For decades, urban legends surrounding the horrifying possibilities of what could happen if one were to pick up a hitchhiker or stop in the middle of nowhere have floated along the river of mouths, scaring people into ignoring hitchhikers and driving on. One such legend is the legend of a family that dared to stop in the deserts of West Texas, not for a hitchhiker, but because another driver has asked them to. In the end, they face dire consequences. The version about to be told is a modernized version, and perfectly exemplifies why it is so dangerous to stop in the middle of nowhere.
The highway stretched long and straight ahead, and about every two minutes, a petite, ringing ding went off in the backseat.
“Indigo, you’ve been texting for hours,” the 16-year-old’s father, Tony, said. “I thought you were the one who wanted to drive through the night?”
“I do, but what are we supposed to be doing? Singing campfire songs? Playing road games?”
The road grew increasingly flat and straight, increasingly deserted, and narrowed to two lanes per side. Every couple of minutes, a car would pass their station wagon in the left lane or blinding headlights could be seen across the median.
“How much longer?” Indigo’s mother, Laura, asked.
“Maybe three and a half hours,” Tony replied.
“Well dad, it seems that you’re gonna get your wish,” Indigo complained. “Cell service just went out. Jesus Christ, how is it even possible for there to be absolutely no service here?”
“There are two things I love most about this area: no phones and no people,” her father smiled.
For a while, conservation had mostly died. Silenced filled the car. Tony drove on while his girls slept uncomfortably and cramped, yet hard. He fumbled to find a radio station, and yet could find none within reach.
He looked over at Laura, his gorgeous wife, with her long fox-red locks, full eyelashes, and pale skin which reflected the moonlight beautifully. He couldn’t resist but touch her soft cheek. She opened her eyes momentarily, smiled at him, and kissed his hand.
Straight ahead, Tony saw two sets of tail lights blocking both lanes. He slowed down, until he was nearly stopped behind the car on the left to wait. The cars continued to slow down even more.
“Come on,” Tony urged.
He pressed the horn lightly, waking up his wife and daughter. The car in the left lane, a dark old green Pontiac GTO with a hail-dented fender eventually and finally pulled ahead, leading Tony to follow. He zoomed past the car in the right lane, a dark crimson Cadillac convertible, and veered back into the right lane himself as the green GTO sped off into the distance. The Cadillac fell behind, and the GTO in front began to slow down as well. As Tony passed by it, he saw the driver lean back into his seat and laugh. He also saw two other men in the car, but was unable to see their faces.
“Total jerks,” Indigo said.
“Are we rid of them?” Tony asked her.
When Indigo turned around and saw that the men were still behind them, she pulled up her hand and flashed them her middle finger.
“Indigo, don’t do that!” Laura said.
“What? What did she do?”
“She just gave them the finger,” Laura replied.
The green car began to gain on them.
“Speed up, Tony!” Laura yelled.
“Shoot!” Indigo exclaimed.
“I don’t like this,” Laura said.
“It’s alright,” Tony consoled.
“Tony, just speed up!”
The green car began to honk and roared up beside the station wagon.
“Shoot,” Indigo breathed.
“Just let ‘em go. Let ‘em go,” said Laura.
The three men in the Pontiac stared violently at the family and cackled.
“Indigo, don’t you look at ‘em. Don’t give ‘em any reason,” Tony cried.
The man sitting in the passenger’s seat of the car looked at Indigo wearing a lascivious grin while the other men in the car continued to laugh.
Indigo asked, “Why’s he smiling at me like that?”
All of a sudden the green car lunged towards the station wagon, forcing Tony to swerve. Then, the GTO pulled in front of the station wagon and cut the family off.
“He’s crazy,” said Tony.
“Oh my God,” said Laura.
Tony pulled out to pass the GTO, but just as he did, the car in front swung to the left to barricade his path. Tony slammed on the brakes. Then, as he swerved to the right again, he was cut off again, further preventing him from passing. In a fit of rage, Tony hit the gas. A loud, metallic bang. He hit them.
Tony exclaimed the f-word, then, in shock, stepped on the gas again to get around the other car. As he passed it, the driver waved wildly and madly, screaming for him to pull over.
“Oh God, Tony,” Laura moaned.
The lights of the green car grew distant as the station wagon sped away. Finally, the car went quiet as the family sat in shock.
“Indigo, how’s your phone? Is it working yet?” Tony asked.
“No. But I did take down their license number.”
Suddenly, in the rearview mirror, Tony saw a pair of headlights gaining on him.
“No,” he said in fear.
The GTO roared up beside the station wagon on their left side, and in the GTO’s passenger’s seat, the guy waved his arms forcefully at the family, shouting and pointing and shaking his fist. The GTO swerved toward Tony and tried to force the station wagon onto the shoulder. Tony kept his foot steady on the pedal and firmly gripped the steering wheel.
All of a sudden, the green GTO rammed into the station wagon, pulled back, and then rammed them again repeatedly, forcing Tony and his family to move to the shoulder of the road as he began to loose control of the vehicle.
Again, a crashing sound came from his left fender as the green GTO hit them again. He felt the damage. The green vehicle pushed against him continuously then, the loud, grating, raw noise of metal ripping against metal deafening them.
The station wagon’s steering wheel began to rattle as the GTO forced Tony off the road and landed directly in front of him, smothered in a cloud of dust and gravel.
Laura looked back to ensure that Indigo was okay as the car that was lagging behind came into sight. As the car slowed and then sped away, they could see the extremely wide grin of the shirtless driver. The family sat in shock, wondering what they could do to get out of this mess they got themselves into, wondering if they should try to drive away and race to the nearest town.
A man in his late 20’s exited the old Buick, looking rough and yet surprisingly handsome in a 50’s greaser sort of way. The other men looked on from the car, but their faces could not clearly be made out.
“Don’t move,” Tony said. “They may have a gun.”
“Please pull out, Tony,” Laura urged.
But Tony sat, raging with emotion, ready to stand up to his bully.
The man walked over to the family’s car slowly. He wore a western shirt and bright turquoise cowboy boots. He surveyed the anterior of Tony’s care and came to his window.
“Don’t get out,” Laura warned.
“I’m not, sweetheart,” Tony replied.
The man motioned for him to roll down his window. Tony did so reluctantly.
“Good evenin’,” the man said and smiled creepily.
“Good evening,” Tony said.
“Did you know that you’re supposed to stop when there’s an accident?”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you stop?”
The man leaned forward and down to look inside the car. He surveyed Laura and Indigo as Indigo tried to get a signal on her phone once again.
“That won’t work,” the man said, licking his gums. “No signal here.”
He turned his attention back to Tony.
“You ain’t supposed to leave the scene of an accident. Did you know it’s actually a crime?”
“After you were driving the way you were?” Laura interjected.
“Laura…” Tony said.
“What did you say?” the man asked. His hand was resting on top of the station wagon. He sat tapping his dirty nails on the roof over and over. He had the nails of someone who played guitar, the twinkle of a little pink heart gem on a little girl’s ring on his pinky, and the swagger of a rock star from the 1970’s.
“It’s just, the way you were driving was nuts,” Laura said.
The man banged his hand on the roof of the station wagon and spat.
“Hey Roy!” the man called. The doors of the Buick popped open and out came the other two men, one of them petite and another who was tall, thin, and had a dead look in his eyes.
The first men put his hands on the ledge of the half-opened window and leaned in.
“Don’t come any closer,” Laura warned.
“It’s alright, sweetheart.”
The other men began to approach the car.
“You know what, please just return to your vehicle and leave us alone,” Laura said.
“Lady, calm down,” the man said. “We gotta report an accident, that’s all.”
One of the other men shone his flashlight into the car at the woman.
“Leave us alone,” Laura warned like a mother bear.
“Sweetheart, its only a flashlight,” Tony cooed. “It’s only a flashlight, it’s okay.”
The other men inspected the station wagon’s front, putting their grimy hands on top of the hood and leaning down to look below the car. The family couldn’t see what was being done.
“Alright, okay, let’s just exchange information,” Tony said.
“Information?” the main man asked cockily. He lowered himself and rested his arms against the car door’s open window. He smiled that sick handsome smile.
“Yeah, alright sweetheart, open up the glove compartment,” Tony said to Laura.
“Okay, let’s exchange information,” the man said. “I’m a Gemini, petal pink is my favorite color, and I like long walks in the rain and little kittens.”
He then laughed hysterically, clawing his nails at the half-open window with an imitation of a kitten. Tony, Laura, and Indigo sat dumbstruck watching the other men laugh along with him.
“You know, we should call the police,” Tony said.
“Oh?” said the man
The other two men walked around to the side of the car.
“Hey Joe, this guy, he’s got a flat,” one of them called.
The two men in front walked around to the side of the car.
“Oh my God!” Tony exclaimed.
Joe went around to look, and then all of the men began to laugh.
“Well, what in the world? Sure thing,” Joe said.
“What?” Tony said.
One of the men kicked the tire, rocking the car a little bit.
“Dad, I don’t believe it.”
All three of the men came to the driver’s side window.
“Your left tire sure is flat,” Joe said.
“Flat as a damn pancake,” Roy said.
“It must have busted open when you were pushing us off the road,” Joe said. One of the other men cackled sickly.
“We did not push you off the road,” Laura cried. “You pushed us off the road!”
“Shhh,” Tony whispered.
“It’s a lie,” Indigo whispered.
“Are you calling me a liar?” Joe asked
“Please, man, she’s only a child,” Tony urged.
“You’re calling me a liar!”
“No, she’s not, man. She’s only a child.”
“I changed my mind, you don’t have a flat, start the engine and drive away. Drive on it. Nobody is stopping you.”
Tony started the car and it rolled forward. The tire was flat, surely so. He turned off the engine.
“God damn it!” Tony exclaimed.
“Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. Tony, what will we do? What will we do, Tony?” Laura cried.
“It’s okay. It’s alright.” Tony calmed.
“No, it’s not okay. We’re in the middle of nowhere. What will we do?
“Tell you what,” Joe said. “We’ll fix it for you. Won’t we, guys?”
“Yeah, sure,” Roy said.
“Really?” Laura gasped.
“Yeah, just to show you that we really are good guys,” Joe said. “We’ll fix it for ya. You won’t have to do a thing, then we can go to the cops together and report the accident.”
“Do you have tools, sir?” Roy asked.
“Please, don’t leave the car,” Laura continued to urge.
“There’s no need. Just use ours,” said Joe.
The three men went to the trunk of the station wagon and Tony, Indigo, and Laura watched the men bring out their tools, the tire iron, and the jack with their doors locked.
“