But who was she to judge? What was normal when the world was dissolving around you and reality suddenly looked like a Dali painting.
Pulling into the gas station slowly, Katie leaned forward over the steering wheel to stare across the expanse of the parking lot. There were no cars parked in the lot or tucked under the metal canopy over the gas pumps.
It looked utterly deserted.
"If we're lucky, the pumps are still on. I'll use my credit card, "she said.
Jenni looked up, rubbing her lips against the dog's ear. "You should fill up the gas can, too. "
"Good idea. And if we can get into the store, we should load up on food. "
Katie slowly released the brake and let the truck glide up to a pump.
Once more looking all around her, she turned off the truck. Reaching down, she picked up the shotgun.
"Here is the plan. I'm going to pump the gas. You are going to keep a watch out and hold the shotgun. Obviously, you can use it. You see any of those things, you tell me immediately. " Katie handed Jenni the shotgun, studying her intently. Now that Jenni wasn't looking like a zombie herself, Katie could see she was quite pretty with deep, alert eyes.
"Okay. I can do that. But we should leave Jack in the truck. He's really groggy," Jenni answered. She looked frail in her pink nightgown and robe and bare feet.
"Agreed. Now listen, again, carefully, we don't take any risks. We don't shoot anything unless we have to. That box at your feet-those are the only shotgun shells we have. "
"Oh," Jenni answered and frowned. "We need more. "
"I know, but a convenience store is not really the place to find them. So no fancy shooting, okay?"
"Gotcha, "Jenni answered and slid out of the truck.
Leaping out of the truck, Katie quickly slid her small wallet out of her trouser pocket. In this moment, she was so glad she despised purses, otherwise the wallet would have been far away in her old car. Swiping the card, she watched the digital display anxiously.
It flashed "Authorizing" over and over again.
"You have to come in and swipe it. The scanner isn't working out there," a disembodied voice said.
Both Katie and Jenni started at the sound of a young man's voice.
"What?"
Jenni whirled around, shotgun ready.
"You have to come in and swipe the card," the voice persisted.
Katie realized the speaker on a column next to her was hissing. For a moment, she could not believe what she was hearing. The world was falling apart, Lydia was dead, and some teenager was still working his shift at the gas station?
"I'll be right in," Katie answered and looked at Jenni. "He mustn't know. "
Jenni just blinked at her.
Mystified, Katie strode swiftly across the parking lot and into the convenience store. The dimly lit interior threw off her vision for a moment, then she saw a very tall, scraggly teenager standing behind the counter beside a very short Hispanic girl.
"The reader outside broke and we have to swipe inside," the boy explained again.
"You don't know, do you?" Katie arched an eyebrow and the boy looked at her warily.
Suddenly the Hispanic girl gasped and backed away from the counter.
Katie ducked from the door, then realized it was Jenni holding the shotgun.
"Look, please don't hold us up! We don't have that much money!" The boy held up his hands, his eyes huge.