"Whitefall"

Illustration by Jörn Heidrath

### Narrator(s)

Mick Wingert, Jessica McEvoy, Graham Rowat, David Cummings, Peter Lewis, Samantha Sloyan, Mike DelGaudio, Addison Peacock, Nikolle Doolin, Matthew Bradford, Kyle Akers, Atticus Jackson, Jason Wilson, Nichole Goodnight, Mary Murphy, Jeff Clement, Justin McCarthy, Owen McCuen, David Ault, Sarah Ruth Thomas, Jesse Cornett, Erin Lillis, Dan Zappulla, and Elie Hirschman

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"Suddenly Shocking, Vol. 10"

**"Whitefall"** is the only tale in the twenty-fifth episode of the twelfth season of The Nosleep Podcast. In it, a group of people become snowbound in a bus station. Written by C.K. Walker, it has a runtime of 2:26:00 and is performed by Mick Wingert, Jessica McEvoy, Graham Rowat, David Cummings, Peter Lewis, Samantha Sloyan, Mike DelGaudio, Addison Peacock, Nikolle Doolin, Matthew Bradford, Kyle Akers, Atticus Jackson, Jason Wilson, Nichole Goodnight, Mary Murphy, Jeff Clement, Justin McCarthy, Owen McCuen, David Ault, Sarah Ruth Thomas, Jesse Cornett, Erin Lillis, Dan Zappulla, and Elie Hirschman. It is the 1547th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

Kris and his girlfriend Melody begin having relationship issues. Fed up with always having to be there for her, he accepts a job on a tree farm from his cousin in Spokane, Washington, and buys a bus ticket with the intention of never coming back to his Virginia hometown. While waiting for the bus, Melody arrives and tearfully informs him that she is pregnant. Having a change of heart, he realizes that he loves Melody and wants to be a father. He tells her he'll go to Spokane to start collecting money. She says she'll live with their friend Mandy and save up to come to live with him in a few months. They kiss and the bus departs.

The driver, Bradley, informs the passengers that it will be a long trip before the first stop. Kris gets into a fight with another passenger, Mack, about holding up the bus. He finds comfort in the friendship of another passenger, a young woman named Gracie.

At the first stop, Kris attempts to call Melody, but gets Mandy instead. He gives Gracie the rest of his cigarettes, attempting to give them up for good, and holds up the bus again. He fights with Mack but they settle things. On this trip, he strikes up a conversation with another passenger, Dillon. Dillon is heading to see his girlfriend whom he hasn't seen in over a year.

At the next stop, Kris calls Melody and assures her everything is going okay. As they depart, Bradley gets off and another driver, Sandra, gets on. A sleazy passenger, Scraggle, boards and begins harassing Gracie. Kris and Dillon manage to get him to back down. At the next stop, Scraggle begins beating Dillon and Mack up and attempts to fondle Gracie. Kris drags him down the aisle and throws him off the bus with Sandra's help. The four bond over this experience.

They arrive in Whitefall, North Dakota at nightfall. A large crowd of people are at the station, and the passengers learn all buses have been canceled until further notice. Kris attempts to call Melody but a father and daughter, Emily and John, inform him that the phone lines are down. The two begin fighting with an affluent student, Acker. A man says he's going to try and brave the storm to go get some fast food, and collects money from the other passengers before departing.

In the morning, the stationmaster comes over the loudspeaker and informs the crowd that the snowstorm isn't expected to let up until the evening and that the buses are still cancelled. A British man asks Kris to get his money back from the man that left to get food, but he says he can't do anything. The day passes slowly, and Emily's brother Andy begins going crazy. Looking out the doors, they see that a tunnel of snow has formed outside.

A few more days pass. Everyone begins going stir-crazy with the lack of basic amenities. An update from the station master comes telling everyone that the snow is not expected to let up for another week or so. Slowly, the group inside the station begin to devolve into four factions based on where their bus was manufactured: Minneapolis, led by Kris, Kansas City, led by Acker, Denver, led by a woman named Amanda, and Salt Lake City, led by Emily.

Things get testy between the groups as the days pass. Kris almost gets into an altercation with Amanda while buying food from a vending machine in the Denver section. Acker slowly reveals himself to be a ruthless leader, refusing to bargain with the other groups. Kris and a medical student in his group, Miles, work to ration out the food to a manageable level.

A man is beaten up by the Denver group for attempting to buy food from the vending machine. A woman with a baby struggles to feed it. Two men, one from Salt Lake City and one from Denver, argue. Emily and John approach Kris' group and agree to a trade deal for some of their food. The pair are harshly rejected by Acker.

The station slowly begins to break down. The bathrooms overflow, food runs low, and the groups grow bored. Mack passes the time writing a letter to someone and Dillon draws. A week passes and another update comes from the stationmaster, informing the crowd the wait will be at least another week.

Driven to madness, the group rushes the office of the station, only to find it deserted. However, inside, they find more food and books that can be used for reading and kindling. Kris and Amanda form an alliance based on mutual respect. Acker's group takes up residence inside the office. Kris continues to call Melody every night, even though there is nothing but static, to tell her that he'll always be there for her.

As the food continues to run out, morale drops. Amanda informs Kris that a dead woman they threw outside a few days ago is now missing. Smelling cooking meat coming from the office, Kris realizes that Acker's group has resorted to cannibalism.

A man from Salt Lake City, Jeremy, attempts to spy on Kansas City but is caught. In order to punish him, Acker insists the other member of his group beat him to death, which they do.

The power goes out and the heat turns off. In order to keep warm, each group burns books or wooden furniture from the station. The death toll rises as more people succumb to starvation or disease. In an apparent deal gone bad unknown to the other two groups, Acker severely injures Emily by shoving her head in a fire and orders her to pick someone to execute. She chooses John, who is hung from the rafters. The rest of the Salt Lake City group die and are eaten by Kansas City.

Minneapolis and Denver attempt to avoid cannibalism from as long as possible, but eventually both groups resort to it. Kris, saddened by Amanda's rapid decline in health, promises to keep watch on her behalf. During a change in shifts, Kanas City robs Denver of the rest of their food. Amanda dies soon after, much to Kris' horror. He berates Acker for his cruelty and cannibalism but receives only hollow justifications and contempt in response.

During a nighttime attack, the rest of Denver are murdered by Kansas City and eaten. Mack tells Kris that the letter he's been writing is to his long-lost daughter, Elaine, whom he was on his way to meet for the first time. He asks him to promise he will eat him after he dies so he can retain energy to see Melody and his future child.

All of Minneapolis except for Kris reluctantly begin to eat their dead, taking turns standing in front of the fire for warmth. Kris sees Acker's group preparing to murder a healthy man and tries to intervene, only to start a brawl between the two groups. In the struggle, Mack is killed and Kris is knocked out.

Kris tries to refuse to eat Mack's corpse, but Dillon informs him it's what he would have wanted. He also reveals that he's gay and was actually on the way to see his boyfriend. Kris places Mack's letter in his bag and spends the night sleeping next to Gracie.

In the morning, the station suddenly comes to life and the disembodied stationmaster radios in again, informing everyone that the buses are back on schedule. In shellshock, the crowd finds their respective routes and board. The driver, Richard, appears normal and doesn't seem to know that anything is amiss. Kris looks at Dillon and Gracie one last time before the bus pulls away. The town of Whitefall doesn't appear to exist and around them is nothing but a featureless white landscape.

Acker is on the same bus as Kris and takes a seat next to him, taunting him for his supposed hypocrisy to resorting to cannibalism. The bus stops at a McDonalds and Kris looks at his watch before realizing that only a single night has passed despite the fact they appeared to be inside the station for over a month. He tearfully calls Melody and says he'll always be there for her. At what would have been Mack's stop he finds Elaine waiting excitedly with her children and husband. He gives her the letter and tells her her father very much wanted to see her. The bus stops in Spokane and he beats Acker up before getting off.

Kris begins working and saves up enough to buy a plane ticket to bring Melody over. They settle there and have a daughter, Amanda Gracie. He calls the bus company, but they inform him that no station named Whitefall exists, nor is there a town anywhere in the U.S. with that name. The dead from the ordeal are declared missing persons. Kris loves his life with Melody and his daughter but has been haunted by nightmares since he escaped.

## Cast

Mick Wingert as Kris Stikes

Jessica McEvoy as Gracie

Graham Rowat as Dillon/Scraggle

David Cummings as Arthur Warren MacKenzie a.k.a 'Mack'

Peter Lewis as Acker

Samantha Sloyan as Emily Pollock

Mike DelGaudio as John Pollock

Addison Peacock as Melody

Nikolle Doolin as Amanda

Matthew Bradford as Miles

Atticus Jackson as the stationmaster's voice

Kyle Akers as man beaten up for eating from vending machine

Jason Wilson as Jeremy

Nichole Goodnight as Mandy

Mary Murphy as Elaine

Jeff Clement as Andy

Justin McCarthy as man from Denver

Owen McCuen as man from Salt Lake City

David Ault as British man

Sarah Ruth Thomas as woman with baby

Jesse Cornett as Bradley

Erin Lillis as Sandra

Dan Zappulla as Richard

Elie Hirschman as man that leaves to get fast food