Chapter 35
Breakdown
(Phil Tulley)
Hip-hop music blasting.
“Yeah!” All four of Misha’s teammates were being loud and obnoxious and truth be told, Phil was loving every minute of it. The teammates were nice. Not exactly the type of people that Phil would expect to be driving home on a random Tuesday night, but sometimes life throws curves at you.
This week there had been a lot of curves thrown at Phil. Everything from the death of Julie, to finding out about his granddaughter, to now being forced to drive home four of Misha’s rowdy friends.
The whole experience was oddly therapeutic for Phil. Mainly because he was forced out of his comfort zone of wanting to slowly die, so that he could join his Julie.
Of course, Misha but the nix to that, all but forcing him up to help her. Which was good, as he might have done well with raising his little Misha, but his daughter, Andrea, on the other hand was a piece of work.
Phil knew he couldn’t quit now, lest he force Misha to practically raise herself. Though she had been doing that for most of her life, at least that is how things seemed. As most of the time Phil found himself just watching her grow from an astoundingly brilliant little girl to the person she was today. Truth be told, Phil couldn’t be prouder of his granddaughter, which was why taking time to get to know her friends was a worthwhile investment, that and the fact that their energy was infectious and something he desperately needed right now.
They were making good time.
Phil felt his heart beginning to panic as he instinctively realized he was getting close to the place. The one stretch of road where his Julie died.
Rounding the turn, he got to the point where the set of trees were visible. The set of trees that caught Julie’s car that had been sideswiped and sent flying off.
The rest of the girls seemed to notice the change in Phil, as they grew quiet as well, suddenly turning their attention towards Phil.
Now only the music playing its steady rhythmic beat, and the purr coming from Misha’s car were the only noises that could be heard.
Then just like that, the world changed.
WOOOSHHH!
A bright light that was brighter than the sun shot out from space, surrounded the planet and seemed to strike into and through the vehicle.
Voonn.
Then just like that the power seemed to be drained from the vehicle. The once brightly lit interior of the vehicle went dark, and suddenly Phil had to fight and wrestle with the steering wheel to turn left, and avoid impaling himself on the same two trees that took his wife.
For a split second, Phil thought about letting go, of letting fate take him. Then his eyes caught the four girls that were in his care. Four friends that Misha had made, four friends that seemed by all accounts to be good girls, people that he wanted Misha to bond with. That was when Phil reached down and felt a surge of adrenaline spike in his body as he wrestled with the steering wheel and forced the wheels to turn left. The feat was a lot harder than he remembered it being when he was younger, back before all this power steering was a thing.
Rotate, rotate, rotate.
Then finally the still spinning wheels turned and began to slow down as the torque and pull of the engine was gone.
ERRRRKKK!
The car screeched and slid violently on the road, only after a few heart stopping minutes did the vehicle finally skid to a stop.
Silence.
Phil had somehow managed to keep his vehicle on his lane of the road, but barely. Just behind him, to his right were the two trees where Juile had her own life cut short. Now Phil found himself nearly at the same spot, and he swore to himself that he would never drive this path again. Of course, the minute he had that thought he instantly refused it, as he would never be able to see the spot where Julie died, if he did that.
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Then just as Phil had the presence of mind to shift the dead vehicle into park. He felt the gears shift, and let out a sigh of relief once he knew the vehicle was safely secured.
That is when the momentary lull around him began to fade. That is when he and the other passengers of the vehicle all began to move and speak, almost in unison.
“Oh my god, Mr. Phil, that was amazing.” Jasmine said.
“Yeah, thank you.” Kami added.
“Yeah, you saved us.” Tamy said.
With that, Phil paused, waiting for his own heart rate to drop, then asked the obvious question.
“You girls okay?”
“Yeah.” They all responded almost in unison.
Hearing that Phil could only smile and nod tiredly. The entire thing had been exhausting for Phil, but looking to his right, he saw Tamy looked shocked, then she turned to the shiny black object in her hand. A black object that could only be seen now thanks to the glow of the moonlight that seeped its way into the vehicle.
“Anyone got a signal, my phone is dead.” Tamy asked.
“What, yeah, mine too.” Kami added.
“Same.” Amoni and Jasmine both added.
With that Phil already having his hand on his chest, felt around and then felt the semi-familiar shape of his phone.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he was glad he remembered the crazy thing. Truth be told, the only reason he even had his own phone was so he could talk to Misha. Now he was happy that he had it, as it meant he could call for help.
Suddenly a memory of how Julie likely needed to call for help from this very spot crossed his mind, but was instantly repressed as he pressed buttons and tried to get the blasted thing to come to life. However, the stupid thing had nearly a full charge a moment ago, and now it was dead when he needed it the most.
“What was that blast?”
“Was it some form of EMP?”
“Had to have been, right? I mean all our electronics are out.”
The girls started talking rapidly. Phil wanted to correct them, stating that it couldn’t possibly be an EMP, as what hit them came from space, or at least that is what the blast looked like.
Phil finally, feeling relaxed enough to do more without pushing his already tired heart turned to face the girls. All of whom seemed to be desperate to turn on their phones and likely call for help. At least that is what Phil hoped the girls would do with their phones once they got reception.
For his part, Phil reached down and groped around wildly, until he finally found the release for the hood.
Clunk.
Jump scare.
With the hood coming loose, all four girls instantly jumped in their seats, not expecting the sudden sound. Seeing them, Phil only smiled and spoke.
“Sorry about that. Figured I’d go out and try to see what happened.” Phil said, gesturing towards the hood.
“Okay, be safe out there.” Jasmine responded.
Hearing her concern Phil could only smile, as he thought that these girls were good friends. With that he calmed down his adrenaline infused hands to slow down enough to click open his seat belt, and then left the vehicle.
Feeling around blindly, he found latch holding the hood in place, then lifted up the hood, and realized that he was far too old to be seeing things in the dark. For a moment he looked for a light, only to realize that even his little pocket flashlight on his keyring was dead. He had nothing to help him see the vehicle.
Frustrated, he ultimately closed the hood, realizing that he would either have to wait until morning to work on the car. Or what was more likely the case, he would need to get his car towed back to his house.
Then fear struck him, as he realized this wasn’t his car, but Misha’s car.
“God, she’s going to kill me.” Phil let out in a huff, as he got back into the vehicle.
“Who is?” Tamy asked.
“Misha, this is her car after all.” Phil added.
“What do we do now?” Amoni asked.
Phil was about to say that if this lasts for too much longer they should all head back to the farm and wait, but at that exact moment the darkened interior of the car suddenly burst to light.
There was a shocked silence that overtook everyone as they all paused to look at Phil. Well not Phil exactly, but at the sudden source of light that was coming from his pocket and adding some light to an otherwise impossibly dark night.
“What?” Everyone asked.
There was a pause before the customized ring tone came through loud and clear.
My Way by Frank Sinatra.
Pausing, Phil felt his heart skip a beat, as he knew that tone. That tone was only meant for one person.
Grabbing the phone, Phil quickly swiped at the giant green button to answer the call.
“Hello.”
And like that, the most beautiful voice he had ever heard called out to him. That was the same voice that Julie had when she was younger, and now just hearing someone talking to him was a godsend.
“Misha!” The other girls in the car all called out in unison.
“Misha, you need to call for help. Your car broke down just past the bend where grandma’s accident occurred.” Phil said.
“I know. But you have to realize that most everything is down right now.” Misha said.
“How is his phone even working?” Amoni asked, looking from the glowing light to her own chunk of dead plastic in her hands.
Phil wanted to say that this was just what Misha did, but then he paused as even this seemed to be too much to explain away.
“Grandpa, can you put me on speaker and place this phone on the dashboard of the vehicle?” Misha asked, though her words were mostly commands more than anything.
“What? Why?” Tamy asked.
Phil, remembering her odd abilities with knocking out drones, and having realized who, or rather what she was, didn’t argue. Instead, he just did as she asked. Pushing the speakerphone button, and then placing the phone on the dashboard.
“Okay, I did as you asked.”
Silence.
Phil was in a car filled with four teenage girls, and only now did he realize how eerily silent they could all be, when gathered around looking at one distinct task.
Phil gave a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see that everyone was staring at the open phone.
“Okay, just leave it there for a moment.” Misha stated.
Then with that, everyone looked on with silence.
Click, click.
After a few seconds, random noises could be heard sparking to life and moving throughout the vehicle.
Everyone looked on like this was some prank. Phil could swear that Amoni was looking to the woods to see if people would come out trying to scare them, but nothing.
Then the impossible happened.
VRROOM!
Suddenly the vehicle sparked to life. The interior lights came on, almost at the same time that the headlights also came back on. The car fully revved to life, the more it did, the more the interior lights began to glow brighter.
There was the sudden sound of five sets of lungs breathing in deeply in sudden shock.
Everyone just stared on in shock, not wanting to make a sound, lest this all come crashing down around them.
“All right, that should be enough for you to get going again. Keep the phone up here. Can you ask Two-Tone if she will hold the phone in place on the dashboard?” Misha’s voice called out from the speakers.
Nodding.
Phil nodded, then realizing he likely needed to speak answered out loud. Then slightly turning to the girl he said, “yeah, I’ll ask her.”
“Okay, drive safely. You shouldn’t have to worry about other drivers, but know that you might see other parked vehicles as well.” Misha said.
“Okay.” Phil said, and then clicking his seat belt back into place, he turned to the others. “Ready to go home?”
“Yeah!” Amoni responded, a no-duh tone to her voice.
Then like that, Phil began driving again, this time making sure to go slower, lest he stumble upon other stranded motorists.
"Why don't our phones work?" Kami asked, but Phil didn't answer. Instead, he decided to focus on driving slowly and safely.
Needless to say, despite the warning and safety measures, Phil was not ready for what he saw.