By Yvonne Mason

Blood Alley

It was midnight, the moon was full and the blacktop was empty except for the Semi truck barreling south on Hwy 27 toward Miami, Florida. The only noise was the sound of the wheels whining on the blacktop, the soft squawk of the CB radio and the local Country and Western radio station playing a song about lies and lost loves.

The driver was a forty something redneck who drove out of Georgia. His name was Robert Haines, but everyone called him Bubba. He was a fast driving, dip spitting, boot wearing overweight wheel holder. He had been married and divorced more times than he could count.  His ex-wives all told him they could not take his being gone twenty- nine days out of the month. Plus, they all knew he strayed while he was on the road. They had the cell phone bills to prove it. 

This full moon night Bubba Haines was running behind schedule. He had a layover in South Georgia. It had to do with his latest relationship gone south. She had tossed all of his possessions on the front lawn after he had come home smelling of beer and women’s perfume. Bubba had to find a place to store his stuff until he could get back to Georgia. That was why he was running behind. So, his mind was not on the road as much as it was on finding himself a place to hang his hat when he got back to Georgia.

“Damn women,” He muttered out loud. “They aren’t worth nothing. They just don’t understand a man’s needs. I gave them all my money and a place to live. What more could they want?”

With the last thought, he put the pedal to the metal and began cruising south at a comfortable speed of 85 MPH on Hwy 27 better known as Blood Alley. As he cruised along lost in thought and still cussing the bitch out for making him fall behind, he saw a pair of red eyes in the middle of the road. Bubba started slowing down using his Jake brakes and pushing his foot brake and clutch through the transmission. The semi slid to a halt with white smoke pouring out from under the wheels. The truck came to rest about twenty feet from the very large grey looking dog like animal.

The creature glared at him for a full minute and then loped off to his right into the trees along the road. In the glare of the large truck headlights, the animal appeared to be a very large ugly dog. He had pointed ears, two fairly long canine teeth, one on each side of his long protruding snout. Red Salvia dripped from these teeth like glittering blood red rubies on a chain. This creature had a long shaggy dark grey colored coat. His tail was almost as long as his slim body and his paws were the size of small saucers.

Bubba watched as the creature disappeared into the trees and wondered what kind of dog would be in this part of the country that looked like he did. Bubba crossed his arms over the steering wheel and looked out his bug ridden windshield into the night.

Bubba knew he was tired. He had been driving way past the ten-hour legal limit. He had only stopped to gas up and relieve his bladder. He had not even stopped to eat. Instead, he had grabbed some junk food and eaten as he drove. Bubba had to be in Miami at five o’clock the next morning. The load had to be dropped or he was out of a job.

As Bubba continued to look out the windshield he thought his exhaustion had finally caught up with him. He rubbed his tired red eyes and looked again.

“What the hell?” He gasped to the darkness.

   Bubba put his truck engine in idle and flicked his headlights onto high beam illuminating the asphalt in front of the rig. Opening the truck door, Bubba stiffly clambered out of the rig. Slowly, he walked toward the thing that was lying in the middle of the highway.

As he walked in front of the truck, the thing was bathed in shadows. Bubba was blocking the light from the driver’s side headlight. To Bubba, the animal resembled a very large buck.

“Man, this thing must be a twelve point.” He cried. “I have to see if there is enough of the head to save and mount.”

Drawing close to the dead animal in the road, Bubba took off his baseball cap and scratched his sweaty head. For the life of him, he couldn’t identify the creature. There appeared to be a body with limbs extending outward, but in his mind he could not put the pieces together in any recognizable image.

Gingerly, Bubba edged forward, sliding the cap back onto his head for comfort. Unfortunately, at that moment, the wind picked up a little, blowing the stench emanating from the dead animal to his nostrils. The smell of death and decay was like something out of a bad horror movie. Bubba’s eyes watered. His throat tightened in protest and he gagged as the horrible smell assaulted him.  Finally, he threw up onto the rough asphalt, only adding to the cloying stench.

The dark puddle of what looked and smelled like blood covered most of both lanes of the two lane road. The body was ripped, shredded and mangled like it had been attacked by a savage beast.   The body had been taken down by its throat, and then the stomach had been ripped open with what looked like teeth. The face of what was left of the thing in the road at one time had been human. Not only had it been human but it had been a very large man. Bubba could see the eyes which were still open and the fear in them, even in death.  He saw the bulging triceps and what was left of the lower arms. This person would not have gone down without a fight.

Currently available in paperback, kindle and audible will be released in

hardback on 6/3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8WLY2P6