Yesterday's Gone: Season One

an exit and searched for a place to ride out the storm. Teagan had to use the bathroom, so they stopped at the first gas station they found. He parked beneath the canopy, then led Teagan inside the store.
     
    “What do you want to drink?” Ed asked, surveying the out-of-power cooler case as she went into the bathroom with one of the portable lanterns. “We’ve got warm Coke, warm Pepsi, warm Gatorade, warm water.”
     
    “Warm Gatorade sounds good; see if they have the purple one.”
     
    “Purple grape, or purple Ice, whatever the hell that is?”
     
    “Ice,” she said, “maybe it will make it a bit cooler.”
     
    Ed laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
     
    The rain fell harder, and the wind howled as the storm grew teeth.  
     
    “We might be here a while,” Ed said as he opened a purple Gatorade and took a swig. He wasn’t sure what it tasted like cold. At room temperature, it was surprisingly okay.  
     
    There’s an advertising campaign, “Slightly better than piss, try it today!”
     
    Teagan left the bathroom just as Ed was going in. “Sorry,” she said, her face red.
     
    “Don’t worry,” he lied, “I’ve got a cold; can’t smell a thing.”
     

     
    He was pissing, gun sitting in the sink, when he heard Teagan shout, “Ed!”
     
    He shook the last of his piss, zipped, and ran out into the store, gun ready. Teagan was staring out the store windows.
     
    A big red pickup truck pulled into the station.
     
    “Get in the cooler,” he said, then followed her inside. The door into the cooler had a window where they could see all the way to the gas pumps. The red Chevy pulled up behind Brent’s SUV and stopped.
     
    He clicked the safety off on his gun. The cooler was just dark enough that whoever was outside probably couldn’t see in from their position. He could see them perfectly though.
     
    Two men, big guys with flannel shirts and caps, jumped from the truck and approached the SUV. Both had hunting rifles.
     
    “Fuck,” Ed said.
     
    “What is it?”
     
    “We’ve got company. A couple of men with guns, scouting our truck.”
     
    She pushed herself further back into the cooler until she was pressed against a wall of beer cases.
     
    One of the men glanced into the store as the other opened the SUV.
     
    Why didn’t I lock the damned doors?
     
    The man looking in stared straight at Ed, then turned his gaze to the front of the store. Ed was sure the guy couldn’t see him.
     
    “What are we gonna do?” Teagan whispered.
     
    If he were solo, as he should have been , the solution would have been easy. He would go outside, give them a chance to back down. If not, he’d end them both without a second’s hesitation. But now, he had baggage. He had to worry about a child with child. If he made the wrong choice, she’d be left to deal with his consequences.
     
    “Fuck,” he said, forgetting what she’d asked.
     
    He debated whether he should allow the men to take his truck, all their stuff, and let things go. They’d had no problem finding stuff so far, so he wasn’t overly concerned. They would find another vehicle and more supplies, but it could be a big inconvenience which would slow them down.
     
    “Maybe they’re friendly,” Teagan offered.
     
    “They’ve got guns; I doubt it.”
     
    “You’ve got a gun.”  
     
    “Well,” Ed said turning to her with a grin, “I’m not friendly.”
     
    While he was glad to see other people, he wasn’t glad to see them with guns. He couldn’t take a chance that they might be friendly. He would either have to engage and kill or stand down and ignore them. He was leaning toward the latter when one of the men opened the door and entered the store, rifle at the ready.
     
    Ed glanced back at Teagan, who was frozen in place.  
     
    “Come out!” the man shouted as he aimed the rifle at the cooler. Ed could sense fear in the man’s voice, which made him all the more likely to do something stupid.
     
    The man was aiming blindly at the center of the cooler. He couldn’t see inside to where Ed or Teagan were hiding. But Ed had a line on him. He aimed his pistol between the man’s eyes and fired a single shot.  
     
    The gunshot thundered through the cooler. Teagan screamed as the man dropped to the ground, dead.
     
    Ed pushed through the cooler door and rolled out of the cooler, just as the second target entered the store. The man was aiming high, but Ed was on the ground, aiming up, and shot him twice,