Route 7

Route 7
Route 7 is a horror book set in the summer of 2017 within the Florida countryside. It consists of twelve chapters which are available to read on Wattpad. It is the adaptation of a screenplay written by Jack.

Synopsis
Brothers Mike and Danny are heading back home after a summer long road trip and to save time, they decide to go down Route 7, a deserted highway in the quiet countryside. But when night falls, they quickly realise they've made a grave mistake. They were warned not go down the Devil's road.

Story
In summer of 2017, brothers Mike and Danny are busy driving back home through the Florida countryside after having spent the summer on a road trip. They're laughing and joking on as Danny drives down the highway, with Mike telling his older brother that his jokes would get him in serious trouble. Danny states everyone loves his jokes to which Mike tells Danny that even their father would like it. This annoys Danny, as Danny and their Dad are not on speaking terms and so he tells Mike not to bring him up. But Mike persists, telling Danny that they have to face the issue at some time but Danny refuses. They end up becoming stuck in traffic. Mike goes onto his phone and finds an alternate way for them to go, but it's longer than the normal highway. He suggests it to Danny and Danny agrees and so they turn back and drive towards Route 7.

As they drive down Route 7, Danny realises that the car is low on fuel. He tells Mike to search up if there's any gas stations, but Mike finds that he has no service. Luckily, he spots a gas station down the road and so Danny pulls into it. Mike goes inside to get food and pay for the gas when he is stopped by an old man who asks him what he's doing on Route 7. Mike is rattled by the old man as he tells him that they shouldn't be going down the Devil's road. Mike is left uneasy and a little freaked out. After he pays he rushes back to Danny, who asks him what's up but Mike plays it off, wanting to get away from the area. Danny starts the car and they continue driving down the road.

Danny's car is speeding along Route 7 as both of them eat at the snacks they got when Mike tells Danny that they have to talk about their father. Danny tells Mike to leave it, but Mike persists once again. Danny slams down on the break, causing the car to screech to a stop. Before Mike can shout at Danny, Danny begins to shout at Mike, telling him that he doesn't understand how it felt to have their father cancel his scholarship just so Danny had to stay behind and watch over his kid brother while their Dad got drunk everyday, which lead to him being aggressive and violent. Mike tries to tell Danny that he's trying to make things right, but Danny rejects this, stating that he thought Mike would understand why he hates their Dad so much and why he never wants to see him again. Mike apologises and Danny says it's OK and so he starts the car and they drive off again.

A few minutes later, as Mike is listening to the soft music on the radio, he hears Danny laughing. Asking what is funny, Danny brings up the time when he found cringy messages on Mike's phone to a girl Mike used to have a crush on. Mike tries to play it off as him being young but that doesn't stop Danny's taunting and teasing. Danny then asks if he still likes her, to which Mike says only as a friend. Danny continues to ask if he has a crush on anyone else, but Mike doesn't tell him so Danny thinks it could be a boy this time. To get Mike to open up, Danny jokingly brags about his sex life, grossing Mike out as they share a laugh together. As they're driving, Danny see's a scarecrow and so he pulls the car over, much to Mike's confusion. Danny states he wants a picture with the scarecrow and Mike follows him out of the car, not wanting to stick around Route 7. Danny ventures off into the field, noticing that there isn't any houses or farms nearby and is confused as to why the scarecrow is there. He see's the scarecrow is a lot creepier up close and that it seems decades old. He gets the picture with it when he's suddenly scared by some birds, causing Mike to laugh. He returns back to his younger brother and shows him the picture, freaking out Mike a little bit more. They then continue along the road, just as the sun begins setting.

Sometime later, the sun has almost went down and there still isn't any sign of nearby town or a way off Route 7. Just as Danny starts complaining, one of the tires blows out, causing them to screech to a halt. They race out of the car and Danny sees what's happened. Mike finds a piece of glass with red stains on nearby and figures that it caused the tire to rip. He shows Danny, but Danny doesn't care that much as he's too annoyed over the fact he has a ripped tire. Mike feels uneasy as the darkness begins to set in around them. He then notices a car coming along the road and Danny flags them down. In the car is an older couple who tell the brothers that they'll pop into the mechanic garage in the town a few miles away and tell him to come help the boys. The couple drive off, leaving them behind. Danny is more hopeful than Mike.

The sun has completely set and now the brothers are sat on the bonnet of the car, listening to the music playing from the radio when Danny begins to ask Mike if he misses college. Mike answers that he misses some of it, but knows he can't go back which leads to Danny comforting Mike, wanting to be there for him. Mike tells him it's because of his anxiety and that was really getting in the way of him leading a normal college experience. Danny continues to comfort his brother, telling him that things will get better and that he has to remain hopeful. After that, Danny pulls out a blunt, much to Mike's annoyance as he thought Danny had given up weed. Mike tells Danny to stop it or else it'll make things harder for their Dad and him, but Danny shows that he doesn't care all that much. But to stop Mike's complaining, Danny tells him he'll think about stopping. Danny then wonders why the mechanic hasn't reached them yet and Mike suggests that the couple probably didn't visit a mechanic at all. Danny then begins walking down the road. Mike calls after him and Danny says that walking to the town is better than sitting in the middle of open country at night. Mike reluctantly catches him up.

As they walk along Route 7, Danny tries to lighten the mood by telling Mike about the legend of the killer scarecrow. Mike tries to shut Danny up, but it's to no avail. Danny starts of the story, telling his brother that thirty or so years ago, some teenagers went camping in the countryside, but before he can finish the rest of the story, Mike manages to stop him from telling it. Danny then says that this story really happened, but Mike refuses to give into Danny's lies. Danny then goes on to say that in the eighties, some teens went missing in the countryside and were never found again. Mike doesn't see how it links to a scarecrow and Danny admits he made up the scarecrow part. Danny then notices headlights down the road. They move to the side of the road, but after a minutes, Mike realises that the car isn't actually moving at all. Danny thinks they could be parked and begins walking again, wanting to see what's taking them so long. Mike thinks it's a bad idea but follows his brother as he doesn't want to be alone.

When they reach the car, Mike feels like something is off about the area. He keeps hearing rustling around them but can't actually see anything. Danny calls out to the driver, but there is no response. Danny then moves in closer to investigate and becomes frightened at what he see's. Danny says that they have to get back to their own car immediatley, but Mike doesn't know what's going so he goes in closer to see for himself and he see's that it is the same car belonging to the couple they had seen and spoken to earlier, only this time, the car has been trashed, the windows have been smashed and there is ripped up clothes and red stains splattered around. Both brothers are terrified when they heard rustling coming from the tree nearby. A silhouette of a shadowed figure could be made out and Danny takes a step closer when he see's the figure is holding a large scythe. The brothers then sprint away, heading straight for Danny's car.

They reach Danny's car a few minutes later, completely terrified and out of breath. Mike orders Danny to get his phone and ring the police and so Danny goes into the car and starts scouring it for his phone. Mike waits outside, scared as he hears noises and rustling. He inches back to the car, begging Danny to hurry up. His begs then go quiet as Danny finds his phone. Danny comes out the car with his phone and see's Mike pointing ahead and upon looking, he see's its a figure in the cornfield next to them. Danny shouts at the figure, stating that they're ringing the police. He then forces Mike into the car with his phone as Danny ventures out into the field. He reaches the figure only to find that it is the exact same scarecrow that he had gotten a picture with earlier. He turns back to Mike and tells him to ring the cops and Mike does. But as Mike looks back up to his brother, he saw the scarecrow move, revealing the scythe they had saw not minutes before. He screams for his brother but it's too late as the scarecrow uses the blade to decapitate Danny. Mike screeches and the scarecrow just glances over at him. Mike then flees the car, sprinting directly towards the town.

A few hours later, Mike is sat in an interrogation room at the police station within the nearby town. The town's Sheriff and fellow officer Reynolds are discussing the story Mike had told them. The Sheriff remains wary, thinking of Mike's story as just an elaborate prank, but Reynolds is more swayed to believing the younger man. The Sheriff then orders another officer, Baker, to go out to Route 7 and investigate. The Sheriff goes into the room to talk to Mike again, yet doesn't display much belief of Mike's story to which Mike replies that if they don't do anything, then Danny's blood is on their hands.

Officer Baker arrives to where Danny's car is and finds that nothing seems out of the ordinary. He doesn't find any evidence of the scarecrow or of Danny's body. He radios back to the Sheriff, telling him that there isn't anything wrong, until Baker hears noises and rustling. He demands the person to come out but before he can do anything else, he is killed by the scarecrow, his screams blaring through the radio.

At the station, the Sheriff desperately tries to get in touch with Baker but to no avail. Reynolds bursts into the room after having listened to what happened. The Sheriff orders Reynolds to go down to Route 7 instantly and stop the killer. The Sheriff then radios the rest of the units, racing out of the room. Just as Reynolds is about to dash to his car, Mike states that he's going with him. At first, Reynolds is persistent but Mike manages to convince him and the two race to his car and start heading back to Route 7.

Reynolds speeds down Route 7, with Mike sat in the back, safe and secure at his own request. Reynolds tries to see if Mike is OK, but Mike doesn't want to be grilled. Mike then points out that they've arrived to where Danny's and Baker's cars should be, but they're nowhere to be seen. Both men are extremely confused and scared as to how the cars have vanished. Reynolds exits the police car, making sure to lock the doors as Mike waits inside. Switching on his torch, Reynolds began scanning the area, calling out for Baker. Mike watches from inside the car when he swears he sees something move in the wind mirror. He turns around, but sees nothing but the dark countryside surrounding them. Reynolds then finds Baker's gun on the floor and signals for Mike to look over. They realise that they're not alone. Reynolds starts for the car but suddenly, the scarecrow emerged from the field and swung its scythe down on Reynolds. As the scarecrow looked over to Mike, the headlights flickered off, leaving him in darkness. He could hear the sounds of metal being dragged, but couldn't make out where it was coming from. The headlights flickered back on, only to reveal that the scarecrow and Reynolds' were gone. Mike remembered placing Danny's phone in his pocket and so he reached for it. But his hands were shaking so much that he ended up dropping it. As he hunted the car floor for it, the headlights shuddered off again, leaving Mike in darkness. He stilled and listened for anything, but heard nothing aside from the gentle car radio playing. He continued looking for the phone and he smiled as he grabbed it. He turned on the torch on it, only to see scarecrows surrounding the car. He screams as the scarecrows begin moving in, the torch on the phone eventually turning off, leaving Mike's fate unknown.

Trivia

 * Route 7 was originally written as a screenplay by Jack Cameron. However, after realising that he wouldn't be able to shoot it, he adapted it into a book instead of not sharing the story he loved creating.
 * Mike and Danny's characters were both inspired by both Jack and people he knows.
 * Originally, the scarecrow was going to be revealed to have been just someone in a costume but this changed to avoid cliches and to keep the mystery and suspense the scarecrow had.