( pls keep in mind this is a draft and not the final version )
day 1.
the rain the mist. the green rolling mountains of appalachia. the dense tree line of pines and oaks barely let the sun in. as the cloudcover tinted the light into a hazy orange and the air around it muddied it with a haze of blue.
the hum of the engine. the whir of the ac. the beep of the turn light that i left on. this road was going on forever. my eyes where tired i barely had any sleep. i couldnt sleep. not with all the problems in my life. i went out for a drive. leaving my dads cabin in the dead of night in this light storm. and i couldnt find my way back. i had driven those road nearly 1000 times before. i never got lost going up here before. i could swear the way i had gone took alot less time then i was getting back.
30 minutes had passed on a 10 minute trip. i had passed the same stop sign 3 times now. and the same rundown gas station dinner. 2 times. and now was the 3rd. a chill ran down my spine. was i dreaming? was these one of those looping waking dream. maybe i needed to stop and park at the side of the road and collect my thoughts. maybe a drink would snap me out of it?
the car lulled into a stop. at the side of the diner parking in the dirt parkinglot. i reached for the door and let the cool fresh mountain air in. but it didnt feel right. it had a heat in it. like a static sensation. and a ringing in my ear. the ear smelled like rotting eggs or copper. it was warm like the electrons in where more active then usual? weird. maybe it was aurora borealis its the lights in the sky season. there used to be stuff like that in the mountains here but it went away due to the light pollution of the city.
i looked up. and i was right. but it wasnt colorful it was like this hazey red and violet and very faint. and it stretched across the sky only when a huge bolt of lightning would streak. i guess it charged its energy like an after burn. boom- the roar of thunder. it took a couple seconds to get to my ears. the storms epicenter must be pretty far away. which was weird since it wasnt the season. guess thats part of the world changing from human activity. i frowned
walking up to the door of the dinner. i heard old classy music. like 1990s late i remember my dad listening to this stuff. oh great im in some boomer bar at night. i tidey up my clothes in the reflection of the door before going in. same black jeens and black jacket, a pair of nice oiled leather boots my dad made for me.. with a parka to cover my red hair and the same pale white skin and blue eyes gazing back at me.
i look at the rifle slung on my shoulder. should? i leave it in the car? no i might need it. these rednecks might try to mug me. or worse not take me seriously as some city person who cant shoot a deer at 100 meters. ol reliable winchester 1886 break rifle. 45 70 government caliber. ( this has been changed in the update )
these things where a dime a dozen in the attics and backyard sales of rural towns and sherifs office vaults. they just never fell out of fashion in quiet small towns. and the surplus of easy to make and cheap ammo. with a reliable old vintage country platform. was just the kind of obsolete nostalgia my parents and their parents, and i subscribed too.
i got a can of very old ammo in my pocket. they are less for shooting. more for showing off. to tell others this is a original model and not some replica. because the gun has become way too refurbished to consider genuine. but it still has alot of history since it was one of the first ones out the door.
here goes nothing- i open the door. i hear the chatter of the crowd. the aircondition and the smell of food. i see a crowd but its a haze. its blurry. then my foot catches on something a burger someone had dropped mushing against my squeeky clean oiled boot. NOOO i scream in rage. mostly at myself and who ever left that on the floor. i glare back up. but then..
the rooms empty. and the nice interior is a barren husk. everything has rotted away. it smells like asphestus and mold. the windows are all shattered but coming in here they where all intact. the chairs are thorn up and rotted. they smell gross. the cashregister is smashed to peices and coins are all across the floor. but all the paper money is gone. the glasses are stolen or broken all the drawers and cuberds are empty. the vending machine is smashed and their a ton of empty cans stacked up on the side of the room in a triangular tower.
damn? em i really that tired? that had to be a hallucination. watever it was. i got to get out of here. i go for the door. but turn around behind me. and the door is baricaded with bars of wood. it looked like it was baricaded from the otherisde since the wooden slab is on that side. and it has moss growing around it and some creeping vines. i wince my eyes and blink. how did i even get in here? if that was closed. i could have sworn i opened it a few minutes ago.
well watever. my hearts racing and something doesnt feel right. i have to find some way out of here. i look around me. and there is a door further inside. and their seems to be some light at the end of a hallway. sunlight probably threw a hole somewhere. maybe that way i can get out. i look around the broken windows. the way they are built is their are metal bars since this is an old style diner. its filled with broken glass and jagged metal. so i cant get out this way. but if worse comes to wear. i can just manually break each bar of metal and glass with the end of my rifle. but i dont want to go threw the effort if there is another way out of here that is easier.