# 5 True Wendy's Horror Stories For Sleep Our Last Meal at Wendy's!

An episode of [AfterDark Reddits](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896809423), 27 Oct 2026, 40 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74987379/033_5_true_wendy_s_horror_stories_for_sleep_our_last_meal_at_wendy_s.mp3



## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I first
[0:05] Speaker 1: applied for the graveyard shift at Wendy's, but it definitely
[0:08] Speaker 1: wasn't this. I was 18, fresh out of high school,
[0:13] Speaker 1: with cosmetology school looming in the fall. I needed money
[0:16] Speaker 1: for supplies, and this 24-hour Wendy's on Highway 41 in
[0:20] Speaker 1: Terre Haute seemed like the perfect place. The hours were awful, sure,
[0:24] Speaker 1: midnight to 6 a.m., but the pay was decent, and
[0:28] Speaker 1: I figured it'd be a good way to save up.
[0:31] Speaker 1: The first hour, Couple of weeks were uneventful. I mostly
[0:34] Speaker 1: worked the register greeting truckers and late night drivers. A
[0:38] Speaker 1: lot of people were half asleep and didn't care what
[0:41] Speaker 1: they ordered. As long as it was fast. I spent
[0:44] Speaker 1: most of my night staring at the clock, waiting for
[0:47] Speaker 1: the shift to end and just trying to keep myself
[0:49] Speaker 1: awake with cups of coffee. It wasn't glamorous, but it
[0:53] Speaker 1: was steady work. Then came Travis. He was 26 with tattoos,
[0:59] Speaker 1: snaking up his arms. visible through the sleeves of his
[1:02] Speaker 1: worn-out Wendy's uniform. At first he didn't seem too bad,
[1:05] Speaker 1: just a bit quiet with a greasy dark beard and
[1:08] Speaker 1: tired eyes. He worked the grill, and I'd only see
[1:11] Speaker 1: him when he was flipping patties or making Baconators. But
[1:15] Speaker 1: what stood out was how often he worked extra shifts.
[1:18] Speaker 1: I'd come in to find him in the back even
[1:20] Speaker 1: when he wasn't on the schedule. He always seemed to
[1:22] Speaker 1: be around even when I was getting ready to close.
[1:25] Speaker 1: I wasn't sure why, but something about him made me uncomfortable.
[1:29] Speaker 1: It wasn't just the tattoos or the tired eyes. It
[1:32] Speaker 1: was the way he seemed to watch me a little
[1:34] Speaker 1: too closely when he thought I wasn't looking. But I
[1:37] Speaker 1: didn't want to be paranoid. After all, it was just
[1:41] Speaker 1: a job, and I needed the paycheck. But the feeling lingered.
[1:46] Speaker 1: It was around 2 a.m. one night when Travis asked
[1:49] Speaker 1: me for a ride home. My shift had just ended,
[1:51] Speaker 1: and I was tired. Exhausted, really. But I was still
[1:54] Speaker 1: wide awake enough to notice his strange request. My bike
[1:59] Speaker 1: got a flat. He said, his voice a little too casual,
[2:03] Speaker 1: but I didn't think much of it. I had never
[2:05] Speaker 1: seen him ride a bike to work, but I figured
[2:08] Speaker 1: he was being honest. Sure, I said, grabbing my jacket
[2:12] Speaker 1: and heading to my car. It was a few miles
[2:14] Speaker 1: to his place, but we'd barely gotten started when he
[2:17] Speaker 1: started talking about his life. So, uh, you live alone?
[2:22] Speaker 1: He asked out of nowhere, his eyes flicking toward me.
[2:25] Speaker 1: I felt a chill crawl up my spine, but laughed
[2:27] Speaker 1: it off. Yeah. Yeah. Well, with a roommate, actually, I replied,
[2:32] Speaker 1: trying to stay calm. He nodded, his gaze lingering on
[2:36] Speaker 1: me a little longer than I was comfortable with. We
[2:39] Speaker 1: drove in silence for a few moments, the hum of
[2:42] Speaker 1: the car filling the awkward space. But then he said
[2:45] Speaker 1: something that made my stomach drop. You know, I know
[2:48] Speaker 1: all the blind spots in the security cameras here, he
[2:51] Speaker 1: said casually, like it was a normal conversation topic. I've
[2:55] Speaker 1: been working here long enough to figure it out. I
[2:58] Speaker 1: glanced at him, confused, but he just smiled, his eyes
[3:01] Speaker 1: glinting in the dim light of the dashboard. When we
[3:04] Speaker 1: finally reached his apartment, I expected him to get out quickly,
[3:08] Speaker 1: but he stayed there for a moment. He didn't even
[3:10] Speaker 1: say thank you. He just stared at the passenger window
[3:14] Speaker 1: before stepping out. As I drove away, I noticed something strange.
[3:19] Speaker 1: There was a greasy fingerprint left on the window where
[3:22] Speaker 1: his hand had been. I couldn't shake the feeling that
[3:25] Speaker 1: something was off, but I tried to brush it aside.
[3:28] Speaker 1: A few days later, something happened that made me second
[3:31] Speaker 1: guess my decision to be polite. I was coming back
[3:34] Speaker 1: from work, tired and ready to crash, when I spotted
[3:38] Speaker 1: Travis's beat-up truck parked outside my apartment complex. I didn't
[3:42] Speaker 1: want to jump to conclusions, but seeing his truck there,
[3:45] Speaker 1: parked at a weird angle, set off alarm bells in
[3:48] Speaker 1: my head. I tried to ignore it as I walked past,
[3:51] Speaker 1: but Travis was standing there leaning against his truck. Just
[3:54] Speaker 1: visiting a friend in your building, he said, his smile
[3:56] Speaker 1: wide and off-putting. Small world, huh? I gave him a
[4:00] Speaker 1: half-hearted smile, my stomach tightening. It wasn't like I had
[4:03] Speaker 1: a huge social circle, but the thought of him knowing,
[4:07] Speaker 1: where I lived and showing up uninvited, made my skin crawl.
[4:11] Speaker 1: That night, as I was heading back to my car,
[4:14] Speaker 1: I noticed something tucked under my windshield wiper. A Wendy's receipt.
[4:19] Speaker 1: I unfolded it, feeling a cold sweat forming on my forehead.
[4:24] Speaker 1: The receipt was from that night. It had my name
[4:26] Speaker 1: written on it, my schedule for the next few shifts.
[4:30] Speaker 1: I froze. How did he know when I worked? Why
[4:33] Speaker 1: would he have that? My hands trembled as I shoved
[4:37] Speaker 1: the receipt back into my bag, and I quickly got
[4:39] Speaker 1: in my car. I didn't feel safe anymore. Something was wrong,
[4:45] Speaker 1: but I couldn't put my finger on it. The following
[4:48] Speaker 1: week I came in for another shift, and things started
[4:51] Speaker 1: to unravel. Carlos, the shift manager... pulled me aside just
[4:55] Speaker 1: after my shift started. He looked serious and there was
[4:59] Speaker 1: an unease in his voice I hadn't heard before. Travis
[5:02] Speaker 1: got fired yesterday, Carlos said, glancing around to make sure
[5:06] Speaker 1: no one else was listening. He threatened a customer with
[5:09] Speaker 1: a fry basket, said he'd serve them extra crispy. I blinked. What?
[5:15] Speaker 1: Carlos nodded grim. Yeah, cops escorted him out. We've had
[5:21] Speaker 1: issues with him before, but this this was the last
[5:24] Speaker 1: straw I felt the hairs on the back of my
[5:27] Speaker 1: neck stand up suddenly all the weirdness with Travis clicked
[5:32] Speaker 1: into place the extra shifts the strange comments the weird
[5:36] Speaker 1: ride home it was all starting to make sense that
[5:40] Speaker 1: night as I was sitting in the break room my
[5:42] Speaker 1: phone buzzed a text from an unknown number miss working
[5:47] Speaker 1: with you when's your next shift I stared at the
[5:51] Speaker 1: screen panic rising in my chest The text was from Travis.
[5:56] Speaker 1: My heart pounded. I felt trapped, suffocated, like the walls
[6:01] Speaker 1: were closing in on me. I knew then that I
[6:04] Speaker 1: had to quit. I couldn't take the risk anymore. I
[6:08] Speaker 1: went to Carlos and told him everything, showing him the
[6:10] Speaker 1: text from Travis. He was visibly shaken. I'll make sure
[6:16] Speaker 1: to report it to the police, he said, his voice low.
[6:19] Speaker 1: The police investigation revealed more disturbing details. Travis had been
[6:23] Speaker 1: tracking employee schedules for weeks, keeping a notebook with everyone's
[6:27] Speaker 1: shift hours and even taking photos of the Wendy's security system.
[6:31] Speaker 1: They found a collection of old name tags from other
[6:33] Speaker 1: fast food jobs he'd worked. Two, he'd clearly been studying us,
[6:38] Speaker 1: waiting for the perfect time to make a move. I
[6:40] Speaker 1: quit that night and filed a report. The police were
[6:43] Speaker 1: able to issue a restraining order against him, banning him
[6:46] Speaker 1: from every fast food establishment in Vigo County. I didn't
[6:49] Speaker 1: feel entirely safe, but I knew I had done the
[6:51] Speaker 1: right thing. It had been a brutal day. Twelve hours
[7:01] Speaker 1: on my feet at Miami Valley Hospital, bouncing between vitals, meds,
[7:05] Speaker 1: and rooms full of half-asleep patients and full-on chaos. I
[7:08] Speaker 1: was on my last thread, running on vending machine coffee
[7:11] Speaker 1: and four hours of sleep when I clocked out. The
[7:15] Speaker 1: moment I hit the cold Dayton night air, all I
[7:17] Speaker 1: could think about was food. Real food. Not salad. Not
[7:21] Speaker 1: a protein bar. Something greasy, salty, and unapologetically bad for me.
[7:27] Speaker 1: That's how I ended up pulling off I-70 and into
[7:29] Speaker 1: the Wendy's parking lot just shy of midnight. There's something
[7:33] Speaker 1: eerie about a fast food joint, after hours. The light
[7:37] Speaker 1: from the drive-thru flickers like a bad horror movie prop.
[7:41] Speaker 1: The dining room's half-lit like someone gave up halfway through closing. Inside,
[7:46] Speaker 1: it's always too quiet. Just a bored cashier wiping down counters,
[7:51] Speaker 1: fryer oil hissing, like a snake behind the scenes. I
[7:55] Speaker 1: was too hungry to care. ordered a Baconator combo and
[7:58] Speaker 1: a Frosty, sat there zoning out to the sound of
[8:01] Speaker 1: the soda machine churning behind me. That's when I saw him.
[8:05] Speaker 1: He was just there, leaning against the soda machine, hood up,
[8:11] Speaker 1: hands in his pockets, maybe mid-thirties, scruffy beard, dead eyes.
[8:16] Speaker 1: I figured he was waiting on his food until five
[8:19] Speaker 1: minutes passed and he hadn't moved. No receipt in hand,
[8:23] Speaker 1: no tray, just staring. I looked at him. He looked back.
[8:29] Speaker 1: Didn't blink. I turned back to my food and told
[8:32] Speaker 1: myself he was probably just tired. Or high. Or both. Still,
[8:38] Speaker 1: when I slid into a booth, I picked one in
[8:40] Speaker 1: the corner, facing the whole room. That's when I realized
[8:44] Speaker 1: he had followed me. Not just watching from the soda machine,
[8:48] Speaker 1: but now sitting two tables away. Still holding a Frosty,
[8:51] Speaker 1: still not eating it. I should have left then. I
[8:53] Speaker 1: kept my eyes on my tray. pretending like I hadn't noticed.
[8:57] Speaker 1: Took a bite of the sandwich, though I barely tasted
[8:59] Speaker 1: it anymore. Every few seconds I'd sneak a glance up
[9:03] Speaker 1: and he'd still be there, just stirring that frosty with
[9:07] Speaker 1: the spoon, like it was some hypnotic ritual. No phone,
[9:10] Speaker 1: no earbuds, just him and that cup. I told myself
[9:14] Speaker 1: it was fine. Weird people hang around late night spots
[9:17] Speaker 1: all the time. I worked in healthcare. I've seen way stranger.
[9:23] Speaker 1: But there was something about This guy. He didn't feel off.
[9:26] Speaker 1: He felt intentional. Like I was the reason he was here.
[9:30] Speaker 1: At 1210 AM, I tossed my trash and headed for
[9:32] Speaker 1: the door. He didn't move. I glanced over my shoulder
[9:36] Speaker 1: as I pushed through the exit. He was still at
[9:38] Speaker 1: the table, spoon mid-stir. But the second I got into
[9:41] Speaker 1: my car and turned the ignition, his chair scraped against
[9:44] Speaker 1: the floor inside. I watched the reflection in my rearview
[9:48] Speaker 1: mirror as I pulled out. Headlights flicked on. It was
[9:52] Speaker 1: that same rusted-out Chevy Malibu. Two parking spots over. I
[9:57] Speaker 1: could see the hood up now, dark blue, nearly black.
[10:00] Speaker 1: It followed as I turned onto the service road, still
[10:03] Speaker 1: behind me after the stoplight, still behind me when I
[10:06] Speaker 1: changed lanes. My heart started climbing into my throat. I
[10:11] Speaker 1: didn't want to drive straight home. No way was I
[10:13] Speaker 1: letting that car near my apartment. So I made a
[10:16] Speaker 1: quick right and pulled into a Kroger lot two blocks down,
[10:19] Speaker 1: I parked fast, slipped inside with a plan. Stay in
[10:23] Speaker 1: the store long enough for him to get bored and leave. Simple.
[10:27] Speaker 1: But when I grabbed a basket and turned down the
[10:29] Speaker 1: cereal aisle, he was there. Same hoodie. Same face. Still
[10:35] Speaker 1: holding that frosty. Didn't say a word. Just smiled. And
[10:40] Speaker 1: I dropped the basket. My stomach dropped. That icy, involuntary
[10:44] Speaker 1: cold that hits you when instinct kicks in and your
[10:47] Speaker 1: brain can't keep up. He didn't move, just stood there,
[10:51] Speaker 1: at the end of the aisle, like he was, waiting
[10:54] Speaker 1: to see what I'd do. I bolted, no hesitation, left
[10:58] Speaker 1: the cereal, left the cart. I pushed through an older
[11:01] Speaker 1: couple in produce and nearly knocked over a pyramid of
[11:04] Speaker 1: apples by the bakery. I heard someone call out, hey,
[11:08] Speaker 1: but I didn't stop. Out the front doors. Keys, already
[11:13] Speaker 1: in hand. I got into my car, slammed the door
[11:17] Speaker 1: and locked it in one motion. Fumbled with the start button,
[11:20] Speaker 1: engine finally roaring to life. Then I saw it. His Malibu.
[11:25] Speaker 1: Three spaces over now. No lights. Just parked there in
[11:29] Speaker 1: the dark, half-hidden, between two trucks he was in the
[11:32] Speaker 1: driver's seat, watching me. And smiling. I couldn't breathe. My
[11:39] Speaker 1: hands shook on the wheel. I didn't know whether to
[11:42] Speaker 1: floor it, scream, or cry. Maybe all three. Instead, I
[11:48] Speaker 1: called 911. The dispatcher was calm. Way calmer than I was.
[11:54] Speaker 1: Stay on the line. Ma'am, officers are en route. Do
[11:58] Speaker 1: not engage with the vehicle. Go back inside if you
[12:00] Speaker 1: feel unsafe. I did. Ran back into Kroger like my
[12:04] Speaker 1: life depended on it. Which, in a way, it probably did.
[12:08] Speaker 1: The manager looked up, concerned, and I guess I looked
[12:11] Speaker 1: wild-eyed enough that he didn't even ask questions. Just let
[12:15] Speaker 1: me stand near the customer service desk. while I clutched
[12:18] Speaker 1: my phone like a lifeline. Twelve minutes later, police lights
[12:22] Speaker 1: lit up the parking lot. By the time we got outside,
[12:25] Speaker 1: the Malibu was gone. But something was left behind, on
[12:30] Speaker 1: my windshield. It took me a second to register what
[12:34] Speaker 1: I was looking at. It wasn't some cryptic note or
[12:37] Speaker 1: threatening message scrawled in Sharpie. No, it was frosty, half-melted,
[12:43] Speaker 1: lit off. Straw stuck in sideways like he hadn't even
[12:46] Speaker 1: tried to drink it. It was sitting dead center on
[12:50] Speaker 1: my windshield like some twisted calling card. One of the
[12:53] Speaker 1: cops used a tissue to pick it up. Another scanned
[12:56] Speaker 1: the receipt stuck underneath it, damp but legible. Timestamp, 11.46 p.m.
[13:04] Speaker 1: Same Wendy's I'd been at. One minute before I walked in.
[13:09] Speaker 1: So he got there before you, one officer said, flipping
[13:12] Speaker 1: the receipt over. Knew you were coming. I swallowed hard.
[13:18] Speaker 1: I hadn't seen him in the parking lot when I arrived.
[13:21] Speaker 1: Had he followed me from the hospital? From the gas
[13:24] Speaker 1: station I stopped. Had on the way. How long had
[13:27] Speaker 1: I been his plan? The officer asked if I wanted
[13:30] Speaker 1: to file a full report. I did. I gave them
[13:33] Speaker 1: the make and model of the car. A description of
[13:36] Speaker 1: the guy, the hoodie, the beard, everything. They said they'd
[13:39] Speaker 1: check nearby cameras, ask Wendy's for footage. But I could
[13:42] Speaker 1: already tell they didn't expect much. People like that guy.
[13:46] Speaker 1: Stalkers who move through quiet towns with no real pattern.
[13:49] Speaker 1: They're hard to track, no threats, no license plate. Just
[13:52] Speaker 1: a frosty and a stare that'll haunt me longer than
[13:55] Speaker 1: I care to admit. When I got home that night,
[13:57] Speaker 1: I parked a block away and walked the rest. Just
[14:00] Speaker 1: in case. I didn't sleep. Not really. Every noise outside
[14:05] Speaker 1: sounded like Malibu's engine. It's been a month since that
[14:08] Speaker 1: night and I haven't been back to that Wendy's. I
[14:11] Speaker 1: don't even take that exit anymore. Kroger offered me a
[14:14] Speaker 1: panic button keychain. The cops checked in once and said
[14:17] Speaker 1: the plates were likely stolen. That made me feel worse somehow.
[14:22] Speaker 1: I've changed up my routine. I don't work late unless
[14:25] Speaker 1: I have to. I park closer, always under lights. I
[14:30] Speaker 1: check behind me before getting into the car, and if
[14:33] Speaker 1: anyone's following me, I drive straight to the police station.
[14:37] Speaker 1: Sometimes I still wonder what he wanted. Was it random,
[14:40] Speaker 1: or did he pick me because I looked tired? Alone
[14:43] Speaker 1: because I ordered a frosty too. I've thought about that
[14:47] Speaker 1: part a lot. The frosty. That weird symbolic move. He
[14:51] Speaker 1: never drank it. Just hold it. Like it was some
[14:55] Speaker 1: twisted version of a handshake. A way to say I
[14:57] Speaker 1: see you. Maybe that's the scariest part. It wasn't a
[15:00] Speaker 1: scream or a weapon. It was subtle. Quiet. A slow
[15:04] Speaker 1: drip of fear dressed up like a fast food ritual.
[15:08] Speaker 1: You can laugh at it. I do sometimes. tell myself
[15:12] Speaker 1: i was just paranoid just overreacting then i remember the
[15:16] Speaker 1: look on his face in that parking lot that smile
[15:20] Speaker 1: through the fogged windshield that final receipt left behind and
[15:24] Speaker 1: i realize he's probably done it before he'll probably do
[15:27] Speaker 1: it again so yeah sometimes the scariest thing at wendy's
[15:31] Speaker 1: isn't the chili it's the guy in the navy hoodie
[15:34] Speaker 1: with the frosty who doesn't blink doesn't eat and doesn't
[15:37] Speaker 1: stop until you run and sometimes even then he's still
[15:40] Speaker 1: watching Working the graveyard shift at a Wendy's off Route
[15:49] Speaker 1: 22 wasn't exactly what I pictured for myself when I
[15:52] Speaker 1: started college, but it paid better than retail and came
[15:55] Speaker 1: with half-off Frosties, so I wasn't complaining. Most nights were slow.
[16:00] Speaker 1: The kind of quiet that made the hum of the
[16:03] Speaker 1: friars sound like music. I'd show up around 10 p.m.,
[16:07] Speaker 1: take over from the swing shift crew, and hold it
[16:09] Speaker 1: down till Manny came back to open. Manny's my cousin,
[16:13] Speaker 1: technically my older cousin, though only by two years. He's
[16:18] Speaker 1: the assistant manager, knows the store like the back of
[16:21] Speaker 1: his hand, and somehow convinced our aunt I'd be safe
[16:23] Speaker 1: working solo at night. I'd been doing it for about
[16:27] Speaker 1: six weeks and had developed a rhythm. Clean, prep, keep
[16:31] Speaker 1: myself from falling asleep, serve the occasional Uber driver or
[16:35] Speaker 1: stoned college kid on a snack run. Pittsburgh at 1 a.m.
[16:38] Speaker 1: is different than Pittsburgh at rush hour. On Route 22,
[16:41] Speaker 1: it's basically ghost town territory. except for the occasional car
[16:45] Speaker 1: zipping by or the flashing neon sign from the closed
[16:48] Speaker 1: bowling alley next door. Still, nothing. Ever really happened. Nothing weird, anyway.
[16:55] Speaker 1: Until that one night. October 14th. I remember because the
[16:59] Speaker 1: Steelers had just lost in overtime, and the only customer
[17:03] Speaker 1: I'd had for two hours was a guy who ordered
[17:05] Speaker 1: a Baconator, then cried into it in... the corner booth.
[17:10] Speaker 1: That night, I had just wiped down the counter and
[17:12] Speaker 1: restocked the ketchup packets when the front doors creaked open.
[17:16] Speaker 1: Two guys walked in like they owned the place. One
[17:19] Speaker 1: was tall and skinny, the other kind of stocky with
[17:22] Speaker 1: a receding hairline. Both wore wrinkled dress shirts and khaki pants,
[17:27] Speaker 1: the kind of look someone wears when they're trying to
[17:29] Speaker 1: look official, but you know they bought it at Goodwill.
[17:33] Speaker 1: County health inspection, the tall one said, flashing a laminated badge.
[17:39] Speaker 1: He didn't. Smile. Neither did the other guy. Something about
[17:43] Speaker 1: them made the hair on my neck stand up. The
[17:45] Speaker 1: taller guy was doing all the talking like he'd rehearsed
[17:48] Speaker 1: this before. We got a complaint. Need to check your freezer, fryers,
[17:53] Speaker 1: and prep stations. Could be a rodent activity. He waved
[17:57] Speaker 1: that badge again like it meant something. But I've seen
[18:00] Speaker 1: real inspectors. They come in pairs, sure, but they have clipboards, tablets,
[18:04] Speaker 1: and actual uniforms. Not dollar store badges stuck in plastic.
[18:09] Speaker 1: I squinted at the one he flashed. It had a
[18:12] Speaker 1: fake-looking seal, his name typed in all caps, and a
[18:15] Speaker 1: blurry county logo that looked like it was printed off
[18:17] Speaker 1: Google images. Mind if I call my manager first? I said,
[18:21] Speaker 1: reaching slowly for the phone behind the register. The tall
[18:25] Speaker 1: guy shrugged. Sure, but we don't need permission. This is
[18:29] Speaker 1: a health emergency. The stocky guy wandered toward the drive-thru window.
[18:34] Speaker 1: I noticed his shoes were muddy, but it hadn't rained
[18:36] Speaker 1: in days. Not even a drizzle. The floor outside was
[18:40] Speaker 1: dry as toast. I dialed Manny. It rang twice before
[18:45] Speaker 1: he answered. Groggy. What's up, Danny? Hey, uh, there's two
[18:50] Speaker 1: guys here. Say they're from the health department. Want to
[18:53] Speaker 1: check the freezer? Manny paused. Then he cursed. What? No way.
[19:00] Speaker 1: We just got our A rating last Thursday. Those dudes real?
[19:04] Speaker 1: They got badges, I said quietly, turning away from the
[19:07] Speaker 1: taller man. But they look homemade. Hell no. manny said
[19:14] Speaker 1: don't let them in back i'm on my way as
[19:17] Speaker 1: soon as i hung up i noticed the tall guy
[19:18] Speaker 1: had vanished from the counter i turned he was halfway
[19:22] Speaker 1: to the back kitchen hey i said you can't be
[19:26] Speaker 1: back there just doing my job he said not even
[19:31] Speaker 1: looking at me the stocky guy was still by the
[19:33] Speaker 1: drive-thru window his eyes were on the register now i
[19:37] Speaker 1: felt something shift like the air got heavier My hand
[19:42] Speaker 1: went to my phone again. Time to make a different call.
[19:47] Speaker 1: I ducked behind the counter and crouched low, pretending to
[19:50] Speaker 1: check the fryer temp my hand slid my phone out
[19:53] Speaker 1: of my pocket screened still lit from the last call
[19:58] Speaker 1: 911 my voice stayed quiet but firm i'm at the
[20:02] Speaker 1: wendy's on route 22 two men just came in pretending
[20:06] Speaker 1: to be health inspectors i think they're trying to rob
[20:09] Speaker 1: the place Are you in immediate danger? The dispatcher asked.
[20:15] Speaker 1: Not yet, but they split up. One's near the register,
[20:18] Speaker 1: others near the freezer. We're dispatching units now. Stay where
[20:22] Speaker 1: you are and do not confront them. Just then, I
[20:26] Speaker 1: heard a door swing open behind me. Footsteps. Fast ones.
[20:30] Speaker 1: The tall guy was running. He bolted past the fry
[20:33] Speaker 1: station through the prep area and slammed through the back exit.
[20:37] Speaker 1: The stocky guy cursed loud. Shit. Shit. then turned and sprinted,
[20:42] Speaker 1: leaping the counter like some kind of linebacker. I stood,
[20:46] Speaker 1: up fast, still holding the phone. By the time I
[20:49] Speaker 1: reached the front door they were gone, into the shadows
[20:51] Speaker 1: of the strip mall. Then silence again, just the hum
[20:55] Speaker 1: of the drink machine and my own heart pounding like
[20:57] Speaker 1: a bass drum in my chest. Two cops pulled up
[21:01] Speaker 1: about five minutes later, sirens quiet, lights flashing red and
[21:05] Speaker 1: blue through the windows. I let them in, explained everything.
[21:10] Speaker 1: One checked the back while the other took my statement.
[21:13] Speaker 1: That's when I noticed the safe room door was cracked open. Inside,
[21:17] Speaker 1: the keypad was scuffed, like someone had tried to open it,
[21:20] Speaker 1: but they hadn't gotten in. Then one of the officers
[21:24] Speaker 1: found it, a laminated badge stuck under the condiment tray,
[21:28] Speaker 1: like it had fallen out of someone's pocket. The guy chuckled.
[21:33] Speaker 1: County Health? This thing looks like it was made with
[21:36] Speaker 1: a school laminator. It wasn't just a fake. It was
[21:39] Speaker 1: laughably fake. but I wasn't laughing. Not yet. By 4 a.m.,
[21:46] Speaker 1: Manny had arrived, tired but wired with adrenaline. He kept pacing, muttering.
[21:52] Speaker 1: I knew something like this would happen. Knew it. The
[21:56] Speaker 1: cops showed him the badge. He held it like it
[21:59] Speaker 1: was a piece of trash. This thing. My eight-year-old cousin
[22:03] Speaker 1: could have made this in Microsoft Word. I told him everything,
[22:07] Speaker 1: from the muddy shoes to the way they kept glancing
[22:10] Speaker 1: at the register. The officers said we were lucky. At
[22:13] Speaker 1: another fast food place just 10 miles away, the same
[22:17] Speaker 1: two men had distracted the staff and made off with
[22:19] Speaker 1: over $ 2, 000. And they'd done it twice before that, all
[22:23] Speaker 1: in one week. They used the same trick every time.
[22:27] Speaker 1: Late night shifts. Fake. Health inspections split up and find
[22:31] Speaker 1: the safe. One of them even posed as a fire
[22:34] Speaker 1: marshal once. That made me feel sick. I wasn't just
[22:38] Speaker 1: some lucky guy who caught a break. I was a target,
[22:41] Speaker 1: like all the others. They probably had our location picked
[22:44] Speaker 1: out days in advance, studied the drive-through patterns, watched when
[22:48] Speaker 1: managers left. One of the cops turned to Manny. You
[22:53] Speaker 1: should think about a policy. No access to the back
[22:56] Speaker 1: unless someone verifies with corporate. Manny nodded. Done. They left
[23:03] Speaker 1: around 4.30. I cleaned up the dropped badges, the scuffed floor,
[23:07] Speaker 1: and tried not to think about how fast everything had happened.
[23:10] Speaker 1: One second I was restocking ketchup. The next, I was
[23:14] Speaker 1: part of a police report. Manny handed me a Frosty.
[23:18] Speaker 1: You earned it, bro. I don't even want it, I muttered.
[23:22] Speaker 1: He raised an eyebrow. You always want Frostys. I shook
[23:27] Speaker 1: my head. Not tonight. By the time the sun came up,
[23:31] Speaker 1: I was still buzzing. But in that strange, hollow way,
[23:35] Speaker 1: where the adrenaline's gone and all you're left with is
[23:37] Speaker 1: the memories. Two days later, I was officially off the
[23:40] Speaker 1: graveyard shift. Manny said the corporate approved a $ 50 bonus.
[23:45] Speaker 1: Hero pay, he joked. And from then on, I'd be
[23:48] Speaker 1: working lunch and dinner shifts only. No more solo nights.
[23:52] Speaker 1: I didn't complain. I didn't miss the stillness, the empty
[23:57] Speaker 1: dining room, the slow creeping paranoia. Manny installed new locks,
[24:02] Speaker 1: updated the security code, and even posted a laminated sign
[24:05] Speaker 1: near the back. All inspectors must be verified with corporate
[24:09] Speaker 1: before entering restricted areas. It made customers laugh. But we
[24:15] Speaker 1: weren't joking. Turns out, those two guys were part of
[24:18] Speaker 1: a string of robberies across three counties. They hit fast
[24:21] Speaker 1: food joints only. Probably because they figured nobody would question
[24:25] Speaker 1: authority at 2 a.m. I guess most people wouldn't. But
[24:30] Speaker 1: I did. Barely. Sometimes when I'm working late for school
[24:34] Speaker 1: or pulling an extra shift, I still... Think about those guys.
[24:38] Speaker 1: What if I hadn't made the call? What if they'd
[24:40] Speaker 1: had a weapon? What if they come back? The police
[24:42] Speaker 1: never caught them. Just a vague description on a report.
[24:46] Speaker 1: Two males, white, 30s, dressed business casual. Definitely not health
[24:51] Speaker 1: inspector material. Funny how something that started as a routine
[24:54] Speaker 1: shift turned into a story I'll be telling for the
[24:56] Speaker 1: rest of my life. And now every time someone flashes
[24:59] Speaker 1: a badge, I double check. Because sometimes the scariest thing
[25:03] Speaker 1: in a Wendy's at 1.30 a.m. isn't the food, the fryer,
[25:07] Speaker 1: or the flickering lights. It's two guys who think four
[25:10] Speaker 1: for four dollars includes your safe, your receipts, and your trust.
[25:20] Speaker 1: I don't know what I was expecting when I pulled
[25:22] Speaker 1: into the Wendy's on Route 50 in Fairfax, but it
[25:25] Speaker 1: sure wasn't what I found. It was a Tuesday night,
[25:29] Speaker 1: and I was starving after a long day at my
[25:31] Speaker 1: IT job. It was around 8.45 p.m., and normally this
[25:36] Speaker 1: place would be bustling. But tonight? The parking lot was
[25:41] Speaker 1: almost completely empty. The few cars that were there were
[25:45] Speaker 1: clustered in one corner of the lot, leaving most of
[25:48] Speaker 1: the area suspiciously vacant. I parked my car and got out,
[25:52] Speaker 1: glancing around. There was a beat-up Dodge Neon parked next
[25:56] Speaker 1: to the dumpster, and a lanky teen was leaning against
[25:59] Speaker 1: the doorframe of the Wendy's entrance, fiddling with his hat
[26:02] Speaker 1: and looking a bit out of place. The lights inside flickered,
[26:06] Speaker 1: and the drive-thru line was deserted. Something about the whole
[26:11] Speaker 1: scene felt off, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
[26:14] Speaker 1: The kid, who I assumed was an employee based on
[26:16] Speaker 1: the stained Wendy's polo, raised his head when he noticed
[26:19] Speaker 1: me walking toward the door. He gave me a half-smile,
[26:22] Speaker 1: but didn't make a move to open the door. Instead,
[26:25] Speaker 1: he stood there awkwardly, blocking the entrance. Hey, man, he said.
[26:32] Speaker 1: Can you give me a ride to the bus station?
[26:35] Speaker 1: I stopped in my tracks looking him over. The first
[26:38] Speaker 1: thing I noticed was his hat. It was the wrong
[26:42] Speaker 1: shade of red, nothing like the standard Wendy's uniform. His
[26:46] Speaker 1: shoes too looked too clean, no grease stains, no signs
[26:49] Speaker 1: of someone who worked in a fast food kitchen. The
[26:52] Speaker 1: final oddity was the way he kept nervously tapping his
[26:55] Speaker 1: fingers on the non-working headset hanging from his neck. I
[26:58] Speaker 1: sidestepped him, forcing a polite smile. Sorry man, I'm just
[27:02] Speaker 1: here to grab something to eat. As I walked inside,
[27:06] Speaker 1: I felt the unease crawl up my spine. Why was
[27:09] Speaker 1: he hanging around here at such an odd hour? And
[27:12] Speaker 1: why was he asking me for a ride? It all
[27:15] Speaker 1: seemed weird. I didn't have time to dwell on it, though.
[27:20] Speaker 1: I had a burger to order. As I stepped into Wendy's,
[27:23] Speaker 1: the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was.
[27:26] Speaker 1: The usual hum of fryers and the clatter of kitchen
[27:29] Speaker 1: staff working was absent. Instead, there was just the low
[27:32] Speaker 1: murmur of the air conditioning and the occasional clink of
[27:35] Speaker 1: a spoon on the counter. I walked up to the counter,
[27:38] Speaker 1: where Danielle, the cashier, was standing. She looked tired, but
[27:41] Speaker 1: gave me a small smile. Hey, Ryan, she said, her
[27:46] Speaker 1: voice soft as though she were trying not to disturb
[27:48] Speaker 1: the eerie stillness of the place. I ordered my usual,
[27:52] Speaker 1: Berk 6, no tomato. And as I did, I glanced
[27:56] Speaker 1: out the window. There was Tyler, the guy in the polo,
[28:01] Speaker 1: pacing outside the door like he was waiting for something
[28:05] Speaker 1: or someone he didn't look like he was waiting to
[28:07] Speaker 1: work more like he was just waiting it didn't sit
[28:11] Speaker 1: right with me danielle lowered her voice leaning toward me
[28:16] Speaker 1: that guy's been here since 4 p.m he's been testing
[28:18] Speaker 1: the door every 20 minutes seeing if it's locked we've
[28:21] Speaker 1: called the cops twice my stomach tightened i had a
[28:25] Speaker 1: bad feeling about the whole situation i paid for my
[28:28] Speaker 1: meal and grabbed my tray heading for the door As
[28:31] Speaker 1: I stepped back outside I tried to shake off the
[28:33] Speaker 1: feeling that something wasn't right. But as soon as I
[28:36] Speaker 1: reached the parking lot I saw something that made the
[28:38] Speaker 1: hair on the back of my neck stand up. As
[28:42] Speaker 1: I walked toward my car I noticed something that made
[28:44] Speaker 1: my stomach churn. Tyler was sitting on the hood of
[28:47] Speaker 1: my car just casually resting there like it was the
[28:51] Speaker 1: most normal thing in the world. I stopped in my
[28:54] Speaker 1: tracks my hand instinctively going for my keys. Come on
[28:57] Speaker 1: man he said looking up at me with a half-hearted grin.
[29:01] Speaker 1: Just five minutes to Maple Street. It's not far. I
[29:04] Speaker 1: shook my head, trying to keep my cool. Sorry. Man,
[29:08] Speaker 1: I don't think so. My heart was racing, but I
[29:11] Speaker 1: tried to act casual. There was no reason to panic, right?
[29:14] Speaker 1: But then, he did something that made my blood run cold.
[29:18] Speaker 1: He reached into his pocket and pulled something metallic out.
[29:22] Speaker 1: I couldn't make out what it was in the dim light,
[29:24] Speaker 1: but it definitely didn't look like a car key. Hey,
[29:28] Speaker 1: get off my car, I said. my voice more forceful
[29:31] Speaker 1: than I intended. I took a step back, my eyes
[29:34] Speaker 1: never leaving the object in his hand. Before I could
[29:37] Speaker 1: react further, Danielle burst out the door. holding a broom
[29:41] Speaker 1: beat it weirdo she shouted running toward tyler the guy
[29:46] Speaker 1: jumped off my hood and turned to face her but
[29:48] Speaker 1: he didn't seem scared he just backed away slowly still
[29:52] Speaker 1: holding whatever he had in his hand i felt a
[29:56] Speaker 1: wave of relief wash over me as he walked toward
[29:58] Speaker 1: the back of the restaurant but I couldn't shake the
[30:01] Speaker 1: feeling that something was off. I locked my car door
[30:04] Speaker 1: and climbed inside, trying to calm myself down. But through
[30:07] Speaker 1: the window, I saw Tyler walk to the back of
[30:09] Speaker 1: the parking lot, then jiggle the door handles of three
[30:12] Speaker 1: other cars. I saw the trunk of the Dodge Neon
[30:16] Speaker 1: pop open briefly, something bulky inside. It didn't take long
[30:21] Speaker 1: for the police to show up. Fairfax PD arrived about
[30:24] Speaker 1: 12 minutes after I called, and I watched as they
[30:26] Speaker 1: quickly assessed the scene. I sat in my car, still shaken,
[30:30] Speaker 1: and watched the officers approach the back of the Wendy's.
[30:33] Speaker 1: One of the officers came over to me and asked
[30:35] Speaker 1: what had happened. I told him everything, from the guy
[30:38] Speaker 1: asking for a ride to him sitting in my car
[30:40] Speaker 1: to the strange behavior in the parking lot. The officer nodded,
[30:45] Speaker 1: taking notes. We'll take care of it from here, he said,
[30:49] Speaker 1: before heading inside to speak to Danielle and the other
[30:51] Speaker 1: staff members. A few minutes later, they came back out,
[30:55] Speaker 1: holding a worn-out Wendy's uniform. It was Tyler's, They found
[31:00] Speaker 1: it dumped in the men's room inside the restaurant. They
[31:04] Speaker 1: also discovered six mysterious keys on a janitorial ring, which
[31:08] Speaker 1: they believed were stolen. And apparently Tyler's name tag, wasn't
[31:13] Speaker 1: even his. It had been taken from another Wendy's in Arlington.
[31:18] Speaker 1: The police mentioned that Tyler had been known to frequent
[31:21] Speaker 1: fast food joints in Northern Virginia, possibly connected to a
[31:24] Speaker 1: series of uniform thefts at several fast food chains. It
[31:28] Speaker 1: seemed like he had been casing restaurants, pretending to be
[31:31] Speaker 1: an employee to steal whatever he could get his hands on.
[31:35] Speaker 1: The next few days were a blur. I found myself
[31:38] Speaker 1: going back to Wendy's, but something felt different. They'd installed
[31:42] Speaker 1: locks on the doors after dusk and the atmosphere was tense.
[31:46] Speaker 1: I stuck to the drive-thru after that night, unwilling to
[31:48] Speaker 1: venture inside again. Danielle told me that they had to
[31:51] Speaker 1: file a report with the district manager and the police
[31:54] Speaker 1: had advised them to change all the locks and security
[31:57] Speaker 1: codes for good measure. I could tell she was still
[32:00] Speaker 1: shaken up by the whole ordeal. I never heard about
[32:04] Speaker 1: Tyler again, but I can't shake the feeling that somewhere
[32:07] Speaker 1: in Fairfax he's out there, possibly wearing another stolen uniform,
[32:11] Speaker 1: practicing his welcome to Wendy's smile. It wasn't supposed to
[32:20] Speaker 1: be this way. When I landed my first job at Wendy's,
[32:24] Speaker 1: I was excited, nervous, but excited. Summer break was here.
[32:28] Speaker 1: and I needed to save up for college. I didn't
[32:31] Speaker 1: want to ask my parents for money, so I figured
[32:33] Speaker 1: getting a job was my best bet. I got hired
[32:36] Speaker 1: at the 24-Hour Wendy's on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, New York,
[32:40] Speaker 1: and was given the night shift to work. It was
[32:43] Speaker 1: only a part-time gig, but it was a start. The
[32:46] Speaker 1: first couple of days were straightforward. I worked the register,
[32:50] Speaker 1: helped clean, up and mostly stayed out of trouble. The
[32:54] Speaker 1: crew was pretty chill, except for one guy. Dave. Dave
[32:58] Speaker 1: was a 23-year-old fry cook. He had this weird vibe
[33:02] Speaker 1: about him that I couldn't quite place. He smelled like
[33:04] Speaker 1: old grease, and not in the way someone who works
[33:08] Speaker 1: in a fast food kitchen would. It was like the
[33:10] Speaker 1: grease had soaked into his clothes, his skin, his hair.
[33:13] Speaker 1: It clung to him. He always stared a little too
[33:15] Speaker 1: long when you spoke to him. I couldn't pinpoint it,
[33:18] Speaker 1: but something felt off. It wasn't like he was rude
[33:22] Speaker 1: or anything, just strange. He had this look in his
[33:25] Speaker 1: eyes like he was trying to figure you out. but
[33:28] Speaker 1: in a way that made you feel like you were
[33:29] Speaker 1: under a microscope. And the way he smiled, it wasn't right.
[33:34] Speaker 1: Like he knew something you didn't. It wasn't until my
[33:37] Speaker 1: second week that things started to get weirder. I was
[33:40] Speaker 1: closing that night, working the register while the rest of
[33:43] Speaker 1: the crew cleaned up. It was around 11.45 p.m. when
[33:47] Speaker 1: I noticed him standing outside in the parking lot, leaning
[33:51] Speaker 1: against my car. He wasn't on the schedule, so I
[33:53] Speaker 1: wasn't sure why he was there. Hey, my car's dead.
[33:56] Speaker 1: Can you give me a ride home? He asked as
[33:59] Speaker 1: I stepped out. His apartment was in the opposite direction
[34:02] Speaker 1: of mine, a good 15 minutes out of the way.
[34:06] Speaker 1: But I didn't want to seem rude, so I agreed.
[34:10] Speaker 1: The ride started off normal enough, but then Dave started
[34:13] Speaker 1: asking odd questions. You like horror movies? He asked, his
[34:16] Speaker 1: voice strange. I said, yeah, figuring he was just trying
[34:20] Speaker 1: to make small talk. But then he went on about
[34:22] Speaker 1: how he knows where all the managers live. and how
[34:26] Speaker 1: he could always get a ride from someone. It didn't
[34:29] Speaker 1: sit right with me, but I brushed it off. When
[34:32] Speaker 1: I dropped him off, he left behind a sweat-stained Wendy's
[34:35] Speaker 1: visor on my dashboard. It wasn't the last time I'd
[34:38] Speaker 1: see Dave. Three days later, I pulled into the parking
[34:42] Speaker 1: lot at school, the same way I did every morning.
[34:45] Speaker 1: I was half asleep, dragging my feet across the pavement
[34:48] Speaker 1: when I saw it. Dave's rusted Pontiac parked by the entrance,
[34:53] Speaker 1: just sitting there, no one else around. I stopped in
[34:55] Speaker 1: my tracks. What was he doing here? I didn't even
[34:58] Speaker 1: want to entertain the idea that he was just passing through.
[35:01] Speaker 1: So I quickly ducked inside the school and tried to
[35:03] Speaker 1: forget about it. But that night things got worse. After
[35:09] Speaker 1: my shift, I left Wendy's and drove home the usual way.
[35:13] Speaker 1: But as I made a left turn, I caught a
[35:15] Speaker 1: glimpse of Dave's Pontiac in my rear view mirror right
[35:18] Speaker 1: behind me. I wasn't imagining it. He was following me.
[35:22] Speaker 1: I turned a corner and sped up, but he stayed
[35:24] Speaker 1: right on my tail. My pulse quickened. Why was he
[35:28] Speaker 1: following me? Hey, it's just a scenic route, he texted me,
[35:32] Speaker 1: out of the blue, when I pulled into a fire
[35:34] Speaker 1: department parking lot and parked near a big rig. I
[35:38] Speaker 1: sat there for a few minutes trying to catch my
[35:40] Speaker 1: breath before he eventually drove away. That night I couldn't sleep.
[35:44] Speaker 1: I kept looking out the window, hoping I hadn't just
[35:47] Speaker 1: picked up some psycho stalker. But somehow, I knew that
[35:51] Speaker 1: was exactly what I'd done. Things took a darker turn
[35:55] Speaker 1: the next day. I was on my lunch break sitting
[35:59] Speaker 1: in the break room when my phone buzzed. A text
[36:02] Speaker 1: from Dave. Need a ride to work tomorrow. 4 a.m.
[36:06] Speaker 1: You're my only friend. My stomach turned. I couldn't ignore it.
[36:11] Speaker 1: He had already crossed a line by following me to
[36:13] Speaker 1: my school. But this? This was beyond creepy. I didn't
[36:17] Speaker 1: want to confront him, but I also didn't want to
[36:19] Speaker 1: encourage him. So I texted back telling him I couldn't
[36:23] Speaker 1: help him. hoping he'd just leave me alone. But then
[36:26] Speaker 1: something weird happened. Carlos, the shift manager, pulled me aside
[36:30] Speaker 1: as I was finishing my break. His face was tense,
[36:33] Speaker 1: like he'd been given some bad news. Dave got fired yesterday,
[36:38] Speaker 1: Carlos said, lowering his voice. Threatened, the GM with a
[36:41] Speaker 1: meat thermometer. Cops escorted him out. He looked around to
[36:46] Speaker 1: make sure no one else was listening, then added, we
[36:48] Speaker 1: don't know where he went, but stay alert. I didn't
[36:51] Speaker 1: know what to say. I'd already been nervous around Dave,
[36:55] Speaker 1: but this? Threatening someone with a meat thermometer? That was
[36:58] Speaker 1: just insane. That night, I drove home on edge, my
[37:04] Speaker 1: eyes darting between my rearview mirror and the road ahead.
[37:07] Speaker 1: I thought I'd finally escaped him, but I knew that
[37:09] Speaker 1: something wasn't right. I just couldn't shake the feeling that
[37:13] Speaker 1: Dave wasn't done with me. A month later, I got
[37:16] Speaker 1: the call. It was from my mom. She'd been at
[37:19] Speaker 1: work when the news broke. Dave had been arrested. Apparently
[37:24] Speaker 1: he'd broken into his ex-manager's garage. The cops said he
[37:28] Speaker 1: was looking for something. Maybe his employee discount, as weird
[37:31] Speaker 1: as that sounded. But that wasn't the worst part. They
[37:36] Speaker 1: found his stash. A bunch of old Wendy's uniforms, hats, and,
[37:41] Speaker 1: most disturbingly, several frosty spoons with teeth marks in them.
[37:46] Speaker 1: The weirdest thing. They were all linked to employees he'd
[37:49] Speaker 1: worked with. I didn't even know what to think. How
[37:53] Speaker 1: had I not seen the signs, the weird ride requests,
[37:56] Speaker 1: the texts, the way he watched me too closely, and
[38:00] Speaker 1: the frosty spoons? What did they even mean? When I
[38:04] Speaker 1: got to work that night, I found something in my locker.
[38:07] Speaker 1: It was a Wendy's frosty spoon. Just lying there, in
[38:10] Speaker 1: the corner. The same kind of spoon you get when
[38:12] Speaker 1: you order a frosty. Only this one had teeth marks
[38:15] Speaker 1: on it. I couldn't breathe for a second when I
[38:18] Speaker 1: saw it. I blocked Dave's number and changed my shifts
[38:21] Speaker 1: so I wouldn't have to work at the same time
[38:23] Speaker 1: as the others who'd been close to him. Carlos, being
[38:27] Speaker 1: the manager he was, installed new security cameras around the building.
[38:31] Speaker 1: I wasn't going to take any chances. It's been a
[38:34] Speaker 1: few months now, and I'm no longer working at Wendy's.
[38:38] Speaker 1: I transferred to a Taco Bell across town. It was
[38:42] Speaker 1: a fresh start. No creepy co-workers, no weird vibes, just
[38:45] Speaker 1: me and some new faces. As for Dave... He's been
[38:48] Speaker 1: banned from every Wendy's in Dutchess County. He's out of
[38:52] Speaker 1: the picture now, but I know that feeling of his
[38:54] Speaker 1: eyes on me will never fully leave. Every time I
[38:57] Speaker 1: hear a car in the parking lot late at night,
[38:59] Speaker 1: I find myself glancing over my shoulder. I don't think
[39:03] Speaker 1: I'll ever forget the way he looked at me. The
[39:06] Speaker 1: way he made me feel like I was something to
[39:07] Speaker 1: be consumed. Like I was just another part of the
[39:10] Speaker 1: restaurant for him to claim. The frosty spoons. The ride requests.
[39:16] Speaker 1: The way he tried to make himself a friend when
[39:18] Speaker 1: he was really just a predator. I still can't shake
[39:21] Speaker 1: the feeling that somewhere, out there, Dave is watching. Maybe
[39:26] Speaker 1: from behind the bushes outside another Wendy's drive-thru, still waiting.

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