Chapter 11

Jim tore down Interstate 90 as if that was the speed limit rather than the highway number, trying to outrun himself. He'd left his town of Medical Lake behind only minutes ago.

It can't be true. No! I'm not going to turn into a pony. No way! Henry and Kate are crazy. They must be losing their minds from their changes, he kept trying to reassure himself, checking his hips for telltale signs of ink nonetheless.

See, no cutie marks on me. I'm no pony. I won't change, he continued to reassure himself as he sped along through Spokane, Washington.

Jim had no idea where he was heading, just away. North sounded good at first, so he continued onto Highway 395 towards Chewelah, Colville and points north. He kept driving, just trying to keep his mind clear. Every once in a while checking his hips for any sign of color.

When he reached the Canadian border and realized he didn't have his passport, thus no way to cross, he turned around and started back. Not really thinking straight, he almost ran out of gas, coasting in on fumes to a gas station in Colville.

Jim jumped out of his truck and began fueling. He looked at his phone for the first time since he left the house. He saw he had a missed call and voicemail from Sherry. He was too afraid to listen to the message. Afraid of how hurt and angry she might be.

She's going to hate me, I just know it, he thought to himself as he put his phone away.

As he was putting the hose back and collecting his receipt, he heard from behind him, "Just look at that pony, ain't it nice?"

Jim spun around and nearly screamed, "I'm no fucking pony! Leave me alone!" Then he jumped into his truck and laid down a 20 foot strip of rubber out of the parking lot in his hurry to get out of there.

Two locals looked at each other and shrugged, then continued their conversation about the Shetland pony one wanted to sell the other.

How can they know? How does everyone know? No! I'm not going to turn into a pony! I just can't, he told himself as he flew down the highway. Later, when he thought about it, he would wonder how he never got pulled over in his mad dash to get away.

Jim drove, making direction choices at random. Come dark he found himself in northern Idaho, deep in the forest, near Priest Lake. After he got his bearings, he remembered an old campground that he and Henry used to camp at. By the time he got there it was full dark and he realized it would be too chilly to sleep under the stars, considering it was only the First of May. So he grabbed the sleeping bag he kept in the backseat of his truck and tried to get comfortable in the cab. It wasn't really very comfortable, but his panic driven flight had left him exhausted, so he fell asleep quickly.

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Jim found himself flying through the air when he heard a feminine voice scream, "Flash, look out!"

He twisted suddenly in the air and a blinding white bolt of power barely missed him. He looked down and saw Trixie flinging spells from her horn at Discord.

With Discord's attention focused on Trixie for a moment, he flew in close and lashed out with his hind legs, kicking Discord in the back. Discord turned and lashed out with his claws, only barely missing his flank as he swirled away from the Draconequus.

As Discord chased him, he saw a boulder the size of a pony fly through the air and slam into Discord's side, knocking him from the air. Discord screamed in rage, flying down toward Trixie as she yelled to distract him, "I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, will banish thee Discord!"

While Discord was distracted, Jim gathered a cloud and bucked it as hard as he could, causing a massive bolt to discharge into his hooves. Flying toward Discord, he smashed his front hooves together, causing the bolt to arc from his hooves to Discord's head, exploding the head in a smattering of gore. Unfortunately, Discord's head regrew in a matter of moments, and now he was angry!

As Discord charged down upon Jim, Trixie gripped him in her power, squeezing him down into a sphere the size of a hoofball. Discord vanished from the magic and turned once more toward Trixie, chanting as he did so. Jim saw what was going to happen and flew faster than he ever had before, coming between Trixie and the bolt of power Discord flung at her.

As he felt his body scream in pain, Jim heard Discord's chant:

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your Memories Removed! Your Body Confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

Pony Destruction, Pony Abduction!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Forgetting everything and living like a fool,

You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

Jim screamed as he felt his body dissolve. There was a blinding flash, then nothing.

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Jim woke with a lurch, smacking his head into the steering wheel of his pickup. He rubbed the sore spot on his head, cursing loudly. After a moment he sat up, scratching his hip as he looked outside into the darkness. Glancing at his watch, he found that it was just after midnight.

God, that was the worst one yet, he thought. He'd been having bad dreams for several days, but none had been so vivid or stayed in his memory so well. His worry for Henry and his personal fear of the transformation happening to him had plagued his dreams severely.

Damn, I think something must've bit me, he scratched his hip again. Better see how bad it is.

Jim slid out of the sleeping bag and pulled his pants down on the side so he could look at the bite. Only instead of seeing a raised red spot, he saw two clouds connected by a lightning bolt, with an explosion in the center of it.

Oh God, no! No, no no nonono!! This can't be happening! I know, I'm still dreaming! Yeah, that's it! Jim reached over and pinched his leg as hard as he could to wake himself up.

"OUCH!" he yelled in pain. No...I'm not asleep?! Shitshitshit!

Jim scrambled the rest of the way out of the sleeping bag, fell out the door of the truck as he opened it, and was almost running before he managed to regain his feet.

Gotta get away! he thought over and over as he ran. He ran until he fell headlong down a short cliff and landed face first on the beach, his outstretched hands only inches from the water.

Holy hell! Come on Jim, get a grip on yourself! You could have died if that cliff had been any higher. I know you're scared of this, but why are you freaking out so badly about it? We can do this, okay? You just have to calm down, he told himself.

Jim slowly rose to his knees in the sand, his chest heaving as he tried to calm down. He knelt there, breathing heavily, until he started shivering, before he managed to calm down enough to make his way back to the truck. He climbed into his sleeping bag and tried to go to sleep again, but he lay awake for a long time, trying not to think.

I...I'm really going to be a pony? What the hell am I going to do? he asked himself more than once. He finally fell asleep still trying to answer those questions satisfactorily.

As the sun broke the horizon, Jim woke from yet another nightmare where he turned into a monster from hell, instead of a pony. The dream quickly faded from his memory, though he could remember the one that woke him in the middle of the night clearly.

Once he got his bearings, Jim started his pickup and got back on the road. He still wasn't ready to go home, and had no destination in mind, so he continued to drive.

He decided South seemed like a good direction, so he started that way, not pushing his speed like he had the day before.

Jim still was trying not to think too much, afraid for where his thoughts might lead. Several times that day his thoughts turned toward home, but he was quick to clear his mind whenever they did.

After driving all day, he finally listened to his growling stomach and stopped to eat at a little roadside diner. When he stopped, he realized he hadn't eaten anything since before leaving the house the day before.

The bell over the door tinkled as he walked through and he heard a voice from the kitchen yell, "Take a seat anywhere you like, tonight's special is an 18 ounce Rib-eye steak with a massive baked potato and green salad, twenty-five ninety-nine."

"Sounds good, I'll take that," he hollered back. He takes a seat at a table in the corner, noting that the diner is empty except for an old derelict sitting at the counter drinking coffee. The coffee-drinker gives Jim an odd look as he sits down, then turns back to his coffee and minds his own business.

An older lady comes out from the kitchen, tying an apron around her waist, and brings over the coffeepot and a cup, "Would you like some coffee?"

Jim nods appreciatively, so she sets the cup out and fills it up. Then she looks him up and down, and seems to finally come to a decision about something.

"I usually wouldn't ask, but you look like you've been on the road a while. Can you actually pay for your meal? If not, speak up now and we'll arrange something. There's always dishes to wash and such," she stated without acrimony.

In response, Jim pulled out his wallet and dropped a couple of 20s on the table. Then he said, "I don't take any offense, ma'am. Truth is I slept in my truck last night and have been on the road all day, so I imagine I look like hell."

"You don't talk like no hippie I've ever met before," she said with a small smile.

"Hippie? Whatever would give you that idea?" he asked her.

"Really just your long hair, I don't know why you young people seem to think long hair on men is good looking. Though I have to admit it goes well with your face," she answered, winking as she left to refill the derelict's coffee.

What did she mean long hair? My hair isn't long. Heck, any shorter and I wouldn't have any at all, Jim thought to himself, running his fingers through his hair.

Wait a minute...how am I running my fingers through my hair? he stopped, pulling a long, pure-white lock of hair in front of his eyes. Oh shit! My hair! It's white! And REALLY long!

Okay Jim, don't freak out, he told himself, carefully standing up and walking quickly to the bathroom. Once there he took a long look in the mirror. He realized his hair wasn't just long; it was growing out of his neck and upper back, just like Irony's. The mane, for lack of a better word, was white instead of his usual dark brown, almost black. And his eyes! They used to be brown, now they were a very bright blue. He heard a low mewling sound, and soon realized it was coming from himself. Oh holy hell. I'm going to turn into a pony. I really am! Okay Jim, just like we talked about, don't freak out. We're going to be fine. You still need to eat, so go back and sit down. Remain calm. At least you don't have the ears or tail yet. Jim shudders at that thought.

After a couple more minutes, Jim left the restroom and sat back down at his table, shortly after that his steak arrived. Jim cut into it and started eating it like a starving wolf, which in a way he was. He polished off the steak in record time and went to work on the potato. After he wolfed that down he began on the salad.

Oh wow, this is good salad, he thought to himself as he ate. Better than the steak even!

Without Jim noticing, the diner had become rather busy, evidently hitting the dinner rush. When the waitress finally came over to refill his coffee and leave his bill, it was full dark. She set the bill on the table and went to top off his mug and dropped the coffeepot when she got a good look at him. The glass pot shattered like a bomb on the table, spraying everywhere, but she took no notice of it. She backed away from Jim with fear in her eyes. He looked up at her.

"What is it?" he asked her.

She lifted her hand and pointed at Jim's head and barely managed to whisper, "Your ears!"

Unfortunately the diner had become quiet enough to hear a pin drop after she dropped the coffeepot, so everyone in the room heard her. Their gazes swung to Jim's head, and the room exploded in a collective gasp. Jim reached his hands up to his ears, only to find them not there. His hands searched up his head until he found them on top of his head, covered in fur.

"Oh fuck!" he shouted, jumping up. Everyone in the room shrank away from him as he ran from the room. He leapt into his truck, turning over the engine even before his ass hit the seat. People poured from the diner to stare after him as he fled the scene.

Once again Jim was tearing down the road, it was pitch black outside as the moon was hidden behind thick cloud cover. After a few minutes of driving, Jim felt an odd sensation at the base of his spine, so he reached a hand back to feel his lower back.

What is that? he thought, reaching further down the new appendage that had grown from his spine, feeling hair on it. He pulled it around and looked at his new tail, covered in pure, snow white hair just like his mane.

Jim wrenched on the wheel of the truck, careering off the road through a ditch, through a barb-wire fence, and into an empty field. It was an amazing amount of luck that he didn't flip the truck or crash into a fence post.

Once the truck rolled to a stop, so did Jim's mind. He blanked out, staring out the windshield blindly, while his brain tried desperately to reboot. It took nearly half an hour for him to come back to himself.

Dammit Jim! Don't do that! You could have gotten us killed! his brain screamed at him.

"Yeah, well I'm turning into a fucking pony, now I even have a tail!" he screamed right back, his voice breaking at the end.

What am I going to do? he asked himself, holding the offending appendage, unknowingly stroking it as tears began to flow.

You're going to calm yourself down and ask for help, his mind responded a few minutes later.

But I can't call Irony, not after all that I said to her. I was horrible! he argued with himself.

Isn't there anyone else who can help you? he tried to think.

Maybe Maddie? he thought, remembering his friend from college finally.

You know that's not who-- Jim squelched his mind as he fixated on Maddie, not even wanting to consider dealing with those who he had hurt back home.

He looked at his phone for a few minutes, then finally decided to make the call. The phone rang three times before it was picked up and a male voice said, "Yeah?"

Jim could hear loud music and shouting in the background. "Can I talk to Maddie?" he asked.

"She's long gone dude, and good riddance," came the reply.

"Where'd she go?" Jim asked, a trickle of fear in his voice.

"Don't know, don't care," the guy responded.

"It's really important that I get ahold of her," Jim said.

"Shit dude, I'm busy. She probably went back to Montana, or wherever she's from. Look, I've got guests, so bugger off," he replied.

"Wait! Do you have any way I can reach her?" Jim begged.

"Fine, whatever, here's her new number, now get lost," the guy replied, providing the number and hanging up.

Jim punched the new number into his phone, but hesitated before actually calling. If she's having problems of her own, I really shouldn't bother her right now, he told himself.

She always said her brother lived in eastern Montana, Miles City I think? Maybe... he trailed off.

Putting his mind into neutral again, he got the pickup back on the road, pointed toward Montana. He drove until he almost drove off the road in exhaustion. Then he pulled off into a deserted rest stop, parked as far away from the buildings as possible, and rolled up into his sleeping bag.

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Once again Jim was flying through the clouds at night. He looked around and saw Discord attacking the Wonderbolts. He saw Lightning Dust, Soarin, and Spitfire harrying the Draconequus, each of them trying to get a good hit in. Discord shrugs off their blows like they are gnats. Then he saw Lightning Dust charge up her wings and throw a bolt of blue-green lightning that connects with Discord's lion's paw. The paw phases out of existence for a moment, causing him to hiss in pain, but it reappears quickly enough.

"You are going to be trouble," he growls at Dust.

"That's my specialty, Discord," she replies, throwing another bolt, which he deflects without any harm.

Soarin flies in, kicking Discord in the jaw, obviously dislocating it. Discord grabs his jaw like the blow was nothing and put it back in place, then sends a bolt of power at Soarin that he only barely dodges.

Jim lost sight of the battle as he helped the other Wonderbolt reservists gather a huge pile of clouds together. Then he saw Dust and Soarin peel off and land on a ledge a ways away to rest. He and the other reservists began bucking the cloud with all their might, sending dozens and dozens of lightning bolts at Discord, hitting him several times.

As Discord howls from the strikes, Jim turns around and slams his front hooves into the cloudbank, gathering a powerful bolt into his hooves. He turns towards Discord and slams his hooves together with all his force, causing the bolt to explode at Discord. Discord waves his eagle talon and the bolt dissipates before it can hit its mark.

"Flash, catch!" Jim heard Dust yell. He turned just in time to catch a bolt shimmering with her power in his hooves, which he then directed at Discord as Dust lashed out with her power at him directly. One of the bolts is batted away with no effect, but the other strikes the eagle talon, causing it to phase out of existence for a moment, causing Discord's counter attacks to miss both of them.

Moments later, Jim saw Discord bat Lightning Dust from the sky. He saw her slowly regain her hooves and spread her wings. She is shortly back in the air with the other Wonderbolts. Jim lost sight of her again as he made another run at Discord, narrowly missing being obliterated by a blast of power as he dove by.

When he lined up to make another pass, Jim saw Lightning Dust power up again, seeming to use more energy than before. He saw her unleash a massive bolt at Discord, while at the same time Discord threw a blast of his own back at her. The two magics intertwine, then the bolt reversed course and both magics struck Dust.

"NOOO!" Jim and Soarin echoed each other.

Moments later Jim saw Soarin disappear in a blast of Discord's magic, followed shortly by Spitfire. In their rage they were easy targets.

The order came down from the reservist leader to disperse, run and hide. Jim did so reluctantly, tears flowing freely at all that had been lost.

He flew for what seemed like hours until he saw a wagon that looked familiar. He flew down closer to get a better view and saw that the pony pulling the wagon was none other than Trixie. He landed near her and called out in greeting.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie welcomes your company, Lightning Flash," she said to him.

Despite recent events, he couldn't help but smile at how she referred to herself in the third person.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has heard such tidings, and is trying to find somewhere to hide. Would you, Lightning Flash, join Trixie in her quest for somewhere safe?" Trixie invited him to travel with her after he explained what had happened.

"That seems like a good idea to me, too," he replied.

They trotted along together for the rest of the day, Jim staying on the ground to keep pace with Trixie. They camped that evening, sleeping next to a fire near the wagon.

Late in the night they were awoken by an evil laugh, "Ahh, Miss Lulamoon, you will not believe the trouble I went through to track you down," Discord said.

"And you, little Wonderbolt, your team is gone and your precious princesses are done for," he then said, turning toward Jim, smiling an evil smile.

"Fly, Flash, fly away!" Trixie yelled as she started throwing spell after spell at Discord.

Jim flew, trying to get in position for a strike when he heard Trixie scream, "Flash, look out!"

He twisted suddenly in the air and a blinding white bolt of power barely missed him. He looked down and saw Trixie flinging spells from her horn at Discord.

With Discord's attention focused on Trixie for a moment, he flew in close and lashed out with his hind legs, kicking Discord in the back. Discord turned and lashed out with his claws, only barely missing his flank as he swirled away from the Draconequus.

As Discord chased him, he saw a boulder the size of a pony fly through the air and slam into Discord's side, knocking him from the air. Discord screamed in rage, flying down toward Trixie as she yelled to distract him, "I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, will banish thee Discord!"

While Discord was distracted, Jim gathered a cloud and bucked it as hard as he could, causing a massive bolt to discharge into his hooves. Flying toward Discord, he smashed his front hooves together, causing the bolt to arc from his hooves to Discord's head, exploding the head in a smattering of gore. Unfortunately, Discord's head regrew in a matter of moments, and now he was angry!

As Discord charged down upon Jim, Trixie gripped him in her power, squeezing him down into a sphere the size of a hoofball. Discord vanished from the magic and turned once more toward Trixie, chanting as he did so. Jim saw what was going to happen and flew faster than he ever had before, coming between Trixie and the bolt of power Discord flung at her.

As he felt his body scream in pain, Jim heard Discord's chant:

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your Memories Removed! Your Body Confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

Pony Destruction, Pony Abduction!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Forgetting everything and living like a fool,

You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

The scene went black, but Jim didn't wake up this time. Instead he heard the clip clop of hooves.

He turned around and saw a golden furred pony, with snow white hair and bright blue eyes. The pony had a cutie mark that consisted of two clouds with a lightning bolt arcing between them, with the bolt exploding in the middle of its arc, commonly known as an arc-flash.

"Wha--, who are you?" Jim asked fearfully.

The pony chuckles, "I'm Lightning Flash, you know me better as you."

"No way. Not me. You can't be serious," Jim replied, shaking his head vigorously.

"Eeyup. I turned into you 25 years ago, now it's your turn to turn into me," Flash said sadly.

"How can this be? What's going on?" Jim asked. He felt himself sink to his knees, his hands going to his head.

"What do you think? You've been having these dreams. Discord is what happened to us. He banished us here 25 years ago," Flash replied.

"So, what you're saying is I'm really a pony who has been living as a human for the last 25 years? Why am I going back to being a pony now?" Jim asked.

"The curse is finally wearing off. Five score divided by four. That's 25."

"I figured that out, "Jim says savagely at the pegasus in front of him.

Flash doesn't react to Jim's outburst, instead he continued, "Everypony he banished will be turning back into their pony selves now."

"This is so crazy. It's all too much for me to take in." Jim moaned.

He felt something over his back, he looked over to see Flash sat next to him and folded his wing over the distraught human.

"Tell me about it. Trust me, I didn't sign up for this either," Flash said softly.

"But what do I do?" Jim asked.

"That, unfortunately, is all up to you. I don't have any idea either," was all Flash had to say.

"What do you mean you don't have any idea? You're the pony here, shouldn't you know what to do?" Jim almost yelled in frustration.

"Hey, I don't have any more memories than you do!" Flash yelled back. Both his wings spread in anger as he backed away from Jim, "My memories of my home are erased. I can't remember what I was, I just have glimpses of what was before. I can't do anything with it."

"Well shit! We're kind of fucked then, aren't we?" Jim replied angrily.

"You can say that again. Unless we can find somepony who knows more than us," Flash responded.

"Who knows more than us?"

"Irony."

Jim shook his head angrily, "No, I can't go back to her. I said too much wrong. I can't go back to her."

"You are going to have to figure out what to do. Living on the run won't help us one little bit."

Jim just shook his head in refusal and walked away. Flash didn't follow. Soon the dream ended.

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Jim woke in his truck, confused at first by his surroundings. He took several moments to get his bearings. Once he remembered where he was, he looked in the rearview mirror and examined his face.

His face looked faintly stretched. His ears were still on top of his head, rather than at the side. His hair was officially a mane now, and still all white. He examined his hands, they felt a little stiff, but seemed otherwise unchanged.

Jim grabbed a hat from behind the seat of his truck and stepped from the cab, intending to relieve himself before continuing on. When his feet hit the pavement, he slipped and fell to his knees.

What the hell? he thought as he tried to regain his feet. Once again his feet slipped out from under him and he ended up on his knees. As he tried to stand again, his foot slipped out of his boot and he saw that his leg no longer ended in a foot. Instead he had a hoof.

Well shit, Jim thought, sitting down on the ground as tears came to his eyes. He sat there and cried for several minutes before he got up the courage to look at his other foot. When he looked, he saw exactly what he was afraid of. Both feet were now hooves. Proof that he'd lost yet another piece of his humanity.

It was then that his bladder reminded him of why he'd gotten out of the truck in the first place, "Yeah, yeah. I know, you need emptied. But I'm in the middle of a crisis right now!"

His bladder was not to be bargained with, and he finally decided he didn't want to piss all over himself. He stood carefully on his new hooves and slowly walked toward the rest area bathroom. He was eternally grateful that they were still abandoned.

Jim's hoofsteps echoed down the hallway as he headed to the restroom. Once he reached it, he stepped up to a urinal and unzipped his pants. He reached in and got a bit of a surprise.

What the-- he looked down, holy shit! What he saw when he looked down amazed him. Okay, so maybe becoming a pony won't be all bad, he thought. What he was looking at was a bona-fide pony cock, mottled and with a flared tip. It was quite a bit larger than it had previously been.

After admiring himself for a few minutes, Jim finally finished his business and clip-clopped back to his pickup. Once back in the cab, he fired it up and got back on the freeway, headed for Montana.

Hours later, Jim's excitement over his new equipment had dimmed, as he'd been watching his facial features change in the rearview mirror. His eyes had gotten noticeably bigger, his face was protruding more in the beginnings of a muzzle, and he'd recently noticed that his teeth had changed too. They were now the teeth of an herbivore, all big and flat for crushing, instead of sharp for shearing meat.

He'd stopped at a fast food restaurant off the freeway to get a salad for lunch. When he pulled up to the pay window, the young teen had screamed her head off at his appearance. The manager had come to the window and freaked as well, pointing and cursing. Jim floored the truck, leaving without getting his food. He hadn't stopped after that, afraid of causing another scene.

Jim drove late into the night, once again only stopping when he couldn't drive any further. This time he pulled off into a copse of trees and parked his truck out of sight. He curled up in his sleeping bag and cried himself to sleep.

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Jim had the same dream from the night before, showing him once again the fight between Discord and the Wonderbolts, followed by his flight and the confrontation between him, Trixie, and Discord.

Once the sequence came to a close, he was once again treated to darkness and the clip-clop of hooves. He turned around to watch Flash arrive.

"What are you doing here again? Why can't you leave me alone?!" Jim shouted at Flash, his fists clenched at his sides.

"It's not like I have a choice. There is nowhere for me to go until you finish transforming back into me," Flash replied, his ears lying flat against his skull, his voice tinged with sadness.

"I'm going to find a way to change back, so don't get too excited about taking over my body!"

"I'm not trying to take over your body! I'm simply trying to get my life back. I don't want to displace you!" Flash cried at Jim, his head hanging as he could tell that Jim didn't believe him.

"Just go away! Leave me alone!" Jim screamed, turning and running into the dark.

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Jim woke from his nightmares with a start, crying out. The memories of the nightmares that had followed his meeting with Flash faded within moments of his waking.

Jim immediately started the truck and got back on the road, ignoring his growling stomach. He didn't stop, except to get gas at unmanned gas stations. He didn't look at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn't handle seeing himself and the changes happening to him.

Ignoring everything but the road in front of him, Jim drove on. Sometime during the day he felt an extreme itching on his back. He ignored it, too.

Mid-afternoon he finally couldn't ignore his bladder anymore and was forced to stop. He threw on a hoodie to cover his features while he went in to the restroom. He noted that his fingers were trying to fuse together, and that the nail on each of his middle fingers was extra-large, growing out to cover the tips of the fingers to either side.

He managed to hold his screams in until he was back in his truck, then he unleashed all his fear in one long, extremely loud, seemingly unending scream.

Several minutes later he had regained a semblance of control, though it was quite fragile.

Jim realized that he wouldn't be able to continue his trek for much longer, and that it was time to call for help, before he couldn't even do that.

He pulled out his phone and, after some debate with himself, composed a text message.

Maddie, this is Jim, I need your help. I'm stuck at a rest stop on I-94. Please help, I'm afraid, he texted, including the location of the rest stop.

It wasn't long before he got a reply, We'll be there as soon as we can, sit tight.