Desert Nightmare

Somewhere on a highway in the California wild...

The road was bumpy as cars wheezed past the cramped car, situating a family of five. A mother, father, and three children. The eldest child, Joe was sat behind their father, who was driving the car. The youngest, Jack was sat behind their mother, who was fastened into the passenger side of the car. The middle child, May was in between her two brothers. The entire family was on the way to their uncle's house, they were gonna spend two or so weeks there in the middle of summer.

But they didn't matter, because this was about Jack. It was about what he wanted, and he wanted to be back home with his friends where he knew that the greatest party of the year was going on.

The youngest child just finished senior year, a little bit of a month ago, which was also when he turned eighteen. Now, Jack loved his family as much as the next person, but he honestly didn't want to visit family, he wanted to waste his summer with his two other friends, Rian and Zack, and do what teenage boys do best; nothing.

But this was a family thing and there wasn't a way out of it, so Jack had to suck it up and deal with it, but of course he was going to complain. He complained by making the family stop at every other gas station, which was coming up soon.

"Do we have to stop at every other gas station, Jack?" His father asked with an annoyed tone as Jack exited the car.

"Yes."

"Well hurry up, I want to make it to the next city before dark."

"Okay."

When the words fell out of his mouth, he slammed the car door shut before entering the small store. It all around looked run down, which would be expected because they were in the middle of nowhere. It also didn't help that the place didn't have any air conditioning and it was unbelievably hot outside, even if Jack was wearing less than he normally would. Just the usual cut-off jeans and a random shirt, because let's be real here, Jack didn't look good in a tanktop so he stayed away from them.

As Jack walked around, he noticed that there were shelves, but nothing on them and with a bit more inspecting done of his part, he noticed the entire place was vacant. He didn't know how he didn't notice that, well, he probably just didn't care enough, but now he felt uncomfortable.

With a deep sigh, he left the store. When he looked up he noticed that the car wasn't there anymore, the car that had his family inside of it.

Which now meant he was in the middle of the desert at an abandoned gas station because his family drove off without him. Jack ended up running towards the road, looking both ways to see if they were anywhere in sight. Nobody was around him, and that was when Jack started to panic. The boy just started pacing across the street, mind clouded in worry and desperation.

What in the actual fuck is he going to do? Maybe call somebody? Jack scrambled to get his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and seeing that he got no reception here. With a loud groan, he stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

As he started pacing even more, he noticed a sign in the direction that his parents must've gone.

"Dusty Creek, 2 miles"

Well, Jack thought, That's better than waiting, dad did say that he wanted to make it to the next town before dark, so they must be there.

With a sigh, the boy started walking towards the town, hopefully where his family was located.

---

The heat was unbearable, there was nothing in sight, not even a car has gone by him as he walked. Jack wasn't the most fit person in the world, he was only skin and bone because of his fast metabolism, if it wasn't for that he would probably have been extremely overweight. Luckily he wasn't or else he'd be dead right now.

It took a half an hour to get to the next town, but it was filled with complaining and songs getting stuck in the boy's head that he couldn't remember the name of and eventually getting frustrated over everything. When he finally made it to the town he slowly walked under the sign that had the town's name on it and looked around.

The town wasn't in very good shape, it was obvious it was once a lively place but time does do that. As he inspected it further, he noticed a black bag in the distance, right next to a garbage can, that looked strangely familiar. The boy got closer to the bag and when he noticed what it was he kneeled down by it with wide eyes.

"This is my backpack... what's it doing out here?"

Jack unzipped the bag, hoping to find everything he had in there but instead found it completely empty.

"Okay, what the fuck? It's empty. I know my family wouldn't take anything out of it and they wouldn't just drop it off somewhere..."

With a sigh, he stood back up and grabbed the backpack, pulling it onto his back as he looked around him.

The car isn't here, Jack thought, This is all really strange...

The boy decided to explore the town, but not before checking around anyplace he could, which meant going to the motel that was by him. Maybe his parents checked in, maybe their car was parked further away? Questions swirled through his mind was he pushed open the door to the motel, cool air hitting his warm body which made him smile softly as he took in the motel. There was a worker at the front desk, a woman. The motel itself could've been better looking, but it was the most he could get, he couldn't really complain. Jack walked up to the front counter.

"Hi, I'm looking for my parents. Did you see a married couple with two other kids by the name Barakat?"

"No, I haven't"

Jack sighed quietly, "I see... and have you seen a green car come by?"

"I don't think so."

Shit, Jack thought, Guess I'm staying longer here.

"Oh, well. Do you have any rooms available then?"

"Room four is still available. $10 per night"

Luckily Jack always carries money with him instead of what some of his friends do, keep it in their backpacks.

"Okay, I'll take it."

The lady walked back to where the keys should be hung off of, handing them to the boy as he slid the money to her.

"The room is on the second floor,"

Jack smiled in thanks as he made his way to his room, wanting to at least rest a bit before figuring out what he was going to do now. When he entered his room, he looked around him. All there was was a bed in the middle of the room, a closet to the right of it, and a desk to the left. Some paintings were hung up and there was a window above the bed.

With a big sigh, Jack put his backpack on the floor at the foot of the bed and slowly climbed in, too tired to take off his clothes. In a matter of minutes he was fast asleep.

Asleep in a cheap motel unable to find his parents. He was alone.