The car pulled out onto the lonely stretch of I-54. The government had abandoned that slab of road along time ago. Now only desperate people and truckers used that route. There had been seven murders in the last two weeks on that road alone.
Marek peered out through the windshield. "This will cut our time in half baby. I promise, we're safe." The Buick Century proceeded down the offramp and onto the road. Not a single soul was around. Marek and Laura had been traveling for days. They secretly hoped to elope in Vegas where Laura's mom couldn't reach them. She being all but 18 and Marek a rebellious 24 year old. The two of them knew it was love, but Laura's mom felt differently.
The car proceeded without a hitch for about twenty minutes. The radio was playing a lonesome Hank Williams song and the hum of the tires against the road and lolled both into a comfortable haze. "Just think, a few more hours, and we will be Mr. and Mrs. Marek Tobins. No one can touch us then, not even your mother." Marek curled his fingers into her hand and brought her hand up kissing the back of it. "I love you more than life itself, Laura." Laura blushed and leaned over against her seatbelt kissing him on the lips.
That's when it darted infront of the car. A large stag deer with a full rack. Its eyes were wild in the headlights and steam billowed up from its nostrils. There was no time for Marek to stop. The stag slammed into the hood, rolled up the hood, and kicked a powerful hoof through the windshield as it passed over the roof. Both were lucky to avoid the hoof but shards of safety glass poured into Laura's hair and Marek felt his chest slam into the steering wheel. The impact spun the car like a top causing it to setting facing the opposite direction and with its tail end halfway in the ditch.
"Oh god...Oh GOD! Marek! Marek! Are you ok? What happened?" Laura fought with her seatbelt getting free and pulling her lover off the steering wheel. He fell back with a grimace holding his chest. "Baby, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I think. What hit us?" Marek opened the door and fell onto the pavement holding his ribs. In the glow of the taillights, he could see the large deer going into death spasms some 100 yards from the car. He rolled to his side and slowly made it to his feet. He felt ribs shifting inside and knew the pain was far from over.
Laura ran around the side of the car to him holding a light. They slowly approached the deer but didn't make it but halfway. A large wolf, approxamitely 6ft from snout to tail and weighing roughly 250lbs exploded from the bush and grabbed the deer by the head, crushing it in its powerful jaws.
Laura screamed and her hand flew to her mouth. "Jesus! That's what chased the deer out infront of the car?!? Laura get back inside! Now!" Marek spun on his heels and raced to the passenger side of the car. Opening the glove compartment, he removed the .22 caliber revolver his dad had once given him and snapped the cylinder full of shells into place. When he turned around, Laura got inside. The wolf was gone. He began to walk around the car and pan his lights across the roadway looking for eyes that would glow in the night. "Where are you, you bastard!"
"Marek, baby, lets just start the car and get on the road. I'm sure we can still make it to the next town." Marek trotted to the door and climbed inside trying the engine. It turned over once, then twice, then sputtered and died.
Marek bit his bottom lip and set his jaw. "Come on!" The car fired up on the third twist and jerked onto the road. Due to the damage, the car couldn't pick up a high rate of speed but atleast they were moving. Off to the side of the car, they heard howls. In the rearview mirror, the deer was gone. Drug off somewhere by the wolves.
It seemed they'd made it. A few miles down the road, they saw a truck stop. Old and deserted, but a green ford ranger was idling there. Maybe they had a phone. The buick lurched into the truck stop and slowly pulled up near the truck. The cab was darkened out, but the door to the rest area was open. Marek turned the car off and turned to Laura. "Stay here. I'm going to check inside and then I'll be right back." All Laura could do was nod.
Marek slid the pistol into his belt loop and climbed out into the cold night air. He peeked into the cab of the truck, blankets were in the passenger seat and a large blood stain was in the driver's seat. The passenger door looked like something big had hit it and nearly ripped it off. He looked up towards the darkened doorway and thought he saw movement. Pulling the pistol out of his belt, he crept over to the door and then went inside slowly letting his eyes adjust to the lighting. Pamphlets for attractions and restuarants littered the floor. The old vending machines were broken and their contents long since removed. A payphone hung by its cord swinging back and forth.
Marek moved over to the phone and clicked the receiver to see if he could get a dial tone. When none returned, he hung it up. Movement out of the corner of his eye made him spin. "Hello? Is there someone there?" He moved towards the doorway to the women's bathroom. He leaned against the wall and slowly peeked in.
A scraggly wolf burst through the doorway and out into the lobby. Its claws sliding on the tile. It turned on its haunchs and curled its lips back revealing long curved teeth perfect for devouring meat. Its eyes glowed with an essence of hellfire itself. It opened its mouth and long strings of saliva dripped down as the first snarl escaped its lips. Marek gave it no chance for a second one. He fired two shells into it. The first one opened its left shoulder blade up to the night air, the second one ripped into its muzzle dropping it.
He looked at the men's room. Surely there had to be the driver there. He walked in and noticed a blood stain on the wall's tiling. As he followed it, he found a woman who had to be in her late twenties. she was slumped on the floor against one wall. Her abdomen ripped open at the navel line and entrails spilt out everywhere. Marek found himself close to vomiting and had to bring the back of his hand up. It wasn't easy but he managed to swallow the rushing puke and turned racing back out to the car.
Laura had heard the gun shots and was outside of the car with a nervous look on her face. Her flashlight iluminated the doorway as Marek exited. "BACK IN THE CAR!" Marek was waving her back inside as he quickly covered the ground between them. Laura's eyes filled with panick. A large wolf with a silver coat had leapt out one of the rest area windows and was bounding towards Marek fast!
"Marek behind you!" She pointed excitedly and crawled back inside the car. He kept running but looked over his shoulder to see the large beast rushing him. He turned and drew the pistol upwards firing it into the beast's chest just as the wolf slammed into him. Marek and the wolf fell infront of the car, disappearing at the hood's level.
"Marek! Marek! BABY!" Silence was her only answer. A loon cried off in the distance somewhere. She scooted across to the driver's seat and tried the key. The car turned over for a second and then a loud pop was heard. Steam billowed up from the busted radiator. The car was dead.
"Oh god!" Movement to her right got her attention. Marek crawled over to the passanger door. A large cut under his left eye had opened his cheek and jawline. His right arm had the bone jutting out of the skin. He'd broken it when him and the wolf had fallen. Laura started to go to him, but the wolf rose up infront of the car, blood pouring from a gunshot wound to its chest. Marek stopped crawling and fired a second shot into it. The wolf yelped but growled and set its footing. The third shot dropped the wolf, catching it above its left eye.
She reached over to open the door for him. "Marek thank god you're ok!" He smiled at her and laid his head on the seat to catch his breath. He started to tell her something but the last wolf in the pack tackled him. Apparently a small pack had been running the badlands terrorizing motorists and animals alike. The shewolf bit down into his jugular vein ending it quickly. Blood jetisoned from his neck. He couldn't even struggle. The gun fell limp at his fingers.
Laura screamed and kicked the wolf in its side forcing it away from the car and slammed the door shut. Marek was dead, she knew it. The only thing she could think of now was her own survival. She huddled down in the front seat making herself as small as possible. Outside the car door, she heard the shewolf crunching the bones of her lover and ripping the flesh away in soft wet tearing noises. Terror was her company that night. She cried herself to sleep.
When her eyes opened, the sun had rose. She slowly looked over the steering wheel and peeked out the window. No sign of the wolf or Marek. All that was left was a large blood stain, his pistol, and a mangled foot in a Nike Air, shoes he had been so proud of. She slowly made her way out of the car and looked around. No sign of the beast.
She started walking. It had been a stressful night, her fiancee had been killed, their car totalled, and she was several states away from home with no way to contact them. She'd been walking for a couple of miles when she heard the diesel engine whine. Looking back she saw a big rig Peterbuilt coming her way. Excited she jumped up and down waving her arms. "Here! I need help! Please!" The rig started to down shift and was pulling towards her when it struck. The shewolf burst from the bushes on the opposite side of the road from Laura. She was only able to turn and see it lunge as it tackled her and easily over powered her. The truck jerked back onto the road and picked up speed getting away from the scene of carnage as the wolf's jaws bit into her head crushing the life from her.
Only truckers in big rigs had been able to safely make it through. Had Laura and Marek paid attention, Beware Dangerous Animal signs littered the offramp onto I-54. Wolf attacks had forced the road to be abandoned. But two lovers deteremined to consumate their love thought little of anything other than each other. Seems that the road had claimed two more.
