Killer in the Rear View Mirror
Late Spring. Cheryl had just graduated from college. Her big plans for the summer were take a road trip from Michigan to Arizona to live with her college roommates while interning at a Mental Health and Wellness Clinic. Her friends always called it the “Insane Asylum”.
Cheryl was always intrigued by what made the human brain “Tick.” She figured what a better way to start her career than to jump right into the deep end of psychology.
Cheryl packed up her car with just a couple of suitcases, figuring her roommates would already have all the other essentials in the apartment and that all she needed to bring were a change of clothes.
Saying her Goodbyes to her parents, Cheryl’s Dad gave her a great big hug and told her to be careful! As all parents do. “Don’t forget, there are a lot of crazy people on the road, so be aware of your surroundings.”
There she was, driving alone across country. She had called her roommates to tell them she was on her way. So excited, she sang to music, daydreamed of how awesome the summer was going to be, interning at the Mental Health and Wellness Clinic during the day and exploring Sedona Arizona at night.
Feeling tired and a hungry she stopped for a cup of coffee and something to eat. Unfortunately, all that she could find was at a dingy old café out in the middle of nowhere. She was a little scared to go in alone, but there were a lot of cars and several semis parked outside, so she knew there would be some safety in numbers. Inside, she had a donut and coffee, and was feeling fairly safe, until she spotted a greasy-looking guy with a beard who was watching her very closely from across the room.
Every once and a while she would glance up at the bearded man, and sure enough he would be staring right at her. Her dad’s advice was ringing in her ears, “Don’t forget there are a lot of crazy people on the road.” Feeling a little creeped out she ate quickly and got up to leave. He got up too.
She hurried to the cash register and while she glanced back at the man watching her, she accidently bumped into a man in a plaid shirt who was on his way out. The collision caused the contents of her purse to spill out onto the ground. Embarrassed and scared, she hurried to pick everything up and pay her tab, then scurried out the door. The bearded man came out only seconds later. She hid behind a large sign, hoping to lose him, but when she peeked out, she saw him standing at the edge of the parking lot, looking around for her. She looked around for the man in the plaid shirt to ask for help but didn’t see him anywhere.
As she hurried from the sign to her car, she saw the bearded man running to her. She quickly hopped into her car, and roared out onto the road. Looking in her rear-view mirror, she saw a semi pulling onto the road behind her.
She sped up, but the truck slowly gained on her. Flashing his lights. She changed lanes, so did the semi. Then it would flash his lights again. Cheryl even turned onto another highway, hoping the semi wouldn’t follow her.
Yet there it was in the rear-view mirror flashing its lights. The truck came closer and closer, almost touching her rear bumper
The Semi began to honk its horn and flash the lights more and more. Cheryl was terrified! No matter what she did, the truck stayed right behind her.
Ahead, she saw a rest area with bright lights and lots of parked cars. She swerved across three lanes and onto the off-ramp into the rest area. The truck swerved after her, squealing its tires and almost tipping over. She pulled into the parking area and the semi followed right after her.
Cheryl skidded to a stop and got out. She started running toward the restrooms. There were a lot of people standing and staring at her.
She started screaming out and pointing to the Semi, “He’s after Me! He’s after Me!”
Quickly a group of people surrounded Cheryl to help her out and find out what was going on.
The bearded man jumped from the cab of the semi, carrying his tire-checking bat, and ran straight to Cheryl’s’ car.
Suddenly, the man in the plaid shirt jumped out of the back of Cheryl’s car. He was carrying a huge hunting knife. With crazy eyes he ran towards the bearded man and lunged at him, swinging the huge knife.
The bearded truck driver dodged his attack, hit the knife-wielding man, and knocked him out. Witnessing what just happened some of the people at the rest area ran over to the now unconscious man in the plaid shirt to make sure he couldn’t get away, while some others called for the police.
The bearded truck driver walked slowly across the parking lot to where Cheryl was standing amongst a group of people. With a eerily calm voice and a gentle smile the bearded man began to speak.
“Sorry if I frighten you! I had been watching a news report at the café and a guy’s picture popped up on the screen that looked a lot like the guy sitting right behind you.”
“Apparently, he was an escaped convict from the Mental Health Clinic up the road.”
“He had been eyeing you from the moment you stepped into the café.”
“When you bumped into him and dropped your stuff, I saw him sneak out and jump into the back seat of your car.”
“That’s when I knew I needed to warn you, but you left in such a hurry!”
“Once I caught up with you, I could see him pop up behind you with his knife. So I would flash my lights. Hoping you would see him in your rear view mirror, stop your car and get out. But then he would duck back down before you saw him. Knowing this kept him from attacking you I kept on doing it every time he would pop up. It got pretty difficult keeping up with you though and I knew this rest area was coming up, so I started honking and flashing my lights, hoping you would get off the road. Thank God you did!”
To this day, Cheryl never gets into her car without checking the back seat first.
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Killer in the Rear View Mirror
Items To Consider For Your Next Road Trip
1000 Amp 12 Volt Ultra-safe Lithium Jump Starter Box
Car Emergency Safety Kit
3 Pack Emergency Disc Flashing Road Flares
| These are just a couple items to think about to keep in your car as a “Just in Case”. As an Amazon associate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Ultimately I just hope you enjoyed time sharing the story with your kids around the campsite or at home. |
Thank You for Reading…
“Killer in the Rear View Mirror”
Original Stories Author is Unknown but versions of this story have been dated back to the mid 1950’s
Edited and Re-written by: Dwayne R. Nawrocki (Founder of Campfire Stories & S’more)