text: The rain fell through the night like bullets. John was speeding down the road of the rural countryside in his truck. Even with his windshield wipers on the fastest setting, he could barely see 5 feet ahead. Luckily, he had traveled up and down this road for many decades, so he wasn’t too worried about his lack of visibility. John was still annoyed with the rain, though. He had hoped to get out before it started pouring, but had been unsuccessful. His clothes were still wet. John was aware of the fact that he was almost out of gas, but because he knew the area, wasn’t worried. There was a gas station up ahead, he knew. He considered getting some food, but doubted his ability to eat and drive in the extreme rain. This rain was extreme. The weather had been hot the rest of the week, so the air was sickeningly humid. Luckily, John reached the small gas station before he ran out of gas. He mentally prepared himself to step out into the weather. The humidity, combined with the rain, made John feel like he was standing under water. He quickly filled his car with gas, and decided he would treat himself with something to eat, as well as try to wait out the rain. He sprinted into the gas station, and stepped through the automatic doors, soaking wet. If it weren’t for the rain, the emptiness of the gas station would have surprised him. As John walked in, the cashier’s eyes followed him. He browsed through the limited selection of snacks as the cashier silently stared at him. John settled on a nice bag of chips, and went to grab a drink from the refrigerators in the back of the gas station. He returned to the register with his snack and his drink, and noticed that the cashier was gone. John assumed that he must have gone to the bathroom. Five minutes passed, but the cashier didn’t return. John suddenly remembered that this gas station didn’t have a bathroom. Where was the cashier? John decided to continue waiting; maybe if he waited long enough, it would stop raining. After another couple of minutes or so, John decided to just put some money on the counter and leave. Just as he was retrieving money from his pocket, though, he heard a noise. It sounded like a voice. It had come from outside. John didn’t make out what the voice had said. He was surprised he even heard it at all through the rain. John, now sure that the cashier was outside, figured he would go tell him he was ready to pay. John stepped out into the rainstorm. Looking around, he did not see the cashier. Not wanting to get too wet, he stepped back inside. John heard the voice again. It had definitely come from outside. This time, John made out some of what the voice had said. John was certain he had heard “Are you... “ but didn’t quite catch the rest. Realising that this was a waste of time, John placed some money on the counter, grabbed his food, and sprinted through the rain back to his truck. As he started to drive away, he spotted the cashier in his rear view mirror, standing by the door of the gas station. John hoped that the cashier would notice the money on the counter, and drove back into the night. John opened his bag of chips and ate a handful of them. As he reached for a second handful, the bag tipped over and spilled onto the floor of his car. John checked that the road was clear before bending down and scooping some of the chips up. As he popped his head back up, he caught what looked like a hitchhiker on the side of the road out of the corner of his eye. John felt badly for him, standing out in the rain, but didn’t feel like driving back to let a wet stranger into his car. John continued on his journey. Through the heavy rain and the fog, John saw what he thought was another hitchhiker on the opposite side of the road. It was weird that there would be two different people hitchhiking so close together. He sped past, and noticed that the person did not have their thumb out. Now John was really confused. Why would two different people be standing on the side of the road, out in the pouring rain? More alert, John kept his eyes on the treeline. He was fearful he would see a third person standing on the side of the road. Seconds after thinking this, John, indeed, spotted a third person standing on the side of the road. He got a clearer look at the person this time. The person looked like the cashier from the gas station. That was impossible. Lost in thought and fear, John barely noticed that he drove past a fourth person standing on the side of the road. John was shocked. All of the people he had driven past looked exactly the same. Speeding up, he wasn’t sure what was going on, and just wanted to get home. John heard a voice. Through the sound of the car and the pouring rain, John heard a voice. It was the same voice he had heard back at the gas station. It said the same thing it had said at the gas station, too. John heard the voice more clearly this time. “Are you ok...” and then it was unintelligible. John was now terrified. Where did the voice come from? It sounded muffled, like it had come from outside his car, but he was speeding down the road. How could he have heard it? John passed two more people who looked like the cashier. John tried to ignore them. His heart was pounding. John was driving the fastest he had ever driven before. The rain now hit his windshield horizontally. He was full of adrenaline, and question after question raced through his mind. Who were these people? Why did they all look the same? Why were they standing in the rain in the middle of the night? Why hadn’t he passed any other cars? Thunder boomed as John raced around a tight bend in the road. The rain had made the road slick, and John started to lose control of his truck. He flew off the side of the road, and crashed into a tree. John awoke, unaware of how long he had been unconscious. It was raining harder than ever. His head throbbed with pain as he looked out his truck’s window. Twenty feet down the road stood the cashier from the gas station. John had had enough. John opened the glove compartment of his truck in search of his revolver. His vision was blurry from the crash. Keeping his eyes on the man down the road, he rummaged through the glove compartment, pulling things out as he searched for his weapon. He pulled a handful of old napkins, a candy wrapper, and a bottle of pills out of the glove compartment. John panicked. He couldn’t find his revolver, and he didn’t think an old Kit-Kat wrapper or medication would help him protect himself. John stepped out of his truck. As soon as he stood up, he became dizzy, and had to sit back down. The pain in his head was growing sharper and sharper. He staggered towards the man. The man kept staring. Slowly, John made his way to the staring man, yelled at him, asked him why he was following him. John shouted at the man, but the man remained silent. As John got closer, he realized that the man was smiling at him. Smiling, and standing completely still. John continued to scream at the man as he stepped closer and closer. The pain in John’s head was almost blinding. John slipped on the slick pavement, and fell to his knees. He looked up at the man. The man was still there. Still smiling. John got to his feet, and as he did, lightning struck. The lightning illuminated the whole forest and for a split second, John had a perfect view of the man who had been stalking him. The man was wearing a suit. He was standing in an odd pose. His arms were crossed. He had no legs. He was flat with an unchanging expression. There was something next to him. Letters were next to him. Words seemingly floating in the air. They read: Vote for Steven Erikson for Mayor! John’s vision started to fade. John collapsed to the ground, and called out for help. The campaign sign did not respond, just continued to stare, continued to smile. John looked up into the rain, and everything turned white.