On the surface, her life right now was undeniably odd. Alanah had been hoping to reconnect with her old life back home in some way but it had not happened. Perhaps she thought it was because she had been so focused on finding Will and then she had let that reunion overshadow everything else on her return visit.

  She hadn’t had a chance to visit any other parts of the town or look up any old friends either. That wasn’t what was bothering Alanah about her visit beyond her inner turmoil over seeing Will again.

  There was a nagging doubt that she did not really want to see old friends or old neighborhoods again. She would not fit in anywhere now and everyone would sense this almost immediately. She didn’t belong anymore, and no amount of Will’s smiles or positive assurances would change this.

  “We’ve got to stop for gas soon, this is a good spot I think, it looks out of the way and not too busy”. After pulling up to the last pump on the outside row Amos jogged in to pre-pay. He was still trying to figure out how much gas the little car held so he had let the tank get close to empty and he did not want to go too much further without a refill.

  Alanah could tell he was almost done by the metallic scraping noise and the sounds of the cap from the back of the car as he pulled the fuel nozzle clear and closed everything up. As Amos headed back to get his change a large rattling truck pulled up in the aisle next to them and came to a halt. Alanah, annoyed by the clattering noise and stench of the diesel engine looked over and started to roll up her window.

  Behind the wheel of the old pickup a round, florid face stuffed under a hat that was too small and a ridiculous pair of wrap around shades was staring at her. Alanah finishing rolling up her window while making sure she looked as annoyed as possible. She then turned her head to stare straight ahead dismissively while reaching over with her left hand to push down her door lock.

  Several long minutes later the sound of Amos opening his door to get back in the car was an immediate relief of tension for her. She turned to tell him to get a move on while noticing at the same time the unmistakable stench of stale cigarette smoke. The giant round head from the truck was now leaning into the car and it had brought a large body with it that could barley fit into the car.

  “Let me git the door fer ya little lady” the man said as his bulk continued to fill the cabin of the little car. A large fleshy hand reaching out of a stained canvas work jacket brushed by just inches from her shoulders while she instinctively leaned away and lifted the lock. Still in shock Alanah briefly wondered why would he let me out…he’s stealing our car… when her door was ripped open and two arm wrapped around her and drug her out and around the front of the running truck.

  Fighting her way free was impossible, the arms that encircled her felt steadfast and strong and whomever held her was tall enough that her panicked heels just skipped and slipped as she was dragged across the worn concrete apron. She was thrown headfirst into the passenger footwell of the truck and Alanah felt her captors’ hands grab the cuffs of her pants and fold her up at the bottom of the seat. The truck shifted as two heavy bodies got in with doors slamming soon after.

  Dirty boots with stiff, bumpy soles pressed hard down into her arm and the top of her legs. She was pinned to the floor amongst an assortment of trash and discarded food wrappers. The transmission made a series of heavy clunks and the chattering engine increased to a dull roar as the large heavy truck began to pull away.

  Alanah began to scream, her shrill panicked cry completely lost amidst the mechanical bellow of the truck moving forwards and picking up speed.

  The surge of activity outside the gas station windows had caught Amos’s attention. As he looked towards the car he was filled with dread even though he did not immediately see Alanah. The large man had just pulled himself from the drivers side of the little Corolla and he was trying to get around it as fast as possible to the large truck sitting next to their car.

  “What about your change” the attendant shouted past the woman he was checking out at the register as Amos sprinted towards the entrance. As soon as he was slammed through the door and got outside he was confronted with the jarring sight of their little car sitting on the concrete with both front doors wide open up and the big pickup truck pulling away.

  He still didn’t see Alanah but he was certain she was in the truck. He started to run at the truck, completely forgetting that he had the option of the little car to give chase. By the time he had run past the gas pumps he realized his mistake, the truck was easily getting away.

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  Amos stopped and he was just about to turn back to get the car when the noisy old truck sudden swerved and then swerved again violently this time to the other side of the service road that was leading to the highway. He started running again towards the truck, he thought he had just heard what could have been gunshots from inside the cab and then he was certain he had.

  The passenger door opened and a man in a blue jacket flung himself out of the truck cab and hit the road landing heavily on his hip. With the door open Amos heard the next three gunshots far more clearly as the truck came to a lurching stop in the small ditch next to the service road. The drivers door was flung open and the bigger man exited the truck in the same fashion but much more slowly than his companion due to his size.

  As Amos caught up to the truck he was trying to think of what he should do next but his mind was consumed with worry over Alanah.

  “I’m stuck…I’m stuck …..god damn this piece of crap truck …”

  Blam!

  The rear window of the cab shattered into a spiderweb of cracks around the bullet hole that had accompanied the gunshot.

  “Alanah wait, it’s me….stop shooting” Amos shouted between ragged breaths as he came up to the cab.

  “Where’s your gun, why aren’t you shooting those fat bastards” came an angry response from the set of legs jerking and kicking their way out from the footwell of the truck.

  “I didn’t bring it…here give me yours quick”. Amos reached in and grabbed her handgun while trying to figure out her issue. “You’re wedged in between the seat and the dash, try to twist back or just hang on”. Amos turned to see what the two men were doing.

  The first man to jump from the truck was lying on his side and his leg appeared to be bleeding but it was hard to tell as he was holding it with both hands. Amos decided he was a low threat so he ran around the back of the truck to find the large man crouched over trying to sneak up on the open drivers side door with a large hunting style knife in his hand.

  “Stop or I shoot” said Amos “I won’t miss from here”. The big man tried to freeze in mid-step and then slowly and rather comically fell to the side as he lost his balance. “Alanah are you ok “ he called out while keeping his hands together around the handle of the revolver and pointing it towards the big man. “Yes, almost out, unngh…” Alanah came crawling out of the truck towards Amos and then stepped lightly out onto the road”.

  “So this is one of the pigs who tried to grab me?” Alanah paused and then said to the man lying on the ground “give me the knife”.

  The man’s expression changed from surprise to fear. His eyes narrowed as he took stock of his former captive. Alanah walked towards him with her hand outstretched “ GIVE ME THE KNIFE”. She enunciated each word with a clear stop and pause between each sound and her tone and intonation made it sound likely that she was not going to ask again.

  The large man stared at her in complete disbelief. His eyes flickered over to Amos and then back to Alanah. His friend was moaning and calling out from the other side of the truck “that little bitch shot me…argghhh that little bitch. Jim, where are you Jim….Jim”.

  whack “GIVE” thud “ME” thwack “THE”

  “ok…ok aaaugghhhh” the knife fell with a clatter onto the pavement as Alanah stood over the large man holding her baton up in the air. She too had practiced a lot on the rooftop and could swing with a determination and accuracy that Amos found a little too intense at times.

  “Watch em” Alanah said as she knocked the knife away with her baton. Amos admired her carefulness but doubted if it was necessary as the big man was clearly in serious pain holding his left arm with quite a grimace. Chances were slim that he would be grabbing anything for a long time to come with that arm.

  A long hiss came from the rear tire as the back end of the still idling truck began to lower to the ground as the air rushed out. Alanah wrenched out the knife and stalked towards the other side of the truck “let’s go Amos, I’m done here” she called over her shoulder.

  “Watch for the other guy” Amos shouted to her “What…I can’t freaking hear too good right now just wait…” The other side of the truck lowered down as Alanah slashed the rear tire and then started walking towards the man she had shot in the leg.

  Amos had looked back at the gas station more than a few times and was getting worried about the small crowd that was forming near the last gas pump. He jogged up to Alanah and grabbed her arm and shouted “we need to go, now” which was enough to redirect her from the stricken man on the side of the road.

  He decided to pocket the gun as they made their way back to the car. The gas station attendant and the couple of customers staring at them seemed to be almost frozen in place.

  “They tried to kidnap her” Amos said pointing at his wild eyed and disheveled companion. “I’m taking her away now, if you go back inside those two guys will likely leave and never come back”.

  Amos was hoping that these people, like most people these days, would prefer to stay out of trouble, especially other people's and especially if it involved any police. They got into their car and he pulled away from the pumps, turning around and driving the wrong way out the entrance road until he could turn back onto the highway.

  He didn’t need to take the extra precautions but at the same time he felt there was no reason to drive by the two men and their truck if they didn’t need to.

  “How are you” he asked Alanah once they were underway. “What?” “How are you?” he asked in a louder voice. Her voice was flat and surprisingly without much emotion.

  “I’m ok, my ears are already getting better and the ringing is dying down”. She paused for a moment. “You can’t do that Amos, you need to carry your gun with you at all times. Having a stupid car and selling milk and eggs doesn’t make us any safer. I’m not sure how much longer I want to keep doing this.”