S3/E2 | The Highway

other way. You are real. There was a scarecrow, a cost to come. There is no time to waste. The night will only grow darker. I'm not going anywhere with you. Then I will at least show you back to the road. Come on, Arrow, Who are you? My name is Bezi level? Kind of name? Is that? An old one? And yours? I'm Max? This is Arrow? Yes, Arrow, a brave dog, very loyal. It's my best friend. What are you doing out here? Stephen saying everyone should stay indoors, that it's dangerous,

and they are right. Halloween night is no time to be out, especially for children. There are things in the night that would love to get their bony hands on a boy like you. To that end, I offer my protection. I don't understand. It is a dangerous night, maybe the most dangerous of your life. I do not want to scare you, Max, But you have a long journey home, too long. You are skeptical of me, and that is understandable. But I said I would bring you to the road,

and here we are. I will make the journey with you. It will not slow you down, and I will keep you safe. Thanks, no, thanks, aar, and I have got it from here as you wish. Got room for one more kid? Buys alll that's so well and got all night kid, I'm coming. You're bringing that mutton better sitting the back. Jeez, kid, what are you doing way out on the highway. You know what night it is, don't you? Yeah? Um,

thanks for stopping. Are you heading into town? Sure? A shoot held up on a sales call over in sunny Belle lost track of time. Real foolish of me. Should have been home an hour ago. Last year vandals chased me off the damn road. This year, I'm ready for them. This is a W B r D Devil's Night bulletin. Hold on, we are receiving the first reports of a disturbance on Main Street. Mass suspects reportedly broke into Cooper's Parmacy at sunset, vandalizing the property and making off with

a large quantity of candy and toilet tissue. If anyone has any information on these vandals, please reported with haste to the Bradberry Police Department. In the meantime, we must again implore all residents of Bradberry to remain indoors and off the streets. Disgusting, I tell you, goddamn outsiders. You know it's not our people doing this right, it's out of towners coming in disturbing our peace and order. How much you want to bet that whole town will be

decorated by toilet tissue? I'm gone. They could say it's just our kids blowing off a little steam, But our boys do that on the football field, on the courts, on the diamond. These are degenerates from elsewhere, all worming their way in, and they won't stop with the pharmacy. Where did you say you were from Bradberry, sir? Well, if you were up to no good, you wouldn't tell me, would you just sit there all quiet with your mutt there and play the innocent, wouldn't you. That's how they

played it. Last year. They played on my kind nature. Promise, sir, I'm not going to go strouble. I just need to get home. People think they're just hooligans coming in for a good time, you know, like they're just drunks or kids out on a wild tear. And yeah, yeah, maybe some of them are the real dangerous ones hid among them. That's what's insidious. Is it stuffy in here? They're out there waiting. Last year, I saw this girl on the side of the road, not far from where I just

picked you up. Matter of fact, probably not much older than you. Real sweet, just done with duties on the farm. I assume, going home to have dinner with Mom and pop. Apple cheeked and dough ide and just real wholesome, Like if you looked up wholesome in the dictionary. Boom, there she'd be smiling out on she with her little white teeth and her eyes shining with all the glory of Christian God. She was the perfect baked Of course, I was gonna stop for her, pick her up, get her

home to her parents. Red blooded American man. Goddamn it, when I see a girl like that out there trying to get home. I'm going to help her out. That's how they got me last year, a kid, and it ain't happening again. Un how is the other way. Let's call it a short cut. You can just let me out. Heren't dream of it, kid, It's just that my parents are expecting me. That's what she said, just like that. And I tell you I had every intention of getting her home. I'm not a monster. I'm a good man,

a family man. Go to church every Sunday. I pay the tithe even on weeks when it's hard, and you know it's hard these days. Kid. Anyway, I was following her directions, telling her about my wife, my kids at home, all waiting on daddy. But I just couldn't let a girl like that alone on the side of the road. What's this another loss soul trying to hitch hike home? I suppose os shall we stop? I don't know we should. It's only Christian of us. I'll roll down the window, kid,

don't be shy you. Hey, mr, I'm trying to get to town. I think I could get a live sure, buddy, always room for one more. Shut up? Sorry about my boy's boot. She's a good boy, but he's got the manners of a barn animal. I was just telling the kid here about my experiences last Devil's Night. Oh by all means little bit me in a row. So the girl that innocent little answer. She's given me directions to her house, right sort of out of the way from

where I'm used to driving. But I'm not suspicious. Where should I be? I'm escorting a real life ethereal being home. What's the worst that could happen? I'll tell you. See, she turns me down this road, and when we're on now, I never had a reason to go this way. I'm not really familiar with it, so maybe I'm already a little on edge. Say what is that up ahead? Looks like a couple more hitch hikers. I guess we'd better pick him up. I fellas, I guess, so what how?

Hey Mr? It's getting awful dark out here. Can you spare us a drive to town? Yes, sir, I'm afraid to walk with all these bad men causing man sure thinks sweetheart never could say no to a pretty face. Always room for a couple more. Everyone in we're just telling a story about another hitchhiker I picked up this time last year. Gosh, I love a good story. Seemed like it was just getting to the good part. Oh,

please do continue, well, if you all insist. At this point in the story, I've got a goddamned four real angel of the Lord riding shotgun down this very road in this very car. And she's sitting there, real quiet, like she's expecting something. And I thought, is she afraid of me? So I reached over gently and I put my hand on her knee, and I whisper, he ki't you don't have to be afraid a little on me. She doesn't look at me, just stares straight ahead, her

eyes suddenly full of terror. I look up and before I even really saw I swerve pure in state. The body just knows what to do. It was a pickup truck blocking the road right in my path, and I'm trying to clear it, and I lose control. Bam. We're in the ditch, engine smoking, the windshielders cracked. The girl nearly gone through the damn thing. She's groaning. I pulled

her back. She had a nasty gash across her scalp, blood coming down her face, but her eyes were still sharp, and I thought, this kid will be okay, she'll be fine. I can just get her back to my place and bandage her right up, nurse her back to health. And then I saw five figures coming out of the apple trees on the side of the road, tall masked. As they moved the last of the twilight, glenned off something shiny in one of their hands. I didn't hesitate. I'm

not stupid. I reached right into the glove box. I keep a loaded pistol in there. Go ahead, open her up, take a peek. Oh, I don't think i'd better open it. You see that gun? Yes, sir, these days, you know, you just can't take any chances reach in. I don't grab the gun, do it. That's not nice, Mr. Shut up back there, I'm talking. Don't look at them, look at me. Take the gun out of the goddamn glove box. I'll hand it to me, thank you. Where was I the man in the woods with knives? Did I say

they all had knives? H? Well, I didn't hesitate. I was in the army. See in the trenches. You learn a lot there. I wasn't gonna let some punk outsiders get the jump on me. I got the gun and I sat back real quick. Some of the girl's blood had gotten on my hands, and I wiped it all over my face, so I looked like I was wounded. Make him cocky, think I was easy. Pray right. Then it works. See one of them makes right for the

driver's side, goes to open the door. The others are all lined up right in front of the car like ducks in a row. The first one wrenches open the door, reaches into Grabby, never sees the muzzle, just feels it on his forehead, but it's too late. Blam. He flies back lands with a thud. And these other four of that day, as you get when you're not expecting something ship from the girls and figured it out, and she saw me go for the gun, so blam, blam, blam.

I hit three more, two or dead right away. One topples over, screaming, maybe a gut shot, maybe a shoulder I don't know. I'm all adrenaline at this point, but I see the last one is bolt right back into the orchard, and I tell the girl wait right there, and I bowled out after him into the field. He was stupid, sloppy, hid down in some brambles. But here's the thing. He was sobbing his sniffling led me right to him. He was laying their mask off, curled up

and clutching himself and stinking a pass of teenager. For Christ's sake, he wailed some ship about please, Mr, don't kill me. I was just kidding around. Don't you know which devil's night I saw in his eyes? It was an act. He got bullet number five. Gosh, Mr, that's quite a story. Yeah, well it ain't done yet, so shut your mouth. I make my way back to the road with a fellow had winged and dragged himself up a pavement, attempting to make an escape on his belly.

Poor sucker got it right the gut. I walk up, flip him over with my foot. What are you on? Another teenager? Zits all over his face, gawky, Adam's apple, everything, except he don't plead with me. Instead, he fixed his eyes up the road aways, where my shattered headlight illuminated a figure limping down the road. The girl kid tried to call out after her. You could barely manage to croak out a name, Sally, before I crushed his windpipe beneath my boot, Sally, he knew her. They were in coots.

Might they not have just been schoolmates? Sure? Sure, of course, just old chums at school, right here at Bradbury High, getting malted milks at the soda fountain and holding hands at the pictures. You and I both know that ain't true. These were conspirators. She was one of them. They wanted what I had, and they were willing to kill to

get it. All this time, ever since I picked her up, I'd been fooled into thinking she was some beautiful creature who needed protection, some perfect angel falling from the sky, perfect and innocent and pure American. My heart broke, just broke into a thousand pieces to learn that none of it was real. These boys, these monsters, hiding their evil intent behind masks, They were bent on destroying everything that

made this town good. And this girl, this Sally, well, she was as bad as any of them, worse, in fact, more insidious, because she looked like the kind of girl you take home to meet your mother. She tricked me her face was a mask. I wanted to see what was behind it. I called out, hey, Sally, Sally. She didn't even give me the courtesy of turning around, just limping away fast as her injured legs could carry her. But I had one bullet left. It didn't take me

long to catch up. Because of that night, I always have my gun on me, and I keep all six bullets loaded in the chamber in memory of Sally and her friends. And I won't be fooled again this year. I'm ready for you, for all of you. Well, what do we have here? Another hitchhiker? Open the door, kid, will, sir? Looks like you got a full car, nothing of the sort. This hound dog has been growling all night, and I think it's hard time he was out on his ass

alongside this boy, his scram kid. I ain't got no more space for you. Hello, stranger, Well, who what menagarius souls do we have here? Excuse me? Thank your pardon, ma'am. Pardon my gaze, Oh, hadsome and charming. I was just talking about a hitchhiker. I picked up my HiT's all right, No boy going to be all right? Run boy, mats bad. Thirteen Days of Halloween, Devil's Night, starring Carter Rockwood and Clancy Brown. Episode two, The Highway, written by Nicholas Takowski,

featuring the voice of Clayton Frowning. Editing and sound design by Jesse Funk, directed by Alexander Williams, Script supervision by Nicolas Takowski. Casting by Sunday Bowling C s A and Meg Mormon c s A. Production coordinator Wayna Calderon. Production assistants Zoe Shay and Amber Ferris. Animal recording by Ben James, closing theme by Rose Azerti Loyalty Freak music dot Com. Recorded at d G Entertainment in Los Angeles, California. Engineered

by Gary Forbes and Jody Abbott. Executive producers Aaron Mankey, Noah Finberg, Chris Dicky, Matt Frederick and Alexander Williams. Supervising producers Trevor Young and Josh Than. Producers Jesse Funk and rima il Kali. Thirteen Days of Halloween was created by Matt Frederick and Alexander Williams and is a production of iHeart three D Audio, Blumhouse Television and Grim and Mild

from Aaron Makey. Learn more about the show at Grimm and Mild dot com slash thirteen Days and find more podcasts from iHeart Radio by visiting the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.