The open road is calm.
"Your family was nice," [[Alex|Alex]] says after a minute of silence.
"Huh?" You say, snapping out of the daze of driving.
"I said your family was really nice to me."
"Yeah," you exhale a quiet laugh. "It doesn't take them much to get comfortable around anyone." [[You look at the road ahead of you|Look at Road]].
"I don't know, it just felt like they wanted me to be there. I kinda didn't want to leave."
You feel her slide her hand into yours.
[[You squeeze her hand|Squeeze]].Alex Lumias, your girlfriend of two years. You met her your senior year of college and have been deeply in love with her ever since. She is way out of your league and you stopped trying to figure out how she still likes you. Sometimes you think she's your exact opposite but most of the time you can't imagine yourself with anyone else.
She has red hair that looks pink in the sunlight with curls that dance onto her shoulders. She has green eyes that you get lost in every time you look into them. You're convinced she could make you do anything just with a glance. Even after all this time you're still trying to fully understand her.
[[Back|Start]].The sun is barely visible on the horizon. There's a pink, orange haze bleeding onto the sky and you take a second to appreciate it. The trees surrounding the road all sway in the brisk summer wind. It's 7pm and you should be home in 3 hours.
[[Back|Start]]."I had a really good time Jordan, thank you." Alex says as she gives your hand a squeeze back
"Yeah, no problem." You've always had problems in moments like this, moments where you know you're supposed to do something.
Before you finish your thought you feel Alex's hand on your cheek. She turns your head to face her. You like how Alex always makes the choice so clear and you lean in and kiss her. You take a second to [[look at her|Look]]. You look at her green eyes that you get lost in so often, just like you are right now.
### (live: 5s)[(stop:)Jordan! Look out!]
(live: 7s)[(stop:)You only have time to break last second but you've already hit whatever ran in front of the car. The air bags deployed and you can feel a small, sharp pain in your neck as a result. You open your eyes and you can see a few splatters of blood sprinkled across the cracked windshield. There's a burning smell in the air and you notice it's coming from the hood of the car, there's a little smoke rising.]
(live: 30s)[(stop:)You look over at Alex. Your vision has finally settled. She looks fine, no blood, but her eyes are closed.]
(live: 35s)[(stop:)[["Alex,"]] you call out.]"Alex," you call out another time. She doesn't respond again. You move your arm, and can feel an instant pain shoot through you. It's manageable. You shake her softly. "Alex," you call out again.
"Wha-," she says lifting her head off the deflated airbag. "Jordan?"
"Yeah, Alex I'm right here. You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah I think so. What... what happened?"
"We hit something. You sure you okay? You sound a little disoriented," you say. She has a glazed look over her eyes and her voice is shaky.
"I... I think I'm okay. I feel a little sick."
"Let's get you out of the car."
[[Go out and help Alex|Help Alex]].You open your door and can hear glass shards skitter onto the ground. You stand up, a bit too quickly as you feel a pang of dizziness hit you.
You wait a second, holding onto the door as you compose yourself. You shake it off and move towards the front of the car.
Then you see it.
You hit a [[deer|Deer]].
You move towards [[Alex's door|Alex Out]].
It's laying directly infront of the car, completely still. It's too small to be a grown deer but it's big enough that it did some damage to your car. It looks completely fine, a few scratches around its neck but you don't see anything too gruesome.
It's eyes are still open and you can swear they're looking back at you.
[[Go to Alex|Alex Out]].You open the door and see Alex sitting back in her seat, holding her neck. You grab her by the arm and pull her out slowly. She's a bit wobbly in the legs but she looks alright.
"Can you stand up by yourself?" You ask as you loosen your hold on her.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm alright. Just hit my head kinda hard." Alex says as she walks to make sure her legs are steady.
"We hit a deer. Well, more like it hit us. It cracked the windshield but I don't imagine it could have done that much damage."
"Where is it?"
"Just in front of the car."
Alex starts walking towards the front of the car. [[You follow|Check Deer]].You hear Alex gasp as she gets a sight of it. The deer is laying still.
"Do you think it's alright?" Alex says.
You shrug. Hunting has always been a big part of your family, you've even gone a couple times. While you're not the biggest fan, you've definitely seen your fair share of dead deer. "It might just be stunned, probably best if we just leave it," you say.
"Leave it?"
"Yeah. If we're lucky it'll snap out of it. Deer are the drug addicts of the forest, they survive things they shouldn't." You take a look at the deer again and assure yourself it'll probably be fine. "I should probaby go check on the car."
[[You go back to the car|Start Car]].You walk back to the driver's side. There's some glass you wipe off the seat before you sit. You see the keys still in the ignition.
{[You turn the key.]<1| (click-replace: ?1)[[It stalls.]<2| (click-replace: ?2)[[You give it a second then try again.]<3| (click-replace: ?3)[[It stalls again.]<4|(click-replace: ?4)[[[You slam your head onto the steering wheel.|Honk]]]]]]}You jump, but not at the sound of the horn.
You hear a scream coming from outside the car.
You push open your door and rush forward. You see Alex holding her hands over her mouth.
"What is it?" You ask panicked.
[[She points to the ground|Deer Alive]].You look down and see the deer panting agressively. You can hear how it's straining itself for each breath.
"What happened? Why'd you scream?" You ask to break the lingering silence.
"That wasn't me." Alex says as she looks at the deer again. You can tell she feels bad by the way she keeps staring at it. "It's weird, it sounded like a person. It screamed, then it tried to get up, and then it fell."
You look at the deer closely this time and you notice one of its back legs is broken. You can see the bone trying to free itself from under its skin. It's wheezing even harder now.
''[[You go in search of a rock|Rock]]''.
''[[You tell Alex it's okay|Alex it's okay]]''.You start making your way to the side of the road. You're looking for a rock about the size of the deer's head. Something that'll get it done in one blow, you don't wanna drag this out any longer than you have to.
"What're you doing?" You hear Alex say from behind you.
"Looking for a rock," you respond quickly.
"A rock? For what?"
You look back at Alex a little confused. You forget that she's a little posh and hasn't had any experience with wildlife or the wilderness. "If I don't kill it now it'll just be suffering until it starves to death or something eats it."
[[You go back to looking for a rock|Looking for Rock]]."Alex," you say as you make your way to Alex's side. "It's alright. It's not our fault. It just jumped in front of us. It could have happened to anyone. What matters is that we're both okay."
"Yeah," she says softly. "Yeah, I know. We should probably think about how we're gonna get home. I have work tomorrow so we shouldn't be spending today standing around a dead deer."
"Work tomorrow? Tomorrow's Monday Alex. You don't work on Mondays do you?"
"Monday? Yeah, you're right. Sorry," Alex says as she rubs her temples lightly. "We should probably call triple A to get someone to pick the car up."
[Ask Alex if she's alright.]<1|(click-replace: ?1)["Yeah. Yeah, I'm still just a little dizzy from the crash." She responds.]
[[Go look for your phone in the car|Look for phone]]."Well you don't know that for sure. We could get it some help." Alex calls from behind your back again.
You turn to her. "How? You wanna strap it to our non-working car and drive it to a vet? Trust me, this is the best possible thing we could be doing."
There's a silence and you take that as permission to continue looking for a rock. You have to go deeper into the woods to find an adequate rock.
"Well, who are you to decide what's the best thing." Alex says as you start walking back to the car.
"We're still on this? Alex, seriously, trust me. It's gonna suffer a lot more if we leave it alive," you say as you meet her at the front of the car.
[[Pull the deer to the side of the road|Pull Deer Offroad]].You walk back to the car and start searching for your phone on the ground. It's a mess but you spot your phone fairly easily. Your happy to see that, to your surprise, it has no cracks.
You sit down and look up the number to call. You dial and hear the ling ring.
As you wait for a response you notice the keys in the ingnition. [Turn the key.]<1|(click-replace: ?1)
[It stalls again. [You groan as you turn your attention back to the phone. After the fifth ring someone picks up.]<2|(click-replace: ?2)[You give them your location and they tell you their nearest truck will take two hours to get there. [[You hang up.]]]]
"What're you doing?" Alex asks as you grab the deer's front legs.
"Well I'm not gonna leave a dead deer laying in the middle of the road." You say as you slowly manage to get the deer onto the grassy offroad. It let out a groan that sounded like a mix of cow and dog. You start to feel the gravity of what you need to do.
Alex stares at you. "Do you wanna turn around?" You ask as you catch sight of her with her mouth open.
She stares at you confused. "Wait, wait, wait. We should at least try and call to see if we can do anything."
[[Do what Alex says]].
[[Finish what you started]].You go back outside to tell Alex.
"We're gonna be waiting for a while. Nearest car is an hour away." You tell her.
"Another hour? We're gonna be out here all night," she says.
"Well, it's not that late." You look at your phone and notice that it's 8:30. You take a second to look at the darkening sky, a deep purple haze covering it all. The only light available is the one from the headlights and you don't know exactly how much longer they'll stay on. "Or maybe it is."
[["What're we gonna do?"]] Alex says.You look at her and see that she really means it.
"Okay, I can look up where the nearest vet is but I'm just letting you know the longer it stays alive the more it'll suffer." You say as you reach in your pocket for your phone.
"Just go look it up," Alex says as she moves you to the side.
You search for vets in your area and find no results. You realize you're getting excited at the idea of telling Alex 'I told you so.' You stop your self from doing that. You see Alex petting the deer's head and you can hear its loud wheezing from where you are.
[[Go back to Alex]]. "Alex," you say. "We're in the middle of nowhere. We haven't even figured out how we're gonna get home. You don't have to watch this but it's the right thing to do." You raise the rock over your head and look at the deer in its beady eyes. They're staring at you, pleading.
"Jacob, come on. Just leave it," Alex says.
You take a second to process what you heard. "Jacob?" You say. You scour your memory of Alex's ex-boyfriends and can't remember a Jacob. "Who's Jacob?"
"Huh?" Alex says. "Who's what?"
[[You put down the rock]]."There's no vets nearby," you say.
"Oh, well what do you think we should do." She says.
"The best thing is probably put it--"
                                "--that doesn't involve killing."
You stop and think.
"Well, we could try and find it a way to stand up and see if we can get it walking." You say finally.
[["Let's do that," Alex says.]]"You called me Jacob," you say. You move to stand in front of her.
"What?" She says confused. "What're you talking about?"
"I said you called me Jacob."
"What? Seriously?" Alex says as she rubbed her temples again. "I guess I just got my names mixed up."
[Ask Alex about Jacob.]<1|(click-replace: ?1)[Probably best to just leave it actually.]
[["Okay," you say.]]"My head's still fuzzy, sorry." She says after you stay quiet for a couple seconds.
"Okay," you say again.
"Oh come on, we just got in a crash. Sorry if my head isn't on straight."
"I didn't say anything." You look at the deer infront of you. It's panting heavily and you can see a little pool of blood building in its nostril. "Alright, you can do what you want with this. I'm gonna call my parents to pick us up."
"Your parents? Why? Wouldn't it just be easier to call triple A to come get the car?"
[["No,"]] you say.You know that its legs are broken but deer have always been the type of animals that survive crazy injuries. You want Alex to believe it'll be okay even though there's a small chance it will.
"Okay, well grab the front and I'll grab the back." You say.
Alex excited to have changed your mind does what you say. The deer weighs around 70 pounds, or atleast it feels like it. You lift it together and try slowly placing it on its feet.
[[It falls]].
And it lets out another groan that makes your stomach feel uneasy.
"Alex," you say. "It can't even stand."
Alex pretends not to hear you as she starts to lift the deer again. You try again. This time the deer's leg buckle a bit before they give out.
"Maybe if we give it some water or something." Alex says, already going back to the car in search for something to drink.
[[She comes back with a bottle of Gatorade]]. "Well, wait I guess." You say.
"Not about us Jordan. About the deer," Alex says.
You look infront of Alex and see the 80 pound deer shifting on the ground. "Probably the best thing to do is put it out of its misery."
"Oh," Alex says not surprised. "That'd probably be best right?"
"Its back legs are broken, it probably won't survive much longer too."
"Yeah, I know. Do you wanna do it? Or should...?"
[["Yeah, I'll do it."]].You look around and can't find anything to hit the deer with, well atleast nothing that'd be easy to use. You remember that you keep a [[knife]] in the trunk of your car. You get it and come back.
The deer, still alive, groans at the sight of you with the knife in hand. Somehow it knows what's going to happen.
"You can turn around if you want," you say to Alex who is watching attentively. You get on your knees by the head of the deer and put one hand around its kneck to hold it still. You can feel it struggle but it's too weak to break free.
[[You hold the knife over your head]].
[["Alex turn around,"]] you say.And a sudden wave of naseousness hits you. You feel the bile sitting in your throat. You drop the knife and it skitters on the ground. You then lean to the side and throw up agressively.
"Ugh Jordan," you hear Alex say. She follows with a dry heave at the sight of your vomit on the ground. "Are you okay?"
You take a deep inhale. "Yeah. Yeah, I just felt really sick all of a sudden." You find the knife at your side and go on to finish what you started.
[["Jordan,"]] Alex says."Jordan, wait." Alex says. "I think you be hurt."
"What do you mean? I'm fine," you say as you eye the deer again. "It was just some sickness, probably still dizzy from the crash."
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I think you might have a concussion."
"No, Alex. Seriously, I'm fine." You go back to eyeing the deer and lift the knife over your head.
"What day is it?" Alex says and you stop to think about it.
[Monday.]<1|(click-replace: ?1)[(goto: "It's Monday")]
[Tuesday.]<2|(click-replace: ?2)[(goto: "It's Monday")]
[Sunday.]<3|(click-replace: ?3)[(goto: "It's Monday")]"Friday," you say. "I mean Tuesday."
"It's Monday, you actually just told me." Alex says stepping closer to you. "I think you hit your head really hard."
"No," you say turning back to the deer. Still breathing and still looking at you. "I'm fine."
"Who's the President?"
"Alex, seriously. You're getting annoying."
[["Just answer the question"]]."Donald," you start saying.
"Yeah..." Alex says, prodding for the answer.
"Wait," you says as the answer is slipping from you. "Donald... wait, I'm not sure. What I'm thinking of doesn't sound right."
"Just say it, you're probably right."
"Donald Duck?"
[["Okay, nevermind."]] Alex, says.Alex goes into the car for a minute and comes up with her phone. She stands by the door, out of ear shot, and makes a call.
You're still kneeling in front of the deer, knife in hand, when she comes back to you. "Get up, an ambulance should be here in like 15."
"Okay. Okay, one second." You say, as you lift the knife up to your face.
"Jordan!" Alex says as she grabs your shoulder. You jump nervously as she touches you. "Jesus Jordan, calm down."
You see Alex take a few steps back in fear.
"I should finish this," you say turning your attention back to the deer.
[[It looks back at you]]You meet its eyes and get filled with anger. "Don't look at me," you whisper to it.
"What?" Alex says from behind you.
"Nothing," you say to her. You lift the knife with finality this time. You feel a growing foggyness form at crown of your head. "Turn around."
Alex says nothing but she listens.
You take a second to steady your hand. Then you plunge the knife into the deer. [[It screams]]. You missed.
You know that a hard, committed stab in the head would kill it instantly. It's the most humane way possible even though it looks bad. You're not sure if you closed your eyes for too long or you blacked out because you stabbed it in the snout.
The deer screams in agonized horror. The power of the scream knocks you backwards.
Alex turns around. "Oh my God Jordan. What're you doing? Jordan!"
You snap out of the daze. You get back on your knees and raise the knife again. The overlapping death screams of the deer and the shocked yelling of Alex hits you. [[You stab the deer in the head]]."Shut up!" You say as you dig the knife deep into the deer's skull. You feel the strong bones split under the strength of you knife. You hear another yell, this one from Alex. You imagine she's screaming at the sight of what you're doing but the pitch of her screams crawl under your skin. "Shut up!" You yell again. And again. And another five times, each time digging the knife deep into the head of the deer.
The deer lay still. Its face a bloody mess but it's eyes still open.
[["Jesus, Jordan...]]you psycho." She says.
You pant agressively. You look at your hands and notice blood splattering all the way up to your elbows. You try to slow your breathing but find that you can't.
You can hear gravel shifting behind you. Alex backs away slowly. "Jordan..." You hear her call.
You remain kneeling. The deer corpse laying in front of you. You don't say a word.
"Jordan..." She calls out again.
[[You stay silent]].And you stay silent until you hear sirens in the distance. At first you imagine its police coming to jail you off for murder but then you remember Alex called the ambulance.
You hear the sirens blair through the night minutes before you even get sight of it. The road is still.
As the ambulance pulls in front of you, an EMT gets out and stop several feet infront of you.
"Sir, could you please drop the knife so we can help you." He says to you.
You notice that you're still holding the knife. [[Your knuckles are white]].You release your grip and feel a great tension release you. The knife lay still next to your bloody hand.
The EMT's see the bloody deer and try to make sense of the scene they're coming upon. There's only two of them. One goes to you and asks you a series of questions you don't remember while shinning a light in your eyes.
You take a look back and see Alex now sitting in the car. She's staring off into the surrounding darkness.
"I'm fine, I promise." You say unconvincingly.
[[They examine you]]."You and your girlfriend both have concussions. Here's is pretty mild so we're gonna send her home with another ambulance. You're is a little more serious so you're gonna have to spend the night in the hospital."
"Okay," you say.
One EMT stays behind with Alex and the other drives you back. You get a last look at Alex, still staring off into the darkness with a blanket around her shoulders. The deer lay lifeless and bloodied on the road.
[[End]].##The End.
###Congratulations.
Start from:
[[The start|Start]].
[[The deer|Deer Alive]]."Alex it's not going to the Olympics." You say as she pours some of the drink into the cap and holds it to the deer's mouth.
"Shut up," she says. "Go call someone to pick the car up."
You realize that you haven't figured out how you're getting home and that makes you feel uneasy. You get on the phone and call triple A. They say they can be there in about 45 minutes. You look over at Alex and the deer. At first it simply ignored the drink but Alex practically forced it down its throat.
Now, it's energetically lapping up everything that Alex puts it front of it.
[[It finishes the bottle]]. "Guess it was thristy," you say as you return to Alex's side. "They said they'd be here in about 45 minutes."
"Alright," she says. "Can you go look if we have anything else to drink or eat."
"Alex, we haven't even eaten yet."
She looks back at you with squinted eyes and you go to the car to look.
You don't find anything.
You look at Alex again and she's petting the deer, softly.
[[Its eyes are closed]].You look and the deer is laying completely still. You walk over to Alex and she's petting it in silence. You look at it over her shoulder and don't see it breathing.
"Did it die?" You say.
"No," she whispers quietly. "I think it just feel asleep."
You squat down and slowly put your hand on its stomach. You can feel it rise and fall slowly. *Maybe it will be okay,* you think to yourself.
"We should probably let it rest then," you say.
"Yeah probably," Alex says smiling.
[[You walk back to the car together]]. You both clear out any remaining glass on your seats and sit down. You both close your doors and roll up your windows to protect yourself from the cool night air.
You sit there for a few minutes. [You should say something.]<1|(click-replace: ?1)
["Thanks for not making me a murderer," you say.
She laughs. "Yeah you freak, you really wanted to kill him."
You take a second. "I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn't want it to just suffer until something ate it or it died."
You both lean back in your seats and lay on your sides to face each other.
[[You should say something]].
]"I'm sorry for not being good at this," you say.
"Good at what?" She says, inching closer.
"Being good at being a boyfriend."
She laughs and takes a long look at you. "You're not a good boyfriend, but you're a good boyfriend for me. Please don't think you have to be something you're not to impress me."
"Killing a deer probably wouldn't have impressed you anyways."
[[You look deep into her eyes]].
And you kiss her again.
And she kisses you back. And for a while that's all you do, until you reach under her shirt.
"Wait," she says in a soft moan. "Won't someone be here soon."
You almost forgot that you were stranded here. "I don't care," you say as you take off her shirt.
And before long both your clothes are off and all the windows have fogged up. The inside of the car feels like a sauna and you feel a blanket of sweat building forming on your skin.
Everything feels perfect, [[until you hear a knock on your window]].*He's gone,* you think. You look over at Alex and she smiles passionately.
"Yeah, I guess he did." You say.
"Well, you both can hop in the back of the truck. Just push the seat forward. I'm gonna hook your car up so we can get out of here. It's getting late."
You look up at the moon lit sky. "Yeah, it is."
[[You go back to the car to get Alex]]."The nearest town is two hours that way and it doesn't even have a mechanic. My house is less than an hour away. My dad has a truck and he can haul it back to the house." You say as you get back to the car.
"Well, what do we do about the deer?" You hear Alex say as you're already dialing your dad.
"I told you, do whatever you want."
As if on command the deer lets out a loud groan and starts to shake violently. It's trying to get away.
You pay it no attention. It's probably going into shock. You hear the phone ringing.
[["Jordan!" Alex shouts.]] "Hello? Hold on dad," you say to your dad who just answered. "What Alex?"
"It keeps trying to run away!"
"Let it." You say as you go back to the your phone call. "Dad, a deer ran in front of the car. Can you come pick us up? And bring the truck, the car won't start." You give your dad your location and then hang up the phone.
[[You got outside to check on Alex]].She's standing in front of a trembling, bloody deer.
"Jordan, what do I do?" Alex asks. The deer's cries have reached its crescendo.
"I told you what to do but you didn't listen." You say.
You can see how the cries are getting to Alex, each one louder than the last. Her nervousness is making you feel bad and you start to make your way over to her.
[["Alex, just leave it."]] You say.You go outside to see Alex on her knees and the deer with a rock in place of its skull.
You stand deathly still for a second. You almost don't believe what you're seeing.
"Alex," you say once.
Alex, already sitting down with her elbows resting on her knees, stayed quiet.
You go to her side and sit down. You put an arm around her. "It's okay, Alex." You can feel her trembling slightly. "You did the right thing."
Knowing that you pushed her to do it makes you feel sick.
[[She gets up]]."Yeah, I know." She says as she snaps out of her daze. "I'm gonna go wait in the car."
You want to follow her but your body doesn't move. You look at the deer, its head now replaced with a rock-sized skull.
You get up and walk towards the car, but you don't get in. You just sit on the warm hood of the car. You wait, for what feels like an eternity, for you dad to come.
[[And he does]]."You two alright?" He asks as he gets out of the car.
"Yeah, we're fine." You say, as you get out to greet him.
"That deer really did a number on your car." He says, eyeing the car from front to back. "Where is he?"
You nod over to the side of the road.
"Wow," he says coming back. "You did a clean job though son. I'm sure it went quickly."
"I didn't kill him, it was Alex."
Your dad looks into the car and sees Alex for the first time.
[["Oh,"]] he says. "Well let's get you both home," he says as he hitches your car up to his truck.
Alex sits in the back while you sit up front with your dad. Neither of you say anything for the whole car ride back. Or when you get back home.
[[End]].#Headlights
######by Gabriel Mundo
[[Start]]Well, actually the knife is part of the survival kit he made for you. The idea always seemed dumb to you but here you are using it. It's a small hunting knife, maybe around 4 inches, with a wooden hilt.
[[Back|"Yeah, I'll do it."]]"You probably don't want to see this," you add.
"Jordan," Alex says. "Maybe we should just leave it."
You can hear the sadness in her voice and you're surprised she cares this much about an animal. You turn to look at her and she's staring at you and the knife in your hand.
You notice that your hand is trembling and it seems like the knife is trying to free itself.
[["Jordan, just leave it and let's wait."]]Alex says. You take a second and let out a loud sigh. "Yeah, probably should leave it. I don't really know what I'm doing." You say, trying to make it sound like a joke.
"Yeah, it's better if someone else does it. We don't want it to suffer," Alex says.
You know that every second that deer lays on the ground is agony. [[You're reminded of your dad]]. You decide not to tell Alex and convince yourself that it's for her own good. You're not sure you could have done it anyways.
[[Walk back to Alex]].It was probably the third time you went hunting and the first time you ever shot anything. A deer your dad said was easily over 12 points, whatever that meant, walked by your camp. Not so close that it could see you but close enough that you had to be quiet.
You remember how your dad grabbed his rifle and aimed down his scope before handing the gun to you. It caught you by surprised when he asked you to take the shot.
You remember how the wooden butt felt rested in your shoulder and how cold the trigger was.
You also remember how your dad squared your shoulders and fixed your posture before you [[shot]].You stand and walk infront of Alex and you find that you don't know what to do. You awkwardly smile.
"Oh, Jordan." Alex says as she pulls you into the hug.
You can feel your leg trembling against hers and you pull yourself away from her. "Let's wait in the car," you say to get away.
"You okay, Jordan?"
[["Yes Alex, Jesus."]]You closed your eyes once you pulled the trigger and then you remember how your dad said good shot.
It felt good.
You both walked over to the deer laying in the grass and you saw that it was still alive. Your dad let out swear under his breath before he got on his knees and took his knife out of his thigh holster. Without hesitation he slid the knife across the deer's throat.
"Damn thing was in misery. Never gets any easier though." You remember your dad saying as he wiped the blood off his knife. "Come on lemme get a picture of you with your shot."
You remember that picture and how you didn't smile.
[[You snap out of memory|Walk back to Alex]]. "Oh okay," Alex says. "I didn't want to make you mad. It just looked like you didn't want to do it."
"Well maybe stop assuming things." You say without thinking.
You're used to Alex babying you but the way she was looking at you made you feel uncomfortable.
Like a wounded animal.
[[You turn and go back to the car]]. You sit down and look at your phone. Truck should be here soon.
You start to play a game to pass the time.
Alex comes in the car after a minute and sits in silence. You feel like you should say something but you resist the urge. The soft bleeps and dings of the phone ring through the car.
"Jordan," Alex whispers.
[["What!"]]"Jeez, you don't have to answer like an asshole." Alex says. The silence of the empty road and forest amplified your annoyed response. "I was just gonna ask if you wanted something to eat."
You see her holding a granola bar she pulled out of her purse. "I'm fine," you say as you return to your game.
You play until you hear a truck pull up behind you.
[[You get out of the car]]."You folks alright?" The truck driver says. He has balding red hair but a magnificent beard. "Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long. What seems to be the problem?"
"This deer ran infront of our car and slammed into the windshield. Car won't start now." You point back to the car and you can see that Alex is standing by her door and listening.
"Deer you say? Those guys can really do a number on your car. You got hit in the front?"
"Yeah. Ran right into the windshield."
[[You walk to the front of the car]]."Oh geez, you just left the deer there?" The driver says. He walks right up to the deer and puts his head to its chest. You can tell from where you are that the deer is still alive, its breathing has gotten very soft.
"Yeah, we didn't really know what to do so we thought it'd probably be best to leave it alone." You say.
"Son, you can't just leave an animal to suffer for hours. Poor thing is in agony."
"Well, I was gonna but..."
Just then he spots the knife, it lays right beside the deer head. "But what?" He says. He didn't sound angry but more astounded that someone would do something like this.
[["Hey, you don't have to be an asshole."]] Alex says from behind you. "What was that miss?" The driver says.
"You're being an asshole. Just hook our car up and get us out of here." Alex says.
"I don't know about you miss but how I was raised we don't let wounded animals out in the street to die." The driver turns his attention to you. "Didn't your dad ever teach you how to handle animals?
"Hey, don't talk to him like that!" Alex says.
[["Alex, shut up!"]] You say.
[["Fuck off asshole,"]] You say."What? Me? He's the one talking shit!" Alex says, surprised she has to defend herself.
"I'm not some fucking baby you need to care of." You say.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?"
"Yes! All the time, all you do is treat me like some basket case. Like I'm some hurt dog you gotta nurse back to health." You can tell Alex wants to say something but she resists.
[[The driver speaks]]."Do you want your car to stay out here or not?" The driver says.
"Just shut up and do your job," you respond.
The driver looks at you for second and then turns to the deer. He grabs it by the two front legs and drag it off road. The deer lets out a small groan with what little energy it has left. The driver looks up at you and scoffs in amazement, he then stabs the deer directly in the head.
He comes back to you and hands you the still warm, bloody knife.
"You two can go wait in the truck," the driver says.
[[And you do]].The sight of the deer is still in your head, the way the skull resisted the knife.
"That guy was an asshole," you hear Alex say as you both get in the backseats of the truck.
You grunt an affirmation.
"Jordan what is up with you?"
[[Tell her what's wrong]].
[[Yell at her]]."You make me feel like I'm not man enough sometimes," you say finally.
"What? Jordan, why would you say that? Because of the deer?" Alex says.
"No, because how you acted after it. I don't need you to come rub my head and tell me it's okay. I know it is. You don't need to act like you're doing me any favors treating me like that."
You turn the see Alex with her head down.
[[Comfort her]].
[[Sit in Silence]]."Nothing is up with me, damn." You say. "Just because I'm not smiling like a dumbass doesn't mean something is wrong. Just leave it."
"Jordan," Alex says. "Actually. You never talk to me like this."
"Well, maybe if I did you wouldn't always be on me. All you say is Jordan this, Jordan that, Jordan are you okay. I'm not some kid you have to look out. You always look at me like I need your help for everything."
There's a long silence before you hear the truck driver clear his throat.
[[You look up to see him|The driver speaks]]."Alex, I'm sorry." You say. "I don't want to make you feel like I don't appreciate what you do for me but sometimes it feels like you pity me. You know?"
"I'm sorry." Alex whimpers. "I'll try to stop."
That's all Alex says until the driver comes back.
"Gonna have to take it to the shop. You got an address I can take you to?"
The driver says.
[[You give him your address]]."Alright," the truck driver says as he opens his door. "Probably gonna have to take this into the shop to get it working again. Where you two headed?"
You look at Alex with her head still down and then towards the open road. "Home I guess," you say with a nod forward.
"Gonna have to be a bit more specific than that," the driver says.
"You can take me to 399 Bishops Lane," Alex says. That's her parent's house.
You look at Alex who has returned to looking at the ground. You feel you should say something but are unclear on what could fix this. You wish Alex would make it obvious how you could fix it and you start to regret what you've said today. You look out the window and see the surrounding forest. It's dark but you can see a pair of luminescent eyes glowing back at you.
[[You sit in silence until you're home|End]]."It'll take a while but we'll get there." The driver says as he goes outside to hook up the truck. There's an awkward silence you can feel as you two wait.
You're about to say something when the driver comes back. "Let's go," he says.
The entire drive no one talks.
And when you get back home, Alex doesn't say a word to you. You go to sleep that night, still right next to her, with a deep regret. You're starting to wish that she would ask you what's wrong so she can comfort you.
You wake up the next morning and to your surprise, she's still there.
[[End]]."Okay," he says with a long pause. "Well, your car isn't going anywhere so I can take you home."
You go to tell him your address but Alex butts in ask if you can leave her at the nearest hotel. You don't say anything about it but when you get to a small dirty motel and you see Alex get out you're lost for words. Part of you hopes she's joking and another part says she deserves it.
[[You go home]].You say goodbye to the truck driver who gives you a grunt and gives you the number to call about your car.
You enter your apartment and unpack your bags.
The house feels empty without her and you wish she was here to tell you what you'd be doing tomorrow.
You think about calling her but resist the urge.
You just realize how late it is. You get into bed and quickly fall asleep.
[[End]]"Yeah you weirdo," Alex says. "Why would you think I'd ever want to see that or worse, see you do that."
"I don't know, my dad took me hunting a couple times and said it was only right to finish what you started." You say.
"Yeah, but we didn't start anything. You don't have to do things just because your dad does them."
"Yeah, I know." You say as you drop your head a bit.
Alex sees you and lifts your chin up with her index finger. "Plus," she says. "I like you better without deer blood on you."
[[You lean in and kiss her|Then you kiss her]].You notice now that a tow truck has pulled up behind you and there's a man standing outside your window.
You laugh and say, "just a second" as you and Alex both get dressed quickly.
You go outside and greet the large man standing by your window.
"You folks okay?" He says in a low gruff voice.
You both smile coyly. "Yeah, we're okay." You say. A deer just ran infront of our car, smashed the windshield and now the car won't start.
"A deer? A big one? Did it run off?" The man asks.
[[You look infront of your car]]."The deer's gone." You say as you open her door. "Guess he was fine after all."
Alex was looking at herself in the rear view mirror. "I knew he would be," she says. She gives you a sly smile.
You offer your hand and walk her back to the truck. After a couple minutes the driver returns and tell you that the car will be taken to a mechanic in the morning. You say thank you.
Alex rest her head on your shoulder as she falls asleep. You look out the window and see a full moon in the sky. The surrounding forest is pitch black but you know that somewhere inside is a deer that Alex saved. You kiss her on the forehead.
[[And you go home|End]]"It's dying," she says.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I was trying to help it."
"Well do it now."
"You do it. Ask Jacob to do it or whoever the fuck." You say, not entirely serious but enough that it hurt her.
"Jordan, come on. I told you I got confused."
"Yeah okay, I'm gonna wait in the car. Rocks right there, do what you want."
[[You turn around]]. You get in the car and sit down with a loud sigh. You exhale and rub your head which is buzzing slightly. You put your head back on the headrest and close your eyes.
You feel the exhaustion from today's events hit you and feel your eyes get heavier. You almost forget that there's a deer screeching for its life a couple feet ahead of you.
[[But then you notice that the screaming stopped|It lays still]].