Full Body Chills - Delivery

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

A story about a delivery with a deadly destination. Written by John Reiner. You can read the original story and view the episode art at fullbodychillspodcast.com.Looking for more chills? Follow Full Body Chills on Instagram @fullbodychillspod. Full Body Chills is an audiochuck production. Instagram: @audiochuckTwitter: @audiochuckFacebook: /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck Brought to you by FX's American Horror Stories. Four Episode Huluween Event Streaming October 26th. Only on Hulu.

This episode was produced with audio effects in full surround sound. For the best experience, we kindly recommend you listen with headphones. Hi, listeners. I'm Harley Jay, and I have a story I want to tell you. A story about a delivery with a deadly destination. So gather around and listen. Close. Growing up, my family never had much money. I'd say we were well off, but nowhere near as well as our neighbors.

We lived by cutting corners, wearing hand-me-down clothes, eating nothing but leftovers, and sharing one car. Regardless, once I graduated high school, I was determined to go to college. But tuition isn't exactly cheap, and so it was, in no uncertain terms, a challenge. Most days I was at class, most nights I was studying, and somewhere in between I was trying to work enough hours to support myself and not drown in a river of debt. There were few jobs that could work around my schedule, and even fewer which weren't overly intensive or above minimum wage. But then I found what I thought was the perfect temporary college job.

Pizza delivery. Now, before you scoff, just hear me out. The pay was only slightly better than average, but the pizza place was right down the street from where I lived, and they allowed students to do their schoolwork while work was slow. It was perfect. I'd bring all my books, sit in the back and scratch off a few assignments, and then when there was a delivery, I would load up the food, type the address in my phone, head off and come back. Easy. And everyone there was super cool. They had a few students work there before, so they knew the deal. They were flexible, and I was grateful for that. One evening, I got a delivery for a place a little ways outside of

town and in an area I wasn't familiar with. But as usual, I put down my schoolwork, grab the two pizzas and free order of garlic nuts, and load it into my beat-up old 4Runner before punching in the address and hitting the road. It was fairly late in the evening. The place I worked at closed at 11 and it was nearing 1040 or 1050. It was more than likely going to be my last delivery of the day, which had me eager to be done. It was a Friday, and so there was nothing I was looking forward to more than a weekend of doing nothing. As I crossed the town border, I glanced back at the food to make sure everything was still secured. Nothing sinks your tips faster than jacked-up pizza. Everything looked good.

In three miles, turn right. Huh. That was weird. It was telling me to make a right up ahead on a road that connected our town with the next one. As far as I knew, there really weren't any houses or neighborhoods this way. Just a long stretch of woods. I made the turn like the GPS said, but then pulled over. Just to be sure this wasn't a glitch, I pinched out on the map so I could see where it was taking me. It looked like a little ways down the road there was a small neighborhood.

I sat for a moment wondering, but not really knowing what I was wondering about. Just deliver the pizza, I told myself. So, fearing that the order may get cold, and fearing my tip may be lost, I shifted my car back into drive and continued on. I drove for about five or six minutes before glancing at my phone again. It was telling me I still had another seven miles before the turnoff. Wait, that couldn't be right. When I pulled over, it said it was three miles to the neighborhood. While driving, I pinched the GPS out again to take a wider look at where I was going, and I swear it was different than when I looked the first time. Now it didn't have me going to that small neighborhood, but a turnoff down a long road that went into the woods. Maybe it rerouted me?

I continued on, but with a weird feeling now. I was probably being paranoid, but I was already iffy about driving so far out of town, and now it was dark, and now my GPS was acting like... I don't know, it just gave me the creeps. Turn right. But before long, there was the turn. I slowed and saw the numbers 2808 affixed to a ratty-looking mailbox. Beyond it was a long dirt road which must have been a driveway. The mailbox had the right address, but I couldn't see any house. Slowly, I made the turn and continued following my GPS.

I was never more thankful to drive an SUV. The dirt road was narrow and rough, throwing the car one way than the other. Only my headlights illuminated the drive, the trees lining both sides like a long, dark hallway. As my car buckled even more, I glanced back again to make sure the pizzas didn't go overboard. Then, after maybe two or three minutes of driving down this road, it just stopped.

The road dead-ended, and I was left sitting in my car with my headlights shining only on trees. There was no house. Destination 100 feet ahead. I sat there in confusion for a moment before suddenly and abruptly getting a chill and mashing the lock door button. This couldn't be the right address. 100 feet ahead of me was just... forest. I called back to the pizzeria to let them know what was going on and to confirm the address. Hey, man.

Uh, what's up? Hey, Mike. Uh, I think my GPS is bugging out or something. It's taking me out to the middle of nowhere. Can you double check the address for me? Yeah, yeah, one moment. Uh, two pizzas and garlic knots for 288, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, 2808 Barbary Road. You got it?

Yeah, I, no. 2808 Barbary Road. You got it? Yeah, I got it. And that's what I got on my GPS, but all that's out here is a mailbox. I followed the driveway, but there's no house. Weird. You sure you didn't pass it or something? Yeah, I mean, there's nothing out here. If there was anything, I would have seen it. Then, I guess, just head on back. If the customer calls to complain, I'll just say there was an issue with the address. Okay, thanks. I'll head back now.

Yeah. I was relieved to finally get out of this forest, and went to turn off my phone's GPS when... Destination 70 feet ahead. I stared at it for a moment. 70 feet? But I didn't even move the car. Destination 50 feet ahead. I looked up through my windshield, half expecting to see a house randomly appear in front of me.

But nothing. Just woods. Destination 40 feet ahead. I looked up through my windshield, half expecting to see a house randomly appear in front of me. But nothing. Just woods. Destination. Forty feet ahead. My eyes were fixed on the woods, scanning the area lit up by my headlights with everything else surrounded in pitch black darkness. And then I saw it. It was peeking out from behind a tree. Its frame was like a human's, but massive, double the size of a full-grown man. I only caught it because of its skin, this fleshy pink color, but wrinkled and worn like old leather.

Its oversized hand wrapped around a whole tree as it spied at me with black oval eyes, its mouth agape as if it was screaming, but there was no sound. I froze, staring at this thing, and it stared back. In the headlights, I could see a trail of thick, mucus-like saliva slowly dripping from its mouth. I don't think this thing wanted pizza. I think it had something very different in mind for tonight's meal. I saw it take a step forward from behind the tree. Its arms were long and thin, but sturdy, like branches from a tree. It stood almost eight feet tall, its head tilted like it was sniffing the air. But it kept its black, empty eyes fixed on me. My GPS chimed. Destination, 38 feet ahead.

All at once, I jammed the car into reverse and began racing down the long dirt road GPS chimed. Destination 38 feet ahead. All at once I jammed the car into reverse and began racing down the long dirt road until the creature was just at the edge of my headlights. But I could tell it was chasing me. And it was fast. My GPS kept chiming over and over like it couldn't make up its mind. Destination 25 feet ahead. Destination 29 feet ahead. Destination 24 feet ahead. Destination 29 feet ahead. Destination 24 feet ahead. Destination... And then my phone battery went dead. I could feel my SUV hitting rocks and potholes and scraping the sides of trees as I floored it backwards out of the forest. But I didn't care.

All I cared about was putting as much distance between me and that thing as possible. It seemed like an eternity, but I finally flew out of the forest backwards onto the main road. cared about was putting as much distance between me and that thing as possible. It seemed like an eternity, but I finally flew out of the forest, backwards onto the main road. Holy shit! I whipped my wheel around and began flooring it back to town, glancing in my rearview mirror to make sure that thing wasn't still following me. I went straight home that night.

I didn't go back to the restaurant. I didn't even care. I would just have to come up with some explanation in the morning. But for now, I had to reconcile what I just saw. I needed to process it. What the hell was that thing out there? The first thing I did was go on my computer and Google the address. None of the map results matched the area that I was in. How was that possible?

I knew what I would do. Tomorrow, when I was back at the pizza place, I would look up the number that called to place the order and see if I could find any more information about it. I needed to know more about that thing in the woods. And suddenly, like jet lag, all of my panic and adrenaline finally wore off, leaving only exhaustion. I slipped into bed, my eyelids already closing. I rolled over and plugged my phone into the exhaustion. I slipped into bed, my eyelids already closing. I rolled over and plugged my phone into the charger. And as I drifted off to sleep, I heard the familiar sound of my phone

powering. But then, my eyes shot back open as I heard my GPS. Destination reached. What do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? This story was modified slightly for audio retelling, but you can find the original in full on our website. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?