Tal laughed. This was ridiculous. Corey was ridiculous and so was he. How could he possibly be interested in this young man? Dire circumstances. Awful timing. Completely unsuitable. Much too young for him. But amusing and sweet and brave and…very unlikely to be what he was looking for. Though the chance of finding that particular unicorn was zero. Tal could go on and on, but if he did, he might no longer find himself so pleased to be alive.
“Hey! Is that what you saw?” Corey asked.
There were lights flickering in the distance, but a long way off the road. Tal was shocked he’d spotted them as he’d driven past. They looked to be in a strange configuration. He wasn’t sure quite what he was looking at.
They both stopped to look. Tal could feel the chill seeping through to his skin. Even a good quality woollen coat wasn’t enough protection for weather like this. Eventually, the snow would saturate it. It had already made it feel heavy.
“Lights in the sky. Hopeful, right?” Corey said.
“Unless it’s an alien spacecraft.” Tal couldn’t believe he’d said that. It was so unlike him.
“Good point. Though if we’re freezing to death, we might not mind being beamed up into space as long as it was warm.”
When they reached a lane on the right appearing to lead in the direction of the lights, they stopped walking again. Tal was tired. It was getting harder and harder to force himself to keep going. There was no signpost so Tal’s hope that it might be a hotel or a pub faded. Either of those would have some sort of advertising board.
“What do you think?” Corey asked.
“Any sort of dwelling would be acceptable. There’s no indication of a vehicle having used the lane, but then people with any sense wouldn’t venture out in these conditions.”
“I’ve just noticed the tracks from the truck have disappeared. That’s strange.”
Tal glanced at the road they’d been walking along.Huh.The tracks had gone. “The snow must have covered them. They’ve been fading for a while.”
“Okay. Still looks odd though. Well, decision time. Do we head for the lights or do we keep going?”
“I don’t think there’s a choice to make. There are no vehicles out tonight. It’s too risky to keep walking along this larger road hoping we’ll be lucky. I probably covered the last eight to ten miles without seeing a soul.”
“Alien spaceship here we come. Warm your probes, guys!”
Oh God.Tal couldn’t remember the last time someone had amused him so much and bearing in mind their dire situation, that said something, didn’t it?
They turned up the lane and the going immediately became more difficult. The snow was deep and with no tyre tracks to help them, they both struggled.
“If the place we reach is called The Bates Motel,” Corey said panting, “we’ll still go in, but don’t use the shower.”
“Let’s hope it isn’t called that.”
“What if it is?”
“Then definitely don’t use the shower.”
“It might be Hotel California.”
“As long as it has heating. Did The Eagles mention that?”
“Not that I remember. It’s apparently a lovely place. You can check out any time, but you can never leave. If it’s Hotel California, we keep walking. Agreed?”
“Fine.”
The silence didn’t last long.
“What if it’s like the Addams family mansion complete with a playroom holding medieval racks, nailbeds, Judas cradle and iron maidens… Just for… relaxing? And they need victims?”
Tal’s heart gave a little skip. “As long as there’s heating.”
“I don’t know what a Judas cradle is. I remember reading the name somewhere.”
“It’s a sharp wedge of wood that people were lowered onto. Their weight drove the wood into their body.”
