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4 MIDDLE OF NOWHERE HORROR STORIES ANIMATED · Martin Animations

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: So as a kid around 11 or 12, I had
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the world on my plate. We have these woods around
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: us that I never ever came close to finding the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: edge of. I would wake up in the morning early
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: when school was out, and my friend Alex and I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: would spend the whole day mucking around those woods. We
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: would pack sandwiches and sodas, just go nuts, play army
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and war, cowboys and Indians, you name it. This being
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the 80s, Alex and I being smart enough kids, my
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: parents had no problem with this, and enjoyed taking us
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: to the army surplus store to buy stuff like MREs
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: and survival knives and camping gear. It's pretty regular that
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: we'd be allowed to stay out overnight if my dad
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: was out there to help us set up camp and
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: close to the property. We daydreamed all kinds of crazy stuff,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: discovering hidden treasure or uncovering fossils.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Of some unbelievable creature.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Maybe we'd find the wreckage of an airplane or strike
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: it rich with gold in one of the dry riverbeds.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: The possibilities were endless out there, we made sure to
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: take full advantage of. The honest truth was there really
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: wasn't much of anything out there, besides our relentless imagination.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: One day, after a whole morning of playing, we find
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: a treehouse in the part of the woods we've never
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: been to before. Probably a two-hour trek from the edge
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: of the neighborhood, maybe two or three miles at most.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: It was hilly and rocky. Seriously, a kid's dream. This
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: treehouse was probably 30 feet off the ground, but it
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: looked solid. We're stoked to find a new castle. We
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: hightail it back to get some rope and my pops
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: takes us down to the surplus store. Over dinner, Alex
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: and I just can't shut up about it. The next
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: day comes. We hike out at almost dawn. We get
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: a full backpack of rope and sandwiches and our knives
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: on our hips. The excitement that's so thick we could
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: chew on it. We finally make it out there and
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: we start attaching rungs made of big sticks onto one
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: end of the rope. It took us a good few hours.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: but we finally got one side finished and the rope
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: tossed over the branch. That's where the little deck and
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the door are. We finally climb up and are sitting
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: on the deck, looking out, playing rock, paper, scissors for
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: who gets to go in first. Alex wins, goes in
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and comes right back out. He's white as a sheet,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: wants to go home. I'm curious, so I go inside next.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: This treehouse is probably 8x8. 7 to 8 feet high inside.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: The inside walls are covered. Every single inch of naked girls.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Not some awesome playboy porn, but kiddie porn. I think
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the oldest kids were about my age. It was Polaroids.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Glossy magazine pages. Stuck perfectly up with staples and filling
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the entire wall up. When I exited the treehouse, I
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: had a super nauseous feeling. When I looked at Alex,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I felt even worse. He was staring at something off
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: in the distance. He looked terrified. I followed his gaze
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: and sure enough, there was a flashlight bobbing through the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: trees toward our location. My knees gave out. I struggled
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: to get myself over to the ladder, whispering for Alex
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to follow me. It took a moment, but he snapped
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: out of it and we scrambled down the rope as
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: quickly as we could. As we touched down, the light
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: from the approaching person was reaching through the underbrush. and
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: actually now touching me. I couldn't see it through the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: branches and overgrowth, but the fact that they were so
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: close was panic-inducing. I waved for Alex to follow me.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: We just managed to get out of sight in time.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Some guy walked into the clearing, froze in place when
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: he saw our little ladder dangling from the deck above.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: He knew someone had been inside his freak show treehouse.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Exit Alex and I, getting back home as quickly as
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: we could. At first, we ran quietly, at least until
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: we were sure that guy wasn't following us. It was
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: like twilight or so when he came upon us, so
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: between brush and the coming darkness, everything kind of worked
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: out in our favor. We informed my dad about it,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: and he called the police. The officer showed up and
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: asked us a few questions, like where it was, how
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: did we get up there, where did we get the rope,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: did we take any pictures off the wall. He got
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: increasingly rude about it until my dad put an end
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: to it. He left with our statement and said he
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: would be in touch. We were no longer allowed to
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: take overnights in the woods or be out there for
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: more than an hour without checking in. We actually built
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: a really long tin can phone with permission from my parents,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: which allowed us a little bit more of our freedom,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: but we were pretty cut off from deep exploring. After
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: a year or two later, that same cop stopped me
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: when I was hanging out in a different park. saw
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: me smoking, and caught me with a joint. Alex asked
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: him whatever happened in that treehouse. Cop told us not
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: to do drugs and then just left us alone. In
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: college many, many moons later, Alex sent me an email
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: saying how he read in the big state paper, towns
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: that are, say, the county seat have their own papers,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: but the capital city has a big paper, that the
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: officer shot himself with a service revolver after his wife
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: found out he was circulating CP. So it comes to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: my mind, like it came to Alex's, that we found
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: his little CP stash or cave. The creepy part came
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: months later. Alex sent me another email, saying that he
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: went to the estate auction. One of the items for
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: sale was a rope ladder with a bag. That's the
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: creepiest story of me out in the woods that I have, folks.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: It still grosses me out and sends chills down my spine.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I was on a road trip for work a couple
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: of years ago, and most of that took me right
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: into the middle of nowhere. One big stretch through New
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Mexico into Texas, through lots of little scuzzy towns that
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I can't recall the names of. There was one incident
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that happens that goes down as the creepiest thing that's
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: ever happened to me. Cut straight to the scene. I'm
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: on day four of the drive, and I'm making pretty
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: good time. On this particular day, though, I'd woken up late,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: so I got a late start. It's about sundown when
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I'm running out of gas, getting ready to stop like usual,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: except I've only actually been driving for six hours when
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I planned on driving for nine or ten. I hadn't
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: made the progress that I wanted to, so I decided
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: to gas up and push on through the night. Many
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: of these dusty highway towns have 24-hour accommodations, so I
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: really wasn't worried about finding a hotel somewhere. I roll
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: into a gas station maybe 30 minutes later, just before
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I got the e-message on my dashboard. I park my truck,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: stretch my legs, and check my phone. As I'm doing this,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: I notice a guy sitting on the ground near the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: entrance to the gas station. He looks homeless, but he
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: also looks upset. It's hard to explain. He just had
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: this deep-seated frown on his face. I tried not to
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: look at him and just went about my business. I
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: move some stuff around in the backseat of my truck,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: double-check my belongings, all the regular road trip stuff. I
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: heard a sound behind me. I turn around to find
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the homeless guy. Here's the thing, he must have been
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: close to seven feet tall. The largest man I've ever seen.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Not particularly bulky, just towering with big features. Big hands,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: big nose, big head. The rest of him was just
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: like dirty and slender. He had some loose belongings. A
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: blanket and an armload of various items. He asked me
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: for a ride in the deepest voice I've ever heard.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: It was frightening in the sense that I felt truly powerless.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: This guy was so big, he didn't even seem human
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: to me. And he wanted a favor. How the hell
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: do I say no to that? I don't think that
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: was part.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Of his plan.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: He just used his size to kind of force the
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: answer that he wanted. I didn't cave though. I told
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: him I'm sorry. I'm on the clock and it's a
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: work truck. No passengers allowed and even said so on
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the insurance. None of this was true, but it sounded
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: like an official mumbo jumbo answer. figured he'd get me
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: out of any further request the guy just kind of
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: nodded and then moved out of my way i apologized
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: again and then said i passed a number of vehicles
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: headed this way surely someone will help you out in
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: my panic to get away from this monster of a
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: man i just kind of barreled into the convenience store
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: to pay for my gas in person it seemed like
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: a perfectly logical thing to do but in reality i
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: was just creating steps so i could be near another
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: person I got a big bag of jerky, a bottle
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: of soda, and 16 gallons of premium. I asked about
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the guy outside and the clerk just shrugged, so I
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: went on my merry way. When I got back into
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: my truck, that guy was nowhere to be found, not
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: even in a spot by the door. I put my
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: stuff in my truck and dribbled the gas in the tank.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Got to nigh out in every direction for that 7
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: foot tall hitchhiker. I didn't see him, so I pushed on.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Drove until 9pm, something like that. I was finally tired
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: and I had put the distance behind me that I
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: so desired. I rolled into some border town secured a
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: hotel room and even found a little hole in the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: wall bar that was still serving dinner. It was a
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: dingy little wannabe Italian spot built inside a double wide trailer.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: It had a low red light vaguely racist decor on
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the walls but was warm and the food smelled amazing
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: coming out of the kitchen. I settled in ordered a
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: beer and then just zoned out on my phone. By
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: my count I had still gone over a little 200
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: miles since I stopped at that gas station. I was
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: right on schedule still.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: All was well.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: As I'm going over the map, I hear some incredibly
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: heavy footsteps creak up the stairs and onto the porch
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: of that bar and grill. They make their way to
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the door, which swings open. I see the frame of
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: that homeless guy that was at the station. All I
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: can see is his chest and shoulders because his head
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: is too high for the door frame. He ducks down
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: and creeps his way into the bar and shuts the
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: door behind him. No one really says anything but everyone
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: gives them this lingering look as he strolls over to
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: the bar. I don't really think anything of this at
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: first until I remembered the distance that I just crunched.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: This guy should be sitting under a flickering fluorescent light
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: some 200 miles behind me Yet here he was, like
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: he rode in the passenger seat of my truck. That's
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: when it clicked. I watch as the bartender tells him
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: he can have any table he likes. The guy takes
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: one right in front of me. He's practically staring at
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: me with a grin over the top of my phone.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: When we had our encounter, I got into the gas
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: station earlier. This guy must have climbed into the bed
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: of my truck. When I exited the gas station, I
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: must have been so spooked that I was keeping an
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: eye out around me. not really inspecting my truck at all.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: He probably just laid down flat that whole damn way,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: and I had no idea. He gave me a wink,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: as if to confirm my internal reasoning. There was literally
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: no other logical way that he could be here. I
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: scarfed down the food I ordered, slammed a beer, and
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: left the bar as quickly as possible. The hitchhiker ate
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: a big bowl of spaghetti in true psychotic fashion, just
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: staring me down the whole time. It was a long
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: sleepless night in my hotel room. I just stared out
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: from behind the blinds, making sure that that creep wasn't
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: sleeping in my truck or stalking me in any way.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I didn't see him the rest of the night, but
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: that didn't mean he wasn't around. Who knows? Maybe he
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: got a ride with someone else. Maybe he just wanted
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: to mess with me. Either way, I'd never like to
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: meet that seven foot tall phantom ever again. This is
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: going to sound fake, but I promise you it's not.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: After graduating college, my oldest brother wanted to spend the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: weekend camping at Lake Barriessa, outside Napa in California. His
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: girlfriend at the time, Shannon, said we could use her
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: godfather's boat, so we hitched it up, headed up to
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Spanish Flat to dock. The bank of this lake is
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: surrounded by sandy hills and rocky cliffsides in a bowl valley.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: It's not exactly easy to climb down in some areas.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: The landscape has a lot of trees. It's a very
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: big lake, so it's possible to not see anyone around
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: after sunset. People typically will tie up their boats and
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: camp out on the banks. We headed towards the southeast corner,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: found a nice spot. We swam for over an hour
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: or two and then had dinner. I think it must
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: have been around 7 or maybe 8 p.m. because the
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: sun was setting. The lake was still and beautiful. Shannon
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: suggested we climb up the side of the bank. find
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: some wood for a campfire. So my brother and I
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: climbed up the side trying to find dried pieces. We
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: were far enough into the woods that we could see
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the boat and the lights. As we were digging around,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: we heard this sharp, horrifying and echoing scream. We ran
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to the tree line to find Shannon, who was on
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the boat and yelling for us, crying and obviously panicked.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: We climbed down the side slowly. My brother stopped and
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: stared out onto the lake. something floating in the water.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: I looked out and saw something slowly drifting along toward
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the shoreline. My brother walked toward the boat and told
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Shannon to come stand over by me. Then he walked
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to the edge of the lake and just stood there quietly.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Shannon ran up to me and was crying. I started
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: to walk over to my brother and he said, I
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: think it's a skinned animal. It doesn't have any skin.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Just as he finishes that sentence, we hear something else.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: stumbling footsteps through the shoreline. We turn and we can
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: see a person, a man coming straight at us. Shannon
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: screams again and backs up, my brother and I shoulder
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: to shoulder so we can confront this guy together. He
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: points to the thing in the water and starts clapping
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: his hands together. He asks if we like his handiwork,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: to which we ask if he did that. He says
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: of course, then says we need to help him fish
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: it out. We tell him no thank you, please exit
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: our day camping area, but it's like he didn't even
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: hear us. He just kept wandering up and down the shore,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: admiring whatever was in the water. I stood behind him
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: and I could see it. The water was dark, but
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I could see some detail. It was floating chest down,
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: and there was this big black garbage bag covering the
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: part of the back. It was too big to be
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: a dog or anything. It didn't have a head, and
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: I couldn't see if it had front legs or not,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Whatever it was, it was in fact skinned. It drifted slowly,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: turning as it moved with the current. We stood there
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: for a few moments. Didn't say anything. But I knew
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: we were both thinking the same thing. Please don't let
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: that be a person. Shannon suggested we pack up our
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: chairs and get the hell out of there. So we
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: did just that. Now that this whack job showed up,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: the only safe place was on the boat. We were
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: literally just tossing our stuff up onto the deck. totally
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: careless of the damage, so we clambered up after it
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: and pushed off from the shore. Our new friend was
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: too far away to stop us. He got to us
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: by the time we had the engine going and backed
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: off 20 feet. As we were backing out, I was
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: driving the boat so I didn't get really a good look,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: but my brother looked over the edge and tried to
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: get a better description on it. There was blood and
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: other stuff leaving a pretty steady trail behind it, a
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: cloud so dark it could have passed for tar, Here's
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: the craziest part. That guy dove in the water and
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: started swimming after us. There's no confusing it. He was
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: barreling right for the side of the boat. There's a
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: small pole ladder in the back as well as various
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: ropes hanging from the side so he could climb up
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: if he got close enough. I really started trying to
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: make some space between us which deterred the guy who
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: then chose to swim over to the floating partial corpse.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Shannon covered her eyes, was freaking out we headed back
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: to the dock at Spanish Flat. As we tore off
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: for the other side of the lake, my brother looked
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: back and shouted for us to look too. There was
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: this little dinghy, piece of shit coming at us from
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: a little further up the channel. It was small, maybe
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: a four-person craft, and the guy driving it looked a
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: lot like the guy that we saw on shore. Mangy, disheveled,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: just weird in general. He brought his little boat around
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: to where the other guy was, and then after that,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: we lost line of sight All the more reason to
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: get the hell out of there. Slowly, one breath at
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: a time, we gathered ourselves to make our report. There
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: was an office there for the park department or something,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: but nobody was there. We waited for quite a while
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: until a lot attended, showed up, but wasn't really a
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: park ranger. We told him that we had a very
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: serious report to make, left our name and number with him.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: By this time it was getting dark and we really
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: just wanted to leave. We drove to the closest gas station,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: left a note and number for the clerk to give
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: to any rangers that stopped in. We got a call
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: the next morning and all went in to file the paperwork.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: It was a quiet ride home. The rangers were completely
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: blown away by what we told them. They said a
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: few others had called in a boat with the exact
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: same description, but they were nowhere to be found. My
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: brother hasn't brought it up in years, but the last
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: time he did, he said he didn't want to make
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: for a guest about what it was. You got a
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: better look than me. But we didn't go back to
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that lake for another decade or so after. It still
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: upsets me to think about it today. I'm studying in
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: a different state from where I live. This state is
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: highly crime-ridden, with many going unreported and corruption being really high.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: As you go into the.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Interiors and more rural areas... There is very limited regard
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: for the written law, and it is the law of
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: the land that prevails. Unfortunately, due to the need for land,
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: most of the universities are built in rural areas in
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: the middle of nowhere. My university was no exception. With
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: that background information out of the way, here's my story.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: I had just gotten done with my end semester exams,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: and me and my friends had gone out to the
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: city side to celebrate. Unfortunately, We had lost track of time,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: and we had started to return the journey to campus
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: only at 9.30 p.m., and it was a good two-hour drive.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Definitely unsafe to travel at night here. As we're going
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: back via a highway, we head traffic. So the driver
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: of the cab we took said he would take a shortcut,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: and we took a turn that went via a desolate
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: road passing a village adjacent to the one my university
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: was in. Horrible decision. Us and another car, where that
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: driver probably had a similar idea of a shortcut, made
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: this same turn and went down this road. It was
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: all dark, and apart from a few close shops and huts,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: it was all wilderness. Suddenly our cab and the other
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: car were stopped by around 10 or more locals who
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: blocked both cars. A few of them came up to
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: us and they had asked us to pay a toll
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: for that road. This wasn't a rare occurrence. Tolls like
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: this are often charged on such roads. Especially at night,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: these toll takers become active. These are not official government tolls,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: but they're charged by locals because they know they have
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: the power. They're illegal alright. It's just an understood custom
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: that such tolls will be paid. These people who stopped
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: us were very clearly drunk and angry. My driver started
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: pleading with them not to take the toll, but they
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: were in no mood to listen. Having been here for
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: two years, and interacting with the workers at the university,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I could understand the dialect of this region well enough.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: At one point, the driver's pleas actually made these people angry,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: and one of them started shouting. At one point, in
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: a fit of rage, he said something to the effect of,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: If you do not follow the rules, you're not getting
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: out alive. And that's when I saw it. Five men
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: were near our car, and the person who was talking
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: had a gun, and two others had really long knives.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: All of us knew then that paying the toll wasn't
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: optional anymore, and we all pulled cash from our wallets,
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: and then paid the fee, and then got ready to leave.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Seeing that gun itself was scary enough, but the truly
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: scary part came a few seconds later. Remember the other
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: car that I talked about? Remember the other car I
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: talked about that was also stopped? Half of the group
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: had come to get the toll from us, while the
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: other half went to the other dude. That car just
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: had one driver. A similar argument must have gone down there. Unfortunately,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: it seemed like the other dude hadn't complied, and given
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: how drunk the locals were, they were angry and had
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: had enough. They dragged the man out of his car
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: and then started lynching him right there, pelting him with
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: sticks and stones. And then the people nearest who had
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: knives then joined in and started taking their turns to
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: stab him. The gun was the only weapon that wasn't
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: used when we were there as we heard no shots.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: The man was getting lynched right in front of us
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: and we were powerless to do anything. Staying there would
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: likely mean that we would suffer the same fate. It
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: felt like we were watching this horrific sight for hours
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: though in reality it was only 20 to 30 seconds.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Our driver realized what was happening and gunned it out
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: of there. We called the police immediately. but there wasn't
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: a police station anywhere near that village. Our driver then
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: told us what we already knew, that the police would
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: be too late. On top of that, the police being
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: locals themselves, often have an understanding with such groups of people,
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: and usually just look the other way. We managed to
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: reach university, thoroughly shaken up, and I nearly pissed myself.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: We informed our authorities at the university, and they said
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: that they would pursue matters further, but we never heard anything.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: We're all still figuring out how to live with having
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: witnessed what was most likely a murder. I don't mean
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: to offend anyone here, but such crimes are not uncommon.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: While India is a beautiful place, with rich culture and heritage,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: but like any other country, it has its dark side.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: And seeing it firsthand, even if it was only for
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: 30 seconds, well, it has scarred me for life.