Ryan Westfield - Getting Out

He’d felt an obligation to rescue Chad, but he knew he couldn’t count on him. Chad had let him down countless times in the past. Not only that, but Chad had let everyone down. They’d tried to have an intervention for him, but it was hopeless. It had been terrible, and Max shuddered at the memory now. He wondered if Chad even remembered it.

“Everything fine?” said Max, to Mandy.

“Fine,” she said, speaking in a low but audible voice.

The car door opened and Chad got out. His weight shifted the car and Max could feel it.

“Surprised you could lift the car up with me in it,” joked Chad.

“I’m almost done,” grunted Max, as he started lowering the car.

Next, he set to work tightening the bolts, working in a star pattern as he’d been taught.

“I think we’re all set,” said Max. “I almost want to say we should investigate what we ran over, but maybe it’d be better not to.”

“Yeah,” said Mandy. “Let’s just keep going. This place gives me the creeps.”

It was creepy. Max didn’t want to admit it to himself. But there was something a little strange about this area.

There weren’t any houses around. Either side of the road was just woods, possibly stretching for miles. They’d already left the suburbs without quite realizing it. The suburbs had just sort of gradually faded away, and without light on in the houses, it was hard to tell how densely populated the area was that they’d left.

“Well,” said Max. “I guess we’re doing good. We’re away from most of the chaos. The less densely populated the area we’re in, the better.”

The sound of lighter came through the night. Chad was sparking up a joint.

“Chad!” hissed Max. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Just relaxing, man,” said Chad, speaking in a strange voice as he held the smoke deep in his lungs.

He exhaled and started coughing. It was a loud cough that seemed to echo all round them in the silent night.

Max suddenly realized there wasn’t a single other sound. It was dead quiet.

Mandy realized it at the same time, too. “There aren’t even any animals here,” she said, as she stared off into the depths of the dark woods.

“Let’s get going,” said Max. “Chad, put that out, OK?”

“OK, man,” said Chad, licking his fingers to extinguish the joint and presumably save it for later.

The whole area now reeked of weed, and Max had always hated the smell. It reminded him of something wet and rotting.

Max was halfway into the driver’s seat when Chad, who was still standing around fiddling with his joint, shouted.

“What is it?” said Mandy, worried.

She was already in the passenger’s seat, and she shut the door quickly.

“Shit, man, did you see that?” said Chad.

“What was it?” said Max.

“I don’t know, man… Eyes… A pair of eyes off in the woods there…”

“Get in the car,” said Max.

Chad got in, and his weight shifted the suspension of the Jeep.

“Let’s hope this tire holds up,” said Max, hitting the button to lock all the doors. He considered putting the child safety lock on, in case Chad tried something, but he thought better of it.

“What did you see?” said Mandy, turning around to face him in the darkness.

“Eyes,” said Chad. His tone was hushed. He sounded really worried. “But they weren’t normal eyes.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, they were definitely human… But there was something…”

“Come on,” said Max. “This isn’t a zombie movie.”

“I know,” said Chad. “But it was something… Maybe it was someone watching us.”

“You’re just high,” said Max. “You’re paranoid.”

“Maybe,” muttered Chad. “Maybe…”

“I’m worried about it,” said Mandy.

“Don’t be,” said Max.

The three of them didn’t talk much for the next few hours. Despite Max’s growing fatigue, he continued to drive. He kept his speed at about forty miles an hour, which seemed reasonable on these roads. He didn’t want to go too slow, or too fast. Too slow and they’d never get there. Too fast, and he’d just waste fuel and increase the chances of either an accident or something else. He couldn’t afford to blow another tire. Not now.

He tried not to accelerate much, and not to brake much either. Both actions would merely waste fuel. He shifted frequently to conserve more fuel, and when he could, he put the Jeep in neutral and let it coast down the long hills.

Chad eventually started snoring, falling fast asleep into his drug filled dreams.

Mandy stayed awake, although she was starting to fade a little.

Max was starting to become glad that he’d brought her along. It turned out that she was really good with maps, and figuring out where they were. Max didn’t want to admit it to himself, but reading maps had never been his strong suit. Sure, he could study a map and understand it, but when it came to figuring out where his actual location was… well, that just wasn’t his strong suit.

“Take a left here,” said Mandy.

They’d come to a fork in the road, and Max sat with the engine idling.

“You sure?” he said. “It seems like that way takes us east.”

“I’m positive,” said Mandy.

Max was surprised that he already trusted her so much. He took the left, accelerating slowly into the curve.

“You tired?” said Max.

“Yeah,” said Mandy, sleepily.

“Me too,” said Max. “But I figure the farther away we get, the better. Then we’ll have to shift strategies. In the future, it’ll be safer to keep ourselves well rested and well fed. But I think I’m OK for now.”

“This is a stupid question,” said Mandy. “But do you have any coffee or anything?”

Max gestured to the thermos that he normally took to work. Mandy took it from the cup holder and greedily gulped down the small amount that remained.

“That’s not going to be enough,” she said.

“I didn’t think of it before,” said Max. “But I might have some caffeine pills in the glove compartment.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” said Mandy, fishing around frantically in the glove compartment.

She found the bottle, shook out two pills without reading the label, and swallowed them dry.

“Here,” she said. “You’re getting too sleepy to drive.”

“Give me three,” said Max.

He took them from her carefully with his eyes still on the road. He wasn’t good at swallowing pills dry, and had to take them one at a time.

Max started feel much more alert within just a few minutes. That made sense, since he didn’t have any food in his stomach, and they weren’t slow release pills.

“I should have thought of that before,” said Max.

“It’s OK,” said Mandy.

“It’s not,” said Max. “You know, I thought I was all organized and prepared, but… I don’t even know where half my gear is. It’s buried somewhere in the back of the Jeep with Chad.”

“You’re doing great,” said Mandy softly. “I shudder to think where I’d be without you… And you saved your friend from that mob.”

“I don’t know if he’s exactly a friend,” said Max quietly. “I mean, we were friends… really close. Like I said, or maybe I thought it—I can’t remember now. I’ve been up for too long. I’m starting to ramble. Anyway, he’s more like family. A family member you just can’t get rid of, but one you have to try to help.”

Mandy didn’t say anything for a while.

The night was still pitch black. The clouds covered the stars and possibly the moon, depending on what phase of the cycle it was. Max had no idea, but he supposed it wasn’t anything close to a full moon, since that tended to illuminate things through the clouds.