hi welcome to dead and roasted what can I get you the crap people see on highways is enough to make me stay home one day when the robots finally took over I'm sure the regional manager will just let me wear my meta Quest headset and serve coffee from the comfort of my couch in my favorite bionical boxers that would be the day but for now here I am taking that asphalt path from heck to and from dead and roasted because people have to have their sugar beans anyway join me in the back good friends for
a whole set of scary true Highway stories that'll make your spare tire shiver these are Tales from the breakroom Good Samaritan nightmare from Evan Z I've always prided myself on being a decent person the type who would stop to help a stranger change a tire or give directions to a lost traveler but after what happened that night on Highway 16 I'm not so sure anymore sometimes being a good person can lead you right into the devil's arms it was a Friday night I was driving home from a late shift at the factory the clock on
my dashboard read 11:43 p.m. and every night around that time the highway was always dark and empty and I would be tired as I was the kind of bone deep exhaustion that comes from pulling too many overtime shifts in a row all I wanted was to get home crack open a beer and fall into bed that's when I saw the car on the side of the road up ahead it was an old Ford Taurus a '90s model from the look of it with its hazards blinking weakly in the night as I got closer I could
see a figure hunched over the front tire waving frantically at me without thinking I slowed down and pulled over I know what you're thinking who stops on a deserted Highway in the middle of the night but you got to understand this stretch of road was Notorious for poor cel perception if someone was stranded out here they might be stuck for hours until help arrived I couldn't just drive by as I got out of my car I called out hey you need some help the figure straightened up and I saw it was a guy probably in
his mid-40s he was wearing a rumpled suit like he'd come home from a late night at the office oh thank God he said relief evident in his voice I've been out here for hours blw atire wouldn't you know it my spare is flat too I approached flashlight in hand sure enough the front tire was shredded man that's some bad luck I said I've got a spare in my trunk if it'll fit your car the man's face lit up really you would do that I Shrugged no big deal just pay it forward as I turned her
head back to my car I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck you know that feeling when you just know someone's watching you it was like that but worse I spun around but there was no one else here just the empty Highway and the stranded motorist everything all right the man asked his head tilted slightly I shook it off yeah sorry guess I'm more tired than I thought let let me go grab that spare as I rummaged in my trunk I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off the man's suit in
the beam of my flashlight I could have sworn I saw dark stains on it and his car now that I thought about it I hadn't heard the engine running when I pulled up if he'd really been out here for hours with his hazards on wouldn't the battery have died by now I was about to close my trunk and make an excuse to leave when I heard a noise from the nearby Woods on the other side of the highway a twig snapping maybe or a rustle of leaves I swung my flashlight in that direction but the
beam could not penetrate the dense foliage probably just a deer the man said suddenly much closer than he had been before I jumped nearly dropping the spare yeah H yeah probably I agreed but my heart was going nuts every Instinct I had was screaming at me to get back in the car and drive away fast but I was already committed and really what was there to be afraid of a middle-aged man in a rumpled suit I was being ridiculous I rolled the spare over to his car trying to calm my nerves let's get this changed
so we can both go home the man nodded a smile playing at the corners of his mouth was it just my imagination or did that smile seem a little too wide a little too forced as I knelt down to position the Jack I heard it again a noise from the woods and I swear it was closer this time and was that a whisper I stood up quickly scanning the tree line did you hear that the man cocked his head listening hear what I thought I heard I Tred off unsure of how to describe it a
whisper a laugh never mind let's just get this done I knelt back down my hands were shaking so bad I could barely get the jack in place then I saw it there in the grass next to the flat tire half hidden by a shadow a nail a big one like the kind used in construction but this wasn't just any nail the end was sharpened to a wicked point and the head was painted red my blood ran cold I'd heard stories about this warnings passed around at truck stops and on internet forums gangs or psychos would
Place sharpened Nails on the shoulder of the road wait for someone to get a flat tire and then I stood up slowly trying to keep my voice steady you know what I just remembered I have somewhere to be I'm really sorry I'm going to have to I never finished that sentence as I turned I saw the man's face change the friendly mask Slipped Away replaced by something cold and predatory and he was no longer alone two more figures had emerged from the woods they were dressed in all black their faces obscured by dark masks one
of them was holding something that glinted in the Moonlight a knife no no the man in the suit said his voice no longer friendly don't be rude we're just getting started I ran I've never run so fast before I could hear them behind me their footsteps pounding on the asphalt I reached for my car door handle praying I'd left it unlocked the door opened and I threw myself in side fumbling with my keys the engine roared to life just as one of those masked figures reached my window I saw the knife come down heard the
Screech of metal on metal as it scraped along my door I floored it tires squealing in my rearview mirror I could see the three of them standing in the road watching me go the man in the suit even raised his hand in a mock wave I drove for Miles shaking so badly I could barely keep the car in the road I didn't stop until I made it to a well-lit gas station where I finally called the police they searched the area of course but found nothing no stranded car no sharpened Nails just an empty stretch
of highway they took my statement but that's all it came to every time I drive that dang Highway at night I remember that event that man's face as it changed the glint of the knife in the Moonlight and I can't help but drive as fast as I can to get away from there double-checking my doors to make sure they're locked because now I know the truth the real monsters aren't hiding in the woods or under your bed sometimes they're standing right next to you wearing a friendly smile and asking for help and by the time
you realize it it's almost too late 3:00 a.m. Crossing from Elder shelder I work at a factory and the whistle blows at 2:45 a.m. signaling the end of another grueling night shift that's how it was that night I clocked out exchanged tired nods with my co-workers and shuffled to my old pickup truck it was a Tuesday morning or would you call that Monday night still after working months with these hours the days and nights start to blend together the drive home that night was the same as it always was 20 minutes of dark winding country
roads with only my headlights and the occasional glare of a passing truck to keep me company I knew every pothole every curve every Faded Line on the asphalt I could probably drive it with my eyes closed not that I would try of course as I turned on the final stretch of highway a mile from my house I let myself relax a bit the classic rock I'd been listening to played softly in the background my eyes were heavy but I was nearly home just a few moments away and I'd be in bed dead to the world
until my alarm dragged me back to reality at noon that's when I saw it at first I thought it was a deer we get a lot of them out here and they're always darting across the road at the worst possible moment but as my headlight swept across the figure I realized real quick this was no deer it was tall about 7 ft standing upright in the middle of the road it was covered in dark matted fur with long arms that hung almost to its knees and its face was horrible a long snout filled with teeth
that gleamed in the harsh light of my high beams and its eyes reflected back at me glowing in unnatural yellow I slammed on the brakes the truck's tires screeching for a moment we just stared at each other me gripping the steering wheel so tight my Knuckles turned white and this thing this Impossible Creature that should not exist outside of horror movies and campfire stories its ears twitched and I swear I saw its nostrils flare like it was senting the air senting me a low growl rumbled from its chest I'm not sure how long we sat
there Locked In The Surreal standoff seconds or minutes my mind raced trying to make sense of what I was looking at was it a bear was it some kid or crazy in a costume a hallucination brought on by too many night shifts and not enough sleep but I knew deep in my gut I was seeing something very real as real as the steering wheel under my hands as real as the sweat beating up on my forehead slowly so slowly that creature turned its massive head towards the woods on the side of the road then it
glanced back at me One Last Time those yellow eyes seeming to stare right into my soul then in a movement far too graceful for something at size it loped across the road and disappeared into the trees I sat there for a long time engine idling classic rock still playing softly in the background my hand shook as I fumbled for my phone thinking I should call someone but who the police Animal Control the local freaking news what would I say hello I've just seen a werewolf cross Highway 16 they would think I was drunk eventually I
put the truck back and drive and crept forward half expecting that creature to LEAP out at me at any moment but the road remained empty thank God those woods stayed quiet I made it home in a days barely remembering the last mile of the drive as I locked my front door in a hurry behind me I let out of breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding safe at last I was safe as I stood there in my dark living room I couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed the world felt bigger somehow stranger more
dangerous I stayed up a little longer than I should have too scared to sleep for a while kept thinking about what could be out there after all I'd seen that thing only a mile from my house when I did fall asleep I woke up before the sun rose and I just stared out the window waiting for the sun to rise over the trees since that night I've driven that road hundreds of times and I've never seen it again I've told a few co-workers the ones who are more interested in that kind of stuff who believe
in ghosts and the Paranormal they believe me but it doesn't really help I'm still creeped out by my own neighborhood the three nights I'll never forget from patrolman 24 I've been a highway patrol officer for a long time I've seen my fair share of strange things drunk drivers doing the impossible Wildlife where it shouldn't be even the occasional UFO report from an overly tired trucker but what I experienced over three rainy nights on the highway it's something I still can't explain before I get into it you need to understand a few things about that highway
it's a long stretch of road cutting through some of the most remote parts of the state miles of nothing but trees on both sides with the occasional small town breaking up the monotony cell reception is spotty at best and on rainy nights they can feel like you're the only person left in the world I'm not the type to believe in ghosts or Monsters I deal in facts what I can see and what I can touch but those three nights shook my beliefs to the core I'm sharing the story now because I need to know if
anyone else has seen something like what I saw it started on a Tuesday night the rain had been coming down steady all day and by the time my shift started at 8:00 p.m. it was a full-on deluge visibility was low and I knew it was going to be a long night of watching for hydroplaning cars and the occasional fool driving without lights around 11:00 p.m. I got a call about a stranded motorist near mile marker 117 as I approached the area I saw a car on the shoulder their hazard lights were blinking as was standard
procedure I pulled up behind them and called in my location that's when things got weird as I got out of my cruiser I noticed something odd about the car it looked old not just a few years old but like something from the ' 50s a big bulky Chevrolet with fins and chrome bumpers in the pouring rain it almost seemed to Shimmer like it wasn't quite solid I approached cautiously hand on my holster out of habit hello I called out Highway Patrol you folks okay in there no response I got closer Shining my flashlight into the
car empty not just empty but pristine the seats looked like they'd never been sat in the dashboard was Untouched by time or use I radioed in asking if there had been any reports of people walking along the highway nothing I searched the area for about 30 minutes but there was no sign of the driver or passengers when when I got back to the car to call for a tow truck my blood ran cold the car was gone it hadn't driven off it was gone Without a Trace no tire tracks in the mud no sign it
had ever been there I sat in my cruiser for a long time trying to make sense of what had happened had I imagined it had someone driven it away and I somehow missed it I called it in as a false alarm much to the annoyance of dispatch I tried to put it out of my mind to convince myself it was just a trick of the light in the rain but about a week later it happened again same conditions pouring rain late at night this time I was driving along the highway when I saw someone walking
on the side of the road it's not uncommon to see pedestrians even in remote areas like this so I pulled over to offer some assistance as I got closer I realized something was off about this figure they were wearing what appeared to be old-fashioned clothes a long dress and a bonnet like something from a history book and they were walking in an odd jerky motion like some sort of malfunctioning robot I called out but I didn't get a response as I got closer they turned to face me and it felt like my heart was about
to stop where their face should have been there was just blank skin no eyes nose or mouth just smooth featuress flesh I stumbled back reaching for my radio my gun anything but as soon as I took my eyes off the figure it vanished one second it was there the next nothing empty road and falling rain and that's it I sat in my cruiser once more thinking it over shaking trying desperately to tell myself what I'd seen was not actually what I'd seen I didn't report this for obvious reasons the third night God I'm going to
have nightmares about that one forever this was 2 weeks after the second incident I was still a bit nervous jumping at shadows and double-checking every car all my sergeant had noticed too asking if I needed some time off I told him no originally but maybe I should have taken it the rain was worse than ever that night sheets of water fell from the sky and wind howled through the trees I was already on edge and this was making it worse around 2:00 a.m. I got a call about a multi-car pile up near mile marker 120
as I sped to the location my fears subsided people were in trouble and I had a job to do I saw the accident before I reached it even through the rain I could make out multiple cars some overturned some smashed beyond recognition I radioed for backup and ambulances then pulled over to start helping as I got out of my cruiser I realized something was wrong there were no sounds no car horns no cries for help not even the crackling of burning metal just the pounding of the rain I approached the nearest car inside I saw
a figure slumped over the steering wheel but as I shown my flashlight through the window I recoiled in horor the figure wasn't a person it looked more like a mannequin but wrong its proportions were off limbs too long and Joints bent at impossible angles I moved to the next car and the next all the same these Twisted inhuman figures posed like crash victims were clearly not real not alive maybe had never been alive that's when I heard something a sound Rising above the rain a low droning hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere
it grew louder and with it came a light not headlights not lightning but a sickly pulsing glow that lit up the whole scene the lights seemed to concentrate forming into shapes above the wreckage geometric patterns that her to look at shifting and changing in ways that shouldn't be possible within those patterns I saw something figures moving and watching I could feel their focus was on me and in that moment I understood true Terror I ran I'm not proud to admit it but I ran back to my cruiser and drove away I didn't stop until I
was Miles Away pulled over at a rest stop hyperventilating and on the verge of tears when backup arrived at the scene they found nothing no wreckage no strange lights no signs of any accident at all the incident was written off as a false alarm possibly a prank call I tried to tell Sergeant about what I saw but the words wouldn't come out right because it was the most insane unbelievable thing I could describe I took a leave of absence after that spent some time talking to a therapist who told me I was too tired too
stressed but deep down I know what I saw and I know it was real I'm back on duty now but I don't Patrol the same Highway can't bring my myself to drive that stretch of road at all especially on rainy nights I don't know what's out there on that highway is it ghosts or aliens or something our human Minds can't even comprehend or maybe I really am crazy maybe if you ever find yourself on the highway at night and you see a car that's a little too old and a little too clean and a little
too quiet don't stop just keep driving as fast as you can preferably until you're somewhere safe and normal because there's something very wrong with some places in this country hitchhiker from Derek Don Shield me and a group of co-worker friends carpool and we've been doing so for a few years it's a long commute from our Village in Somerset to the office in Bristol but sharing the drive makes it bearable there are four of us myself Robert Morton and Liam we're not exactly friends outside of work but we've developed a comfortable routine over the years or
at least we had until a certain morning in late November when everything changed it was a kind of cold damp morning that England specializes in where the fog clean to everything and the sun seems to be a distant memory I was driving that week we rotate to keep things fair I picked up Robert first then Morton and finally Liam same as always the conversation that morning was the usual mix of work gossip complaints about the weather and half-hearted plans for the upcoming holiday party as we merged the fog was so thick I could barely see
the car in front of us suddenly Morton spoke up ah look at that poor sod he said pointing to a figure on the side of the motorway who'd be out hitchhiking in this kind of weather through the fog I could just make out a man standing by the emergency phone he was tall and thin wearing what looked to be an old-fashioned suit as we got closer he turned and stuck out his thumb I'm not sure why I did it maybe it was the weather or some misplaced sense of all truism but before I knew it
I was pulling over onto the shoulder what are you doing Robert hissed we don't pick up hitchhikers H we can't just leave them out there I said already regretting my decision it'll only take a few minutes to drop them off at the next Services the others grumbled but went along with it I rolled down my window as the man approached up close there was something about him his suit looked pretty old but in fantastic condition like it had just been pressed his face was pale almost waxy with deep set eyes that seemed to absorb light
rather than reflect it thank you for stopping he said his voice surprisingly deep and smooth been waiting out here for quite some time uh where you headed I asked trying to ignore the growing sense of unease in my stomach I'll just up the road a bit he said vaguely I'm sure it won't be out of your way before anyone could object he opened the back door and slid in next to Liam who pressed himself against the opposite door to maintain as much distance as possible as we pulled back onto the motorway an uncomfortable silence fell
over the car The Hitchhiker seemed content to stare out the window a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth I tried to focus on driving but still I felt like something was off after a few minutes The Hitchhiker spoke up so Robert he said how is the proposal coming along the one for the new marketing campaign Robert stiffened in his seat how how do you know about that the man chuckled oh I know all sorts of things for instance Morton I bet your wife would be interested to know about those late nights at
the office with your assistant Morton's face went pale what the heck are you talking about he sputtered The Hitchhiker ignored him turning his attention to Liam and Liam my boy how's that gambling D coming along still haven't told your parents have you Liam looked like he was going to be sick I gripped the steering wheel tighter my Knuckles turning white excuse me who who are you how do you know these things I demanded the man's smile widened showing too many teeth I know everything about all of you he said your hopes your fears your deepest
darkest Secrets like you for instance he said meeting my eyes in the rear view mirror still feeling guilty about that dog you ran over last year the family dog the one you killed and kept on driving away from my blood ran cold I'd never told anyone about that never what do you want Robert asked his voice shaking The Hitchhiker leaned back seemingly satisfied with the chaos he' caused want oh I don't want anything I'm just here to observe to see what people do when their carefully constructed Lies start to unravel the atmosphere in the car
was suffocating Morton looked like he wanted to jump out Secrets be danged Liam was quietly hyperventilated bling in the corner and Robert had tears in his eyes I think you should get out I said trying to keep my voice steady Now The Hitchhiker laughed again a sound that sent shivers down me oh I don't think so we're having far too much fun aren't we friends besides I'm am not done yet did you know Robert here has been embezzling from the company for years or that Morton's not really the father of his youngest child stop it
Robert screamed just stop it but he didn't stop he kept going revealing things that most of us didn't know about each other each secret more devastating than the last it was like he was feeding off our distress growing stronger with each Revelation I was barely Bar L paying attention to the road anymore too focused on the nightmare when Liam quiet unassuming Liam snapped shut it he yelled lunging at The Hitchhiker shut your bloody mouth what happened next I still can't explain as Liam's hands made contact with The Hitchhiker's suit there was a sound like static
and a blinding flash of light when my vision cleared The Hitchhiker was gone just gone no explanation no Trace just empty space where he had been sitting I slammed on the brakes bringing us to a screeching halt on the hard shoulder we all sat there Breathing heavily trying to process what had just happened what was that Morton finally asked his voice barely above a whisper we all simply nodded too shocked to speak at first but then Robert asked who was he how did he know all that no one had an answer finally I started the
car again we uh we should get going to work I said my voice sounding strange to my own ears the rest of the drive was silent when we made it to the office we all went our separate ways without a word the secrets The Hitchhiker had revealed hung between us like a presence in the days that followed our little car pull fell apart morn quit and from what I've heard he got divorced Robert resigned suddenly citing personal reasons Liam just stopped showing up to work altogether as for me I've never stopped thinking about it because
we encountered something that was not of this world but what that something was I never know whoever and whatever that man is he seemed to relish human misery these days I drive to work alone I take a different route but no matter which way I go I'm still terrified of seeing that hitchhiker on the side of the road and just so you know I did end up driving back to the family that owned that dog I confessed what I did and I offered to pay in some way but the family refused and quickly asked me
to leave just beware who you let into your car encounter at the bbong from UA I'm a Long Haul truck driver in the outback and I'm here to share with you an encounter that happened last year on the air highway it's it's not something I ever expected to encounter and sure as heck ain't something I'll Ever Forget before I start you should know what it's like to drive the null Arbor it's not just a long stretch of road it's like driving on another planet hundreds of kilometers of nothing but red dirt and scrub in a
way it's beautiful but it can play tricks in your mind and test your patience this particular trip I was calling a load from Perth to Adelaide it was Midsummer and the heat was brutal even with the airon cranked up it felt like I was sitting in an oven I'd been on the road for about 10 hours and the sun was starting to set and that my friends is when I saw the bbong finding water out here isn't completely unheard of but it is rare enough to make you take notice this one was just off the
highway maybe 50 m M from the road in the fading light it looked almost unreal a perfect mirror reflecting the sky surrounded by gum trees that seemed greener than they had any right to be in this parched landscape I had been driving for far too long without a break and the side of water was too tempting to pass up I pulled over figuring I could stretch my legs and maybe splash some water on my face to wake myself up as I approached the bbong something felt weird the air was dead still but the surface of
the water seemed to be moving Rippling in a weird way and it was quiet too in the outback there's always some sort of sound birds and bugs the Wind Through the Trees but here everything had gone muted I was about 10 m away from the water's edge when I heard something a low sound like a growl that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once I had never heard anything like it not a dingo not a feral pig not any animal I could name and then I saw something at first I thought it was
a log floating on the water but then it moved two eyes Rose above the surface glowing yellow in the Twilight they were huge each one the size of a dinner plate and they seemed to be looking towards me I froze there I watched quietly as more of the creature emerged from the water it had a head like a cross between a dog and a horse but bigger than either its body was massive covered in dark slick fur and its teeth Christ its teeth were like rows of steak knives gleaming White against the darkness of its
mouth in that moment a memory resurfaced from my childhood stories my Aboriginal mate's Granddad used to tell us about the bunyip the bunyip is a monster that lives in the water halls and bongs waiting to drag un weary travelers to their Doom everyone including myself figured these were just stories to keep kids from wandering off but standing there staring at this thing I was becoming a believer in real time the bunyip because what else could that thing be started to come towards me the way it walked was slow and deliberate like it knew it had
all the time in the world and that I wasn't going anywhere I nearly soiled myself and turned right around sprinting back to my truck legs like jelly the terrified prey part of my brain woke up then as I kept imagining Jaws closing around me something pouncing from behind I scrambled into the cab and started the truck the engine roared to life thankfully without a problem I then glanced in my side mirror the bunyip was on the shore now its huge body heaving as it dragged itself out of the water in the fading light I could
see Steam rising from its fur it opened its mouth and roared a sound that felt like it shook the very air I floored tires spinning in the gravel as the truck lurched forward I didn't slow slow down for several kilomet my eyes flicked constantly to the mirrors but subconsciously I knew I hadn't been followed i' had made it away in time and that thing probably didn't have the energy or desire to chase me when I finally felt safe enough to ease off the accelerator I was drenched in sweat and jumpy as heck I made it
to Adelaide in record time after that I shared my story at a truck stop and surprisingly was met with other stories of similar things us truck drivers do end up seeing quite a lot on the road when you're driving alone through the Outback for so many years it's hard not to see something weird one driver swore up and down that he saw a bun yep himself trying to pull in a kangaroo at a watering Hall another truck driver had been on vacation fishing and believes that a bun chased him through the water there is a
whole host of Legends out here in the outback never thought I'd run into one myself attack from above from the stronger fish moner back in the early '90s I was a bit of a delinquent teenager dropped out of high school never got my GED the type of kid that had no idea what he wanted to do in life and every kind of of career path or job sounded like something I didn't want to do but it didn't take long for me to realize I had to have a job to live food cost money and you
got money from work and boy did I love food I ended up getting hired on as a commercial fisherman I'll say right here I knew how hard that kind of job could be and it ended up being harder than I expected but I fell in love with it the waters off of the coast of Maine are gorgeous and relaxing the smell of the sea the rhythm of the waves and when you can bring in a good haul it's really satisfying but this isn't about what I encountered while fishing it's about what I experienced on the
drive home it was a Friday night I had just finished a long week out in the water we had docked real late around 10 p.m. later than usual because of a problem with the boat's engine by the time I had packed up my gear and said goodbye to the crew it was past midnight I live about 3 hours Inland in a small town nestled in the forests of Western Maine usually I'd stay overnight in a motel near the dock and drive home in the morning but I was feeling a bit more homesick than usual so
I decided to make the drive tired as I was the first hour or so was uneventful the roads were empty just me and the occasional Long Haul truck my radio kept me company I was really into old country songs Back Then country song after country song played as I passed through areas of spotty reception it was around 2:00 a.m. when things got creepy I was on a stretch of highway that cuts through a heavily forested area no street lights no houses nothing but trees on either side of the road the moon was full that night
a detail I can comp completely remember I first noticed something was off when my headlight started to flicker just for a moment but enough to make me take notice I checked the dashboard but everything seemed normal maybe just some old wiring I thought then I saw something pass in front of my truck at first I thought it was a bird an owl maybe or a hawk it swooped right down in front of the vehicle big enough to make me hit the brakes as I passed through the headlights I realized it was no ordinary bird this
thing was massive its wingspan appeared to be about 15 ft maybe more and it was strangely shaped the body was too long and almost Serpentine with a more reptilian head compared to a bird I blinked hard sure I was seeing things but sure enough that thing was circling back around I saw it Fly alongside my truck now I saw it in the mirror leathery Wings a long neck clawed feet orange eyes like hot coals I stopped that pedal right to the floor I felt my truck push forward hard but this flying thing kept pace with
me when I glanced back in the rear view I saw it take a swipe at the side of my truck in a moment of panic I turned turned the wheel and veered the vehicle sideways for a terrifying moment I thought I was going to flip it I managed to keep control I then looked back in my mirror the thing was gone and for a second I thought maybe it had flown away and given up until I heard a thud above me sounded like it had landed on my truck it then took off again and it
wasn't leaving I kept seeing its silhouette diving In and Out near the truck I'm not sure how long this went on I swear I was going about 100 mph by then how could something that big move so fast now you might expect a climax to a story like this but you won't be finding one one moment the silhouette of the thing was swooping in and out and the next nothing the ride was back to its quiet normal self but I sure as heck wasn't I was far too scared to to slow down I made it
home with record time and as life went back to normal I managed to convince myself that maybe I fell asleep at the wheel but to this day the memory is so vivid that I doubt that even now what was that creature what kind of flying thing is massive looks reptilian and birdlike and would attack someone's truck some undiscovered species an alien a dinosaur I don't know to me even though I'm not sure what the thing was it acted like it was just chasing me out of its territory the way a bird might threateningly swoop around
something to try to chase it away and if that's the case I'm very lucky because if it wanted to eat me I think it could have easily rammed me off the road and done so now that's a disturbing thought believe my story or don't that's up to you and I get to live with it the thing at the poll from utility man Bill let me tell you why I recently suffered the worst concussion of my life and why my belief in the Paranormal went instantly from who cares to we aren't alone I'm a 40-year-old guy
who works for my local electric company been doing it for for 15 years now it pays the bills and keeps the light on literally in my case most days it's routine stuff like fixing Transformers and replacing lines but that night was different it was a very busy Thursday evening we' been working overtime all week because of a big storm that had rolled through knocking out power to half the county by Thursday evening we were down to the last few repairs mostly out in the Sticks where folks are used to waiting a bit longer for their
juice to come back on boss comes up to me around 6:00 p.m. says there's one last job that needs to be done before I clock out some line out on an Old Highway needed fixing that particular stretch of highway was extremely remote really just a long stretch of asphalt cutting through miles of dense forest creepy as heck even in broad daylight if you ask me but it was my job so off I went the sun was already setting by the time I got out there I found the pole easy enough it was the only thing
breaking up the wall of trees on either side of the road I pulled up flipped on the truck's work lights and radioed in to let the office know I was starting now I've climbed more poles than I can count but something about this one gave me the willies right from the get-go can't explain it just a feeling in my gut that something wasn't right right but I pushed it down grabbed my gear and started up the ladder I was about halfway up when the first weird thing happened my radio crackled spitting out static and fragments
of voices I thought maybe I'd picked up a crossed signal but then I realized it wasn't just my radio acting up looking down I saw the truck's lights were flickering too dimming and brightening like they were running on a bad battery the heck I muttered reaching for the radio to call it in but before I could everything went back to normal lights steady radio quiet I shook my head told myself it was just tired wires acting up if I'd known then what I'd known now I'd have high ta it out of there right then and
there I'd just about reached the top when I heard it footsteps clear as day coming from the tree line slow and steady heading straight for my truck I froze one hand on the pole the other on my wrench and listened hard the steps were strange not like a person or any animal more like a shuffling sort of dragging sound like something was pulling itself across the ground they came right up to the truck circled at once then stopped I even called out hey someone down there but I didn't get an answer only the wind and
the the trees and the faint hum of electricity in the wires my hands were shaking as I turned back to the job told myself it was just some Critter maybe a raccoon or something but deep down I knew better raccoons don't walk like that I was working on the line when I felt it a weight on the ladder like someone had started to climb up after me I quickly looked down but there was no one there just empty runs all the way to the ground by now I was scared real scared the kind of fear
that makes your mouth go dry but I was also stuck you can't exactly Sprint down a ladder 40 ft in the air you know so I kept working trying to ignore the feeling of eyes boring into my back I heard it again then the footsteps but this time they weren't on the ground they were on the ladder with me coming closer slow and deliberate I couldn't move couldn't breathe my whole body was screaming at me to run but I just couldn't cooperate the steps got closer and closer until I could swear I felt hot breath
on the back of my neck slowly so slowly it felt like moving through molasses I turned around Jesus Mary and Joseph the thing I saw behind me was no person couldn't be it was shaped like a man sure but completely wrong skin so pale it was almost glowing in the dark bent at all angles like a spider and its face it had no hair no nose just two massive black eyes and mouth like a slit I wasn't sure if it even had teeth but I could only imagine they would be like needles if I saw
them it was crouched on the ladder fingers gripping the rungs and those fingers each of them I swear was as long as my forearm I screamed I couldn't help it and the next thing I knew I was falling I must have let go of the pole in shock for a split second I was almost relieved better to fall than to let that thing get me but survival Instinct kicked in I grabbed the ladder caught hold of something a support strut I think and ended up dangling there like a God dang C ornament I looked up
thinking maybe the fall would scare that thing off no such luck I saw it peering down at me head cocked to one side like some Curious dog then slowly it started to reach for me with one of those awful hands have you ever been so scared that your body just shuts down that's what happened to me I saw those disgusting fingers stretching towards me and my brain just said nope so I let go as I fell I remember thinking this is going to hurt but everything just went black when I came to I was in
a hospital it had been a day and a half concussion bruised all the heck and one cracked rib doctor said I was pretty lucky could have died falling from a height like that he asked me what happened and I fed him some bull crap about losing my footing because I wasn't about to tell the doctor that I'd seen some gray humanoid thing he would immediately assume that my brain had been damaged and alien humanoid or not I needed a paycheck and needed to get back to work it took a few days before they gave me
the okay to leave I went back climbing poles pretty soon after but I can't say that it was very fun it must be like learning to ride a bicycle you can do it forever never forget how but if you have one bad crash you end up getting real freaked out about getting back on the seat I kept doing my job as I needed to but even now several months later I'm not completely comfortable climbing up the ladder and getting on those poles thanks for tuning in to Tales from the breakroom the home of the scariest
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