Jonas threw his and Clara’s luggage into the back of their car, his phone pressed to his ear. His hand brushed against the small pocket in his duffel bag. Inside it, an engagement ring he had saved up tirelessly for.

The voice on the other line asked, “Are you sure about this?”

Jonas gazed at Clara saying, “I’ve never been surer about anything.”

He set up navigation on his phone, then eased around tight traffic. A detour Jonas opted for put them on streets they didn’t recognize.

The backroads opened the burning horizon as they left the city behind. Their navigation glitched as they passed a sign— The Red Mile. Clara didn’t notice. She was too busy texting her mom. Then, they passed the sign again.

“What’s the matter?” Clara asked.

Jonas pulled off to the side of the road before answering. The navigation on his phone didn’t show his location.

“Babe, I swear we passed this sign before,” Jonas said as he restarted his phone.

Jonas looked back at the sign and noticed something…

“Didn’t you bring your laptop?” he asked.

“Yeah. Why?” she said in disbelief.

Clara turned. Her laptop which she was certain she had brought was gone. Even the lipstick she had put in the cupholder moments earlier had somehow vanished.

Jonas turned the car around, going back where they came from, and leaving the sign in the dust. While Jonas was trying to peer through the harsh desert heatwaves, Clara gasped.

“What’s wrong?” he remarked.

She showed her phone to him.

“Mom’s message disappeared while I was reading it. Look, they’re all gone!” she gasped.

As Jonas scrolled her texts, something ahead got their attention.

“It can’t be…” Clara whispered.

The Red Mile sign was in front of them.

“What the fuck is going on!?” Jonas yelled as he slammed the brakes.

Both got out of the car only to see endless desert without a single soul around. Instead, the Red Mile sign almost felt like it was staring back at them, like it was beginning to show its teeth. Jonas felt the urge to check his bag for the engagement ring. It was empty.

“Let’s go!” Clara yelled out though her words seemed to be swallowed by something unseen.

Each mile demanded something new.

Each pass took something personal.

Each mile stretched longer than it should’ve.

The car coasted to a stop. Clara got out to look at the Red Mile sign again but when she looked back, Jonas was gone.

When she screamed at the sign, she saw something scratched deeply in the rust: The Last Exit.

Then, she looked back to see that the car was gone.

The Red Mile always ends the same way.

The beginning and the end will always be one.

Within the bustling traffic of the big city, another couple sat gridlocked.

“Hurry, so we can make this exit… It’s the last one,” Jamie stated with urgency.

“No problem. We got this!” said Calum.