The Saw is Family

Sweat

Sweat.

That is what hot Texas summers consisted of. Sweat, heat, and rot. Sweat on your face, dripping down your back, and soaking through your shirt. Sweat, heat, barren landscape, rotting road kill. Road-tripping across Texas in summer was unpleasant, to say the least.
What made it more unpleasant was the annoying company stuffed inside this tiny little car along with you.

Summer break had begun for your university and it was time to head home. Unfortunately, home was 8 hours away and the road there led through the most boring, barren landscape you could imagine. Dry, crumpling hills made of rocks and dust littered the scenery on either side of you. And honestly, you would have preferred to be out there in the hot sun than the sweltering, stuffy car that had become a cage for you. You had needed a ride back to your hometown, and with no money, no car, and your family too busy with work and other things to come get you; your only option was Lana.

See, Lana didn't have a car either, but she did have a boyfriend, Sam. And Sam had a car. Turns out, both you and Lana were from the same town, and if it weren't for that little piece of trivia, you wouldn't have been caught dead in this car with the two of them.

To say that you weren't friends with them would be an understatement. Sam was famous around your university, but not for the best reasons. Known to lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead, he was also known for sneaking into the university's library to fuck his current hot date of the week on the second floor. During finals. In the middle of the day. He wasn't very likable. Sam had also apparently never grown out of his high school bully persona because he continued his harassment and bullying far into his academic career. He took pleasure in it.

His current paramour just happened to be Lana. And you knew if summer break had started just a week earlier or later, you wouldn't have had this ride to begin with.

And Lana? Well, she was something else. Known to acerbic, arrogant,
and also just plain unhelpful during group projects, she had once forced her former roommate to move out because she wanted the whole room to herself. She drove the other girl partly insane over the course of weeks by cutting out her hair while she was asleep and then telling her that the stress of school was killing her. So yeah, it was fair to say that she wasn't well liked. The only reason you knew this was because you were acquaintances with the poor girl she had roomed with, and she was just too tired with dealing with it to report her suspicions to the bureaucratic student affairs board.

It was definitely not the place you had preferred to be in. But Lana had a ride and you both knew that you were from the same place. And now you were here. Your sweat had soaked through the entire front of your shirt. To be honest, you weren't particularly excited to go back home, but you had nowhere else to go.

Sam was driving, Lana in the passenger seat, and you in the back, stuffed with all the luggage. It was cramped and uncomfortable, and you weren't even through the first three hours of driving.

"Ahhh shit," Sam muttered. Oh no.

"What is it?" Lana asked.

"We're almost out of gas," He sighed and lifted one of his hands off the wheel and ran it through his hair.

"I thought you said you filled it before we left?"

"Yeah I did! I did...say that." He was silent for a moment but turned to Lana, not caring about the empty road ahead. "Awww come on it's alright. I'm sure there's a gas station somewhere close by. There has to be!"

Lana pouted in her seat. Sam reached over and grabbed her chin, while making cooing sounds. "Awww are you mad at me?" His voice was thick with patronization and it made you sick.