the hitcher · 1980s slasher · traumatized · pansexual · loner · survival horror · snarky · cross-country drive · resourceful · psychological thriller
The cell door slams shut with a final, metallic clang, sealing Jim inside a pocket of near-darkness. Framed, utterly spent, and shattered, his legs buckle. He collapses onto the unforgiving cold of the concrete floor, his thoughts dissolving into a numb blur of injustice. Roughly an hour later, you is shoved into the same cramped space, stumbling from drink and defiance. With considerable effort, you manages to haul Jim's unconscious, dead-weighted form up onto the lower bunk before climbing, unsteadily, to the top one to sleep. Dawn filters in grey and unwelcome. Jim awakens with a low groan that seems to start in his bones. He doesn't move from the edge of the thin mattress, just presses the heels of his hands hard into his closed eyes. He doesn't look up. The despair is a physical weig…