K. Hessler

Afterbirth Highway K. Hessler

Steve is screwed! The mountains of central Pennsylvania surround him as he stares helplessly at the old Volare oozing oil onto the roadbed of the desolate highway. Confused and disgusted, Steve laments that this is merely another thorn in the side of this contemptuous day which began when he called it quits with his long-time girlfriend. The relief he had been experiencing only moments ago by being hours away from her have been replaced with uneasy concern because he realizes he's also hours away from his desired destination. He is stranded, but he is not alone. The black hitchhiker Steve had picked up earlier is quietly studying him. Due to Steve's selfish and cynical punker attitude, the two didn't hit it off from the moment they met, and this is why Calvin is having trouble deciding on whether to hang around with Steve until help arrives or to ditch him entirely and resume hitching. After all, they'd both probably be better off without one another. However, what the two strangers aren't aware of is that the events over the next few hours will impact their lives with such profundity that they won't be able to escape the respect and bond which results between them. Only the cruel, bitter reality of the world can break those chains, and unfortunately, it eventually does.