So I just needed to drive and think
So I was driving and driving, and thinking and thinking, until I realized I had been driving on a windy road in the woods, seeing only spread out driveways, without turns or stores, for a very long time. I looked at my fuel gauge, I saw only 35 miles left on it, and I thought, "I can't be more than 30 miles from when I last saw a gas station... I've only turned around once."
I checked my phone: no reception, and only 10% battery left, with the charger working only intermittently.
There was a dirty, older, red SUV tailgating me, driven by a bearded, country man with a red baseball hat, matching the car color. He was driving somewhat erratically, seemingly annoyed with my speed, and I was becoming increasingly scared, especially as I couldn't find a good place to slow down and pull over. I finally pulled over into the only shoulder I saw in several miles of road to let him by; as he zoomed by I thought I caught an irritated look and a raised fist.
I decided to turn around once more, and climbed back through the endless turns. Repeatedly, neurotically checking my maps app only showed the insignificant, sad little blue dot that I was on it, without signs of any surrounding civilization or terrain.
After holding on to my steering wheel as if to my life and pushing through a densely wooded stretch, catching occasional glimpses of people with empty, glazed looks and dirty hands, working on their cars or dragging bundles of wood, I pulled out my phone once more and finally saw some green around the blue dot: a sign of life, in the middle of this nothingness. A few turns later, even more hope: the names of towns I vaguely recognized. I picked the most recognizable one and attempted to head towards it, though it was difficult to tell if I was following a real path, or if the app was only showing buggy movements from low, intermittent reception.
I finally arrived at a gas station, and it had the air of an oasis in the middle of a desert. There was a car at every pump, and people with various piercings and who were surprisingly tired-looking, considering how young they were, were filling them with angry looks. Feeling somewhat out of place, I stayed in my car for a while, breathing in and out, trying to calm myself down, and as I got out to fill my car, though I was relieved, I thought I could feel the admonishing looks of the people around me latched onto my back and my neck like clamps.
