The Road

The steady rain spattered against the windshield with thick heavy raindrops in the night. The old Ford Bronco navigated through the forest along a winding road. The overwhelming darkness of the forest threatened to engulf the car and its passenger. Norm wiped his eyes, trying to shake off the exhaustion that had settled in after a long day at work. He glanced at his watch.

"Already this dark? It's barely past six," he said to himself. He was used to working long hours as a foreman but always felt like daylight savings stole his energy. "I really should have told Jerry no when he asked me to stay late," He added, knowing he was just complaining for the sake of it. Norm could never say no to Jerry; that's just the kind of man he was. He felt deeply obligated to help his close friend and boss, regardless of the circumstances. Norm knew Jerry would do the same for him.

The car jolted as it hit a pothole. "God damn it! That's the fifth pothole I've hit in the past fifteen minutes!" Norm yelled into the empty night. The sound of his phone ringing drew his focus. He answered, "Yello."

"Hey Norm, I'm just checking in to make sure you get home alright," came a voice on the other end. Norm knew who it was.

"Jerry, you know I'm a big boy. I don't need you to coddle me," He chuckled.

"Well shame on me for being a caring boss," Jerry replied sarcastically.

"Such a caring boss, asking your best guy to put in some overtime," Norm shot back.

Jerry sighed, "Well, ya got me there. Anyways are you taking that shortcut I told you about?"

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like much of a shortcut, but this back road should only last another fifteen minutes or so. Still, every shadow seems to jump at me, though," Norm admitted.

Jerry agreed, "Ah, I know where you're at. That area always gives me the creeps. I'll let you focus on driving."

"Yeah, wouldn't want me to die in a car crash, would you?" Norm replied mockingly. "Thanks for checking in. I'll send ya a text when I get home," he said sincerely.

"Sounds good," Jerry replied.

Norm hung up and placed his phone in the cupholder. In the silence that followed, the droning sound of the rain became unnerving. Norm shuddered in his seat, suddenly feeling cold. Quickly, he cranked up the heat, cursing himself for not bringing a coat.

As he drove, the old Ford lurched around the next bend, revealing uprooted trees lining the side of the road. Lost in thought, Norm couldn't help but stare at them, wondering if the storm had brought the old oaks down. When he refocused on the road, he noticed that the car's lights appeared to be swallowed by a dark mass ahead.

"Holy shit. That's one big ass tree," Norm sighed, realizing he may have to turn back. He slowed to approach it more cautiously, searching for a way around. Stopping a few yards away, he flicked his hazards on. Rolling the window down, Norm stuck his head out to get a better look.

The massive tree had fallen across the road, blocking it completely. It was as tall as the car! Norm opened the door and stepped out precariously into the rain. He paused for a moment, staring at the tree before glancing at the surrounding forest, making sure not to lose sight of the fallen mass. Despite the uprooted trees he had seen earlier, the trees around him appeared healthy and quite dense actually. Shaking off his thoughts, Norm approached the tree cautiously. Upon closer inspection, he realized that there was no way around it without either driving over the ends of the tree or venturing into the forest. Suddenly, Norm was overwhelmed by a terrible stench. His stomach churned, and he stumbled back, coughing and covering his nose with his hand.

"Jesus Christ, that is absolutely disgusting," Norm choked out in between coughs. He bent over, placing his hands on his knees, and took deep breaths, trying to clear the smell from his lungs. The crack of a small branch echoed from the forest, breaking the sound of the rain and causing his hair to stand on end. Norm froze, his eyes fixed on the trees to his right. The next few moments felt like an eternity, as he focused all of his senses, searching for any stimulus that may present itself. His heart pounded over the sound of the rain. After a while, he slowly straightened and redirected his attention to the fallen tree. Norm noticed that the bark had an unusual pebble-like texture and that there appeared to be pine needles sticking out from the base, unlike any tree he had seen.

Deeply alarmed, Norm thought it best to just turn back and deal with the longer drive home. Every fiber of his being urged him to sprint to the car, but he struggled to maintain his composure. He made an effort to walk calmly back to the vehicle, casting glances behind him in the direction of the cracking sound he had heard earlier. However, as soon as he reached the door, he lost control and scrambled into the Bronco.

He nervously laughed at himself, saying, "It's just the storm causing some branches to break. There's no need to panic over that." Norm glanced at his mirrors to check if it was clear to turn around. That's when he noticed a set of dull orange eyes staring at him through the passenger side window from the forest. Norm froze again, his blood running ice cold as he stared back. He tried to convince himself that it was just a deer or a mountain lion, but none of those animals resembled this creature. He could make out the silhouette of the beast; it had to be ten or twelve feet tall and as wide as a bull! He saw the outline of horns, and the thought of what would happen if it charged made him dizzy.

It did.

Norm screamed as the beast's horns tore into the car's side and impaled the meat of his thigh. The beast roared out bucking and violently lifting the bronco with ease, thrashing him around and tearing his leg even more. Norm cried out as debilitating pain shot through his leg, causing darkness to creep into the edges of his vision. He desperately searched for any salvation or hope to ease his suffering. Tears streamed down his face, but he found none. The deafening sound of metal shearing and tearing overwhelmed him. He clamped his hands over his ears and screamed, futilely attempting to block out the noise.

Suddenly, the beast backed off and set the car down. "Great," Norm thought, "Maybe it'll leave me alone—" But the beast lowered its head and charged again, rolling the car deep into the forest. Norm slammed his head on the steering wheel and saw spots blinking in and out. Dazed, he began to count the number of rolls: "One, two, three, four, five…" He stopped counting, praying for it to end. Abruptly, the car came to a halt, pinned against a tree, lying on the driver's side. "Sleep. Of course, a little sleep will help," Norm murmured weakly as he closed his eyes, tears still streaming down his smiling face.

A silence fell over the forest once the rain stopped. Norm inhaled sharply, waking to a manic headache and throbbing leg. He groaned as he sat up and glanced at his leg, horrified to see the moonlight shining through the wound with splinter-like fragments of bone sticking out as if it were a porcupine. His stomach lurched, and he emptied its contents onto the door.

"Gotta get up. Can't stay," he told himself, struggling to unbuckle and stand. Using what little strength, he had left the best he could manage was propping himself up on the car seat.

"Okay… okay I'm up," He managed between gasps. Looking at his watch, he realized the face was smashed and illegible. Glancing around, Norm took a mental checklist of everything: "Watch broken, phone gone, leg busted, night ruined." Taking his belt off He applied it as a tourniquet above his wound, even though it wouldn't do much with his leg shattered. He noticed that the front windshield had been partially pried open. "Guess that's a hint," he wheezed, grabbing the edge and straining to pry it open. It finally came loose on the third attempt, leaving him winded. He hobbled out of the car and searched desperately for a walking stick of some sort. Using the vehicle for stability, he grimaced as pain shot through his nearly numb leg from blood loss. A small branch was lodged in the floor of the car. "This will have to do," he sighed, shaking his head and straining to pull it free.

"Nothing can stop me now," He chuckles, brandishing his new crutch. Turning his attention to the surrounding forest, his humor fades. The twisted metal from other cars litters the forest floor, with some pieces even lodged in the treetops. His mouth goes dry, and the color drains from his face as he realizes he is surrounded by the dead.

Corpses are scattered as far as he could see. Some had their guts spilling into their laps, others torn apart, and a few appeared to have been simply gored with a single hole in their chest large enough to fit your head. Norm shuddered at the terrifying sight before him, feeling suddenly woozy. "Seems I'm not the only one. Gotta make it back to the road if I don't wish to join them," He spat on the ground, attempting to steel himself for the trek ahead.

Cautiously negotiating the thick underbrush and dense forest, Norm headed toward the road, following the warpath left by his car. He wasn't sure how far the creature had pushed him into the forest or if it had done so in a straight line, but this seemed like his best chance to escape this god-forsaken place. He noticed a few recently uprooted trees that had been knocked off the path, "Most likely from that horned freak," Norm thought to himself. Other trees had a significant amount of bark stripped from their bases. Images of the creature's silhouette and its charging haunted his mind, despite his attempts to push them away. The sound—the horrific tearing and metallic screeching—replayed over and over in his ears. He would never forget that sound.

Breaking his thoughts by hitting his injured leg, Norm collapsed and screamed in pain, nearly blacking out. Minutes later, he managed to stand again, shuffling at an even slower pace than before. Feeling pathetic, Norm was sure that even a snail would beat him in a foot race at this point. Jerry would call him "Snailman," "Tortoise," or maybe even "Deadman shuffling" if he saw how slow Norm was moving right now. That's when Norm remembered their phone call—Jerry may come searching for him. The mere prospect of being saved by his friend gave him strength and renewed vigor.

In the distance, he swore that the tree coverage seemed to lessen. This was good; it was a sign that he was getting close to the road. He shuffled as fast as he could, pain be damned. The sudden adrenaline rush dulled the pain in his leg, but he still groaned with significant effort. Suddenly, his footing slipped, and Norm fell into the mud, getting smothered by it. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Just what I needed!" he shouted into the empty forest as he noticed a broken horn nearby. It was large—five feet long and twice the size of his arm—reminding him of what lurks in this forest.

His Anger was replaced by ice in his veins as he fumbled for his walking stick, only to discover it was lost in the mud. Hesitantly, he picked up the horn and used it as a makeshift walking stick, carefully heading toward the road. Making his way to the edge of the forest, he found the road exactly where the car had originally come from, and the "tree" was still lying there. Now that the rain had stopped, Norm realized, "That's no tree," he exclaimed staring at a creature similar to the beast he had encountered earlier. It was unmoving, smaller than the original creature, missing a horn, and completely lifeless.

Suddenly, Norm was thrust into light and heard the sound of an engine. He turned around so quickly that he almost fell over, feeling ecstatic that someone else was nearby. As he hurried over, Norm instantly recognized who it was "Jerry!" he called out.

"Norm?" a voice replied as it got out of the car.

"It's me. Get back in the car, man! We gotta go. I need a hospital now!" Norm shouted, stumbling over to him and pushing him back into the driver's seat.

"What the fuck happened to you? I've been calling—" Jerry started, but he stopped short, his body stiffening in the seat.

Norm froze as well, unsure of what was happening, until something in the reflection of the car window caught his eye. His hair stood on end, and every muscle in his body tensed as if he had been suddenly drenched in cold water. He choked up, shaking with a mix of fear and anticipation. "Oh God," he managed to say, despite the terror gripping him. For in the reflection, the beast's eyes were staring back at him—before it charged.

A horn now protruded from Norm's chest. He glanced down at the horn, it had continued into his friend's face, and spattered blood into the rest of the car. He silently cried at the sight, " I'm sorry," was all he could think, repeating in his head before the great monster whipped its head and them with it.

In the depths of the forest, a woman in camouflage observed the spectacle of bodies through binoculars. She jots something down on her notepad while muttering into a radio, "Interesting behavior by the male pentaceratops. It seems protective of its fallen mate's body. Let's observe longer to collect more data."