YOURE LOOKING THROUGH THE GLASS WINDSHIELD- it’s hard to pick out anything from the crisscrossing of cracks. Partially shattered- glass on the ground reflecting the flashing lights gently, gently.
Into the car is just darkness. The overhead lights from the freeway cause glare and reflection rather than illumination. The smell of gasoline and coolant should be off-putting but… you love that smell. The scent of hot metal- the frisson at the idea of an accident. There’s no wonder you ended up where you are now.
“You alright??” No response from inside the vehicle. Not sure you even expected on, not with the way it’s flipped on its side like this.
“Hm.” Johnson comes over and hands you a pen-light.
“Thanks. Any word on identification?” Johnson grunts and shakes his head. Lighting his cigarette as he walking away, the shadows make the back of his head look caved in.
You shake off the shiver that image causes. You peer into the cab with the penlight, watching for movement. Taking a step closer and bending over farther, you catch the image of a body, slumped over. Maybe two…?
You try for the door, hoping it’s not too bent and that they(?) were dumb enough to leave the car unlocked. It definitely wasn’t new enough to be one of the new auto-locking models.
“Fuck.” The door is stuck. You try again, bracing against the cab and yanking.
“Shit!!” The door flies open- you stumbled back as a body immediately slumps over onto your shoes and you’re splashed with some liquid that's coating the door.
You stumble back while the EMTs swarm like little bugs, sensing a target for their little bug instincts.
Your penlight illuminates inside and the information reveals itself to you. Two women, dressed nice. No older than 30. Blood everywhere.
With the ways the EMTs movements begin to slow and turn to the other girl, you know the passenger is dead. Her blood is mixing with the fluids leaking from the engine. It’s a heady mix. It all looks the same in the night.
A white handkerchief appears in front of your face. Johnson. “Wipe up.”
Your face was splatted with their blood.
“Look,” Johnson gestures back to the car. The EMTs and firefighters have pulled out the driver and gotten her onto a gurney. “Alive.”
Johnson takes out a second cigarette and lights it, taking a deep drag. A moment, and you’re both watching them bundle her up and pack her away.
Johnson hands you the cigarette. His hand lingers on your shoulder before wrapping his arm over you and hauling you back to your feet.
“Work to be done.” You turn to see Johnson’s back, walking away.
You puff on the gifted cigg and watch him go back to the collection of cops. Little toys being toyed with by some… great child in the sky. Someone’s pulling the strings, that’s for sure.
You huff a laugh at the image before returning to the scene of the accident.
You wish there crazier stuff out there- stuff more like you see on the news nowadays. Cults. Conspiracies. But all you get are a couple of dumb broads. Heh. You pocket the borrowed handkerchief and crush the cigarette under heel. Just a couple of dumb broads getting into fuckin car crashes. What a world we live in.
3:36 Mansfield crash CRASH soundtrack
Playlist
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Masc by Chat Pile on Cool World (the flenser) -
Baby Bird by Whore on Clean (brutal panda) -
Fight Song by Jucifer on I Name You Destroyer (crack rock music) -
Take My Bones Away by Baroness on Yellow & Green (relapse) -
Self-Inflicted Mental Terror by Gulch on 2019 Promo Cassette (creator destructor) -
Spacegrass by Clutch on Clutch (atlantic) -
Wizard Fight by Weedeater on Good Luck and Good Speed (season of mist) -
A Vast Filthy Prison by Melvins on A Senile Animal (ipecac) -
Echolalia by Faetooth on Remnants of the Vessel (self-released) -
Cheap Vodka by Acid Bath on When the Kite String Pops (rotten) -
Crystal Skull by Mastodon on Blood Mountain (reprise) -
My Meds Aren't Working by Dystopia on Dystopia (tankcrimes) -
Planets Collide by Crowbar on Odd Fellows Rest (indieblu) -
Cometh Down Hessian by High on Fire on Blessed Black Wings (relapse) -
Haunter of the Dark by Cough on Still They Pray (relapse) -
Crooked Rivers by Rwake on Voices of Omens (relapse) -
Bury Me in Smoke by DOWN on Nola (elektra) -
The Screen by YOB on Our Raw Heart (relapse)