James cursed his GPS for the hundredth time as he heard branches and twigs scraping along the sides of his car. This glorified goat path was unpaved and seemed to have been abandoned decades ago, but the damned device had routed him this way as if it were a normal road. He winced as the car bottomed out on a bad rut and slowed back down to a crawl. There were too many twists and turns to try backing up - all he could do was keep pressing forward and hope this horrible stretch of dirt ended soon. Stupid! He had accidentally selected shortest distance instead of shortest time - now he would be at least an hour late, instead of getting to the hotel early.
The car lurched again as a wheel dropped into a rut, bottoming out on the rough ground. However, this time warning lights flashed on the dash. James barely had time to register the fact that something serious must have gone wrong before the the engine stalled and everything including the GPS went dead. He stared at the now-blank dash and then beat on the steering wheel in frustration. "Dammit! No!" Trying the key did nothing - it was as if the battery had been ripped out of the car. Remembering the bump, that might be the issue - a cable might have pulled loose. He popped the hood, and then pushed the door out against the brush so he could squeeze out and make his way forward.
Raising the hood with a grunt, he stared at the solid mass of covers and hoses. He was no mechanical genius, but it was obvious that the battery cables were still connected on top. He checked to make sure they were tight, then slammed the hood back down in disgust. Something underneath must have broken - which he couldn't get too even if he did know what to do. Now he would have to call AAA and hope that the nearest garage wasn't more than an hour back in the last real town he'd passed through.
What the hell? James scowled at the black screen of his iPhone. It had been fully charged this morning and he'd only used it for one call to confirm the hotel. Pressing the power button didn't even bring up the red warning symbol - it was totally dead. Just perfect. Nobody knew he was on the Godforsaken path, and the only person who might even be concerned was the hotel clerk. Probably not even that, since the room was guaranteed by his credit card.
Sighing, he looked up the 'road' and only saw more overgrown goat path. Still, the last house he had seen was at least ten miles back, and that one had looked abandoned. This rutted path couldn't be but so long, and he was pretty sure the GPS had indicated a turn a couple of miles ahead. He pushed back to the driver's side, got the door open enough to grab his keys and jacket, then shut and locked the car and started walking forward. Nobody would be coming any further down this road, so any rescue was ahead.
James found that the overgrown road was at least fairly comfortable to walk on, if he stuck to the center. The light filtering through the trees was dim, and he had to pull on his jacket against a growing coolness. Wisps of fog or mist were drifting across the road now as moisture condensed. He hoped it didn't start raining on him. Looking back once, he found the car was already lost among the brush and trees. He wasn't likely to get lost as long as he stayed on the path, though. If he didn't find something in a few miles, he could always come back and sleep in the car.
He figured he had walked a mile or so when he saw the intersection. There was something off to the side, and a sign of some kind. Picking up his pace, James slowed and then stopped as he came up to the spot. The cross road was only marginally wider than the path he'd been on, and was also dirt and grass showing little recent use. Which made the rather ornate and old-fashioned 'BUS STOP' sign look even more out of place. The same went for the wrought-iron and wood bench, which looked both ancient in design and new in condition. Someone obviously took excellent care of the items - there wasn't even dust on the polished wood slats.
James looked around, but could see nothing in any direction. It seemed pretty obvious that the bus stop got some use, despite the poorly maintained roads. Besides, the mist was building up into a moderately thick fog, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to see anything pretty soon. He decided to sit down and wait for the next bus, hoping he hadn't missed whatever the daily run was.
Nearly an hour later he was considering trying to find his way back to the car when he heard something approaching. The fog absorbed most sound, but he could make out a rumbling of some kind. There were no lights visible, but he finally determined the noise was coming from the left cross road. Creaks and groans joined the rumbling, and he finally made out a dark shape that emerged from the rolling fog. He stared incredulously at the newly arrived transportation, which rolled to a stop directly in front of him. It was a...