Uberdark
A frightened girl hopes a rideshare is her escape from a cult in hot pursuit.

Often, the most terrifying predicaments start with an innocent, naive first step.

Meet Mary – fresh off the bus, she’s twenty something and fancy free. So much so she doesn’t even carry luggage; an oddity her rideshare driver Dennis points out soon after he pulls up to the curb.

Mary slides in. Introductions are exchanged. Even before Dennis hits the gas – the casual get-to-know-you chatter starts:

DENNIS 
No bags?

MARY
Is that a problem?

DENNIS
Uh, no... I mean, I was going to pop the trunk and throw them in for you. 
But hey, nothing wrong with traveling light. 
If you're always on the move they can't catch you.

MARY 
What?

DENNIS
Something my Uncle Jim always said.
He had a lot of sayings. 
Like, when I went off to college he told me,
"Don't let your meatloaf".

Mary doesn't get it, looks over her shoulder again.

DENNIS 
Yeah, he wasn't the best role model.

Yup, Dennis is a real charmer. A few more quips, and they’re off. 

Given Mary’s final destination’s way out in the boonies, Dennis soon starts yammering about “cults”. He waxes poetic of one he read about in Vermont, which sacrificed children in a lake.

Not exactly the most cuddly topic to raise with strangers. As the car speeds along, Mary’s nervous demeanor grows. But it’s not just Dennis…

...there’s a black van tailing them! And from Mary’s reaction, it appears she knows and fears WHO they are.

She slumps down in her seat, tries to hide.

MARY 
It's them.

DENNIS 
Them who?

Mary looks at him in the rearview, her pleading eyes tell the story.

DENNIS
Jesus, you were in a cult. 
I didn't know, I swear. 
And here I am, yapping away about cults. 
Cult cult cult.

Mary covers her ears.

Ignoring his GPS’s orders, Dennis takes twists and turns – temporarily shakes the van off.

But they haven’t reached Mary’s destination yet. What exactly is Mary running from? What’s the burned scar on her shoulder signify? Before we reach Uberdark’s even darker conclusion, the tale will take unexpected twists and turns, too. 

Thriller directors, you’d better snag this short for your next project… BEFORE that black van catches up!