9

You wear the typical camouflage pants and jacket with tan shirt and combat boots.

Snow falls in scattered waves, and you stare at the dull tan mixture it makes along the side of the highway. Traffic has thinned outside of Stodgy Farms, the rural town in Greater Nightfall, and now all you can see is the long black stretch of highway, the far-off mountains to the left, and the faint outline of distant Chipper Ridge on your right. You raise your flask to your lips and take a swig of whiskey. Ash from your cigarette flicks onto your face, and you toss the butt out the window.

You turn on the radio. A deep-toned announcer speaks over light jazz music.

…three days and two nights on the beautiful island of Bermuda. Onboard our Atlantis cruise ship, enjoy our award-winning buffet or tempt your palette in one of our five-star restaurants. We offer spa service and daily aerobics, as well as poolside massages. Call your travel agent now or book online at…

You switch off the radio.

Though your GPS bleats out directions, the AAS coordinator told you to look for a gas station named Marty's, and sure enough on the left of the highway, a dusty, faded box of a station hides behind an illegible sign just below a bend in the road. Two gas pumps, covered in soot, stand like twin chess pieces on a patch of dirt. A handwritten piece of cardboard in the window reads Meat Mash 1.99.

A shadow crosses your windshield, and you twist the wheel just as your car smashes into a figure on the road. You feel a jolt, and a body slams over your hood, then bounces along the metal frame and rumbles over the roof. You slam on the brakes, your arms shaking as you brace against the steering wheel. Your body clenches as the car decelerates. Twisting sideways, the car whines and the tires squeal, but you finally come to rest in a dusty cloud. It's all over in seconds.

Your car engine stutters, then shuts off, but that's the least of your worries right now. You jump out of the driver's seat and peer at the man lying on the road twenty feet back, face up. Running over, you eye the figure: bushy brown beard streaked with gray down the center, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a work shirt with 'Marty' embroidered on the name tag. His right leg lies mangled and rotated to the side, and the hip appears indented. His skin bears a yellow hue, and green freckles decorate his cheeks.

You check the man's pulse but find none. His chest doesn't move, nor is he breathing.