Survive the Night: A Novel

Charlie realizes Josh has been gaslighting her, and she concludes that he is the Campus Killer. Charlie plans her escape once again, now profoundly scared that Josh will chase and kill her. She waits and tries to act normal. Josh starts heading toward a diner, as some food will be good for Charlie. As a forest goes past, Charlie plans to jump out of the car again but ultimately decides it would be too dangerous. At the diner, a few vehicles are in the parking lot, including a driver in a pick-up truck. Charlie hopes that someone will help her. She also spots a payphone and plans to make a call.

Once in the diner, Charlie sits in a booth next to a couple. Josh sits at a table on the opposite side, however, forcing Charlie to move. Josh can now see the payphone from where they’re sitting. The waitress, Marge, takes their orders, with Josh ordering a coffee, Coke, and Salisbury steak and Charlie ordering a hot tea and fries. She’ll throw the tea in Josh’s face and escape if she has to. As Josh goes to turn on the jukebox, Charlie uses the opportunity to tell him she needs to make a call to her boyfriend. Charlie hopes this will be a chance to escape.

Outside, Charlie sees Josh drinking his coffee and uses the payphone to dial 911. Just as the dispatcher comes on, though, she sees that Josh is no longer at the booth and is now outside. She hangs up and tells him that she accidentally called the wrong number and has no more change. Josh gives her change, and she calls Robbie. She tells Robbie that she is in trouble and gives her location using fake calmness and code words, causing Robbie to panic. She soon hangs up, hoping he will call the police. Josh then says they should get out of the cold and back into the diner.

At his apartment, Robbie paces, worried about Charlie. When Charlie called him, he nearly ignored the call, still hurt that their relationship is ending. He still cares about her, though, which is why he answered. He thought Charlie was joking at first, but she is really in a dangerous situation. He calls the last number that called him and then calls 411. He tells the dispatcher the diner’s location, calls a local dispatcher, and tells her about Charlie. The dispatcher tells him she might try to get a police officer to investigate the diner. Robbie decides to get dressed and drive to help Charlie himself.

Charlie and Josh walk back into the diner. At the booth, they hear the payphone ring outside, but neither answers it. Charlie tells Josh the mysterious call was not Robbie, though she knows it was. Shortly after, Marge brings their food. As they eat, Josh asks Charlie why she was speaking in code to her boyfriend. He then confronts Charlie about her distrust. He says he is considering leaving her at the diner and driving on alone because she doesn’t trust him. This surprises Charlie, but she still thinks he is lying to her. That said, Charlie is exhausted by her fear and sadness and sick of using the movies in her mind to cope with her pain. Marge returns but accidentally spills Charlie’s tea on Maddy’s red coat. Marge apologizes, but Charlie is not upset and uses the opportunity to go to the bathroom. Charlie knows, though, that Josh will wait for her.

The narrator reveals that Marge suspects Charlie fears Josh. The waitress used her elbow to spill the tea on Charlie’s coat, forcing her to go into the bathroom so she could talk to her. The narrator also reveals that Marge has a late husband named Howard and that she has since gotten cancer. Marge grabs a bottle of club soda and goes to the women’s bathroom to talk to Charlie.

Charlie enters the diner bathroom and inspects the tea stain on the coat. She is sad because the coat reminds her of Maddy; even though she can still wear it, the coat will be damaged like her memories of her friend. Marge enters and offers to pay Charlie for the damage, but Charlie says it’s not necessary. Marge insists, though. She then tells Charlie that she is concerned that Josh wants to harm her. Charlie says nothing is wrong, not wanting to put Marge in danger. Marge then uses the club soda to get the tea stain out and apologizes for her questions. She says that she wanted to help her because women need to help each other. She then leaves the bathroom.

Alone, Charlie realizes she did not understand the dangers women face until Maddy’s death. Charlie blamed herself for Maddy’s death because society conditioned her to do so. It hits her that even if she escapes, Josh will keep killing other women. Charlie, therefore, lets go of her guilt and uses her anger to strengthen herself. She decides she will go back and try to stop Josh so that he will not kill any other woman again.

Marge knocks on the bathroom door to check if Charlie is okay, and Charlie realizes she saw a movie in her mind during her realization. Charlie says she is fine and proceeds with her plan to go with Josh. As Charlie returns to their booth, she turns the song on the jukebox to the one that played when Josh was gaslighting her. She subtly confronts him about his intentions and claims that she called the police. She also tells him she is going with him. Josh is worried, but she tells him she still needs to get home. Marge takes Charlie’s order off the check because of the coat spill, and Josh leaves a large tip. Before they leave, however, they both see a police car in the front window. A police officer named Tom enters and interrogates them. Charlie realizes Robbie called the police after she called him and that now is her chance to be free of Josh. However, Charlie then sees, in her mind, Josh pointing a steak knife toward Marge and imagines a scenario where Josh stabs her and Officer Tom shoots him. Charlie therefore stays with Josh. Marge tells Officer Tom that it was likely a troublemaker who made the call and that he can go. Charlie thinks back to when she learned about Stockholm syndrome in a psychology class and realizes that the captive women were not weak but scared. She intentionally tries to leave her backpack behind, but Tom points it out, forcing her to take it with her. Before leaving with Josh, though, she does manage to take the steak knife from the table.