The Cold Road (Book 1)

Chapter Thirteen

Thursday, 13th November, 1986.

Day Two.

The pure white snow reflected back the rays of the rising sun and set the world on fire. It blinded James as he trudged his way down the driveway towards his car. Around him, the town lay sleeping as he set off. It was early, but he knew mother's could be pushing their children out of bed. He remembered his mother waking him up in the cold, frosty mornings to get ready for school. Luring him out of his room with bribes of hot chocolate and fresh baked cookies, all of which, she told him as he jumped eagerly from his bed and dressed, would be waiting from him when he returned from school. Despite the disappointment the first time she played the trick on him, in his dazed dream state, it was a trick she often used and he often fell for.

His car drove along the slippery roads, his hands held tight to the steering wheel as his right foot sat just above the break. It was uncomfortable for it to be there, and unnatural, but should the car slide he felt safer pressing the break with his right foot.

He moved onto the highway and it stretched out before him, a speckled serpent of black asphalt and white snow. The snow crunched beneath his wheels, a sound he could not hear above the roar of the engine but a noise he knew was there. In past years, it was not unknown for a person's car to not start and for them to request help pushing it to the nearest gas station.

The highway curved and he found himself driving along the forest road, one that he was not familiar with. Looking around, he realised that somewhere he had taken a wrong turn. Swearing loudly, he looked around for a place to pull over and check his map. Distracted thinking about hot chocolate and the crunch of snow, he forgot to look where he was going. The car drifted to the other side and he corrected it, the tires squealing.

The road loomed on, thick forest surrounding either side, casting weird shaped shadows down upon the road. Neither side of the road looked inviting so James drove on, his mind still swearing as he looked about for any landmark that looked familiar. The road loomed on, thick forest surrounding either side, casting weird shaped shadows down upon the road. Neither side of the highway looked inviting to pull over so James drove on.

He figured he was still on the highway, he could not remember taking any turns, except for the one he must have took leading him away from the Perette's. 'Fuck,' he swore, wishing he could close his eyes and force his mind to focus. He knew he could easily pull over, or even do a U turn, but he found his body unwilling to cooperate with his mind. His mind was urging himself to pull to the side and do a U turn, yet his body refused to move.

The trees parted away from the road as it curved out and carved its way through empty plain. The area was unfamiliar to him, in all his years spent in Damascus he had never seen the stretch of land before. It was almost as if he had walked out of the trees into another world. The horizon seemed to drop away in front of him as miles and miles of grass plain grew before him. It was brown and gold, mixed heavily with a layer of snow that sat on top, weighing down the grass.

He no longer felt the need to stop and pull over, or to return the way he came. Instead, the feeling of concern was replaced with a desire to follow the road and find out where he was. He drove for near ten minutes in silence, watching the landscape carefully. Driving over a rise, a dark speck grew up from the road catching his attention. The closer he came, the larger the speck grew until finally it took the form of a man. He was waiting at the corner of a T intersection and as James approached, he turned and began walking up the road towards the oncoming car.

Frowning at the hitchhiker walking towards him, James gently applied pressure to the acceleration so he could have a better look.

Coming down the side road, heading towards the hitchhiker barrelled a huge shape. A massive truck rumbling down the hill, moving faster than James thought it should have been traveling.