In the Middle of Nowhere

What made breaking down even more annoying, was breaking down in the middle of the night, fifty miles east of the nearest town and a hundred miles west of the nearest rest stop. What made it frightening was breaking down in the dead of the night, on a road that was built between two heavily wooded areas.

"I don't get it," Keith groaned, gripping the wheel of his SUV as if he could make it start by willpower alone. "It was working fine all week."

"Maybe we should get out of the car," His girlfriend Alyssa suggested. "You know, so we don't breathe carbon dioxide."

From the back seat, their best friend Chez and his girlfriend Jennifer voiced their agreement.

"I gotta take a leak anyhow," Chez said as he stepped out onto the road.

"Me too," Jennifer moaned as he went out into the woods. "Damn you men and your ability to pee wherever you want."

Keith popped the hood and tried to figure out what was wrong while Alyssa held the flashlight. He was thankful that he at least had enough time to pull into the breakdown lane.

"Maybe it just needs to be jumpstarted." Alyssa suggested. "Someone's bound to come along sooner or later." "Yeah, but if it's not the battery it could cost me a fortune to have whatever it is fixed." Keith sighed. "I don't believe this."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. Rather than give in to her boyfriend's typical sense of self-defeat she pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. When the tones didn't ring she made a face. The buttons didn't light up and the monochrome screen was blank.

"That's weird, I know this was charged before we left." She asked Keith for his phone. When that didn't work she became frustrated. "You've got to be kidding me. Jennifer, do you have a phone on you?"

"No," Jennifer groaned. "Chez might have his though. Damn it's cold out here."

Jennifer was dressed loosely for the spring weather, in tight shorts and a black tank top. But an unseasonable chill sprang from nowhere as it got darker and she still wasn't used to the climate.

Alyssa retrieved her travel bag from the rear compartment and pulled out a light sweater. She handed it to Jennifer with an understanding grin.

"Welcome to the northeast," she said as Jennifer quickly pulled it on. "Almost makes you wish you'd started in the fall semester doesn't it?"

Jennifer giggled. "Yeah, right, if Chez hadn't come up this way I never would have left Arizona. I just can't stand the idea of still being here when winter comes."

"Oh, it's not that bad really, actually winter can be a lot of fun. If you're still around you should get a job up at Mount James. I worked in the first aid department and you would not believe how cute some of the guys that get injured there are."

"Or how sorry you feel for them when they break their leg on the first jump," Keith added. When he still couldn't figure out what was wrong he took to pacing.

Chez emerged from the woods.

"Do you have your cell phone on you?" Jennifer asked him immediately.

Chez checked his pockets then his suitcase. He then looked all around the back seat, noticeably upset. Jennifer and Alyssa sighed and Keith threw up his hands, all knowing the inevitable answer.

"I swear I had it with me." Chez said, confused. "Oh man, that cost me all of my first paycheck to get started up this year." "So now we have no way of calling anyone, the car's stalled, and its freezing." Keith groaned loudly. He stopped his pacing and gazed desperately down the road.

"Well what about yours?" Chez asked.

"We tried ours," Alyssa answered. "The batteries are dead."

"You mean you didn't charge them?"

"Of course we charged them but they won't start up now."

"I'm going to walk back a ways." Keith said finally, pointing the flashlight as he walked. "We might be able to reach the town by morning."

Alyssa got in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders to get his attention.

"Keith, we really should stay by the car. If you walk off at this time of night in this area you could get seriously hurt, or worse. Someone will come along soon and help us out so just try to calm down all right."

Keith's shoulders slumped but he agreed half-heartedly.

"Look at it this way," Chez said, trying to lighten the mood. "It's only Thursday now, so we still have plenty of Spring Break left."

Jennifer picked up on his cue and brightened up. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to the beach myself. I've never really seen the east coast before."

"You'll love it," Alyssa said, leaning back against the SUV. "Best yet if the weather holds up like it's supposed to we might be able to go on a whale watch."

"Oh wow, really?"

"Yeah, I remember the first time I went on one in my freshman year of high school. We saw these dolphins and I wanted so badly to touch one of them."

"Oh wow." Jennifer said, genuinely excited by the idea. She turned to Chez. "The year before he transferred up here, Chez and I went to Sea World in Florida with his parents. Remember that?"

"Yeah and we got to see that killer whale." Chez recalled. "After the show we ran into these protesters outside who were demanding Sea World release all of its animals. Mind you they were all wearing expensive clothes that probably got ripped off of some poor sheep's back."

Keith and Alyssa laughed.

"Did you ever get to see a humpback whale?" Jennifer asked Alyssa.

"Not until my freshman year of college. Keith and I went out there for spring break and he took me. About three hours into the watch we saw a mother whale breach the surface a few feet away from the boat."

"Unfortunately I was too busy vomiting," Keith added with an ironic grin.

Alyssa sighed. "Well it was a magical moment for me at least."

"Man, what is it with you?" Chez asked, laughing. "It's like you can't go anywhere without having some kind of mishap befall you. Let's see, you met Alyssa breaking your leg on a ski jump at Mount James, you passed out near the security booth on your twenty-second birthday after losing your campus ID. Fortunately you weren't driving that night but if I hadn't arrived at that exact moment, the cops would have arrested you for trespassing."

"What have you been doing the last year and a half, documenting all of my mishaps?" Keith asked sarcastically. "At least I didn't get kicked out of the grocery store for getting into a fight with some kid over who got the last free cookie."

Jennifer glared at her boyfriend as Chez's face went red. Alyssa's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"I don't remember anything of the sort."

"You sure? The guy at the bakery still asks 'where's that weird cookie dude you hang out with?' every time he sees me."

Alyssa tried to suppress a grin while Jennifer shook her head.

"Fighting some kid for a lousy free cookie?" She said, in a criticizing tone. "What else did you get yourself into while you were up here?"

"Oh come on, Jen, it was no big deal," Chez defended himself. "The kid was sixteen, it's not like I hurt his feelings."

"That's not the point. Jeez, how stupid can you get?"

"It was last year Jennifer, you weren't even there. Can we just drop it?"

"Guys," Alyssa interrupted. "This isn't the worse thing in the world to get upset over. Keith has done some stupid things too and I still love him."

"What have I ever done that was stupid?"

"How about deciding to walk fifty miles towards town for starters?"

That shut Keith up. For a few moments no one said anything. Jennifer answered Chez's frequent glances by shaking her head and sighing. Keith fidgeted with the flashlight and Alyssa hummed a song from the Cure.

"What time is it?" Jennifer asked.

Keith, Alyssa, and Chez simultaneously checked their watches only to find that all of them had stopped at nine, forty-five.

"Well I know it's not that early," Chez commented.

"That's just freaky," Alyssa said, looking at her watch and then Keith's. "They all stopped at the same time."

"Maybe we're all missing time," Keith joked nervously. "Like we've been abducted by aliens or something."

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I heard enough of that UFO crap back home. Between the geeks from New Mexico and the ones from Nevada, plus all of the local stories about flying saucers and abductions I was surprised Robert Stack never showed up at our school asking for interviews."

"Well we get a lot of those stories too," Keith pointed out. "Ever hear of the Aaron and Charlotte Grayson case back in the forties?"

"No!" Alyssa said firmly. "Don't get him started on his collection of urban legends and alien abductions. That's like getting lost at sea and talking about the Titanic and the Lucitania to pass the time."

"Fine, I was only trying to stay calm." Keith muttered.

Headlights pierced the darkness and everyone looked up expectantly. As it got closer they could see that it was a pick up truck, and that the driver was a man who couldn't have been much older than they were.

"You guys need a hand?" He asked as he rolled down the window.

"Yes, definitely," Keith answered while the others made varying comments of relief. "We think it's the battery, do you have a set of jumper cables by any chance?"

"Yeah, let me pull around and I'll get them out." The boy did a U-turn and maneuvered his truck so that the bumpers were facing. He then popped the hood and reached under the seat for the jumper cables. "I'm Richard by the way." Keith introduced himself and the others as he helped Richard set up the cables.

"To tell you the truth I was almost expecting you guys to disappear when I approached," Richard said. When the others looked confused he asked, "You mean you never heard the old story?"

"What old story?" Keith asked, interested.

"Well, apparently a year ago some kids got into an accident out here. They were college kids, about our age, probably out for a joy ride."

"Oh what a coincidence," Alyssa responded, rubbing her temples.

Keith shrugged. "I haven't heard that one yet."

"You mean you actually thought we were the same students?" Chez asked, snickering.

"For a minute yeah," Richard admitted with a shrug. "I know how stupid it sounds, but when you're driving out here anything can happen, you know?"

Keith and Richard started up their vehicles. After two tries, the SUV finally sputtered back to life.

"Yes!" Alyssa shouted, jumping up and down. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Oh, and do you have the time?" Chez asked, while Keith helped Richard unhook the jumper cables.

Richard checked his watch. It was almost eleven o'clock.

"That wasn't long was it?" Jennifer said, hopping in the back seat with Chez and setg her watch accordingly.

"Yours all stopped?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"At the same time," Keith answered. "Can you believe it?"

"Nah, that's just a little too freaky to me. Hey, I'm going to stop at the all night diner a few miles down the road to grab a bite to eat and fill up on gas. Want to meet up there?"

Keith looked to the others.

"Sounds good." Alyssa nodded.

"I could go for a burger myself." Chez added. Jennifer only nodded in agreement as she cuddled up to Chez to try and warm up.

"Looks like a majority vote," Keith said to Richard. "We'll be right behind you."

"See you there."

With that, Richard hopped in his truck. Keith waited until Richard was a good distance away before starting up the SUV.

"Can you believe that though," he mused. "College students died in this exact area on spring break?"

"Yeah and people pick up strange hitchhikers in Maine," Alyssa countered. "Even if anyone did die in this area it has absolutely nothing to do with us, so lets just keep going."

"Yeah, you and Richard can talk about creepy urban legends when we get to the diner," Jennifer agreed.

Keith sighed and put his foot on the pedal. Then, just as quickly as it started up, the car sputtered and died again. There was a confused silence, followed by Keith's groan, and gripping the wheel as though he could make the vehicle move by sheer willpower.

The students exchanged looks, and then checked their watches again. Somehow they had been set back to nine, forty-five.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Chez remarked.

* * * Further down the road, Richard was getting closer to the diner. He looked into the rearview mirror, expecting to see Keith's SUV a little ways behind him, but instead finding absolute darkness as the road continued on.

"No way," he said to himself, both shocked and thrilled at the same time. "There is no way those could have been the same guys."