249 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,559 every move. He didn't even look away for a second. 250 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,200 This went on for a few minutes. Then they ran 251 00:16:32,279 --> 00:16:36,639 back to their car and drove off. I was still 252 00:16:36,679 --> 00:16:41,759 in shock watching their car disappear onto the road. I 253 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,320 called the police and put in a report, but no 254 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,480 information ever came up on who the men were. All 255 00:16:48,519 --> 00:16:50,480 I know is that if I had been any less 256 00:16:50,519 --> 00:16:53,399 aware and had just tried to drive off at first 257 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,480 sight of the men. I probably wouldn't have been able 258 00:16:56,559 --> 00:17:23,079 to make it out as safely as I did.