She guided her flashlight down the road. The blue line of Google Maps said she was almost there, maybe one more hill and she’d be able to see the hotel. The road she was walking on was very remote—there were no signs of life anywhere. Looking back, she could see the sprawling lights of Huddersfield, but they were far enough away to feel like they were in a different world.

Variables. A game of dominoes. Not always a game you wanted to win. And as she started to see the failing light of her flashlight, she wondered which variable was responsible for her forgetting to charge her phone before she had embarked on her trip. If she knew which one it was, she would curse it until she ran out of curses. Because her phone died and she was plunged into darkness.

Obviously running the light and the Google Maps app at the same time was too much for her phone. The blue line had been following the road, so all she had to do was continue onward. Soon enough, she would be at the hotel, with light, comfortable beds and, most important, Wi-Fi and power outlets. She would be able to sleep, plan her lecture and charge her phone all at the same time. This was what compelled her forward. That and the fact that turning back now would take twice as long.

In the pitch black she felt comfort in feeling the road beneath her feet. The silence of the surroundings also. She heard some chirping of birds who should almost definitely be asleep by now, and some rustling of leaves as though the nighttime creatures were waking up.

She continued walking, with only the light of the moon to guide her, thinking that she had almost definitely walked as far as the Maps had told her it was to the hotel. And then she heard another sound. The sound of a motor growing louder and louder. She couldn’t tell if it was just some joyrider in Huddersfield gunning it way too hard, or if it was a vehicle actually approaching. A few seconds more and she decided it was the latter.

Okay, Google Maps screwed her over. She would flag down the car and ask if they knew where the hotel was and if she could get dropped off there. She stuck her thumb out in the direction she thought was the road, because she had only seen hitchhiking in films and that was how you did it, right?

The motor sound grew louder and she looked for the car’s lights, but there were no lights. Still the sound grew louder and louder. And eventually, she felt the presence of something—something coming at her fast and strong. She realized what was happening a second too late.