Her Loss

Even as a grown adult, almost twenty years later, Veronica vividly remembered that fateful day.

…

She waved off her parents, somewhat reluctantly, as they left to visit their friend, and Mr. and Mrs. Gilen waved back out of the rear window.

Mr. Gilen's plan had worked perfectly; the reporters had all been drawn away by the decoy in their town car, so they'd gone unnoticed in the small hatchback.

The Gilen couple had been slightly nervous about their driver's state at first and had come close to just driving themselves. However, the driver had assured them that he was fine and insisted on driving. The couple had relented, and thus, they were both sitting in the back of the car.

Their friend lived approximately an hour away. They would have visited them on the way home had it not been so out of the way for them.

Unfortunately, things never seem to go quite to plan. Mr. Gilen's distraction had indeed sent the reporters the wrong way, but reporters are like cockroaches; they just don't seem to die. When they realized that the town car was a decoy, the reports, in their fury, resolved to find that couple if it was the last thing they did.

They immediately began investigating where they really were. After confirming that the Gilen couple wasn't in the hotel, they began canvassing the area for anyone who'd seen them leave. Soon, they had a description of the hatchback and a rough direction they were heading in.

The reporters stormed off down the road like a tidal wave of sewerage, intent on catching up to them. They'd paired up on motorbikes, one driving and one with the camera, in order to catch up quicker. That day, numerous speed limits and road laws were broken, but to the reports, it was worth it; they'd caught up with the Gilens' rented hatchback.

"Mr. Gilen, why wouldn't you respond to our questions yesterday?"

"Where are you two absconding to? And why did you feel the need to run away so slyly?"

"Mrs. Gilen, how does it feel to have a husband who runs away instead of standing up for you?"

The car hurtled down the highway, surrounded by reporters on motorbikes, as the reporters shouted vile, loaded questions over the wind.

Naturally, Mr. and Mrs. Gilen had thick enough skin to be able to ignore the questions; they weren't at all phased by them.

However, the hounding of the reporters and the close proximity of the bikes was putting pressure on the driver. His hangover and pain medication didn't help with his concentration either. Globules of sweat continuously appeared on his forehead and dribbled down his face.

Eventually, he slipped up. He underestimated the sharpness of a bend, and the car collided into a motorbike. The horrific sound of metal crushing metal which people screamed in agony pervaded everyone's minds.

Normally, in such a collision, the people in the car would be the safest. However, once the car and the first motorbike crashed, others followed. The chain reaction ended in a twisted heap of glowing metal with the odd smoldering human limb sticking out.

No one survived the incident.