No People Here: Why I Don't Visit Abandoned Towns Anymore

[00:00:00] Welcome to Scary Story Podcast. A traveler visits a mostly abandoned town and discovers its dark secrets. My name is Edwin, and here's a scary story. Walking up to it felt like a dream. Old abandoned places.

[00:00:26] The kind you imagine when you walk through campus by yourself near sunset, when the professors and the rest of the students have long gone home. Except this was real. It's how a nightmare begins. I had gotten used to sleeping in the car after the fourth day.

[00:00:43] I was told that I could, and the cheap old lady had only given me $400 for the entire trip. It was supposed to cover food and everything, but I knew it wouldn't. Don't go telling a broke man how far a dollar can go. He knows it.

[00:00:59] This was going to be good enough for a few more tanks of gas and some of the gas station hot dogs. With hotels going for more than $50 around there, there was no way. Rest areas, truck stops, and places like these where the people are gone become my temporary

[00:01:16] stays. Rushed places, loud places, or these. Lonely ones out in the desert. It was good to mix and match, and this time it was a turn for the lonely. I shut the door behind me and out a few steps to take care of business behind one of the

[00:01:34] trees, and as I was turning back to the car, it might happen by pure chance, to see a house up across a field. They might have a place to stay, a shed, or even a water hose.

[00:01:46] I wasn't too far from a browns truck stop, and they were all over the place. But those stops had showers, but as always I had put it off until today.

[00:01:55] I got back in the car and made my way up the road until I saw the turn to the left. A dirt path, and I nearly missed it from all the dried up bushes. I didn't want to beat up the car too much.

[00:02:08] The thing was a new purchase for Yolanda, and she wanted me to deliver it intact. That reminded me that I had to correct her every time she said the word intact as intacts. There's no S in it, Yoli. Intact. In. Tact. Okay, okay, she said over the phone.

[00:02:29] Bring it to me, in good condition. Just like I bought it. I kept thinking about that as I drove up to the house. I'd finally gotten to it. It looked well kept from the front.

[00:02:41] But I got distracted again, this time by the multitude of houses and buildings along a paved street behind this house. The street was cracked, grass and weeds growing all over the edges of the raised and beat up sidewalks. Those places needed attention.

[00:03:00] I parked the car, stepped out to a rush of hot air and made my way down Main Street. The bookstore, Hal's Book Palace, with the broken windows and empty shelves. King's Pawn Shop, the place called Burgers, and two four-story buildings right next to each other.

[00:03:20] One, a bank, and the other a large shop or factory of some sort, with the words textiles at the top. I walked along the middle of the street, with the sound of my shoes breaking the silence whenever the dusty wind stopped.

[00:03:36] Up ahead was another building, separated from the rest, except for a gas station with a broken down 1972 Chevy truck in the front, right by a playground. Not the kind with the grassy fields or anything, but the hard concrete ground, with the metal slide and the swing set.

[00:03:56] I walked up to look at the Chevy. I knew a thing or two about cars, and someone could give you a pretty penny for that kind of thing. That's when I noticed that the store was stocked. Not all the way, but there were things on the shelves.

[00:04:10] The door had no glass and had not had it for a long time. I stepped inside, past a gumball machine with the gum blended together in an ugly brownish gray color. A pink one was stuck against the glass from the inside.

[00:04:26] There were old glass bottles of drinks with no carbonation, probably boiled after all this time, and dried up cookies and cakes all along the front counter. The newspaper stand had one paper on it. November 2nd, 1982. The last delivery. Mayor decides to leave town behind, was the headline.

[00:04:50] This place was missing much more than just a mayor. It was empty, or so I thought. I saw a shadow pass by the front of the store, and in that natural panic most of us would feel at such a moment.

[00:05:06] Likely not a zombie or a monster of some sort, but the possibilities of it being a murderer is never quite zero. I walked over the door, avoiding stepping on the trash on the floor just in case it crunched or crinkled.

[00:05:21] The broken glass between my shoes and the tile is what made the most noise. The shadow passed by again, this time on the left side of the store, where the truck was.

[00:05:32] I was outside now and heading toward it when I saw a man, somewhere in his sixties, standing quietly by the wall listening for anyone inside. How you doing? I asked, startling the guy as he looked at me wide-eyed. That your car by my house? He asked.

[00:05:50] I heard a sudden, angry tone in his voice. Yeah, I'll go move it, I responded, indifferent to his attitude. You never know what kind of people you'll encounter out on the road, and this is the

[00:06:01] kind you want to be real careful with, especially when they have jackets on during hot days, and even worse if they are long enough to hang over their waist belts on either side.

[00:06:13] I was set on getting back on the car and leaving, no questions, no conversations with this guy. But just as I turned my back and started walking, he changed his tone. There's a lot back there if you choose, a water well behind a playground, just wait

[00:06:30] there until sunrise. I looked back and stopped for a few seconds and thanked him, letting him know that it would only be for a few hours and that I had to head out. If it's only a few hours, be out by sunset.

[00:06:45] I looked at him, confused, but he nodded, not trusting me, just like I didn't trust him. Then I walked back to the car and drove it down the forgotten main street. I don't know what this guy was talking about, be out by sunset? Did he own the town?

[00:07:02] Was the place private property somehow? There was something about rules, the law, that I never quite liked, especially from someone like this guy, the only person I had seen in a while, telling me how long I could stay.

[00:07:18] Sunset was in a couple of hours and I hadn't slept very well, I was quite tired by this point, I could easily fall asleep in such a quiet place away from the roads like this.

[00:07:29] Something felt strange about being there, I didn't know how long I wanted to or would be able to stay. I spotted the lodge after passing the playground, it faced the rest of the desert area where

[00:07:42] the sun was going to set, and yet the place where I had parked seemed darker than the rest. The well just around the corner behind the building happened to be away from the shade.

[00:07:54] I grabbed the empty plastic jug and walked over to it as soon as I shut off the car. As I was looking down at the metal mechanism, a thing I had only seen in movies up until that point, another shadow passed by me.

[00:08:09] I looked immediately to my right and managed to catch a glimpse of the figure, not a man by any means. There were like lumps turning around the corner of the building, two small ones maybe, like children.

[00:08:25] I was out in what would appear to most as being in the middle of nowhere, so these could have easily been coyotes or some sort of animal, but all my theories went away when I heard the set of swings on the playground begin to squeak.

[00:08:40] I quickly turned my head toward the source of the sound. There they were, what looked like two children, a boy and a girl, nearly motionless on the rusted chains of the swings going back and forth, their backs toward me. I guess this place wasn't empty after all.

[00:09:16] Part 2 of this story is coming up right after this. Thank you and stay with me. The jug was full and I was on my way back after spending a little too long by the well,

[00:09:40] really just a cranking mechanism to get the water out of a hole in the ground. The children that were at the playground must have left when I was washing my face, probably as I was watching how fast the water disappeared when it hit the ground.

[00:09:54] I opened up the back door and took out a bag of pork rinds I forgot had gotten earlier, and I sat there with the door open, closing my eyes for just a little while. The sun became a darker golden color.

[00:10:08] It was about to set and I was thinking about what that man from earlier had said, to leave before sunset. That's when I heard footsteps from behind the car, rushed ones, and then a loud, hey, angry again.

[00:10:23] I jolted out of my seat and stood right in front of that man, ready to argue if I needed to. Nobody was going to tell me what to do on what appeared to be a public lot with no other cars around. Gotta get out of here, now!

[00:10:39] I sensed a little bit of worry instead of anger this time. Why? What's wrong? I'll leave in a bit. You got ways to cover up your windows? Stay until sunrise then. Just don't be out on the streets after sunset. I looked over at the sun.

[00:10:57] It was orange and against the horizon now. He looked too and yelled from a distance as he started running back to his house, the one closer to the main road. He was saying to get inside and stay inside until sunrise.

[00:11:10] I could hear him repeating that until he finally turned the corner and was far enough away for his voice to fade. The silence that came over that town was deafening. The ringing in my ear now louder than the wind that was humming just a few seconds before.

[00:11:29] I closed the door to the back seat and moved to the passenger side of the car, going around the front to get one of my mats ready, maybe to take a short nap before heading out.

[00:11:40] When I heard it, the chains of the swings at the playground were moving. I looked over. The stretched out shadows that had once crossed the street were now gone. That's when I heard the distinct sound of children laughing.

[00:11:58] The swings were squeaking now, moving back and forth as darkness started to take over. The temperature dropping so fast to something that only happened in the desert. From what dad used to tell me, unpredictable, he would say. It doesn't forgive anybody.

[00:12:21] At the time my mind was rigiding it out, that maybe these kids belonged to the crazy man from the big house, or that maybe there were other people living in the town. Travelers like me going across the desert and decided it was too hot to let their children

[00:12:35] outside during the day. Maybe a combination of them all. It was an uneasy feeling no matter what, and even though I considered myself pretty self-reliant and not afraid of little children playing on a swing set, I desperately wanted to leave.

[00:12:54] I got inside to finish up setting everything up in the car, but when I shut the door I heard the kids shout and begin to run away. I followed them with my eyes until they disappeared around the corner of the building. They seemed to struggle to run.

[00:13:10] The boys seemed to have abnormally long arms, or maybe they were just the sleeves of a shirt nearly dragging on the ground. My shoulders were tense as I waited to hear any more sounds from that lot, but there was nothing else.

[00:13:26] I put in my earphones and shut my eyes on the passenger seat, setting my alarm for 10 PM as a backup plan. I jolted awake as I watched several shadows run away from the car in all directions, silhouettes grunting as they rushed to get away from the car.

[00:13:46] I could hear them breathing even from afar. I didn't want to be there anymore. The level of discomfort is something that I still cannot explain. These were people that only come out at night, in an abandoned town away from everybody. I didn't want to be there.

[00:14:05] They were watching me. They were around me while I was sleeping. I tried to think back, wondering if any of the sounds had made it into my dreams. How long were they there for? And where was the man from the town who had spoken to me earlier?

[00:14:21] I opened the passenger side door. It was unlocked, typical. I got outside and rushed to the driver's side door, got in and started up the car. Not one more second in this place. It was too quiet. Too dark. I always thought this would be my thing.

[00:14:41] That this is what I wanted. But I told everyone to be away from everything. No internet, no signal. Live off the land. Be by myself. The joke was on me. I turned the car around, nearly hitting one of those parking cement barriers.

[00:14:57] Rushing down the cracked street and through some of the dried up bushes in the middle of what was left of it. I floored it by the dirt road and passed the dark house where I had parked originally.

[00:15:08] I could not see a single set of headlights on the road to show me where it was. But I knew that it wasn't too far. I had to turn left as soon as I saw the asphalt, but as I leaned forward to look to both sides

[00:15:20] ahead of me, I saw the lights from the truck. The same one that was parked at the gas station. Were right behind me. I could spot those from a mile away. My tires screeched as I tried to get away from it.

[00:15:36] Who knows what my stubborn, wannabe independent mind had gotten me into. I felt angry for falling for this trap. For listening to the man who said to stay at that lot. The things that were walking around my car that night.

[00:15:50] I finally spotted the road up ahead and swerved left to get on it. Quickly getting up to speed and the truck followed. It got very close to me and flashed its high beams, nearly blinding me with the rear view mirror.

[00:16:02] I turned it away from me as I stepped on it even more, rushing to get ahead. But the truck sped up with me. I could hear it honking behind me. There was nowhere I could go. Not far from there was Brown's truck stop.

[00:16:17] It would be empty, with no cars around. And it was only three more miles ahead. The truck was getting so close behind the car that at times I only waited for the impact. It was traveling so fast and this was sure to flip me over.

[00:16:32] No one would know I was there. The car wasn't even registered to my name. My license. It would identify me by my license. There was one more mile until the truck stopped.

[00:16:45] And I had no plan, just pull in and hope that the attendant would become a witness for what was about to happen to me. Maybe they would have a phone with signal. The off ramp was just ahead and the truck was once again flashing its high beams and

[00:16:59] honking at me until I turned left. I pulled into the truck stop. I rushed over the gas pumps. I hit the brakes and put it in park. I opened the door as fast as I could and rushed in toward the shop that these places always had.

[00:17:13] The truck wasn't too far from me and I could see the man getting out of it, rushing toward my car. I had my keys. He'd have to force it to start it if he wanted to steal it. Although I once again forgot to lock the doors.

[00:17:29] I watched from the inside as the man walked over to the passenger side of my car and peeked inside. Two small silhouettes were inside of my car. He opened the door and right there, under the bright lights by the gas pumps, I could see them. They weren't kids.

[00:17:51] Their faces were those of older people, missing hair on sides of their heads, clothes so degraded you could see the lumps on their skin. I watched as he tugged at their arms and dragged the taller one into his truck. He carried the other one up there.

[00:18:10] He pushed them into the back seat and shut the doors. Got in and drove off. I was there for a few minutes, trying to process what had just happened. That's when the voice of the girl behind the counter startled me as she asked what I was doing.

[00:18:30] I got chased here, I told her, a complete stranger. I was at this town, not far from here. There were these kids, or what I thought were kids, running around this abandoned town. A man in a truck followed me here. There were other things roaming around at night.

[00:18:46] That was making no sense. She looked at me quietly, letting me finish. Then I looked right at her and apologized. She looked me right in the eye. Just down the road? On the right, you mean? Maybe ten minutes away?

[00:19:06] I simply looked at her, waiting for her to continue. Don't go there. I don't think those are people. Shocked, I looked at her, expecting her to explain further. There's only one guy out there. He comes around here sometimes. He takes care of them.

[00:19:31] I didn't want to ask any more questions. I don't know what they were or what they wanted. Ever since that day, I stopped staying wherever the heck I wanted. I often go back to the words of my dad about the desert. Unpredictable. It doesn't forgive anybody.

[00:20:05] Scary Story Podcast is written and produced by me, Edwin Covarrubias. This story was written through requests and comments about a style that I had at the beginning of the show. Let me know your thoughts and ideas. We're on Instagram at ScaryPod. Love one word, Scary P-O-D.

[00:20:23] But I'll also put my contact information in the description of this episode. Thanks for your support by the way over on ScaryPlus.com and for trying it out to get the ad free episodes. Up next, check out another one of my favorite stories on here.

[00:20:36] It's called Maps and it follows a similar style. I'll link to it for you in the description of the episode. Anyway, thank you very much for listening. Keep it scary everyone. See you soon.