Close call (One-shot)

Life was difficult for me, born in a small family of a lower-middle-class family, I didn't get to experience a smooth life. It was my dream to finish my studies and start work where I would finally be able to help my family out.

Thankfully life took pity on good old me. I passed with an above-average grade, got into a local college and graduated in my prime. 

My childhood friend Ben, with whom I spent my high school years, had contacted me for a job opportunity. It was a salesman position and applying for it wasn't so hard. The labor part was arduous, but the pay was reasonable.

"Hey Josh, I got some leftovers from my mom's cooking–let's share it!" Now here Ben came back from his lunch break. Honestly, the man hadn't changed since high school, he still was a happy go lucky individual.

"Sure, I'm hungry as well." I agreed and we both had lunch together.

Life was simple for me, I hoped it would stay this way till I retire in the future.

…

My only friends at that time were Ben and Josh. With their support, I progressively commenced interacting with other colleagues. 

…

That was when I came across Nick and Mark. Our bond gradually evolved and we all became a group of great friends during our tale. 

…

Altogether we lived in the same district, weekends were the only time we could hang out. Saturdays were consecrated for outings or trips in the countryside where Ben had a house.  

On a particular Friday evening, the sun had already set as it was during the beginning of winter. We had scheduled an outing between us colleagues after work. After I had finished university, I joined a nearby enterprise. We planned to drive to a gas station and from then on we would go together to Ben's farmhouse. I was 22 at that time and being part of a group of four men in their mid-20s, nothing seemed unnatural. 

As the clock turned towards 6 pm, some of my colleagues started departing towards our meeting point. I was trustworthy for shutting down the office. I had to remain there for a few endless minutes. 

Step 

"-!"

A sudden footstep sound made me flinch in fright. 

I peeped through the window and noticed someone near my car in that deserted parking lot. The possibility of a burglar or criminal nearby encompassing my thoughts.

The person was wearing a hoodie with stale jeans. He looked in his 50s and was strolling back and forth near my vehicle. I began being uncomfortable, I wanted to tell this man to walk away from my car. Was I being an introvert or simply panicking for no reason. I finished off locking the front door and left towards my car. I glared around my car for a whole to detect if someone implemented something to my car. I sat down in the driver's seat, checked the rear window and everything appeared normal. I drove off towards the destination I was given by Ben, I was already delayed and had to rush there. 

I never had heard of that gas station, so I utilized a navigation app to drive there. 20 minutes into the drive, a sudden traffic jam arose, it was written in the stars, I will certainly miss our outing. I took the next exit that came out, perhaps I will arrive there on time. I looked up to the sky, it was pitch black, the road ahead didn't have any streetlights. It got darker as I went further down the road, the journey was immense, however, the navigation's app notified me that I would be there in 15 minutes. 

Suddenly, I heard weird squeaks from my front tyre.

The hissing continued to be heard when I moved any further.

I pulled up on the side of the run to search where that irritating sound came from. 

My heart sank for a minute, I glanced all over my car and noticed a puncture in my front wheel. It revealed that somebody down the freeway had set an ambush. I further analyzed my vehicle, however, nothing else was to be glimpsed. I replaced the tires instantly and proceeded with the voyage. 

Shortly, I arrived at the gas station, I was questioned by my colleagues due to this unreasonable tardiness. They assured me that I wouldn't encounter such a thing with them. We hence proceeded to Ben's farmhouse with Ben's pickup truck. My car was left behind at a protected parking lot at that gas station. Everyone else began gossiping apart from me, as I still didn't rehabilitate from that frightening incident. I had an unusual sentiment, I felt something was awry throughout the whole excursion.

Minutes into our drive, the vehicle suddenly began jerking. I was frightened, I assumed that a similar incident occurred when I was driving to the gas station. Ben, being authoritative, stepped out of the truck examining the vehicle's body frame. No one heard a voice of Ben, I conked out, I noticed Ben's face turning pale. I glanced underneath the vehicle, I was stupefied, there was an enormous hole in the truck's petrol tank. It was quite absurd, as the hole unexpectedly came up. The car had been functioning effectively until this incident happened.  All of us were stranded in the middle of nowhere. 

The only alternative remaining was to hitchhike in the opposing direction to collect my car from the parking lot and pick up my pals to proceed with our voyage. 

I procrastinated for 20 minutes until I found a red vehicle that halted and volunteered to hitchhike me. The window rolled down from the driver's seat, I politely greeted an old lady, she was in her 65s. On our route to the gas station, she restrained me from inquiring about my private life. I was used to hitchhiking in my neighborhood but never in my existence, I feel so anxious and nervous. I arrived at the gas station, perhaps in an eerily way.

I urged my car and drove off to pick up my pals from the spot where the incident had occurred. Once on the spot, Ben told me that he would stay there until his car got towed by towing truck. He furthermore informed me that he will report this incident to the regional authorities. Proceeding with our journey, the drive was roughly an hour of duration. Everyone dozed off, I was the only one awake as I was steering, I glared at the sky, it was entirely black. The moon's dimness was quite unstable, thus it was pretty much dark all the way. 

Thereupon, we reached our destination. The farmhouse was incredible, with a vast backyard and a rather small plantation area. Everything was delightful and cozy. As the rest of the fellows unpacked our backpacks and commenced the preparations for dinner. Smoking a cigarette whilst strolling in the open air was an incredible way for me to relieve tension. My colleague Josh and I went for a stroll in the backyard of the farmhouse. Having a discussion and smoking a cigarette gave us immediate relief after what had occurred so far. We returned inside and laid down on the sofas of the living room. Nick and Mark had already set the barbecue up and prepared a few drinks for the night. A group of four adult men, liquoring up some beer on a weekend outing, nothing seemed unusual.

After gossiping with each other, having our food and drinking, we agreed on watching a movie in the living room. Mark and Josh called it a night and proceeded to go to nod off in their rooms as they were quite tipsy. Nick and I stayed in the living room and watched some TV till we dozed off. 

Suddenly, the phone made an unexpected noise.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Nobody heard that call as we were in deep sleep due to our long voyage. 

Minutes later, I can't recall the exact time but it was roughly between 2 or 3 am. 

A notification popped up.

"You have received a voice memo from Ben" 

Following up with another call from him.

I instantly answered his call, he talked in an eerily manner. He warned us that we weren't safe there. 

"Hmm, guys we are in serious trouble, no one is safe!" 

"Please flee away from the farmhouse and seek help from local authorities!"

The whole time out, he was lying low from these individuals. The police were after the raiders, however, they were still in the open air roaming around. 

Nick peeped our conversation, he immediately packed our bags whereas I ran to wake up Josh and Mark. We were all frightened by this news. I kept an eye through the window, there wasn't a gate so it was wide open. We were vulnerable in that situation, with nothing to defend ourselves we had to remain alert.  

We sprinted towards my vehicle and drove off from Ben's farmhouse. The closest city, where we could find a police station was a 40 minutes drive from the farmhouse. The roads were pitch black, it felt like an abandoned location and all the residents in the surroundings were hiding in their homes. I kept on looking at the rearview mirror, nothing was to be detected. As we entered an exit, a black van was moving towards my car. At first, I didn't accept it as concerning the matter, perhaps I was exhausted from today's journey. The van proceeded to follow us, it was noticeable as it was the only two vehicles in the motorway. From the passenger's side of the van, a person started shooting towards us. Tension in our car escalated.

"What if those raiders are after us?'' asked Marcus. 

This sentence left all of us speechless, no one could respond to his question. 

 We panicked and drove off to an area, we immediately wanted to seek help from a resident of that area. The van had vanished by now, we searched for a house and found a house rather old but the lights were on. That was a tremendous plus, I stationed the car and we knocked at the door. The minutes went by, no one responded to our knock. A Few minutes later, we returned to my car. While sitting in the car, we caught sight of a person from that house wearing a white fabric. The person seemed rather suspicious, he didn't answer our knock but maintained to look at our car through his window. The individual suddenly disappeared, we held tight to each other, all of us were even more frightened. 

"Was the house haunted?" was the question we asked each other. 

We drove off in a random direction, expecting someone to come to our rescue.

 My car didn't have much petrol left, so we couldn't drive any further than 15 km. We arrived at a nearby gas station, it was the period we could have a breath of fresh air after those fierce moments. I received a message at around 4 am from Ben, he asked us where we were. It was quite unexpected, as Ben's truck was out of service. I phoned to ask if it was him.  The latter declined. I was conscious that it can't be Ben and probably someone else is using his phone number to trap us. We stayed at the gas station till the sun rose. I dropped my friends at their houses.

"What a relief, the sun is out, I told myself with satisfaction. 

"The tragic night is now a past event and everything is back to the usual", I told myself.

 Once I returned home, with an eerie feeling, I assumed that a gang was behind us. I told my girlfriend about this incident, she was stupefied and so were the rest of my family members. They advised filing a complaint with the local authorities so that they can crack this matter sooner. Later that afternoon, Ben called me with a different phone number, he informed me that he was stolen and that I shouldn't worry about that message sent earlier that morning. Perhaps the message was sent by an intruder. Ben's truck was at the garage for repairs. The rest of the boys were all cautious and calm. I was assured that I should let the bygones be bygones.  

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