The Last Stop On The Left

Chapter 1- A Slow Road to Nowhere

Our story begins on a wide open road winding through the middle of nowhere, USA. A long flat desolate stretch of land that rolls out seemingly forever in the long miles between Nevada and California. On this bare stretch of dusty road, a single black car streaks along in the twilight hours between dusk and darkness. Its driver is hopelessly lost, not a good state to be in when you're stuck in the desert, a hundred miles between you and the next gas station. But this is the situation that Bert finds himself in, hurtling down the highway in a rebuilt muscle car with no cell phone signal and no maps. Not that he knew how to even read a road map if he had one.

A man of medium build with short blond hair and dark eyes, Robert Browning was lost, both in the literal sense of not knowing where the hell was on earth and metaphorically, lost in thought. He felt frustrated because before he completely lost his network signal, he was sure that he was heading down the right road. The last clear direction he got was to get on this rarely used byway and stay on it for one hundred and twenty miles. But he had been driving for over 2 hours now and he hadn't seen an exit sign anywhere. Hell, he had seen ANY sign for a good long while now.

Why didn't I download the map directly on my phone? What the hell was I thinking?

These were the thoughts Bert was pondering. Well let me tell you, good readers, maps and cell phone signals were the last thing on Bert's mind when he left the university of Nevada earlier that day. In fact as he loaded up his car in a hurried pace, the only thing he was thinking about was how crazy things had gotten with his girlfriend Mary.

Summer break was almost upon them again, and after another long year of dull lectures and hard assignments, Mary had somehow got it in her head that Bert would be staying here with her over the summer.

"The summer of love, a chance to really get to know each other," that was what she had envisioned their summer break would be like, or so she had said. But Bert had other ideas. Now it's not that spending a whole two months with his very soon to be ex girlfriend seemed like a bad idea. He did have some very genuine romantic feelings for her. And it wasn't the thought that he would have to spend all of his summer vacation with Mary's family either, far from it. Her family was a gas, a ton of fun to be around. It was just that he had spent both his last Christmas break and spring break with her here. And he missed his own family and hadn't been home to see them in quite some time now. Or so he told her. It was a half truth.

The other half of the truth was that Bert was getting more than a little tired of how clingy and jealous Mary could be. She seemed like she wanted to be involved in as much of Bert's life as she could. She practically dominated his free time, planning every single event out in great detail. Everything, from study times to cooking and eating to going out. It was frankly too much for poor Bert. This young man was a free soul at heart, he loved some spontaneity, the freedom to get up and go do something completely on a mere whim.

Not Mary. She likes structure and routine and a schedule to go with everything. So why were these two together, you may be asking? Sex, pure and simple. Mary was an absolute freak in the sack. She was like some kind of wild untamed beast and she loved getting her pussy pounded hard. She wore out Bert more often than not.

The pair had hooked up at a frat party two years ago and Bert had the best sex of his life that night. And it only got better from there. Their schedules didn't match up too often that first year, Bert was studying mechanical engineering and electronics and Mary was majoring in psychology. But when they did, whoo boy look out. But after a while Mary had started becoming more and more controlling of Bert.

At first, really he didn't mind. Bert did have some bad habits when it came to studying and those study charts of hers really did help him boost his grade. But it soon became too much. She started scheduling where to meet up before classes, where to go to lunch, where to sit when they had a shared class, what route to walk when they went home, what to eat at night. On and on and on, more details of his life came under her every whim and control. Bert had been meaning to break off the relationship for a while now, but one of the universal truths is that sex can make people stupid. And Mary knew she could use it to keep Bert in line. Until today that is.

Bert had his heart set on going home for summer break this year, if only so he could get away from his crazy girlfriend for a little while. He was having a lot of second thoughts about their relationship and felt some time away from each other would do them a lot of good. Mary did not take the news well. Bert broke it to her the day before their first of the finals, in between their classes.

Mary whined, "But I planned our whole summer out already! You just can't spring this kind of decision on me like this!"

Bert groaned loudly. "Jesus Christ on a cracker, Mary. I

never

agreed to stay here for summer! Heck we've never even sat down and talked about it before now!"

Mary stamped her foot, "And why shouldn't I assume that my boyfriend, the man that supposedly loves me, would want to be around me for summer?! Your right I must be crazy!" she threw her hand up in the air and rolled her eyes comically. She was causing quite a scene that was attracting a lot of stares from their fellow classmate. "Come on, you've spent the whole year with me already! What's this sudden interest in going back to San Francisco? You never talk about your family, they've never even sent you a birthday card!"

"That's the point!" cried out Bert, feeling his temper rising. Normally Bert would have avoided making a public spectacle of himself, but at this moment he didn't care if the whole school knew about this argument. "I haven't been home in over a year. Haven't seen my family or any of my old friends in god knows when. Hell I don't know if any of them still remember me!"

Bert took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little. "I just want to go home for a little bit, reconnect with some old friends, see the old sights and take it easy for a while, ok? Is that so wrong of me?"

Mary's face started to contort with anger, and she squinted up at Bert. "Looking up old friends, huh?" She said in an icy tone.

Bert held one hand up in a stopping gesture. "Oh no, don't you start that crap. You know I don't have anyone like that back in San Fran."

"Oh I know you've told me that but how do I know it's true? What's really fueling this need to get back home, huh? Am I not enough for you anymore mister?" Mary shouted at the top of her lungs.

People going to and from other classes were slowing their pace down to look at the screaming pair. Nothing like a lover's squabble to break up a boring school day. Bert however was just as oblivious to this as Mary was. His temper was starting to flare again.

This wasn't the first time she had accused him of being unfaithful to her and it really pushed his buttons. She had recently been pulling this one out any time he wanted to go do something without her express permision, or when he decided not to follow her stupid scheduleds.

Bert bit back his anger and said slowly to keep his voice even, "I've told you once that you're the only girl I see. If you trust me, then you'll believe me when I tell you I just want to go home to see old friends and talk to my family."

Mary's was pouting now but she lowered her eyes for a moment, thinking things over. Then, after a few moments she spun on her heel and stormed off alone. Bert felt relieved that she hadn't made more of a scene here in the middle of the school. It would have only ended with a shouting match and Bert really didn't need that kind of public humiliation. The rest of his day went on without incident, but also without contact from Mary.

Bert found that the change of pace was a welcome thing. He spent the rest of his day wondering around the campus, completely free. Bert began to realized just how controlling Mary is, and now that he had a day to himself to really think things over, he made up his mind that he would never go back her now, no matter how good the sex was.

And so that is how Bert found himself packing for his car for his trip back home after the finals were over. He called his parents, who were pleasantly surprised to hear that Bert was coming home and more than happy to host him for the two months of break. His rebuilt 1980's dodge charger was running like a dream. His boss at his part time job at the quick-n-lube was more than willing to let him off for the summer. He had clapped Bert on the back and told him to enjoy it while it lasted. Everything seemed to be going so well for Bert. And then Mary stopped by.

She didn't even knock on his apartment door, she just let herself in. She was fit to be tied. She stormed in, walked right up to Bert and before he could even say a word, before he could even get over his surprise at her sudden visit, she slapped him so hard he actually stumbled. He was in shock when she started screaming at the top of her lungs.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I HAVE BEEN WAITING ALL NIGHT FOR YOU TO CALL ME, YOU BASTARD!! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING? WHO HAVE YOU BEEN WITH? WHAT IS HER NAME?!"

Bert was still standing there stunned when Mary, not satisfied with his lack of answers, started pummeling Bert with all her might, unleashing a flurry of blows against poor Berts chest. She was screaming her head off the whole time, shrieking about how much of a useless cheater he was. Bert soon recovered enough of his senses to grab his now ex-girlfriend and bodily throw her out of his apartment. Even after he slammed the door and locked it she stood outside, screaming about what a lousy worthless piece of shit he was. Eventually, when her voice gave out and her arms grew tired, she left.

Bert felt especially confused by this because Mary once told him that she hated being called up for anything. She preferred to be the one doing the calling. Bert knew now that it was well and truly over between them. This was the final straw as far as he was concerned. Later Bert found a little souvenir from this encounter, a hand shaped bruise on his face. Bert felt it should stand as a reminder not to go back to that crazy bitch, no matter how much she begged later.

However, Bert just didn't realize just how nutso Mary really was. All during the finals, every time she saw him (which was quite a lot since she knew his schedule by heart) she started shouting to anyone who would listen about what a misogynistic, cheating, garbage piece of shit he was. She spread all kinds of rumors about him, everything from how he forced her to get an abortion to how little his dick was.

Now whether people believed this stuff or not is neither here nor there as far as this story is concerned but people love a good bit of gossip and soon these rumors were everywhere. Bert however soldiered on through it, ignoring every person who tried to poke fun at him for any of the gossip talk and most importantly, ignoring Mary. Still it made his final week very hellish. All his friends broke off contact. Some of the teachers started treating him coldly. It didn't help his case that Mary was very well liked in the student body, while Bert was, at best, an average nobody.

Bert just kept his head down as best he could and focused on studying for his exams. And as soon as the last exam was taken and Bert was free. He had planned on leaving for home the day after finals but Bert got tipped off by one of the few people still talking to him that Mary might be planning to have him ambushed by some of the football players and beaten within an inch of his life. Bert quickly decided not to stick around and find out if this latest rumor had any merit to it and quickly rushed back to his apartment, grabbed whatever he had already packed and was on the road in under five minutes.

And so we now find ourselves back at where this story started, with Bert, in his car, lost somewhere on one of the many byways that criss-crossed through the Nevada desert. Bert wasn't too worried about his predicament yet. He had over half a tank of gas left, a full bottle of water, half a bag of fast food left over from his last stop and if worse came to worse, he always kept some old blankets in the trunk in case of emergency.

Well I might be lost, but this road has got to lead somewhere. Why else do people build roads except to connect one place to another?

Bert proceeded to zoom unimpeded along the pavement as the sun continued to dip lower in the horizon.

He found his thoughts drifting back to Mary after a while. He had been thinking about her quite a lot on this trip. At first he was thinking about how quickly she went off the deep end or where he had gone wrong with her. But now he was thinking about the tip off that had sent him hurtling down the highways so ill prepared. He wondered if she really did have members of the football team lined up ready to beat the snot out of him. And if she did, what else was she prepared to do to him? Would she ransack his apartment while he was away?

He suddenly realized he never got his apartment key back from her, so she could go back and destroy or sell all of his belongings while he was away. He made a mental note to call his landlord the first chance he got to see if he could change his locks.

As the road continued on without end, Berts mind turned to other things and he began to wonder about his future. About what other things Mary would do or how far she would go to make his life a living hell. Bert had never seen this crazy side of Mary before. He never knew she could be so nasty and vindictive. And he felt sure that the two months away wouldn't cool off her special brand of crazy. If anything, it gave her two month to plan just how to make his life as miserable as it could possibly get.

Bert sighed and began to seriously think about transferring schools. All this because he didn't call a girl who hated when he called her. That thought made his head hurt so Bert let his mind drift a little. He began fantasizing about not going back to school at all. He wasn't the greatest student and he didn't have any real ideas about where his life was going. He hadn't given any hard thought to life after school. Even his fields of study were chosen only because those were the things that he had a mild interest in learning more about. He had no idea where to even begin applying them towards a job in the real world.

Bert leaned his head out the window slightly and let the wind rushing by his car tousled his short hair. He began to let his mind drift even further, wishing that he could just keep driving forever.

Forget returning to school, I could just stay in this car and drive on, become some kind of wandering mechanic or something. That would be the life. No schedules or responsibility, just the freedom of the road in front of you.

Bert was so caught up in this daydream that he didn't notice the car approaching from the opposite direction until it was blasting its horn at him. Bert had let his car drift quite far across the yellow line and the approaching vehicle in the other lane was practically on top of him. They were so close that Bert could see the frightened face of a middle aged woman sitting straight backed in her seat, her hands clutching the steering wheel for dear life.

He snapped to attention instantly and jerked his car hard to the right. The machine zipped back into the proper lane and the passing car missed him by an inch. But Bert overcompensated this jerky maneuver and the car briefly skirted onto the dirt off the edge of the road. The mussel car wobbled unsteadily for a few seconds, the tires not meant for off roading and trying to find purchase on the loose dirt. Bert wasn't sure if it was going to spin out or not, but he managed to slowly ease his vehicle back onto the road without further incident. Bert's heart was going a mile a minute and he was wide awake from the adrenaline rush and completely focused on the road in front of him now.

But after he calmed down a bit he felt that, terrifying as that had been, it was at least this was a good sign. After all he hadn't seen another car since he got on this byway so this at least meant this was a road people used from time to time. Not a whole lot of people apparently but some are better than none, he reasoned. Bert switched on his headlights, the sun had now dipped below the horizon, and saw a sign for an upcoming truck stop.

Bert felt pretty good about that, now he could stop and ask for directions. But his good humor faded fast, because the lights on his dash began to flicker. His headlights flashed on and off and the engine started skipping.

Shit, something must have gotten knocked loose when I jerked the car around!

The engine was now beginning to sputter and he was slowly losing his acceleration. "Oh come on, don't do this to me now!" Bert pleaded with his car. He smacks the dash several times in frustration.

And then in the distance, illumined briefly by his failing headlights, he sees the silhouette of a building.

That must be the truck stop!

Bert starts to feel relieved, believing all of his problems will be shortly solved, just as the lights give one final flicker the engine dies.

Chapter 2- Voices in the Dark

As Bert costed up the road in neutral, his high hopes diminished quickly as he got a better look at the approaching structure. While the small truck stop did have some dim lights on, the main building was dark and there wasn't another car or truck in sight on the lot.

Bert managed to bring his car to a stop by what looked to be a trucker lounge. It was hard to tell for sure in the poor light, what few fluorescents were still functioning were only giving off a low yellow light.

These must be on timers or light sensors, something automatic at any rate. This place looks totally abandoned.

The truck stop looked long dead to Bert's eyes. The few gas pumps scattered around the yard were rusted beyond any reasonable point of use. A huge black stain stretched across one of the parking spots. The main building's windows were shattered and the door to the trucker lounge hung precariously on one battered hinge. A faded sign laid on the ground that declared 'Bathroom in the rear' with an arrow that once must have pointed in the proper direction was now pointing to somewhere off in the desert. The roof looked like it was sagging slightly. The parking lot was cracked and pitted from years of baking in the heat with no repair or maintenance. In short, the place looked like an absolute dump just waiting for a good stiff breeze to knock the whole thing down. And this dilapidated dump was Bert's only port in the storm, so to speak.

Bert looked at his phone in a vain hope that somehow he had at least one bar that he could use to call for help, but was shown only a gray X over his reception icon and a dreaded crossed out circle over his WiFi icon. This highly prized piece of life changing technology, whose uses in day to day life made it just about indispensable to the modern person, was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine right now.

Just fucking lovely. Well this is it. I'm going to fucking die a million miles away from anyone at an abandoned truck stop in the fucking middle of butt fuck nowhere, Nevada. Congratulations Bert.

Bert sunk low in his driver seat, put his head in his hand to stop from crying out in frustration, and considered his options.

They weren't good.

After he calmed down a little, Bert popped the hood of his car and tried to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He had rebuilt this car, so he figured he knew it's inner workings pretty well. But to his ultimate despair, after checking every piece of it he could get to, he couldn't find a single thing wrong. The blasted car just would not start.