Goin' Out To Cally – Part 55, Evil In Eureka

After struggling with sleep deprivation and its associated hallucinations causing random, erratic driving situations, my exhausted brain was tightly focused on the quickly fading gas gauge as it fast approached Empty. After forcing Sunday awake to keep me from killing us by plowing into the occasional head of cattle, she too was growing concerned.

God only knew how the delicate, volatile balance between tired friendship and uncontrollable rage would have tilted were to we have run out of gas at this point on our journey.

“Ten more miles!” Sunday exclaimed, spotting a sign showing the small town of Eureka possibly within our limited gas range. I unknowingly rung the steering wheel with my hands like a soaked wash cloth, my growing anxiousness getting the best of me.

Where, while crossing the Texas desert time seemed to adjust and slow from boredom, here, while riding on fumes as we approached the only gas station within a hundred miles, time seemed to almost stop from enveloping fear. My ears reacted in an almost bionic sense as I zoned into the variations in the hum of the engine. Was that a sputter? Did the engine slow slightly?

Every second felt like hours until we could spot, only faintly in the distance, a small collection of lights that formed the one stop light town of Eureka, Nevada.

“Almost there,” I said to myself, as we approached the quaint town, slowing the car to match the decreasing speed limit signs. The change of the vibrations of the wheels against the road and the softening hum of the slowing car engine pulled Tim and Beth from their back seat sleep, half-aware of the car’s decreasing speed.

“Where are we?” Tim asked.

“Some place called Eureka, Nevada,” I replied. “And just in time too, we’re almost out of gas.”

As we pulled into the small western town, it was after two in the morning. Almost everything was closed. We drove around the small town, but could not find an open gas station.

“Ask someone,” Beth chimed in.

“Ask someone what?” I replied, confused.

“Where the nearest gas station is,” she followed.

“I think we passed it and it’s closed,” I answered.

“Just ask someone,” Sunday interjected.

I looked at her with utter surprise. Did I hear that right? Did Sunday and Beth, now bitter enemies, agree on a course of action? And was not this the same course of action that almost had a fatal outcome in south Los Angeles?

“You want me to ask someone? At two a.m.?” I sarcastically replied.

Beth and Sunday answered in unison, “Yes!”

“Fine!” I said as I immediately found myself at the end of Eureka city limits, as the town itself was only a few blocks in size.

“The only place open was that bar back there,” I said as I turned the car around in a rest area and headed back toward downtown Eureka.

I pulled the car up to the tiny bar located in a small brick building with windows painted black. I turned the car off and sat there.

“Well?” Beth asked.

“Well what?” I replied.

“Well, go ask them,” she continued.

“You want me to go into a bar in the middle of nowhere at two a.m. asking anyone still sober enough to understand if they knew where we could get any gas?” I asked.

“Yes,” she stated with certainty.

“Then go ahead,” I said.

“You’re a wuss,” Sunday chimed in.

“Yup,” I said as many uneasy images raced through my mind, most of which consisted of me getting my ass kicked. I may be many things, wuss included, but I am also very pragmatic. I don’t do anything that has unnecessary risk. That’s why I never got drunk. It’s why I never did an illegal drug. It’s why I’m completely boring on many levels.

So, the idea of wandering into a strange bar located in the middle of an open range in a town I’ve never been in to tell the remaining inhabitants of the bar that I was from out of town and out of gas… well, that seemed fraught with disaster. Why not just tattoo “take advantage of me” on my forehead… the end result would be the same.

As the discussion on who would enter the bar grew more heated in the car, a large, intimidating man stumbled out of the bar. Sunday quickly rolled down the window, turned on the flirtation motors and said, “Excuse me, do you know where we could get some gas?”

“Gas? For your car? Well…” the man thought for a long time, “… the gas station is closed until morning. But, I have some extra gas in the back of my pickup. I’ll sell it to ya.”

We quickly discussed the option in the car and, despite my growing concern, Beth leaned forward and said “Okay.”

“My pickup is across the street at the hotel,” the drunk, big man said.

He stumbled and weaved across the street and we slowly crept behind him in the car, following him up a small hill to the parking lot of the undersized, cheap hotel.

The big man stopped by his pickup truck and examined some containers in the back. He then entered his hotel room, only to return a few moments later, making his way back to our car. He leaned in, his breath laced with alcohol, his eyes focused with penetrating invasiveness.

“Look, before I can sell ya the gas, I need to get my boss’ okay. It’s his gas, really, but he doesn’t believe me, so I need one of ya to come back to my hotel room…” he said, his eyes never leaving Sunday’s face.

Everyone’s discomfort rippled through the car as we realized just how vulnerable we were.

“No thank you!” Sunday said and rolled up the window as I put the car in first gear and raced out of the parking lot.

The man screamed at us at the top of his lungs with a deep and evil tone.

“Get back here! Get back here you bastards! I’m gonna get you! I’m gonna get my shotgun and kill all of ya!” he screamed as we screeched onto the main drag of Eureka.

We were all upset. Frightened, I looked at our gas gauge then back to my travel companions, saying “What are we going to do? We don’t have enough gas to get to the next town. We’re stuck here until morning with that maniac after us.”

Everyone in the car remained silent as our options were limited and our fear was growing with each second.

********

Part 55, (Text, Audio)
Part 54, (Text, Audio) - Part 53, (Text, Audio) - Part 52, (Text, Audio)
Part 51, (Text, Audio) - Part 50, (Text, Audio) - Part 49, (Text, Audio)
Part 48, (Text, Audio) - Part 47, (Text, Audio) - Part 46, (Text, Audio)
Part 45, (Text, Audio) - Part 44, (Text, Audio) - Part 43, (Text, Audio)
Part 42, (Text, Audio) - Part 41, (Text, Audio) Part 40, (Text, Audio)
Part 39, (Text, Audio) - Part 38, (Text, Audio) - Part 37, (Text, Audio)
Part 36, (Text, Audio) - Part 35, (Text, Audio) - Part 34, (Text, Audio)
Part 33, (Text, Audio) - Part 32, (Text, Audio) - Part 31, (Text, Audio)
Part 30, (Text, Audio) - Part 29, (Text, Audio) - Part 28, (Text, Audio)
Part 27, (Text, Audio) - Part 26, (Text, Audio) - Part 25, (Text, Audio)
Part 24, (Text, Audio) - Part 23, (Text, Audio) - Part 22, (Text, Audio)
Part 21, (Text, Audio) - Part 20, (Text, Audio) - Part 19, (Text, Audio)
Part 18, (Text, Audio) - Part 17, (Text, Audio) - Part 16, (Text, Audio)
Part 15, (Text, Audio) - Part 14, (Text, Audio) - Part 13, (Text, Audio)
Part 12 (Text, Audio) - Part 11 (Text, Audio) - Part 10 (Text, Audio)
Part 09, (Text, Audio) - Part 08, (Text, Audio) - Part 07 (Text, Audio)
Part 06 (Text, Audio) - Part 05 (Text, Audio) - Part 04 (Text, Audio)
Part 03 (Text, Audio) - Part 02 (Text, Audio) - Part 01 (Text, Audio)