Here's chapter nine. I will try to keep the gore down to a minimum, but I can't make promises. Gore is essential to horror (most of the time)! Perhaps I will just use some mild violence; I'll try not to be too descriptive.
Chapter 9: Crash and Burn
Sharpay put the car in drive and set out on the road, accelerating to nearly 70 miles per hour. She had an irritable look on her face, focused out the windshield. It was obvious that everyone in the car looked a little nervous. Perhaps they had forgotten about their dire situation with the murderer and were instead fearing for their lives due to Sharpay's maniacal driving.
She looked out the window, searching for a place they could stop and take cover from the murderer. Cornfields and rural landscapes passed by at an amazing rate of speed. Maybe I should slow down a bit, Sharpay thought, I wouldn't want to be dead before we can get him.
But would they be able to stop this madness? Only time will tell, she thought.
There was no place in sight that could shelter the four friends. Sharpay looked frantically out the windows, hoping there would be a barn or house somewhere. All she could see was trees, cornfields and other agriculture as far as the eye could see. "Keep your eyes peeled," Sharpay commanded the others in the car. "We have to find somewhere to hide."
The others obeyed and were searching out their windows for somewhere. But alas, there was no place in sight. To make matters increasingly worse, it was seven o'clock. It was almost pitch-black darkness all around.
"I can't see anything, Sharpay," Martha said, frustrated. "There's not enough daylight left to see much."
"Open your eyes, Martha," Sharpay sharply said. "There's just got to be somewhere!"
Habitually, Sharpay glanced out her side-view mirror. She could see headlights reflected in the mirror some distance away. Perhaps they can help us, Sharpay thought to herself. She pulled over to the right, turning the car off but leaving the key in the ignition.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kelsey asked, poking her head between the front passenger seats. "We can't stop when we know there's a madman after us! Are you crazy?"
"Shut up, Kelsey," Sharpay responded, quietly. Kelsey heard what she said and slowly pulled her head back and looked out her window. She turned her body and glanced out the rear window and saw a pair of headlights slowly approaching.
"I'm sorry…" Sharpay began. "I'm just a little worked up about all this, you know?"
Kelsey, still looking out the rear window, said, "I forgive, you but…"
"I want to know why we're stopping too, Sharpay," Martha added.
"What the hell is -" Kelsey interrupted, with her eyes still focused out the back window.
Sharpay looked back at Martha, then turned away. "We're stopping because I think the person in the car behind us can help," Sharpay said. "Directions, a place to hide at, I don't know." Sharpay stayed in her seat.
The vehicle behind them pulled to a slow stop behind Sharpay's car. It sat there, unmoving, silent. Kelsey pulled herself back around to face forward. "Sharpay, are you going to get out and ask for help?" Kelsey asked.
Sharpay rolled down her window and stuck her head out to look at the vehicle behind them. Chad tapped her on the should to get her attention. "What, Chad?" she asked, pulling her head back inside the car to face him.
"Don't you think it's a little suspicious that the person in that car stopped?" Chad said. "I mean, they haven't even gotten out to see if we need help yet."
"Don't be stupid, Chad," Sharpay said. "They're probably just waiting for someone to go up and ask them. Here, I'll get out and see if we can get some help." She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door halfway until Martha stopped her.
"Sharpay," Martha began, "I really don't think it's a good idea to approach this person. We don't know them. For all we know, it could be a weirdo rapist. It would be best for us to just continue by ourselves and look for shelter."
Sharpay, reconsidering getting out, closed her door and put her seatbelt back on. She turned over the ignition and put the car into drive. "You've got a point," Sharpay said. "Let's see what this guy's going to do." She slowly turned back onto the road and drove the car a little ways. She looked into her rearview mirror. The vehicle behind her was following her. "What is this guy doing?" she muttered to herself.
"Sharpay, pull over," Chad suggested. "Either this guy wants help and he wants us to offer some, or he's waiting for us to ask for help."
Sharpay, looking in the rearview mirror again, listened to Chad's advice. She pulled her car over again and stopped, turning the car off and leaving the key in as per the first time. She undid her safety belt and opened the door, stepping out.
"Hey," Chad called to her.
"Yeah?" Sharpay responded, ducking down to look at him through the window.
"Be careful," Chad said, reaching out to grab her hand. Sharpay gave a small smile. She pulled away from the car, letting go of Chad's grasp. She looked at Martha and Kelsey in the back, who, with fearful expressions on their faces, nodded in agreement with Chad. She gave them a nod back and faced the vehicle that was parked behind hers. Its engine was off, she noted, from the lack of noise and light from the headlights.
The vehicle, she noted, was an old Chevrolet pickup truck. She knew from the look of it that it was a model from the 60s, but she wasn't certain as to what year the make was. It looked similar to Troy's old truck, Sharpay thought, and winced at the memory of him. She had to be strong and approach the truck. Examining the car again, she noticed that it was very rusty and beat up. It was obviously not very important to the owner who didn't take much care of the vehicle. Slowly, one step at a time, she came up to the passenger window of the vehicle's occupant.
The window was very darkly tinted, so she couldn't see inside, but she knew that he might be staring right at her. She tapped on the glass gently with her fingernails. Nothing happened. She tapped again, a little harder this time, and said, "hello?" so that the driver might hear her.
"Do you need something from us?" Sharpay asked, not able to see the driver's face. Why wasn't this strange person answering me, she wondered. "If you don't need anything from us, we do," She said, a little louder than her previous remark. Perhaps he hadn't heard her. How did he not notice her standing there, right outside his door?
Sharpay began to back away from the vehicle. It was no use if this stranger wasn't going to interact with her in any way. As she was a few steps away from the truck, she heard a squeaking noise. Sharpay turned around to see the dark window slowly moving downward in tandem with the noise, and revealing the figure inside. She slowly approached the truck again so she could speak with the driver. He wasn't facing her. He was looking straight ahead through the window. Perhaps he was still waiting for someone to come out of the car. Perhaps he had not seen Sharpay clearly standing right next to him.
"Hello?" Sharpay said meekly as she was right outside his window. She couldn't see his face as the figure was wearing a black hood. "Excuse me?"
The figure turned its head to face her, though all she saw was a shadow where his face would have been; there was not enough light in the sky for his face to be visible. The figure finally spoke: "Hi there, you sexy little thing." Sharpay made a disgusting face. What did he think she was, a prostitute? No way in hell. It spoke again: "Do you want to play a game?"
Sharpay was confused at first. She knew that voice was familiar. Where had she heard it before? It took her a moment to realize what was happening. A terrified look sprawled across her face as it dawned on her. "Oh, crap!" Sharpay said quietly, backing away from the truck. It was him.
The voice laughed as he rolled up the window. Sharpay was paralyzed where she stood. Her throat went dry and she could not scream. The truck's ignition was turned on and Sharpay finally found the strength to run back to her car. Not caring to put on her seatbelt, she attempted to turn on the car's ignition. "Shit, shit!" she shouted.
"What? What's wrong?" her friends were questioning, frightened.
"It's him, god damn it! It's him!" Sharpay screamed, crying.
The truck behind her crashed into her bumper, throwing everyone in Sharpay's car forward. She threw the car in drive and skidded onto the road, accelerating as fast as she could. Like before, the truck was once again following her. Everyone in the car was wondering what was going on.
"What do you mean 'him'?" Martha was questioning her.
"Him!" Sharpay shouted, looking in the rearview mirror. "The killer! He's in the truck!"
Kelsey was holding her head, beginning to sob. Sharpay looked into the rearview mirror again, panicking. What was she to do? Try to outrun him? She looked at her gas gauge. The arrow was pointed on 'empty.' The fuel tank was dangerously low. As she had done before, she frantically searched for shelter. The truck behind her was gaining. It was suddenly right on her tail. Don't run out of gas now, she thought, glancing at her fuel gauge again. The truck smashed against her bumper with great force, surprising the four in the car.
"Goddamn!" Sharpay shouted. Kelsey and Martha were turned around in their seats, watching out the back window with terror.
At last Sharpay found what she had been praying for: shelter. It was what looked like an abandoned house in the distance on the left, but she had to try. She cut across the road and the car lurched as it ran over rough terrain. Chad was holding on for dear life. The car was running over rocks, potholes, and plants among other things. Sharpay looked in the mirror; the truck was still following, headlights nearly blinding Sharpay.
"Turn off your brights, asshole!" Sharpay shouted, still looking into the mirror. She was not paying attention to which direction her car was headed.
"Oh, my god, Sharpay!" Chad shouted, "watch out!" But it was too late. Sharpay turned her attention back to where the car was going and saw a huge cottonwood tree right in her path of travel. She screamed and tried to swerve away from the tree, but she had already crashed into it with full force. The airbag did not deploy. Sharpay's head was resting on the steering wheel. With a groan, she pulled her head away and looked in the rearview mirror. There was no sign of the truck behind her, but she noticed blood running from her nose. She wiped it off on the back of one hand and rubbed her aching head with the other. She looked in all directions around her, but the truck was not seen anywhere.
"Oh, god," Chad said with a grunt. "Damn it, Sharpay! Look what you did!"
Sharpay shot him a dirty look, but otherwise ignored him. She merely looked in the backseat to make sure everyone was okay. Martha and Kelsey looked a little shaken, but otherwise they had no major injuries. A few scrapes and cuts, but nonetheless alright.
"What happened?" Kelsey asked, dazed. She took off her glasses to make sure they were not damaged, but unfortunately they were cracked. "Oh, great," she said, setting them aside.
"Can you see without them?" Martha asked, leaning over to look at the broken lenses.
"No," Kelsey responded, "but I always have an extra pair in a clip-on case clipped to my jeans. Good thing, too, otherwise I'd be blind as a bat." She fidgeted with a case that was clipped to one of her belt loops and took out the extra pair. She smiled at Martha.
Sharpay turned away from the backseat, glad that everyone was okay. She sighed and stared out the windshield. She noticed something on the hood of her car. "Wait a second…" she said, leaning forward in her chair to get a better look.
"What now?" Chad asked, sarcastically. Sharpay pointed to the hood. Chad didn't see at first, but after a moment of staring, he saw a plume of black smoke rising from underneath the hood. "Oh, crap," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.
"Everyone out of the car, now!" Sharpay shouted back to the girls as he unbuckled her own seatbelt. "It's going to catch fire!" Martha and Kelsey did as they were told. Kelsey got hers off and opened her door, looking back at Martha.
"Come on, Martha!" Kelsey shouted, wondering why Martha wasn't coming. It was then that she noticed that Martha was struggling with her seatbelt.
"I can't get it!" Martha screamed, panicking as she was tugging and pulling at the seatbelt in an attempt to get it off of her. She pressed the button numerous times, but it wouldn't release. Kelsey went back in to help her try and get it off. It wasn't working.
Sharpay and Chad ran to the nearby ranch house and were standing on the porch. "Why aren't they coming?" Sharpay questioned, eyes on the car. "Chad, do something!" Chad nodded and sprinted back for the car. This was a time when basketball drills were actually useful outside of the gym.
"Shit!" Kelsey screamed. She climbed into the front seat and opened the glove compartment. She searched for a pocketknife to cut the belt with as Martha continued frantically to remove the seatbelt. Kelsey dug through numerous papers and files until she found a pocketknife. She crawled back into the front seat and began cutting quickly at the material, but the knife wouldn't make an incision. Kelsey was cursing at this point as the belt wouldn't come off, and Martha was sobbing loudly.
"Help me, Kelsey!" Martha screamed through her sobs.
Chad arrived back at the car and looked into the backseat. He found Martha entrapped in the seatbelt and Kelsey frantically trying to cut it free. He reached into the car and grabbed Kelsey who started to flail her arms around to free her. "No!" Kelsey screamed. "We can't just leave her!"
"It's going to blow!" Chad shouted back at her. "Come on!" He pulled her away from Martha who was reaching out at them, screaming and begging for them to help her. There was nothing more they could do. Kelsey was pulled out of the car by Chad who began to jog her back to the porch where Sharpay stood, watching with horror. Kelsey left Martha in the car, watching her scream and sob, pulling at the seatbelt still.
The exploded into an inferno of flames. Chad fell to the ground and held Kelsey close to him. She was screaming and crying, watching her friend suffer, condemned to die a fiery death. Martha was still pulling at the belt, desperate to be saved.
"No!" Kelsey shouted, along with her sobbing. She couldn't stand to watch her friend like this. She pushed herself out of Chad's grasp and ran to Sharpay. She held Kelsey tightly in a hug. Sharpay was crying herself, trying hard not to look at the fire. The screams of agony still coming from the blazing car haunted her until the day she died.
