Chapter 1 #2
He scratches his whiskers as if thinking. "I can do a fancy Margarita."
"Yes, that," I snap way too fast. "Fancy Margarita would be great."
He gets to making my drink and I take my phone out and text Clancy.
What's happening?
No answer.
Great, I put my phone down on the bar and stare at the back of the bartender.
I can't wait for this fucking drink. My phone vibrates on the bar and I pick it up, it's Clancy. "Hi."
"Don’t freak out."
I frown, that doesn’t sound good.
"So apparently there isn’t a transfer company open, the one company there who does transfers for that distance is closed for refurbishment for a month."
"What?" I pinch the bridge of my nose.
"Don’t worry, I'm just looking for a charter flight now. I'll find someone to fly you straight to Anchorage"
"Okay, good idea."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm at the bar."
"Well, don’t drink too much until I find you a flight."
I roll my eyes.
"I'll be back soon."
"Speak then." I hang up just as the bartender puts the drink in front of me, only it's not a drink, it’s a concoction. And when I say concoction, I mean, what the actual hell is this crap? The only thing that resembles a Margarita, is the glass.
"What is this?" I frown.
"A fancy Margarita."
"It's red."
He smiles broadly. "That’s the fancy bit."
I narrow my eyes as I study the drink and point to the balls floating at the top. "Are these grapes?"
"Aha," he smiles proudly. "Super fancy, just for you."
"Ha-ha, great." I lie.
Kill me now.
I tentatively pick it up and take a sip. I try hard not to screw up my face in disgust. Oh hell, I think he used a cleaning product instead of Tequila.
"Well?" he smiles hopefully, as he waits for my verdict.
"Oh…," I fake a smile. "It's…," I pause as I try to find an alternative word to fucking poison. "Wonderful."
He gives me a cheesy wink. "Don’t you worry about us in Fairbanks, we know our shit."
I stare at him as I realize that a truer statement has never been made, this drink is literal shit in a cup. "Yes…yes, you do." I smile.
He turns his back to me and gets back to work and I wince as I take another sip.
Oh hell…this is fucking bad. I look around for somewhere to empty it so that he won't see. At least he tried.
My phone rings again, it's Clancy. "Hi."
"I can't find one anywhere."
"What?"
"Nobody can do a charter until Friday."
"What do you mean?" I whisper angrily. "This is getting fucking ridiculous."
"There are no charter flights until Friday."
I roll my eyes in disgust.
"I'm renting you a car."
"For what?"
"You're going to have to drive."
"What, now?" My forehead creases in horror. "Are you serious?"
"I don’t know how to get you there if you don’t drive yourself. I told you we should have postponed."
My blood begins to boil.
"I'm going to call around and try and find you accommodation halfway on the trip. I googled it, and it seems like just one highway. That should be easy," she says, but I can hear the panic in her voice.
"Where is my original hotel?"
"The Four Seasons in Anchorage."
"Okay." I'll make that tonight, I'm not completely useless. I glance around to see the car rental counter over at the other side of the airport. "I'll get a car, don’t you worry. Go back to bed."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm fine." I stare at the drink in front of me. If I can drink that, I can do anything. "Okay, speak later."
"Are you alright?" she asks.
"Of course, I am, how hard can it be to drive seven hours?" I pick up my drink and take another sip. This shit is actually getting a little better…. or maybe I'm just drunk on cleaning fluid now?
"You're in Alaska."
I wince as I swallow. "Well aware, I'll keep in touch. Get better." I hang up and drain my drink.
Okay, let's do this.
I march up to the car rental counter. "Hello." I smile. "I need to rent a car, please."
"Yes, sure." The woman smiles. "How long will you need it for?"
"Well," I shrug. "I missed my flight to Anchorage so now I have to drive there."
"Okay." She types into her computer. "Drop off at Anchorage airport…on, when is your returning flight?"
"Yes, Friday."
"Do you want the car until then?"
"Yes, please." I slide my credit card across the desk to her.
She continues to type into her computer. "Now…have you driven here before?"
"No."
"Okay, well, there is a weather system warning for tonight."
"What does that mean?"
"We are expecting snow”
"Oh." I smile in relief, "I can handle a little snow.”
"Yes, it's not showing too much on the radar. If you come across any ice on the road, I would suggest you pull over if you aren’t accustomed to driving through it."
"Oh good." I smile, relieved. "If I get tired, I am just going to pull into a hotel anyway."
"Okay, sounds like a plan." She keeps typing into her computer. "What kind of car did you want?"
"What drives the best?"
"I'd probably go with a SUV?"
"Are they hard to drive?"
"No, easier on our roads. Can handle all weather with a heavier tire."
"Sounds good."
She shuffles through her keys and hands me a set.
"If you go out these doors and over to our parking lot, you will see a black SUV; that’s your ride."
I take the keys from her. "Perfect." I grab my suitcase and laptop bag and make my way out to the parking lot to see the black SUV parked.
I feel myself wither a little. "Jeez, that’s a big beast." I click the keys and it lights up as it unlocks.
I peer in and am pleasantly surprised. Black leather interior, with all the modern upgrades.
Quite luxurious really. I throw my things in the back and climb in and get behind the wheel.
I type ‘Anchorage, Four Seasons’ into the navigation system and start the car.
I smile broadly, as I look around. This car is actually pretty cool.
Four hours later, I sit forward in my seat and grip the steering wheel with white-knuckle force.
"This is a fucking nightmare," I mutter.
The wipers are going as fast as they can.
Loud and fast, and still, I can't see through the windshield.
It's pouring rain, torrential actually. And to top it off, I've lost internet connection, so my maps have stopped working.
I glanced over the map route before I started driving and I'm pretty sure I just have to stay on this road.
But at this point, who knows where the hell I am?
It's dark and wet and I'm in the middle of a forest, huge trees line the sides of the winding road. There isn’t anywhere safe that I can pull over and stop. I just need to keep going until I find a gas station or get to a town so I can get service again.
I glance at the bars on my phone…. still nothing.
Fuck.
I come around a winding bend and a huge branch lays across the road and I swerve to miss it. The car hits a puddle and spins into a 360. "Ahhh," I cry as I lose control.
I go through the barrier at the side of the road and over the embankment and down a sloping hill. I'm bouncing all over the place as I try to regain control of the car. The wheels completely lose traction and the brakes aren’t working. I run straight into a tree trunk.
The car comes to a dead halt and I close my eyes in relief and put my head into my hands. I pant as adrenaline rushes through my system and my heart is beating fast.
I look up at my surroundings; huge trees surround my car. It's pitch black and pouring rain. I pick up my phone, still no service.
"Holy fuck, what do I do now?"
I sit for a moment in the darkness as I try to calm myself down. I peer through the back window as I try to work out how far I travelled from the main road. Can't be too far. I need to get out of here.
The sound of the rain is deafening on the roof of the car and the windshield wipers are going at full speed still.
I straighten the wheel and put the car into reverse as I peer through the back window. I can't see for shit. I put my foot down on the accelerator and the wheels spin. I do it again and I can hear them spinning hard over the engine in the mud but there is no traction.
I'm trapped.
Shit, this is the monumental fuck up of all fuck ups.
Think.
What would be the logical thing to do?
I could try and dig the car out of the mud, but with the rain coming down like it is, there is next to zero chance of that; everything is mud.
I could walk up to the highway and try and flag down a passing car.
What cars, there are no fucking cars. Maybe I should just stay in the car until morning?
I look around at my surroundings. It's dark and creepy and pouring down rain and the windshield is fogging up on the inside. Spending the night here is my worst nightmare.
I try to think outside the box, what would you do if a car was trapped in mud? I try to think back to those reality in the wild television programs and what they would do in this circumstance. Put sticks under the wheels to try and drive over for traction.
Yes, that’s it.
I open the door and the rain is really coming down hard. I slam the door shut again.
Oh crap.
For ten minutes, I sit in the darkness weighing my options.
Okay, get out of the car, find some sticks and put them under the wheels. How hard can that be?
I glance down at what I'm wearing, a tight skirt with high heel shoes. "You idiot," I mutter as I peer out onto the ground, maybe I should take my shoes off. No, I need them, who knows what's on the ground out there. "These are fucking expensive shoes, too."
"Okay, let's do this." I give myself a pep talk. I take a deep breath and open the door in a rush. I climb out and look around at my surroundings. The car is on a gentle slope. It’s not as bad as I first thought. I walk around the car, inspecting the damage; only one back tire is buried in mud.
Yes, maybe I could get out of here.