The Gas Station CHAPTER 1 ! What was so special about that gas station?

He had never seen it in his life, and

had no reason to suspect anything of it. Just a gas station in New York. Nothing special about it. Many, many like it out there. But somehow, Al Rockland, a tall, chubby 28 year old police ofcer, had some reason to suspect that for some reason, that gas station was special. Important. ! Hed been on patrol and had stopped there to go to the bathroom. When he

entered the small, dirty gas station bathroom, much like all the others of its kind, he had seen the man. Maybe thats why he was so suspicious. Maybe not. Anyway, there was a man in there, standing in the corner, ddling with his watch. ! him. ! I can do whatever I want, wherever I want. Its still a free country, you know. Just Hey, what are you doing in here? If your not gonna take a leak, get out. Al told

barely. the man responded. He was rather shifty-looking; dressed in a black hoodie with a black baseball cap. He had on white sneakers, too. If Im not doing anything wrong, then its none of your business. You can go fuck yourself, the man said. ! Hey! Watch your mouth when youre speaking to a police ofcer, you should

know that by now, you moron! Al really didnt like this guy. Not at all. He left and went to the clerk in the front of the gas station. ! How long ago did that guy in the bathroom come in? In the black hoodie and

hat? He asked the clerk.

That guys still in there? He got here two hours ago! What could he POSSIBLY

be doing? the clerk, a middle-aged woman, said. ! Just fuckin with his watch. Im going to go tell him to get out, or Ill arrest him. Al

said. He went back into the bathroom. The man was still standing there, playing with his watch. ! OK, if you dont get out, Ill arrest you. Get out, now! Youve been here for over

two hours. And what are you DOING with that watch? Al said. Then, something happened that he would never forget. ! The man pulled a handgun on him, a Beretta M-9. Al instinctively pulled out his

gun and aimed at the man. ! ! ! Stop snooping around my business! Get out right now! He yelled at Al. If you dont put that gun down, Ill shoot you! I can do that, too, and you know it. Fine. Want to know what Im doing? That woman out there, she got my wife

killed, cut her breaks, and now Im going to kill her! My wife, she was the love of my life, the man said, choking back tears, That evil, evil woman out there killed her in cold blood. I dated her in high school, and she wanted to get married. I was in high school, I wasnt thinking of that! I dumped the crazy bitch, and eventually married. Everything was ne until she found me. She must have been jealous I was married and happy and she was still alone and sad or something. But she didnt have to kill her! It doesnt matter anymore. there is a bomb hidden in this station, and you only have two hours, and if she leaves, the sniper across the building will shoot her down, simple as that. Have fun, Im the only one who can stop it.

At that, the man took the gun, put it under his chin, and pulled the trigger. Scarlet

blood sprayed out everywhere, all over the ceiling and the wall. The bomber fell to the ground, dead. Al went into a panic. He ran out, told the woman at the register, Bertha Red, what had happened, and asked her if she truly had done what the man said. ! No! I never did that! The crazy asshole had accused of me of it, and I told him to

get lost! I never did it! I swear! she said. ! If you did, you need to tell me. You will be able to walk out of here alive, but face

jail time for pre-meditated murder. Its still better than blowing up or getting a bullet in the head. ! I swear to God I did NOT kill that woman! That guy in there, he has, well, had,

Schizophrenia, or something like it, and he had this crazy idea in his head that I killed her. I dont know why. We had dated in high school, like he said, and broke off for the same reason. We had met again recently, but I just said a quick hello and left. I didnt want any trouble, the woman explained, close to tears. ! OK, calm down maam, I believe you. If you step foot out of this building, there is

a sniper in the ofce building across the street that will stop you dead in your tracks. Im going to investigate, there may be others there too. Just stay calm and stay here. Dont do anything stupid.

CHAPTER 2 ! Al had just stepped up to the door of the ten-story ofce building. He entered.

The lock had already been picked by the sniper and anyone else in there. He entered slowly, pistol drawn. He heard talking in the next room, and saw two men facing the

elevator, talking about something he could not hear. He slowly crept up beside them, and smashed their heads together. They both had silenced pistols, and he took one. He dragged their bodies into the elevator, and hit the button labeled ROOF. As the elevator ascended, he felt very anxious, and scared. Very scared. He was actually going to kill someone, maybe even multiple someones. The elevator got to the top, and made a ding noise. As it opened someone said Hey, Antonio, hows it goi- he stopped because Al had shot him. He ignored any emotion as the corpse fell to the oor and blood spilled out of the wound in his chest. He dragged him into the elevator, and continued out onto the roof. There he was. The man with the high-powered scoped hunting rie. Al charged at him, and the man turned around. ! What the fu-! The man half-said, half screamed as Al collided with him. The

man went over the edge of the building. He screamed, then hit the pavement below with a sickening crunch. Al preferred not to look down. He then sat down on the edge of the building. He just sat there, contemplating what he had just done. In all his years at the force, he had never needed, or thought he could, kill someone. Hed barley ever needed to pull his weapon out, only on a few occasions. Now, he had just killed two, possibly four men. He was scared. Just then, he heard someone yell, and he looked up in time to see someone aim a gun at him. Al wheeled around to face a man with a Makarov handgun in his face. Al, on instinct, pulled the gun on him and was prepared to re, but he kicked the gun away from Al and it fell uselessly to the ground, ten stories down. ! ! Who Who are you? Al asked the man. It doesnt matter who I am. You dont even know what youve done. That was an

evil woman down there, and you stopped her from being killed. The man responded.

That woman She was innocent! That man had mental problems, all kinds from

what I could tell, Al responded. ! Oh, is THAT what she told you? No, not true at all. That man was my friend. That

bitch at the gas station, she killed his wife. Broke the poor guys heart. All he wanted was a little vengeance, is that too much to ask? What would you have done? the man asked Al. ! ! ! pistol. --! He didnt live long enough to know it, but he had saved a life. Al had saved the I I swear, I didnt know, Al stuttered. I dont care. You killed him, Ill kill you. The last thing that Al Rockland ever saw was the muzzle ash of a Makarov

woman in the gas station, for the police had come and taken the surviving men that had been after her. The bomb was found and disarmed. As it turns out, the woman had been lying. She had cut the breaks. This had been a pointless crusade for Al, but he was remembered many years after by his family and friends. The woman was taken into custody, and sent to jail on one count of murder, and four counts of manslaughter. Al, and the three men Al took with him because he thought were evil. They never found the man who shot Al Rockland on top of that old ten story ofce building.

THE END