He glanced over at Dan, put the truck into drive, and pulled back on the road heading towards 10.
Chapter Four
As if a gift from the heavens, Tyler noticed a gas station a quarter mile from 10. Cars lined the street both ways as people tried to fill their tanks full of gas. He'd seen lines like this since he was a kid, during the oil shortages in the late 1970s. He couldn't remember why the shortage happened back then, but was sure it wasn't something like this.
"You think they have any gas left?" Marcy asked.
"Doubt they'd be lined up if they didn't." There was a chance the people were here for other things they needed like food and water, or maybe things to help keep their cars running like oil. But even then, the odds were against having people lined up like they were. Tyler pulled his truck in line behind one in the southbound line and Dan pulled in behind him. He wasn't sure if they had diesel at this station, but didn't care. He wasn't going to miss the opportunity to fill up his tank, even if Dan couldn't fill his.
To Tyler's amazement, the line moved fairly quick. He'd been expecting the line to be a slog, keeping them here for hours. But after ten minutes they were already sitting in the parking lot.
Tyler watched the flow of traffic on the right, where the people parked coming in from the north. The two sets of pumps were running in tandem. The pumps closest to the building held the northbound traffic while the ones closest to the road held traffic heading south. As people pulled into the lot most would pull up to a pump, get out, and insert the nozzle into their tanks. After a moment, they'd head inside.
Being so far away, Tyler assumed those people were heading in to pay, but now that they were closer he noticed it wasn't the case.
These people weren't leaving with a full tank of gas. They were leaving empty-handed. Yet, he could tell it wasn't the case with everyone that pulled in as some came back out to their cars and stood outside, filling their tanks. He wondered why some were being taken care of while others were being sent away.
"What do you think is going on in there?" Marcy asked, referring to the business inside.
"No idea. Guess I'll find out soon enough."
A few minutes later, Tyler pulled up to a pump. Like everyone before him, he put the nozzle in his tank and waited for a response. After a minute when nothing happened, he decided he better head inside. Before he did, he went into the truck and grabbed a handgun for protection. From what he'd seen, most of the people had been civil. Even the ones that left empty-handed seemed to be holding their tempers in check. While he didn't expect it to change once he walked in, he felt the need carry the weapon.
To play it safe.
"Lock the doors," Tyler said as he tucked the gun into his waistband. "Don't open them for anyone but me."
Marcy nodded and moved a hand to the dashboard.
Tyler smiled at not having to tell her to be ready to protect herself.
With his gun at the ready, he made the short trip to the front of the store. The front of the station was unusually bare. Gone were the usual displays of soda, firewood, and windshield washer fluid that usually sat out front. Glass windows lined the entire length of the building though paper or something else just as solid blocked the view inside. Even the glass double doors had something attached to it. Opening the door, he finally realized the reason for the obstruction.
Inside the door, two men holding rifles stood at the ready on each side. Bandanas covered their lower face, leaving only their eyes exposed. A line of people stretched from the counters, ten deep, leading to another pair of armed men standing on each side of the counter.
Most of the store shelves were bare. The only items remaining were personal toiletry items and other things that have limited value in a chaotic world. It was a stark contrast to the life he remembered living just days ago. A life where the only things missing on the shelves would be the items purchased that day and hadn't had a chance to be replaced on the shelves.
As Tyler stood in the back of the line, he looked around his shoulders, marveling at the emptiness of it all. The place felt gutted, like someone knew it was just a matter of time until the value of the property plummeted to near zero. The combination of the location next to the highway, the power needed to keep the place running, and the glass in front made it a poor place to hole up. In other words, the same things that had this place thriving in the past.
Tyler tried to listen into the conversation up ahead as the line shifted forward, wanting to get a gauge on why some people were being serviced while others were being turned away. Yet other than the armed men protecting the store, business was running like usual. People pulled out their wallets or purses to pay for the gas they intended to buy outside. The first two people in line walked out holding a white receipt, proof they got what they were here for. A woman three people in front of Tyler was the first snag.
"Cash only," the cashier barked with confidence, which seemed amazing coming from her small form. The blond haired woman behind the counter stood maybe five-two and couldn't way an ounce over eighty pounds.
"But all I have is my debit card. It's like cash." The woman in front of the line shifted through her purse looking for another way to pay.
"It's not like cash, ma'am. Bank computers are down." The cashier leaned over the counter, getting a better look in the woman's purse. "What kind of pills are those?"
"Antibiotics," the woman said. As she said the words, she blinked as a fresh tear fought its way from her eyes. "It was my son's."
"Tell you what I'll do. Three pills for a gallon."
The woman's head snapped up in surprise.
Tyler's did too. He marveled at the thought that anything but cash could be used as currency.
But as he thought about it, it didn't seem out of place. He wondered, in fact, how much longer cash would be used at currency at all. When the green strips of paper everyone spent their lives to accumulating would finally cease to have any value.
Then his thoughts drifted to his wallet, and the lack of cash inside. How was he going to fill up his truck if he didn't have a way to pay? Then he thought about the stuff in the back of the truck. The supplies he'd been gifted with the return of his truck.
Perhaps they'll take some of the stuff as payment for some gas. He thought, perhaps the beer was the most valuable of the bunch and that he might be able to get what he needed with just a few cases. The only issue he might have would be stopping the crowds from raiding the rest of the stock, but he hoped the armed men might have something to say about that. At worst, he'd pull out one of the M-16s while they did the transaction to keep everyone clear.
The line in front of Tyler moved swiftly. Most of the people looking to buy gas were turned away for one reason or another. The most common reason being the prevalence of debit cards in the world and society's reliance on plastic. A reliance Tyler was not immune to.
Just like the others before him, most of his physical wealth lived on a server somewhere. A sequence of ones and zeros telling a computer how much money he had. Servers he didn't expect to be running any time soon.
The woman in front of Tyler turned to the door, frowning nearly to the point of tears. Her tank was nearing empty and she needed a few gallons to get to her family in Atlanta. Tyler felt for the woman, but couldn't do anything for her. Shit, he wasn't sure if he had anything they'd want to get some gas of his own. She had one advantage over him in that her trip could be made with a single tank of gas. This fill up would be the first of a handful he'd have to make. The thought of it made him cringe.
"How much you looking for, bub?" the female cashier barked, eyes focused on Tyler's.
It took a grunt from one of the nearby gunmen to break him out of his trance.
"I'm sorry. I need to fill up."
"Which car?"
"The blue truck out front. Pump two I think." He'd made a note of the pump before coming in, but the scene had him rattled.
"How are you paying?"
"Well, I assume deb
it is out of the question."
"Indeed," the woman said, not amused.
"I have some supplies in the truck. Food, water," Tyler said, then glanced at the man with the gun to his right and said, "beer."
"How much beer we talking about? A case or two?"
"A bit more than that," he said, not wanting to clue the others in line about his cache.
"Hmmph." The woman pulled out a pad of paper and wrote something down. Tyler wished he could see over the counter at what the woman was writing, but assumed she was working the numbers in her head. He knew she had a firm grasp on how much things were going for here and what she could get for it. He didn't doubt she'd work her profit or needs into the equation, but he could deal with a bit of padding.
"Tell you what," she said. "Assuming your supply is decent beer, I'll give you three gallons for a case. If you are carrying shit, you get shit, we square?"
"Four gallons," Tyler countered. Four gallons would put the price of gas somewhere in the four dollar range. It was still high for what it was, but he would be a start.
"Three," she said as she gave him a disgusted look. "My offer is firm. You either take it, or leave it."
"Take it," Tyler said without hesitating. He had more than enough beer to fill up his tank and have some to spare. Saying he found another station willing to haggle he had enough for another tank, give or take a few gallons.
"Good. Harv here will escort you back to your truck. Once he sees you have what you promised, you'll be allowed to fill up."
"Sounds good," Tyler said, and turned around.
"Piece of advice," she said before he made it to the door. "Don't fuck with Harv. He's been itching for an excuse to pull the trigger all day."
Tyler nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
Tyler and Harv walked out the door and to his truck. As he walked around the front, Marcy looked at him with a raised eyebrow to which he responded with a thumbs up. Through the window he saw she was still holding the handgun which made him feel a bit easier about the situation. Once he pulled the cover, he didn't expect Harv to be upset, but he wasn't nearly as sure about the others in the lot or the cars behind him in line. All it would take was a desperate person to see something and the place would be whipped into a frenzy.
He stopped behind the cab and lifted a corner of the cover revealing the cases of beer. "Budweiser fine?"
Harv grunted, which Tyler assumed to be a yes.
"How do we do this?"
"You fill your tank, I take the beer. Thought you had that part covered." Harv emphasized the words, trying too hard to be sarcastic, as if he'd spent his life preparing for a time to use the line.
"I mean, do I fill up first or what?"
"Yep," Harv replied.
Tyler wanted to ask him what his response was supposed to mean, but figured it meant he was good to go. He pulled the gas cap off the tank, grabbed the pump which he found already turned on and approved, then started pumping.
As the numbers flew by he counted the number of cases he owed the station in his head. It had been a long time since he'd paid for anything in beer. The last time he remembered doing it was when he got home. That was less of a case of paying in beer than it was him being the one to buy while his old high school friends paid for the rest. Nothing like what he was doing here.
The lever popped a little over sixteen gallons, meaning he owed Harv here about five and a half cases of beer though he suspected they didn't want payment for anything smaller than the whole.
"Six cases," Harv grunted, confirming his math.
Harv reached over the side of the truck and plucked two cases of beer from the back while Tyler did the same. They walked them across the lot and into the building. Inside, Harv lead Tyler to the back room where they placed the beer in a walk in cooler, behind the racks that once held hundreds of bottles of soda, so the beer was well out of view.
Tyler followed Harv back out of the truck and helped him grab two more cases, which Harv took with a grunt. Once Harv was walking away, Tyler secured the cover over the supply he had left. He knew others had seen what he had with him, but was amazed to see the restraint they held. Part of him believed it was only the men with the guns inside that kept them from rushing the truck and taking everything he owned.
He walked to the driver's side door and tapped the window. Marcy flipped the locks open, unlocking the door with a click.
"Beer for gas," she grinned, unable to hide her delight. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Me neither," he agreed. "Ready to get out of Dodge?"
Marcy nodded, then looked around. "Where's Dan?"
Tyler shrugged. Last he remembered, Dan was behind him in line. Him not being around must've meant he went off on his own, or had to go to a different place to pump. But the thought of that reminded him it didn't make sense. The only pumps the station had were all out front. If he was getting fuel, he had to be close.
Then Tyler caught a glimpse of him to his right, through the windows of the cars lined up on the other side of the pumps. He was parked against the curb line, leaned against the window like he was asleep. For a moment, Tyler thought he might be able to get out of town without his tail. Just like that, rid of the one person who had plagued him for days.
He was about to put the truck in drive when he noticed someone walking up to Dan's truck. He stopped at the bed, his jaw dropping as he noticed the supplies in the back. The stuff he'd insisted get split evenly.
Two other men approached the truck cautiously, both splitting up and taking a side while the original man moved closer to the window.
"What are they doing?" Marcy asked, referring to the men.
"The supplies," Tyler said. It didn't take a genius to understand what they wanted. Especially now that he'd been able to fill up his tank for a few cases of beer. "They must think they can pay with the stuff he has. That or they want it for themselves." It didn't make a difference. They intended on stealing the stuff and that's all that mattered.
Tyler slammed his hand on the horn. The loud sound jolted Dan out of his slumber in time to notice the men swarming the truck. He reached for the door to open it, but the man at his door pushed his weight up against it, making it impossible to open.
While he was distracted, the other two reached in back and grabbed a handful of stuff. Unlike the cashier inside, they weren't content with the beer. They went for a mix of water and the canned goods.
As the men pulled out the first handfuls, people in the nearby cars made a rush at the truck. Before long, dozens of people were rushing the truck. Each hoping for an armful of their own.
"What are we going to do?"
Tyler thought hard about leaving. Dan falling asleep in clear view of a bustling parking lot with a truck full of supplies was asking for trouble. Tyler had given him more than his fair share of what they had to split. If he was willing to squander it by being reckless, who was he to judge.
Dan forced the door open, pushing the man to the floor. He spared a glance at the bed of the truck, where people were busy picking it clean then returned his gaze to the man. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his knife, and leapt on the man, pinning him to the ground. The man fought to toss Dan off, but he'd had enough. With one smooth swipe, he passed the blade along the man's throat.
As his blood squirted out, coating Dan, the first gunshot rang out then he dropped to the ground. Bits of his brain now peppering the supplies in the back and the looters that rushed to carry them away.
Continued in Episode Six
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The Demontouched Saga
Demontouched - The Complete Saga
Demontouched - Book 1
Fallen - Book 2
Reaper - Book 3
Vessel - Book 4
Sacrifice - Book 5
Risen - Book 6
Echoes of Tomorrow
Season One
The Demontouched Saga
Demontouched - The Complete Saga
Demontouched - Book 1
Fallen - Book 2
Reaper - Book 3
Vessel - Book 4
Sacrifice - Book 5
Risen - Book 6
The Nephalem Files
Sparked
Vampire for Hire
Dead of Night
Astraea Renata Books
Far Too Young to Die
Echoes of Tomorrow
Season One
Echoes of Tomorrow Season One: Episode Five (Echoes of Tomorrow: Season One Book 5) Page 3
