by Milo Abrams
to put the gas can back here?"
James leaned his head out the window and squeaked, "I'm sorry Dad, I completely forgot! I just got the stuff from the barn when you were already in the truck."
Nolan came up to the window and rested his arms on the hole in the door frame. He looked at the sun, wiped his forehead and smiled at James. "Preteen brain. Well, looks like we're walking. Maybe old man Cray can help."
His dad wasn't mad but James was. Walking for miles in over ninety-degree heat with no shade was hellish. James hated the heat as it was.
They started off down the road and slowly the truck sank into the hazy horizon behind them. James handled the first mile well enough, but by the time they got through the second mile they didn't even bother trying to talk. All energy was used to walk, sweat and breathe.
"Man," Nolan said, "there is just no shade to rest in, huh?"
James looked back at him, beet red and pouring with sweat. He was too tired to talk. He had heard news stories about people dying in the summer heat but he never took them seriously. Cray's Hardware was only about five miles from the truck, but it was a long way to walk in such extreme heat.
The thought had crossed Nolan's mind that maybe this had been a bad idea, but he really didn't have any other choice. They were closer to Cray's than to home and while they had walked past a couple of houses on their way, he was too embarrassed to stop and ask to use someone's phone or ask them for a ride. There was no one he could call but Margaret, and he wasn't about to look like a weenie in front of his wife.
James knew none of this, of course, because Nolan wasn't about to show him such weakness. He already blamed himself for James's dependency on technology and his apparent lack of independence. James was a sweet boy and he just wanted to toughen him a little bit. Nolan knew that the world could be a cold place and sometimes you needed thick skin. But the world wasn't cold during their walk to Cray's, and seeing his baby boy suffer in the heat so much broke his heart. He waved James to the side of the road where they sat down to rest.
James tried to cover his eyes from the sun. "How much to go?" he asked.
"Not too much further," Nolan lied. He knew they had only gone about two and half miles. "We'll be there before you know it." He wished he had brought some water or something for his son. Their fun day was turning out to be terrible, if not dangerous.
"You hear that?" James said suddenly.
"Hear what?"
James looked around. "That humming. A car maybe?"
They looked down the road and sure enough there was a car heading their way. A truck to be precise.
"Should we try and stop them?" James asked.
Nolan's pride conflicted with his common sense. "They might just keep going. People don't like hitch hikers."
"Oh," James said. He really wasn't up for walking the rest of the way.
Nolan struggled with his pride over whether to try and stop the stranger and ask for a ride. They were headed in the right direction. By the time he finished compiling a list of pros and cons in his head, the truck rolled up to a stop in front of them. It was white and real beat up with a faded decal of Richard Petty's racing number on the side. The window rolled down and a voice rolled out with it.
"You aren't going to walk any further, are you?"
Nolan looked up to see Charlie, the clerk from Cray's hardware sitting happily in the air-conditioned truck.
"Charlie!" Nolan said jumping to his feet.
"Hey Doc. I saw your truck back there. Break down?"
"Nah, just out of gas. Can you give us a lift to Cray's?" He waved to James to get up.
"Hop in!" Charlie said smiling.
There isn't much that compares to hopping into cool water or an air-conditioned room when you're on the verge of heat exhaustion. The temperature difference was so drastic that Nolan and James felt a chill upon stepping into the truck as the icy air blasted across their sweating bodies.
"Lucky seeing you," Nolan said resting his head against the back of the seat.
"Glad to share the luck today," Charlie said, "was on my way back from Kellogsville to pick up parts and just back there I almost hit a bunch of deer."
"Oh yeah?" James looked at Charlie.
"It was crazy. A whole flock of ‘em came running out of the trees and just flew across the field. The brakes might be good on this thing but it takes a bit to stop and I was going about fifty. Almost plowed into them. Had to be like a dozen or more."
"You were lucky," Nolan said. "Sounds like they were spooked."
Spooked. James didn't know how far from his house this had happened, but he wondered if the monster in the woods had anything to do with it. It made him nervous thinking that it might not just stay behind the house but maybe went all over. The more he thought about it the more frightened he was. If the monster that lived in the woods only stayed behind his house then that meant it was always there, but if did leave then it could be anywhere.
They pulled into Cray's parking lot and went inside. "Look who I found walking," Charlie said to old man Sam, who was counting the money in the cash register.
"Nolan! James! It's an awful hot day to be walking?"
Nolan played it cool, "Truck ran out of gas before I could get it into town. Do you have any, or maybe a can I can buy?"
"Of course," Sam said walking out from behind the counter. "Charlie, we have any gas in the mower can?"
"Sure do, just filled it up yesterday."
Sam’s smile hinted at pain. He walked behind the counter to close the register when Nolan picked up on it.
“Hey Sam, everything okay?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” he said. He put his hand up as Nolan pulled out his wallet. “Please, it's just a little gas.”
Charlie came back carrying a large bright yellow can that had the word DIESEL etched into the side. "Don't worry, Dr. Callum, it's unleaded. I just use this one because it's the biggest can we've got."
"Great," Nolan said pulling out his wallet, "I need another bag of deer feed if you would, please."
Charlie nodded then disappeared again. It was then that Nolan looked around and noticed more empty spaces along the shelves and walls than he had ever seen before. He turned back to Sam, once again withdrawing his wallet.
“Selling a lot? Looking pretty bare in here.”
Sam sighed. “Actually, we had a break-in last night.”
The concern covered Nolan’s face the way India Ink bleeds into a bright white cloth. “Jesus, Sam, what happened?”
Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he were having trouble remembering the details. “I had to come back here last night to pick up a few things for some projects at home. It was late but I'm old and stubborn and I wanted to get it done. It drives me nuts to try and carry something into the next day. Anyway, when I pulled up something just didn't feel right. I got inside and the place was as you see it now.” He walked out from behind the counter and pointed at the walls as he talked.
“There were all sorts of things missing. Chains, tow straps, and tools. That's why I had to send Charlie down to Kellogsville this morning to pick up some stuff.”
Nolan frowned. “I'm really sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said as he reached underneath the counter and pulled a rifle up onto the counter. He patted it gently. “I'm going to be spending the night here tonight and let’s just say I hope whoever it was doesn't come back—for their sake.”
Nolan looked at his son and chuckled to lighten the mood. “That's country justice for you.”
Sam put the gun away and dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a rag. “You know, at first I thought old Dell was just a drunk, but after last night I think he's a drunk who had his tractor stolen.”
“Do you think it was the same guy?” Nolan asked.
Sam shrugged.
James felt bad for what happened as much as a kid could. His mind was still laser focused on the game camera and he was restless standing around in the old hardware store. After a few m
ore minutes Charlie emerged from the back with another bag of deer feed and put it in the back of the hardware store’s truck. They bid their goodbyes to Sam and were off again with Charlie, back to Nolan’s empty truck.
The day hadn't been ruined after all. With deer feed in the back and an air-conditioned ride back to the rusty Red Rocket, James was again excited about the day ahead. Saying goodbye to Charlie was bittersweet for James because, unlike his dad’s truck, Charlie had air conditioning.
They would have just enough gas to get them to a truck stop just outside Bugby. James spent the ride thinking about what happened to Charlie and hoped the monster wasn't following him.
It obviously isn't afraid of the daylight, he thought. The more he thought about it the more unreal it seemed. Maybe it isn't even there at all and I'm just crazy.
Nolan finally turned down the radio as he pulled into the truck stop’s gas station sputtering. "The food's pretty good, plus I can fill up the truck while we're here," he said.
James thought the place was sort of strange. The truck stop had a whole mishmash of things all in one elongated building. There was a buffet restaurant next to a small arcade, next to a half convenience store, next to a gas station. They ate first, and while the food was questionable in quality, they served breakfast, lunch, and dinner food all day, no matter the time. They stuffed their faces and then walked the length of the building.
"Is this like a gift shop?" James asked.
Nolan laughed, "Yeah! This place has been around forever. I used to come here as a kid and look through all the junk. The food was a lot