Jack slowed the car to a crawl, and turned the full beams on. They illuminated a strange scene; from the black marks on the road that could be burnt rubber; to the broken glass scattered haphazardly across the asphalt.

‘What the fuck happened here’ muttered Jack, turning to me as if seeking validation that I found this as strange as he did.

‘I don’t know’ I said, pointlessly. The car leaned down to one side, with the tires clearly blown out on the left-hand side. There was a black headrest in the midst of all the broken glass. It was impossible to tell what had happened, but at my best guess it looked like someone had been attacked. Jack stopped the car just shy of the chaotic scene.

‘Maybe we should get out and have a look’ he said, taking his hands off the steering wheel and looking at me. I didn’t want to agree, but equally I didn’t think I could ignore such a strange situation.

‘Sure’ I said, fishing my scarf off the back seat and wrapping it around myself. ‘But lets be careful, yeah?’. I reached across and popped open the passenger door. Jack followed suit and opened his own door.

We approached the wreckage cautiously, looking for any signs of life or any clue as to what had happened. As I walked towards the car, I felt my trainer slide slightly on the ground. Looking down, I saw that there was a patch of crimson blood on the ground that I had nearly slipped in. I gestured to Jack, and pointed to my shoe. The blood was bright in the full beams of our rental car, and I saw his eyes widen in shock as he realised what this meant.

‘Fuck!’ he hissed, panic flushing his face as it drenched me as well like a bucket of cold water. He turned and briskly approached the car, looking through the windows briefly. He looked back at me and shook his head.

‘No-one there’ he said. This didn’t make either of us feel better. At this moment, the street lights down the road emitted a loud hum. I looked up at them to see that the dim red lights were getting brighter. The road and immediate surrounding areas of desert were illuminated in a red glow that was only getting more and more intense. Jack jogged back to me and said the exact words that I was thinking:

‘We need to leave, NOW’. I wasn’t in any mood to argue with him, so we turned and made back to the car. Back inside, Jack turned the key in the ignition, and I waited for the familiar hum of the engine starting. Nothing. Jack turned the key again. Nothing.

‘But…’ he murmured, confusion in his tone. Two dull thuds outside made us both snap our heads up and look at each other. We both listened as the left side tires of our car slowly began to deflate.