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6 MIDDLE OF NOWHERE HORROR STORIES ANIMATED · Martin Animations

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Because my parents had separated before I was born, I
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: spent my time growing up between each of their houses.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Each summer until I turned 19, I stayed with my
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: dad in rural Missouri. He had grown up in the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: area himself and most of his family still lived there.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Without much to do, like going to the movies and stuff,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I would fill my days hanging out with my older
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: cousin and getting in the mischief. Many of our long
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: summer days were taken in wandering the surrounding woods. On
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: one of these journeys we came across a big lake
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: setting quietly by itself out in the middle of nowhere.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: The water was crystal clear and filled with tons of
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: monstrous fish. We asked the adults if they were aware
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of its existence but none had heard of it. That
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: was probably the reason for it having so many large fish.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: No one living in the area had fished it and
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: any who had in the past allowed its location to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: be lost. We would fish the pond three or four
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: times coming away with a stringer full of lunkers on
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: each occasion. On the fifth occasion, we hoped to accumulate
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: enough for a big family fish fry. The summer holiday
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: was starting to wind down and we figured a fish
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: fry would be a great way to cap it off.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: It was a warm Saturday morning when we headed out.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: We started about an hour before sunup because the walk-in
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: took over an hour. Besides, the fish stopped biting by
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the hottest part of the day and we hoped to
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: get back to my dad's house by early afternoon. The
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: beautiful sight of the pond came into view around dawn.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: It didn't take long for us to get our first
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: bites and for the next three hours the fish came quickly,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: one after another. Our limit was caught by 1045 and
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I was rearing to get going. We had a 90
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: minute walk back with two 5 gallon buckets packed to
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the top with fish so I imagined another 30 could
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: be added to that. To my displeasure my cousin thought
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: it would be refreshing to take a dip in the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: lake before we left He tried to pressure me into
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: joining him, but I didn't know how to swim at
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the time. I just wanted to get back, but he
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: was older than me, so he was in charge. I
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: plopped my tail onto a rock and waited while he
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: did his thing. There was an old rope tied to
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: a tree, probably from a hundred years ago, and he
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: wanted to swing from it. It looked unsafe to me. However,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: my concerns were laughed off, and he stripped down to
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: his boxers, setting his clothes on the ground next to me.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: He climbed the tree a little way and grabbed the rope.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Pushing off, he swung out just a short distance before
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the rope snapped right above him. He'd made it out
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: far enough to hit the deep water, but probably not
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: as far as he intended. When he hit the water,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: his body made a dull thud sound. It certainly didn't
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: sound normal and likely hurt. I was planning on laughing
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: at him and saying I told you so, but as
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the seconds passed, he never resurfaced. The situation was quickly
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: becoming scary. I looked around to see if he came
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: up somewhere farther away, perhaps floating unconscious because of the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: hard contact with the water, but still nothing. I began
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: to panic and waited out as far as I dare,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: looking into the water for him. Unfortunately, the water became
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: cloudy with every step I took and made it impossible
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: to see. Soon it was clear to me that he
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: had drowned. How, I had no idea. Perhaps if I
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: could have swum back then, I may have been able
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: to help him, but it was too late now. I
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: was helpless to do anything more than pack up and
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: head home. On the entire walk back, a small nugget
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: of hope lingered in the back of my mind that
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: he had tricked me and would pop up at some point.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: This didn't happen, however, and the dread I carried of
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: telling my family grew with each step. I tried several
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: times to find the words, but with each attempt... I
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: would break down and choke on my tears. Ultimately, I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: could only manage. Mark drowned. They got the point after that,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: and once I was able to pull myself together, I
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: led my dad and uncle back out to the pond.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Mark's body was still nowhere to be found. With no
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: other options, we went into the sheriff's office to report
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: the drowning. When I realized where we were headed, I
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: started freaking out. In my young mind, I thought I
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: was going to get in trouble or be blamed for
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: my cousin's death. It took a few minutes, but they
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: were able to convince me I wasn't in trouble. Even
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: after they had, I couldn't help but feel guilty every
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: time I looked at my uncle. Regardless of what he claimed,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I couldn't believe he didn't blame me, even if it
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: was just a small amount. I explained what had happened
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: to the sheriff and the search began the next morning.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Just by chance, that was the day I was going
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: back to my mom's. That Monday night, my mom sat
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: me down to tell me that a team of divers
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: had found Mark's body earlier that day. When they discovered him,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: one of his feet were hung up on a sunken log,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: so they assumed that was why he never resurfaced. I
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: wish I could say this made me feel better, but
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: it did not. It did, however, serve as a catalyst
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: to learn how to swim. The guilt of not being
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: able to help my cousin stayed with me for most
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: of my life, and I never wanted to be in
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: the position of not being able to help another person
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: ever again. So in a twisted kind of way, his
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: death had a positive impact on my life. However, if
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I had the choice, I'd still prefer that he be
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: with us. Although what I'm about to tell you may
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: sound like one of your run-of-the-mill horror movies, I swear
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: by the validity of it and what I saw. It
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: all started on a very hot July day this past year.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: My car is almost 20 years old and sometimes overheats
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: on hot days, just like this one. However, until I
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: get a better paying job, it's the car I'm stuck with.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: This day I was driving through the back roads looking
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: for a family of dog breeders a friend had told
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: me about. I'd been searching for the place for several
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: hours and was approaching the warmest part of the day.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: As per usual, my car began overheating and I was
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: forced to pull over. I picked up my phone to
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: call my girlfriend only to see that my battery was dead.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: After I spent a couple of minutes cussing my luck,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: I acknowledged that I was going to have to find
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: someone with a working phone. That wasn't going to happen
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: unless I started walking. Soon, I spotted an old farmhouse
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: off in the distance and headed toward it. A trip
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: that would have taken half an hour on a normal
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: day took almost an hour because of the oppressive heat.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: I had to take several breaks during the course of
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: the journey but eventually made it. The area around the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: house looked more like a junkyard. Parts of old cars
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: spread about and I had to weave through a maze
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of them to reach the front door. I knocked on
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: the door for several minutes but got no answer. Thinking
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: maybe that the homeowner may be hard of hearing I
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: walked around and looked into the windows hoping to see
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: someone inside. At the side of the house I spotted
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the telephone hanging on the wall just inside the kitchen.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Now that I knew that there was a phone I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: became excited and started calling out for someone. Even after
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: walking all the way around no reply came. I was
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: about to give up until I saw a woman lying
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: on a bed. I very nearly banged on the window
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to try and get her attention but I figured that
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: may scare her, so I went to the front door
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: and let myself in. Now in hindsight, that was just
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: as scary. But before I entered, however, I took a
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: piece of paper from a notebook I carry with me
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: and wrote out a note explaining what I was doing there.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Even then, I called out several times as I approached
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the bedroom. Still no answer came and I continued toward
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the room. The closer I got to the woman, the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: more her appearance began to unnerve me. She was laying
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: flat on her back and staring blankly at the ceiling.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I had initially believed she was watching the television that
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: was turned on in the room with her, but her
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: eyes sat completely still. Regardless, I got closer and, once
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: I was within a few steps, handed her the note.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: When the note touched her hand, she didn't react. This
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: caused me to get closer, and this was when I
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: realized something was very wrong. Her face had a very dry, almost...
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: mummified look to it. Her hair was a vibrant black,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: a color not often seen on older females. She had
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: to have known I was there by that point, but
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: her eyes stayed fixed. This is what caused me to
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: lean in even closer and look into her eyes. Rather
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: than being slightly bloodshot or moist looking like most people's,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: they had a shiny, glassy appearance, like they were fake.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: In spite of this, not until I actually touched her
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: did I know for sure that she was dead. I
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: realized that perhaps she was a mannequin rather than a human,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: so I reached down to touch her bare hand. The
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: texture of her skin was dry, but stone cold to
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: the touch. The oddity of this was just beginning to
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: really sink in when a loud creaking noise came from
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: behind me. Without a second thought, I tore out of
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: there and ran back down the road in the direction
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: of my car. Within a half of a mile, I
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: ran into an older man in a truck, and thankfully
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: he agreed to give me a ride back into town.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I said nothing about my experience to him and anytime
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: he attempted to make small talk I said as little
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: as I could on the off chance that he may
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: have been involved in what happened to that woman. He
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: let me borrow his phone to call my girlfriend and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: she agreed to meet us at a gas station on
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: the edge of town When he let me out there
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I thanked him and he went on his way. Once
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I was safely inside my girlfriend's car I borrowed her
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: phone to call the police. I hadn't even told her
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: about it yet so the look of shock on her
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: face as I described what I saw showed me what
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: my expression likely was at the time I discovered it.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: The cops said they'd send out a car to the
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: house to check out my claims. I called a wrecker
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: next to pick up my car. The police never called
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: me back so After waiting three days, I called to
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: inquire about what they found. It took a few minutes
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: to find a person aware of my call, but once
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: I did, the officer said that he and his partner
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: searched the entire property and found nothing out of the ordinary,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: especially not a mummified woman. I thanked them and hung up.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: What happened after I fled I can only guess. The
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: noise behind me was probably the owner of the home
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and He hid the woman's body, knowing that the cops
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: were likely to be called. To tell you the truth,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure what I saw in that house, on
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: that bed. I am positive that I saw a human
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: lying on that bed, but that's all. More than once,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I've been tempted to grab a camera and return to
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: the house to get proof of my claims, but fear
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: of the unknown and what else could be waiting for
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: me if I did has stopped me. If the nightmares
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: of her soulless eyes continue, however, I may have no
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: other choice.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: This happened about five years ago now. I had just
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: gotten through a really rough breakup of a codependent relationship.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: So I was going through a phase of trying to
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: be more independent, self-sufficient, and just generally more okay with
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: being alone. I would go to a lot of movies, restaurants, etc.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: All by myself.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: At the time, I was living in Montana where spending
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: time outdoors is a prime recreation. Camping solo seemed like
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: it would be a really good exercise in truly being self-reliant.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: So I packed a little tent and went to Jerry
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Johnson Hot Springs. Jerry Johnson is a natural hot springs
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: with a few small mostly natural pools in the mountains
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: on the border of Montana and Idaho. I'm going to
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: try and keep this as brief as possible so I
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: won't go on explaining the place. What I will say
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: however is that it's truly in the middle of nowhere.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: From the interstate it's about a one-third mile hike across
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: the bridge and into the woods. And from the interstate,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: it's about a 45 minute drive in either direction before
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: you reach any kind of civilization in the form of
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: a gas station. There isn't a motel or anything attached
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: to the hot springs like there are with some. It's
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: really just forest land with a few tiny ponds of
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: warm water, and if you ever go, you'll probably be
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the only person there. There's plenty of daylight, so I
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: decide I'll go soak first and then set up my
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: camp when I'm finished. I make the short hike to
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: find that there's a couple A man and a woman
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: around their 30s in the main pool, and they look
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: kind of startled to see me. I say a friendly
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: hello from a distance as I then approach. At first,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: they don't really respond, they just kind of stare at me.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Then the guy pipes up. What are you doing, man?
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: I then tell him that I'm really confused and I
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: don't know what he means. The man then asks, Are
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: you the one that's been creeping around the woods and
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: watching us for the last hour or so? I assured
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: them that I didn't know what they were talking about
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: and they began to tell me that there's someone in
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: the woods way off of the trail. Apparently they'd been
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: yelling at him and he just doesn't respond. He'll walk
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: away into the woods for a while and then reappear
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: somewhere else just watching them. After they've been assured that
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: it isn't me, I get undressed and get into the water.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: The pupils in their eyes were huge. I'm guessing that
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: they ate some magic mushrooms. I never asked, but it
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: seemed pretty obvious. It's not a big deal. It's basically
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: the perfect setting for something like that, but it makes
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: me think that they might just be having a bad trip.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: We talk for a while and first about the creepy
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: guy and then about some other stuff. The mood lightens
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: and they seem pretty relieved not to be alone. I'm
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: a relatively large guy and I guess there's strength in numbers.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: No more sightings of the creeper. They get out of
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: the pool before me. I'm in the pool all by
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: myself for about 10 minutes before I then hear some
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: shouting in the woods. I decide to cut my soak
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: short just in case someone's in trouble. I get out,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: dry off quickly, and then get dressed, still mostly wet,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: when I then hear another shout. I then start quickly hiking.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: I eventually come across the couple that was shouting off
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: into the woods and saying things like, Hey man, we
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: have a gun. Which they didn't. I ask what's going
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: on and they say that the guy was just ominously
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: standing in the path looking at them way off in
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: the distance. When they started to shout at him, he
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: left the path again and then retreated into the woods.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Now he's out of sight. Through all of this happening,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: they never get a good look at him. We walk
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: back to our cars. We decide that we're all going
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: to camp near each other. There's an official campground but
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: you have to pay. The guy tells me that he
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: knows about another spot that's relatively flat that would probably
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: work for us. I agree and I decide to follow them.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: It's not very far. They set up their tent and
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: I set up mine about 100 yards away. I wanted
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: to give them plenty of space to trip or whatever
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: and I was out there in the first place to
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: camp alone. We were in a dry season on raw
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: forest floor so neither of us made a campfire. I
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: got all set up and just sat around reading a book,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: really enjoying all of the nature. The mosquitoes made me
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: retreat into my tent at about 6pm and by 9
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: I was sound asleep. At about midnight, I was then
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: awoken by the sound of screaming. I grabbed my flashlight
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: and my. 22 pistol, put on my shoes but didn't
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: tie them and then started running toward the other tent.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: When I arrived, The two were standing outside of the
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: tent with their own flashlights and completely losing it. They
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: said that the guy had been there and that we
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: all needed to get the crap out of there ASAP.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: They showed me a slice in the wall of their
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: tent that he had made with a knife. They then
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: haphazardly packed all of their stuff in a hurry and
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: we went back to the cars. I only then realized
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: that I hadn't actually grabbed any of my own stuff.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I asked if they would go back with me to
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: get it and they basically just said, Sorry dude, you're
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: on your own. Then got in their car and took off.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: I then thought about it for a minute. I could
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: come back the next day and get my stuff, but
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: it was over an hour drive in each direction, and
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: I was there now. I did have a gun, but
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: if I shot someone in the woods, even if self-defense,
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: that would be the beginning of another nightmare that would
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: probably last the rest of my life.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: I made the.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Decision and decided to go back for my stuff. I
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: killed my flashlight and basically went stealth ninja mode back
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: into the tree surrounding the clearing where my tent was.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: My thought was that if I was really quiet then
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: I could probably hear him but he couldn't hear me.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: It took me about 20 minutes to get where my
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: tent was since I was moving so slowly. When I
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: got back to my tent it was totally untouched. I
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: quickly threw on my backpack, put my flashlight in my
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: mouth grabbed my tent in its fully assembled state with
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: my sleeping bag still inside of it, and then ran
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: back to the car with a loaded. 22 revolver in
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: my hand. I went back to my car, started it,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: and drove away. What didn't really occur to me until
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: later is that I never actually saw this guy, and
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: to this day, I can't really be sure that there
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: was actually anyone in the woods at all. I really
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: kind of doubt that these people would have sliced their
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: own tent, but at the same time, I kind of
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: doubt that there was actually just a dude hanging out
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: in the wilderness all day and night just to freak
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: these campers out. It's really possible that the two campers
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: were really just messing around with me. If so, they
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: really deserve Oscars for their performance as they really seem
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: genuinely terrified. I guess I'll never really know though. I
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: remembered something that had happened to my best friend and
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: I a few years ago, and I figured I would
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: share it here. While my best friend and I were
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: seniors in high school, we went on a weekend trip
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: to visit my grandmother a couple hours away from my
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: town in Georgia. The town that we lived in was
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: comparatively small for the state, but one of the biggest
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: towns within a few hours. But we had to travel
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: about two and a half hours through tiny, somewhat redneck
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: towns to get to my grandmother's place. We were on
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: our way back home when we had to stop at
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: a gas station literally in the middle of nowhere. I'm
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: talking cornfields, cotton fields, streets with no signs or lights,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: not even stop signs, and definitely no cell service. The
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: convenience store that was attached to the gas station had
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: maybe a couple snacks inside but looked deserted from the outside,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: and we decided not to bother to get anything other
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: than gas. I paid with card. mainly because I didn't
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: want to leave my 5'1, 100-pound friend all alone in
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: the car while I went alone inside. Another car had
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: pulled up on the other side of the single gas
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: pump while I just started pumping my gas, and because
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: of everything I'd read before on Let's Not Meet, I
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: already had a really weird feeling and decided to stay
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: alert and stand outside of the car with my driver's
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: side door wide open. The reason I did this was
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: so that my friend could see and hear everything that
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: was going on. A thin, late 50s-ish older man got
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: out of the car and seemed to be paying at
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: the pump and standing beside his car while I got gas.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: But after a few seconds, he walked around the pump
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: and then maneuvered himself around my car door to stand
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: within a foot of me and asked if he could
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: pump my gas for me. Luckily, the gas nozzle was locked,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: so it was pumping without me having to hold it.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I immediately placed myself between the opening of the door
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: and the man. and I prepared to either shut the
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: door with me inside it, or move and slam it
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: behind me to protect my friend if necessary. I calmly
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: told him it was fine and no thank you. He
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: looked me up and down with the corner of his
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: lip tilted up and then said, You know, pretty girls
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: like you shouldn't be out here all alone, and you
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: definitely shouldn't have to do this by yourself. Let a
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: man help you, baby. and then proceeded to cover my
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: hand with his own as he reached for the gas
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: pump that I was holding. I jerked my hand out
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: from underneath his and then slammed my car door shut.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: I then jerked my hand out from underneath his and
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: slammed my car door shut, thinking the last thing that
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: I would want is him jumping in my car and
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: driving away with my friend in the passenger seat. Red
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: flags were totally going off now. My typical overly polite
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: demeanor turned serious as I remembered something that I'd read
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: here that said that it was better to be safe
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: and to seem mean rather than be polite and uncomfortable.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: So I then responded and said, Sir, get away from me.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: I can pump my own gas and I've already said
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: no thank you. Leave us alone. He didn't move, only
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: raised his chin and managed to make eye contact with me.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: His tilted lip totally gone now. I stared him down
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: and I figured I'd gotten enough gas to last us
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: enough time to get the crap out of wherever we were.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: So I made eye contact, pulled the nozzle out, and
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: basically threw it back into the pump before getting in
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: my car and driving away before he had even moved.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: As we drove away, I glanced in the rear view
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: and saw that his car wasn't even being filled up
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: with gas. So I'm guessing he was just driving by
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: and then decided to help out a damsel in distress.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: even though I was nowhere even close to being a
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: damsel in distress. My friend was shaking the whole way home,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: telling me she would have just let the man pump
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: our gas. But I'm really glad of some of the
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: confidence that I'd gained from this sub. It helped me
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: stay attentive and respond confidently enough to get out of
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: that crazy situation. So to the creepy, helpful gas station
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: man in the middle of ghost town Georgia, hopefully we
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: won't meet ever again. I was helping my boyfriend move
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: from Wisconsin to Colorado. I had driven out to Wisconsin
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: and picked up some of his stuff, while he carried
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: the rest of it in his own car. So we
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: were driving separately, somewhere in the middle of Nebraska towards
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the end of the day. We found out that his
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: car was having some issues that would need to be
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: repaired before we could make the rest of the trip
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: to Colorado. We decided to stay at the motel for
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: the night and find somewhere to repair the car at
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: in the morning. We took the car into the shop
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: and it was actually able to be repaired before the
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: end of the day. The shop called my boyfriend to
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: let him know he could come pick it up, so
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: I drove him out there. When we got to the shop,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: I realized that I'd left my phone at the motel.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: I wasn't too worried as even though I wasn't too
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: familiar with the area, I figured I could follow my
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: boyfriend as he drove back to the motel for the night.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: As I saw my boyfriend exit the shop in his car,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: other cars shortly followed behind him, so I lost track
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: of him. I decided to try and find the way
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: back to the motel on my own, to the best
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: of my memory. It was pretty much just straight down
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: the main road until you saw the sign for the
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: motel on the left side. I kept driving down the
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: main road until I realized I had never even seen
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: the motel sign. I was lost and I really started
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: to panic as I had no phone and I had
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: no idea how to get back to the motel. I
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: began to notice a white SUV that was following my
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: car for about five minutes. He eventually pulled into the
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: lane to the left of me. Sitting at a stoplight,
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: I saw the man in the white SUV motion to
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: roll down my window. Being confused and not really knowing
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: how to react, I rolled it down.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Hey, what are you doing? He said.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Uh, nothing, I replied. Not really sure why I was
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: asking this. Well, why don't you pull over and come
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: talk to me for a second? After hearing this, I
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: quickly shook my head and then rolled up the window.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: The last thing that I wanted was to be stranded
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: in this town with some weird stranger following me. The
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: light turned green and that's when I saw my boyfriend's
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: car then pull up right behind mine. I then pulled
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: off into the closest parking lot, to which my boyfriend followed. Luckily,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: the SUV was nowhere in sight. He said he was
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: trying to catch up and find my car once he
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: didn't see me at the motel. I let him drive
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: me back that night so he could return from my
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: car in the morning. Thank goodness my boyfriend had found
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: me at the right time, as I'm not really sure
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: what would have happened that night if he hadn't have
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: found me. And if that man in the SUV had
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: followed me any further.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: When you go off to college, a lot of people
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: warn you about the dangers that can occur on campus,
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: but what no one warns you about is the ride home.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: While I'm sure most people have fun and possibly even
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: memorable rides home from school with their family, mine was
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: only memorable because I made it home with my life.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: It was the beginning of December, and the fall semester
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: had just ended, and at the time, I had made
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: plans with some friends back at home to go see
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: the midnight release of a movie that was coming out
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: instead of taking my exams and then driving home the
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: next day. I planned to drive home as soon as
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: I finished my schoolwork. This meant that I left campus
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: around 4 in the afternoon. I would make it to
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: the mall for the movie just in time. So I
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: did just that. I left right after my last test,
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: and I could not have been more excited to see
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: my friends. I had about a six and a half
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: hour drive ahead of me, so I got comfortable and
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: began making my way home as quickly but safely as possible.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: Now that being said, even though I was in a rush,
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: I was still raised to be helpful. I was always
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: taught growing up that if you saw someone on the
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: side of the road, you stop and ask if they
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: need help. Sometimes people don't need anything and you just
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: keep driving, but you never know when someone might need you.
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: So at around 9.30 at night, as I was driving
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: along this dimly lit back road, when I saw a
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: car parked on the side of the road, I didn't
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: even hesitate. I pulled over and hopped out of my
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: car to ask if they needed any help. Right away,
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: I could see the car was being driven by an
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: elderly man, and he claimed that his car had a
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: flat tire on the passenger side, and asked me if
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: I would help him put the spare on for him.
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: I told him of course, and asked him to pop
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: the trunk so I could get the tire out. And
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: he did. But as I leaned into the trunk to
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: lift up the mat that covers the spare, I felt
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: the man press something against my neck. My entire body
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: tensed up as I could feel the shocks from the
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: taser that he just pressed against me fired. I keeled
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: over forward and the man was able to easily push
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: me and force me into the trunk of his car
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: before slamming it shut. I recovered from being tased before
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: we pulled off from the side of the road. But
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: as I reached above me for the emergency handle that
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: it's in most trunks, I couldn't find it. I could
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: feel the tires moving as we began making our way
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: down the secluded back street when I realized the old
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: man had forgotten to take my phone before locking me up.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: He must have been in such a hurry and didn't
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: want to risk being overpowered that it didn't even cross
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: his mind. I squirmed around in the trunk until I
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: could get my hand into my pocket and pull my
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: phone out. After calling the police and telling them what
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: road I was just on, it was only a matter
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: of a couple of minutes before they were able to
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: find me. I heard the sound of police sirens behind
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: us as they pulled the elderly man over, and once
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: the car came to a stop, I began banging on
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: the trunk to let the officers know where I was.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: Once the man was in custody and I was out
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: of the trunk, I asked the officer, if he knew
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: why the man tried to abduct me, but he didn't
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: know why. It wasn't until the trial that we learned
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: that this man, who I thought was old and frail,
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: had actually confessed to abducting multiple people between the 90s
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: and the late 2000s. I was just the lucky one.