Old MacDonald - A Short Story

Road Closed

Jasper turned the engine back to life. Mimi was just about to slide the door shut when a deafening honk sounded.

"Jesus. Is that a truck?" Patrick blurted, his eyes on the rear-view mirror.

Everyone turned to look.

The truck slowed down and moved to the other lane. It went straight to the unpaved road and when all its wheels had left the concrete, it stopped.

On its back were a herd of goats and pigs. Mimi had already shut the door but they could still hear the animals crying.

Danika scrunched her nose at the sight. Jasper carefully moved the van backwards, getting ready to reverse.

"What is it doing out here?" Leo said, more to himself than to his silent friends.

A man climbed out of the truck. His bald head and white beard told them his age. Maybe in his late 50s or around 60. They all stopped thinking about that when he began walking towards them.

"Old MacDonald had a farm, eeya eeya yo!" Mimi sang in Danika's face. She gave her the finger.

Jasper wondered why he felt nervous all of a sudden. He fought against that feeling and lowered down the car window.

"Hey," The man greeted, smiling. There were splotches of black on his teeth and Patrick wondered if he'd been eating chocolates back there. "Where you headed, kids?" He asked.

"Hello. Well, the road is closed so we've decided to head back town." Jasper answered as quickly as he could.

The man nodded. He surveyed the rest of them and grinned.

He winked at Danika.

"What the fuck?" She muttered.

Mimi giggled on her seat.

"We have cabins for rent not far from here." The man told Jasper. "Free breakfast." He winked again.

"Thank you, but we really need to go." Jasper said with a smile not reaching his eyes.

The man stepped back when he started maneuvering the van. From his side, Patrick released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding for so long.

"Let's roll, Jas." It was the first time Mimi suggested leaving.

The vehicle backed up forcefully and they all held onto their seats. And then--

A whooshing sound reverberated through the car.

Pop!

"Shit." Leo cursed.

"What was that?" Danika grabbed her boyfriend's hand.

"Jasper?" Mimi's voice trembled a little.

"I-- I don't understand." Jasper mumbled. He continued reversing the vehicle until it's finally facing the road ahead. Back to town. Three hours from where they were.

But then another whoosh and pop started them. The second tire exploded.

"Fuck! What's happening?" Mimi demanded, her head going back and forth between Jasper and Patrick.

Jasper's hands were trembling on the steering wheel. "Our tires ex--"

"AAAHHHH!!"

Danika screamed.

They all snapped their necks to where she's pointing at.

The truck.

Earlier, it was loaded with farm animals and now, those animals were shrieking, trying to stand upright like they had grown legs and arms.

One minute, they were four-legged creatures. The next, they morphed into humanoids with goat and pig heads.

"Holy god." Patrick gasped, beyond horrified.

"Drive Jasper! Drive!" Mimi yelled, shaking Jasper back to reality. "Drive goddammit!"

Leo held Danika into his chest.

Jasper stepped on the gas and the vehicle started moving. Shaking.

The rear tires screeched sharply against the concrete.

Mimi couldn't do anything but watch the disgusting goatheads and pigheads jumped from the truck, one by one. The strange old man was no longer there.

The camper van cried smoke and dust. It continued moving but was too slow.

Too slow for the now running pigheads.

One of them had a big hammer on its hand. The rest were holding something smaller, like-- "an injection?" Mimi could not see them clearly with the smoke now covering the entire background.

BANG!

Somebody-- something smashed the trunk. Leo and Danika instantly jumped onto Mimi's side.

Next was the window.

It took three smashes before glass pieces went flying.

They all screamed in panic.

Jasper was now kicking the gas pedal again and again. Like it mattered.

Another window was smashed. Danika fainted.

The camper van stopped as it could no longer function with its disabled wheels.

The pigheads scrunched up their noses against the remaining windows, their faces leaving moist marks on the glass.

Patrick grabbed Mimi's arm while Jasper leaned on her back. She had not even noticed the two guys jumping out of the front seat. The three of them stood in the middle of the van. Leo was holding the unconscious Danika on the seat.

Surrounding the vehicle, the grunts were the worst sound Jasper had ever heard in his entire life. Short life.

And then the inevitable happened.

The hammer pounded on the vehicle's door. It smashed the window into pieces and before they knew it, the door glided open with a piercing sound.

Mimi could barely remember what happened next. But before she was swallowed by darkness, she swore she was floating and saw old MacDonald carrying the sign board: ROAD CLOSED.