Hitch Hiker

We see a restaurant and stop. There is one girl inside around our age. “Let us in!” Jim begs, pounding on the glass door with both fists.

“We’re closed,” the girl shakes her head.

“I need to call the police!”

She lets us in then. “Were you in an accident?”

“Where’s your phone?” he asks and she points him to it. I stand with him while he explains everything to the police. They tell us to wait here at the restaurant for them.

We walk over to the restrooms. “We should change clothes and wash this gasoline off,” he suggests.

I nod and he disappears into the men’s room. I walk into the girl’s room and look around nervously. After a few moments I leave and knock on the men’s door. “Jim?” I call.

“Yeah?” he answers.

“Can I come in?”

“To the men’s room?”

“Please Jim…I’m scared,” I plead.

“Okay.”

I go in and I throw my arms around him. I bury my face against his shoulder and he holds me. I struggle not to cry but a few tears roll down my face.

“It’s going to be alright,” he tries to comfort me.

Eventually I calm down again. He takes off his shirt and washes up in the sink. I won’t leave the men’s room. I can’t be alone right now. I’m trying to be brave and strong but I’m scared. What if he finds us here? I don’t want to die. This is a nightmare.

I let my hair down and shake it out. I shimmy out of my skirt and top which leave me standing there in a white lace bra and plain panties. He hasn’t seen me in my underwear before and he can’t help but glance at least once. I could care less.

We met when we were seven years old. We’re both eighteen now and high school graduates. We were on our way to California. It was supposed to be a fun trip. I can’t believe this is happening to us…

I wash myself off in the sink. I dig clothes out of my old blue duffle bag. I dress in a pair of faded jeans, my sneakers, and a black Guns n Roses tank top. I pull my hair into two messy braids then we go back out into the restaurant. We introduce ourselves to the girl and she feeds us food she cooks. She asks the typical question about whether we are dating and when she hears that we aren’t she starts to flirt with Jim. I’m not even sure he notices but what do I care if he likes her?

When the police arrive we both go outside to meet them. “Get down!” they demand.

Handcuffs are placed on us both and they pat us down for weapons. Jim tries to explain. I am too busy trying to wrestle away from my cop and telling him to keep his hands off of me.

“I’m a lady,” I tell him.

The cop with Jim finds a bloody pocket knife in his pocket. “That guy must have placed it on me! It’s not mine!” Jim yells. “I didn’t do anything!”

We are dragged down to the local prison. They are accusing Jim of being the hitch hiker murderer and me his accomplice. This is absolutely crazy. Jim tells them to call his brother and they do but no one answers. They won’t even call my mom. They are fed up with us and they throw us both into the same cell. There are no other prisoners occupying the place except us.

I finally break down and cry. Jim sits down on the cot and holds me to him. At some point we both fall asleep. We wake up at some point during the night. He sits on the cot and I start to pace back and forth across the cell. “This is terrible!” I cry. “I can’t even believe this. What the hell? Why is this happening?”

“It’s going to be alright. We’re safe here for now and then we’ll sort this out. They’ll catch him,” Jim assures me.

“I don’t want to die Jim…”

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he grabs my arm and pulls me back to the cot. I lean on him and he dries my tears with his hands.

“Bad things have already happened Jim…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Jim…if we’re going to die…I have to tell you something,” I announce.

“What?” he is confused.

I can’t find the right words so I lean in and kiss his lips. “I love you.”

He stares at me for a few moments. “Cate…”

“I’ve loved you for a real long time Jim and I just didn’t want us to die without you knowing. That’s all,” I get up and go look out through the bars in our cell.

After a while he gets up and wraps his arms around me. “I love you too Cate,” he says.

When we wake up again it is morning. Our cell door is open a little so we both walk out into the prison, confused. “Hello? Is anyone here?” Jim calls out.

I gasp when I see where everyone is, slaughtered. Jim grabs the nearest gun then pulls me along into a full out run. We stop for a moment to catch our breath at a gas station and a police car finds us. Two officers get out of the vehicle and approach us.

Jim pulls out his gun and acts fast. He instructs the one cop to handcuff his partner, then for them both to get in the car and drive. We climb into the backseat quickly. Jim tells them that we’re innocent and this is all a big mistake. The cop on the radio tells us to surrender and they will try to help us. I am just starting to feel relieved when a truck pulls up beside us. Of course it’s John the hitch hiker.

John has a gun now too and he uses it to shoot the two cops. I scream and our vehicle swerves off to crash into a ditch on the side of the road. The truck speeds right by and John is grinning at us. I scream again. I fall to my knees and sob uncontrollably. Jim kneels down in the dirt too and for a second he holds the gun to his head. It’s only a second, he drops it after that, but I don’t like it. I practically tackle him, throwing myself at him suddenly. I wrap my arms around him and hold him tight. I want this to end too. I hate this. I don’t know why this is happening. But we have to find a way out of this. We have to survive. I’m not ready to die. This is an absolute nightmare. This isn’t supposed to happen.

We find a diner not too far off. We get some coffee and bread. There’s no one else here right now except the man running the diner and he goes off into the back room to retrieve some supplies. It is then that John the hitch hiker walks in and sits right in front of us. He smiles and I want to rip his face off.

“Why are you doing this to us?” Jim demands. He tries to shoot the hitcher but finds the gun unloaded.

He laughs and hands us something wrapped in a napkin before leaving. He’s getting some sick twisted joy out of torturing us. Jim unfolds the napkin and there are bullets inside. John must really think that we are incapable of stopping this….

A bus stops and people load into the diner. Jim leads me onto the bus and inside the bathroom where we can load the gun without anyone seeing. The bus pulls away from the diner and we take seats in the back. That’s when the girl from earlier walks over. “What are you doing here?” she asks.

“Sit down and let me explain,” Jim tells her. He does explain and she listens carefully. Before she can respond about what he said a police car is pulling up beside the bus.

“What are you going to do now?” she questions.

“I have to give up. We don’t have a choice,” Jim answers. The bus stops and we step outside together. He drops the gun and we put our hands in the air to show we are unarmed and surrendering.

The police are still aiming the gun at us so the girl walks out now too and she has her own gun. We take the police car and drive away. More police begin to follow us and they attempt to shoot us. I duck down and the girl whips her gun around to shoot out one of the car’s tires. The car rolls and crashes into all of the other cars.

We ditch the police car and start to run again. We don’t stop this time until we are at a lame looking Texas motel. We get a room and go to rest. The girl who’s name turns out to be Nash, sits in a chair in the corner and falls asleep. It’s getting dark out now. Jim and I curl up on the bed to sleep in each other’s arms.

We wake up a few hours later and Jim suggests we wash up. I sit on the floor of the bathroom while he showers and dresses. He waits for me while I shower then. I still refuse to be left alone while this is going on. I can’t.

I crouch down, wrapped in a towel, and try to pick up my jeans from the floor. When I do a necklace spills from my pocket. Jim reaches to pick it up automatically. It’s a gold heart shaped locket and when it hits the floor it pops open. He pauses, staring at the picture inside. It’s a little picture of Jim and me when we were kids, our arms around each other and smiling brightly.

I snatch it back from him abruptly. “Sorry,” he mutters.

I start to cry. I don’t usually cry so much. I hate crying. I can’t help it though.

“Don’t cry,” he says.

“I can’t help it,” I reply.

“It’s going to be alright Cate.”

I wrap my arms around him and close my eyes. He hugs me and after a few moments I am able to stop crying.

He tilts my chin up so my eyes can meet his and he wipes my tears away with his hands. He leans in and kisses me. “I love you so much Cate,” he tells me.

“I love you too Jim,” I respond. I kiss him back and we end up making out passionately against the wall. Our bodies are pressed together and I’m only wearing a towel. He has no shirt on, he’s just barefoot in jeans.

Eventually I pull away from him and we finish getting dressed with our backs to each other. “Here,” he places his black leather jacket on me when we are ready. I almost smile at that. When we walk into the room that girl Nash is missing. I curse and we run outside into the night.