Lost in the Desert

From Create Your Own Story

Current revision as of 07:20, 21 October 2015

Katie thought she knew where she was going, despite the batteries in her GPS having died. She'd driven many, many miles this trip - there was no way she was off-course. All she had to do was take a right, drive a ways more, then take a left, and she'd be free of this hellish desert.

The town she'd stayed at the night before, Ashville, was a tiny place, maybe 150 people at most. It had been a rather chilly morning there, and Katie had dressed to the weather before heading out. Her plan was to make it through the desert in one day, taking a shortcut crosswise through it to save time.

She'd stopped at the local gas/service station on her way out of town, planning to fill her tank, get her car checked out, and buy some munchies and drinks before leaving on this leg of the journey. The way the fat, greasy proprietor had leered at her through the grubby windows had unsettled her, however, and she'd decided to just fill her tank and go. The GPS said it was two hours to the desert, and another seven through it. She still had several bottles of water in the back seat, and she figured she had enough to make the journey without problem.

Her decision made, she'd hopped in the car and headed out before the proprietor could approach her, glad for the fact she could actually pay at the pump there, without going inside. With the radio blasting, Katie headed off towards the desert, and had made the first turn without trouble.

Twenty minutes later, her troubles began. First the GPS died, forcing her to rely on her map. She then realized she had no landmarks to go off of, beyond the rather hazy impressions of hills in the far distance, and she wasn't quite sure which left was the correct one. Then fate struck it's final blow.

There was a sudden, violent knocking sound, accompanied by the steering wheel shaking violently in her hands, and she swerved for the side of the road as the engine died. Smoke poured from the hood of her car as she braked to a halt on the shoulder of the road. Swearing, Katie popped the hood latch, then climbed out of the car, slamming the door. The stream of expletives flying from Katie's mouth masked the faint click as the door shut.

When Katie lifted the hood, she was greeted by a giant wall of smoke. When it dissipated, Katie realized she was in a bind, as it seemed she had run out of oil, and she didn't have any in the car. Now even more pissed, she went back to the driver's door, and opened it. Or tried to. The handle refused to budge, and Katie realized the door latch had faulted again, and her keys were locked inside.

She was stuck outside, in the late afternoon heat, with nothing but the clothes on her back, in a desert! To make matters worse, those clothes weren't suited to the heat that radiated from the asphalt and sand around her.

Now livid, Katie tried to remember if there was a place she could enlist help from nearby. If she remembered correctly, there was another gas/service station off a turnoff about 5 miles up the road. It was a good distance down the turnoff, though Katie recalled there being what appeared to be a decent-sized hill and a small oasis next to it on the map. There was also an entry lane to a house she remembered passing somewhere down the road behind her, but she couldn't recall how far exactly. The sun was mercilessly hammering down on her, and she could feel sweat pouring down her face and beneath her clothes.

With nothing but terrible options before her, Katie chooses to...

Wait next to her car for someone to hopefully come by

Set off towards the house, sticking to the road

Set off across the desert towards the gas station