An Escape

Pepper

It was a good ol road trip, friends dance high school that hadn't seen each other in years. Cruising down the road in a van that had seen better days but had been reliable since the day it was bought.

The days since they were in high school long gone and now reminiscing and catching up after nearly a decade. Mark and Sharon got hitched, Sharon was chatting up Charice about a virus that's been going around, Mikey had a new facial scar, Bobby had picked up his father's racism but he was working on it, and Tommy had learned piano and at the same time he had lost his leg while out in Dallas, tripped on train tracks and it wasn't too long before the train came by.

Good times, bad times, they shared them all. On the horizon something caught the eyes of everyone, a pillar of smoke black as pitch. The engine revved as Mark hit the gas, he had to make sure nothing was wrong, such a protector he was.

As they came up to the pillar of smoke they saw it originated from a blazing car fire, surrounded by cops and the fire engine had just shown up and they started up the hose. The water hissed as it hit the flames and created rainbows in the smoke as it splashed off the wreckage, though the blaze wasn't going down at all, it'd take a lot more water.

As the van pulled up to the wreckage an officer walked up and Mark rolled the window down and asked "Officer what happened, is everyone ok?"
Leaning against the car the officer said

"Can't say they were, as far as we know it was just one guy in there and we've been chasing him for miles, he stole an artifact that was being moved to a museum. No clue how but his car just burst into flames, he's presumed dead but we can't get to him with all this flame. Y'all should move on, shouldn't let this carnage ruin your trip. Take care."

Mark rolled up the window, they didn't deserve to die in such a terrible way. He looked back and said "Pretty shitty thing, the guy didn't deserve that."

Bobby replied "I mean he did steal from a museum, that's history he stole."

Mikey held up a silver briefcase and said "maybe whatever he stole was worth dying for, you never know"

Mark shouts "Where the fuck did you get that!?"

"It was on the other side of the road, I hopped out the back while you were talking to the cop and I snagged it, figured the guy must've chucked the thing before his car exploded cause the thing is practically spotless."

"Well let's pop it open see what he got" said Charice with an eager look on her face. Mikey didn't hesitate, he popped the clasps and flipped the lid open. He turned it to everyone and inside was a small cassette tape. Everyone had a slightly disappointed look as the excitement theft their bodies.

"He probably swapped out the actual artifact for something he had in his car, what fucking bullshit." Said Sharon as she slumped back in her seat. Tommy piped up and said "You do realize we would've been in possession of a stolen museum artifact and been arrested for sure."

Mikey picked up the cassette, ignoring what Tommy was saying. "Butthole Surfers, what a dumb fucking name, although it is pretty funny." Mikey said as he opened up the back door a threw it out, watching it bounce along the road and cracking in half spilling out the tape, black ropes like tire marks.

Mikey shut the door and noticed something "Hey do you guys smell something burning?" He asked, "Yeah is it not one of you guys, though you were lighting up?" Replied Sharon, turning to see no one had anything.

Mikey shouted "Fuck the radio is burning!" As everyone turned and saw the smoke coming out of the CD player and starting to come out of all the speakers. Mikey slammed on the brakes.

But nothing happened, they just kept going, the radio burning, brakes were shot, Mark tries to open his door to jump out, the door was stuck, the back door too as Tommy rams his shoulder trying to open it.

The screams of the friends couldn't be heard, there was no one to hear them in the middle of the desert, nothing but smoke pouring out of the van and leaving tire tracks across the road as it swerved. They ran off the road. They exploded. Their remains were nothing but char and ash. The only thing left of theirs was the cassette, sitting in the middle of the road, whole again, waiting for someone to pick it up.