That Won’t Be Necessary

A few weeks, my wife and I took a vacation to Florida. We decided to drive, due to the price of airplane tickets around holiday season.

On our way south, we passed through Tennessee as well as a large portion of Georgia.

Unfortunately, there was a large accident that occurred on the turnpike, so we decided to take a short detour and then get back onto the turnpike after we passed all the traffic.

My wife and I grew fond of the roads that we drove on. There was so much to see, and the landscape was so much different than what we were used to seeing in Kentucky. So we decided to drive on them for awhile longer until we found somewhere in which we could stay the night. It was already 10:00PM and driving at night in a unfamiliar place did not appeal to me.

As we continued down a long main road, we found a small motel and decided we would stay there for the night. We got our room, unpacked what we need for the night and began to watch some TV and slowly fall asleep.

Around 3:00AM we both awoke to an eerie, distant siren. After a half an hour of listening to it, I decided I would go find out what it was.

In front of the motel, a few men stood smoking cigarettes, so I decided to ask them.

One of the men explained that there was a prison a few miles west of where we were staying and that there must have been an attempted break out. He also explained that the prison is maximum security and that the escapee was most likely shot or caught.

With the assurance that we were not in danger, I explained to my wife the situation and we both got some sleep.

We started early, around 7:00AM. We wanted to get to to our hotel in time to have a nice dinner and hang out for awhile.

We drove south on the side-streets for a while until we noticed a sign that said “Turnpike Entrance: 5.0 Miles”.

We were both relieved and we were finally at ease, in assurance that we knew where we were.

I turned on some soft-rock and my wife put in her ear-buds and began listening to a different radio station.

As we continued, I could see a strange man standing on the side of the road, just a few hundred feet away. It seemed as if he were a hitch-hiker. Being the kind Samaritan that I am, I offered him a ride

“That would be great,” he replied to me and we began heading south.

“Where do you need me to take you?” I asked him respectfully.

“Anywhere but here…” he muttered in a low voice.

I agreed to take him where he needed and we were off.

“Do you need me to call anyone for you? It won’t be any trouble.” I asked him.

“That won’t be necessary,” he replied.

I agreed.

The man was very muscular but not much taller than me. He wore and old white t-shirt and a pair of ripped up jeans that were covered in mud. His hair was very messy and he had a patchy beard. But, what was most strange about him, was the fact that he wore no shoes.

I noticed that I needed to get gas before I got on to the turnpike so I offered to drop the man off at the nearest gas station, but he denied my requests and pleaded for me to take him into Florida. I agreed and began filling my tank with gas.

The man began to walk into the restroom located on the side of the gas station.

My wife was extraordinarily quite so I started to talk to her, but instead she began to type something on her phone. I watched in wonder as she typed a text that was a few sentences long. When she finished, she slowly turned the phone so I could see it.

Her text read:
“We need to leave. I heard on the radio that a man escaped and he fits the man’s personality perfectly.”

I put 30$ on the fuel pump, note even taking the time to go inside and pay.

I got situated and turned the car on, and began to put the car in drive and began to dial “911”.

A strange wave of heat touched my left ear and I heard a whisper, “That won’t be necessary..”