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Speaker 1: Hollo. I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. I've been driving long Hall for

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just over four years, mostly doing East coast runs, pretty

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routine staff New Jersey to Florida, Maryland, Georgia, sometimes far

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west as Tennessee. I've gotten used to the overnight schiffs,

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the tut schedules, and the lonely stretches of highway a palacia,

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though that always hits different, especially after midnight. This spotch

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had booked me on a rushed delivery head to Roanoke,

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and they were all excited because some one found a

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short cut. Supposedly it would shave nearly an hour off

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the usual route, but it meant leaving into state earlier

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than normal and taking a small estate road that cut

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across the mountains. I turned off the main highway around

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eleven thirty and started climbing into the hills. At first,

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it wasn't too bad. The road was narrow, but not

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unusually so, no shoulder, but a decent surface daved, no

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big cracks or potholes, nothing you wouldn't expect in a

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rural area. After maybe ten or fifteen minutes, this scenery changed.

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The trees pressed and tighter, and the road started looking

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a little rougher. No lights, no reflectors, and no signs none,

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not even those old green ones with mileage or ten nanes.

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It was like the road didn't want to be found.

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What really struck me was how clean it looked, not

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tidy clean, no leaves in the ground, no gravel, no

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sticks or mud. Even though it had rained earlier that week,

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the windshold stayed spawls. It was just too perfect, and

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out here nothing's perfect. I figured maybe it had been

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recently cleared. Maybe a maintenance crew passed through. Unlikely given

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the time and location, but not impossible. Then the radio

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went haywire. It started as faint static, which I ignored,

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but suddenly the volume spiked, just blasted static, like some

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one turned the knob all the way up. Scared the

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hell out of me. I reached for the dial to

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turn it off, but right as I touched it, everything cut.

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Radio c B done, not even back round home, and

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the GPS blank's green, just white for a second, then

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flickered back to life, but instead of a route, it

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showed me leaping back on the same road again and again.

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No turns, no exits, just a blinking arrow, stuck in

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a lip, like it had lost its place in the world.

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That's when I pulled over, not fully off the road

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there wasn't really a shoulder, but just far enough to

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stop and check the GPS. It was still powered, no

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error message, just stuck calculating the same direction over and over.

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I set back. Annoyed more than anything, I looked up

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to figure out how far I might be from the

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next town. That's when I saw the truck. It was

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just ahead, maybe fifty or sixty yards pafrom the right side,

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no lights, no brick glow, just sitting there in the dark.

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At first I figured another driver pulled over for a nap.

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But the closer I looked, the more familiar it felt.

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Same model, blond nose, Peter built, same dark red color,

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saying to color on the back window, keep on trucking,

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torn in the top left corner, just like mine. That

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gave me a pause. I slowly rolled forward, had lights

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still on low. As I got closer, I noticed the

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plate with so covered and grime I couldn't read a

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single character. The mirrors were folded in like it had

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been parked a long time, but the engine still running

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that soft, deep idle hum, just sitting there a live

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but I'm moving. I pulled up beside it, leaned across

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the cab and looked through the passenger window. There was

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a man in the driver's seat. He was sitting upright,

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hands on the wheel, facing straight ahead, still like a statue.

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He looked exactly like me, same cap, same jacket, same beard,

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even the same tired slump in the shoulders. I didn't

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know what to do. My first instinct was that I

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was overtired, that I had somehow leaped round and parked

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beside my own truck. But mine was moving. I was awake,

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I was breathing. I shouted out the window. Pay no reaction,

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not even a blink. Then, without a sound, the truck

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shut off completely, engine lightscabin power, nothing left but darkness. Thus,

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when I hit the gas, I tried to shift through

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the gears, but the transmission for me. I couldn't get

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past third. The arpn climbed like mad, but my speed

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didn't match. It was like the truck was dragging a

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mountain behind it. The roads started climbing again, steeper, this time.

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My headlights barely reached a curve ahead, and then I

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saw them people lining the road, both sides, just there.

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They weren't walking, they weren't even moving. They were just

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standing still, facing the road, about ten feet apart, all

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staring straight ahead. Men, women, different bills, different ages. I

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remember few clearly. One guy in a coal miner's outfit,

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covered in soap, a woman in a faded blue hospital gown.

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Some look like they've been out there for years. Haia

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matted close, torn face is pale and dirty. And then

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I realized they weren't standing on the ground. They were hovering,

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just slightly afoot, maybe less above the leaves in the

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dark toes pointed down, not floating, like ghosts, hanging, like

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something invisible was holding them in place. I couldn't stop stirring.

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I looked in my mirror to see them behind me,

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and they were gone, all of them, vanish. That broke

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something in me, A grip the wheel, like it was

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the only thing me from losing my mind. Suddenly the

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GPS snapped back real roads, a proper roup, and up

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ahead a stretch of straight road. I floored it. Whatever

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was happening with the transmission, I didn't care. The truck

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jerked and fought, but finally pushed through to a downhill grade.

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About ten minutes later, I saw a wide gravel lot

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with a few lit signs and a row of idling trucks.

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It was a truck stop, just outside a town called

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Allen Creek. I slammed into the Lowton Park like I

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was fleeing a robbery. Inside, under those harsh fluorescent lights,

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I finally started to feel real again. I stood there,

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hand shaking, trying to remember how to breathe. A mechanic

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was doing checks on rigs out back. I fled him down,

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asked him to take a quick look at my transmission.

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He popped the hood, ran the diagnostics. Nothing wrong. I

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didn't tell him about the man in the truck, of

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the people in the trees. I didn't tell anyone for

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a long time. I stayed off the road for a week.

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When I finally drove again, I tried to trace that route,

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looked at satellite maps, checked old state road logs. I

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mentioned it to a couple of veteran drivers over coffee

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one morning. One of them, this old guy, Ninn Ray,

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just looked at me for a long second and said,

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some roads don't show up unless they are meant to

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If you saw what I think he saw, don't try

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to find it again. I never took another job through

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southeastern Kentucky, and I never saw that short cut again.

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That night, I was driving my ninety seven Ken with

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W nine hundred. Nothing flashy, rare cap, blacked top, straight pipes,

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no chrone toys, just a work orse that I kept

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running better than it looked. I'd hauled a full load

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of lumber up to a sawmon near Creighton and was

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dead heading back home, planning to cross through the old

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Pass east of Colden around midnight. I pulled in, let

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the engine idle for a bit, check my phone for bars,

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then shut her down, cracked the driver's side window an

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inch or two, locked the doors, and leaned back across

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the seat. I usually sleep in short stretches when i'm out,

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maybe an iro here and there, nothing deep. I don't

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trust most places enough to let myself knock out completely.

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I just started to relax, I still adjitting to the

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dark when I heard this sound. A whistle then and slow,

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off key, like someone trying to hum a tune they

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didn't quite remember. It drifted him from the trees behind

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the cat Not loud, but sharp enough to make me freeze.

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I flicked the mirror switch and scan around, but the

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turnout behind me was nothing but black, no headlights, no movement,

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just the gravel and the line of trees. About ten

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minutes passed. I sat there the whole time, wide awake,

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now watching and listening. Then I heard it, crunching gravel,

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slow footsteps coming from the rear passenger side, just a

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few steps, deliberate, like some one walking up to knock

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on the door. The cab was still dark inside. I

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hadn't turned in the domelight. Didn't want to give away

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I was awake. I reached real slow across the seat

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and flicked the interior light on. Then I leaned to

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the right hand, peaked out the side mirror. Nothing that

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something wasn't sitting right. The sound of those footsteps had

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been close, not distant. I should have seen some one.

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I didn't hear them back off, didn't hear another step.

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I ducked down in the seat real slow and looked

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across the passenger window. There they were, just the legs,

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knees down right next to the cap, torn jeans, thick

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soled boots, laces frayed out. The left boot was slightly

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turned and like coever it was stood with their weight

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shifted to one side. They weren't moving. I didn't breathe.

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My hand hovered over the ignition key, not sure if

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I should try to start the truckle just sit still

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and wait for I don't know what. Then n knees

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bent like he was crouching or leaning in. That was it,

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I didn't think. I just cranked the engine and slammed

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the airhorn with everything I had. The whole truck jelted awake.

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That sound could wake the dead. But the legs didn't flinch.

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They didn't jump or run. They just stepped back slowly

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into the dark where I couldn't see any more. No scramble,

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no sound of movement through the gravel, just gone. I

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threw it into gear and floored it. Didn't check mirrors,

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didn't care if I blew a tire on that slope.

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I hit the curve out of that turn out so

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fast I could feel the load axle float for a secon.

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I didn't stop until I hit the lights of Lamford.

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Pulled into a gas station that was still open, and

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pocked into the brightest luice I could find, but out

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walked a lap around the cab to make sure I

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wasn't just losing it. That's when I saw it. A

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single boot print on the passenger step, dusty eats, all

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lead fresh, just one, no second print next to it,

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no smear, just one perfect mark, like some one stood

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there on one leg the whole time. I didn't sleep

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at night, just sat inside the station for a while,

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drinking awful coffee and staring at the walls. I called

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my buddy Benji the next morning he runs the same

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route side, and told him I needed him to meet

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me Aubert. He thought I'd clipped a deer with something.

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I didn't tell him everything on the phone. We met

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up around ying and drove back to the same turnout.

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Gravel was a mess, all kicked up and scattered from

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when I tore out. Benji gave me a weird look

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like maybe I'd fallen asleep and dreamed the whole thing.

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But I hadn't. I hadn't even been close. About two

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weeks later, I was eating breakfast at Luniscaffe in Grafton,

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same still I I always sat on, same weight, was

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pouring the same week coffee. A couple other drivers when nearby,

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swapping stores about worth things on the road, you know,

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little stuff like accidents that almost happened, or word signs

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in the middle of nowhere. Since then I avoid that

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hull stretch west of Harper's Pass, don't care how tired

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I am. That week, my route had me running south

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from Columbus, Ohio, dipping through the edge of Kentucky and

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into the thick of their Palation Corridor before heading east

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into the Carolinas, a familiar loop from me. I'd run

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some version of it, probably fifty times. Why then, I'd

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been on the road over eight years, long enough that

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the cab felt more like home than my actual place,

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long enough that the road didn't surprise me any more.

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It was just past midnight when I pulled into a

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rest area along Route twenty three. Nothing fancy, just a

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busted up patch of gravel off the highway, half hidden

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behind a sharp curve and a leaning pine tree. One

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overhead light flickered like it was barely hanging on. Below

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it stood an all vending shelter, the kind with peeling

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stickers and machines that still took quarters if they worked

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at all. There weren't any restrooms, no trash canan not

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even a bench. It looked like a place the state

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forgot about a decades ago. There was already one truck

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parked way down the far end when I pulled in,

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didn't look like anyone was in it. No running light,

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snow cap blowed just along dark wixiting dead still in

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the gravel. I only glanced at it at first. It

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looked aldo, probably from the late it is early nineties,

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and not in a nostalgic way. The paint was faded

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almost to gray, with these longwust streaks trailing down the doors,

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like something that dripped for years. The tires that caked

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in dry but thick enough that it probably hadn't moved

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in it. While no markings on the trailer and no

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company named their numbers, just blank eye didn't love parking

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next to it, but there went many options. The log

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carved into the trees, and with the incline behind me,

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batting in a few spots, overseeing cephy, than trying to

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turn around somewhere dark unto even I cut the engine

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and let the silence settle. The forest came alive almost immediately,

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00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,519
frogs croaking deep in the brush, scades, his humming like static.

236
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:47,320
I rolled the window down, just a notch for some air.

237
00:11:47,919 --> 00:11:50,600
The night was warm but still. A breeze would have

238
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,399
been nice, but there wasn't one. I didn't bother crawling

239
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,360
into the sleeper, just told to my seat back, pulled

240
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,279
my hat low, and tried to catch a quick nap.

241
00:11:58,799 --> 00:12:01,159
I wasn't planning to be there long, maybe thirty minutes,

242
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,519
forty minutes long enough to shake the highway out of

243
00:12:03,519 --> 00:12:06,240
my head. I must have drifted off fast, because the

244
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,200
next thing I remember was the sound of an engine,

245
00:12:08,279 --> 00:12:11,200
but not mine. It started with the slow, choking bumble,

246
00:12:11,279 --> 00:12:13,080
like someone trying to fire up an old diesel that

247
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,440
hadn't moved in years. That coughing, sputtering sound, like it

248
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,360
was fighting to stay alive. I blinked awake and sat up,

249
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,600
checked the dash two point thirty in the morning. I

250
00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,720
turned my head slowly toward the other truck. Its headlights

251
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,159
were still off, but the engine was running now. The

252
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,600
whole rig looked like it was trembling, not violently, but stady,

253
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,600
like it was shivering under its own weight. That same sick,

254
00:12:34,759 --> 00:12:36,480
uneven sound coming from under the hood, as if it

255
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,240
should have died already but didn't know how. Then I

256
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,440
saw someone climb out of the cab. He stepped down, slowly,

257
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,440
real controlled, big guy over six feet, easily brought shoulders,

258
00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,360
long arms. He wore a heavy canvas coat that hung

259
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,120
past his knees, kind of greenish, with darker patches on

260
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,080
the sleeves and around the collar, like it had sook

261
00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,759
through at some point. He had on gloves too, leather

262
00:12:56,799 --> 00:12:58,960
ones worn down to the grain, more gray than black.

263
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,399
He didn't a flask light, no foam light either. He

264
00:13:02,519 --> 00:13:04,879
just started walking toward the vending slow, with the kind

265
00:13:04,879 --> 00:13:06,720
of confidence you only have when you've been somewhere a

266
00:13:06,799 --> 00:13:10,960
thousand times. Head straight, no hesitation, no stumbling on the gravel.

267
00:13:11,519 --> 00:13:13,559
But the strange part what made me straighten up in

268
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,960
my sea was how quiet he was. I mean completely silent.

269
00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,320
He should have made noise. The gravel on the foot

270
00:13:20,399 --> 00:13:22,840
was loose and shop I'd heard a crunch under my

271
00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,240
booch just getting in the cab, but this guy nothing,

272
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,679
not a single scuffle scrape, like he was gliding. Even

273
00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,320
the truck behind him wasn't shaking any more. It just

274
00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,080
idled there, quiet, now subdued. He stood at the vending

275
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,200
machines for a long time, didn't touch anything, didn't even move,

276
00:13:42,039 --> 00:13:44,440
just stood there facing him like he was reading something.

277
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,279
Even though the machines weren't lit, they were dead best

278
00:13:47,279 --> 00:13:50,120
I could tell. I'd seen rest stops like that before.

279
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,200
Stuff breaks and never gets fixed. He didn't seem to care.

280
00:13:54,879 --> 00:13:57,240
And then suddenly he turned and looked straight at me.

281
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,519
I flinched, not dramatically. I didn't duck or scramble, but

282
00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:03,639
I definitely shrank back, like some part of me didn't

283
00:14:03,639 --> 00:14:06,679
want to be seen. It felt automatic, like a refex.

284
00:14:07,399 --> 00:14:09,320
His head tilted just a bit, like he was trying

285
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:11,320
to make out my face through the glass. And then

286
00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,639
he started walking straight toward my truck. I stayed still,

287
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,279
didn't the gravel in the same slow, steady pace. I

288
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,960
couldn't hear him, couldn't hear the gravel shift under his feet,

289
00:14:21,039 --> 00:14:24,000
couldn't hear his crook brush his sides. The only sound

290
00:14:24,039 --> 00:14:26,440
was that soft, choking hump from his truck, still running

291
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,080
in the background. He stopped right at my door, stood there,

292
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,720
steering in. From that distance, I should have been able

293
00:14:31,759 --> 00:14:34,279
to see his face clearly, but I couldn't. There was

294
00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:36,879
enough light from the dash from the single overhead bulb

295
00:14:36,919 --> 00:14:39,200
in the lop to make out his outline. I could

296
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,000
see the curve of his jaw. The dip wears no

297
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,000
should have been But it didn't look great. It wasn't blurred,

298
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:50,039
it was shadowed. It was just wrong, not grotesque, not monstrous,

299
00:14:50,879 --> 00:14:54,600
just incorrect, like it didn't belong on that body, like

300
00:14:54,679 --> 00:14:56,399
it had been copied from memory by some one who

301
00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,120
forgot what a real human face looked like. Then he

302
00:14:59,279 --> 00:15:02,960
raised his hand and tapped the glass just once. I

303
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:09,200
didn't move. He tapped again, same spot, same rhythm, same pressure.

304
00:15:09,799 --> 00:15:12,440
That's when I hit the door lock. The click sounded

305
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:14,679
way louder than I expected, like a gun going off.

306
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,200
In the silence. My cabs reinforced Mosla on Hollowsa, but

307
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:19,919
I didn't want to find out how much dress the

308
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,399
window could actually take. He didn't flinch, didn't react at all. Instead,

309
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,159
he did something I'll never forget. He stepped backward five steps,

310
00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:31,120
perfectly spaced in a straight line, never turning, never breaking

311
00:15:31,159 --> 00:15:33,799
eye contact, just this weird puppet like motion, like someone

312
00:15:33,879 --> 00:15:37,720
dragging him by strings. Then he turned smoothly, cleanly well

313
00:15:37,799 --> 00:15:40,519
and walked back to his truck. He climbed in, shut

314
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,279
the door, and the engine went back to that same

315
00:15:42,279 --> 00:15:45,000
low rattle. But I never saw the cab light come on,

316
00:15:45,679 --> 00:15:48,360
never saw a silhouette behind a wheel. I sat there

317
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,000
for what felt like an ere, too wired to move

318
00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,519
hard hammering chapt watching his rig, waiting for something else,

319
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,480
but nothing did. The engine kept tight lane, the light

320
00:15:58,559 --> 00:16:02,039
stayed off. Finally I turned my key ease out of

321
00:16:02,039 --> 00:16:04,720
the spot, cheerful not to spin the tires or jolt

322
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,480
the gravel. I didn't even switch on my headlights until

323
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:09,799
I was back in the main road, just let the

324
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:11,960
moon and my parking lights guide me until I was

325
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,759
out of the bend. About fifteen miles down the road.

326
00:16:14,799 --> 00:16:18,279
I radioed a guy I crossed paths with a few times, Baldney.

327
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,879
He was hauling behind me in the same loop, probably

328
00:16:20,919 --> 00:16:23,519
an IRO out. Told him something weird was going on

329
00:16:23,679 --> 00:16:26,159
back at that stop, said maybe there was a guy

330
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,840
up there having a breakdown or something. I didn't say

331
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:33,120
what I saw. Rodney called me back about twenty minutes later. Man,

332
00:16:33,159 --> 00:16:35,679
there's nothing up there, he said, Were you sure you

333
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,159
were on twenty three? Yeah? I said, you didn't see

334
00:16:39,159 --> 00:16:42,559
a truck, Nope, just a flat gravel lot. A couple

335
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,679
bolts in the ground where something used to be, maybe

336
00:16:44,679 --> 00:16:47,799
a shadow or whatever, but there's nothing now be in

337
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,120
that way. A while, I didn't say anything, didn't know

338
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,840
what to say. The next week, on my return trip,

339
00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,519
I stopped in daylight, same spot, same curved, same lot.

340
00:16:57,799 --> 00:17:00,600
The gravel still had tire tracks, deep ones, like something

341
00:17:00,639 --> 00:17:03,399
heavy had sat there not long ago, but the vending's

342
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,160
shelter gone, just a slab of concrete and four rusted bolts.

343
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,119
At a gas station in Mayfield about twenty minutes, he

344
00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:11,920
asked the clerk if the state had pulled out the

345
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,559
machines recently. He looked at me like I had grown

346
00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:18,240
a second head. Sometime around twenty eleven, I think, he said,

347
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,119
the yanked all that stuff, said it wasn't worth maintaining.

348
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,880
Shelter got torn down to I nodded, bought a coffee,

349
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,559
got back in the truck and left. I just started

350
00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:30,880
working part time at this tiny gas station offer out

351
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,559
twenty six way out in a quiet stretch of Virginia

352
00:17:33,599 --> 00:17:36,200
near the Kentucky line. The place looked like it was

353
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,960
barely holding on one old pump. A single cramped room

354
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,359
that always smelled thinly like rubber and cold coffee. And

355
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,319
a soda fridge that rattled and hum like it had

356
00:17:43,319 --> 00:17:46,519
a grudge against everyone. I just wrapped up community college

357
00:17:46,519 --> 00:17:48,480
and didn't feel like moving back and with my dad,

358
00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:50,359
so I was crashing at my cousin's house until I

359
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,480
figured things out. That night, I was covering a shift

360
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,000
for Guiney. He was one of those guys who always

361
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,480
had an excuse to bail. This time it was stomach trouble, which,

362
00:17:59,559 --> 00:18:01,519
as I found out later, meant he was passed out

363
00:18:01,559 --> 00:18:03,759
drunk somewhere with half eatenkin of Chillies still open on

364
00:18:03,759 --> 00:18:07,279
the counter. I didn't mind covering. It was quiet work,

365
00:18:07,319 --> 00:18:09,000
and I figured I could get paid to scull on

366
00:18:09,079 --> 00:18:10,880
my phone and maybe sell a candy bar or two

367
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,799
to a truck at passing through. After midnight, the place

368
00:18:13,839 --> 00:18:16,680
turned into a ghost box. The locals filled up during

369
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,960
the day after ires. If someone came in, it usually

370
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,759
meant they were lost or trying not to be seen.

371
00:18:22,559 --> 00:18:24,759
So when a green truck pulled in a Round one fifteen,

372
00:18:24,839 --> 00:18:28,400
I definitely paid attention. It was an old Kemworth big

373
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,640
thing force green headlights flickering like one of those dying

374
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,599
fireflies you find blinking on your porch. In July. It

375
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,720
rumbled into the lot like it was angry to be alive,

376
00:18:36,759 --> 00:18:39,400
and came to a lopsided stop across both spots up front.

377
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,039
Then the driver stepped out. He was huge, six for

378
00:18:43,079 --> 00:18:46,559
at least broad shoulders, thick arms, solid gut. He wore

379
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,920
truck a half with some faded oil company's logo and

380
00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,440
a sleeveless denim vest, no shirt underneath, just bare skin

381
00:18:52,519 --> 00:18:55,799
beneath the stiff, greasy fabric. The vest looked like it

382
00:18:55,839 --> 00:18:58,240
had seen fires and floods and never quite dried out.

383
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,799
It didn't say anything after first, just stepped forward, leaned

384
00:19:01,799 --> 00:19:04,319
into the open door and said, pump too, ain't runnin' right,

385
00:19:05,039 --> 00:19:09,400
flat boys, deep, but with no inflection, just straight up volume,

386
00:19:09,559 --> 00:19:11,559
like he was used to people listening, whether they wanted

387
00:19:11,559 --> 00:19:14,279
to or not. I grabbed the reset keys and walked

388
00:19:14,279 --> 00:19:17,599
out with him. We only had one pump, always had.

389
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,079
I figured maybe he was sleep deprived. We're just looking

390
00:19:21,079 --> 00:19:24,319
for conversation. There's no pump too, I told him, glancing

391
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,519
at his truck. I expected him to shrug, maybe nod,

392
00:19:27,519 --> 00:19:30,279
and drive off, but he chuckled, not like he found

393
00:19:30,319 --> 00:19:32,480
it funny, but like he was humoring me. I felt

394
00:19:32,519 --> 00:19:35,319
up already, just needed to make sure someone came out.

395
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,319
He said, it real casual, like we were in the

396
00:19:37,319 --> 00:19:40,359
middle of a different conversation. But silly me. I let

397
00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:42,759
my guard drop just a bit. Then he looked at me,

398
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,720
not at my face, at my chest. The name tag

399
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,799
youre Riley. I shook my head. Nope, that name tag

400
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,720
was my cousin's left behind when she switched jobs. I

401
00:19:53,759 --> 00:19:56,079
didn't bother changing it when I borrowed her old uniform

402
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,799
last minute. He seemed to ignore that. He just kept grinning.

403
00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,559
Briley girl, huh, thought you looked like one. Then he

404
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,359
smelt wider, and I saw the teeth. They weren't chipped

405
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:08,839
or crooked. They looked grande and flat, like some one

406
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:10,880
had tickn Sandbay put to the Maye wold chickens for

407
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,079
your uncle once, he said, alike, we were old friends

408
00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,160
catching up in a diner. I don't have an uncle

409
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,640
in trucking or farmin or anything involving chickens. I told

410
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:19,400
him that, but his face didn't change. You were at

411
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,559
the dollar stop in Dnton last Friday, he said, bought

412
00:20:21,559 --> 00:20:23,079
a calendar and a bag of chip. Saw you go

413
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,440
in my heart's skip. That was true. I'd been there,

414
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,799
but I hadn't talked to any one. I don't even

415
00:20:27,839 --> 00:20:30,079
remember looking up from my phone when I grabbed the calendar,

416
00:20:30,759 --> 00:20:32,839
and I certainly didn't remember a massive guy in a

417
00:20:32,839 --> 00:20:35,839
truck watching me. I forced a laugh and said something like, well,

418
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,759
you've got a good memory. Then I slipped back inside

419
00:20:38,759 --> 00:20:41,240
and locked the door behind me. He hung around for

420
00:20:41,279 --> 00:20:43,680
a moment, fiddling near his truck, engine idling. Then he

421
00:20:43,759 --> 00:20:46,559
drove off, didn't buy anything, didn't wave goodbye. I've just left.

422
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,000
Fifteen minutes later, my phone buzzed, I know number. You

423
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,960
keep short, IROs little royly. I was going to tell

424
00:20:54,039 --> 00:20:57,440
you something. I stared at the screen. My phone number

425
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,920
wasn't listed. I only had it pinned on a wall

426
00:21:00,079 --> 00:21:03,559
the back room in case of emergencies. My cousin maybe

427
00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:06,160
the manager. That was it? So why was I getting

428
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,960
a text? Then another message? Left you a treat under

429
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,839
the blue bin at back good girls like sweet things.

430
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,839
I froze. I should have called someone, I should have

431
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:18,960
locked myself in the office and waited for someone to

432
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,599
relieve me. But a part of me, the stubborn part,

433
00:21:21,759 --> 00:21:24,640
wanted to believe it was nothing. A prank at worst,

434
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,720
maybe someone dropped candy or wrapper and I'd overreact. I

435
00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:31,200
grabbed a flashlight and stepped out the back door anyway

436
00:21:31,799 --> 00:21:34,200
behind the dumpster. Half hidden under the blue recycling bin

437
00:21:34,279 --> 00:21:37,039
was a zip Hop bag inside a strip of jerky

438
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,599
boh slimy, soaked in something dark that was a blood.

439
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,400
I mean it might have been, but I told myself

440
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,519
it wasn't. The smell thick shop like motor oil and

441
00:21:47,559 --> 00:21:51,319
old gasoline, not the sweet smell of meat. Definitely not

442
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,480
what you expect. Folded underneath it was a small piece

443
00:21:54,559 --> 00:21:57,480
of paper. The note said I seen your kind before.

444
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,759
They cry and bite, but they all hush after. My

445
00:22:00,839 --> 00:22:02,839
hand was shaking, and I didn't even realize I was

446
00:22:02,839 --> 00:22:05,440
backing away until I hit the door frame. I dropped

447
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,960
the flashlight, I dropped the bag. I ran inside, locked

448
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,440
the back door, locked the front door, even bolted the

449
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,799
small supply closet, though it had nothing of Valley except

450
00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:18,799
cleaning stuff and a half used mop. I called my cousin,

451
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,680
told her to come over now. She showed up ten

452
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,720
minutes later with her boyfriend. Neither of them said anything

453
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,200
when I blurted out what I found. No jokes. No,

454
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,240
we're imagining things. They just followed me outside. The bag

455
00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:35,799
wasn't touched under the blue bin. We went into the

456
00:22:35,839 --> 00:22:39,240
office and pulled the footage, rolling it back. I watched

457
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,720
what I already knew in my gut. He pulled in,

458
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,559
he got out, he walked behind the dumpster, then nothing.

459
00:22:47,079 --> 00:22:49,920
He didn't walk back out. This just a tall concrete

460
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,119
wall and the lock rear of a shuttered Dautterpot's store

461
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,039
that hadn't opened in months. The gravel behind the lot

462
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,960
ended abruptly in the weeds. He went in and just disappeared.

463
00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:04,480
We watched again, same thing. He enters, he never exits.

464
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,160
I flagged the deputy the next morning to the bus

465
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,000
into town and sat in a sheriff's office until some

466
00:23:09,079 --> 00:23:12,079
one listened. The man behind a desk seemed in surprised,

467
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,559
said they'd had other reports, same pattern. Green truck, no

468
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,839
fixed blait, weird interactions with women working late gas station shifts,

469
00:23:22,519 --> 00:23:25,279
always near less patrol parts of the state line. I

470
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,119
quit that job that afternoon. Two weeks passed. I moved,

471
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,160
but then the other message arrived, different number. Don't need

472
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,279
gas to keep moving, you don't eat her. I'll see

473
00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:40,519
you at mile marker eighty one. That through me. That

474
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,640
rest stop, mile marker eighty one. It's the rest stop

475
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,240
my cousin and I hit once, heading toward Asheville for

476
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,440
a long holiday weekend. I hadn't mentioned that to anyone else,

477
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,519
not really. My blood ran cold. I changed my phone number.

478
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,440
I moved three counties east. I started applying only to

479
00:23:59,519 --> 00:24:01,559
jobs where I didn't have to deal with empty parking

480
00:24:01,599 --> 00:24:04,319
lots and over night shifts. I kept my lights on

481
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,559
at home. I locked everything. It's been years and ne'er

482
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:12,079
I moved again. After that, I changed routes. I avoid

483
00:24:12,079 --> 00:24:15,160
lonely highways and lease shifts. My rout toured me east

484
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,960
from the outskirts of Dixon, Tennessee, crossed the quiet back

485
00:24:18,039 --> 00:24:20,720
roads of western Virginia, then snake north through the hollows

486
00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:23,400
a round Wessex. There's this little pull off east of

487
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,519
a town, cold ash hollow, not even a proper stop,

488
00:24:26,759 --> 00:24:29,079
just a gravel lot tucked behind a thick stand of pines.

489
00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:32,880
The first time I saw the truck, I barely noticed it.

490
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,759
It was an old Peterbilt, dull red like it had

491
00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:36,880
once been candy apple but got left out too long.

492
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,440
No trailer, just the cab ibe and quietly in the dark,

493
00:24:40,519 --> 00:24:44,920
a few spaces down, no lights on, no movement. I

494
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,839
figured the driver was sleeping. That's what we do, pull off,

495
00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:53,920
shut down, we're charge. Second night he was there again,

496
00:24:54,599 --> 00:24:58,119
same spots and truck engines still running, but no sign

497
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,960
of life, no flicker from the cab, no radio static,

498
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,599
not even a seb antenna waving. That's when I started

499
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,680
to feel weird about it. I figured, sure, maybe he's

500
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:10,799
parked up waiting on a load, or maybe he lives

501
00:25:10,799 --> 00:25:13,559
close by a use is the spot. Some drivers are

502
00:25:13,599 --> 00:25:16,359
creatures of habit. I didn't think too hard about it,

503
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:18,640
but the next night, when I pulled an around two

504
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,799
point fifteen in the morning, he was still there, and

505
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,240
this time the cab light was on. He was sitting

506
00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:26,279
up straight, both hands and the wheel, not slumped, not

507
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,720
checking his phone, just frozen, his eyes locked forward, like

508
00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:31,519
he was waiting for a green light that never came.

509
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,000
Only thing in front of him was gravel and a

510
00:25:34,039 --> 00:25:37,079
thicket of brambles, and beyond that tree so thick you

511
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,759
couldn't see a foot past them. I nodded as I

512
00:25:39,839 --> 00:25:43,920
passed some kind of reflex. I guess He didn't react,

513
00:25:44,599 --> 00:25:48,720
didn't blink, didn't even shift. I'm telling ye, it was

514
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:50,799
like looking at a manequin that someone popped up behind

515
00:25:50,839 --> 00:25:54,000
a wheel. I didn't use the bathroom that night, just

516
00:25:54,039 --> 00:25:56,799
went back to my rake and locked both doors. I

517
00:25:56,839 --> 00:26:00,640
don't usually bother, It's not like I'm hauling diamonds. That

518
00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:03,359
something about that man or whatever he was, got under

519
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,799
my skin. Next few nights, I skipped to stop, took

520
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,720
my brake elsewhere. There was a brightly lit fuel station

521
00:26:09,759 --> 00:26:12,440
outside of Galland Springs that cost a few extra bucks,

522
00:26:12,839 --> 00:26:15,519
but I didn't care. I figured maybe the red truck

523
00:26:15,519 --> 00:26:17,759
guy had moved on, or maybe I'd imagined the whole

524
00:26:17,759 --> 00:26:20,720
thing in a sleep deprived as long drawers mess with

525
00:26:20,759 --> 00:26:24,079
your head. But a week later, after dropping Feenal Lincoln Springs,

526
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:25,640
I had to take a detour when a fallen tree

527
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,480
blocker at thirty eight that men heading back down to

528
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,079
ward Ash Hollow. I hadn't planned to stop, but I

529
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,920
was thirsty, needed to stretch, and against my better judgment,

530
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,240
I pulled in again. He was back, same druck, same

531
00:26:38,319 --> 00:26:41,480
exact spot. This time the headlights were off, but the

532
00:26:41,519 --> 00:26:43,720
engine was still humming, soft and low like it always

533
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,880
had been, and the cow light was glowing faintly through

534
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,039
the windshield, which looked even worse than before. The glass

535
00:26:49,079 --> 00:26:50,799
was so smeared and dark that it looked like some

536
00:26:50,839 --> 00:26:53,160
one had poured motor oil over it, light it dry,

537
00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:55,359
then ran a finger through it to cover narrow streak.

538
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:57,880
I stayed in my cap, just watching through the mirror

539
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,880
as I sipped a soda. It was quite no cicadas,

540
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,119
no win just the steady tomb of his idling engine.

541
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,000
Then he moved, only a little, just his head tilted,

542
00:27:06,079 --> 00:27:08,319
maybe an inch maybe two, like he was trying to

543
00:27:08,319 --> 00:27:09,960
get a better look at me. I couldn't see his

544
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,839
eyes through the grime, but something in the angle of

545
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,039
that motion. It didn't feel random. It felt deliberate, like

546
00:27:15,079 --> 00:27:17,240
he'd been waiting for me to show up again. I

547
00:27:17,319 --> 00:27:20,319
left without even using the bathroom. The next morning, I

548
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:22,519
brought it up to Ralph. The guy I mentioned earlier.

549
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,359
He'd been driving longer than I'd been alive, and knew

550
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,480
every shortcut in ghost Town from here to Pennsylvania. I

551
00:27:28,519 --> 00:27:31,680
told him everything, what I saw, how the truck never moved,

552
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,279
how the guy never blinked. I thought maybe it was

553
00:27:34,319 --> 00:27:36,119
some kind of squatter or rig that got dumped and

554
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,359
left eiding by some lunatic. But when I mentioned the

555
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,079
red Peterbilt, Ralph went still, You didn't stop there, he said,

556
00:27:42,759 --> 00:27:46,880
not a question, a statement. I nodded. He took a

557
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,400
long breath. There was a rig like that pulled out

558
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,160
of a gully outside of Brier Hollow back in the

559
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:56,279
early nineties, same color, same make, Peter belt, no trailer.

560
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,279
They found the driver still buckled in, hands on the wheel,

561
00:28:00,039 --> 00:28:03,400
body was mummified. Thing is. They estimated he'd been dead

562
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,079
at least two years, but the engine was still warm

563
00:28:06,079 --> 00:28:08,720
when the hunters found it. Said the guy was quiet,

564
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,720
kept to himself, hauled back roads like, stopping at remote

565
00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,359
pull offs no one else used. Then one night he

566
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,359
just disappeared off the route. No chatter, no good bye,

567
00:28:18,039 --> 00:28:20,960
His lugs just stopped. I told Ralph there is no

568
00:28:21,039 --> 00:28:24,799
way I'd seen the truck. I'd seen the driver clear

569
00:28:24,839 --> 00:28:28,839
as day. He didn't argue, just said, some roads hold

570
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,640
on to things. You'd be smart to leave that one bee.

571
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:34,799
I stayed clear of Vash Hollow after that for a

572
00:28:34,799 --> 00:28:38,160
while at least. But old habits die hard, and sometimes

573
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,440
your brain tricks you into thinking you imagine the whole thing.

574
00:28:41,079 --> 00:28:43,480
So a couple months later, deep into winter, I passed

575
00:28:43,519 --> 00:28:45,839
by the turn of around three in the morning, tire hungry,

576
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,039
needing to piss. Like how against old logic, I pulled in.

577
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,440
He was there, same exact spot, but this time the

578
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,680
cab door was cracked open, just an inch or two,

579
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,039
like it had been left ajar for me, And hanging

580
00:28:58,039 --> 00:29:00,440
from the rear view mirror was something new. A little

581
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,240
bundle of feathers tied up with red twine. Looked like

582
00:29:03,359 --> 00:29:06,680
chicken feathers. Maybe couldn't say for sure, but I knew

583
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,119
it hadn't been there before. I didn't look inside. I

584
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,000
walked past his truck with my eyes in the gravel

585
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,680
and made for the bathroom. I was inside maybe half

586
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,200
a minute before I heard the crunching not tie his

587
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,880
feet slow heavy stepped across the gravel, stopping right outside

588
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,680
the trailer. Then I heard my cab door slam shut.

589
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,519
My stomach dropped. I didn't breathe just waited. Nothing else happened.

590
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,960
I burst out of the bathroom harp thumping hard. My

591
00:29:32,039 --> 00:29:35,559
cab light was on, door was shut. No one inside

592
00:29:36,079 --> 00:29:38,400
but on the driver's seat sitting dead center was a

593
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,559
small wooden cross, looked whittle by hand, maybe out of

594
00:29:41,559 --> 00:29:44,839
pine rough edges. The bottom stained dark, like it had

595
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,839
been dragged through oil. I spun around, but the Peterbilt

596
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:53,160
was gone, just gone. No headlights, no reverse sound, no

597
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:58,119
engine noise, no dust clothed, just vanished. I didn't stop

598
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,759
again after that, didn't talk about it either, not even

599
00:30:01,759 --> 00:30:05,359
with Ralph. What could I say that I saw a ghost,

600
00:30:05,839 --> 00:30:08,480
that a dead trucker left me a souvenir. I was

601
00:30:08,519 --> 00:30:11,279
thirty seven when it happened. I had been running night

602
00:30:11,319 --> 00:30:13,839
hauls out of this small depot in Trenton, West Virginia

603
00:30:13,839 --> 00:30:16,519
for nearly a decade. By them, that night was supposed

604
00:30:16,519 --> 00:30:18,839
to be routine. I had a fifty foot flat bed

605
00:30:18,839 --> 00:30:22,799
loaded with industrial piping, nothing especially dangerous or fragile. Picked

606
00:30:22,799 --> 00:30:24,880
it up from a yard outside Lane Air, scheduled to

607
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,759
drop it at a warehouse lot in Hindon. Despatch told

608
00:30:27,759 --> 00:30:29,920
me to avoid the main interstate because of some construction

609
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,640
mess near Charleston. So they were atted me through about

610
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,920
forty seven minutes. One of those winding mountain roads that

611
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,240
looks halmless on a map and miserable in real life.

612
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,559
Still I didn't think twice. I rolled out a little

613
00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:44,480
before six sun, already behind the hills. I topped off

614
00:30:44,519 --> 00:30:46,359
the thermis at a gas station that still used those

615
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,119
ancient metal pumps and had a bug sap at the

616
00:30:48,119 --> 00:30:50,640
size of a car battery hanging above the door. The

617
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,799
cashier was barely awake, gave me my change like she

618
00:30:53,799 --> 00:30:56,599
couldn't remember why I needed it. It felt like the

619
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,160
kind of night you sleep through, quiet and eventful. The

620
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,200
first eye was smooth. I had the radio low, just

621
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,519
a sleepy country station, fading in and out with every turn,

622
00:31:05,599 --> 00:31:07,519
and my sea Bee opened, though no one was talking.

623
00:31:08,079 --> 00:31:11,599
Not many other trucks. Take forty seven too tight, too isolated.

624
00:31:12,359 --> 00:31:15,000
Selzigal dropped off a few miles past Barrow Hollow, and

625
00:31:15,079 --> 00:31:17,119
after that it was just me, the road and the

626
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,119
sound of the trailer groaning around the bends. That's when

627
00:31:20,119 --> 00:31:23,200
I noticed the truck behind me. It wasn't close at first.

628
00:31:23,799 --> 00:31:26,000
I only spotted it on a curve, just the reflection

629
00:31:26,039 --> 00:31:28,880
of its cruel catching in my trail our lights, old

630
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,359
model pickup, black, maybe dark blue. It was hard to

631
00:31:32,359 --> 00:31:34,920
tell in the dark. What stood up right away was

632
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,839
that it wasn't using any head lights, not even running lights,

633
00:31:38,039 --> 00:31:40,440
just moving in shadow like it didn't want to be noticed.

634
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,839
I figured it with some local kid messing around, or

635
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,519
maybe someone who forgot to flip their lights on after dusk.

636
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,480
Happens more than you'd think. Still, the way he stayed back,

637
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,319
just far enough to keep from showing up in the

638
00:31:52,319 --> 00:31:54,720
mirrors unless I was turning. That started to bother me.

639
00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:58,039
At first, I tried to ignore it. People out here

640
00:31:58,119 --> 00:32:01,839
drive strange sometime they think saving their battery O bobs

641
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,720
is worth the risk. But ten minutes passed, then twenty,

642
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,960
every single curve I catched that same reflection at the

643
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,680
exact same angle, no movement, no attempt to pass, just

644
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,119
hovering back like he was being careful to match my pace.

645
00:32:16,799 --> 00:32:19,680
I tapped the brakes once, not hard, but enough to

646
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,440
jowl the trailer and maybe make a point. He slowed

647
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,200
down to perfectly and sink, like we were tied together

648
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,920
by a rope. That's when the chill started to settle in.

649
00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:30,680
Not fear, not yet, but the kind of quiet and

650
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,000
easy feel when something's just off. I reached for my thermus,

651
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,359
mostly just to give my hands something to do. The

652
00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:38,960
coffee had gone lukewarm, but I took a long sip anyway.

653
00:32:39,559 --> 00:32:41,319
Then I saw a rest pull off coming up a

654
00:32:41,319 --> 00:32:44,160
gravel shoulder big enough for a rig to park, poured

655
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,119
to john faded canti map bolted to a wooden board,

656
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,160
some trash bowls. One of those spots meant for engine

657
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,920
brakes or bathroom run, not overnight stops. I figured maybe

658
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:55,799
if I pulled in the sky would go past and

659
00:32:55,839 --> 00:32:59,319
disappear into the night. So I signaled, eased over and

660
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:02,599
came to a stop. I didn't kill the engine, just

661
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,680
sat there, one hand on the wheel, the other near

662
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,400
the door handle, watched the mirror. The pickup didn't pass.

663
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,119
He pulled in behind me, no headlights, no sound except

664
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,240
for the ties on gravel. He stopped about twenty feet back,

665
00:33:16,319 --> 00:33:19,240
his engine still running, just sitting there, both of a

666
00:33:19,279 --> 00:33:22,759
sidling in the dark. I didn't move the Aentually, his

667
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,680
driver door creaked open. I thought maybe i'd see some

668
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:27,680
trunk stumble out of some old timer come over and

669
00:33:27,759 --> 00:33:31,079
ask directions. But it wasn't like that. He didn't step out.

670
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,960
He leaned out, bent low like a spined and bend

671
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,640
where it was supposed to you. And in his right

672
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,559
hand there was something long and solid. At first I

673
00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:41,039
thought it was a crowbar, but I wasn't sure. It

674
00:33:41,079 --> 00:33:45,839
looked wrong, somehow off off. He just stood there like that,

675
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,160
half out, half in, like he was waiting for me

676
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:52,079
to move first. Then he stepped out completely, didn't closed

677
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:55,279
his door, just walked slow, direct, straight toward my cab.

678
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,200
I didn't wait. I threw it in the gear and

679
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,079
floored it, gravel spraying as the trailer caught up. My

680
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,720
tires fished out slightly as I swung back onto the road,

681
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,000
and I didn't even glance back until the next turn.

682
00:34:06,559 --> 00:34:09,360
For a few blast minutes, I didn't see anything. Then

683
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,239
the beam set me full head lights now bright and sharp,

684
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:14,960
like he wanted me to know he was done hiding.

685
00:34:15,519 --> 00:34:18,840
He was right behind me again. This time he was gaining.

686
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,239
I pushed the rick harder than I ever had on

687
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,039
that road. The trailer bounds took a curve too tight,

688
00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,840
almost tip once. My heart was hammering. There was nothing

689
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,840
but forced on either side, no sign of houses or

690
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,840
driveries or any place to stop. Then a sign appeared

691
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,400
bridge ut three miles. It hit me like a gut punch.

692
00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:40,159
That bridge had washed out after one of those big

693
00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:44,159
winter storms. I remembered hearing about it. Locals had said

694
00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:46,159
it wouldn't be fixed until the spring, but I hadn't

695
00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:48,760
connected the rot name with this story until the second

696
00:34:49,119 --> 00:34:52,559
three miles that's all I had left. There was no

697
00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:56,400
turning around, no space to reverse a full rig. If

698
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:58,320
I kept going, I'd be lucky to stop before I

699
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,079
hit the barricade. I scanned the side of the road

700
00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:05,320
for anything, dirt paths, service lanes, deer trails. Then I

701
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,440
spotted one. A narrow gravel rode off to the left.

702
00:35:09,079 --> 00:35:12,719
It looked like something the forestry department might use, no signs,

703
00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,800
barely wider than the truck, but it was that with

704
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,400
the bridge. I took it. Branches clawed at the mirrors

705
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,239
and scratched the paint. The trailer groaned as I forced

706
00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:23,840
it to a curve that fell too tight, but it

707
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,119
made it. After maybe thirty seconds of crawling forward, the

708
00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:29,760
trees opened up into a clearing, just a rough circle

709
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,800
of hard packed dirt and weeds, enough space to turn

710
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,679
if I got the angle right. I eased in, swung

711
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:37,400
the trailer as wide as I coat, then cut the

712
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:41,519
engine and killed the lights. Silence. I held my breath

713
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:48,480
ten seconds twenty nothing. Nothing, Then I heard him tires

714
00:35:48,519 --> 00:35:53,320
on gravel, slow deliberate. The pick up rolled into the clearing,

715
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,760
headlights off again, like he knew exactly where it go.

716
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,400
He didn't stop behind me. He pulled across the entrance,

717
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,960
blocking me in completely. His hood pointed at mine, just

718
00:36:04,039 --> 00:36:07,800
popped there. Then his door opened. This time he stepped

719
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,920
out without hesitation, still holding the crowber. He didn't walk

720
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,880
straight up to me. He circled, took his time, like

721
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,280
he was inspecting the truck, checking to see if anyone

722
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,960
was watching. Every few steps, he looked up at the

723
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,760
cab window. I stayed low, my whole body dents. I

724
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,639
could feel the tremble in my fingers and the thud

725
00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:28,239
of my pulse in my neck. He reached the passenger

726
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,480
side and climbed onto the step rail, planted one hand

727
00:36:30,519 --> 00:36:33,480
against the glass, and then slowly he leaned forward, pressed

728
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,840
his forehead to the window. Didn't knock, didn't say a word,

729
00:36:37,639 --> 00:36:40,000
just rested there, breathing, like he was trying to see

730
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,519
if someone was inside, if I was the one he

731
00:36:42,519 --> 00:36:45,719
was supposed to find. I yanked the air horn. The

732
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,559
sound busted through the night. He jerked back like he had

733
00:36:48,519 --> 00:36:50,800
been shocked stumbled off the rail, and that was enough.

734
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:53,719
I jammed it into revers, cranked the wheel hard, and

735
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,960
didn't stop. The rig lurch tired, slipping on the dirt.

736
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,800
I clipped part of his bumper squeezing past. But I

737
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,719
didn't look back, not once I hit the main road,

738
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:05,480
and didn't let off the throttle until I saw the

739
00:37:05,519 --> 00:37:08,280
lights of hinting in the distance. When I finally pulled

740
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,960
into the depot yard, I didn't even park straight. I

741
00:37:11,079 --> 00:37:14,920
just stopped engine running and sat there. Eventually I called despatch,

742
00:37:15,039 --> 00:37:17,000
told them flat out, I don't care what route you

743
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,639
assigned me. I'm never driving forty seven again. They didn't argue,

744
00:37:20,679 --> 00:37:23,960
They didn't even ask why shall they know. The job

745
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,840
had its quirks. The roads were narrow and sharp, the

746
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:28,960
kind way you learned real fast to trust your mirrors

747
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,760
and your brakes. But I liked the solitude, long stretches

748
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:34,760
of quiet mountain road just me, and the hum of

749
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,719
the cab. Farther you got from the highways, the less

750
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,599
anyone bothered you. I learned to appreciate that. That summer

751
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:43,880
I started doing some iregular runs out of this deep

752
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,880
and near place called whinstead hollow kind of tapped away

753
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,800
off a state road, nothing but a diner, a church,

754
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:51,960
and a depot of two bays and one ancient vending

755
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,960
machine that only worked what it wanted to. They specialized

756
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,079
in odd requests, stopped too small or too remote for

757
00:37:58,079 --> 00:38:01,960
the bigger outfits. I didn't mind. The money was fine

758
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,400
and the folks were easy enough to work with. One

759
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:06,559
Thursday night, I was sitting in my truck outside Debate,

760
00:38:06,599 --> 00:38:08,400
eating a turkey sand which from a gas station that

761
00:38:08,519 --> 00:38:10,840
still sold DVD in law felt as behind the counter

762
00:38:11,519 --> 00:38:14,599
the load was running behind, which happened a lot. Then

763
00:38:14,639 --> 00:38:18,559
I saw another truck pull in old Peterbilt, faded red

764
00:38:18,559 --> 00:38:22,039
with black trim, no company name, no numbers, not even

765
00:38:22,039 --> 00:38:24,400
a de or tea sticker. I could see it parked

766
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,559
a few spots down. The driver's stepped out slow midmanute

767
00:38:27,559 --> 00:38:31,039
thirties may be older, it was hard to tell. Long,

768
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:33,920
dark beard, faced like a stretched rubber band and wearing

769
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,880
a heavy work jacket despite the sticky summer air, all

770
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,840
cap pulled low. The kind of guy who looked like

771
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,119
he hadn't been warm or cold in years, just floating

772
00:38:41,159 --> 00:38:43,960
through the middle doing what he always did. He gave

773
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,039
me an nod, didn't say much, muttered something about axelwake,

774
00:38:47,119 --> 00:38:49,280
checked his ties like he was on auto pilot, then

775
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,119
disappeared round the back of his rake. There was something

776
00:38:52,119 --> 00:38:54,719
odd about him, not which he or aggressive, just absent,

777
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,599
like he wasn't really in the driver's seat Mentally, I've

778
00:38:57,599 --> 00:39:00,480
met a lot of tire truckers, but it's felt different. Still,

779
00:39:00,559 --> 00:39:03,480
it wasn't any of my business. I finished my sandwich

780
00:39:03,519 --> 00:39:06,079
and moved on. A few nights later, I stopped to

781
00:39:06,079 --> 00:39:08,039
fuel up at this half dead station near the Kentucky

782
00:39:08,159 --> 00:39:11,000
Virginia border. One pump worked, the other was wrapped in

783
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:12,880
the trash bag like a broken lane. And there it

784
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,760
was again, same red Peterbilt herded off to the side,

785
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,360
engine running, but nobody inside. The cab door was shut

786
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,800
and the window was rolled up. I did a slow

787
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,280
walk of round, half curious, checked the diner's windows empty.

788
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,559
The pump lights buzzed like flies. I leaned a little

789
00:39:29,559 --> 00:39:32,800
closer to the cab window. Inside was a felthy thermos

790
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,039
and the dash alose sy bee might just angling from

791
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:36,880
the mount, and a crumpled pair of gloves on the

792
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,360
passenger seat, like some one had taken them off midshift

793
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,039
and forgotten. I figured maybe he was in the bathroom

794
00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:45,119
or on a cale. Still, something about the stillness bugged me.

795
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,760
That night Drop was way out in the hills, past

796
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:49,519
a town that barely had a name, up one of

797
00:39:49,519 --> 00:39:51,440
those roads where the trees leaned too close and the

798
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,679
mail boxes are just nailed defence posts. My GBS cut

799
00:39:54,679 --> 00:39:57,800
out about ten minutes in, which wasn't unusual. About half

800
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,159
way up along gravel slope, I noticed lies behind me

801
00:40:00,159 --> 00:40:03,800
me head lights. At first, I didn't think much of it,

802
00:40:04,559 --> 00:40:07,639
just another late driver, maybe a farmer heading home. But

803
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:10,639
the lights stayed back, not close enough to tell me,

804
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,800
just close enough to stay visible. I tapped the brakes,

805
00:40:14,519 --> 00:40:17,760
so did they. I sped up a little. The lights

806
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,719
kept pace that got under my skin. There won't any junctions,

807
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,880
were driveways for miles. Whoever was behind me was back

808
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:27,559
there on purpose. I pulled off to the side and

809
00:40:27,559 --> 00:40:31,559
clicked my hazards. We did. The other truck slowed and stopped,

810
00:40:31,559 --> 00:40:35,920
maybe a hundred feet behind. Didn't move. I waited five minutes,

811
00:40:36,639 --> 00:40:41,400
then nothing, nothing, Then just as slow as it had come,

812
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:44,920
the truck back down the road, no break, lights, no

813
00:40:45,039 --> 00:40:47,760
sound except for the crunch of gravel. I didn't sleep

814
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,639
much that night, made my drop and left before dawn.

815
00:40:51,159 --> 00:40:53,039
Back at the deep of the following week, I started

816
00:40:53,079 --> 00:40:56,840
asking around anyone know who drives that red peat. Most

817
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,320
of the guys just shrugged one laugh, like I was

818
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,360
telling a jerky had before one of the mechanics. A

819
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,159
wiry guy named Dennis just looked up from his thermos

820
00:41:05,159 --> 00:41:09,360
and said that truck man's been around, that's all. Another

821
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,039
guy charmed him with he doesn't talk much, wouldn't worry

822
00:41:12,039 --> 00:41:15,679
about him. Nobody had a name, nobody had to dispatch

823
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,039
it high to him. When I pressed a little more,

824
00:41:18,039 --> 00:41:20,519
Dennis got quiet, looked over his glasses, and muttered that

825
00:41:20,559 --> 00:41:22,840
man ain't right in the head. Then he left it

826
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:25,599
at that. A couple weeks later I got waved down

827
00:41:25,599 --> 00:41:27,880
by a home owner off one of the routes. His

828
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,280
well tank had blown out and he needed a replacement

829
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:33,440
hal from a hard way yard two towns over. Technically

830
00:41:33,559 --> 00:41:35,760
it wasn't on my route, but he paid cash up front,

831
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,440
and it wasn't a heavy load. I figured it wouldn't

832
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,239
take more than an iron change. On the way back,

833
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:45,960
I hit a fork left was my usual route, slow winding, familiar.

834
00:41:46,639 --> 00:41:48,559
Right was narrower, but it cut through the woods and

835
00:41:48,559 --> 00:41:51,719
shaved twenty minutes off. I'd never taken it before, but

836
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,239
the sky was clear and the trailer was light. I

837
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,639
turned right a mile in. I started seeing fresh tire trucks,

838
00:41:57,679 --> 00:42:00,559
deep ones, wide set, same traider, remember from that red

839
00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:03,960
peat boilt. Didn't think much of it at first, maybe

840
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,440
someone else used the short cut. Then I hit a

841
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,519
bend and saw it. Potch side was across a dirt

842
00:42:08,519 --> 00:42:13,079
clearing the truck, same red body, same back trim pad,

843
00:42:13,119 --> 00:42:16,199
door hanging opened like it had been flung wide. No driver,

844
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,599
no movement. I pulled up slow, maybe thirty feet back,

845
00:42:19,679 --> 00:42:22,880
and laid on the horn. Nothing I called out, waited,

846
00:42:23,599 --> 00:42:26,840
still nothing against my better judgment. I climbed down with

847
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,519
my flashlight. Inside the cab was a mess. The radio

848
00:42:30,639 --> 00:42:33,519
was spitting static. The seat cushions were ripped open like

849
00:42:33,559 --> 00:42:36,039
something a clawed at them. A thick rope lee culled

850
00:42:36,079 --> 00:42:38,320
on the floor like a sleeping snake. There was an

851
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,719
old eye entire a thumper jawn beside the console, stained

852
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,440
with something dark and crusted. The log book was torn

853
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:46,760
in half. No signs of anyone I started to back up,

854
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,639
already reaching for the door handle. Then I saw him

855
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,960
just past the clearing where the tree start, standing dead, still, shirtless,

856
00:42:53,079 --> 00:42:57,280
pale like paper. Watching. I didn't move, didn't breathe. He

857
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:00,679
stepped forward, just one slow step. That was all I needed.

858
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:03,400
I climbed back in, slammed the door through the truck

859
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,639
in reverse, and didn't stop until I saw a pavement

860
00:43:05,679 --> 00:43:08,400
under my toes. Back at the depot, I went straight

861
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,360
to the foreman and told him everything. He didn't say much,

862
00:43:11,639 --> 00:43:14,039
just frowned and asked which road I taken. When I

863
00:43:14,079 --> 00:43:17,239
told him, he shook his head. Nobody runs that way anymore.

864
00:43:18,079 --> 00:43:21,880
Washed out last winter, County never cleared it. I described

865
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,480
the truck. He's quinted at me, that old pete. He said,

866
00:43:26,039 --> 00:43:29,559
we scrapped that thing last year, frame was shot. Hauled

867
00:43:29,599 --> 00:43:32,079
it down to clear Water to get shopped. That was

868
00:43:32,119 --> 00:43:36,559
the end of a conversation. Nobody followed up, nobody asked questions.

869
00:43:37,159 --> 00:43:39,440
I gave it a week, then turned in my keys.

870
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,480
Now I stick to short routes around Tennessee, nothing past midnight.

871
00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:46,679
I've been driving long haul roads since I was twenty one,

872
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,599
mostly solo runs. This one job came through on a Thursday.

873
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,519
Despatcher flagged it as urgent steel trousses to be holed

874
00:43:54,559 --> 00:43:56,880
up to a build site somewhere near a town called Carvestrace.

875
00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:01,039
Tucked into the hill's pass, bucket ridge, small backward stuff.

876
00:44:01,639 --> 00:44:03,639
The bay was decent, a little higher than normal for

877
00:44:03,679 --> 00:44:07,039
the distance. I didn't think much of it. I left

878
00:44:07,039 --> 00:44:10,400
out just before noon. Takai waded foremost of the way.

879
00:44:10,679 --> 00:44:13,239
Once I passed through Dolan's Fork, I noticed the shoulder

880
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:17,480
gout rougher in houses thinned out, just trees, lots of trees.

881
00:44:18,199 --> 00:44:20,480
I remember seeing an old wooden sign that said Wainlow

882
00:44:20,519 --> 00:44:23,679
Creek with an arrow pointing toward a dirt path. No town,

883
00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:27,239
no buildings, nothing but that crack were cutting through green.

884
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,719
Eventually the map dropped up, just like the despatcher said.

885
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,360
I was still about ten miles from the pin drop.

886
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:37,760
I kept driving, notice the gravel gates shunk here, trees

887
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:40,519
pressed closer. I passed an old blue trailler with no

888
00:44:40,639 --> 00:44:44,480
windows and a swing set tangle with weeds. No one around.

889
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:46,719
When I finally rolled into the clearing, it was a

890
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,719
little past six point thirty. The sun was hanging low

891
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:52,679
just behind the ridge. I hadn't seen another rickle in

892
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:55,199
at least an hour. The road ended a kind of

893
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,400
wide turn around, all gravel and dust. It felt like

894
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:00,559
the sort of place folks used to go dumping furniture

895
00:45:00,599 --> 00:45:03,280
back in the day. I left the truck idling, climbed

896
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,039
out to stretch my legs. The air felt heavy, still

897
00:45:06,079 --> 00:45:10,280
not hard exactly, just to moving. No birds, no rustling, nothing.

898
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,760
Then I saw headlights. They appeared around the same bent

899
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:16,360
i'd just come through. At first I thought it was

900
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:19,760
the red Jevy finally showing up late. But this truck

901
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,360
was smaller, old, rusted out along the fenders. The headlights

902
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:27,039
flickered like they didn't quite connect. No front plate. It

903
00:45:27,079 --> 00:45:29,639
pulled up behind my trailer. I watched in the side

904
00:45:29,639 --> 00:45:32,480
mirror as two men climbed down. They were both older,

905
00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:35,880
maybe late fifties or early sixties, pale, almost grayish, like

906
00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,480
they hadn't been in the sun for weeks. The first

907
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,039
guy wore sleeves, plaid shirt tucked into jeans, staying darker

908
00:45:41,119 --> 00:45:43,679
round the knees. The second walked with a limp and

909
00:45:43,679 --> 00:45:45,719
held one shoulder a little higher than the other, like

910
00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:49,039
it was frozen in place. He didn't blink, not once.

911
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:53,119
I gave them a polite nod Ian in y'all need

912
00:45:53,199 --> 00:45:56,400
help or something. They didn't say a word. Then the

913
00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:58,719
one with the limp stepped forward, hands at his sides

914
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:01,199
and asked, either one who came over Milly's Pass this

915
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:04,440
morning that through me. I told him I'd comfort Dolan's Fork.

916
00:46:04,559 --> 00:46:08,639
Then beckett Rich didn't recall anything called Miller's Pass. He

917
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:11,360
didn't acknowledge what I said, just stare, then muttered that

918
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:14,639
weren't your road. Now, I've had run ins with locals before.

919
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,280
He get used to folks in rural areas not liking

920
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,639
outsiders rolling in, especially in big rigs. They don't want

921
00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:22,559
you to sting up their roads or blocking the way.

922
00:46:23,159 --> 00:46:26,079
I figured that's what this was. Maybe I'd clipped some

923
00:46:26,159 --> 00:46:29,400
old trail they considered private. So I tried to stay calm,

924
00:46:30,119 --> 00:46:32,800
said something like, look, I'm just delivering trusses for a

925
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:36,400
tower build. Despatch gave me a route. I'm not trying

926
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:39,239
to cause any trouble. That's when the second guy squinted

927
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:42,199
at me like I just said something suspicious. Some one

928
00:46:42,239 --> 00:46:45,760
gave you that route, He asked, or did you decide

929
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:48,679
to wander off where you don't belong. I noticed his hands,

930
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:52,039
big knuckles, thick with dirt under the nails. Not the

931
00:46:52,159 --> 00:46:54,039
kind of hands you'd expect to be drivy round in

932
00:46:54,079 --> 00:46:55,679
an end to truck with no tools in the back.

933
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,079
And then something clicked in me, one of those moments

934
00:46:59,079 --> 00:47:01,400
where your body catches the warning signs before your brain

935
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:04,559
finishes processing them. I realized neither of them had looked

936
00:47:04,559 --> 00:47:07,320
at my truck. They didn't glance at the trailer, didn't

937
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,079
ask about the delivery. They were just focus on me,

938
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:13,199
like they already knew everything else. I tried to keep

939
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:15,880
my voice light, said, maybe I missed a turn. I

940
00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:18,639
can backtrack and check the road again. The man with

941
00:47:18,719 --> 00:47:21,760
the limp tilted his head just a little. No, he said,

942
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:25,199
he came this way, you finish it. The other man

943
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:28,760
stepped closer. I could smell him then, a kind of damp,

944
00:47:28,920 --> 00:47:31,480
earthy stink, like wet leaves and something left too long

945
00:47:31,559 --> 00:47:34,480
in a root cellar. He said, quiet, we've been waiting.

946
00:47:35,159 --> 00:47:38,760
My stomach dropped. I didn't answer, just back toward the cab,

947
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:41,639
keeping my eyes on them. I climbed and fast, shut

948
00:47:41,679 --> 00:47:44,320
the door hard and hit the lock. I didn't care

949
00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,079
how it looked. I turned the key and cranked the wheel,

950
00:47:47,159 --> 00:47:48,719
trying to angle the reak to reverse out of the

951
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:51,960
turnaround without jack naffing through the windshield. They hadn't moved,

952
00:47:52,079 --> 00:47:55,280
still just standing there, not even blinking. Their truck hadn't

953
00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:59,039
started back up either, no lights, nowsund. I threw it

954
00:47:59,159 --> 00:48:01,400
into reverse and back down the trail as fast as

955
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:04,519
I dared. The row was narrow, uneven, but I didn't

956
00:48:04,519 --> 00:48:06,679
care if I scraped the undercarriage or lost a mirror.

957
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:09,280
Once I got enough room to swing wide, I hit

958
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,079
the gas and pointed the nose down. Now they followed.

959
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:14,840
I didn't hear them at first, but I kept checking

960
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:18,760
the mirrors. That same rusted truck kept its distance, never speeding,

961
00:48:19,079 --> 00:48:23,000
never swerving, just there, head lights off, grill crooked like

962
00:48:23,039 --> 00:48:25,280
it had been in a wreck and never fixed. They

963
00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:28,119
stayed behind me for miles, even as the grave gave

964
00:48:28,159 --> 00:48:30,320
voy to patch she pavement. Even as I started hitting

965
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:34,360
rowse I half we recognized. I didn't stop, didn't slow.

966
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,199
I only lost sight of them when I hit Route fourteen. Yea,

967
00:48:37,199 --> 00:48:40,079
the little dino with the crooked sign. I glanced back.

968
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:46,280
Nothing there, no engine, noise, no dust, cloud, just empty road.

969
00:48:47,079 --> 00:48:48,840
I didn't stop until I hit a gas station on

970
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:51,840
the edge of Clifton, about twenty miles out. I parked

971
00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:53,880
near the edge of the lot, left the engine running

972
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:57,159
and just sat there. My hands were shaking. I couldn't

973
00:48:57,199 --> 00:48:59,719
turn the key off. I just sat there, staring through

974
00:48:59,719 --> 00:49:02,239
the wind for almost an io, trying to convince myself

975
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:05,599
it was just some trutorial local screwing around. The next morning,

976
00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:08,239
I called the number from the job sheet. The guy

977
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:10,239
who picked up was the same dispatcher who sent me

978
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:12,760
the co ordinates. I asked him why no one had

979
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:15,079
shown up at the sight. I asked if the job

980
00:49:15,119 --> 00:49:18,679
had been reassigned. He said no, no one else had

981
00:49:18,679 --> 00:49:21,239
been dispatched. And when I pulled up the despatch app

982
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,039
to show him the job, I da it wasn't there,

983
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:27,559
not archived, not in history, like it had never existed.

984
00:49:28,119 --> 00:49:30,440
I know what I saw, I know what I felt.

985
00:49:31,079 --> 00:49:33,880
I still drive the region, still take long holes to

986
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,920
Kentucky in the Blue Ridge areas, but I don't accept

987
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:39,239
any rather that puts me near Beckett Ridge. Doesn't matter

988
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:41,960
what they are offering. I've been running long holes most

989
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,000
of my life, close to twenty years behind the wheel.

990
00:49:44,639 --> 00:49:48,239
My usual loop runs between Charleston and Knoxville. Mostly timbers,

991
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,559
sometimes coal equipment. All lives took of fits the season.

992
00:49:51,159 --> 00:49:53,360
That night, i'd just finished to drop in Maynard Junction,

993
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:56,199
a small, scruffy place tucked into the hills of southwest Virginia.

994
00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:58,719
I was supposed to hop back on to Wrath thirty

995
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,159
nine and head west towards the st it line. Then

996
00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:03,360
a name popped up on the screen. I didn't recognize it,

997
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:08,239
Swallowtail Rich, just another appellation notch carved between hills. These

998
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:11,039
places come and go like shadows. I figured i'd hit

999
00:50:11,079 --> 00:50:12,800
a state route soon enough, and merged back with my

1000
00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:16,400
usual line. About forty five minutes in, I started noticing

1001
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:18,800
a weird sway in the trailer. I thought maybe I

1002
00:50:18,920 --> 00:50:21,880
was hugging the shoulder too close. Could have been soft

1003
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:25,280
from the rain, or maybe I was just tired. Either way,

1004
00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:27,320
I backed off the gas and let it roll steady.

1005
00:50:28,039 --> 00:50:30,440
That's when I saw the first sign. It was nailed

1006
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,400
to a tree just off the right side of the road.

1007
00:50:33,199 --> 00:50:36,440
Looked like an old fence post someone hadropurposed, painted and

1008
00:50:36,519 --> 00:50:39,800
all cats sloppily but clear. No true traffic after dark,

1009
00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:42,519
no gates, no barricades, no reflectors or blinking lights, just

1010
00:50:42,639 --> 00:50:44,880
that signed dark trees, crowding clothes on both sides, and

1011
00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:46,800
a two lane road that stretched a pill and vanished

1012
00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:48,800
into shadow. I let the truck idol and just stout

1013
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:50,559
at it for a second. I didn't like how quiet

1014
00:50:50,599 --> 00:50:53,039
it was, not dead quiet, more like still everything just waiting.

1015
00:50:53,079 --> 00:50:55,199
But I told myself it was probably some local crank

1016
00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:58,199
who didn't like strangers tearing enough to sense it. I've

1017
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:01,360
seen worse folks, old speed bumps out of scrap metal

1018
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:05,119
and call civic duty. So I rolled on. About fifteen

1019
00:51:05,159 --> 00:51:07,960
minutes later, the sea Bee fled to life. No voice

1020
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:11,760
at first, just these short, ragged bursts of static. Not

1021
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,320
the smooth, steady interference you get in valors. This came

1022
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:18,960
in short, almost wet pulses, like something breathing too close

1023
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:22,320
to the mic. I adjusted the squelch. That's when I

1024
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:30,039
heard the voice slowed down just that two words colm measured, measured,

1025
00:51:30,679 --> 00:51:33,480
Then the line went dead. I stopped the truck again.

1026
00:51:34,119 --> 00:51:36,280
This time I cut the engine and really looked around.

1027
00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:39,719
Flashlight in hand, I stepped out and checked the rigged

1028
00:51:39,719 --> 00:51:42,280
tire's trailer hitch. The under carriage, anything that could be

1029
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:46,440
rattling or off balance. Everything was fine, but I noticed

1030
00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:50,719
something else. There were no distant lights, no porch clothes,

1031
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,840
no farm has floodlights, not even a passing plane overhead,

1032
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:58,199
and the sky if he looked up, they didn't feel open.

1033
00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:01,079
It felt like the trees were holding it down. I

1034
00:52:01,199 --> 00:52:04,400
climbed back into the cab and tried calling despatch. Nothing

1035
00:52:05,119 --> 00:52:08,280
form was dead, not low battery, dead's ear or signal,

1036
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:12,880
no bars, not even the emergency so s I figured

1037
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:15,920
I'd hit a dead patch. Happens sometimes when you're deep

1038
00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:19,079
enough between ridges. I started the engine, tapped the fuel

1039
00:52:19,119 --> 00:52:21,239
gage just to keep my hands moving, and eas forward.

1040
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:24,159
A few miles later I saw someone on the side

1041
00:52:24,159 --> 00:52:26,719
of the road. They were crutched low, almost like they

1042
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,119
were tying a shoe or nursing a bad ankle. I

1043
00:52:29,199 --> 00:52:31,480
pulled to the shoulder, flipped on the hazards, and got

1044
00:52:31,559 --> 00:52:34,239
ready to help. As soon as my boots hit the gravel,

1045
00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:37,840
the figure stood up. It was a man older, maybe

1046
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:42,480
sixty is hot to tell, bare chested, no shoes, long

1047
00:52:42,559 --> 00:52:44,480
gray hair that clung to his back like wet rope.

1048
00:52:45,079 --> 00:52:47,159
His beard was thicken and trimmed, and his skin looked

1049
00:52:47,159 --> 00:52:50,400
almost translucent, like candle wax under a flickering light. He

1050
00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:54,360
didn't speak, didn't even flinch when I called out, you're right.

1051
00:52:55,239 --> 00:52:58,119
He just turned and walked into the woods. No rush,

1052
00:52:59,039 --> 00:53:01,280
just disappeared between the trees like he kneed away bhut.

1053
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,599
I didn't bother getting back in the gear slowly, I

1054
00:53:04,679 --> 00:53:06,880
threw the truck into drive and left him behind without

1055
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:10,840
another word. Not five minutes later, another sign appeared. This

1056
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:14,039
one was lowered to the ground, barely readable. The letters

1057
00:53:14,079 --> 00:53:17,320
were read, probably once bright but now faded into the grain.

1058
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:20,440
You were told. That was enough for me to mutter

1059
00:53:20,519 --> 00:53:22,199
something I won't repeat here, and grip the wheel a

1060
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:26,559
little harder. I didn't slow down. I didn't blink. I

1061
00:53:26,719 --> 00:53:28,800
just kept moving until something hit the side of the trailer.

1062
00:53:29,559 --> 00:53:32,880
Not a crash, not loud, just if the like some

1063
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:34,880
one had tossed a sack of flyer against a wall.

1064
00:53:35,559 --> 00:53:37,559
I slammed the brakes, jumped out again with the flashlight

1065
00:53:37,639 --> 00:53:41,239
and checked everything. No mocks, no rocks in the road,

1066
00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:44,519
no trees down. But when I turned to load back

1067
00:53:44,559 --> 00:53:46,480
down the stretch of pavement I just come from some

1068
00:53:46,559 --> 00:53:49,519
one was standing there middle of the lane facing me,

1069
00:53:49,760 --> 00:53:54,480
I lifted the flashlight, not then done like fog dispersing.

1070
00:53:55,199 --> 00:53:57,880
That's when I locked the doors, first time in my

1071
00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:00,440
life I've ever done that on the job. My hands

1072
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:02,800
were slick, and I couldn't stop tapping the brakes every

1073
00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:05,719
few seconds just to hear something real. I kept checking

1074
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:08,440
the mirrors, even when I knew better. I kept looking.

1075
00:54:09,079 --> 00:54:10,960
Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw

1076
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:15,840
a movement behind me, not outside inside, just a shape,

1077
00:54:16,519 --> 00:54:19,840
verily a silhouette slipping path the buncaria in sleeper. I

1078
00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:22,199
swerve so hard, pulling over, I nearly lost the trailer

1079
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:24,800
through the truck in the park, yanked turban the sleeper curtain,

1080
00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:28,800
and swept my flashlight across the cab andy. I checked

1081
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:32,000
every bag, pulled at the bedding, flipped cushions, opened cabinets,

1082
00:54:32,039 --> 00:54:34,880
even swung the back doors wide just in case there

1083
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:36,840
was no one. And the forest around me was still

1084
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:40,519
too still. Even in the deepest parts of the mountains,

1085
00:54:40,599 --> 00:54:44,559
you hear something anew, a bug, a breeze, but here

1086
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:48,159
nothing like. The trees were holding their breath. That's when

1087
00:54:48,159 --> 00:54:51,679
the sea bee clicked on again, first to static, then

1088
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:55,280
that sim haush read big breathing, and finally you were told.

1089
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:59,199
I didn't care about protocol any more, didn't check mirrors,

1090
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:03,239
closed the trailer doors. I just got bad hint, shifted

1091
00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:06,119
hard into gear, and floored. I didn't stop until I

1092
00:55:06,159 --> 00:55:09,320
reached a rest stop just outside Lawsonville, Wolden, under the

1093
00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:11,760
biggest floodlights I could find, and let the engine idle.

1094
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:14,440
I must have sat there for two hours, just listening

1095
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:15,920
to the hum and watching the edge of the lot

1096
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:19,800
for anything that moved. I didn't call despatch, I didn't

1097
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:23,239
follow a report. Who would believe me? I was twenty

1098
00:55:23,360 --> 00:55:25,679
nine when I started driving so low through the mountains

1099
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:29,159
for uch, just outside a little town called Carter's Ben, Virginia.

1100
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:32,559
I'd been around those hills my whole life. Neither curves

1101
00:55:32,599 --> 00:55:34,800
and dips like the back of my hand. By the

1102
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:36,599
time I took over the rout full time, I could

1103
00:55:36,719 --> 00:55:39,159
navigate it with my eyes half shut. Not that I

1104
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:42,119
recommend that. My truck back then was a second hand

1105
00:55:42,159 --> 00:55:43,880
Peter belt with a sleep of cat, kind of a

1106
00:55:43,960 --> 00:55:49,159
rust bucket, but reliable. I mostly hold produce fruits, vegetables.

1107
00:55:49,360 --> 00:55:51,719
Wants a load of ornamental corn for some full festival

1108
00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:54,760
loued in Blue Rock. Most runs were late night pickets

1109
00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:57,599
from small family farms, real old skull places with hand

1110
00:55:57,679 --> 00:56:00,199
painted signs and dogs that trotted alongside your tires as

1111
00:56:00,239 --> 00:56:03,119
he backed into the loading bay. This particular run happened

1112
00:56:03,119 --> 00:56:04,760
in mid July, hot enough to fry a neck and

1113
00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:06,119
the hood if you were dumb enough to try it.

1114
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:08,719
I'd taken a last minute coll to pick up crates

1115
00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:11,440
from a farm near Miller's Hollow. Normally it was a

1116
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,960
smooth in an out jaw, but they were behind that night.

1117
00:56:14,599 --> 00:56:16,960
This sorting machine had jammed and they were short staffed,

1118
00:56:17,039 --> 00:56:19,239
so I ended up waiting almost three hours in the lot,

1119
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:21,400
killing time with the sody sandwich and runs of some

1120
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:24,039
trivia show on my throne until the signal cut out completely.

1121
00:56:24,599 --> 00:56:26,800
By the time I finally got rolling, it was close

1122
00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:29,599
to one in the morning. Now there's a particular stretch

1123
00:56:29,639 --> 00:56:31,880
on Route forty seven nearer Miller's Gap that always makes

1124
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:35,280
me a little uneasy, not for any supernatural reason, just

1125
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:38,480
because it's hell to drive. It's narrow, peorly lit and

1126
00:56:38,559 --> 00:56:41,679
full of switchbacks. The guard rails are old and dented,

1127
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:44,320
like they've been tested more times than anyone wants to admit,

1128
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:47,239
there's no room for area, specially with a full load

1129
00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:50,119
and soft brakes. So there I was crawling through the

1130
00:56:50,159 --> 00:56:52,480
curves with both hands tied in the wheel, no music,

1131
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:54,320
just the hum of the engine and my own tye

1132
00:56:54,320 --> 00:56:56,960
of thoughts keeping me company. That's when I saw her.

1133
00:56:57,719 --> 00:57:00,440
She was standing off the shoulder near the tree line Fayfort,

1134
00:57:00,519 --> 00:57:03,000
wearing this lawn dress faded white or maybe pale blue,

1135
00:57:03,159 --> 00:57:04,599
hard to tell in the dark. That looked like it

1136
00:57:04,679 --> 00:57:07,760
belonged in an old family photo. Not moving, not waving,

1137
00:57:08,079 --> 00:57:10,320
just standing still, facing the trees, like she was listening

1138
00:57:10,360 --> 00:57:13,440
to something I couldn't hear. No curR in sight, no flashlight,

1139
00:57:13,719 --> 00:57:16,400
just her. I tapped the brakes a little, slowing down,

1140
00:57:17,039 --> 00:57:19,239
not because I thought she was dangerous, but because something

1141
00:57:19,280 --> 00:57:22,199
felled off. He don't see many people walking alone on

1142
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:24,800
that road in the middle of the night. It's too remote,

1143
00:57:25,519 --> 00:57:28,280
too quiet. At first I thought maybe she'd been in

1144
00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:31,599
an accident and wandered off taste. Then she turned around

1145
00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,199
and everything in me seized up. Her face. It wasn't gory,

1146
00:57:36,400 --> 00:57:41,519
no horror movie scary, just wrong, like something was was smatched.

1147
00:57:42,239 --> 00:57:44,280
Her eyes were spaced too, far apart. Her mouth was

1148
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:46,320
too low on her jaw, the proportions didn't track, like

1149
00:57:46,440 --> 00:57:48,559
someone had tried to rebuild a human face from memory

1150
00:57:48,599 --> 00:57:50,599
and got in the spacing all rom And she didn't blink.

1151
00:57:50,639 --> 00:57:52,960
That hit me harder than anything. Her eyes just stayed open,

1152
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:55,079
wide and glassy. Then she started walking toward the truck,

1153
00:57:55,199 --> 00:57:57,440
not rushing, knock, calling out, just calm, slow steps, like

1154
00:57:57,519 --> 00:57:59,960
she was certain it'd stop and let her in. I didn't.

1155
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:04,039
I floorded the engine, grown tires, crape gravel, and I

1156
00:58:04,119 --> 00:58:05,800
kept my foot pressed down like I was trying to

1157
00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:08,559
outfront my own thoughts. My eyes flicked to the side

1158
00:58:08,559 --> 00:58:11,079
mirrors again and again, expecting to see her still standing there,

1159
00:58:11,239 --> 00:58:14,400
or worse following. But there was nothing. The road behind

1160
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:17,440
me was empty. My hands were shaking, but I didn't stop,

1161
00:58:18,039 --> 00:58:19,800
not even when my throat dried up and I could

1162
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:22,679
barely swallow. I told myself I'd pull into the diner

1163
00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:24,519
up New York Ridge, just to catch my breath and

1164
00:58:24,559 --> 00:58:28,480
call someone, maybe report it, maybe not. I wasn't sure

1165
00:58:28,519 --> 00:58:32,039
what i'd even say. Then about ten, maybe fifteen minutes later,

1166
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:35,800
I heard something. It came from the sleeper. Now listen,

1167
00:58:36,440 --> 00:58:40,559
I locked that section religiously, always have ever since the

1168
00:58:40,599 --> 00:58:42,119
time a DRNK tried to call in as a rest

1169
00:58:42,159 --> 00:58:44,199
stop near Knoxville. I make a point to triple check

1170
00:58:44,199 --> 00:58:46,519
the latch before I hit the highway. But what I

1171
00:58:46,599 --> 00:58:50,119
heard was knocking, wasn't banging. It was subtle, like someone

1172
00:58:50,159 --> 00:58:53,599
shifting their weight, slow rustling, the faint read, the thud

1173
00:58:53,639 --> 00:58:56,559
of fabric brushing against final I tightened my grip on

1174
00:58:56,599 --> 00:59:00,360
the wheel and kept going. Didn't look back, didn't say

1175
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:02,840
a word, just kept driving like I was alone and

1176
00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:05,239
nothing was happening. I don't know if it was fearer

1177
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:07,400
or instinct to some primitive part of my brain deciding

1178
00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:09,559
to freeze and pretend nothing was there. But I couldn't

1179
00:59:09,559 --> 00:59:12,679
bring myself to check. Eventually I pulled into the diner lot.

1180
00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:15,719
It was a twenty four hour joint. Always smelled faintly

1181
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:17,719
of burned bacon and mop water, but they had strung

1182
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,320
coffee in a bright parking area. I parked under the

1183
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:22,800
biggest flood light and jumped out before the truck fully settled.

1184
00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:26,119
Walked round to the sleeper, opened the door, slow heart

1185
00:59:26,199 --> 00:59:29,119
panding nothing. Just my old blanket, A couple of crumpled

1186
00:59:29,119 --> 00:59:30,639
with seats on the floor and the soft hum of

1187
00:59:30,639 --> 00:59:33,039
the minifer I had left running. The door had stayed

1188
00:59:33,079 --> 00:59:35,840
locked the whole time. I stood there for a few minutes,

1189
00:59:36,119 --> 00:59:38,400
just stirring into the space, like something might materialize if

1190
00:59:38,440 --> 00:59:40,960
I looked long enough. Then I went inside the diner

1191
00:59:41,039 --> 00:59:42,760
and sat down at the corner, butth with the crack

1192
00:59:42,800 --> 00:59:46,039
final seat, ordered coffee, tried to act normal. The waiters

1193
00:59:46,199 --> 00:59:48,199
brought it over, gave me a second look like she

1194
00:59:48,320 --> 00:59:50,280
was about to ask if I was okay, but didn't push.

1195
00:59:51,079 --> 00:59:54,039
I sat there until the cup was empty, maybe twenty minutes.

1196
00:59:54,039 --> 00:59:56,840
Twenty five minutes. When I came back to the truck,

1197
00:59:57,079 --> 00:59:59,440
something was sitting on the driver's seat. It was a

1198
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:01,400
piece of light paper, torn at the edge like from

1199
01:00:01,440 --> 01:00:05,639
a school notebook. On it, someone had drawn circles, tight

1200
01:00:05,760 --> 01:00:07,920
heavy loops that overlapped and bled into each other, over

1201
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:10,199
and over until the pencil nearly tore through the paper.

1202
01:00:10,880 --> 01:00:16,639
No name, no message, just circles. A froze. Just stirred

1203
01:00:16,639 --> 01:00:19,239
at the open door, staring down at it. I checked

1204
01:00:19,239 --> 01:00:22,360
a whole lot, walked it end to end, looked on

1205
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:26,440
the trailers, even checked the bathroom stalls. Again, no one

1206
01:00:27,079 --> 01:00:29,519
I went back inside. Asked the cashier if anyone had

1207
01:00:29,519 --> 01:00:32,079
passed through or touched the truck. He shook his head,

1208
01:00:32,719 --> 01:00:35,280
said the place had been dead all night. I asked

1209
01:00:35,280 --> 01:00:39,039
about cameras. He said they didn't catch anything unusual. I

1210
01:00:39,159 --> 01:00:41,960
drove the rest of the route in daylight, windows down,

1211
01:00:42,639 --> 01:00:46,000
music loud, didn't stop unless I had to. When I

1212
01:00:46,079 --> 01:00:48,719
delivered the load, I didn't even wait for confirmation, just

1213
01:00:48,800 --> 01:00:51,639
handed it off the clipboard and left. After that, I

1214
01:00:51,679 --> 01:00:54,840
stopped taking mountain runs, switched to shorter routes between Asheville

1215
01:00:54,840 --> 01:00:58,400
and Johnson City de holes only. I told myself it

1216
01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:00,599
was for the betterless time away from home. He's her

1217
01:01:00,679 --> 01:01:03,559
on the back, but deep down, I just didn't want

1218
01:01:03,559 --> 01:01:06,679
to be alone in that truck after duck anymore. And

1219
01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:09,239
that is the end. Thank you for listening, and I

1220
01:01:09,280 --> 01:01:10,320
will see you in the next one.