C. Box - The Highway

“What is?”

“Look out there. You can see wildlife in the starlight.”

“I thought they were cows.”

“This is Yellowstone Park, Danielle,” Gracie said. “They don’t graze cows in a national park.”

Danielle seemed to be thinking it over. Then she said, “I heard cow farts are one of the leading causes of global warming. That’s why we shouldn’t eat so much red meat.”

Gracie sighed.

But as they started a slow turn away from the Lamar River valley, she noticed a tiny wink of light through the back window in her rearview mirror a long distance behind.

“At least we aren’t the only people on the road,” she said.

“What?”

* * *

As they crossed over a long expansion bridge with a thin angry river far below them, Gracie could see a smudge of light ahead coming from beyond a shoulder of mountain. Then a small wooden sign reading: MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, 2 MILES. She glanced at the GPS. Three more hours.

“We’re just about out of the park,” she said.

“And I have a signal!” Danielle shrieked. As she said it her text box lit up.

“Two texts from Justin,” Danielle said. “That’s so sweet. He was worried about me.” To the phone, she said, “Don’t worry about me, J-Man. I’m coming to save you.” She began to text.

* * *

Fifteen minutes LATER, Danielle’s phone chirped. “He wants to know where we are.”

A beat passed, and Gracie said, “So tell him.”

“Where are we?”

Gracie sighed, looked at the GPS display, and said, “Tell him we’re in Montana again. We just drove through Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner and we’re going north on Highway 89.”

“Slow down,” Danielle said, tapping the keys.

“You could look at the screen, you know. It says we’re close to Yankee Jim Canyon.”

“Yeah, yeah,” her sister muttered.

The highway paralleled a river and there were high canyon walls on both sides. The night sky was a belt of stars straight above them, its expanse narrowed to a trough by the walls. Gracie thought the sky looked like a mirror of the river they were driving by.

Suddenly, the car lurched.

Gracie looked up, “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Danielle said. But when Gracie leaned over and checked the temperature gauge she saw the needle had not only entered the red but was pressed tight to the far corner of it. The engine lurched again and went silent. It was as if the soul of the little car had left it, leaving the slowly rolling husk.

“Oh, no,” Gracie said.

“What is it?” Danielle asked, frantic. The Ford slowed.

“Something happened to the motor. The steering wheel is all stiff.”

It was a struggle for Danielle to crank the wheel even a quarter of the way but she was able to slightly turn the front wheels. When she pressed on the brake it barely responded, as if the life had gone out of it.

“Oh, no,” Gracie said again as the little Ford coasted to a stop a few feet before the front bumper tapped a crooked delineator post. The headlights still shined and the GPS screen glowed, but the car was dead.

Danielle tried several times to start the motor but it simply produced a grinding sound. She pumped the gas furiously and tried again. Nothing.

“We’re going to be here all night, ” Gracie cried.

“Shut up and don’t think the worst. Here, you try it,” Danielle said to her sister.

“What can I do?”

“I don’t know,” Danielle said, quickly getting out and walking over to Gracie’s side. She opened the door. “Scoot over and give it a try,” she said.

* * *

For the next few minutes, Gracie twisted the key in the ignition but the engine didn’t start. Instead, there was the angry grinding sound.

“I’m just draining the battery doing this,” she said.

“Did we run out of gas?” Danielle asked angrily.

“No, we have half a tank. It must have something to do with that engine light. The fricking light.”

“Are you sure you can’t get it started?”

“Do you want to try again?” Gracie asked, a crack in her voice.

“This is terrible.”

“No kidding.”

They sat in silence and darkness. The display on the GPS began to fade. Gracie could feel cold seeping into the car from the floorboards.

“I can’t call him,” Danielle said softly, sniffing back a tear. “I’ve lost the signal again in this fucking canyon.”

Gracie said, “We could walk back to Gardiner. It’s only a few miles back there, I think.”

“Or we should stay with the car,” Danielle said. “And wait for somebody to stop and help us.”

That’s when the headlights appeared on the road behind them.

Gracie cracked her door so the dome light would come on, but didn’t open it any further. She turned in her seat.

One set of headlights, coming fast. And a long string of amber running lights flowing behind, like the tail of a comet.

“It’s slowing down,” Gracie said.

“That’s friggin’ awesome.” Danielle grinned.

“Danielle … it’s that truck.”

* * *

Bright headlights lit up the inside of Danielle’s Ford and Gracie turned to Danielle. The grille of the black truck filled the back window and she heard the hissing of air brakes. The harsh white light made her sister’s face look cartoonish. But there was no doubt Danielle was terrified.

“Lock the doors!” Gracie yelled.

And the lights behind them went out, leaving utter darkness. Gracie heard the thunk of the electric locks and thanked God the battery had enough power to perform the function.

The truck was so close behind them the Ford vibrated from the heavy engine.

Gracie craned in her seat, looking back. Her eyes couldn’t adjust to the darkness due to the blinding light a moment before. Green diamonds and orbs strobed in her eyes from the aftereffect. But she thought she heard a door slam.

“Maybe he’ll help us,” Danielle said, barely above a whisper. “I wish I wouldn’t have…”

There was a beat of silence and the passenger window exploded inward. Danielle screamed. Gracie tried to scream but nothing came out but a wheezy croak. She turned to see Danielle put her arms up to block the huge hands of the driver who was reaching inside.

What happened next came in rapid flashes.

The driver appeared to be reaching for Danielle’s throat as if to strangle her but there was something dark and squared-off in one of his hands. Gracie heard the angry crackle of electricity and Danielle’s sudden “ Ungh! ” followed by the sight of her sister stiffening like a corpse, raising herself out of her seat, her eyes rolling white back into her head, her mouth slack …

Gracie turned away. Tried to locate the toggle to unlock her driver’s side door so she could get out and run. Tried to remember whether the toggle was on top of the armrest or in its side or on the dashboard …

The hot smell of urine filled the car.

And in her peripheral vision, a big white form moved hurriedly from right to left in front of the car. It was the truck driver, wearing all white, something plastic, a glimpse of his big blocklike head …

She found the button and jammed it forward and all four door locks popped open.

Gracie pulled back on the door latch and it started to swing open when the driver wedged himself into the opening and reached toward her. She heard a thump on the top of the door frame as he hit his head trying to bend inside, the blow significant enough to rock the car.

It staggered him a moment and he paused, and she threw herself away, started crawling over the top of Danielle’s convulsing body toward the passenger door. But the driver recovered and she felt his fingers grasp the top of her waistband and jerk her back into the driver’s seat.