Road Trip
Disclaimer: FF7 belongs to Square Enix.
Tifa had wanted a simple vacation, a week on the Oregon coast with her boyfriend Cloud. Cloud, being a cheap individual, wanted to drive there, saving money by not purchasing expensive plane tickets. She was alright with the road trip idea, what she hadn't planned on was their long moments of silence. It was like he was a manikin at the wheel, unfeeling, unresponsive except for other traffic.
Cloud wasn't a gabby person to begin with, but they were going on vacation for crying out loud! Shouldn't he be excited? At least Tifa had the radio to listen to, the music and DJ's voices a suitable substitute for Clouds nonexistent behavior.
After the second state they passed through, she finally asked him f he was upset with her.
"No, what makes you say that?" He asked, oblivious to his cold demeanor.
"You haven't said ten words to me for the last three hundred miles, I'm starting to think you're not happy we're taking a week vacation." She commented, the other shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'm fine." He assured her, going "mute" for another hundred miles before stating he was hungry, pulling off to grab a burger at some mom and pop joint in a small town in Idaho.
"Well, at least we're almost in Oregon." Tifa commented after they'd ordered a meal, sitting next to the tall blonde who sipped his soda quietly.
"Headed to Oregon, huh?" The waitress commented. She was a large, pear shaped lady who looked about in her mid thirties, with red hair and freckles. Her gentle brown eyes smiled kindly behind her glasses, as she waited for Tifa to respond.
"Yeah, we're going to the coast." Tifa smiled back, glad for the conversation.
"Oh the coast! It sounds like a fun time, are you and your hubby renting a cabin or staying at a hotel?" She curiously asked, Tifa blushed.
It wasn't often that people called Cloud her husband, and it gave her butterflies when someone made that simple, silly mistake.
"We have a cabin waiting for us." Tifa answered, looking over at her companion to see if he'd have any input for this topic.
Cloud kept quiet, looking at a local car advertisement, ignoring the women.
"It's our first road trip together, it's been sort of a quiet ride." Tifa confided with the waitress, the lady giving a chuckle.
"Honey, I have a hard time getting my man to shut the hell up, you're lucky." She winked, teasing lightly as she went in the back to go about her daily tasks.
'Yeah, just the radio and me, having a good time watching fields go by.' Tifa negatively thought. The only landscape around here had mostly been boring farm ground. They had passed two tractors already, what other boring thing were they going to witness? Horse and buggy?
Turning on her bar stool, looking out the restaurants main big window, she gaped as some lady went by, driving two miniature horses with a little black buggy.
"I was just joking!" She spoke out loud, never imagining they'd really see that type of thing...rural areas...they were unpredictable.
The lady with the miniature horses parked within the restaurants parking area! Securing her steeds before leaving her form of transportation. She was a short, skinny thing with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair braided down her back, the length reaching past her rump.
"Jenny! Is my order ready?" She called, walking into the place of business like it was a second home, leaning against the bar counter and smiling as the large waitress came from the back.
Jenny held a styrofoam to go box and two carrots in her hands.
"Give my best to your critters." Jenny smiled, handing over the items.
"Will do, take it easy, Jen!" The lady waved, leaving them.
"That kind of thing normal around here?" Tifa commented, looking over at the red headed lady who shrugged.
"Yeah, we get some interesting characters in here." She admitted.
Tifa looked over to Cloud, seeing if he had been surprised as well. The man was still glued to the advertisement, oblivious to the outside world.
"What is that damn thing, anyway?" Tifa snapped, ripping the paper away from him, looking over the ad.
"1979 Trans AM Firebird. Black and gold, snowflake rims, 57,000 original miles. 403 Oldsmobile engine, runs like a champ." Tifa paused, looking at the guarded looking face of Cloud. "What the hell are you doing looking at this? Don't tell me you're going to make a side trip!" She complained, Cloud shrugged, taking back the ad and folding it neatly before placing it in his wallet.
"Where's Roswell?" Tifa asked Jenny, their waitress.
"It's near the Oregon border, close to Adrian." She offered, moving off to go retrieve their meals.
"Cloud, we're not looking at it!" Tifa warned him, giving him the stink eye which he ignored.
"Here you are! Two burgers, one with fries," she handed that to Tifa, "and one with tots." The other was placed before Cloud. "Is there anything else I can get you folks?" She kindly asked, noticing the man had an empty glass. "Want a refill?" She asked.
Cloud nodded a yes, already starting on his tots, dipping them in ketchup, getting the red liquid on his lips.
"Cloud, after this we 're fueling up and heading into Oregon, that's all. No side trip, no car." She made her stand, picking up her thick burger and taking a hearty bite.
"Here ya go." Jenny had refilled his drink, bringing it back with a grin.
"Roswell isn't that out of the way, not a lot of folks there, mostly fields." She commented, "You might enjoy the area." Jenny tried remaining positive, telling that Cloud had on a guarded yet determined face.
"We'll be going to Oregon after this." Tifa assured her, the waitress nodding her head and leaving the two alone.
-0-0-
He was going the wrong way, if he wasn't driving Tifa might have decked him right in that quiet, cold face of his! He was doing a good job of pissing her off, the brunette fuming in her seat, a volcano about to erupt.
Corn fields surrounded them, every four way stop next to a tall green field. They hadn't seen any houses, only farm land. Was he lost? If not yet, he would be, and he was going to hand over those damn car keys if he did get them lost. She'd leave his crapy, shitty attitude behind and go back to the restaurant and wait, teach him a lesson on how a boyfriend ought to listen to his girl.
They came upon a large, abandoned school, it's dark windows eerie to Tifa as they passed. Next came a run down gas station, it looked like it had been out of service since the seventies, gas prices lower than she'd ever seen in her lifetime.
Small, sad looking houses were along the road, no cars in the driveways, no people outside enjoying the summer weather. Lawns were overgrown, gopher mounds taking over most of the small communities untamed lawns.
There were crows, but no other animals were around. They had their windows down, listening to the silence and Tifa getting a creeped out feeling.
"Shouldn't there be people? I don't even hear dogs barking, Cloud. Maybe we should turn around." She was trying to be gentle, to not go off the handle with him. He ignored her, continuing onward and driving past the town, following the road that was always surrounded by corn.
After five miles, they came upon a farmhouse with the muscle car parked in front. Cloud pulled onto the driveway, parking their car and getting out, saying not a word to Tifa. His eyes were glued to the black a d gold colored car, fixated on its curves.
"Men." Tifa huffed, getting out and walking over to the car. No one had greeted them yet, as the blonde looked inside the car, opening the unlocked door and checking out the interior.
"Cloud! No ones even out here yet!" She was scolding him, but he didn't seem to care.
"It's in pristine condition." He finally spoke, hands touching the steering wheel, stroking it almost...
"We're not getting it." She made her opinion known.
"Five grand is a steal, Tifa." He looked at her now, not with care or compassion, but with the air of superiority. He looked at her like a man might do to a woman who knew nothing about cars. Basically, he looked at her like she was stupid.
"Cloud, we can't cover an expense like that." She tried reasoning.
"I've got some money." He offhandedly mentioned. They had shared an account for three years, this news of possible 'mad money' gave her a gut ache. She never hid money from him, what did this mean? It meant he was an ass hole, at least that's how she was seeing it at the moment.
"Give me the keys." She grounded out, extending her hand out.
"Why?" He asked, confused now.
"You're gonna do, what you're gonna do. If you 'have the money', the there's no reason you're gonna need this car to drive. I'll meet you in Oregon." She answered him, waiting.
"No. We haven't seen the owner yet." He ignored her hand, turning to the farm house.
"Cloud!" Tifa griped, following him to the door, waiting impatiently as he knocked. No one answered. They waited ten minutes, and still no one came.
"Well, guess we'll have to leave then." Tifa commented, noticing it had gotten late, the sun almost set.
"Let me leave my number," Cloud took out a business card he had, sliding it under the door before turning back to their car. They got inside, Cloud looking dejected as they backed out and headed back in the direction of that strange, abandoned town.
The car started making strange noises, started dying as they entered the spooky town, the light from the setting sun almost gone. Cloud pulled over, getting out and popping the hood.
"Great, just what we needed." Tifa sighed, waiting inside the vehicle.
Cloud closed the hood, a confused look on his mug as he got back in the car.
"Well, what's wrong with it?" She asked, feeling impatient, the sooner they left this place, the better she'd feel.
"When we were looking at that Firebird, did you hear anyone?"
"Well no, neither did you. Why?" She raised a curious brow.
"The fuel line's been cut." He answered, silence settling in like a choking gas.
"How? We were right there?" She was astonished, how could anyone have done that and they didn't see it?
"We were looking at the other car." Cloud was looking uneasy, pulling out his phone and frowning deeper.
"No service." He spoke, Tifa hurriedly taking out her own phone, cursing as she too noticed there wasn't any service on her cell.
"We'll walk around a bit, stick to the road, see if either of us gets any service." He made a game plan, getting out and heading towards the trunk. Cloud kept blankets, flashlights, repair kits, you name it, in the trunk. He opened the trunk, and let the F bomb drop.
"What?!" Tifa asked, getting out and walking over to him. Their trunk, that held food, drinks, and so much more, was bare. You could see the carpet it was so bare. How in the world could this have happened?
"Alright, I have 80% battery power on my phone, they'll do for flashlights. How's your's?" He asked, getting back to figuring out their situation.
"70, it's not going to last long. Lets hope we get service." She commented, following her man along the road, slowly walking past empty houses.
A howl, followed by another, until it was a chorus of howls, came from the opposite end of the town, where all that corn was growing.
"Coyotes, they're small." Cloud assured her, the girl hesitantly following again, her eyes wider than they had been. Cloud was muscular, but if an animal did attack...I mean it'd be different if he had a gun, or a baseball bat for that matter, but he didn't. They were vulnerable, walking at night, in a community they didn't know anything about.
"Anything yet?" He spoke, the girl sighing and answering a no.
"It's fine. We'll just keep walking." He was insistent.
They were passed the houses, coming upon the old gas station. Wind came up, causing the pumps to creak, the building to moan...
"Cloud!" Tifa cried, jogging to catch up to her man, holding his hand as they walked. Was she still mad? A little, but right now she'd let that go, he was her only companion out here, and he'd be the one to get them back to civilization. Tifa was not as resourceful as him, out in the boonies like this. She was mostly a city girl, country stuff just wasn't her thing. A small coyote to Cloud was a big beast in her eyes...a beast with possible rabies.
The gas station door creaked open, the wind doing it...they stopped and stared, watchful and waiting. When no one came out, Cloud lead her toward it, saying there might be supplies they could use inside.
"I hate this!" She complained, the blonde giving her hand a timid squeeze.
"It's fine, we'll look inside and leave." He reasoned, gently opening the door, using his phone as a light source to look at the buildings insides. It was mostly gutted, a few shelfs left with cans of expired food on them. They were checking out the other shelf when the front door slammed closed, Tifa screamed and clung to Cloud who tried to tell her to calm down. They both quieted when they heard shuffling, Cloud raising his phone to light up different areas. It landed momentarily on something with fur, it moved quickly away from the light, behind another shelf.
"Get me out of here!" Tifa yelled, ditching Cloud and using her own phone as she ran towards the door, shoving it open and tripping, falling hard onto the asphalt.
"Tifa!" Cloud called, jogging to her side, helping her up. "It was a skunk, okay?" He said, brushing off some pebbles stuck to her bare legs, the lady was wearing jean shorts and a tank top, not a good thing to have on when crashing onto asphalt.
"We need to leave, Cloud. This city gives me the creeps." She cried to him, the other leading her calmly back down the road, heading towards the school.
"Come on, maybe the school will have a first aide kit, that knee looks bad." He commented on her cut up leg.
"It's fine, lets just leave the town and..." And be stuck out with all that corn? It was eerie too.
"Lets just take a quick look." Cloud argued, leading his unhappy girl towards the entrance.
"Quick look? This school is huge!" Tifa complained, limping a little as they started up a few steps. The building was made out of block, holes in some of the outside walls, maybe it was falling apart all over, was it safe to really explore?
"It'll be fine." Cloud continued to reassure her, opening the large, heavy entrance door and walking into the dark building, his phone their only flashlight, Tifa was conserving hers for when Clouds ran out of battery.
It was musty and moldy inside the building, sewage smell another aspect to their journey through the aged school.
"There should be a nurses office around here somewhere." Cloud spoke, looking for any old, faded signs that might help.
They looked inside rooms, finding nothing resembling a nurses office, and deciding that maybe it was down stairs.
"I don't want to go down there." She argued, not moving when he'd try to pull her upper arm.
"Use your phone for a light, I'll go down and be right back." He finally adjusted their plan, Tifa unhappy at being alone, but fearing the basement even more.
"Just hurry, okay?" She asked, the other nodding and making his way into the dark, disappearing from view.
"I hate this town." Tifa cursed as she used her phone as a light, shivering a little. The holes in the walls let in that summer breeze, chilling her slightly.
"Cloud, don't take forever down there." She sighed to herself, already worrying about the blonde.
-0-0-
Cloud found the nurses office, digging around until he found a dusty, old fashioned medical kit. He opened it up and found wrappings, along with rubbing alcohol. Not much was really in it, but it'd be enough to clean up Tifas wound. He turned around to go, and noticed an old fashioned, white nurses hat on the ground. It was right in the doorway, and it hadn't been there when he had first arrived.
"Alright, who's there?" His voice echoed, no one responding.
Cautiously, he stepped over the hat, exiting the office and heading towards the stairs.
A soft rustling sound was heard behind him, he turned quickly, his light landing on white shoed feet in the office doorway, the light slowly moving up, showing tall white socked legs, a plain grey dress, a red sweater, and then...
"It's time for your shot, little boy." A voice, creaky and icy spoke to him. The face was nonexistent, black. A void. Though a white nurse hat was atop that void, so he assumed it was a head.
"Little boy, don't you want to feel better?" A grotesque, greenish black, decaying hand raised into view. A very large needle was on the end of that shot, Cloud took a step back, bumping into something solid. He turned, his light landing on another, black voided face.
It was wearing a brown suit, it appeared male in its narrow features.
"Young man, the nurse is waiting." A strict, principal like voice came from the things nonexistent face.
Cloud stepped back to turn and look back at the nurse, she had moved closer.
"Times up." She stated simply, the thing behind him suddenly grabbed him from behind, holding Cloud with a strength he'd never had experienced.
"This is crazy!" Cloud spoke, somewhat believing this was all just a terrible, horrible nightmare.
"Hold still, son, she's only trying to help." The man thing holding him spoke, as the shot wielding nurse moved in.
"There, be a good boy and you'll get a sucker." She cackled, before suddenly moving with unreal speed and jabbing him in the chest with the terribly long needle.
-0-0-
A/N: Short thriller story, only a few chapters. Wanted to get ready for Halloween by writing fun, scary things.