"Hey, Wake up! I need you to wake up!" A set of hands forcefully shook my shoulders while someone else patted my cheek drawing me from my heavy dreamless slumber. I struggled to peel my eyes open, everyone's faces were blurry, but I could sense all eyes on me.

" Guys! She's not dead! Look, she's awake! " A blond woman cradling my head in her lap shouted to her friends. She gently brushed my wet hair aside and whispered something to me in a hushed tone, her blue eyes were full of worry and panic.

Pain pulsated violently through my skull, colorful spots swelled and fizzled before my eyes. A chill set over me, gnawing deep into my bones. Every movement I made caused me to shiver and ache. I know it's the dead of summer and we're in Texas but I still felt like a popsicle in the back of the van.

" Help..." was all I could muster out.

"Okay, okay, we're getting you some help, but you have to keep your eyes open, alright?" Said the same man who helped me in the car when they first found me.

I slightly nodded my head in reply, my headache wouldn't allow for more. " I'm so cold..." I whispered, my teeth chattering.

They chatted amongst themselves, but my thoughts were too focused on managing the pain to listen to their conversation. Eventually one of them presented a blanket to drape over my shivering body.

"What happened to you?" Another guy with mocha skin and thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose asked. He stared at me intently, obviously fascinated by my state.

Hard as I tried, I couldn't get my lips to move so instead I chose to look away and not answer his question. Besides, the story was way too long and way too gruesome to get into now. The man in the bloody white t-shirt, the one who saved me, pushed his friend aside with a huff and pulled the quilt up to my chin.

"I'm Taylor and these are my friends..." He proceeded to list off each of the passengers' names, I think there was four of them in total but I was too out of it to remember any of their names. "Can you tell me yours?"

"Tilly...no, I'm Ma-Matilda...Hale."

"Holy crap!" Glasses guy gasped. Taylor glanced over to him and mouthed something resembling 'What?'

"Dude, that's her, she's the missing girl on the news! Her and her boyfriend have been gone for the past five months!" He leaned in closer. "Where is he, your boyfriend?"

"He's...I...um...they..." Tears started to stream again; I was unable to hold them back any longer. Five months? Has it really been that long?

"It's okay, you don't have to answer that" Taylor reassured, petting my face than giving his friend the stink eye.

"What!" He held his hands up defensively. " I just wanted to know if he's dead or not! If he isn't we can send the police to look for him."

"Would you shut up! Can't you see she's-"

"Guys look, there's the gas station!" The driver interrupted. "And it looks like they're still open" He pointed to a neon light up sign that read ' We're open' propped in the window.

"Praise God!" The blond woman rejoiced as the car drove up beside the worn down shack. She poked her head out the window, squinting her eyes and read the sign aloud to everyone "Last Chance Gas Station. We Slaughter Barbecue."

Our car rolled up before the storefront, parking beside the old rusty pumps. Everyone, aside from Taylor surged towards the door, pulling it open, climbing out. and intending to leave me alone in the back.

"No! Don't leave me, please!" I cried, digging my fingers into Taylor's arm before he could go.

"Don't worry, we're just gonna go inside and call the police. You need an ambulance."

"Please! Stay with me! I'm afraid! Please!" I begged but to no avail. He pried my fingers away, assuring me everything would be fine as he climbed out of the van and pulled the door closed behind him. I watched through the window as all of them, three guys and a girl, approached the rundown shop.

"Howdy there, folks!" An older man in a faded baby blue button-down with a matching bow-tie stepped out of the store. His dark thinning hair was greasy and slicked back to his head framing his face.

Their conversation was muffled through the door, but I was able to make out bits and pieces. "...girl... in the... she's injured..." Taylor raised a finger in my direction followed by his and the shop owners gaze.

I ducked down hoping he didn't see me, I don't know why, but something doesn't feel right. I guess I've developed some trust issues making me leery of strangers after all I've been through. When I was sure they weren't looking anymore, I turned the hand crank to roll the window down a wee bit, just enough so I could hear their conversation better.

"Yeah, she was standing in the middle of the road covered in blood. We stopped to see if she needed some help and that's when I noticed this huge maniac coming after her, and they... they had a chainsaw...I-I really don't know what's going on so may we please use your phone to call the police. Our cells don't have any reception out here."

The paused for a moment and scratched his chin, his tone took on a nonchalant air. " A maniac with a chainsaw, you say? Y'all better get on inside and call the sheriff before he finds us then." He said gesturing for them to follow him inside which they all did without hesitation.

He? How did he know it was a he, and why did he put so much emphasis on the word? What if that man's part of- no, I'm thinking too much into it. All I have to do is sit here and wait for the ambulance, keep my eyes open and wait for them to arrive. Even though I was physically and mentally exhausted, I forced myself to stay awake.

My burning eyes stared at the red numbers that displayed the clock on the dashboard. Time ticked away, and still, they never came back out. I kept my ears open for a police siren, or ambulance...or Bubba's chainsaw, but everything was oddly still. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed and nothing. What's taking them so long? What if Bubba and Nubbins got them? No, we're miles away. They couldn't have gotten here that quickly. They don't even know where I am. All I do know is I can't wait around here like a sitting duck.

I sat up and the world span, the walls of the car moved like a Van Gogh painting. My dress clung to the gash in my leg clotting the blood. A belt was around my upper thigh acting as a tourniquet; scraps of what appeared to be an old t-shirt were wound around the cut sealing it shut. It screamed for me to stay still but I was too antsy for that.

I scooted towards the exit, the blood-soaked carpet squished beneath my weight as I pulled the door open. A hot stuffy breeze whipped through my crunchy matted hair and warmed my chilled skin. The dried blood painted across my body was a great contrast against my ghostly flesh, I guess that's normal for someone who lives their life in a basement and rarely ever gets to go outdoors...it's either that or I'm bleeding out and slowly dying.

" Hello? " I called out, praying for an answer, but received none. I hung my legs over the side and called out again... No reply. Gosh, darn it! Everything in me was hoping they would walk out and tell me the police are on the way, but of course, that never happened.

My cut blistered feet planted on the gravel covered ground. I bit my lip to fight past the pain that was throbbing in my leg, deep and warm, but not in a good way. I clutched the side of the car to steady myself as vertigo set in. Blood streamed down my leg despite the tightly wrapped bandages; I think I'm gonna need stitches.

I limped towards the gas station door. Fiery bursts of pain shot through me, intensifying with each dragging step. I clutched whatever I could find to steady myself as I made my way inside, pressing my hand against the gash in a failed attempt to cease the steady flow of blood.

"Hey guys, are the police-" I froze in the doorway, my eyes searching for my rescuers and instead finding a rather uninviting empty store.

The inside wasn't what I'd expected in the least bit. There were no shelves full of chips and candy bars or a freezer section of cokes and red bull like any normal gas station you'd see, but when it promised barbecue, it held to its word. There were a few tables and chairs surrounding a flickering fireplace. A bubbling pot of what looked like chili cooked away on an open flame. A handwritten menu in terrible grammar was taped to a glass showcase chocked full of random cuts of raw meat: whole chickens, ribs, roasts, an entire pigs head and all crawling with flies.

Not very sanitary, is it? You couldn't pay me to eat here. The atmosphere was one thing to deal with, but the smell, the old blood smell was all too familiar and all too triggering. I'm getting a strong sense of deja vu in here...

A strange scuffling sound drew my attention to a door behind the counter. So, that's where everyone went to. With each step forward the pain amplified and my consciousness ebbed. A soft yellow light glowed from beneath the door along with the shadow of someone moving around on the other side. I reached up to knock, but before my knuckles met the wood something large and heavy crashed against the door followed by a torrent of curse words in an angry unfamiliar voice. A warm wet sensation hit my feet and squished between my toes. I glanced down to find a pool of blood oozing out from beneath the door.

Oh my God! I jumped backward, my feet leaving bloody footprints on the laminate flooring. My adrenaline kicked in once again. Really! Can't I get a break around here! Is that too much to ask for?! I stumbled back out the door accidentally bumping it closed, the bell hanging overhead chimed as I exited. Crap, so much for being sneaky. I went back to the car, opening the driver's side door and rummaging for the keys only to discover they were missing. Double crap! Running isn't an option anymore; I physically can't do it, but I can hide.

I made my way to the back of the building leaning against the wall for support. Something large like a car covered in tarps and brush was concealed in a field of tall grass making the perfect hiding place. I pressed my back against it and slid to the ground, keeping an eye out for snakes while at it. With my luck, I'll probably have survived all this to get bitten by a poisonous snake and die.

Another hot wind blew, raising the corner of the tarp up to flutter in the breeze. That's when I noticed it...I tugged the plastic back and the brush aside. "Oh my God..." I whispered, staring at it in shock and taking a few steps back. It's the car. My car. The one Matt and I wrecked. No wonder anybody hasn't come looking for us, they hid our freaking car!

The sound of gravel crunching alerted me, my body went rigid. Oh, right, I was supposed to be hiding wasn't I? Triple crap! I whipped around just in time to see the blurred glimpse of a man standing behind me before something hard and heavy came down on my forehead. The next thing I knew, I was face-first in the dirt with warm blood trickling down my face.

" There you are! Thought you could sneak off, huh?" He knelt down and chuckled, a grin spread over his face showing off his black rotting teeth "I see you've already met my family and by the looks of you I can tell you've also had the pleasure of meetin' the business end of my boy's chainsaw!" Moving aside my ripped skirt, he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of my wound. "Shoo-wee! Yes, sir, They did a number on you. Sure looks bad. "

His family? His boy? He's one of them. I freaking knew it! I knew something about this place didn't seem right. I shouldn't have let those people go inside. They're probably all dead or soon to be because of me. This is all my fault. The adrenaline coursing through my veins wanted me to either run for the hills, or fight tooth and nail, yet I remained as motionless as a corpse, my limbs too paralyzed with fear to move.

"Those boys are gonna be the death of me, lettin' all our stock get away! Those lazy good for nuthings are gettin' sloppy, sloppy, sloppy with their chores!" I couldn't make out much of his face due to the intense sunlight and blood blinding my eyes, but his voice was distinct, loud and gravely which only got more boisterous the longer he ranted.

"Welp honey, let's get ya inside with the rest of yer heathen friends before I call them nincompoops down here to pick yuns up" He rolled me onto my back. " What in the-" he gawked, brushing my hair over my shoulders, eyes locked on my chest. "Yer- yer- yer a Sawyer!" He pointed a finger at the still sore brand. " We're kinfolk! "

A stream of curse words foul enough to make a sailor blush spewed from his lips as he waved his wood cane around and stomped his foot kicking up dirt that filled my mouth and lungs. "Them half wits, them fudgepackers!" he fumed, sweat poured from his brow. " Oh, I believe this warrants a trip down there! And you're comin' with me, lil missy!"

He grabbed me by my arms and proceeded to drag my limp body across the ground towards a rusty beat up truck. You'd think for an older guy he'd have trouble bearing my weight, but he did it easily; must have had a lot of practice. All I could do was whimper in pain as tiny pebbles embedded themselves in my skin and stuck to the wet blood.

"Now, now, no need for all that cryin'. We'll be over this in a bit. Just hang on. You got nothing to worry about, you-you just take it easy, we gonna be there real soon."

My eyesight melted into a slow fade, everything went fuzzy; then I saw nothing at all. My heart beats pounded loudly, echoing through my ears, alongside his random quips that I couldn't make heads or tails of. Feeling in my body ebbed away until everything eventually went black.