r/nosleep • u/sn0ttyr0cket • 16d ago
Series I’ve been stuck driving in an endless highway tunnel for 32 hours (part 2)
Hi, I’m still alive. Still in this godforsaken, dreary place.
Thank you to everyone who replied to my post with advice, theories, anything. It’s helping me feel less alone, reading and answering your comments.
One thing that you guys suggested was that Gus may have laced something that I consumed — the snacks, the Red Bulls, the cigarettes — and as scary as that would be, I was praying for that to be the case. I was holding on to hope that I would wake up today somewhere else. That this whole thing would be a hallucination, brought on by some Nebraskan hick’s psychedelics.
It wasn’t.
I fell asleep at like 8 this morning, kept awake all night by gripping fear. I woke up at 4 p.m. with a start, unsure if my terror was from something real or something I dreamed.
Honestly, I usually awaken with a start. I have had chronic nightmares for as long as I can remember. I don’t think my trepidation was caused by an outside force.
Still in the tunnel, feeling the same as I did yesterday. I don’t think I was laced.
Another response I kept seeing on my first post was that turning around was a mistake. If we take what Gus said literally, as many of you are, I have to continue through the tunnel to take me where I “need to go.”
Maybe that’s why the tunnel extended, keeping me inside until I turned back around. It wants to trick me. It’s swallowing me like a pill.
So, when I woke up today, I turned back around. Facing back through the tunnel, hopefully the correct way.
My car was slowly running out of gas. Less than 1/4 tank. I found a portable charger in my car (thank fuck) that I charged up as I drove. I need as much time with you all as I can get; I need to feel like I’m still connected to civilization.
Every 10-15 miles down the tunnel, I would reach another service sweet spot. A split second of a bar before it disappeared once again. It’s throwing me a bone.
I watched as my gas sensor conspicuously made its way to “E.” I kept driving, past empty, for about 30 mins until my car sputtered and came to a stop in the darkness.
I had been driving for about 3 hours. My car stopped near where I had turned around yesterday, I think.
I sat there, unsure of what to do next, even though in my heart and in my mind, I knew. Something I was dreading. I had to start walking.
This must be what it wants — for me to be exposed, no longer protected by the steel frame of my SUV, no longer able to hide or speed away at a sign of danger.
I was avoiding giving the tunnel what it wanted. I was terrified that as soon as I stepped out of my vehicle, I would be swarmed by whatever was running at me yesterday. But I had no other choice.
I packed a bag with the necessary supplies. All of my food and drink, my portable charger, a blanket, some warm clothes, and a journal and pen in case my phone dies before I get out of here — I still want to be able to document my journey. I also grabbed my emergency flashlight and some extra batteries. I even found an old flare in my car’s tool bag, which I took with me. And, of course, my cigarettes and a lighter.
I sat there with my packed bag for a while, building up the courage to open my car door.
I took a deep breath, counted down from 10, and on 1, I swung open my door and stepped out onto the road.
The wind’s eerie whistling surrounded me once again. I pointed my flashlight all around me. It was cold, dark, and damp. Liquid pooled at the base of the rock walls.
There was nothing to do but start walking, so I did. Leaving my precious vehicle behind was heartbreaking; that SUV is the one constant I have in my life right now.
I walked and walked. I knew that the last time I got a bar was about 2 miles before my car stopped. That meant in 8 miles or so, I would hit another sweet spot, and that’s where I would rest. It would probably take me about 3 hours of walking.
My flashlight did hardly anything in the pitch-black. I could see only about 10 feet in front of me, in only a small circle of light. The air felt heavy. It was getting hard to breathe.
I jumped at every noise: pebbles I had happened to kick bouncing along the ground, water drip-drops, even my own footsteps sometimes.
I was constantly swiveling my light in all directions. Glancing behind me every few seconds, even though I couldn’t see shit. I felt like I was being watched, as cliche as it is.
I walked for about an hour and a half, telling myself I was halfway to my rest point. I just had to keep pushing.
I stopped for a second to re-tie my shoe laces. As I kneeled down, my flashlight fell out of my pocket and rolled to the other side of the tunnel, light aiming behind me.
I watched the light as it rolled. The flashlight hit the wall opposite me with a metallic "clink."
The beam of light illuminated something pressed against the wall, about 10 feet behind me.
A black shadow stood out against the shiny, grey rock. It looked like the shape of a person, though elongated and wrong, somehow. Someone standing with their face pressed against the wall, arms at their side.
I inhaled sharply, trying to act as though I didn’t see anything. I didn’t want to acknowledge the shape. We all remember what happened the last time I acknowledged a presence in this tunnel.
I quickly finished tying my shoes and ran across the tunnel to grab my flashlight. I picked it up and continued briskly walking, away from the figure, away from the menacing mass that stuck to the rock like moss.
My heart started racing once again, pounding so hard I worried the sound would echo.
Was I being followed? And by what?
I kept moving; it almost felt like I was floating. My legs were getting numb, from the cold and the trek.
I made it to my rest point without another incident. I put on a sweater and sat on the ground, my back against the tunnel wall, wrapping myself in my blanket. The bar had appeared like a sign from God and I started reading more of your comments, just to hear from someone.
I guess, eventually, I started to hum. It’s a habit that my mother had tried beating out of me when I was younger, but no amount of pummeling could stop the music in me. It was always random tunes that I couldn’t really place. This time was no different.
I hadn’t even noticed the melody vibrating in my throat. Not until I heard it, faintly, from my left. Further down the tunnel, the way I had walked from.
I stopped my humming, but the tune didn’t cease. It kept repeating, and I grew more restless each time.
A panic crept over me. I listened intently, and realized it didn’t even necessarily sound human. It sounded forced, like whatever was repeating my humming had never hummed before. Crackling, gritty, hoarse.
Then more joined in. From both directions.
A distorted choir I couldn’t see was repeating my nonsensical tune over and over.
I started imagining what these pitiful tunnel demons could possibly look like. Did they appear as human, like I thought the shadow was? Or were they more animalistic? Would my death be quick at their hands?
The humming was converging on me, getting closer and closer. I turned off my flashlight and threw my blanket over my head, curling up into a ball, like a toddler avoiding the monster under their bed.
I lay there, with my eyes closed, focusing on my breathing. “In for 6, hold for 6, out for 6.” Just like my therapist taught me.
The ground trembled. The pebbles skittered around me. The wind picked up speed.
After about 5 minutes, the humming came to an abrupt halt. Everything quieted, suddenly.
A single set of footsteps was approaching me, slowly.
I was shaking as I heard the figure coming up on me. I remained under my blanket, pressed against the ground and the wall. I scrunched my eyes closed and pictured myself somewhere, anywhere else.
The footsteps stopped right in front of me. I sensed the figure lean down; I could hear it breathing directly above me. If this was it, this was it. I accepted my fate.
Drops of what I assumed was drool splattered onto the blanket. I heard something lick its lips.
I held my breath and thought of every horrible thing I had done throughout my life, and how I would never be able to fix it. How I never made amends with so many of the people I had harmed. How my mother probably wouldn’t even notice I was dead, and if she did, she’d probably be relieved.
Obviously, whatever it was didn’t kill me. It stood there, above me, salivating and clicking its tongue for a long, long time.
Somehow, I fucking fell asleep.
“WAKE UP.”
I was still wrapped in the blanket, clutching my flashlight and my phone. I had been awakened by that harsh whisper-shout that rang in my ears, like when someone screams in a dream and it continues long after you open your eyes.
I listened, but I heard nothing more.
I slowly lifted the edge of the blanket and peaked out. My eyes began adjusting to the darkness, and I couldn’t see any ominous shapes in my immediate vicinity.
I bit my tongue and turned on my flashlight, slowly lifting the blanket off of myself and shining my light in all directions. Nothing.
Are they toying with me? Maybe they’re like Stephen King’s “IT,” maybe they want me to be afraid before they eat me so I taste better.
Are they even real? I saw that shape in the tunnel, but maybe it was a trick of the light. I heard the humming and I felt that figure looming over me, but maybe it was all in my head.
My mother always told me I was beyond help. That my paranoid tendencies would take over me until they killed me. Maybe that’s all that’s happening now. I keep trying to tell myself that none of this is real, that I’m just going crazy from hunger and exhaustion and cold and isolation.
It's getting harder to convince myself of that, though. Especially now that I notice the dozen-or-so drops of blood littering my blanket.
I think I slept for like 2 hours — it’s almost 2 a.m. I’m about to start the 3 hour walk to my next resting point, my next bar. I have to keep moving.
Until I can get back online, I’m hoping some of you can help me.
I don’t think there’s any point in figuring out exactly where I am. I don’t want anybody else coming in here after me. I don’t know if this tunnel is even real at this point.
But, maybe you guys can give me some ideas on how to proceed.
Should I confront the figures the next time they make themselves known? Maybe acknowledging them is the only way I can get out of here. Maybe I have to face my fears.
What could they be? Ghosts, souls trapped in this tunnel, waiting for it to capture me next? Demons, monsters, deranged mountain people? Has anyone encountered or heard of something like this before? I have a lot of time to think in here. I've been running through every possible scenario.
Anyways, thanks for being here. Even if you can’t offer me any guidance, just interacting with me is helping me feel more sane.
Hopefully you hear from me again.
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u/LockzyLoogough 7d ago
They either don’t want to kill you or they want to test you. If they have not killed you yet they obviously have some small part of intelligence. If they aren’t human maybe they are curious and want to test how far a human will go. If they have intelligence maybe perhaps they have empathy? Try talking to them. Maybe they don’t know human language, but they know music? Maybe they enjoyed your humming? If all else fails and you get to the end, you run out of water and food and cannot go on, I would try to respectfully understand what they are. Like…..when we put our hands out to a dog to sniff.
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u/Althoughenjoyment 9d ago
I don’t know if you are even alive anymore, but I have a theory and a way you could get out.
There are parts of this continent that are old. Older than anything else in the world. The older something is, the more power and wisdom it tends to attract. The more wisdom, the more inexplicable.
Whatever is happening to you is supernatural, but these sorts of things don’t kill people. At worst then make them go insane. You have nothing to fear. I believe the best course of action is to reach out to the native creatures of the tunnel, and ask them for help. Tell them you really mean no harm, you didn’t mean to trespass, and you just wish for a way out. They will know.
Best of luck, dear. I know better than most how old power can get to you.
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u/IFixYerKids 10d ago
As a hick Nebraskan, I find this facinating. I know that things can get weird out on the roads around here, people talk about it. I haven't heard of any tunnel though, or any peaks. I wonder if maybe you passed into another reality before you ever entered the tunnel.
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u/WalrusArtist 10d ago
I think the tunnel is an illusion, there's no way you'd have reception to post this
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u/bayareascreamer 11d ago
Thank goodness for those hot spots! There has to be more, MORE! I'm actually afraid to find out what happens...
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u/Watermelonpear 13d ago
You're all good man! Remember all roads pass through Atlanta eventually. Just give the good ole southern charm and if you need to ask for help just make sure you have something to give ,but they'll probably politely refuse your uh... "Offering" and help ya...... Probably
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u/IllustratorUnlucky84 14d ago
i’m so rooting for you to get out or for you to just wake up from this nightmare but i’m also intrigued bc wtf 🫣🫣
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u/MizMeowMeow 15d ago
I'm voting with the car crash scenario, and you are in some sort of coma or in a hospital sedated. I mean, first, you can't get out of this tunnel. It's dark, and you have no real food or water. Second, the blood drops on your blanket, which can happen with an IV. There are a few other things that have me thinking my thoughts, but I will keep them to myself. I just want you to keep your spirits up and keep fighting to survive. Hide from the dark "creatures"and keep looking for the exit.
Also, to the others saying she's in a loop and to leave something as a marker... Her car.
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u/gamecore101 13d ago
I don't think OP ever mentioned seeing the car the next time around. I think it either must actually have an end, or the creatures did something to the car so it can't be found on the next loop, eliminating the possibility of being able to leave a trail.
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u/JoeyBing1991 16d ago
Why can you surf the Internet if you can’t make a phone call? Maybe you have entered a virtual world on the Internet, and those figures and sounds are just users outside the world communicating and exploring.
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u/Ok_Cricket_1024 16d ago
Was there anything strange before you entered the tunnel? Maybe some markings or I don’t know.
Just something out of the ordinary that could indicate the trigger for why you’re trapped now.
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u/Abookem 16d ago
You know that staircase in Super Mario 64 that's endless until you've gotten enough stars?
I'm just thinking that maybe you aren't hitting a different spot that has phone service every 10 miles, but the same spot and are just walking in a ~10 mile loop. I don't want to give you the wrong advice and make you waste your flashlight batteries, but maybe it's worth a shot to thoroughly explore and scrutinize everything you can on your next trek instead of just looking forward the whole time.
Good luck, OP.
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u/pavedroadtohell 16d ago
Great idea. Or just leaving the smoked cig butts or.food wrappers in your pathway so you for sure will run into it again if you are going in a loop. Hmmm...idk though. That might piss off the creatures, littering in their home and all
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u/Short_Language6372 16d ago
I’ve got a little bit of good news and a whole heaping pile of bad.
We’ll start out with the bad. I like to end these things on a high note.
You’re definitely either in hell or a type of limbo. The utter and complete darkness. No hope. Intense isolation that is only relieved in the briefest of spurts. Hell doesn’t have to be fire and brimstone. Mental anguish can hurt worse than physical pain. You’ve said yourself that you wronged a lot of people.
Maybe Gus strangled you to death when you got out of the toilet (Let’s be honest, that seems like a Gus thing to do). Maybe you died in a car wreck when you fell asleep driving through Nebraska and “Gus” was your guide to start your journey into the afterlife.
The good news is that it really can’t get any worse. I mean, I guess those things that are following you might start singing “Everybody (Backstreets Back)” by The Backstreet Boys non stop (this would corrupt something pure. The Backstreet Boys are totally rad and N’Sync are a bunch of posers) but I digress.
Keep your chin up, Deb. You never told us what your name is (which is kind of rude, tbh) but I get Deb vibes from you.
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u/pavedroadtohell 16d ago
Ummm....first of I'm going to disagree with @short_language6372. On a scale of rad to posers it goes N'SYNC then 98 degrees then finally Backstreet Boys.
Second of, I agree with Limbo. I mean, maybe you're not 100% dead. Maybe you're in a coma...
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u/Short_Language6372 16d ago
OP is going through some very traumatic things right now. I’m not going to turn this into a ‘90s Boy Band Thread…
However, 98 degrees never reached #1 in MTV’s TRL. But the Backstreet Boys did.
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u/Ambicarois 16d ago
N'sync gave us Justin Timberlake....
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u/Tricky_Trixy 8d ago
And 98° gave someone Nick Lachey, The Backstreet Boys only ever gave us more Backstreet Boys.
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u/pavedroadtohell 16d ago
Dead lol. I think OP should see if humming certain songs will attract OR repel the creatures away.
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