Lost Town

Part 1 — Weekend to Remember

Penny smiled and pulled up her shorts.

“I told you this was going to be a weekend you will never forget. That was only the beginning,” she said.

“Well, after that, I need a cigarette. And we are going to need gas soon. Is there a service station near here?”

Penny typed ‘gas stations near me’ into her cell phone.

“There are two places within 20 miles of here. It’s in a town called Blackwood. The next closest is 208 miles back.”

“Ok, let’s stop at the first one we see,” he said. “And thanks for that!” He pointed to the back seat.

“Like I told you, Todd. A weekend to remember!”

He smiled and checked his rearview before he pulled onto the highway.

They had driven about five minutes when Penny took off her seatbelt. She reached around to grab something from the back seat.

“What are you looking for?” Todd asked.

“There is a bottle of water back here.”

Penny propped herself on the center console and halfway into the back.

Distracted by her long legs, Todd screamed when the truck vibrated as though it hit something. There was a loud bang. and the truck vibrated. Penny, still leaning into the back, fell onto the floor in the back. The only thing Todd could see as he looked over his shoulder was Penny’s bare legs in the air. The tires of the truck screeched as Todd braked.

“Holy shit! Are you alright Penny?”

“What the hell are you doing, Todd?” She giggled and tried to sit up. “If you wanted my legs in the air again, all you had to do was ask.”

“That wasn’t anything I did.”

“Well, it felt like you hit something.”

“I didn’t see anything. I’ll have to run back to make sure I didn’t strike an animal or anything else. I’ll be right back.”

Penny watched him through the back window. He walked back on the shoulder of the highway for five minutes. He looked back and forth into both ditches. She saw him stop and fold his arms. When he made his way back, he walked around the truck to check for any damage.

“Anything?”

“That’s so weird. The hair on my arms stood up back there. It was like some sort of electricity was in the air.”

“Did you hit anything? Is there anything back there?”

“Nothing. And there is no damage to the truck that I can see.”

“Could it have been a gust of wind?” Penny asked as she climbed into the front seat.

“I guess,” Todd said. He couldn’t stop thinking about that weird tingle. He started the truck and checked his mirrors. He then pulled onto the highway heading for Blackwood.

About ten minutes later, they saw a sign on the side of the road that read ‘No Services Next 142 Miles’.

“Didn’t you say there were two gas stations nearby?”

Penny opened her eyes. “Yes, in a town named Blackwood.”

“Um, you’d better check that again. We just passed a sign saying there are no services for 142 miles.”

She opened the maps app. An error message flashed on the screen; ‘Acquiring Signal. This may take some time.’ Penny looked to the top of her phone and noticed there was no cell service.

“What the hell?”

“What is it?” Todd asked.

“There isn’t any cell service. The maps app isn’t working either.”

Todd stopped the car in the middle of the lane and pulled his phone from his pocket. The same no-service icon showed on his screen.

“For fuck’s sake,” Todd said and looked around for cell towers. He saw one on the crest of a hill on the western horizon. He thought he could also see one way off to the south, but it was too far to be sure it was a cell tower.

“Let’s drive a little further. We must be in a dead zone. Besides, the town was only 20 miles away. We have to be close,” Penny said.

Todd drove until they were on the top of a hill. The highway stretched on for as far as he could see. There was nothing but fields of grass dissected by the black two-lane highway.

“You are sure it said 20 miles, Penny?”

The look told him everything he needed to know.

“Well, the app fucked up because there is nothing ahead.”

He pulled the truck over to the shoulder and got out. He walked to the front of the truck, shielded his eyes with his hand, and looked around. Penny walked up beside him.

“There is no town on this highway!”

“Well, what do we do now? Do we have enough gas to make 140 miles?”

“We do not! And we don’t have enough to make it back to the previous town.”

“Shit!” Penny said.

“There is a road heading that way. Do you see it?” Todd pointed toward the south. “I say we should head that way. Maybe there’s a town or farm down that road.” He tried to sound calm.

“I hope so. As much as I enjoyed the back seat, I had planned for a bed tonight.” She turned and walked back to the truck door. “Let’s go find a bed, honey,” she said and blew him a kiss.

They drove west for a few minutes and came to an intersection on a gravel road. Todd stopped the truck and checked his phone. There still wasn’t any signal.

“What do you think? Should we go down this road, or drive as far as we can west and wait for someone to pass?”

“I say we drive this road for 20 miles to see if Blackwood exists. If we don’t see any signs, I think we should come back here and wait for someone to drive by.”

“Good plan.”

Todd pulled onto the dirt road and headed south.

They travelled ten miles when some buildings came into view a few miles ahead.

“Look! There are buildings up ahead!” Penny yelled. The relief was quite evident in her voice.

The gravel road turned into asphalt. They came to a sign that read Blackwater, Population 142. The number 142 had a red line through it and had 13 handwritten beside it. They both assumed the 13 was meant to be one hundred and thirty-something. Neither thought much of it nor said anything as they drove by.

“That map app needs updating,” Penny said. Todd nodded and saw a red sports car parked in front of a building. He pulled in beside the car and noticed there was a thick coat of dust on it.

“This has been here a while,” he said.

Penny startled him when she shouted, “Hey, wait!” She started to walk up the sidewalk toward a woman pushing a stroller. The wheels squeaked as the lady walked toward her. Todd ran and caught up to Penny. “Excuse me! Hello?” Penny continued to call out, but the woman did not stop or turn.

Todd stopped and grabbed Penny’s arm. “Holy shit. Look at her feet!” Penny stopped beside him and gasped. The woman wasn’t wearing any shoes and blood had soaked what remained of her socks. They noticed faint red tracks on the sidewalk behind her.

“What the — ” Penny started to say when the woman reached the corner and turned around. Her hair was messy, her face red from too many hours in the sun and her clothes were filthy. She started to push the stroller back toward them. She sounded as though she was saying something. But it was a low mumble and neither Todd nor Penny could understand what she was saying. The only other sound was the squeaking of the wheels.

“Hey, are you alright?” Todd called out. The woman never as much as blinked. She kept pushing her stroller and mumbling. Todd and Penny stepped aside as the woman walked by. Todd squinted, put his hand to his nose, and had to turn away as she passed. Penny held her nose but did not look away. Her eyes bulged as she stared into the stroller. She reached out and grabbed Todd’s arm as her world went black.

Read Part 2 here.

KML — December 2023

You can visit my Author’s website here.