Chapter One

A FORK IN THE ROAD

A couple is traveling together, cruising down a dark road in northern Maine, surrounded by woods for miles.

The narrow streets, surrounded by trees, could be more consistent in their elevation. This area is remote and far from most of the state’s main population centers.

The male driver talks on his phone inside the car while his female partner lies bored and upset. She is upset with her phone due to its slow connection caused by the wooded area. The lack of connectivity heavily interferes with her intent to browse for junk on her phone to pass the time.

“This phone is acting so slow, yet you can have a conversation with your job just fine; I don’t get it.” The woman said with a frustrated tone of voice.

“I don’t care what it takes, just close the deal,” the man yelled, ignoring his partner’s comments.

“Did you hear what I said?” the woman asked the man who kept speaking on the phone. He did not respond. “Steve, I’m talking to you!” she yelled.

“Listen, sorry, could you give me a minute? My wife is talking to me, and apparently, it can’t wait.” He turned to her and noticed that she was annoyed. “What is it? This is an important phone call, Kyra.”

Kyra remained quiet and crossed her arms instead of speaking to her husband.

“Well, what is it?” Steve asked again; she remained quiet. “Fine, whatever,” he adds, turning his attention to the phone again. “I’m sorry about that; my wife just needed attention,” Steve said calmly and in an annoyed tone while Kyra could hear the person on the other side of the phone laughing at his unnecessary comment.

“It isn’t funny, you asshole,” she said, highly upset.

“Now we’re name-calling each other? Fine, Kyra, grow up already,” Steve was now annoyed.

“You know what, maybe we should continue this call later; talk to you in the morning?” said the man on the phone.

“Sure, sorry about that. What time?” Steve asked as the man on the phone hung up.

He then looked at his wife angrily, “There, you happy? That phone call cost us a few thousand dollars. I don’t think he’s going to deal in the morning. Thank You, Kyra.”

“That’s all you seem to care about, your stupid job,” Kyra responded with frustration running down her face.

“No, wait a minute, you know that’s not true,” Steve responded as he noticed the phone’s GPS lose signal… He tried to reconnect the cell but to no avail. “Great. Kyra, where is your phone?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you: my phone has no signal, but you never listen to me.”

Steve stood quiet in order not to fight anymore. “I guess we’re going in blind for a bit then until we get reception; we’ll just keep driving east like we were.”

“Steve, whatever you say, just get us home,” Kyra said as she turned to her right, placed her back against him, and faced the dark woods.

“Are we gonna do this right now?” Steve yelled while Kyra remained quiet. “Fine, have it your way.”

A few minutes passed when they reached a fork in the road; Steve started slowing down. Kyra quickly sat up, “Why are you slowing down?”

“A fork in the road, and I’m unsure which way to go.”

“Oh, I don’t know either. Check your phone to see if yours went back online; I assure you, mine isn’t.”

Steve swore in anger as he realized his phone was still down. “Pick one.”

“Why me?”

“Cause you’re the street smarts! Plus, as I see it, both roads point east.”

“Fine, give me a second.” Kyra tried to open the phone’s map app, but it didn’t load. She looked around the darkness to see if she could make out any landmarks she may have remembered, but nothing. So she decided to take a guess.

“If I remember correctly, it is that way.” She pointed to the right path.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked.

“Pretty sure.”

“Alright, then off we go.” Steve placed his foot on the accelerator and took the right fork.

A few minutes passed, and both individuals were silent until Steve spoke, “I’m sorry, Kyra, I mean it.”

She looked at him, slightly surprised yet still upset. “Thanks, but just know I’m still mad at you.”

“What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Well, for starters, get me home, and second, quit that stupid job.”

“You know I can’t do that, at least not right now. I’m in too deep.”

“Well, you need to decide what’s more important. I’ll leave it at that,” Kyra said with determination.

Steve’s demeanor changed back to being upset, and he stared at her with anger and frustration while looking out her window. He continues staring at her and reaches out to grab her shoulder.

“Stop it, Steve, just pay attention to the road and get me home, then we’ll talk,” she stated affirmatively. He ignored her request when he glanced at the road and suddenly swerved the car, but not without hitting something first.

“What the hell was that? I told you to focus on the road.” Kyra was furious now.

Steve stood quiet as he stopped the car, knowing he had messed up. He nervously looked past the rear-view mirror when he stopped the car, hoping it wasn’t a living creature he just hit.

“You hit something; what was it?”

“I don’t know, Kyra,” he responded, somewhat scared, as he noticed a shape lying on the floor.

Steve exited the car, “Where are you going?” Kyra asked.

“To check it out, maybe it was someone who now clearly needs our help.”

“Forget it, Steve. It’s dark out, and we are far away from anything. This is the middle of nowhere. Leave it; it’s probably just a dog or a raccoon. Those things got rabies.”

Steve looked at her in disbelief. Nonetheless, he closed the door and went to check it out. Kyra also slowly exits the car but doesn’t go past her door. She is afraid and looks to keep a safe distance as Steve slowly approaches the shape on the ground. Kyra grabbed her phone and looked for a signal, but none.

“Steve, please be careful,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, everything will be alright,” he said as he made it to the shape. “So, what do we have here?” He tips the body over; as it reveals itself, it freaks him out and, in the process, falls back to the ground.

“What is it?” Kyra asked, concerned.

Steve gets his courage, gets back up, and inspects again to see nothing more than a crash dummy.

“It’s just a crash dummy.” He said as he started laughing with relief.

“A crash dummy? For real?” Kyra now yelled in confusion.

“Yeah, not sure why it’s out here, a rather odd place for a dummy,” Steve yelled.

Kyra sighed, “Well, that’s a relief; a good thing it wasn’t an animal or a person. Can we go now?”

“Just give me a minute; I’m going to move it to the side of the road so no one else can get hurt.”

“Need help?”

“No, it’s alright; I got it; it shouldn’t be too heavy.”

“Alright, I’m going back inside the car. Is that ok?”

“Go for it,” Steve said to her as he knelt before the dummy. As he proceeded to grab it, he heard Kyra yell again, “Steve, I swear, one day, I’m going to kill you.”

“Please do, Kyra,” Steve muttered, hoping it was true. He grabbed the dummy and spoke to it as he pushed it, “Well, let’s move you to the side of the road now, just a bit. I don’t want you causing any more accidents. Then again, you guys love accidents.”

Meanwhile, Kyra was inside the car looking down at her phone again when you could see two shadowy figures swiftly approaching Steve through the rear-view mirror. They’re attacking him with a machete. Two silent but deadly strikes took him out quickly while Kyra remained oblivious. Then suddenly, it got quiet. She looked back through the rearview but did not see Steve, just the dummy. She slowly opened her car door to get a better view. “Steve, this is not the time or place for kid games. Come on, knock it off. I want to go home.” Steve did not respond; all that could be heard was the breeze moving through the trees.

Somewhat concerned and now entirely out of the car, she walked toward the trunk, where she stopped moving further; she called for Steve once more, “Steve, Steve, where the hell did you go? Fine, if you don’t show your face in thirty seconds, I’m getting in the driver’s seat and leaving you stranded here, in the dark, all alone….” This last part made her feel nervous.

No answer, she hesitantly decided to start walking towards the dummy, although with caution. She continued to call Steve as she approached the dummy.

 From the empty dark spaces between the trees, you could see the two silhouettes staring at her with Steve’s lifeless body lying at their knees against a tree.

Because it was dark, it made their presence practically invisible. Kyra made it to the dummy; she found blood splattered all over the ground upon close inspection. “Oh my God! Steve!” She took two steps back when she heard whispers. “Flesh over there.” This raised her panic level to an all-time high, at which point she did the only thing she could think of: run back to her car as fast as she could.

A silhouette ran out of the woods to chase her, getting close enough to grab her, but she managed to get him off her. She reached the driver’s side, placed her foot on the pedal, and sped off into the darkness.

“Steve,” was all she could say as she cried in horror as she sped through the dark roads.

After a few minutes, she saw a sign, “Welcome to Rowe, Where the Flesh gets its due. Pop. 363.”

“Yes,” Kyra was excited, “the cops will help me out,” Kyra said as she clung to a new sense of hope.

Upon further driving into town, she saw some bright lights in the distance. She slowed the car down to get her bearings when another dark figure rose from the back seat of her car. Kyra was too focused on the road to notice. That quickly changed when the dark figure reached behind her ear and whispered a simple word, “Flesh.”

Kyra turned her head in fear when she got attacked. All that could be heard from outside the car was Kyra screaming non-stop, but only for a minute until she wasn’t heard anymore. When the silence began, we saw the man in the backseat finally exit the car, take the front driver’s seat, and continue into the town.