The Road to Nowhere

Nandini Mistry

The first of my troubles began when the only way for me to get home was by taking the bus. Much to my annoyance, no one at home was picking up my calls. I had checked one, two, three times with them about the day I was coming home for the holidays. I enjoyed my trip abroad more than I would’ve liked to admit, but now it was time to go home. I would’ve preferred a more personal, and to be honest, safer ride home in my parent’s car but after turning the situation over in my mind a few times, the power must have gone out and to add on to that, their little two wheel drive would never survive in this dreary weather. I looked out the window, watching buses line up. The shuttles never seemed to have extra seats, so the public bus was my only choice. I would’ve liked to sit in the airport and people-watch for a few minutes, but I knew myself too well. Those few minutes would turn into hours, hours that I didn’t have. I needed to focus on getting home.

I shivered and tugged my coat around myself tighter. It was the only thing I could dig out of my carry-on quick enough before the crowd of people trampled me. With nothing else to preoccupy myself, I took in my surroundings for what seemed like the fiftieth time. The only thing worse than the bus was waiting for the bus. The snow had stopped a few days ago, so I heard, but expansive patches of it stubbornly refused to melt. The snow compacted to the ground after being walked on by so many people had turned into a slippery, opaque mess. It was the kind of snow that made your arms awkwardly flail around while you try to regain balance. It had all gathered in a way that made it hard to tell where the sidewalk ended and the road began. I hate snow and the cold. I don’t know why I live here.

“Taking the 140?” A voice startled me. I tried not to look disappointed. I was hoping for a quiet journey.

It was a woman’s voice. High-pitched, nasally. She looked to be about my age, but that’s all I could figure out about her because I didn’t look at her completely.

“What?” I ask, even though I had heard her just fine.

“I asked if you were taking the 140.” She repeated. “The bus.” She gestured up at the flag stop that stood in front of us. On it, 140 was written in small white print. I knew this because I had checked three times to see if I was at the right spot. The last thing I needed was to end up at an unknown location with even more problems.

“Oh. Yeah.” I forced a laugh and my words came out as exhales. “The weather kind of messed up my plans.” I added, not knowing if she would continue talking to me.

She did. “Well, I hope this isn’t too forward, but I’m kind of new to this area. Is it okay if I could just follow your lead? Things are so different here, and I tend to get lost a lot. Actually one time-” It wasn’t until now that I noticed she spoke very quickly.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. It’s been a while for me too, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

“Thank you. I’m Mancy. Like Nancy, but with an ‘M.’ Weird, I know. Not my idea of course. What’s your name?”

Before I could answer, the bus appeared in front of us with a screeching halt. Almost immediately, the pushing began, and I moved towards the door with small steps.

“I’ll look for you there!” I heard Mancy call. I turned as much as I could and nodded, but I don’t know if she saw me. I was thankful to be one of the first people to board, and my eyes immediately locked onto the seats in the back. I didn’t like to think about what my situation would be out there if I wasn’t able to grab a seat.

Once I got situated, I placed my bag on the seat next to me. I knew there wouldn’t be any way to avoid Mancy, and I’d rather end up sitting with a stranger than a complete stranger. Just like that, she appeared in front of me.

“Thanks.” She looked past me and out of the window. “There’s still a lot of people out there. I don’t think they’ll be able to get on for another two hours.” Before I could respond, we could hear some kind of commotion up ahead.

“Stop! That’s it. We’ve reached maximum capacity.” The driver got up from his seat to block the door. Exclaims of protest could be heard.

“We need to get home!” One lady’s shrill voice rung out over the others’ protests “My kids-”

“My hands are tied. Bus regulations. You’re welcome to get onto the next one.” The driver said firmly. Other passengers looked on, sighing and checking their watches. The disgruntled woman glared, but reluctantly picked up her things to leave. I looked around at my fellow passengers, bundled up and settled in, passively watching the more unluckier people.

I tried not to look at Mancy. I felt a desperate urge to scream. My attempts in getting home felt so close yet so far. I shifted in the small seat in attempts to get more comfortable.

The only thing I could do was sleep. 

***

“Hey, wake up.”

I woke to Mancy’s sharp fingernail jabbing into my arm.

“What?” I said, annoyed.

“I need to know the time. My phone died.”

I glanced at the watch that was more of an accessory than a clock.

“3:02.” I replied, getting ready to fall back asleep. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to, so instead I leaned my head across the glass window and listened to Mancy shake her leg impatiently. Then:

“What time is it now?”

I glanced at my watch again. The deafening sound of the bus was starting to echo in my head.

“Still 3:02.”

Mancy shook her leg some more. She craned her neck to look at the heads of the other passengers. She shifted so her back pressed against my shoulder. Then she moved again, pressed against her seat. Then, she read three pages of her magazine. Then, she picked the chocolate chips out of her trail mix. The strong smell of salt and nuts hit my nose. I continued to lean against the window even when the bus sped over a bump and it hit my head particularly hard. I decided to check my watch as little as possible, so it would feel like more time was going by. After waiting about five more minutes, I checked again, hoping it was at least 3:45, which was almost 4:00, which meant I was one more hour closer to home.

“What?” I whispered audibly. Mancy looked over immediately.

Time had definitely passed since then, but my watch still read 3:02.

“Maybe your watch stopped working.” Mancy shrugged. She pulled out her cell phone, now attached to a battery pack.

“Strange.” She said, holding the phone between the two of us. I looked at her lock screen, a photo of the ocean, white text displaying 3:02 PM in the center.

I suddenly became very aware of where I was. The brain fog of being asleep must have finally lifted. My head was pounding, either from a lack of water or the grating hum of the bus’ engine, or both. I could feel Mancy’s eyes staring at me, but I remained focused on my hands, rested on my knees, slightly shaking. How much about myself had I revealed to her?

I decided to turn away and stare out the window more. I was shocked to see how dark the sky was. There was no way the sun had set as early as 3 PM. Aside from that, I noticed how little space there was between the bus and the trees on the edge of the road. Branches clawed at the window as we rushed past, making a scraping sound on the glass. No longer caring about keeping to myself, I turned back to Mancy and grabbed her arm.

“Are you seeing this? What is going on with the time? Why is it pitch black outside?” I could feel my heart beating faster. My face burned, the way it did when I was scared. I could hear blood roaring in my ears. The consistent dullness of my journey had been disrupted, and something was very, very wrong.

Mancy’s face split into a wild grin. My heart beat quicker.

“Strange.” She repeated. She continued smiling, but I could see many things wrong. This was an eerie kind of smile. There was no expression behind her eyes. Something wasn’t normal about her. I wanted to scream, but something was stopping me. The vehicle seemed like it was getting smaller and smaller. I checked her phone again, even though a part of me already knew the time hadn’t changed. The dim white lights inside the bus flickered on, casting ghostly shadows over everything inside the bus.

I hadn’t realized how empty the bus was until now. My memory was still hazy, but I could’ve sworn I remembered it being completely full when we left, there had even been people still clamoring to get a seat, failing to do so. The majority of them must have gotten off while I was asleep. With the time being stuck, it was hard to keep track of everything that had happened. A man in a suit a few sizes too big stared somberly out the window three rows ahead. A woman and her two kids sat in the seats next to him, the aisle separating them. There were a few heads up front, but I couldn’t see as well. In all, there were around ten passengers left, including Mancy and I. Still very on edge, I turned to Mancy, carefully checking her facial expression. She was staring straight ahead, eyes unmoving.

“You okay now?” I asked hesitantly.

She acknowledged me slowly, her body shifting first, then her eyes. “What do you mean?” She said slowly.

“Are you kidding, you were totally out of it.” My words came out more accusing than questioning.

Mancy frowned. “I’ve been asleep for a while. I think you’re seeing things.” Her eccentric nature had disappeared, and I decided to not pry anymore. But, as I craned my head up to try and see more of the road we were traveling on, I knew I wasn’t seeing things. There was something wrong with this bus.

Many things seemed to happen at once. The bus came to a screeching halt. The loud hum immediately cut out, and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my ears. The mother sitting up ahead screamed. I heard multiple bags fall to the floor, including my own. Before I could think my movements through and make a thorough decision, I sprang up and staggered towards the aisle. It hadn’t occurred to me that the driver would be my best chance at getting some answers. The aisle seemed endless and I could feel stares following me. What I found up front made my heart drop. The driver’s seat was empty. I screamed.

“What, what’s wrong?” I heard Mancy shouting frantically.

I couldn’t move. My eyes remained focused on the seat, hoping the driver would magically appear and I was just seeing things after traveling nonstop the entire day.

“The driver…” I said trailed off.

“What?” Mancy asked.

The man in the suit suddenly got up, and joined me at the driver’s area. He silently looked at the seat, his eyes slowly taking in the scene. I looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He wordlessly went back to his seat, but not before pressing a crumpled piece of paper in my hand. I sat down in the driver’s seat and opened it, the moonlight shining onto the lined paper.

My name is Jack. I think someone, or something is messing with us. I overheard you noticing how the time is stuck. I’m stuck too.

I almost shouted with relief. My stomach was still turning with fear, but something told me the man in the suit would be more helpful than Mancy and the other passengers. The episode that she had no recollection of still put me on edge. I felt like I was dreaming, and it was getting more and more difficult to determine what was real.

The lights flickered. I swallowed hard. I couldn’t just sit here forever. The lights flickered some more, and then, click. It was dark. The only light was the moon, shining through the trees and through the front window of the bus. The mother screamed again, but everyone else remained silent. If I focused hard enough, I could hear a weird sound. It sounded like something was scratching above us, or in the lights. Suddenly, another click. Red light filled the bus. Fading on and off, on and off, on and off…

“They must be the back-up lights.” Mancy called from the back.

“Yeah…” I said, turning back to the driver’s seat. There must have been something I missed, any kind of clue to figure out where he’d gone. How could he have just disappeared?

There was a digital clock at the front of the bus. I waited for the lights to fade back to red and looked closely. 3:02. Of course.

“Hey, Jack…look at this.” I said, my eyes still on the three numbers. He said nothing, and I heard no indication of him standing up.

“Jack?” I turned around and my heart almost stopped.

From what I could see with the small help of the back-up lights, it looked like everyone had frozen. Mancy, Jack, the mother, and even her children all stared at me with wide eyes, and wide grins, painfully stretched out. I screamed and backed away as far as I could.

“Wake up! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” I pinched my arm. I shook myself. Nothing. Just me standing pressed to the driver’s seat, and the fading lights illuminating my fellow passengers’ faces.

My hands somehow found the button to forcefully unlock the doors to the bus. None of them had moved yet, but their smiles stayed. I scrambled out of the bus, tripping over my own feet. It was cold and dark, too dark. The muted red light continued to flash behind me.

“HELP!” I screamed. “IS ANYONE THERE? I NEED HELP!”

I screamed until I thought my voice would give out. I was out of breath. I was dizzy. I just wanted this all to end. With a resigned sigh, I yanked open the stiff doors of the bus. If I could find the key, maybe I could try driving myself. There had to be a gas station or a town somewhere.

“Where were you?” Mancy asked as I walked back in.

“What?” I was shocked. In my hysterical state, I hadn’t even noticed the lights returning back to normal.

In the back, Mancy rocked back and forth in her seat. Jack continued to stare out of the window like he had for most of the ride. The mother remained staring off into space while the two kids leaned on each of her shoulders, asleep.

No. No. “You were just-” I didn’t even know what to say. “What was going on ten minutes ago?”

“We were sitting around and you randomly ran outside and started screaming.” Mancy said the words casually, like the kind of tone one would use to describe the weather.

“Right.” I said, backing away again. “I’m going to go, and uh…” I fumbled with the latch to open the door. I had to do something to save us.

“I’m going to walk. I’m going to find a town, or a store, or a place where someone can help. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

No one said anything. Mancy shrugged and went back to her magazine. I swiftly walked back down the aisle to grab my bag, and practically ran out of the bus. 

***

I had been walking for hours. I was beginning to give up hope, but anything was better than turning back to the bus. Suddenly, I saw a light up ahead, and a tall, colorful sign. Yes. A corner store and gas station. I knew I would find one eventually. I was exhausted. My mouth felt dry. My limbs protested as I forced myself to run towards the sign.

The man working at the counter looked alarmed as I burst into the store. The brightness of the light and the hum of the freezers pounded against my ears.

“Help,” I wheezed. I hunched over, trying to breathe. “My car…it broke down, or something. Please help.”

The worker walked over to me, concerned. “Alright, alright.” Luckily, he agreed to help. I sat on a crate in the corner of the store until the next worker came in to take over.

“Anyone else with you? We can go back and get them.” The man asked as I was getting into his car. I leaned against the headrest, my eyes closing.

“No.” I said. “No, it’s just me.”

Thankfully, he said nothing else. Before I drifted off, in the darkness of the car and through my blurry vision, I could make out the digits on the console.

3:02.

I was fighting to keep my eyes open. I stared harder. My eyes watered as I held my breath. I watched the last number change so quickly that it would be missed in a blink.

3:03. 

–

The Road To Nowhere is the first story as well as the title of Nandini Mistry’s published collection of eight short stories, The Road To Nowhere.