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An endless black hell, that is where I must be. The path before me forged of obsidian tar, shrouded by a night that knows no end. Ahead lies nothingness, but behind me is more of the same. There is no escape, no logic, I have long accepted that now. It seems to be the only fact that can be found in this void, as the rest is just asphalt and darkness. Yet, I drive on, because that is really all I can do. It is either that or just give up. Pull my car off to the side of the road (wouldn't want to obstruct this path of damnation), kill the engine and just wait for the end. Just sit in this cramped metal prison until I rot, but would that even happen? I am driving in a car that has no gas, in a world of ceaseless roads and fields, where the sun cannot be found despite days passing. Would I actually starve to death? Or die of thirst? It feels like I obviously would, but when my mind drifts to thoughts of food and drink, I don't find myself wanting. How can I not be hungry? How am I not parched from doing nothing but mindlessly driving for hours? Perhaps time doesn't exist here, just like all other rules of reality. It is almost silly for me to realize this now. Of course time is broken, of course this is just some frozen limbo that has no end. What good would all this torment be if I simply perished from thirst? No, I must remain alive, remain driving this lonely road. It is my punishment, though I don't know why. What did I do to deserve this? What horrible sin did I commit? What god did I offend to be condemned to this timeless prison? I cannot say. Perhaps it isn't even meant to be torture, maybe I just turned down the wrong road. Honestly, I don't know which option is worse...

I have yet to accept the idea of giving up, of bringing my futile quest to a halt, so I just keep driving on. Maybe determination is the answer to this hell, that persevering will eventually bring me to a conclusion. Follow this road for weeks, months, or maybe years and then the angels will come down and congratulate me for passing this insane test. But that is unlikely to happen. There is nothing to be gained from mindlessly cruising down this empty road, just more asphalt and darkness. As if in a trance, I just let cruise control do its thing and I let the car take me down this path to damnation. How long will my noble steed last? Though gas doesn't seem to exist around here, can I pop a tire? Can the engine die? Perhaps that is what will finally kill me. When I twist the key and send this metal beast into slumber, its glowing eyes fading away in the night. When the light and the purr of the engine finally die, then I too shall perish. The darkness and tar that surrounds me will surge inward at last and devour me, and I will be just like those rotten tar globs that scatter the path. Maybe I should try it, just to see. It sounds like it would be a relief at this point, to finally end it all. Surely a swift and deadly conclusion would be better than toiling away for eternity in this void of a countryside. It does sound tempting, but I cannot fool myself. Despite my wishes for the end, my hand still pauses and shakes when it reaches for the key. I still hesitate and wonder if this will truly be the end. Call me a fool, call me a coward, but I cannot bring myself to shut this vehicle off and let the night take hold.....yet.

The road widened again adding more lanes to this monotonous trek. It just seems to do that the deeper I dive. Will there be a time when the grass and dirt vanish too? When these maddening roads run into one another and make a world of pure tar and paint? Perhaps. I cannot say for certain that it won't happen, as there are truly no absolutes here. Except for the one where I will absolutely never make it back to the real world. I will never see another building, human being or even a road sign ever again. So I guess there are no good absolutes here. If it is bad, then yeah, free game. Just keep driving and see what unfolds.

For the first time in what feels like weeks, I see a structure ahead of me. It looms in the darkness, my headlights finally hitting something besides empty road and twisted metal monstrosities. The flash of pale gray cement woke me from my mindless driving, startling me so that I instinctively hit the brakes. My steed slowed to a crawl, and I could take the second I needed to truly understand what I was looking at. Cement pillars rising upwards into the night sky, arranged in lines and sloping patterns. An overpass. A bridge crossing over my dark path, where it is coming and going I couldn't say. For a moment I had a bit of hope. A new road, a new path. Somewhere else to go, or at least a radical change in scenery. But could I abandon the road I have been stuck on for so long? Would changing directions help my situation, or even change it in the slightest? No one could know, but it wound up not mattering. The second I drove further towards these cement pillars I realized that there was no new road to worry about. There was an overpass, or at least parts of a couple. What stood atop these structures were garbled chunks of bridge and rebar, arranged by a messy toddler with too many toys. There was no coherent bridge to be found, and I uselessly noted that there wasn't even an on ramp. Someone chopped a dozen overpasses into pieces and then scattered and stacked them with reckless abandon. The craziest intersections or tangled web of ramps found in the real world paled in comparison to this awesome architectural mess. Some bridge pieces ran into the sides of others, colliding with the cement barriers usually meant to keep cars from plummeting to their doom. Some chunks stood alone, looking like a lost chess piece left standing on an empty board. Some bridges were actually long enough to serve as one, if they hadn't looped onto themselves to create an infinite spiral. Others were stacked atop each other so high that I couldn't see where they ended. My headlights couldn't illuminate enough of them, and even craning my neck upwards didn't let me see the top of this mangled toy set. But my searching upwards did allow me to spot another new thing amongst the drab chaos. This twisted nest of road parts didn't stand empty, as an occupant was found atop it all.

It was perched atop a random piece of scattered bridge, looking down upon me like a vulture eyeing a sizzling piece of roadkill. Its great metal limbs arched in such a way, that it made it looked hunched over. Thick sheets of tar dripped from its cobbled together frame, as if it sought to cloak itself in this noxious material. What had caught my eye was the blinking of orange lights, a steady rhythmic pulsing as if it was tied to a heart. A shiny black slab served as some kind of face, and strange arrangements of these orange blinkers gave the sense of crude eyes. Its hunched body held itself with iron claws, digging into the cement as if it was made of chewing gum. The way its whole form leaned over the edge, its strange face pointed downwards, gave me the sense of a judge staring down at a defendant from their towering bench. Though it had no real eyes or facial features, my body knew it was staring at me. The way my hair stood on end and with how my heart pounded in my chest, I knew. Once again, I was being acknowledged by a denizen of these endless realm, with no idea if it would finally take action against my presence. Would it pounce from its perch and drop onto my vehicle like an metal owl seeking to tear me to pieces? Would its pulsing face change into a signal for others, calling forth its brethren with the promise of flesh and steel to devour? No, that didn't happen. Like the times before, it only stared. Unlike the other two, it didn't carry on with its task, if it even had one. Perhaps this thing's only job was to stand guard, and watch all who came down this doomed road. I stared at it for hours, and it did the same for me. But at last, the shock of the encounter wore off and I decided to continue on. I slowly rolled under the tangled nest of bridges, keeping the speedometer just barely above the ten, as if speeding would anger this dripping sentinel. It did watch me as I passed under its home, but eventually its glowing face turned away and found something more interesting to stare at. The bridges and their guardian vanished into the darkness behind me, and I was once again left with the lonely open road. Just like before, I picked up speed and just kept rolling on...

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Been a while with these fellas!