Scott Wittenburg - See Tom Run

He slowed down at the Hilliard exit where he had first gotten onto the outerbelt and discovered that the Jeep had gone past it. As he sped up again, he noticed that the fuel gauge was near empty. If he didn’t have any luck soon, he was going to have to give up the chase before he ran out of gas. The last thing he needed was to be stranded out here on this lonesome interstate.

Tom had driven another four or five miles when he thought he spotted a pair of red taillights up ahead. He began slowing down and when he got closer, discovered that the lights were not moving at all The Jeep had run off the road!

He pulled up beside the Laredo, which was still running. It was at that moment that he realized his Jeep had run into a utility pole-just hard enough to dent in his bumper a good half inch or so. He saw no sign of the driver and wondered if he had bailed out. Then he thought he spotted the top of a head lying against the driver’s side window.

The head was motionless Tom threw the CR-V into park and jumped out. He ran over and gingerly opened the door, careful not to let the person fall out. He was shocked to discover that the driver was a young woman and apparently unconscious.

He gently lifted the girl upright against the seat. She started to moan softly.

“Hey there, are you all right?” he said.

The girl moaned again and then her eyes fluttered open. When she saw Tom, she let out a scream.

“Don’t hurt me, please!” she cried, terrified.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Tom said. “Are you hurt? It looks like you may have hit your head on the steering wheel.”

“You promise you won’t hurt me?”

Tom patted her lightly on the shoulder. “I won’t, I promise. I just want to make sure that you’re okay. What happened?”

The girl seemed to snap out of it somewhat as she peered into Tom’s eyes.

“I thought you were somebody else,” she began. “Someone has been chasing me for the last couple of hours. He’s very dangerous. I thought I’d lost him a while back and then my car ran out of gas on the north side. I ran on foot until I found this Jeep parked at Riverside Hospital. So I got in and drove out here, trying to find a way out of town.

“Then I ran into the road construction and headed back this way. I saw your car and panicked. I guess I started driving too fast-the next thing I knew I lost control and slid into the berm. I braked until I ran into that pole. Guess I hit my head on the steering wheel and it knocked me out.”

Tom wondered why the air bag hadn’t deployed as he noticed a lump on the girl’s forehead in the dim light. It was bleeding slightly.

“You’ve got quite a bump there,” he said. He leaned over to the dash compartment and pulled out a pack of Kleenex.

“Hold this over it,” he said, gently placing the tissue on her forehead.

“Thanks. How did you know there would be Kleenex in the glove box?”

Tom smiled. “Oh, my wife always makes sure that we keep Kleenex aboard.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “This is your Jeep?”

“Yup, sure is. That’s why I’ve been following you.”

“God, I’m so sorry! I was just so scared that I didn’t give it a second thought when I took it. Of course, I really didn’t expect to see anyone else out tonight.”

Tom said, “Don’t worry about my car-it sounds like you really needed it at the time. Before you tell me who’s been chasing you, I’d like to know what you meant by not expecting to see anyone out tonight.”

The girl shook her head wearily. “That’s going to take some explaining and I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.”

“I know what you mean. Let’s say we get off of this highway and go somewhere warm. I’ll drive.”

“You don’t know how good that sounds, uh-”

“Tom. Tom Grayson,” he said.

The girl smiled. “My name is Erin Myers.” She offered him her hand awkwardly. “Nice to meet you.”

Tom shook her hand. “The pleasure is mine. How does your head feel?”

“Not too bad, but I wouldn’t exactly refuse a couple of Advils, either.”

“We’ll go to my house and get you some. Maybe we can even find some food to eat.”

“Where do you live?”

“Worthington.”

“We can’t go there!” Erin exclaimed defiantly.

“Why not?”

“That’s where he started chasing me-I live in Worthington, too.”

“Whereabouts?” Tom asked.

“Near Wilson Bridge Road.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not going that far. Besides, what makes you think he’ll find us? And if he does, whoever he is, what could he possibly do?”

Erin shook her head. “Kyle is liable to anything when he’s this mad. He would probably kill us both.”

Tom was shocked by this response but tried not to show it. “No, he won’t. I’ll protect you.” Spoken like a true superhero.

“No offense, but you don’t know just how violent he is. He-”

She stopped herself and closed her eyes. It was clear that she didn’t want to go on.

Tom said, “It’s okay, Erin. Let’s get out of here and we’ll make sure that this Kyle character doesn’t spot us. I know some pretty obscure routes to my home.”

Erin managed a weak smile. “Okay.”

Tom helped her out and escorted her over to the passenger side. He checked out the damage to the Jeep, which was minimal, and then parked the CR-V closer to the berm. He debated what to do with the keys and wondered if the owner would ever be reunited with his car again. It was that moment that the full brunt of all that had happened resurfaced in his mind.

He got back into the Jeep and backed away from the pole. “Won’t be needing that little Honda anymore-it’s about out of gas anyway,” he quipped. He glanced at his own fuel gauge, which still had about a quarter of a tank left. Good for about another forty or fifty miles, he estimated.

“Thank you,” Erin said.

“For what?”

She looked over at him. “Saving me.”

Tom was a little confused by this, but replied, “You’re welcome.”

They drove a few miles in silence and Tom thought of at least a dozen questions he wanted to ask Erin Myers. He felt it best to wait though-at least until after they reached his house. He caught himself nearly nodding off as he drove through the seemingly endless white vista back to Worthington. He was all but completely spent. The thought of going home, falling asleep, and waking up to find that this had just been an awful nightmare was his greatest wish at the moment.

However, Tom was almost certain that wouldn’t be case.

Erin Myers was fast asleep by the time they reached Worthington. Tom had caught himself checking the rear view mirror frequently throughout the drive, just in case the mysterious Kyle had picked up their trail along the way.

He felt odd as he pulled into his driveway, aware that his family and friends weren’t in the house and that he was about to take a stranger inside. The events leading up to this moment had unfolded so quickly that it nearly overwhelmed him.

Erin stirred when he shut off the engine.

“Is this where you live?” she murmured.

“This is it. Did your little nap help any?”

“No, it just made me feel dumb. And my head really hurts now.”

“Let’s go inside and get you some pain killers.”

The two got out and Tom held Erin’s arm as they trudged through the deep snow to the door. Once inside, Tom flipped on the flashlight and lit a candle in the kitchen. As the room filled with flickering yellow light, Tom saw his breath and felt the frigid cold of the house.

On a lark, he went over and turned the knob on the stove. Although it didn’t come on, he could smell gas.