Don't Look Back

Chapter 3

(Brett's POV)

Stella screamed and slammed down on the breaks. I watched her dark curly hair fly in front of her face and I pressed my eyes shut tightly, bracing for impact.

The jeep came to an abrupt stop. I kept my eyes shut, trying to subside my pulse that was ringing in my ears. Above the ringing all I could hear was Stella's panicked and shallow breathing next to me.

I hadn't heard any metal crashing or glass breaking. We hadn't hit the truck. We stopped just in time. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that the jeep was so close to the truck that the gap between them wasn't big enough for a person to walk through.

In the dim red glow of the taillights I could see Stella hadn't released her death grip on the steering wheel. Her knuckles turning white.

Neither of us spoke. I gently traced my fingers along the car door until I reached the handle. Not losing focus of the truck I held onto the car handle with the tips of my fingers.

"No no no. Don't get out of the car. Let's just stay in here for a second." Stella gasped grabbing my sleeve.

I opened and then closed my mouth. For a second I wanted to argue. We don't even know who they are. Maybe we should find out. This whole thing was probably just a big misunderstanding. It was most likely a group of drunks that decided to take a drive and was just messing with us.

The truck still hadn't moved. No movement from the men inside either. They were waiting. The air hung heavy with suspense and the night seemed to hold its breath. Waiting for something to happen.

"What should we do?" I asked Stella exchanging a glance with her. My brain was telling me to get out and find out what the hell was happening. But my gut was shaking with uncertainty, telling me to get the hell out of there.

"Maybe we should keep going. Aren't we closer to Fowlerton than we are to Chicago?"
She was right. Going back home was a few hours back in the other direction. Our best bet was getting to our destination. It would probably be safer.

"Yeah...we are" I trailed off. My eyes kept catching on the two black silhouettes inside the truck. Whoever they were. "Okay let's just keep going."

Stella and I quickly scanned the road. The road had become really narrow, especially with the truck in front of us. "Alright. Just reverse back as far as you can and then ease it forward and to the right." I whispered shakily. If we went too far we'd go off the road and end up sloping down the hill.

Before Kidd could put the jeep into reverse, the taillights of the truck flickered off. It then pulled forward a bit and veered across to the right.
The truck was now blocking both of the lanes.

"What are they doing? Are they trying to turn around?" She asked in confusion.

The truck was stationary. Covering both lanes of the road. Acting as a blockade, stopping us from driving any further forward.

"Oh my god. Are you kidding?"

They were intentionally stopping us from going any further.

"Call 911." Stella blurted out. Her words seemed to make me worry even more. I could feel the adrenaline crashing into my blood.

My phone was shaking in my hands. No service. My desperation forced me to at least try. I dialled the three numbers. Double checking I had put them in right due to my fumbling fingers shaking with fear.

A flash of movement made me look up from my lap. The drivers side door had flung open, and a shadow was emerging from it.

Clutching the phone tightly, my finger was frozen. It hovered above the call button.