I'm driving home on the highway, listening to some pop music. Man, where did the time go? Work was a pain in the ass, but at least I'm making some money. Oh, what's this?

My phone is ringing, but I don't recognize the number. I decide to ignore it and focus on the road.

"I've been getting a lot of spam calls lately. Ugh, what a drag," I mutter to myself. The next song on the radio starts, and I jam out, bopping my head to the beat. Halfway through the song, I get bored and switch the channel.

"There has to be something good playing, right?" I say to myself, flipping through the channels. Nothing. There's nothing good today. I sigh. As traffic slows to a stop, I pull out my phone and search for better music, scrolling through my playlists to find the perfect song for the occasion.

My other hand remains on the steering wheel. As I scroll, I find a song I like. My phone is automatically connected to the car, so I start playing the song as the traffic in front of me starts to move. Like always, traffic is slow. Before I left for work, I debated whether to take the highway or the back roads. Now, I'm starting to regret my decision.

"Whatever." I feel a craving for a cigar. As I reach for the compartment, I realize I almost rear-ended the car in front of me because I wasn't paying attention. I slam on the brakes, narrowly avoiding an accident. Woah, that was a close call.

I stare at the car in front of me as I fumble through the compartment for a cigar. Once I find one, I pull out my lighter and light it; it's the best way I can think of to pass the time. Talking to my girlfriend would be a drag—especially given the mood I'm in.

I checked the time on the car's clock and sighed. I had planned to help my younger brother bake a cake when I got home, but it looked like my mom would have to take over. This awful traffic was going to make me late!

"Damn, what's the holdup?" I muttered, shifting in my seat. I had almost forgotten that my favorite music was playing—I was too focused on trying to light a cigar without causing my insurance to skyrocket.

I hadn't even noticed that my favorite song had come on. Not the one I had originally put on, but the one after—yeah, that one. I tried to lean back and relax, telling myself maybe I was just overthinking things. After a while, the traffic stopped completely, and my eyes slowly drifted away until someone honked their horn, startling me awake. I frowned.

"Dick," I muttered, trying to close my eyes again. Eventually, I dozed off, and the next thing I knew, I was being roused by the faint sound of car doors slamming. I opened my eyes and noticed a considerable number of people getting out of their cars—for whatever reason...

Confused, I opened my door and stepped out, peering past the seemingly endless line of traffic. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so I was still perplexed. Suddenly, a guy put his hand on my shoulder, and I shuddered.

"Hey, what are you—?"

"Do you happen to know what's going on?" he asked in a sleepy, somewhat drunk tone. I frowned and shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"No," I said, and hopped back into my car. A couple of moments later, I heard strange sounds coming from behind me. Glancing back, I saw the man who had suspiciously touched me plodding back to his own car. I raised my eyebrows.

"What the hell is going on with people out here?" I muttered to myself. Before I could relax again, I glanced back and saw a thick gray mist enveloping the cars further down the road. I winced. My initial reaction had been to gasp, but I caught myself. Quickly, I turned around and looked to see if there was anyone in the vehicles ahead of me. They weren't.

"Oh...fuck..." I said, bending down out of sight. There was a lot of rustling nearby, and it seemed to be getting louder. I put my hand over my mouth; I couldn't do anything. In all honesty, it felt too surreal—something wasn't right.

CALL THE POLICE! SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!

I was too afraid to even make the slightest noise as the rustling got closer. Any sane reaction would be to assume it was a gas leak or something, but I couldn't smell any gas—and gas wasn't even that thick anyway.

I'm so fucked...so fucked...

Not having many options left, I quickly dialed the police, hoping they would pick up. They did. Before I could get a word in, I saw the shadows of some sort of monstrosity walk past my vehicle. Quickly, I turned off my phone—shivering.

The shadows passed my window, and I was paralyzed with fear. I forced myself to stop shivering and played dead, hoping that whatever it was that looked in here would see nothing but a dead corpse.

It was a long and dreadful wait as I lay slumped over the steering wheel with my eyes closed and mouth slightly agape, not daring to move. More time passed, and I was beginning to say my last goodbyes to my mother, brother, and my girlfriend—imagining a farewell moment for each of them individually. Then, another familiar noise arose—beeping.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP...

Staying in the same position, I thought about what the creature had looked like as it maneuvered its pale, slimy, and muscular body from one vehicle to the next—crushing cars by stepping on them if it needed to. I slightly opened my eyes and listened to what was happening.

"AHHH!" Someone screamed in agony, their shrieks abruptly silenced by a loud snap. I shuddered at the gruesome sound, sweat beading on my temple.

No...how am I going to get out of here? If I get out of the car, it's going to kill me...but if I stay, I'm going to die...think, dammit...

A stampede of thoughts raced through my mind—each ending with me being ripped apart by this mysterious creature. Then, a single thought emerged: my phone. Slowly, I took out my phone and opened the timer app. Maybe this thing was blind and could only navigate by sound.

Or...maybe it had all its senses intact. If that was the case, I would simply have to take a chance and lure it away with my alarm so I could escape. Or I can wait until help arrives and escape when it's distracted...but...what if...

I quickly covered my ears as a loud explosion erupted somewhere several cars down from mine, followed by a couple more. I frowned. I was right: if I didn't leave, that thing might just blow me up regardless of whether it thought I was dead or not.

Well, can't say I didn't try.

A tear slid down my cheek as I set the timer for ten seconds, opened the door, and threw my phone on top of a car about four cars away. I quickly but quietly closed the door and tried to feign death once more. Moments later, my phone's alarm blared in the distance, and I heard the ground shake as the creature lumbered past my vehicle toward the source of the sound.

Thrilled, I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of the creature through the window: it was just as I had imagined—pale and bulky. Gently, I opened the car door and stepped out as the creature roared in frustration.

I was lucky, so damn lucky that it didn't look in my direction as I got out of the car. Crouching, I moved from vehicle to vehicle for about a minute, praying the creature wouldn't sense my escape. After what felt like an eternity, I was confident I had gotten away, but there was still one problem: the elevation.

Shit...the road's too high up, and the only thing I can do is keep moving forward...

When I turned my attention ahead, I noticed a helicopter and a group of men in tactical gear, armed with assault rifles. I sighed silently in relief as I approached them.

"Thank god, you have no idea how much—" I began, but stopped abruptly as one of the men pointed his assault rifle at my temple. I stuttered.

"Uh...officer?" I said, as I was patted down. The only emotion I felt at this point was rage.

"Officer...I JUST—"

"Shut your mouth. You're supposed to be dead. How did you make it out alive?" The officer barked, shoving me back towards the cluster of vehicles. My heart skipped a beat.

"I want to go home...can I please contact my rel—" I started, but the full force of an assault rifle butt to the top of my head cut me off. I staggered back, groaning.

"Go back you piece of shit before I shoot you right here..." The officer's threat, punctuated by the cold press of his assault rifle against my back, sent a shiver down my spine.

Could the police really be behind this nightmare? I shook my head, trying to dismiss the thought. It had to be some kind of experiment gone horribly wrong; the government was just cleaning up the mess, right?

But doubt overwhelmed me. What could I believe anymore? Painfully, I pushed myself to my feet and turned, my gaze drawn to the ominous gray mist that had advanced even further along the deserted highway.

"Didn't I tell you to keep moving?" The officer's voice was harsh, the rifle jabbing into my neck. I closed my eyes. My last moments, I knew, would be swallowed by that encroaching gray mist. It was an ending I couldn't escape, a final act in a tragedy I never wanted to play a part in.