Halfway to somewhere
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:57 pmThe loud rumbling of a plow truck echos around the bend in the road and mixes with the sounds of the plow scraping on the road surface. The snowy silence of serene ridge line is erased by the truck but soon re-envelops the scene as the truck turns off the road to a scenic out look turn off. The truck is slammed into park and the engine is turned off. The heavy snow whirls around on the windy ridge line and the plowed section of route 3 is already started to get covered in snow once more.
The static filled radio is slightly clearer up on the mountain side, from here a radio signal from nearby Colebrook gets a scratchy sounding country music station. In the cabin of the truck, a bundled up Lou has left the power on so that the heater still blows what little warmth it had and the music continued to play. With the truck in park and the engine off, Lou leaned forward in his seat and propped himself on the steering wheel. He gave the view outside of his truck a grim smirk as he couldn't help but feel the irony of the music that was playing.
"I feel into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
The Johnny Cash version of ring of fire played while the snow piled up on the wind shield of the truck and then would be occasionally pushed off by the wiper blades that lingered on in a slow setting. Lou looked out across the frozen New Hampshire north country and even with the reduced visibility brought on by the snow storm, could see out to the Connecticut Lakes and the borders of the state and country. From up here on the ridge line, everything looked so calm and peaceful.
Lou had been driving for hours now, picking up the extra money that a person who could work a plow rig could pull in during a storm. It had been a mild winter all things considered but they were still getting snow up in Coos county. There wasn't much of a point in plowing the snow during the storm because more would just fall and for the most part, most people simply didn't go out during weather like this. But Lou understood the importance of this road. It was really the only way in or out of Whisper Hill during weather like this and if something were to happen, if for some reason someone had to go to the real hospital down in Berlin, this was the one way to get there.
Lou leaned back off the steering wheel and reclined in his seat for a moment; stretching his legs and thinking back to the time he had to get driven to the hospital to Berlin. Kelsey and Doctor Kennigan were both really nice and helped him out, but the memory that lingered was that of his fight with Vasily.
"I feel into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
Lou grimaced some at the memory of the fight, Lou wasn't no whimp went it came to taking a blow but Vasily hit like a truck and didn't pull any punches. Lou couldn't see out of one of his eyes for a week. He focused his vision on the slowly moving wiper blades and shook his head some. There had been a lot of things that had been eating at him over the winter and hours alone either sweeping at the mill or driving by himself in the plow truck let his mind wonder to dark places. That and the Pat's losing to Peyton Manning didn't help either.
Lou allowed his pit stop to continue a little longer and he gave a tired sigh that emitted a puff of breath in the cold truck cabin. Lou looked up at the clipped out image of a bikini model on a sandy beach that he had pinned up in the truck's interior and chuckled some. His attention wasn't on the woman in the picture, but the palm tree in the background. Lou truly thought that maybe what he needed was a break from all this chaos in Whisper Hill. The stress of situations he was involved in and all this time by himself was really starting to get to him.
The faint radio signal flickered out some and the static overtook the music. Lou grumbled some and bashed a hand on the dashboard of the truck in an effort to get it working again. He looked at the radio and fiddled with the tuner for a moment. After some struggle Lou got the song playing again. Triumphant Lou leaned back into his seat again and then looked out to the side view mirror of his truck. For a brief moment he thought he saw a teenage girl standing out in the snow towards the back of his truck. A teenage girl he had known very well.
"I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
With a jolt, Lou tossed open the door and dashed outside into the snow. The storm had picked up slightly and the wind was gusting at high speeds up in the elevation of the ridge line. Lou got 3 steps towards the back of the truck and lost sight of the teenage around the back of his truck. The howl of the wind blocked out the faint music from the cab of the truck and soon all Lou could see or hear was the wintry mountain top.
"KATE!"
Lou shouted as loud as he could to be heard over the storm as he got to the back of the truck. He moved around to the back of the truck and looked to see no one in sight. He looked down at where he had seen her turn the corner and tried to see if there were any footprints in the snow but he couldn't tell if the ones he was seeing from him or her at this point.
"KATE!"
He yelled again, and moved off towards the corner of the scenic out look's parking lot that he wasn't able to see from the cab of the truck. He stumbled through the deep snow and fought against the wind that picked up in speed as he got closer to edge of the parking lot. Once by the guard rail he stood and looked around see if he could see anyone. The wind howled in the trees and around his truck and played tricks on his ears, he could swear that he heard the sounds of a school bell ringing, but figured it must be the wind and cold making his ears ring on their own.
He got right up to the edge of the scenic out look and looked down off the cliff and a moment of vertigo brought on by the white out conditions caused him to slip dizzily into the guard rail. Now doubled over the railing, Lou clung to the cold metal for dear life while looking down at the cliff and ravine below. The truck driver let out a terrified yelp and pushed himself backwards away from the guard rail and landed with on his back in the snowy parking lot.
He lingered on the ground for a moment before he slowly sat up and shook off some snow that was caked onto his upper half. He looked around the empty parking lot once more and sighed deeply. Lou got up and slogged his way back to his truck and got back into the driver's seat. He turned on his truck and tried to get the heat back up and running while he shivered to stay warm.
He wondered to himself if he had actually seen Kate or if the long hours of driving coupled with compounded stress were finally getting to him. When the truck started back up, the radio was no longer working and try as he might to adjust it back a station that wasn't just static, Lou was unable to fix it. After a few moment of struggling with the radio Lou slammed a hand on the dashboard out of frustration and growled to himself. He was about to turn off the radio all together when he shrugged some and decided to leave the static on.
He popped the truck back into drive and started his long drive back down to Whisper Hill proper. Lou told himself that he would leave the radio on just in case he caught a signal somewhere else along his route, but he knew he was lying to himself. There was never a signal on this portion of route 3, or even in most places in Whisper Hill for that matter. Lou left the static on because he didn't want to be alone anymore. He needed something to fill the silence, even if it was static. At this point, Lou would take whatever he could get, because at least, that was better than nothing.
(OOC> You guys ready for the second half of this game?)
The static filled radio is slightly clearer up on the mountain side, from here a radio signal from nearby Colebrook gets a scratchy sounding country music station. In the cabin of the truck, a bundled up Lou has left the power on so that the heater still blows what little warmth it had and the music continued to play. With the truck in park and the engine off, Lou leaned forward in his seat and propped himself on the steering wheel. He gave the view outside of his truck a grim smirk as he couldn't help but feel the irony of the music that was playing.
"I feel into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
The Johnny Cash version of ring of fire played while the snow piled up on the wind shield of the truck and then would be occasionally pushed off by the wiper blades that lingered on in a slow setting. Lou looked out across the frozen New Hampshire north country and even with the reduced visibility brought on by the snow storm, could see out to the Connecticut Lakes and the borders of the state and country. From up here on the ridge line, everything looked so calm and peaceful.
Lou had been driving for hours now, picking up the extra money that a person who could work a plow rig could pull in during a storm. It had been a mild winter all things considered but they were still getting snow up in Coos county. There wasn't much of a point in plowing the snow during the storm because more would just fall and for the most part, most people simply didn't go out during weather like this. But Lou understood the importance of this road. It was really the only way in or out of Whisper Hill during weather like this and if something were to happen, if for some reason someone had to go to the real hospital down in Berlin, this was the one way to get there.
Lou leaned back off the steering wheel and reclined in his seat for a moment; stretching his legs and thinking back to the time he had to get driven to the hospital to Berlin. Kelsey and Doctor Kennigan were both really nice and helped him out, but the memory that lingered was that of his fight with Vasily.
"I feel into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
Lou grimaced some at the memory of the fight, Lou wasn't no whimp went it came to taking a blow but Vasily hit like a truck and didn't pull any punches. Lou couldn't see out of one of his eyes for a week. He focused his vision on the slowly moving wiper blades and shook his head some. There had been a lot of things that had been eating at him over the winter and hours alone either sweeping at the mill or driving by himself in the plow truck let his mind wonder to dark places. That and the Pat's losing to Peyton Manning didn't help either.
Lou allowed his pit stop to continue a little longer and he gave a tired sigh that emitted a puff of breath in the cold truck cabin. Lou looked up at the clipped out image of a bikini model on a sandy beach that he had pinned up in the truck's interior and chuckled some. His attention wasn't on the woman in the picture, but the palm tree in the background. Lou truly thought that maybe what he needed was a break from all this chaos in Whisper Hill. The stress of situations he was involved in and all this time by himself was really starting to get to him.
The faint radio signal flickered out some and the static overtook the music. Lou grumbled some and bashed a hand on the dashboard of the truck in an effort to get it working again. He looked at the radio and fiddled with the tuner for a moment. After some struggle Lou got the song playing again. Triumphant Lou leaned back into his seat again and then looked out to the side view mirror of his truck. For a brief moment he thought he saw a teenage girl standing out in the snow towards the back of his truck. A teenage girl he had known very well.
"I went down down down; and the flames went higher..."
With a jolt, Lou tossed open the door and dashed outside into the snow. The storm had picked up slightly and the wind was gusting at high speeds up in the elevation of the ridge line. Lou got 3 steps towards the back of the truck and lost sight of the teenage around the back of his truck. The howl of the wind blocked out the faint music from the cab of the truck and soon all Lou could see or hear was the wintry mountain top.
"KATE!"
Lou shouted as loud as he could to be heard over the storm as he got to the back of the truck. He moved around to the back of the truck and looked to see no one in sight. He looked down at where he had seen her turn the corner and tried to see if there were any footprints in the snow but he couldn't tell if the ones he was seeing from him or her at this point.
"KATE!"
He yelled again, and moved off towards the corner of the scenic out look's parking lot that he wasn't able to see from the cab of the truck. He stumbled through the deep snow and fought against the wind that picked up in speed as he got closer to edge of the parking lot. Once by the guard rail he stood and looked around see if he could see anyone. The wind howled in the trees and around his truck and played tricks on his ears, he could swear that he heard the sounds of a school bell ringing, but figured it must be the wind and cold making his ears ring on their own.
He got right up to the edge of the scenic out look and looked down off the cliff and a moment of vertigo brought on by the white out conditions caused him to slip dizzily into the guard rail. Now doubled over the railing, Lou clung to the cold metal for dear life while looking down at the cliff and ravine below. The truck driver let out a terrified yelp and pushed himself backwards away from the guard rail and landed with on his back in the snowy parking lot.
He lingered on the ground for a moment before he slowly sat up and shook off some snow that was caked onto his upper half. He looked around the empty parking lot once more and sighed deeply. Lou got up and slogged his way back to his truck and got back into the driver's seat. He turned on his truck and tried to get the heat back up and running while he shivered to stay warm.
He wondered to himself if he had actually seen Kate or if the long hours of driving coupled with compounded stress were finally getting to him. When the truck started back up, the radio was no longer working and try as he might to adjust it back a station that wasn't just static, Lou was unable to fix it. After a few moment of struggling with the radio Lou slammed a hand on the dashboard out of frustration and growled to himself. He was about to turn off the radio all together when he shrugged some and decided to leave the static on.
He popped the truck back into drive and started his long drive back down to Whisper Hill proper. Lou told himself that he would leave the radio on just in case he caught a signal somewhere else along his route, but he knew he was lying to himself. There was never a signal on this portion of route 3, or even in most places in Whisper Hill for that matter. Lou left the static on because he didn't want to be alone anymore. He needed something to fill the silence, even if it was static. At this point, Lou would take whatever he could get, because at least, that was better than nothing.
(OOC> You guys ready for the second half of this game?)