The Net: Nightmare On The Highway: Chapter 5
While willing the car to go forward, Jacob chanced a look at Angela's dashboard clock. He realized then, that it's time, 11:45,couldn't possibly be correct. He'd remembered giving her that same time a long while ago. He shuddered and looked behind him. Miraculously, Sean Trelawney was several car lengths behind them, and they seemed to be slowing down!
"I think he's slowing down!" Jacob exclaimed.
Angela breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Of course," she said, her voice a bit shaky, "that doesn't mean he'll stop chasing us!"
"How're we doing? The gas holding out OK?"
"Barely."
Jacob faced forward again and watched as the tiny light he'd seen began to get bigger and bigger the closer they came to it. His eyes widened at the sight for it turned out to be nothing other than a small motel with a single gas pump out front. Angela slowly eased her car into the parking lot. It was almost empty.
"OK, here's the plan. Angel, you fill the tank, I'll go in and see if I can call Walter. If anything happens out here, give me a shout, K?"
"Yeah, sure."
Jacob ran into the front desk of the motel. There was an older man there, possibly in his late fifties, early sixties. He had short hair, once black, but now turning grey. He put down the newspaper he was reading when Jacob came in.
"What can I do for you? You'd like a room?"
"Is that a real working gas pump out there!" he asked, nearly out of breath.
"Yup Got a real working pool out back too if you want."
"Can I borrow your phone for a second? This is an emergency!"
"I'm sorry. But my phone's dead. Been dead for about a week now. Don't know when it's gonna come back either. You wanna room?"
"I…No. Here." Jacob dug deep into his pockets and pulled out a twenty and handed it to the guy. "For gas."
Going back outside, he found Angela just finishing up with the pump.
"I don't see Sean anywhere. Any luck with Walter?"
"No. Phone's dead."
"Great. Well, you think we should risk getting a room? Perhaps let this whole thing blow over and see what happens in the morning?"
"Well, I don't see what else we really can do except keep driving, though where this road is taking us, I haven't the foggiest clue."
"OK, I'll go park this around back, hopefully, Sean won't see it back there."
"I'll get the room then. Meet you out front."
A few short minutes later they found themselves standing in the doorway of a room in the back. There was only one bed. Angela sighed.
"I guess we'll just have to make due. Let's get in here before someone sees us!"
The door was shut behind them and bolted to the hilt with all of the available locks. Angela collapsed on the bed. Jacob joined her.
"God, what are we gonna do?" she asked. "How on earth are we supposed to outwit him or kill him? I mean, isn't he supposed to already be dead?" she asked.
"I only wish I had answers for you. But I don't. I don't have anything."
"I wanna go to sleep. But I don't know if I should."
"I'll stay awake and keep watch. I'll let ya know if anything should happen."
"But what about you? You need sleep too."
"I'll wake you up in a few hours, then you keep watch and I'll sleep. Sound good?"
"Yeah…..yeah….it…..does….." Angela had closed her eyes while they talked, and she was already mumbling on her way to sleep.
Meanwhile, Jacob amused himself by playing games on the pad of paper on the night stand, playing X's and 0's among others. After awhile, he picked up the phone to test it himself, and got nothing. There wasn't a single sound at all, not even the dial tone. He lazily put it back and started doodling on the paper again.