"Dead Run" is the second segment of the nineteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''. This segment is based on the short story "Dead Run" by

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), c ...

, first published in '' Omni'' (April 1985). It follows a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

who gets a job transporting souls into

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

Plot

Johnny Davis is a truck driver unemployed due to his many accidents. Johnny asks Pete, a friend of his father, for help in getting a job. Pete warns Johnny that the jobs he takes require unusual fortitude. Johnny insists he has no alternative and Pete agrees to take him on his next run. Pete shows him that the job is to deliver

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

s to

via

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-traile ...

. At a

truck stop A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to moto ...

, they observe other truckers are nervous about disturbances in Hell. Dropping their cargo, Johnny is surprised that there is no punishment in Hell. Pete explains that Hell was not made for punishment, but to keep evildoers away from those who have chosen good. Souls run around loose and some plead with Johnny to rescue them. Other souls attack the drivers, but one of them, Gary Frick, comes to Johnny's aid. Gary tells Johnny he is an afterlife manager who was sent to Hell when he died, and has been starting an insurrection. Gary explains that a new bureaucracy has taken over the job of deciding who goes to

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

or Hell, and confides to Johnny the location of the road to Heaven. A guard sees Johnny with Gary and takes him to meet with upper management. Johnny relates what he heard and saw. The manager explains that God does not have time to personally judge the deceased. He points out that Johnny has no reason to believe the damned's claims that they are innocent, but Johnny still thinks his standards are too strict. He pretends to be convinced and is allowed to return to his job. Johnny interviews the dead that ride with him and decides which of them should go to Hell and which he should release and show the road to Heaven. Johnny likens himself to

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

, who descended into Hell to give the souls there another chance. He tells the freed souls that it is possible that from their perspective Heaven is actually worse than Hell, but it is their best chance.

References

* Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)

External links

* {{The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes 1986 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series season 1) episodes Television shows based on short fiction Television episodes about the afterlife fr:Le Convoi de la mort