The town I live in is small, but not so small that everyone knows each other. We live in a suburban area about 20 minutes away from the city. Life for the most part has been about as far from unusual as it gets - people go to work, kids go to school, after hours people stay at home and relax or go out to the local bars or restaurants to enjoy a night out. Nothing out of the ordinary has ever happened to us here. That is, up until two days ago.
It started around the beginning of August, end of July. 37 y/o Alexis L. was driving home from her mother’s house. She was driving down the main road when she slammed into the back of a pickup truck at 70mph. It’s always been an issue around here, people driving fast down the main road. There’s nothing on either side for about a mile, and there’s always been crashes every once in a while. Usually people get rear ended, but it’s only caused deaths a couple of times that I can remember. Alexis was the latest fatality on that road. I saw the aftermath while driving home from work that day. There were police cars and ambulances blocking the road, and they were directing people around the wreckage. As I drove by, I rubbernecked a little and saw a small hatchback. The front end had been completely smashed in on the driver’s side. The ambulance was just closing its doors. Someone honked at me from behind so I hastily sped up to move along, realizing I had nearly stopped to look. I was imagining how horrific it was that a simple mistake while on the road could cause your life to end in an instant. Shaken up a bit, I continued driving home. After a few minutes, I put on a podcast and listened to that on the way home, forgetting completely about it by the time I pulled into my driveway.
When I got home, my wife was watching Netflix on the couch. I tossed my keys into the little bowl by the door and took my shoes off. I went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.
“Hey honey, did you make anything for dinner? Or did you just have leftovers?” I asked her across the room.
“No, I didn’t have anything yet”, she replied. “I was thinking we could order something on Postmates if you’re okay with that”.
“Sure, what were you thinking? I could go for some Chinese food”, I said. If I’d known, I would have stopped on the way home. But I figured it was alright, I could join her for a movie while we wait for the delivery.
“Sure! If they have it, get me kung pao chicken please”, she said.
I pulled up Postmates and put in the order. $38.96. I tipped the driver a little extra this time, as the same guy usually delivers for us. I see him around sometimes, he’s a young guy who wasn’t struggling by any means, but I figured he could use a little extra pocket money. I opened my beer, went to the couch, and sat beside her.
About 30 minutes later, we hear tires screeching, and a loud slamming noise. I shot up, a bit shocked.
“Did you hear that? I think there was another crash on the main road. There was one on the way home, too.”
“Yeah, I heard it”, she said.
“Should we call 911?”
“No, cause then the police might ask us questions and I’m too tired to deal with that. I’m sure they’re fine, and if they’re not, someone else will call.”
Worried, but hopeful everything would be fine, I sat back down.
I remembered the scene of the first one, and felt a little uneasy. My mind replayed the image of the hatchback, crushed beyond repair. I hoped this one wasn’t as bad, and that at the very least nobody was hurt or killed this time.
2 hours went by, and the food never showed up. Confused, and a little frustrated, I cancelled our order and got my money back. I knew the kid, but I didn’t want to tip someone extra for a delivery he never finished. I just made some Mac and cheese for me and my wife, and we went to bed after the movie ended.
The next morning, I woke to my alarm, 7:30am. I had to be at work by 9. I got up and went to the kitchen to make some coffee, switching on the news as I went by the living room. What I heard next made my heart sink.
“Breaking news this morning after an investigation into three accidents last night that left 4 dead. 37 year old Alexis L., 19 year old Trevor M, and a couple, who has not yet been identified, were killed in a series of rear end collisions…”
I stopped listening as soon as I heard Trevor’s name. He was the delivery driver who was supposed to bring us our food. I turned off the news, and went back into the bedroom.
“Hey, you remember the crash we heard last night?
“Yeah, what about it?” she asked, almost with impatience.
“It was Trevor. He was on the way with our food and was killed in the accident.”
She looked down for a second, then looked back up at me.
“That’s awful.” She said dismissively. I was confused as to why she seemed so irritated at me, but I brushed it off and got dressed. I got into my car and started off to work. It’s always a little slow going around here in the morning as a lot of people have to take the main road to get to work. I wasn’t really paying too much attention; Just stopping and going with the flow of traffic.
As I approached the main intersection, it was a red light. I was the second car in line, and the car in front of me was driving a bit fast. I started slowing down, knowing they would have to brake a bit hard to stop in time. Their brake lights came on, but he didn’t slow down. In fact, it looked like they were speeding up.
The next few moments felt like an hour. My heart started racing as they crossed the stopping line, and blew through into cross traffic. The intersection was blocked completely by the perpendicular flow of traffic, and as the car in front of me sped towards the wall of cars, time slowed down.
The person in front of me slammed into the side of a sedan, sending it flying sideways into another car going the other direction. That car burst into flames before being obliterated by another one, sending it’s occupant flying into the road through the windshield. I was horrified as that person was run over by a pickup truck, which then slammed into the traffic light post after visibly losing traction due to there being a man under his rear tire.
I sat there in shock. Two of the cars were an inferno. I could feel the heat from the flames all the way back where I was. At least one person was dead- I watched him get dragged along the road, leaving a red trail behind him.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I don’t even remember what happened between the accident and when the fire department and police showed up. People were getting out to go see if they could help. I saw some people reel back in horror. One woman threw up and started crying.
They started directing people around the accident, telling them that the intersection would be closed down while they cleared the wreck from the road. I drove silently to work.
I got home later that night, still in a daze. I said nothing as I dropped my keys into the bowl and took my shoes off.
“Hey honey! How was work?” My wife asked.
“Good. It was good.” I said in a monotone voice. I sat down next to her.
“Did you see the news? There was another crash this morning. 9 people died!” She said.
I was a little confused at her tone - she seemed almost excited, like a little kid who had just seen a puppy.
“Yeah, I saw it all”, I replied softly.
“Really? What happened? Did you see it up close?”
She was acting extremely strange, with some sort of eerie morbid curiosity.
“No, I didn’t. I just drove to work.”
I turned on the TV to distract myself.
“Breaking news tonight. We’re just getting new information from the police department after an investigation into the chain of fatal crashes. The latest crash this morning caused the death of 9 people, and investigators have found that the accidents were caused by brake failure. It appears that many cars in the area have been sabotaged by having the brake lines cut and then repaired with tape. Nothing else is known about this other than a woman was seen on security camera footage from one victim’s home underneath their car. While no arrests have been made, we do know from the footage that the woman has brown hair and is about 5’5. We ask that if you know anything about this, please report it to the police department as soon as possible, and as a precaution, please check underneath your vehicle before driving. It’s possible that more cars have been affected, and if you find your brake lines to have been tampered with, please file a report as well. Stay safe out there.”
My mind is racing at this point. All the lives lost for no reason. I can’t understand what that person would even want.
“Who would do something like that?” I ask, furious. “Who would want people to crash their cars? What’s the point? I was this fucking close to being in that crash this morning.”
“I don’t know but it seems like they don’t have much information about the person who did it.”, She says. “But we live kind of far from where they saw her. I think we’re alright.”
I then went straight to bed without having dinner. I started crying in the dark, horrified at what I saw that morning. I guess I cried myself to sleep, because I woke up the next morning to a slightly damp pillow. I got up, and did my normal morning routine as best I could. Coffee, news, get dressed, and head to work.
I pause for a second before getting in my car. Out of curiosity and caution, I bend over to check under my car. On the driveway, I see a small stain. Looking above it, I see a tube hanging down, taped in the middle. My eyes widen with fear. I stumbled backwards and turned to run inside and tell my wife that my car had been hit.
Before I said anything, my eyes caught something on the workbench. I always put everything away after I finished working, so it was strange to see anything left out.
I stopped for a second and looked closer. It was hard to see, as the garage was dark. I flipped the lights on, and that’s when my heart dropped to the floor.
Sitting on the workbench, all by itself, was a roll of tape next to a pair of wire cutters.