Sugarcane

You decide to drive out what looks like the easiest route.\n\nYou turn on the radio and hit the dirt headed towards what you can only hope will eventually lead to some sort of civilization. You flip the radio off when it starts to make the aching in your head reappear.\n\n-------------------------------------\nAfter 30 minutes of cruising, pushing 90 miles an hour, you start to feel a sense of relief. You have a feeling you're on the right path to getting out of this shithole desert. \n\nAbout a mile ahead you see something twinkling in the distance.Suddenly the radio roars to life and you hear the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles seeping through your speakers.\n\nInstantly you remember the last time you heard this song. When you were slowing down for the strange man in the middle of the road. The man who walked up to your window. Who caused your whole world to turn black.\n\nThe twinkling object in the distance is gettting bigger and bigger. As you draw nearer, you slow your speed. Eventually you can make out that it's a car. Closer, closer, you start to recognize the car.\n\nIt's your car. \n\nThe car you're driving in.\n\n[[Approach the car to investigate|approach]]\n[[Turn back|hell]]

You crawl over to the side mirror and are surprised by what you see.\n\nYou have a cut above your left ear, but it's much smaller than you anticipated given the pain you were in. Surprisingly, there was much less blood. You could have sworn you had a gash in your head worth of a few stitches but you were releaved nonetheless, if not embarassed at your overreaction. With the thought of bleeding out a worry of the past, a new one sprang to your attention. The Drugs! \n\nYou rip open the driver's side door and lift the lever to open the trunk. The iorny of how easy it was to open the trunk now almost made you want to laugh. Almost. \n\nWith pop it was open, and you eagerly make your way over to the place where you were so recently detained. With a brief moment of hesitation, you reach for a small hook that lifts up the floor of the trunk to reveal the hidden compartment below it. Stacked neatly were 10 bricks of cocaine, 1.5 million dollars worth, ready to be delivered to your guys in Mexico. \n\nNow that you've assured yourself that the goods are still there, you decide it wouldn't hurt to [[search the car|Search]].

On a dark desert highway...you awake to find yourself cloaked in darkness. For a minute you think you must be blind, for you can't even see your hand an inch from your face. As you start to come to your senses, a dull pain starts to make itself known on the side of your head. You reach to touch the source of the pain and feel something wet. \n\nBlood. \n\nPanic sets in, and you try to sit up. BANG. You hit your forehead on something inches from your face.\n\nRunning your hands around, you realize you're inside some sort of box or compartment...a [[trunk|look around]].\n

You start to drift to sleep and you can feel the pain begin to subside as you slip into unconsciousness. A few days later, or was it hours, or minutes? You don't know, but you awake to the darkness of the trunk once again. Your limbs are stiff from the cramped quarters, and your extreme thirst is debilitating. The pain in your head is so severe, you want nothing more but to slip once again into sweet oblivion. You try to muster the strength to move, but at this point you can't even manage to swallow. \n\nThe darkness you are surrounded by starts to fade away, and you are greeted instead by a cool, bright light.\n\nYour car was found 4 years later, and with it, so was your body. The only people who showed up to your funeral was your father and a mysterious old man, with a guitar.

You decide a can of hot mushy dog food would only make you throw up what food was left in your stomach, and toss it back on the floor of your car. You put the key in the ignition, take a deep breath, and turn the key.\n\nYour car sputters for a moment before coming to life in a glorious roar. \n\nFinally it was looking like you had some hope of escaping this desolate place. Maybe this was the wakeup call you needed to get you out of the buisness for good. Of course you really couldn't just pack up and leave. You still had all that cocaine in the trunk, and a mob of angry men in Mexico probably wondering where their supply is.\n\nShould I just drive away? Create a new identity and just let my old life disappear? you ask yourself. You know it wouldn't be that easy. The cartel was powerful, and you had millions of dollars worth of their merchandise. There's no way you could get away with leaving them out to dry. But you had a feeling that if you went through with delivering the drugs, something would go wrong...\n\n[[Leave the life of dealing and hope for the best|leave]]\n[[Deliver the drugs against your gut feeling|deliver]]

You slam the car into reverse and try to get out of there as fast as you can. Things are starting to get really freaky and you're not about to take any chances. You've seen enough horror films to know investigating is never the option that keeps you alive.\n\nIn your haste to get away, you don't see the boulder coming up behind you. You smash into it at a horrific pace, slaming your head against the steering wheel. Your ears start to ring, and everything goes [[black|hospital2]].\n\n

You open up the arm rest to find that a rattlesnake was inside snacking on your pack of Trident gum. Before you could wonder if snakes can even chew gum, its fangs have sunk into your forearm. \n\nYou die laughing at the image of a snake blowing bubbles, and floating away like a balloon.

You lean in closer, your breath collecting in a fog against the windshield. You could have sworn you saw something move behind the large cactus about 20 feet in front of you, but you're not sure. Everything seems to be still...\n\nA loud knock on your drivers side window makes you whip your head around. You find yourself looking at the vast desert once again.\n\nWhat is going on??\n\nYou frantically look around the outside of the car, searching for whoever -or whatever- was the source of the knock. As you turn back to face the windshield you see him. Standing right in front of your car. \n\nThe man with the guitar.\n\n\nHis beady eyes stare unflinching into yours, and a slow, methodical grin creeps across his face.\n\nThen nothing but [[darkness|you]].

The Highway\n\nby Nikkolette Lang\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDon't do Drugs.\n

You stab the jagged edge of your car key into the top of the can until you've created a hole in the top big enough to scoop some dog food out. The mushy, barf like texture was making you want to barf yourself, but eventually your hunger overtook the disgust. \n\nUnfortunately, the dog food was from a recalled batch that was responsible for the deaths of many dogs in the past week. You die swiftly. You're known as the man who died from eating a can of Chicken n' Chunks Delight Dog Food.

A man had found you passed out in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. Your friends ratted to your parents that you had all taken some new that this dude was passing out at the Eagles concert. You were the only one the drug seemed to have an effect on. According to your friends, you went crazy and disappeared off into the night, no where to be found. Until 5 days later when you were found in that parking lot. \n\n It was all a dream? But it seemed so...real. \n\nYou didn't even remember going to the concert. You didn't really remember anything. You had to stay in the hospital for another 2 days so the doctors could monitor you, and in those 2 days things started coming back to you. Your life before the dream. \n\nThe day had finally arrived when you could go home, and you looked forward to some normalcy.\n\nAs your parents walked you to the lobby to leave, your mom stopped in her tracks.\n\n"There he is, honey! The man who found you and brought you in! How nice of him to come and see how you're doing!"\n\nAs I followed her gaze, I saw the man who had found me after my 5 days of being missing.\n\n[[It was an old man, with a guitar|end]].

When you wake up, it takes you a second for your eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room.\n\nWhere the hell am I? You wondered, outloud.\n\n"Honey, are you awake? Oh we were so worried!"\n\nYou find yourself in a hospital bed, surrounded by your mom and dad.\n\nAfter too many tight hugs and tears, your parents filled you in on how you ended up in the [[hospital|hospital]].

You figure finding the watery coke remains are about as lucky as you're going to get while searching the car. A nice nap sounds like the perfect way to forget about the mess you're in for a little while.\n\nHowever, unbeknownst to you, you have a concussion and sleeping is the last thing you should be doing. But it's too late, the urge to rest your head has taken over and you never wake up. \n\nYour car was found 4 years later, and with it, so was your body. The only people who showed up to your funeral was your father and a mysterious old man, with a guitar.

You pop open the glove box and something silver clatters to the floor of the car. My car keys! You lean down to grab the keys, and something else that's silver catches your eye. \n\nThe can of dog food that had been happily rolling around on your floorboard throughout your road trip. You usually take your dog Benny with you on your trips across the boarder. Nothing screams "I swear I'm not a drug dealer" like a good ol' family-friendly Golden Retriever. Everyone loves a Golden Retriever. \n\nBut this trip was different. This time you were dealing with the whole cartel, and you couldn't bring yourself to put Benny at risk. These guys were unpredictable, dangerous. Somehow, one of Benny's cans of food had found it's way in. Lucky you. \n\n[[Use key's to open the can of dog food|dogfood]]\n[[Search the arm rest|arm rest]] \n[[Try to start the car|start car]]

You lean against the side of the car, and slump down to the ground, resting your throbbing head between your knees. You take a moment to collect yourself, and strech your stiff muscles. There's a slight breeze that plays across your skin, but the pleasure is fleeting. The occasional whisper of wind stops the heat from clawing at your neck, if only for a moment. \n\nAfter a few minutes the pain on the side of your head starts to intensify. You crawl over to the side mirror and are surprised by what you see.\n\n[[Check out your head wound|mirror]]. \n[[Search the car for supplies|supplies]]

The nagging reminder that you hadn't had any food or water for... How long has it been? Days? Hours? Your mouth attempted to water at the thought of your last meal, a large coke and a Big Mac, but your throat was as dry as the desert you were stranded in. \n\nYou figure you should search your car for anything that might be of use to you, even though you know your efforts will most likely be fruitless. This wasn't your usual vehicle, heck, this wasn't even your car technically. This was the mule, the transportation vehicle you were given by the guys down south.\n\nYour head continues to throb. \n\n[[Search anyway|Search]].\n[[Don't bother searching.|Bother]]\n[[Check your head|mirror]].\n

This has to be a dream! This can't be real. Wake up, dammit!\n\nWAKE UP!!!!!!\n\nWake up. You say again, only this time it's not in your voice.\n\n"Wake up, Honey. It's okay. Wake up!"\n\nYou open your eyes and are blinded by an intense white light. When your eyes manage to adjust you realize you're in a hospital bed, and your mom and dad are huddled around you. \n\nAfter too many tight hugs and tears, your parents filled you in on how you ended up in the [[hospital|hospital]].\n\n

You sit in silence as you try and make sense of what's going on. The last thing you remember was driving down Route 190, aka Death Valley, listening to the Eagles and just trying to make it to Mexico in time for the drop. \n\nBut then there was that old man in the middle of the road, just standing there with nothing but a guitar strapped to his back. You didn't want to stop for him, but he didn't move. Something told you he might need help as he stood there on the empty two-lane road, staring you down. \n\nYes, it was all coming back to you. Slowing down, asking him if he needed help. Him walking up your window...then nothing but the [[darkness|come to senses]].

You slowly pull about 10 feet away from the car, pocket the keys, and instinctively grab for your gun. You check out the plates on the car, and they are an exact match for yours. The car even has the same dent on the bumper from that pole you hit at the truck stop last May. \n\nSomething isn't right here, what the hell is happening?\n\nPistol drawn you step closer to the car. You start closing in on it when you hear a rustling noise coming from the trunk. \n\n"Hello?" you call out.\n\nNo answer.\n\nYou take two more steps so your standing over the trunk.\n\n"Hello, is someone in there?" you're voice is shakey this time.\n\nYou quietly slide the key into the lock on the trunk and with your gun in one hand, you pop the trunk open with the other, ready to fire at whatever might be waiting inside.\n\nWhat you find is a body. One that looks oddly familiar.\n\nThe unkempt hair, levi jeans and a sweaty white t-shirt. \n\nIt was [[you|you]].

You decide it's worth a search anyways, despite the prospects being dim. Your heart skips a beat when you see the cup that earlier held the remaining ice from your coke, but now was half-full of warm, slightly sweet water. \n\nYou want to gulp the liquid down, but you realize this is the only liquid you have. You take a small sip, and resist the urge to chug. \n\n\n\n[[Call it a successful search and take a nap|nap]]\n[[Continue searching the car|Search 2]]

On a dark desert highway...you awake to find yourself cloaked in darkness. For a minute you think you must be blind, for you can't even see your hand an inch from your face. "Am I blind?" you ask yourself. As you start to come to your senses, a dull pain starts to make itself known on the back of your head. You reach to touch the source of the pain and feel something wet. Blood. Panic sets in, and you try to sit up. BANG. You hit your forehead on something inches from your face.\n\nRunning your hands around, you realize you're inside some sort of box or compartment...a trunk.\n

You can't believe you even considered trying to skip out on the cartel. You had no choice but to deliver the goods first and then maybe you could try to get out of the biz. It's not that easy.\n\nYou put the car in drive and ease on to the accelerator. The A/C blows hot air at your face that eventually starts to cool as you drive along. A smile creeps across your face as you see you still have over a half tank of gas left. \n\nAnd then all at once it hits you.\n\nWhere the hell am I?\n\nYou realize you have no clue where you are. The highway is no where in sight. Hell, you could already be in Mexico for all you know. \n\nYou look to your left, and there is a field of cacti and large rocks. To your right is a dusty valley between two rocky mountains. \n\n[[Drive to the left|left]]\n[[Drive to the right|right]]

You know it's not worth the energy to look, it's doubtful theres even registration. You sit back down and try to ignore the nagging feeling of thirst.\n\nYou start to feel dizzy, and the world seems to go even more silent than it was already. The ground below you seems to be getting closer.\n\nAnd closer.\n\nYour head hits the ground with a sickening thud. The rock you land on pierces your right temple. You die.\n

You feel around the trunk, searching for something that might help you out. You curse yourself for taking out your brothers toolbox last weekend to make room in the trunk for your trip. However, luck is on your side. \n\nYour hand collides with the cool metal handle of a screwdriver, and for a second the pain in your head seems to subside. Thank God. But it's the same cold metal in your hand that makes you remember what was tucked into the waistband of your Levi's. The .45 your dad gave you for your college graduation. At the time it was an odd gift, but it had sure come in handy with your new line of work, and now it just might save your life.\n\nAgain, the pounding in your head is getting louder and louder. All you can hear is the dull whooshing in your head, creating a sick lullaby that coaxes you to close your eyes...\n\n[[Use the gun to escape|Use the gun]]\n[[Use the screwdriver to escape|Use the screwdriver]]\n[[Close your eyes|sleep]]

The Highway

You grab the gun and try to think of a way to use it without making yourself go deaf or getting hit by a ricocheting bullet. It's beginning to get unbearably hot in the trunk, and you're not sure how much longer you can take being stuck inside the car.\n\n In a rare moment of clarity, you realize that all you have to do is try to kick the back seat out. God, I'm a fucking idiot. You curse under your breath as you pocket the screwdriver and manuever your feet towards the back seat panel. You take a moment to gather what strength you can muster, and after a few deft kicks, light floods the trunk. \n\nThe seats give way to an opening just big enough for you to crawl through, and you push your way out into the cab of the car. You open the door and fall out onto the hot ground below you, gulping in the warm fresh air. \n\nYou're suddenly on alert as you recall the man with the guitar, and you struggle to get to your feet. You look around and see no sign of him anywhere. In fact, you see nothing but desert for miles. And miles. [[And miles...|Part 1]]

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You can't seem to overcome the bad omen you feel about going through with the drop. Something about it just isn't sitting right. You know it won't be easy to skip out on the guys in Mexico, not when you're holding on to millions of dollars of goods. Their goods.\n\nYou figure you'll find the nearest town and ditch the car as soon as you can. Hotwire an old beater and get the fuck out of California. Hell, maybe even out of the country. \n\nYou put the car in drive and ease on to the accelerator. The A/C blows hot air at your face that eventually starts to cool as you drive along. A smile creeps across your face as you see you still have over a half tank of gas left. \n\nAnd then all at once it hits you.\n\nWhere the hell am I?\n\nYou realize you have no clue where you are. The highway is no where in sight. You could already be in Mexico for all you know. \n\nYou look to your left, and there is a field of cacti and large rocks. To your right is a dusty valley between two rocky mountains. \n\n[[Drive to the left|left]]\n[[Drive to the right|right]]

You try to remember more about how you might have ended up in the trunk of your car, but the pain in your head is making it impossible. It's taking all you have to resist the urge to slip back into a blissful state of unconsciousness, but you know you have to get out of the trunk. \n\n[[Feel around the trunk|Feel around]].\n[[Drift into unconsciousness|sleep]].

Nikki Lang

You grab the screwdriver and try to think of a way to use it. It's beginning to get unbearably hot in the trunk, and you're not sure how much longer you can take being stuck inside the car. In a rare moment of clarity, you realize that all you have to do is try to kick the back seat out. God, I'm a fucking idiot. You curse under your breath as you pocket the screwdriver and manuever your feet towards the back seat panel. You take a moment to gather what strength you can muster, and after a few deft kicks, light floods the trunk. The seats give way to an opening just big enough for you to crawl through, and you push your way out into the cab of the car. You open the door and fall out onto the hot ground below you, gulping in the warm fresh air. You're suddenly on alert as you recall the man with the guitar, and you struggle to get to your feet. You look around and see no sign of him anywhere. In fact, you see nothing but desert for miles. And miles. [[And miles...|Part 1]]

With your mouth still slightly parched, you set the cup on the roof of the car and set your sights on the rest of the car.\n\n[[Search the glove box|glove box]]\n

You decide to go to the left, and immediately realize what a stupid decision you've made. No more than 10 seconds in you've managed to drive over a cluster of cacti and pop both tires on the left side of your car. \n\nFUCK!!\n\nYou slam your head back against the head rest, and wince as the gash on your head begins to throb again. \n\nYou sit in silence for a few moments until you're startled by the sound of the radio turning on. You hear the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles seeping through your speakers.\n\nSuddenly you remember the last time you heard this song. When you were slowing down for the strange man in the middle of the road. The man who walked up to your window. Who caused your whole world to turn black.\n\nThat's when you see something moving off in the distance.\n\n[[Look closer|closer]]\n[[Put it in reverse and get the hell out of there|hell]]\n\n