If there was a worse place to run out of gas, Gina wasn’t aware of it. She had made the trip so many times before without stopping; something must be wrong with the car. Now, she found herself in a gritty neighborhood looking for a gas station and nothing else. She fumbled for her cell- dead battery.
The chill of the night air and the loneliness of the 3am streets made her uneasy, to say the least. All she could see was a combination laundromat and liquor store, and a chain-link fence with barbed wire that contained... maybe an elementary school?
She jumped as she heard a voice behind her call out.
“You need a hand, missy?”
A slim, short man with a nice suit and fedora walked over to her. He wore a charming smile, which Gina did not appreciate.
“Um, I- no. I mean, yes. Can I use your phone?”
The man shook his head.
“Don’t have one. Got a car, though, if you need a ride somewhere.”
He stepped in closer to Gina, close enough for her to smell the foulness of his breath, like he’d been eating tar.
“No thanks. I just need to find a gas station. Do you know where one is?”
“Not one for a dozen blocks or so. And I wouldn’t try and walk there. A bunch of crazies live around here. No telling what might happen to you.”
Gina couldn’t think, instead too preoccupied with veiling her panic. She stammered something incomprehensible, followed by a jerk when she heard another man call out from the dark distance.
“See? The crazies will find you eventually. And this one- sometimes gets violent.”
Instinctively, Gina hid behind the man in the suit.
“Hey! Hey you!” barked the crazy, brushing his mangy hair from his face.
Suddenly, the crazy started sprinting towards them, still shouting.
“You still want that ride, missy?”
She didn’t have to say anything, but just followed the man as he ran to an old Caddy. She flung open the door, leapt inside, and the man locked the doors. Breathing heavily from the adrenaline, she lunged backwards as the man arrived at the car and pounded on her window, screaming for her to get out.
“Let’s get out of here, missy, ok?”
Gina nodded as the man turned the ignition.
“Get out! (pound) He ate my dog!”
He put the car into gear.
“That man! (pound) Ate! (pound) My DOG!”
The tires squealed as they sped away. Taking some deep breaths and returning to her seat, Gina started crying, then burst into laughter.
“How far until the gas station?”
The man said nothing, just smiling that smile. She tried to unlock her door. It didn’t budge.
“The lock is sticky,” he finally said. “And... I don’t think I can wait until the gas station. Your panic so whetted my appetite that I’m voracious.”
