It was near midnight and the rain was pouring down in a torrent of large drops which hit the roof my old Jeep with unrelenting force. The wiper blades could barely keep up with the onslaught of rain as I pushed the old girl a little harder to try and make it home as quickly as I could. Now my old ride had a lot of creaks, squeaks, moans and groans, the kind my wife would have been paralyzed by if she had to drive the thing--yet here I was stuck with it.

All that separated me from eight hours of well-earned sleep was this abysmal stretch of bleak pavement which seemed to always get longer for every year I grew older. The cascade of rain continued to beat at the metal roof of my Jeep, sounding like a machine gun during an intense battle. Just as the wind picked up and started blowing the rain at me sideways, I heard the dreaded sound of a flat tire.

Thump, thump, thump.

I stopped the Jeep and cursed under my breath. Climbing out of the vehicle, I grabbed up my small folding umbrella and opened it--for the scant protection it might afford me--but the wind instantly blew it inside out. I tossed the useless umbrella away as stinging cold rain pelted my neck, and I was instantly drenched.

Strangely enough there was no flat tire. I checked underneath the Jeep to see if I had perhaps hit some animal, but there was no evidence of that either. While I could have sworn I heard something shuffling about underneath the vehicle, I convinced myself it was just the wind or perhaps even caused by my imagination after a long and dreary drive.

I decided to carry on, so got into my Jeep soaking wet, and started out once more along the darkened highway. Another long and silent mile passed in the downpour, and then the same sound I heard before returned, except this time it started at the rear of the vehicle and moved up under the hood, but the clatter was identical to the one before.

Thump, thump, thump.

Worry started creeping its way into my mind, as I thought, “Now what?”

I pulled over, but the thumping didn’t cease once I stopped the car--it kept going. I turned the engine off, and the strange thumping still continued.

Now this old Jeep had been all across hell’s half acre and I’d never heard her make a single sound which was this disturbing. Of course the rain was still coming down, and there was no light source nearby, so I reached into the glove box to see if I could find a small flashlight.

Finding a light, I climbed out into the pouring rain and squelched my way around to the hood, but for some reason I had trouble when I went to open it. I pulled on the release cord, but nothing happened. I yanked one more time and the handle came right off in my hand, and as I examined it I found the cord had been chewed completely through. Just then the hood popped open on its own and the weird thumping changed to a sound that sent chills down my spine.