1 Chapter 1: The Accident
Screech! She jerked the wheel to the right and the truck slid left, doing a complete 180 from her original destination. She's panting and frozen in a state of shock trying to realize what had just taken place hardly a few moments ago. She reaches for her phone and precedes to phone emergency services taking large deep breaths in between each number stroke she dials. The phone rings for a brief minute, then a husky woman's voice is heard on the line.
"911 what's your emergency?"
"Hello," the woman pauses trying to collect herself before she begins, "yes, uh my name is Kourtni Anders and I've just been involved in an accident on Rodger's Highway right outside of Treaty County...and I think..I think I hit someone with my vehicle, I need an ambulance right away please."
"Alright, ma'am I need you to tell me if the person you hit is still breathing, can you do that for me? I've already dispatched an ambulance and police car to your location they-"
Beep! Her phone's screen displays a message "Low Battery---Goodbye" followed with the brand's logo. Kourtni sighs heavily in frustration, "Well, shit!" she exclaims. She tosses her phone in the passenger seat and slings open the driver side door. She reaches for her seat belt and unclips it from the lock mechanism.
She stops for a second and prepares herself for the worst. She steps out of her old beat-up Chevy truck and calls to the pedestrian she believed she hit only a couple of moments ago. "He-hello!?" she studders momentarily, then finds herself taking in a deep breath from her chest before she hollars into the aimless silence, "Is anyone there?!" She waits a few seconds but there is no response, only her own echo pierces the still air around her. She swallows a lump in her throat feeling it grow larger making it harder to breathe. Her legs feel weak underneath of her as she begins to hastily walk around to the front of the truck barely being able to scan the area seen illuminated by her high beams. "Hello?!" she bellowed out once more but again, there was no retort. She shivered slightly seeing her warm breath hit the frosty air. She glanced at the front of the aged vehicle and noticed blood splatter on the driver's side bumper. She put her hand to her mouth feeling her eyes well up with tears.
"Is anyone here?!" her voice trailed off followed by her calmorous cries. "Can anyone hear me?!" Her voice bounced off the mountain repeating the word "me." She clutched her arm and felt her body stiffen. She looked off into the distance as far as her lights casted and saw nothing but vast empty space of miles of road. She turned around and retreated to her truck to grab a flashlight.
She fumbled around in the glove box for some time and then stepped back out of the vehicle with a heavy-duty flashlight. It felt sturdy and durable in her small hands. The thing had some weight to it so, if things turn sour she'd be able to provide a powerful blow to any unwelcome or crazy assailants lurking in the unforgiving darkness. She pressed the button and the flashlight flickered twice then remained on. She made her way to the back of the vehicle and nearly dropped the flashlight at the grisly scene.
Blood was caked-on to the icy, slick asphalt. She moved her light in the direction of the blood following a gruesome trail painted on the road. She stopped and focused the light on an object in the distance. Perplexed, she tried to find the courage to approach the foreign entity. She felt her stomach get weak as she forced her legs to move in the direction of the item. Every step felt like pins and needles the closer it came into view. She was about 50 feet away when a grotesque smell turned her insides. She stopped and stood still in fear.
She felt herself gag then repeatedly she tried to take deep inhales through her mouth while exhaling through her nose. She pushed on getting closer and closer until she stood 20 feet from what now can clearly be acknowledged as human legs. "Hello?" Kourtni called approaching the set of legs very hesitantly.
She screamed at the sight of what she was faced with. She wasn't ready to see such a bloody gory mess. The legs were literally only legs, she realized half of a human body had been cut clean off and severed from the top half of the body. She backed away frantically trying to get her feet underneath of her. She turned around and saw the blood trail leading under her truck where the driver side door still remained open...
