Strangers - Chapter 3

"This is the end," Peter thought while preparing himself for the unknown. Expecting the Range Rover to suddenly paint the cosmos with flames, he cringed with a suddenly uncontrollable fear, dreading having to face whatever trick Red had planted up his twisted, menacing sleeves. The end of the bridge loomed seemingly nearer, and as the front tires of the car passed the ending of the bridge, Peter and Fred were both now officially out of Verde Campos and in the neighboring town of Nuevo Rio.1

But nothing happened. Seconds grew broader like ripples on a stream, and Peter's heart slowed ever so slightly. With his senses coming back to him, he looked over at Fred, who was looking back at Peter with a wild expression played across his young face. He couldn't hear all the details of the phone conversation, and remained oblivious to the threat they had just faced.2

Over the phone, Red cackled with with a haunting laughter that would have made the Wicked Witch of the West throw down her broomstick and sprint away in fear.3

“You're full of shit,” Peter spat at him.4

“Am I, Peter? I just had complete control over you. Did I not have you curled up in fear like a little hamster? Hmm, Peter?”5

Ignoring him, Peter pushed his point, “You're full of fucking shit. You can't do anything. If you could have killed us, you would have done so after we crossed the bridge.”6

“But that's where you're wrong, Peter. My countdown was not a countdown to the end. It was a countdown to the beginning.”7

“My ass. You're bluffing,” Peter said uncertainly. He came to a stop at a red light.8

“I see you've stopped, Peter. Why don't you do me a favor and take a look in your rear-view mirror for me.” Peter looked in the slightly dirty mirror and studied the scene behind him. There was nothing uncanny or out of place. After a suspenseful pause in which the universe seemed suspended on a gargantuan thread, Red continued.9

“Do you see a black SUV?” Two cars behind Peter was a black Chevrolet TrailBlazer with deep tinted windows and twenty inch rims. A yellow and orange painting of a sizzling flame was painted alongside the doors of the massive vehicle.10

“Yeah,” Peter said slowly. “I see one.”11

“I'm in that car, Peter.”12

“I hope you crash and burn, fucker.”13

“Thanks for your kind concerns, Peter, but I'm sorry to say that you have more to be afraid of than I do.”14

“Really? Why is that?” Peter asked, sneering his words in disrespect.15

“Well, it's fairly simple. There are six people in this car, and we all have AK-47s.” Peter's heart did an impressive acrobatic stunt. Peter glanced over at Fred, who was still oblivious. To inform Fred what they were up against, Peter said, “You're telling me that you're in that black SUV two cars behind us?”16

“Yes,” Red replied. Fred looked over his shoulder, trying to find the SUV.17

“And all of your men in that car have weapons?”18

“Yes, Peter. Let the fear sink in. Let it work magic on your mind. But, do you know what the scariest part is?”19

“What?” Peter asked.20

“My five men are black.” The light turned green. Peter drove straight, keeping an eye on the SUV that stalked behind them.21

“You have two options, Peter,” Red said.22

“I'm listening.”23

“Option one: You can pull your car over to the side of the road, we can take you and your friend with us, and you can avoid a game of hide-and-seek,” Red stated.24

“Option two: You can go fuck yourself,” Peter retorted.25

“Option two,” Red continued, ignoring Peter's comment, “You can attempt to escape us, and we can reduce your car to a smoldering rubble.”26

“Thanks for the choice, Red, but I'll pick the latter.”27

“You're a fool. Rethink your options. But trust me, if you make one false move, you'll fucking die the second most painful death imaginable.” Before Peter could sarcastically ask what the most painful death was, Red slammed down the phone.28

Millions of miles above, a massive blazing ball of hydrogen seemed to direct it's attention on Peter. Sweating from more than just Florida's immensely scorching heat, he turned the air conditioning on full blast. They stopped at a red light. As cars passed, Peter turned to Fred, trying and failing to conjure a smile, and said, “Well. That was among one of the most interesting calls that I've ever received.” Fred did not laugh.29

“I think you owe me an explanation.”30

“I barely know what to make of it myself, Fred.”31

“Just give me the details,” Fred responded. Peter heaved a heavy sigh, still keeping his eye on the black SUV behind him. It followed suit.32

“Firstly, you should know that this car is bugged. They can hear every word that we say.”33

“Who are 'they'?” Fred asked.34

“Listen, I don't fucking know, alright? All that I know is that some son-of-a-bitch named Red calls me very early in the morning and tells me he's watching me. He tells me that some guy will will arrive at my house at 11:15 A.M. Not wanting to be there, I leave, only to find that my car was sabotaged. You offer me a ride, and now we're here,” Peter recapped.35

“Peter, listen man. We're good friends, but you should have told me what was going on.”36

“Well, fuck man, how was I supposed to know? I mean, I thought it was a fucking prank call.”37

“Tell me what he said just now,” Fred demanded.38

“He said a lot, man.”39

“Just tell me what he fucking said.”40

“Alright, alright. This fucking crazy guy's taken an interest in me for some reason. I guess he wants to kill me, but he wants to drag it out. It's a game to him,” Peter said.41

“But what the fuck did you do to him?”42

“Nothing! I don't even know the crazy bastard! So anyways, this psycho, he tells me that he's surpassed God in power, and he says that every time he gets angry at something, he kills a woman to get back at God. Then he said that if I call the police, he will blow up a hospital, and if I call the police again, he will blow up an elementary school.”43

“Jesus fucking Christ....” Fred said under his breath, barely audible to Peter.44

“He told me that he's in that black SUV. He said he has five other men with him, and they all have automatic weapons. If we attempt to escape them, they fire at us. If we pull over, they take us hostage.”45

“Why are you using the word 'us'? I have nothing to do with this.”46

“Fred, listen to me. I swear to God, I didn't know about this when I asked you for a ride.”47

“Will you fucking tell me?”48

“They said that because I've taken you with me, you're in it just as much as I am. Red told me that if you try to escape, they'll kill you, and pin it on me.”49

“FUCK!” Fred screamed, smashing his fist on the glove compartment. “What the fuck!?”50

“I'm so sorry, Fred.”51

“Sorry!? You're going to fucking get me killed, and you're apologizing to me!?”52

“I didn't know, Fred.”53

“Bullshit, Peter! You put me into this because you were afraid. You're putting my life on the line to quench your fear.”54

“That's not true, Fred. Don't say that, man,” Peter begged.55

“Peter, we have men with guns after us. You threw me blindfolded into this whole mess. If these men don't kill you today, I'll wind up killing you myself.”56

“Okay, okay. So you hate me. But what do we do about these guys?” Peter asked, referring to Red and his men in the SUV.57

“We outrun them of course. If we stop the car, they'll kill us, anyways. Why not try to get away if we have the opportunity?”58

“Good idea. It's the same plan that I had in mind. I just wanted to have your approval,” Peter said. The everlasting traffic light turned green. He pressed the accelerator to the ground, and the car flew forward. The TrailBlazer accelerated and followed in hot pursuit, and Peter heard gunshots.59

The world turned into a whirl of wild colors as the car flew past scenery, but Peter did not slow down. A series of deafening bullets smashed the back window of their car, sending shards of glass as far as the unoccupied backseats.60

“Get your fucking head down!” Peter shouted at Fred, who already had his head down low. More thuds were heard as bullet after bullet smacked into the back of their car.61

At an intersection with a green light, Peter jerked the steering wheel to the right and smashed on the brakes, causing the car tires to shriek terribly. The car skidded wide, and the black SUV was right behind them. A bullet whizzed inches past Peter's ear and punched a hole right through the windshield, creating a large crack in the glass that made it harder for Peter to see where he was driving.62

As they traveled down a straight strip of road, the threatening SUV riddled their car with bullets from their AK-47s. Several rounds of stray bullets smacked their way into the back of Peter's car seat, but the fabric was thick enough so that the bullets did not penetrate all the way through the seat. Regardless, each bullet jolted Peter greatly, sending shivers down his skeleton. 63

Another intersection with a green light was within distance, and Peter pressed down even harder on the accelerator. They were four hundred feet away, and the light shifted to yellow. As he got nearer, the light turned to red. A blue Honda was making its way across the intersection.64

“Fucking shit!” Peter shouted. The Honda grew nearer every second, until it was mere feet from their car. Smashing on his brakes, Peter skidded around the front of the Honda and continued driving straight. The black SUV, merely seconds behind them, did the same thing.65

“This son of a bitch knows how to drive!” Peter shouted to Fred, who still had his head lowered. The black SUV gained speed and smashed into the back of their car, causing Peter to jolt. One of the men in the TrailBlazer fired barrages of bullets which broke through the SUV's windshield and traveled directly into their Range Rover.66

Peter put his head down, driving blindly while this fucking son-of-a-bitch fired twenty bullets at them. Their windshield completely exploded, sending shards of glass over Peter and Fred's bent heads. As Peter put his head inches above the dashboard to keep a desperately eye on the road, two bullets ripped through Fred's left arm, which was sticking out slightly.67

Fred roared in pain, howling swarms of swear words, but Peter couldn't take his mind off of the SUV to pay attention to him. Jerking the wheel to the left, Fred broke free of the black SUV. Straight ahead was a third intersection. The light was red, and a dozen cars were making their way across.68

“Change!” Peter bellowed, but as they neared closer, it seemed evident that the light would not change to green. As they were fifty feet away from the intersection, a gargantuan delivery truck started making its way across. Ten feet away, and the truck seemed as massive and menacing to Peter as a shoe would to an ant. Stunned with fear, Peter did not try to maneuver around the truck. Their car blew past it, coming so close to a full collision that their left side mirror snapped in half. The black SUV, however, was not so lucky. They smashed into the side of the truck, and the car went up in flames.69

That was the end of it. Red was finished.70

Peter slammed on the brakes, letting the car come to a full stop just past the intersection. Dozens of people were getting out of their cars to get a better look at the scene of the accident. However, Peter was more focused on Fred, who's arm had been punctured twice and was bleeding profusely over the center console.71

Shaking, Peter whispered, “Fred... it's going to be alright. It's over. Red is dead. I'll call the police, they'll come here and take you to a hospital.” Fred did not say anything, but grunted in pain as he held his arm with his right hand, trying to stop the bleeding.72

Peter withdrew his phone and dialed 911. On the third ring, the operator answered.73

“This is the police station, please state your emergency.”74

“Listen, please! My friend's been shot twice, there was a black TrailBlazer and the men in it started shooting at us-”75

“Before I ask any more questions, why didn't you heed my advice?”76

“...What?”77

“I believe I did tell you, Peter, that if you called the police, I would blow up a hospital?”78

“But... how the fuck?”79

“You shouldn't believe everything that a killer says, Peter. I wasn't in the car. I will admit though, you showed some supreme driving skills. And I didn't care about those men. They were just scum on the face of the Earth. Besides, I'm sure they're not any more burnt now than they were before.”80

“You mother fucker.”81

“So now Peter, I destroy a hospital.”82

“I will fucking kill you.”83

“You know what the best part is, Peter?”84

“I will fucking rip your balls off and shove them down your throat.”85

“The best part is that this is just the first chapter out of many. Bye-bye, cripples.”