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Speaker 1: I do deliveries for my local Papa John's. I'm in college,

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so this is just one of the few jobs I

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could choose from. A few of my friends work here too,

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but we're all delivery drivers, so even when we have

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the same shifts, we don't really see each other anyway.

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This happened to me last December while I was picking

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up some extra shifts before Christmas. This night, it was

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snowing a good amount, making deliveries take longer than usual,

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while also getting more deliveries than usual. I was never

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too stressed about work, though having to go NonStop for

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hours on end was definitely not as enjoyable. At nine

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point thirty, I grabbed my next set of orders to

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deliver and got in my car to get the directions up.

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I had two orders and the houses were just five

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minutes from each other, but they were both pretty far

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from the shop. They were fit fifteen minutes away, which

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was more like twenty five minutes in this weather. The

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first part of the drive was normal, but then it

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began taking me toward the less visited part of town.

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The houses here were older and most of the shops

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in the area had closed. Nobody ever came around here

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unless they lived here because it was so old and

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just wasn't up to today's standards. After twenty minutes of driving,

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I pulled into one of the neighborhoods and drove down

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the road toward the first house. The road was very bare,

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no cars parked on the side, and most of the

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houses kind of looked empty. Once I got to the

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first address, I parked on the road and walked up

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to the front door. A kind old man answered the

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door and paid for the pizza. Then I went back

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and set the directions for the next house. It was

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in the same neighborhood, but I realized as I drove

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that it was taking me deeper into the neighborhood, to

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the point where there were less houses and more space

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between them. By the time I got to the address,

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I couldn't see any other houses around. It was just

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trees surrounding the area. Again, I parked on the street

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and walked up to the front door. I knocked and

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waited patiently on the porch. It was pretty cold out though,

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and the snow making my clothes soaked wasn't helping. Finally,

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after a minute, the door opened. It was a middle

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aged woman who looked like she'd just woken up. Her

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hair was messy, and she had tired and motionless eyes.

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I have your order here for two pizzas, I said,

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holding out the boxes and giving her the total to pay.

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She took the boxes and placed them on the table

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next to her, then told me to wait a moment

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for her to get cash. Another minute went by before

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they opened the door again. She started sifting through some cash,

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counting it slowly and trying to add it all up.

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There was definitely something weird about her. It's hard to

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pinpoint what it was exactly, but everything she was doing

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was just very odd. Then, as if she wasn't struggling

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enough on counting the cash, she started up small talk

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with me, normal stuff like how my day was and

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all that. I responded politely, but it was just really weird,

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like she was stalling. At some point while she was talking,

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I looked back at my car, just to distance myself

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from the uncomfortable situation for a moment, But I was

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quick to see a man standing right next to it.

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He was looking in the windows and doing something to

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the door. But when I looked back at the woman,

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her face had shifted into anger. I figured it all

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out too late, though, as she reached out and then

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started yelling to the man by my car. He turned

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around and started sprinting towards us. As the woman tried

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to pull me into the house, I pushed her away

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and broke free. Then my instincts took hold of me

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and I sprinted into the trees. I could hear the

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man's heavy footsteps crunching in the snow behind me all

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the way through the forest, until finally they started to

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fade away. After two minutes of sprinting, I stopped to

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catch my breath. Luckily, the moon was lighting up the

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forest enough for me to navigate through it and back

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to one of the streets in the neighborhood. I called

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nine one one once I got service, and after ten

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minutes of waiting in the cold, an officer arrived. Another

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patrol car went to the house, finding the man outside

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in the act of trying to break into my car.

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To keep things from dragging on. Basically, the motive was

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likely due to the couple running out of money and

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resorting to robbing my vehicle. The whole distraction was so

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that the man could rob my car without me ever knowing,

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but since I saw what he was doing. It's not

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really clear what they would have done. Maybe they would

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have just let me go, but it's obvious I would

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have reported them, so I don't think it's likely they

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would have. I'm just thankful for getting away unharmed, and

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for being the first victim they tried it on before

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getting arrested and never having the chance to do anything

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to anyone else. This was just last winter. In early February,

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I was driving to my next door dash order. I

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was a bit tired, as I'd been driving for the

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last four hours and it was almost twelve am. After this,

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I was definitely calling it a night and heading home,

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as I was worried about getting sleepy on the road,

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especially with all the ice and snow. I was driving

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down a fairly empty road though it was a side

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road that connected two of the main towns in our city,

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but there was a five mile stretch that had nothing,

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no buildings or houses or anywhere to stop. As I

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was driving down this section. I don't really know what happened,

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but I just got hit with a wave of tiredness

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that made me lose focus on the road for just

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a few seconds. But that was all it took, I

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guess I hit a patch of ice and slid towards

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the side, and although I fully woke back up, at

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this point it was too far gone. I tried to

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steer back onto the road, but my car just slid

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straight off and into the small ditch between the road

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and the woods. It wasn't a bad crash at all,

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since the snow lightened the impact, but it still made

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me a little shaky, and I knew right away that

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it was going to be impossible to get out of this.

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My car was stuck on the incline of the ditch

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and in thick snow. I didn't even bother getting out

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to try and see how bad it was, though I

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did test my luck at trying to maneuver the car

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to get some traction, but if anything, I just made

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it worse. In the middle of trying to figure everything out,

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I noticed a car's headlights down the road. At first,

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I thought it was just a car passing by, but

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after a few seconds it was clear that they weren't moving.

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Someone must have just been parked down the road with

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their headlights on, which I found to be a little

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unnerving at the coincidence of it. Being on this long

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empty road. They weren't close enough to have stopped to

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try and help me, but they weren't far enough either

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to not see my headlights. I pulled out my phone

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and called my dad, knowing he'd still be awake and

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hoping he'd be able to help me. I'd never been

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in a situation like this, so I really didn't know

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what to do. He said he would call roadside assistance

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and then drive down to wait with me. I thanked

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him and felt relief, knowing he would be down here

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in just a few minutes. I looked back out on

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the road, looking for the headlights from the car i'd

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just seen, but now they were gone. It was too

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dark to see anything that far without lut so I

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didn't know if they'd driven away or were still there

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and had just turned off their lights. It started to

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creep me out the more I thought about it. I

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kept my eyes down the road, not looking away for

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more than a few seconds, as I began getting paranoid.

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It was something about the silence as well that made

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it more uneasy, only hearing the wind outside my car

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and nothing else. Then, after three minutes of waiting, I

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saw a figure walking toward my car. He was down

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the road, coming from the direction where the headlights had been.

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I watched him as he slowly made his way through

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the snow, getting to just about fifteen feet from the

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front of my car. Then he stopped. He stood there

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in the snow, facing me, but not moving. I couldn't

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see much of him, as he had a hoodie covering

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his face, but the way he just stood there my

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headlights started to terrify me. After a moment, I honked

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my horn softly a few times, just to let them

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know that I was in the car and that I

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could see them. They still didn't move or acknowledge me.

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But just as I was pulling out my phone to

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call my dad again, the man turned around and walked away,

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disappearing down the road. I still called my dad to

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let him know about this really strange person that was

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out here, and he said he was just a minute away.

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I stayed on the phone with him this time, and

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only thirty seconds later I saw headlights turn on down

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the road and begin moving toward my car. Once they

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were right across the road, they parked and turned off

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their lights. I couldn't see over the ditch, but I

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heard a door open as I yelled through the phone

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what was going on, But then my dad's car pulled

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right in front of my view and screeched to a stop.

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I heard him yell at someone as they got back

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in their car and sped away. They didn't come back,

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but my dad said the guy was holding something in

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his hands that looked like he was going to break

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into my car with Everything went okay after that, though,

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and the car ended up not even having much damage

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to it. I'm not sure what was about to happen

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that night, but I know I'm really lucky to have

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not found out. I do uber eats on the weekends

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and sometimes on days when school is out. This happened

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just a couple weeks before school's holiday break. It was

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a Friday night and I didn't have any plans at all,

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so I figured why not make a few bucks instead

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of being bored and laying around the house all day.

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I started driving and set up the app to start

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getting orders. It wasn't snowing out, but it was really

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cold and windy, and there was still a thin layer

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of snow on the roads from earlier in the day.

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I think it was six pm when I started, and

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I did a few orders before I got one to

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pick up from a nearby burger king. Once I got

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the food, I checked on the app where I was going.

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It was clear at first that it wasn't a house address,

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but when I zoomed in, I was a little more

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confused to see it was at the corner of two streets,

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looking like maybe a gas station. Although finding it to

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be unusual, I clicked begin route and started driving over.

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I didn't think it was anything bad. I just thought

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it was going to be an awkward interaction, since I'd

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probably have to find the person in the parking lot

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and give it to them directly. Usually I never see

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the customers and just do a quick drop off. As

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I got closer and drove up to the intersection it

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was at, I saw that it was a gas station

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that was right in the spot the directions were taking me.

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The gas station itself looked normal, but no cars were

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in the parking lot. I pulled in and parked in

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one of the spots at the back, then stayed in

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my car and tried to look around for anyone. The

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app should have let them know that I'd arrived, so

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I was expecting someone to be out here waiting for me,

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but even after a couple minutes, nobody was here. I

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sent a text through the app, just letting them know

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that I was in the parking lot waiting for them.

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Then I got out of my car to see if

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I could get a better look around. The whole intersection

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was empty, No cars were passing by, and all the

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stores across the street seemed to be closed for the night.

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The longer I stood out there, the more unsettled I got.

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I checked my phone, still seeing no response from the customer.

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I was just about to get back into my car

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before a truck pulled into the gas station. They passed

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the pumps and drove right up to me, parking just

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a couple spots away. It was an older, dark red

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pickup with tinted windows. The first thought to come through

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my head was why would they order for delivery if

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they were just going to end up driving here anyway.

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I'd thought before that maybe they were a worker at

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the gas station or were just hanging out here for

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some reason, but now this was far more suspicious than

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it already was. The driver door opened and a man

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stepped out of the truck. From one look at him.

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He had a very disheveled appearance, like something you'd expect

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from someone living on the road. Even his clothes looked dirty,

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stained and torn. As he got out, I held up

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the bag with a slight smile, but the man didn't

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even look at it. He kept his eyes locked on

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me as he approached, and something struck me, giving me

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the feeling to get out of there immediately. I set

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the bag on the ground, and almost right away, the

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man started walking faster, as if he knew I was

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going to leave. I got in my car and started

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backing out just as the man got up to my door,

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but then he ran right back to his truck, leaving

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the food on the ground. As I left the gas station,

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I saw him back out quickly and start speeding toward

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the exit I was leaving from. I floored it, going

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through a red light and just speeding down the road

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until I got to where more cars were. The truck

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tried to follow me for a minute, but then turned away.

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Once I was safe, I called the police, but really

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nothing came of it. In the heat of the moment,

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I never even thought to check the man's license plate,

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though thinking back, I'm not sure if he even had one.

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I don't know what he was doing or what would

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have happened if I didn't leave when I did, but

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knowing that I was so close to finding out is

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still horrifying.