The Other Road
Part 1: A New Town
After her previous flatmates changed jobs they forced Susan to change apartments. She resolved to find an apartment she could afford all on her own. She was able to find one in a new town. She has just settled in this town for a few weeks and is still getting to know the place.
The apartment she was renting now was small and old but she liked it. It was a one room apartment but it was complete. There was a bed and cooking facilities. She was on the second floor of a building on top of a carpet business. The building in turn was located in a street surrounded by businesses. Her tiny apartment was the only residential dwelling in the street.
To her the place was convenient. She does not own a car and grocery shopping can be difficult. Her street contained many small grocery businesses which was to her advantage. They served her grocery needs. The bus station was also a short two minute walk across the street from her building.
All in all her new place was very convenient for her grocery and traveling needs. There was a coffee shop that served her breakfast needs. There were several restaurants that served her meal needs in case she doesn’t want to cook but there was something missing.
Part 2: Pizza
She loved eating pizza especially when she binges on watching Netflix every Friday night. It was her way of de-stressing after a long week of working. She acquired the habit when she was still living with her old flatmates. It was the group’s Friday thing.
But there was no pizza restaurant in her place. There was a burger place, a Chinese restaurant and others but there was no pizza restaurant. She tried microwaveable pizzas but they didn’t satisfy her. She tried other foods for her Friday habit but it doesn’t feel the same for her.
She can’t stand this no longer. She has to have pizza. She eventually found out online that there was a Domino’s pizza restaurant along her bus route from work. She easily found it after looking outside the bus attentively. It was indeed immediately located in her bus route but it was so small that you can easily miss it if you are not really looking for it.
She was happy. She studied her bus route and confirmed that it would take about twenty minutes walk for her to reach it from the nearest bus stop. It did not matter for her. All she cared about is that she was having pizza on a Friday night as she binge watched Netflix.
Part 3: The Bus Stop
Friday came and she did her plan. She stopped at the bus stop and walked towards Domino’s. She was so excited she bought four regular sized pizzas. Then she walked towards the bus stop.
She did not really think it through. Carrying four boxes of pizza is very uncomfortable especially when they are freshly cooked and very hot. The shape of the boxes too did not help. She found herself holding the boxes with her two hands as she walked. She wondered what else could go wrong.
It was the first time she has been to this bus stop. She is familiar with it because she passes it everytime so she was not worried. The route 610 bus arrived. It was not her usual bus but she knows that this bus also passes by her place. She always rides the route 609 but the 610 bus arrived first. It was past 8:00 p.m.
All the occupants of the bus disembarked at the bus station. Then the few people who were waiting in the bus station boarded the bus. There were no more than five people in the bus including her. The bus stayed still for as the bus driver waited for more passengers. No other passengers boarded the bus.
The small number of passengers in the bus made Susan a bit afraid but she dispelled her worries as the bus started forward. Her route was a straight drive along a major road from the train station to her apartment. The bus stop she was in now was situated at an intersection.
Part 4: The Bus Ride
She was delighted when the bus finally started. Finally she can go home. This was her thought. The bus drove along the intersection straight towards the same path she normally took. She was delighted. Then fear shook her.
The bus upon reaching the middle of the intersection suddenly turned right towards the other road in the intersection. Her hear sank and she immediately pushed the stop button in the bus. But the bus didn’t stop. The driver continued driving along a dimly lit road.
Susan was panicking. How far will the bus go before it stops? She wondered. She looked outside the bus. There were houses on one side of the road and trees and plants on the other side of the road. There would be parts of the road which are completely dark.
After a few more minutes of the bus driving non-stop she asked one of the passengers when will the bus stop. She answered: “In around twenty minutes.” Susan almost screamed in terror. She composed herself eventually and told the passenger that she has ridden the wrong bus.
She advised Susan to ask the driver if he can help her. She immediately talked to the driver and explained her situation. The driver told her to wait a few minutes more as he drops her off to the nearest bus stop on his route.
Part 5: Where Is This Place?
After a few minutes the bus stopped. The bus driver told her to cross the road and pointed towards the bus station. He told her that the bus station was desolate at night and she must be very careful. After this she thanked the driver and departed the bus.
She then prepared to cross the road. There were only a few cars that passed by and she easily crossed the road. She walked towards the dimly lit bus station. Then from there she tried to trace her origins. She was definitely faraway from her actual route. She cannot see the road back because it was very dark.
She gave up on her plan to walk back towards her actual route. Not only was it very far but it was very dark. By her calculations if she walked back it would take her hours. She is not even sure if the bus crossed a bridge or something. She was however sure the bus before crossed an elevated road.
Then she studied the area. A few cars passed by every now and then but they were fast. Even if she tried to hitchhike she doubted if any car would stop as each car that passed by seems to be in a hurry.
She thought of ride hailing services and taxis but she was in the middle of nowhere. At her back was a wide area of shrubs, bushes and grassland while across the street the few houses that stood have no lights. It seems they were not occupied.
Then she tried reading the bus schedule attached to the post of the bus station. It was hard to read because the place was dimly lit. The bus schedule paper was also worn down. She wonders when was the last time the bus schedule has been updated.
Part 6: Stranded
It seems to her she was stranded. She cannot go anywhere because the return bus might come anytime and if she is not in the bus station the bus won’t stop to pick her up. It was also past nine in the evening now. She wonders if there are even any bus arriving soon.
She decides to wait in the bus stop rather than wander around the place. She decided to use Google maps to determine where she was but it has no map of her area. She cannot tell anyone where she is even though she has a mobile phone. This is because she does not know where she is.
Part 7: The Boys
About fifteen minutes later a group of people showed up in the dark horizon. She was not sure if she would be happy or scared. She was all alone in this desolate area and she was defenseless against this people if they were out to harm her.
The people came closer and closer. It was a group of men. No, not men but well built and tall teenagers. They evidently just came from a drinking bout. They even looked drunk or tipsy. Sometimes they would sing and shout invectives.
They came nearer and nearer. Susan was panicking. She thought of running away but then remembered that the bus stop was her only way out of this place. She tried to look for a place to hide from them near the bus station. There was nowhere to hide.
She decided to lean in a narrow tree in her confusion. At least the narrow tree would partially cover her from the teenagers. There were three of them. They clearly had a lot to drink as most normal carefree teenagers are.
They saw her but continued talking at each other about the party they just attended. Their loud voices and laughter seems menacing to her. This continued for a while but the teenagers never went near her.
Part 8: They Know
Then one of the teenagers went into the bushes to urinate. He was near the tree where she was leaning. She nervously looked at him while he urinated. He noticed that she was looking at him. He smiled and looked at her while urinating.
After he was finished he took one long look at her and joined his friends. He talked in a hush tone to his friends while pointing at her. Then they closed in together as if secretly discussing something.
She was terrified. These teenagers were taller than her and any one of them can easily overpower her in an instant. They can do anything they want to her and no one would know. They can easily hide her in the bushes if they wanted.
Then they approached her slowly. She was thinking of dropping her pizzas and running away as fast as she can. These damn pizzas! These are the cause of my danger! She shouted at herself.
She decided to leave the narrow tree next to the bushes. She knows that from the narrow tree they can easily drag her to the bushes where no one will be able to see what they would do to her. She came out in the open in the bus stop.
She was hoping that the teenagers would be scared of possible witnesses who may see them. She was also hoping that someone would help her in case the teenagers attacked her. They followed her into the open as if they were sure of themselves.
Part 9: The Boys "Play"
They circled her. “How about some pizzas! You’ve got plenty!” One of them menacingly said. She controlled her fear and said: “Sorry! I’m bringing them home to my family.” She lied. She was trying to make them feel sorry for her because of her supposed “family.”
Then one of them started touching her box of pizzas which she nearly dropped. The teenagers laughed like wolves as they take delight from teasing her. Then one of them told her that she looked young and asked her how old she was.
Then she felt a hand on her waist. She shrieked. When she did the hand was withdrawn from her waist. She was now very scared. As they circled her she rotated herself trying to prevent them from touching her again.
“What we have here is a good time! There’s pizza and a woman!” One of them said. They were planning to subdue her. She was sure of this. Her mind was blank now. She does not know what to do.
No car has passed by in a while. She could make a run for the houses but they seemed dark and empty. These teenagers were much taller than her. They could easily outrun her. Then she felt a hand on her buttocks. She was speechless. She was like a lamb being led to slaughter.
Part 10: Safety?
Then in the horizon she saw a big structure approaching from the shadows. It was a bus! Could it be the bus she was waiting for? It does not matter. She waved the best as she can to the bus as it approached.
Will it stop? Please stop. This thought was racing in her head as the bus approached very fast. The teenagers stopped harassing her and maintained their distance. She was overjoyed. The bus stopped in the bus station.
As soon as the bus doors opened she hurried inside. There were no other passengers. The bus only contained the bus driver. The bus did not leave. The teenagers boarded the bus and kept a small distance from her.
Then as the bus drove back towards her original route the teenagers approached her again. They began harassing her again. She was seated near the bus driver but this did not seem to worry the teenagers.
“Help!” She said to the bus driver. But the bus driver only yelled to the teenagers asking them to stay in their seat. They ignored his message and one of them even touched her by her hair and shoulders. She was crying.
Part 11: A Familiar Place
The bus driver stayed quiet but drove the bus as fast as he can. The shaking bus as it speeds along almost maniacally seemed to unbalance everyone inside the bus especially the teenagers. They stopped harassing her.
Within five minutes the bus was back at the intersection and into the bus stop along her original route. The bus driver angrily demanded that the teenagers leave the bus. The teenagers were about to fight the bus driver when they noticed that there were many people boarding the bus.
Many of the boarding passengers were burly men. There were other normal passengers too. The presence of these people changed the minds of the teenagers. They departed the bus but not before one of them giving a finger to her.
Part 12: Always Ask
The rest of her bus drive home was peaceful. She tried to forget what happened to her by binge watching Netflix while she ate her pizza. Slowly the terrifying ordeal was lost as she fell asleep while watching Netflix.
She still buys pizza from the same place and waits for the bus at the bus stop near the intersection. But now she always asks the bus driver if the bus was going straight to her apartment or would turn again at the road which still scares her to this day.