WEBVTT
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[SPEAKER_00]: Dan is in the night.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to another episode of the macabre, the terrifying.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Tonight, let's meet some, uh, out of town on the road home.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A tragic scenario.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A young man accidentally strikes a teenager with his car on the way home.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Horrible!
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[SPEAKER_00]: He stops and calls paramedics, stays by the side of his young victim.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps it's the shock of it all.
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[SPEAKER_00]: People sometimes react to shock and strange ways, but
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[SPEAKER_00]: off about this young man.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This story is called, I hit a man with my car.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He almost killed me and was written by D.D.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Wickman.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My name's Booker.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I work at a veterinarian hospital outside of Juniper, West Virginia.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I live with my two cats and an on-again off-again significant other.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm co-herent and of sound-mind.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've tried telling this story a thousand times.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've tried telling my parents, my friends, my coworkers, but there's no way to tell it without sounding like a complete lunatic.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Their eyes just glaze over and I get the smile.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You know the one.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I figured I'd write it all down instead, try to make it cohesive.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe someone has seen something similar.
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[SPEAKER_00]: On February 17th, 2026, I was heading to work.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I took the I-79 North towards Morgan Town, when I came across a parked vehicle on the side of the road.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like an older generation silver-white Toyota Avalan.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It must have been there for some time, since there was snow covering parts of the hood.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could see a big dent on one side, and a crack in the passenger side window.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I pulled over and glanced at it from afar.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't see anyone in there.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I looked up the number to the sheriff's office and called it in.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Give them my name and all.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They told me they'd look into it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then I got back in my car and didn't think any more of it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I had to work a bit later than usual that day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: An hour or so, nothing major.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When I was finally heading back home, it was already dark out.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was somewhere around 630pm when I got to that same stretcher road where I'd seen that avalanour earlier that morning.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And 10 hours later, it was still there.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The snow was stacked higher by now, but it was impossible to miss.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I figured the sheriff had ignored my call,
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[SPEAKER_00]: Somewhere along the line, someone dropped the ball.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This thing needed to be towed, or there could be a nasty accident.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All this went through my mind as I took my eyes off the road.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And in that split second, someone stepped in front of my car.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I swirfed, but it was too late.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There's a very distinct sound to hitting someone with your vehicle.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There's like a whiplash effect when the head swings around and smacks into the windshield.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's like when you're swinging a bat, putting all the power at the very end.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was an explosion of blood like a popped balloon.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The sudden cracks in the windshield led in a whiff of cold highway air.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I remember this strange sound like a wounded animal.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know it was just me screaming, but it was such an unusual sound that I can't help thinking it came from someone else.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When I finally came to a full stop, I was already on my phone with the emergency services.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was trying to remain calm, but my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I kept hearing bleeping noises as my fingers accidentally kept hitting numbers.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was telling the operator my name, address, what had happened, everything.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hell, I probably told them what I had for lunch.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I got out of the car and saw the victim on the side of the road.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'd watched enough shows to know I shouldn't move them, but I wanted to be near and do what the operator asked.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The victim was a young man, no older than 16, maybe 17 years old.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We had the same hair, only his hadn't been brushed in a while.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was wearing this forest-green hoodie with a pair of black jeans.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There were branches and brambles stuck all over him, and I could see these little cuts and jabs along his clothes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't make any sound.
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[SPEAKER_00]: No grunting, no winsing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was just taking small breath slaying there.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was a tiny pool of blood by his temple.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The operator kept yelling in my ear trying to get my attention.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They wanted me to make sure he was breathing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hold your hand about an ancient front of his face.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She said,
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[SPEAKER_00]: I held my hand down, and felt a cold breath pushed against my skin, but there was also a little huff like he smelled me, suddenly his eyes darted my way.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He seemed to investigate my clothes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Once I acknowledged he was breathing, they asked me to acknowledge he was conscious.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I told them he was looking at me, but they needed an estimation of his mental state.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Can you see me?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know where you are?
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[SPEAKER_00]: His eyes locked straight ahead again.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't move an inch.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I repeated myself over and over trying to get his attention.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, I put a hand on his shoulder.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That caught his attention.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Bad man.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He whispered.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Help!
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[SPEAKER_00]: He had this...
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[SPEAKER_00]: strange weeds to his voice.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I figured something was broken, or that he was trying to keep a straight face.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't quite put my finger on why, but it bothered me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was told to stay with him until the ambulance arrived.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I turned on the hazard lights and made sure my car was well off to the side.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to be comforting.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried telling him it was going to be okay, and I carefully
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[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't react, he just stared straight ahead, and whenever I seemed a bit insistent, he'd give me that strange look and say the same thing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: when the ambulance arrived, I stepped back.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They asked me a bunch of questions and tried to assess the damage.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I told them about the head trauma and showed them the blood on my windshield, but that seemed to confuse them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For someone to take that kind of head trauma and still be conscious, seems strange.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They figured he'd had a major concussion and gone into shock.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The police were on their way and my car was going to get towed, I was freaking out.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know how to get home or if my insurance would cover this or how I'd get to work on Monday or just a thousand little worries all at once.
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[SPEAKER_00]: From the stories I've heard, this man might sue me for everything I owned.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You hear all the time about Samaritans stopping to help only to get screwed over?
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the paramedics stopped to look me over, but could see that I was in no immediate risk.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Still, I could be concussed.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They told me it'd be best if I rode along with them to get a thorough check at the hospital.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could ride up front while they kept a strange man in the back for observation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Slight bridge a policy, but nothing major.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I got in, and we took off down the road.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could see the police in the rear view mirror just seconds behind us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They stopped at the accident site.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The ambulance driver was a woman in her late 30s.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She had a calm demeanor and this sinewy kind of strength like she could lift a truck but also be knocked over by a sudden gust of wind.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She tried her best to keep me in check.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you're okay.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She said.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But it's better to be sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You got that insurance for a reason.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you oughta just drop me off.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I said.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You guys got your hands full.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We got people waiting on site.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Don't worry.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be in and out in 10 minutes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Just have a nurse check up on your first.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could hear the paramedic in the back, try his best to establish contact with the victim.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He asked him questions, tried to keep him calm, and encouraged him to stay awake.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The victim didn't move, not an inch.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's an obstruction.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm checking his throat.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My mind was racing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could still be held accountable for some kind of accidental manslaughter charge or something similar.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't been drinking, but maybe there could be a false positive on a drug test.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know for sure every ingredient in that lunch sane which I ate.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to stay calm and listen to the driver.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled at me, nodded and told me it was going to be okay.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then there was that moment.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was like the sound of the engine faded away.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I remember the words, clear as day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There's something in his throat.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Looking up, I saw dark figures appearing on the road ahead of us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And what happened next is hard to describe.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was like an explosion went off.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was an enormous force pushing against the left side of the vehicle, forcing the driver to swore of right to compensate.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was a scream as the paramedic in the back was flung into the wall.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard the safety straps on the stretcher bend, and the sudden twang of metal as something snapped.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Flesh smacked into the glass, separating the front and back of the ambulance.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was a spatter of red and black, along with strands of brown hair, the screaming in the back stopped.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was panic.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The swarbing was at a control.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard pounding coming from the back of the ambulance, but couldn't see through the bloody glass.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That man help!
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[SPEAKER_00]: That strange monotone voice.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We were going too fast, passing by streetlights.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I saw it all play out like a strobe effect.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The driver trying to regain control, the bloody glass dinting, brown eyes looking up at me, and the two of us understanding that we'd lost control.
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[SPEAKER_00]: then it all came to a stop.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We hit something, and all air was pushed out of my lungs as something in my chest snapped.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was flung against the seat belt as the world shifted around me, and we came tumbling down a slope.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Screaming broken glass, my world turning upside down, tossing me around like a handkerchief in a snowstorm.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then it was quiet.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was scared to open my eyes thinking I might be dead.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When I finally opened them, I heard the back of the ambulance open.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was an enormous pressure on my right arm, and it took me a few seconds to realize the ambulance had flipped to the side with the driver's door positioned upwards.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The airbag had deployed, as the driver had her head at an angle, possibly giving her some kind of neck damage.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Her arms hung haplessly down towards me as she groaned, trying her best to move.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't even noticed the airbag's going off, but now that they lay deployed and used, I could see that they probably saved my life
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could barely see anything.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There were no immediate lights here, and everything was at a strange angle.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If I concentrated, I could make out a few stars in the sky.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the headlights was still on, but that just illuminated the ground ahead.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I felt snow brush against my hand as I realized most of the passenger side window on my side was gone.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I stayed still waiting, trying my best to catch my breath.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My lungs ached, and every bit of movement on my part caused a new string of pain to shoot through me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My head was ringing, and I couldn't identify what exactly was wrong with me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then, the door on the driver's side was torn off.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was almost effortless.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard some kind of mechanism struggle, but all it took was a rough pull, and it came loose.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Bad man.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard someone wheeze.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Help.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to shield my eyes from falling glass as I looked up.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Someone was lifting the driver out of her seat.
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[SPEAKER_00]: No.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She complained.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, you- you can't-
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then a hard pull.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She screamed.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She was still stuck on something, but whoever was pulling her out didn't care.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Instead they pulled harder.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I heard something snap as she came loose, and I heard a thump as they unceremoniously threw her off the side of the ambulance.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was an impact, and she went quiet.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I saw the silhouette of someone looking down at me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Someone with a green hoodie.
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[SPEAKER_00]: ''Bird man?''
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[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
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[SPEAKER_00]: ''Help!''
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[SPEAKER_00]: Something was telling me to run.
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[SPEAKER_00]: To kick, fight, scream, and force my way out of the broken windshield.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There was that instinct telling me that this was something far more dangerous than a car crash.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That strange monotone voice was unmistakable.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This was the man I'd hit with my car earlier.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In a moment of instinct, I froze.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I closed my eyes, leaned my head away, and just lay as still as possible.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I felt the ambulance shift as he climbed down and tugged on my jacket.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Fingers ran down my face, like when a cat tries to poke you with its paw for attention, I stayed still holding my breath.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Another tug at my jacket.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and then they climbed back out, leaving the driver's side wide open.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't interested in dead people.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'd tried to stay still.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the headlights was still on, and I could see dark shapes moving outside.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could feel my pulse rising and slowing as my body demanded air, but every breath felt like a risk.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried counting them to keep myself calm,
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[SPEAKER_00]: there were four people outside.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of them was the man in the green hoodie, but the other three had wandered in from seemingly nowhere.
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[SPEAKER_00]: An overweight and balding man with a thick red scarf, a tall muscular woman with some kind of choker, and lastly someone who looked like a 12-year-old girl.
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[SPEAKER_00]: None of them was appropriately dressed for the season, yet none of them seemed to freeze.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Also I couldn't see them breathe.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to get my phone out of my pocket, but it was difficult without moving too much.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The deflated airbag kept crinkling when I moved, and I didn't want the people outside to notice.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They had dragged the paramedics into the snow, and seemed to be inspecting them
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the four people, the one who looked like a young girl, perked her ears up and looked off in the distance.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It kind of reminded me of how a mere cat alerts the flock.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The others stopped to look at her.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Then, in a coordinated movement, they all dropped to the ground seemingly dead.
18:20.619 --> 18:25.042
[SPEAKER_00]: One by one, they started screaming with these eerie, hollow voices.
18:28.748 --> 18:29.969
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoop!
18:31.049 --> 18:32.210
[SPEAKER_00]: Batman!
18:32.230 --> 18:34.070
[SPEAKER_00]: Help!
18:35.651 --> 18:37.592
[SPEAKER_00]: I could hear voices in the distance.
18:38.392 --> 18:40.873
[SPEAKER_00]: An old woman screaming, Oh my god!
18:41.554 --> 18:42.494
[SPEAKER_00]: Over and over.
18:43.535 --> 18:45.475
[SPEAKER_00]: A man telling them help is on the way.
18:46.096 --> 18:48.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Another man shouting, telling them to hold on!
18:50.966 --> 18:58.430
[SPEAKER_00]: From behind the cracked windshield, I saw a man drop to his knees in the snow, putting his ear to the mouth of the one with the hoodie.
18:59.611 --> 19:05.634
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to signal him to run, or to back away, but I couldn't risk myself being pulled into this.
19:06.274 --> 19:09.576
[SPEAKER_00]: If I exposed myself, it might be a death sentence.
19:10.377 --> 19:15.019
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever these people were doing, there was something fundamentally wrong.
19:16.560 --> 19:17.480
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not breathing!
19:18.161 --> 19:19.141
[SPEAKER_00]: The man yelled out.
19:21.833 --> 19:27.775
[SPEAKER_00]: He pushed the hoodie back, straightened the man's neck, and started to administer CPR.
19:28.335 --> 19:31.036
[SPEAKER_00]: Hard compressions, and then mouth to mouth.
19:31.757 --> 19:38.979
[SPEAKER_00]: He did it several times, and I saw people coming down from the highway slope to check them out, at least three people.
19:39.820 --> 19:42.061
[SPEAKER_00]: One was on his way over to help the tall woman.
19:43.541 --> 19:45.522
[SPEAKER_00]: Then there was a strange sound.
19:47.301 --> 19:49.843
[SPEAKER_00]: The man administering mouth to mouth stopped.
19:50.884 --> 19:54.748
[SPEAKER_00]: He made this strange gurgling noise as he tried to pull himself up.
19:55.689 --> 20:03.275
[SPEAKER_00]: At a glance, it seemed that the man with the hoodie had somehow attached his face to him like a suction cup.
20:04.336 --> 20:11.463
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a struggle and this pained humming noise growing louder, like someone screaming into a pillow.
20:12.544 --> 20:20.696
[SPEAKER_00]: For a moment the men's lips separated and I saw something ivory white moving in the space between
20:22.485 --> 20:25.647
[SPEAKER_00]: The man with the green hoodie did something impossible.
20:26.727 --> 20:37.753
[SPEAKER_00]: It looked like his shoulder blades moved independently of his arms, pushing him up with an impossible sit-up, still with the man administering CPR on top of him.
20:38.393 --> 20:42.175
[SPEAKER_00]: He flipped, putting himself on top, with the man underneath him.
20:42.955 --> 20:49.799
[SPEAKER_00]: Then walking on all fours like a scaring insect, he started to drag him, mouth to mouth,
20:54.213 --> 20:56.453
[SPEAKER_00]: at this point a switch clicked in my head.
20:57.594 --> 20:58.474
[SPEAKER_00]: These weren't people.
20:59.834 --> 21:05.555
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't stay calm any longer and there was no way that I'd try to fake being dead any longer.
21:06.075 --> 21:06.915
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't risk it.
21:07.676 --> 21:17.197
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I forced my leg up and started climbing out of the ambulance, putting my dirty shoes down on the expensive equipment using it as a springboard.
21:18.678 --> 21:19.898
[SPEAKER_00]: There were so many
21:22.108 --> 21:27.550
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw the tall woman bite down on the calf of her would be rescuer and drag him off.
21:28.190 --> 21:36.713
[SPEAKER_00]: The 12-year-old girl looking person jumped on the back of another, biting into their neck and digging her fingers into their chest.
21:38.013 --> 21:41.535
[SPEAKER_00]: It was so fast, like they practiced it.
21:42.175 --> 21:48.337
[SPEAKER_00]: It was perfectly coordinated, and in a matter of seconds, they'd overpowered three people.
21:50.087 --> 21:56.171
[SPEAKER_00]: the moment I got out of the ambulance, I noticed one of them looking at me, the balding man.
21:57.191 --> 22:01.934
[SPEAKER_00]: He had these wide black eyes and a strange looking tongue.
22:02.615 --> 22:09.659
[SPEAKER_00]: It was completely white and had a split in, like a cluster of noodles or snakeheads.
22:11.000 --> 22:13.801
[SPEAKER_00]: For a split second, we just looked at one another.
22:21.255 --> 22:25.636
[SPEAKER_00]: I jumped off the ambulance, only to lose the remaining air in my lungs.
22:26.177 --> 22:29.098
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd clearly broken something and couldn't stand up straight.
22:29.738 --> 22:30.638
[SPEAKER_00]: I just couldn't.
22:31.378 --> 22:33.599
[SPEAKER_00]: The nerves didn't obey the way they should.
22:34.279 --> 22:39.741
[SPEAKER_00]: My leg was sprained, but as long as I didn't bend it, I could move pretty fast.
22:41.208 --> 22:47.033
[SPEAKER_00]: The ambulance had driven straight off the highway, down a slope, and slid into a field.
22:47.753 --> 22:52.317
[SPEAKER_00]: I could see this long stretch of barren ground where snow had been pushed away.
22:53.959 --> 22:58.603
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a small patch of trees next to us, and I decided to rush through it.
22:59.363 --> 23:02.566
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it would slow him down enough for me to catch my breath.
23:03.407 --> 23:07.410
[SPEAKER_00]: I was getting light headed, like I couldn't push enough air into my body.
23:09.089 --> 23:13.751
[SPEAKER_00]: But man, help, bad, man, help.
23:15.251 --> 23:21.273
[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man kept repeating the same words over and over with every gallop.
23:22.273 --> 23:30.696
[SPEAKER_00]: It had such an unnatural sound to it, a voice coming from down low with such an un-earthly monotone cadence.
23:32.237 --> 23:36.200
[SPEAKER_00]: I rushed through the patch of trees with the balding man catching up to me.
23:36.841 --> 23:38.983
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't seem the least bit bothered.
23:39.443 --> 23:43.807
[SPEAKER_00]: He crawled over logs and bushes with ease, much faster than what I did.
23:44.627 --> 23:50.252
[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing I had going for me was a head start and this burning panic pushing me forward.
23:51.913 --> 23:54.536
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to the side of the slope and started climbing.
23:55.116 --> 24:00.441
[SPEAKER_00]: It was at least 16 feet in a steep angle, so I had no choice but to crawl my way up.
24:01.145 --> 24:05.969
[SPEAKER_00]: It was part dirt and part gravel, making me slide whenever I put too much weight on it.
24:07.570 --> 24:10.493
[SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately the balding man was much heavier than me.
24:11.273 --> 24:16.517
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a lot of trouble getting up, but he made up for it and enthusiasm and sheer abandon.
24:17.258 --> 24:25.224
[SPEAKER_00]: He dug his hands in, he kicked with his feet, he jumped and lunged, and little by little he was catching up to me.
24:26.726 --> 24:29.508
[SPEAKER_00]: His hand touched the soul of my shoe.
24:31.060 --> 24:32.602
[SPEAKER_00]: instinctively I kicked.
24:33.663 --> 24:38.689
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt my heel connect with something soft as cartilage gave way to rubber.
24:39.370 --> 24:40.071
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked down.
24:41.716 --> 24:52.102
[SPEAKER_00]: I could barely make out anything with the waning light from the streets above, but I saw this blank face with these completely black eyes looking up at me.
24:52.862 --> 24:57.725
[SPEAKER_00]: His nose was broken, almost ripped from his face, but there was no blood.
24:58.505 --> 25:04.608
[SPEAKER_00]: All I saw was these little white strings under his skin waving back and forth.
25:11.810 --> 25:19.695
[SPEAKER_00]: In a hissing warning, he opened his mouth and I saw a straight into his throat, where something moved.
25:21.496 --> 25:29.941
[SPEAKER_00]: I made it back up to the highway and started sprinting, and my mind was just inches away and I didn't want to find out what would happen if he caught me.
25:30.441 --> 25:32.603
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to be dragged off into the dark,
25:34.122 --> 25:40.849
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I heard cars approaching in every direction, some honked, others switched lanes.
25:41.569 --> 25:47.015
[SPEAKER_00]: I sprinted straight across, hearing the man switch from a gallop to a two-legged run.
25:48.817 --> 25:53.162
[SPEAKER_00]: I was climbing across the midsection when I flinched from the pain in my chest.
25:53.843 --> 25:59.749
[SPEAKER_00]: The air in my lungs escaped me, and in that moment of hesitation, he caught up to me.
26:00.490 --> 26:04.014
[SPEAKER_00]: He grabbed a hold of my jacket and started pulling me back.
26:05.235 --> 26:07.898
[SPEAKER_00]: Bad, man, help!
26:09.331 --> 26:13.375
[SPEAKER_00]: He was too strong, not just for me, but in general.
26:14.076 --> 26:19.160
[SPEAKER_00]: There was this clamp-like pull in his fingers, like iron clasps.
26:20.101 --> 26:22.323
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to pull away, but I just couldn't.
26:23.374 --> 26:28.197
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to scream for help, but I had no air left in my lungs, and I was getting dizzy.
26:28.877 --> 26:34.601
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, with the last bit of strength in me, I undid the zipper on my jacket.
26:35.261 --> 26:38.803
[SPEAKER_00]: It came flying off, and my assailant lost his footing.
26:40.024 --> 26:45.607
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw him stumbling backwards, straight into an oncoming moving truck.
26:47.232 --> 26:51.594
[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man bounced off the hood like something out of a pinball machine.
26:52.514 --> 26:59.357
[SPEAKER_00]: He tumbled into the road as the moving truck stepped on the brakes, trying their best to honk to warn the other drivers.
27:00.858 --> 27:05.920
[SPEAKER_00]: I found an opening and headed straight for the truck yelling along the way.
27:07.000 --> 27:11.182
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay, stand, don't go out, keep your windows up!
27:12.953 --> 27:14.634
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to the passenger side.
27:15.354 --> 27:18.036
[SPEAKER_00]: There was only the driver inside, and I knocked.
27:18.756 --> 27:19.396
[SPEAKER_00]: He let me in.
27:20.137 --> 27:22.958
[SPEAKER_00]: A man in his late 60s clearly shaken.
27:24.059 --> 27:25.660
[SPEAKER_00]: He could barely contain himself.
27:26.280 --> 27:30.022
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to calm him, but we just ended up screaming at one another.
27:30.682 --> 27:35.105
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, I pointed to the balding man still illuminated by the headlights.
27:36.365 --> 27:37.226
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not dead!
27:37.986 --> 27:38.567
[SPEAKER_00]: I repeated.
27:39.287 --> 27:39.967
[SPEAKER_00]: He's faking!
27:40.087 --> 27:40.888
[SPEAKER_00]: He's faking it!
27:42.619 --> 27:43.941
[SPEAKER_00]: the driver didn't listen.
27:44.802 --> 27:46.965
[SPEAKER_00]: He opened the door, but I grabbed his coat.
27:47.525 --> 27:48.306
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't let him go.
27:49.368 --> 27:54.073
[SPEAKER_00]: After a few seconds of struggling back and forth, he tried punching me.
27:54.814 --> 27:59.200
[SPEAKER_00]: We scuffled a bit until we noticed flashing lights in the rear view mirror.
28:00.523 --> 28:05.707
[SPEAKER_00]: two police officers approached us, but there were more coming down the opposite side.
28:06.487 --> 28:16.694
[SPEAKER_00]: I pointed at the balding man, screaming the same thing over and over, telling them he wasn't dead that he was faking that I'd been attacked.
28:17.715 --> 28:19.737
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the officers pulled me aside.
28:20.998 --> 28:21.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you sure?
28:22.178 --> 28:22.559
[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
28:23.219 --> 28:24.320
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you sure about this?
28:25.661 --> 28:26.621
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course I was.
28:27.611 --> 28:32.472
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried telling them everything at once, making me jumble the words and lose my train of thought.
28:33.813 --> 28:38.314
[SPEAKER_00]: The two officers exchanged a look, and the other approached the balding man.
28:38.994 --> 28:44.156
[SPEAKER_00]: In one swift movement, he pulled out his handgun and fired eight rounds.
28:45.936 --> 28:48.357
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like the world stopped for a second.
28:49.429 --> 28:53.411
[SPEAKER_00]: all screams and shouts faded away with my ringing ears.
28:54.451 --> 28:58.413
[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man took eight rounds but still squirmed.
28:59.273 --> 29:02.495
[SPEAKER_00]: He took four more to the chest before he stopped moving.
29:03.415 --> 29:09.537
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the officers started repeating numbers into his walkie-talkie while the other stayed with me and the driver.
29:10.978 --> 29:11.718
[SPEAKER_00]: We're taking you home.
29:12.339 --> 29:12.719
[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
29:13.619 --> 29:14.700
[SPEAKER_00]: No questions right now.
29:14.780 --> 29:15.580
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just get you home.
29:17.187 --> 29:21.391
[SPEAKER_00]: I was put in a squad car, along with the driver of the moving truck.
29:22.431 --> 29:26.535
[SPEAKER_00]: Just minutes later, the road was swarming with flashing lights.
29:27.356 --> 29:31.299
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw some policeman move to the side of the road looking down the slope.
29:32.080 --> 29:37.764
[SPEAKER_00]: As we drove away, I heard several of them open fire against something down below.
29:38.525 --> 29:44.510
[SPEAKER_00]: Handguns, shotguns, rifles, a firing squad illuminating the dark.
29:46.172 --> 29:50.214
[SPEAKER_00]: When they realized I was wounded, I was taken to the hospital.
29:51.455 --> 29:54.636
[SPEAKER_00]: The incident was reported as a traffic accident.
29:55.677 --> 30:01.179
[SPEAKER_00]: No matter who I talked to about it, they all said the same thing, traffic accident.
30:02.020 --> 30:06.362
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what it said in all the papers, online, and in all the reports.
30:06.962 --> 30:11.064
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all I got to hear, over and over, traffic accident.
30:11.855 --> 30:18.364
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single source mentioned handguns being discharged, or people being carried into the woods.
30:20.306 --> 30:27.596
[SPEAKER_00]: I was diagnosed with a concussion, a broken rib, and two small fractures just below the knee on my left leg.
30:29.142 --> 30:33.765
[SPEAKER_00]: Every time I tried to mention what really happened, I was immediately dismissed.
30:34.365 --> 30:41.970
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single reputable news source would listen, claiming I was concussed and obsessed with popular fiction.
30:42.650 --> 30:45.292
[SPEAKER_00]: Apparently these things are a common urban myth.
30:46.075 --> 30:59.839
[SPEAKER_00]: They call them scarf people, and there have been stray reports and hoaxes relating to them for years, fake people using devious tactics to lure victims into secluded areas.
31:01.599 --> 31:05.920
[SPEAKER_00]: It goes against my nature to look the other way when I see people get hurt.
31:06.701 --> 31:13.702
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to help, I want to be there, but now I know that there are things out there that
31:17.246 --> 31:19.068
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just playing possum.
31:23.791 --> 31:25.533
[SPEAKER_00]: Playing possum!
31:26.574 --> 31:29.096
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that's a horrifying thought!
31:30.591 --> 31:37.513
[SPEAKER_00]: Forgive this old mind if I've asked you this before, but do you remember the movie The Faculty?
31:38.214 --> 31:44.736
[SPEAKER_00]: It stands out in my mind as my first introduction to the idea of pod people.
31:45.476 --> 31:56.640
[SPEAKER_00]: People who have been infected and killed by some alien host, and who now look and behave mostly normal, but are not at all normal on the inside.
31:57.462 --> 32:03.263
[SPEAKER_00]: The monsters in that movie also had tendrils all over them when they changed.
32:04.084 --> 32:07.204
[SPEAKER_00]: Check out the rain scene if you'd like a refresher.
32:08.585 --> 32:10.245
[SPEAKER_00]: Ugh, totally gross.
32:11.446 --> 32:17.327
[SPEAKER_00]: The depiction of those aliens stays with me many years after my first watching.
32:18.507 --> 32:20.768
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you really trust anyone?
32:21.468 --> 32:24.789
[SPEAKER_00]: If the monsters can look just like your friends?
32:26.818 --> 32:32.041
[SPEAKER_00]: Please leave us a comment, and a thumbs up if you enjoyed this story.
32:32.741 --> 32:37.723
[SPEAKER_00]: And happy Halloween month for those of you listening at the time of release.
32:38.744 --> 32:46.748
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you do, help, but help carefully, and don't fall asleep.
32:55.067 --> 32:57.629
[UNKNOWN]: Thank you so much for watching this video.
00:00.632 --> 00:03.034
[SPEAKER_00]: Dan is in the night.
00:03.814 --> 00:09.820
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to another episode of the macabre, the terrifying.
00:11.201 --> 00:17.967
[SPEAKER_00]: Tonight, let's meet some, uh, out of town on the road home.
00:19.827 --> 00:21.728
[SPEAKER_00]: A tragic scenario.
00:22.549 --> 00:28.673
[SPEAKER_00]: A young man accidentally strikes a teenager with his car on the way home.
00:29.474 --> 00:30.175
[SPEAKER_00]: Horrible!
00:30.915 --> 00:36.579
[SPEAKER_00]: He stops and calls paramedics, stays by the side of his young victim.
00:38.000 --> 00:40.802
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps it's the shock of it all.
00:41.423 --> 00:45.566
[SPEAKER_00]: People sometimes react to shock and strange ways, but
00:49.827 --> 00:52.550
[SPEAKER_00]: off about this young man.
00:55.012 --> 00:59.957
[SPEAKER_00]: This story is called, I hit a man with my car.
01:00.558 --> 01:05.703
[SPEAKER_00]: He almost killed me and was written by D.D.
01:06.403 --> 01:07.144
[SPEAKER_00]: Wickman.
01:15.579 --> 01:16.519
[SPEAKER_00]: My name's Booker.
01:17.400 --> 01:20.861
[SPEAKER_00]: I work at a veterinarian hospital outside of Juniper, West Virginia.
01:21.922 --> 01:25.384
[SPEAKER_00]: I live with my two cats and an on-again off-again significant other.
01:26.164 --> 01:28.345
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm co-herent and of sound-mind.
01:30.015 --> 01:32.777
[SPEAKER_00]: I've tried telling this story a thousand times.
01:33.557 --> 01:41.222
[SPEAKER_00]: I've tried telling my parents, my friends, my coworkers, but there's no way to tell it without sounding like a complete lunatic.
01:42.002 --> 01:45.344
[SPEAKER_00]: Their eyes just glaze over and I get the smile.
01:46.105 --> 01:46.725
[SPEAKER_00]: You know the one.
01:47.706 --> 01:51.908
[SPEAKER_00]: So I figured I'd write it all down instead, try to make it cohesive.
01:52.549 --> 01:54.850
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe someone has seen something similar.
01:56.960 --> 02:01.402
[SPEAKER_00]: On February 17th, 2026, I was heading to work.
02:02.243 --> 02:08.806
[SPEAKER_00]: I took the I-79 North towards Morgan Town, when I came across a parked vehicle on the side of the road.
02:09.286 --> 02:12.948
[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like an older generation silver-white Toyota Avalan.
02:13.888 --> 02:18.250
[SPEAKER_00]: It must have been there for some time, since there was snow covering parts of the hood.
02:18.911 --> 02:23.813
[SPEAKER_00]: I could see a big dent on one side, and a crack in the passenger side window.
02:27.646 --> 02:29.988
[SPEAKER_00]: I pulled over and glanced at it from afar.
02:30.749 --> 02:32.290
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't see anyone in there.
02:33.451 --> 02:36.313
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked up the number to the sheriff's office and called it in.
02:36.853 --> 02:38.235
[SPEAKER_00]: Give them my name and all.
02:39.275 --> 02:40.616
[SPEAKER_00]: They told me they'd look into it.
02:41.197 --> 02:44.139
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I got back in my car and didn't think any more of it.
02:46.001 --> 02:48.363
[SPEAKER_00]: I had to work a bit later than usual that day.
02:48.863 --> 02:50.765
[SPEAKER_00]: An hour or so, nothing major.
02:52.013 --> 02:55.136
[SPEAKER_00]: When I was finally heading back home, it was already dark out.
02:55.596 --> 03:02.842
[SPEAKER_00]: It was somewhere around 630pm when I got to that same stretcher road where I'd seen that avalanour earlier that morning.
03:03.903 --> 03:06.165
[SPEAKER_00]: And 10 hours later, it was still there.
03:07.546 --> 03:11.609
[SPEAKER_00]: The snow was stacked higher by now, but it was impossible to miss.
03:12.410 --> 03:14.631
[SPEAKER_00]: I figured the sheriff had ignored my call,
03:15.658 --> 03:18.359
[SPEAKER_00]: Somewhere along the line, someone dropped the ball.
03:18.919 --> 03:22.781
[SPEAKER_00]: This thing needed to be towed, or there could be a nasty accident.
03:23.601 --> 03:28.143
[SPEAKER_00]: All this went through my mind as I took my eyes off the road.
03:29.143 --> 03:33.965
[SPEAKER_00]: And in that split second, someone stepped in front of my car.
03:35.545 --> 03:37.726
[SPEAKER_00]: I swirfed, but it was too late.
03:39.142 --> 03:43.925
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a very distinct sound to hitting someone with your vehicle.
03:44.366 --> 03:50.110
[SPEAKER_00]: There's like a whiplash effect when the head swings around and smacks into the windshield.
03:50.931 --> 03:55.074
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like when you're swinging a bat, putting all the power at the very end.
03:56.615 --> 04:00.237
[SPEAKER_00]: There was an explosion of blood like a popped balloon.
04:01.278 --> 04:05.081
[SPEAKER_00]: The sudden cracks in the windshield led in a whiff of cold highway air.
04:09.372 --> 04:12.698
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember this strange sound like a wounded animal.
04:13.279 --> 04:21.272
[SPEAKER_00]: I know it was just me screaming, but it was such an unusual sound that I can't help thinking it came from someone else.
04:22.835 --> 04:28.217
[SPEAKER_00]: When I finally came to a full stop, I was already on my phone with the emergency services.
04:28.857 --> 04:32.698
[SPEAKER_00]: I was trying to remain calm, but my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
04:33.518 --> 04:37.840
[SPEAKER_00]: I kept hearing bleeping noises as my fingers accidentally kept hitting numbers.
04:38.600 --> 04:43.081
[SPEAKER_00]: I was telling the operator my name, address, what had happened, everything.
04:43.861 --> 04:45.862
[SPEAKER_00]: Hell, I probably told them what I had for lunch.
04:47.664 --> 04:51.352
[SPEAKER_00]: I got out of the car and saw the victim on the side of the road.
04:52.053 --> 04:57.844
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd watched enough shows to know I shouldn't move them, but I wanted to be near and do what the operator asked.
04:59.065 --> 05:04.569
[SPEAKER_00]: The victim was a young man, no older than 16, maybe 17 years old.
05:05.369 --> 05:08.892
[SPEAKER_00]: We had the same hair, only his hadn't been brushed in a while.
05:09.512 --> 05:13.735
[SPEAKER_00]: He was wearing this forest-green hoodie with a pair of black jeans.
05:14.375 --> 05:21.360
[SPEAKER_00]: There were branches and brambles stuck all over him, and I could see these little cuts and jabs along his clothes.
05:29.045 --> 05:32.147
[SPEAKER_00]: His eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead.
05:33.088 --> 05:34.329
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't make any sound.
05:34.870 --> 05:36.671
[SPEAKER_00]: No grunting, no winsing.
05:37.331 --> 05:40.294
[SPEAKER_00]: He was just taking small breath slaying there.
05:40.814 --> 05:43.476
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a tiny pool of blood by his temple.
05:45.057 --> 05:48.660
[SPEAKER_00]: The operator kept yelling in my ear trying to get my attention.
05:49.201 --> 05:51.122
[SPEAKER_00]: They wanted me to make sure he was breathing.
05:52.643 --> 05:54.705
[SPEAKER_00]: Hold your hand about an ancient front of his face.
05:55.265 --> 05:55.686
[SPEAKER_00]: She said,
05:58.913 --> 06:10.881
[SPEAKER_00]: I held my hand down, and felt a cold breath pushed against my skin, but there was also a little huff like he smelled me, suddenly his eyes darted my way.
06:11.522 --> 06:13.903
[SPEAKER_00]: He seemed to investigate my clothes.
06:15.524 --> 06:20.427
[SPEAKER_00]: Once I acknowledged he was breathing, they asked me to acknowledge he was conscious.
06:21.148 --> 06:25.691
[SPEAKER_00]: I told them he was looking at me, but they needed an estimation of his mental state.
06:29.391 --> 06:30.071
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you see me?
06:30.612 --> 06:31.452
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know where you are?
06:33.133 --> 06:35.174
[SPEAKER_00]: His eyes locked straight ahead again.
06:35.894 --> 06:36.855
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't move an inch.
06:37.795 --> 06:42.057
[SPEAKER_00]: I repeated myself over and over trying to get his attention.
06:42.837 --> 06:44.678
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, I put a hand on his shoulder.
06:45.459 --> 06:46.719
[SPEAKER_00]: That caught his attention.
06:48.320 --> 06:49.160
[SPEAKER_00]: Bad man.
06:49.861 --> 06:50.501
[SPEAKER_00]: He whispered.
06:51.642 --> 06:52.042
[SPEAKER_00]: Help!
06:53.763 --> 06:54.303
[SPEAKER_00]: He had this...
06:55.758 --> 06:58.079
[SPEAKER_00]: strange weeds to his voice.
06:59.199 --> 07:03.560
[SPEAKER_00]: I figured something was broken, or that he was trying to keep a straight face.
07:04.321 --> 07:08.102
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't quite put my finger on why, but it bothered me.
07:09.482 --> 07:12.303
[SPEAKER_00]: I was told to stay with him until the ambulance arrived.
07:13.143 --> 07:17.185
[SPEAKER_00]: I turned on the hazard lights and made sure my car was well off to the side.
07:18.125 --> 07:19.305
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to be comforting.
07:20.046 --> 07:23.567
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried telling him it was going to be okay, and I carefully
07:25.186 --> 07:34.555
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't react, he just stared straight ahead, and whenever I seemed a bit insistent, he'd give me that strange look and say the same thing.
07:40.070 --> 07:42.531
[SPEAKER_00]: when the ambulance arrived, I stepped back.
07:43.772 --> 07:47.033
[SPEAKER_00]: They asked me a bunch of questions and tried to assess the damage.
07:47.953 --> 07:53.896
[SPEAKER_00]: I told them about the head trauma and showed them the blood on my windshield, but that seemed to confuse them.
07:54.576 --> 07:59.178
[SPEAKER_00]: For someone to take that kind of head trauma and still be conscious, seems strange.
08:00.278 --> 08:03.880
[SPEAKER_00]: They figured he'd had a major concussion and gone into shock.
08:11.187 --> 08:16.049
[SPEAKER_00]: The police were on their way and my car was going to get towed, I was freaking out.
08:17.129 --> 08:25.692
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know how to get home or if my insurance would cover this or how I'd get to work on Monday or just a thousand little worries all at once.
08:26.333 --> 08:30.734
[SPEAKER_00]: From the stories I've heard, this man might sue me for everything I owned.
08:31.274 --> 08:35.416
[SPEAKER_00]: You hear all the time about Samaritans stopping to help only to get screwed over?
08:37.100 --> 08:42.221
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the paramedics stopped to look me over, but could see that I was in no immediate risk.
08:42.841 --> 08:44.862
[SPEAKER_00]: Still, I could be concussed.
08:45.582 --> 08:50.343
[SPEAKER_00]: They told me it'd be best if I rode along with them to get a thorough check at the hospital.
08:51.103 --> 08:55.143
[SPEAKER_00]: I could ride up front while they kept a strange man in the back for observation.
08:55.924 --> 08:58.284
[SPEAKER_00]: Slight bridge a policy, but nothing major.
08:59.904 --> 09:02.485
[SPEAKER_00]: I got in, and we took off down the road.
09:03.533 --> 09:07.096
[SPEAKER_00]: I could see the police in the rear view mirror just seconds behind us.
09:07.637 --> 09:09.459
[SPEAKER_00]: They stopped at the accident site.
09:10.940 --> 09:13.723
[SPEAKER_00]: The ambulance driver was a woman in her late 30s.
09:14.504 --> 09:23.632
[SPEAKER_00]: She had a calm demeanor and this sinewy kind of strength like she could lift a truck but also be knocked over by a sudden gust of wind.
09:24.613 --> 09:26.475
[SPEAKER_00]: She tried her best to keep me in check.
09:27.752 --> 09:28.912
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you're okay.
09:29.553 --> 09:29.993
[SPEAKER_00]: She said.
09:30.853 --> 09:32.093
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's better to be sure.
09:32.814 --> 09:34.394
[SPEAKER_00]: You got that insurance for a reason.
09:35.715 --> 09:37.275
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you oughta just drop me off.
09:37.895 --> 09:38.275
[SPEAKER_00]: I said.
09:39.176 --> 09:40.496
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys got your hands full.
09:41.597 --> 09:43.357
[SPEAKER_00]: We got people waiting on site.
09:44.017 --> 09:44.617
[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled.
09:45.638 --> 09:46.198
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't worry.
09:46.358 --> 09:48.059
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be in and out in 10 minutes.
09:48.559 --> 09:50.379
[SPEAKER_00]: Just have a nurse check up on your first.
09:50.439 --> 09:50.759
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
09:54.185 --> 09:59.290
[SPEAKER_00]: I could hear the paramedic in the back, try his best to establish contact with the victim.
10:00.291 --> 10:05.456
[SPEAKER_00]: He asked him questions, tried to keep him calm, and encouraged him to stay awake.
10:06.157 --> 10:08.599
[SPEAKER_00]: The victim didn't move, not an inch.
10:10.381 --> 10:11.722
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's an obstruction.
10:12.383 --> 10:12.743
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard.
10:13.744 --> 10:14.685
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm checking his throat.
10:16.307 --> 10:17.428
[SPEAKER_00]: My mind was racing.
10:18.762 --> 10:24.045
[SPEAKER_00]: I could still be held accountable for some kind of accidental manslaughter charge or something similar.
10:24.666 --> 10:28.908
[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't been drinking, but maybe there could be a false positive on a drug test.
10:29.488 --> 10:32.970
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know for sure every ingredient in that lunch sane which I ate.
10:34.952 --> 10:37.573
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to stay calm and listen to the driver.
10:38.314 --> 10:42.276
[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled at me, nodded and told me it was going to be okay.
10:43.197 --> 10:45.618
[SPEAKER_00]: Then there was that moment.
10:47.065 --> 10:49.287
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like the sound of the engine faded away.
10:50.428 --> 10:52.590
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember the words, clear as day.
10:54.091 --> 10:55.452
[SPEAKER_00]: There's something in his throat.
10:57.434 --> 11:02.258
[SPEAKER_00]: Looking up, I saw dark figures appearing on the road ahead of us.
11:03.980 --> 11:06.942
[SPEAKER_00]: And what happened next is hard to describe.
11:07.683 --> 11:09.545
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like an explosion went off.
11:10.461 --> 11:18.346
[SPEAKER_00]: There was an enormous force pushing against the left side of the vehicle, forcing the driver to swore of right to compensate.
11:19.166 --> 11:23.509
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a scream as the paramedic in the back was flung into the wall.
11:24.309 --> 11:31.393
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard the safety straps on the stretcher bend, and the sudden twang of metal as something snapped.
11:32.874 --> 11:37.237
[SPEAKER_00]: Flesh smacked into the glass, separating the front and back of the ambulance.
11:37.997 --> 11:45.322
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a spatter of red and black, along with strands of brown hair, the screaming in the back stopped.
11:46.723 --> 11:47.564
[SPEAKER_00]: There was panic.
11:48.324 --> 11:49.906
[SPEAKER_00]: The swarbing was at a control.
11:50.466 --> 11:55.670
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard pounding coming from the back of the ambulance, but couldn't see through the bloody glass.
11:57.391 --> 11:59.873
[SPEAKER_00]: That man help!
12:01.314 --> 12:04.196
[SPEAKER_00]: That strange monotone voice.
12:09.462 --> 12:12.523
[SPEAKER_00]: We were going too fast, passing by streetlights.
12:13.503 --> 12:16.244
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw it all play out like a strobe effect.
12:17.024 --> 12:28.068
[SPEAKER_00]: The driver trying to regain control, the bloody glass dinting, brown eyes looking up at me, and the two of us understanding that we'd lost control.
12:29.543 --> 12:32.004
[SPEAKER_00]: then it all came to a stop.
12:32.764 --> 12:38.825
[SPEAKER_00]: We hit something, and all air was pushed out of my lungs as something in my chest snapped.
12:39.626 --> 12:46.447
[SPEAKER_00]: I was flung against the seat belt as the world shifted around me, and we came tumbling down a slope.
12:47.988 --> 12:56.810
[SPEAKER_00]: Screaming broken glass, my world turning upside down, tossing me around like a handkerchief in a snowstorm.
12:58.357 --> 13:00.418
[SPEAKER_00]: And then it was quiet.
13:02.039 --> 13:05.361
[SPEAKER_00]: I was scared to open my eyes thinking I might be dead.
13:06.682 --> 13:10.584
[SPEAKER_00]: When I finally opened them, I heard the back of the ambulance open.
13:11.544 --> 13:21.590
[SPEAKER_00]: There was an enormous pressure on my right arm, and it took me a few seconds to realize the ambulance had flipped to the side with the driver's door positioned upwards.
13:23.057 --> 13:29.863
[SPEAKER_00]: The airbag had deployed, as the driver had her head at an angle, possibly giving her some kind of neck damage.
13:30.824 --> 13:36.409
[SPEAKER_00]: Her arms hung haplessly down towards me as she groaned, trying her best to move.
13:37.369 --> 13:44.976
[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't even noticed the airbag's going off, but now that they lay deployed and used, I could see that they probably saved my life
13:46.463 --> 13:48.284
[SPEAKER_00]: I could barely see anything.
13:48.985 --> 13:52.948
[SPEAKER_00]: There were no immediate lights here, and everything was at a strange angle.
13:53.568 --> 13:57.371
[SPEAKER_00]: If I concentrated, I could make out a few stars in the sky.
13:58.292 --> 14:01.774
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the headlights was still on, but that just illuminated the ground ahead.
14:03.495 --> 14:10.080
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt snow brush against my hand as I realized most of the passenger side window on my side was gone.
14:11.860 --> 14:15.941
[SPEAKER_00]: I stayed still waiting, trying my best to catch my breath.
14:16.821 --> 14:23.322
[SPEAKER_00]: My lungs ached, and every bit of movement on my part caused a new string of pain to shoot through me.
14:24.243 --> 14:29.904
[SPEAKER_00]: My head was ringing, and I couldn't identify what exactly was wrong with me.
14:31.224 --> 14:37.725
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, the door on the driver's side was torn off.
14:39.426 --> 14:40.726
[SPEAKER_00]: It was almost effortless.
14:42.302 --> 14:48.444
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard some kind of mechanism struggle, but all it took was a rough pull, and it came loose.
14:50.344 --> 14:51.445
[SPEAKER_00]: Bad man.
14:52.365 --> 14:53.485
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard someone wheeze.
14:54.966 --> 14:55.486
[SPEAKER_00]: Help.
14:57.466 --> 15:00.827
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to shield my eyes from falling glass as I looked up.
15:01.868 --> 15:04.088
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone was lifting the driver out of her seat.
15:05.609 --> 15:05.909
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
15:06.569 --> 15:07.289
[SPEAKER_00]: She complained.
15:08.570 --> 15:09.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, you- you can't-
15:10.912 --> 15:12.473
[SPEAKER_00]: Then a hard pull.
15:13.314 --> 15:14.094
[SPEAKER_00]: She screamed.
15:15.095 --> 15:19.398
[SPEAKER_00]: She was still stuck on something, but whoever was pulling her out didn't care.
15:19.958 --> 15:21.339
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead they pulled harder.
15:22.160 --> 15:30.065
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard something snap as she came loose, and I heard a thump as they unceremoniously threw her off the side of the ambulance.
15:30.886 --> 15:33.648
[SPEAKER_00]: There was an impact, and she went quiet.
15:35.478 --> 15:38.560
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw the silhouette of someone looking down at me.
15:39.220 --> 15:40.781
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone with a green hoodie.
15:40.801 --> 15:43.602
[SPEAKER_00]: ''Bird man?''
15:44.222 --> 15:44.643
[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
15:44.663 --> 15:46.403
[SPEAKER_00]: ''Help!''
15:48.324 --> 15:50.025
[SPEAKER_00]: Something was telling me to run.
15:50.786 --> 15:54.968
[SPEAKER_00]: To kick, fight, scream, and force my way out of the broken windshield.
15:55.925 --> 16:00.970
[SPEAKER_00]: There was that instinct telling me that this was something far more dangerous than a car crash.
16:01.830 --> 16:05.374
[SPEAKER_00]: That strange monotone voice was unmistakable.
16:06.214 --> 16:08.957
[SPEAKER_00]: This was the man I'd hit with my car earlier.
16:10.713 --> 16:13.095
[SPEAKER_00]: In a moment of instinct, I froze.
16:14.075 --> 16:19.699
[SPEAKER_00]: I closed my eyes, leaned my head away, and just lay as still as possible.
16:20.500 --> 16:25.423
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt the ambulance shift as he climbed down and tugged on my jacket.
16:26.344 --> 16:35.411
[SPEAKER_00]: Fingers ran down my face, like when a cat tries to poke you with its paw for attention, I stayed still holding my breath.
16:36.311 --> 16:37.912
[SPEAKER_00]: Another tug at my jacket.
16:39.053 --> 16:43.075
[SPEAKER_00]: and then they climbed back out, leaving the driver's side wide open.
16:44.555 --> 16:46.596
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't interested in dead people.
16:48.297 --> 16:49.798
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd tried to stay still.
16:50.878 --> 16:56.040
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the headlights was still on, and I could see dark shapes moving outside.
16:56.781 --> 17:04.744
[SPEAKER_00]: I could feel my pulse rising and slowing as my body demanded air, but every breath felt like a risk.
17:04.764 --> 17:07.285
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried counting them to keep myself calm,
17:09.007 --> 17:10.628
[SPEAKER_00]: there were four people outside.
17:11.508 --> 17:17.171
[SPEAKER_00]: One of them was the man in the green hoodie, but the other three had wandered in from seemingly nowhere.
17:17.951 --> 17:27.935
[SPEAKER_00]: An overweight and balding man with a thick red scarf, a tall muscular woman with some kind of choker, and lastly someone who looked like a 12-year-old girl.
17:30.704 --> 17:35.786
[SPEAKER_00]: None of them was appropriately dressed for the season, yet none of them seemed to freeze.
17:36.766 --> 17:39.267
[SPEAKER_00]: Also I couldn't see them breathe.
17:41.067 --> 17:45.449
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to get my phone out of my pocket, but it was difficult without moving too much.
17:46.289 --> 17:52.391
[SPEAKER_00]: The deflated airbag kept crinkling when I moved, and I didn't want the people outside to notice.
17:53.131 --> 17:57.733
[SPEAKER_00]: They had dragged the paramedics into the snow, and seemed to be inspecting them
17:59.185 --> 18:05.889
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the four people, the one who looked like a young girl, perked her ears up and looked off in the distance.
18:07.270 --> 18:10.492
[SPEAKER_00]: It kind of reminded me of how a mere cat alerts the flock.
18:11.633 --> 18:13.374
[SPEAKER_00]: The others stopped to look at her.
18:14.035 --> 18:19.018
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, in a coordinated movement, they all dropped to the ground seemingly dead.
18:20.619 --> 18:25.042
[SPEAKER_00]: One by one, they started screaming with these eerie, hollow voices.
18:28.748 --> 18:29.969
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoop!
18:31.049 --> 18:32.210
[SPEAKER_00]: Batman!
18:32.230 --> 18:34.070
[SPEAKER_00]: Help!
18:35.651 --> 18:37.592
[SPEAKER_00]: I could hear voices in the distance.
18:38.392 --> 18:40.873
[SPEAKER_00]: An old woman screaming, Oh my god!
18:41.554 --> 18:42.494
[SPEAKER_00]: Over and over.
18:43.535 --> 18:45.475
[SPEAKER_00]: A man telling them help is on the way.
18:46.096 --> 18:48.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Another man shouting, telling them to hold on!
18:50.966 --> 18:58.430
[SPEAKER_00]: From behind the cracked windshield, I saw a man drop to his knees in the snow, putting his ear to the mouth of the one with the hoodie.
18:59.611 --> 19:05.634
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to signal him to run, or to back away, but I couldn't risk myself being pulled into this.
19:06.274 --> 19:09.576
[SPEAKER_00]: If I exposed myself, it might be a death sentence.
19:10.377 --> 19:15.019
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever these people were doing, there was something fundamentally wrong.
19:16.560 --> 19:17.480
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not breathing!
19:18.161 --> 19:19.141
[SPEAKER_00]: The man yelled out.
19:21.833 --> 19:27.775
[SPEAKER_00]: He pushed the hoodie back, straightened the man's neck, and started to administer CPR.
19:28.335 --> 19:31.036
[SPEAKER_00]: Hard compressions, and then mouth to mouth.
19:31.757 --> 19:38.979
[SPEAKER_00]: He did it several times, and I saw people coming down from the highway slope to check them out, at least three people.
19:39.820 --> 19:42.061
[SPEAKER_00]: One was on his way over to help the tall woman.
19:43.541 --> 19:45.522
[SPEAKER_00]: Then there was a strange sound.
19:47.301 --> 19:49.843
[SPEAKER_00]: The man administering mouth to mouth stopped.
19:50.884 --> 19:54.748
[SPEAKER_00]: He made this strange gurgling noise as he tried to pull himself up.
19:55.689 --> 20:03.275
[SPEAKER_00]: At a glance, it seemed that the man with the hoodie had somehow attached his face to him like a suction cup.
20:04.336 --> 20:11.463
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a struggle and this pained humming noise growing louder, like someone screaming into a pillow.
20:12.544 --> 20:20.696
[SPEAKER_00]: For a moment the men's lips separated and I saw something ivory white moving in the space between
20:22.485 --> 20:25.647
[SPEAKER_00]: The man with the green hoodie did something impossible.
20:26.727 --> 20:37.753
[SPEAKER_00]: It looked like his shoulder blades moved independently of his arms, pushing him up with an impossible sit-up, still with the man administering CPR on top of him.
20:38.393 --> 20:42.175
[SPEAKER_00]: He flipped, putting himself on top, with the man underneath him.
20:42.955 --> 20:49.799
[SPEAKER_00]: Then walking on all fours like a scaring insect, he started to drag him, mouth to mouth,
20:54.213 --> 20:56.453
[SPEAKER_00]: at this point a switch clicked in my head.
20:57.594 --> 20:58.474
[SPEAKER_00]: These weren't people.
20:59.834 --> 21:05.555
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't stay calm any longer and there was no way that I'd try to fake being dead any longer.
21:06.075 --> 21:06.915
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't risk it.
21:07.676 --> 21:17.197
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I forced my leg up and started climbing out of the ambulance, putting my dirty shoes down on the expensive equipment using it as a springboard.
21:18.678 --> 21:19.898
[SPEAKER_00]: There were so many
21:22.108 --> 21:27.550
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw the tall woman bite down on the calf of her would be rescuer and drag him off.
21:28.190 --> 21:36.713
[SPEAKER_00]: The 12-year-old girl looking person jumped on the back of another, biting into their neck and digging her fingers into their chest.
21:38.013 --> 21:41.535
[SPEAKER_00]: It was so fast, like they practiced it.
21:42.175 --> 21:48.337
[SPEAKER_00]: It was perfectly coordinated, and in a matter of seconds, they'd overpowered three people.
21:50.087 --> 21:56.171
[SPEAKER_00]: the moment I got out of the ambulance, I noticed one of them looking at me, the balding man.
21:57.191 --> 22:01.934
[SPEAKER_00]: He had these wide black eyes and a strange looking tongue.
22:02.615 --> 22:09.659
[SPEAKER_00]: It was completely white and had a split in, like a cluster of noodles or snakeheads.
22:11.000 --> 22:13.801
[SPEAKER_00]: For a split second, we just looked at one another.
22:21.255 --> 22:25.636
[SPEAKER_00]: I jumped off the ambulance, only to lose the remaining air in my lungs.
22:26.177 --> 22:29.098
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd clearly broken something and couldn't stand up straight.
22:29.738 --> 22:30.638
[SPEAKER_00]: I just couldn't.
22:31.378 --> 22:33.599
[SPEAKER_00]: The nerves didn't obey the way they should.
22:34.279 --> 22:39.741
[SPEAKER_00]: My leg was sprained, but as long as I didn't bend it, I could move pretty fast.
22:41.208 --> 22:47.033
[SPEAKER_00]: The ambulance had driven straight off the highway, down a slope, and slid into a field.
22:47.753 --> 22:52.317
[SPEAKER_00]: I could see this long stretch of barren ground where snow had been pushed away.
22:53.959 --> 22:58.603
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a small patch of trees next to us, and I decided to rush through it.
22:59.363 --> 23:02.566
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it would slow him down enough for me to catch my breath.
23:03.407 --> 23:07.410
[SPEAKER_00]: I was getting light headed, like I couldn't push enough air into my body.
23:09.089 --> 23:13.751
[SPEAKER_00]: But man, help, bad, man, help.
23:15.251 --> 23:21.273
[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man kept repeating the same words over and over with every gallop.
23:22.273 --> 23:30.696
[SPEAKER_00]: It had such an unnatural sound to it, a voice coming from down low with such an un-earthly monotone cadence.
23:32.237 --> 23:36.200
[SPEAKER_00]: I rushed through the patch of trees with the balding man catching up to me.
23:36.841 --> 23:38.983
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't seem the least bit bothered.
23:39.443 --> 23:43.807
[SPEAKER_00]: He crawled over logs and bushes with ease, much faster than what I did.
23:44.627 --> 23:50.252
[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing I had going for me was a head start and this burning panic pushing me forward.
23:51.913 --> 23:54.536
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to the side of the slope and started climbing.
23:55.116 --> 24:00.441
[SPEAKER_00]: It was at least 16 feet in a steep angle, so I had no choice but to crawl my way up.
24:01.145 --> 24:05.969
[SPEAKER_00]: It was part dirt and part gravel, making me slide whenever I put too much weight on it.
24:07.570 --> 24:10.493
[SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately the balding man was much heavier than me.
24:11.273 --> 24:16.517
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a lot of trouble getting up, but he made up for it and enthusiasm and sheer abandon.
24:17.258 --> 24:25.224
[SPEAKER_00]: He dug his hands in, he kicked with his feet, he jumped and lunged, and little by little he was catching up to me.
24:26.726 --> 24:29.508
[SPEAKER_00]: His hand touched the soul of my shoe.
24:31.060 --> 24:32.602
[SPEAKER_00]: instinctively I kicked.
24:33.663 --> 24:38.689
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt my heel connect with something soft as cartilage gave way to rubber.
24:39.370 --> 24:40.071
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked down.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I could barely make out anything with the waning light from the streets above, but I saw this blank face with these completely black eyes looking up at me.
24:52.862 --> 24:57.725
[SPEAKER_00]: His nose was broken, almost ripped from his face, but there was no blood.
24:58.505 --> 25:04.608
[SPEAKER_00]: All I saw was these little white strings under his skin waving back and forth.
25:11.810 --> 25:19.695
[SPEAKER_00]: In a hissing warning, he opened his mouth and I saw a straight into his throat, where something moved.
25:21.496 --> 25:29.941
[SPEAKER_00]: I made it back up to the highway and started sprinting, and my mind was just inches away and I didn't want to find out what would happen if he caught me.
25:30.441 --> 25:32.603
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to be dragged off into the dark,
25:34.122 --> 25:40.849
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I heard cars approaching in every direction, some honked, others switched lanes.
25:41.569 --> 25:47.015
[SPEAKER_00]: I sprinted straight across, hearing the man switch from a gallop to a two-legged run.
25:48.817 --> 25:53.162
[SPEAKER_00]: I was climbing across the midsection when I flinched from the pain in my chest.
25:53.843 --> 25:59.749
[SPEAKER_00]: The air in my lungs escaped me, and in that moment of hesitation, he caught up to me.
26:00.490 --> 26:04.014
[SPEAKER_00]: He grabbed a hold of my jacket and started pulling me back.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Bad, man, help!
26:09.331 --> 26:13.375
[SPEAKER_00]: He was too strong, not just for me, but in general.
26:14.076 --> 26:19.160
[SPEAKER_00]: There was this clamp-like pull in his fingers, like iron clasps.
26:20.101 --> 26:22.323
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to pull away, but I just couldn't.
26:23.374 --> 26:28.197
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to scream for help, but I had no air left in my lungs, and I was getting dizzy.
26:28.877 --> 26:34.601
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, with the last bit of strength in me, I undid the zipper on my jacket.
26:35.261 --> 26:38.803
[SPEAKER_00]: It came flying off, and my assailant lost his footing.
26:40.024 --> 26:45.607
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw him stumbling backwards, straight into an oncoming moving truck.
26:47.232 --> 26:51.594
[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man bounced off the hood like something out of a pinball machine.
26:52.514 --> 26:59.357
[SPEAKER_00]: He tumbled into the road as the moving truck stepped on the brakes, trying their best to honk to warn the other drivers.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I found an opening and headed straight for the truck yelling along the way.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Stay, stand, don't go out, keep your windows up!
27:12.953 --> 27:14.634
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to the passenger side.
27:15.354 --> 27:18.036
[SPEAKER_00]: There was only the driver inside, and I knocked.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He let me in.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A man in his late 60s clearly shaken.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He could barely contain himself.
27:26.280 --> 27:30.022
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to calm him, but we just ended up screaming at one another.
27:30.682 --> 27:35.105
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, I pointed to the balding man still illuminated by the headlights.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He's not dead!
27:37.986 --> 27:38.567
[SPEAKER_00]: I repeated.
27:39.287 --> 27:39.967
[SPEAKER_00]: He's faking!
27:40.087 --> 27:40.888
[SPEAKER_00]: He's faking it!
27:42.619 --> 27:43.941
[SPEAKER_00]: the driver didn't listen.
27:44.802 --> 27:46.965
[SPEAKER_00]: He opened the door, but I grabbed his coat.
27:47.525 --> 27:48.306
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't let him go.
27:49.368 --> 27:54.073
[SPEAKER_00]: After a few seconds of struggling back and forth, he tried punching me.
27:54.814 --> 27:59.200
[SPEAKER_00]: We scuffled a bit until we noticed flashing lights in the rear view mirror.
28:00.523 --> 28:05.707
[SPEAKER_00]: two police officers approached us, but there were more coming down the opposite side.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I pointed at the balding man, screaming the same thing over and over, telling them he wasn't dead that he was faking that I'd been attacked.
28:17.715 --> 28:19.737
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the officers pulled me aside.
28:20.998 --> 28:21.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you sure?
28:22.178 --> 28:22.559
[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
28:23.219 --> 28:24.320
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you sure about this?
28:25.661 --> 28:26.621
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course I was.
28:27.611 --> 28:32.472
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried telling them everything at once, making me jumble the words and lose my train of thought.
28:33.813 --> 28:38.314
[SPEAKER_00]: The two officers exchanged a look, and the other approached the balding man.
28:38.994 --> 28:44.156
[SPEAKER_00]: In one swift movement, he pulled out his handgun and fired eight rounds.
28:45.936 --> 28:48.357
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like the world stopped for a second.
28:49.429 --> 28:53.411
[SPEAKER_00]: all screams and shouts faded away with my ringing ears.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The balding man took eight rounds but still squirmed.
28:59.273 --> 29:02.495
[SPEAKER_00]: He took four more to the chest before he stopped moving.
29:03.415 --> 29:09.537
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the officers started repeating numbers into his walkie-talkie while the other stayed with me and the driver.
29:10.978 --> 29:11.718
[SPEAKER_00]: We're taking you home.
29:12.339 --> 29:12.719
[SPEAKER_00]: He said.
29:13.619 --> 29:14.700
[SPEAKER_00]: No questions right now.
29:14.780 --> 29:15.580
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just get you home.
29:17.187 --> 29:21.391
[SPEAKER_00]: I was put in a squad car, along with the driver of the moving truck.
29:22.431 --> 29:26.535
[SPEAKER_00]: Just minutes later, the road was swarming with flashing lights.
29:27.356 --> 29:31.299
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw some policeman move to the side of the road looking down the slope.
29:32.080 --> 29:37.764
[SPEAKER_00]: As we drove away, I heard several of them open fire against something down below.
29:38.525 --> 29:44.510
[SPEAKER_00]: Handguns, shotguns, rifles, a firing squad illuminating the dark.
29:46.172 --> 29:50.214
[SPEAKER_00]: When they realized I was wounded, I was taken to the hospital.
29:51.455 --> 29:54.636
[SPEAKER_00]: The incident was reported as a traffic accident.
29:55.677 --> 30:01.179
[SPEAKER_00]: No matter who I talked to about it, they all said the same thing, traffic accident.
30:02.020 --> 30:06.362
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what it said in all the papers, online, and in all the reports.
30:06.962 --> 30:11.064
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all I got to hear, over and over, traffic accident.
30:11.855 --> 30:18.364
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single source mentioned handguns being discharged, or people being carried into the woods.
30:20.306 --> 30:27.596
[SPEAKER_00]: I was diagnosed with a concussion, a broken rib, and two small fractures just below the knee on my left leg.
30:29.142 --> 30:33.765
[SPEAKER_00]: Every time I tried to mention what really happened, I was immediately dismissed.
30:34.365 --> 30:41.970
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single reputable news source would listen, claiming I was concussed and obsessed with popular fiction.
30:42.650 --> 30:45.292
[SPEAKER_00]: Apparently these things are a common urban myth.
30:46.075 --> 30:59.839
[SPEAKER_00]: They call them scarf people, and there have been stray reports and hoaxes relating to them for years, fake people using devious tactics to lure victims into secluded areas.
31:01.599 --> 31:05.920
[SPEAKER_00]: It goes against my nature to look the other way when I see people get hurt.
31:06.701 --> 31:13.702
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to help, I want to be there, but now I know that there are things out there that
31:17.246 --> 31:19.068
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just playing possum.
31:23.791 --> 31:25.533
[SPEAKER_00]: Playing possum!
31:26.574 --> 31:29.096
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that's a horrifying thought!
31:30.591 --> 31:37.513
[SPEAKER_00]: Forgive this old mind if I've asked you this before, but do you remember the movie The Faculty?
31:38.214 --> 31:44.736
[SPEAKER_00]: It stands out in my mind as my first introduction to the idea of pod people.
31:45.476 --> 31:56.640
[SPEAKER_00]: People who have been infected and killed by some alien host, and who now look and behave mostly normal, but are not at all normal on the inside.
31:57.462 --> 32:03.263
[SPEAKER_00]: The monsters in that movie also had tendrils all over them when they changed.
32:04.084 --> 32:07.204
[SPEAKER_00]: Check out the rain scene if you'd like a refresher.
32:08.585 --> 32:10.245
[SPEAKER_00]: Ugh, totally gross.
32:11.446 --> 32:17.327
[SPEAKER_00]: The depiction of those aliens stays with me many years after my first watching.
32:18.507 --> 32:20.768
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you really trust anyone?
32:21.468 --> 32:24.789
[SPEAKER_00]: If the monsters can look just like your friends?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Please leave us a comment, and a thumbs up if you enjoyed this story.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And happy Halloween month for those of you listening at the time of release.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you do, help, but help carefully, and don't fall asleep.
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[UNKNOWN]: Thank you so much for watching this video.
