Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

Jenkins, and Vince Patrella – just some of the people who rely on us, who come in every day, or every week. People we’ve come to know over the years who have made this place feel like a second home and them like family and friends. There are a few dozen more just like them. These people are loyal.”
    Will didn’t have the heart to tell Sam that two weeks ago he’d seen Mrs. Williams, the same woman who said she’d rather die than step in one of those big soulless stores, walking out of the new bookstore with a bag full of books. Fortunately, she hadn’t seen Will. That would have been awkward. But he had seen her, and the writing wasn’t just on the wall, it was in every book on every shelf in the bookstore down the street. When someone like Mrs. Williams, a loyal customer for years, was buying books in bulk from the competition, Hidden Wonders would have to fight with both fists for a snowball’s chance in Hell.
    And Will was getting too old to fight losing battles.
    Their argument, if it could be called an argument at all, ended as it always did, at a stalemate, neither side willing to surrender or even back down an inch. Sam seemed destined to sink with his ship, making Will more or less stuck, unless he could change the captain’s stubborn mind. Sam was fiercely loyal. Though it was one of his best qualities in most areas, it clouded his business thinking and decision making. A little over a year ago, the town’s favorite bagel shop next door exploded in popularity. The owner needed to expand, and offered Will and Sam an extremely generous amount to sell their shop so he could knock the walls down, increasing his square footage. Will thought it was a no-brainer. But Sam wanted to stay put. The owner of the bagel shop decided to move when his lease was up, opening shop a half mile away. The opportunity, along with a lot of the bagel shop’s customers, would never return.
    And now, as closing time – 9 p.m. – inched closer, Will wanted to get to the bar, meet with Sam for some drinks, and hope like hell the conversation wouldn’t come up again. Tonight, he just wanted to drink, forget, and have a good time. Tomorrow was his day off, and he intended to sleep in late. Really late. Maybe all day, if he could get away with it.
    As Will began cleaning up and getting ready to close, the phone split the silence and sent a shiver down his spine. Before the first ring finished its chime, Will knew something was wrong.
    Little did he know he’d wind up spending the entire night in the hospital.

    **

    Will sat in the hospital waiting room waiting forever for Trudy, Sam’s mom, who had to drive from Boca.
    Trudy arrived, as she usually did anywhere she went, as a full-on spectacle. She raced over to Will, already half crying, “What happened?”
    “A cop friend of mine called and said some men jumped Sam. Beat him up pretty bad. They’re not letting me see him though, since I’m not family.”
    “Oh God,” Trudy wailed, “How can this happen?! Where did this happen? Why did this happen?”
    “According to my friend, the men were calling him ‘fag’ and ‘homo’ over and over as they beat him, lots of blows to the face.”
    Trudy looked around and demanded to see Will’s surgeon. One of the orderlies said she’d get someone. Trudy’s eyes bored into Will, “Where were you? Why didn’t you stop them?”
    “I was at work,” Will said. “I was about to close shop and meet up with him. Happened just outside the bar where we meet every weekend. We’ve never had problems before.”
    “Is it one of those . . . gay bars? ” she asked, barely able to push the words from her mouth. Though Trudy had accepted her son’s lifestyle when he came out to her two years ago – or at least claimed she did – she could rarely utter any words associated with it. It seemed as if she felt ignoring that part of her son’s life would somehow make it go away, returning her life to how it used to be, before she knew.
    “Yes, but it’s not some seedy joint,” Will said, “It’s a nice place, with a friendly atmosphere and the drink prices to prove it. We’ve never had anything like this happen before. There’s a few gay-friendly businesses in the area, and this just doesn’t happen in these parts.”
    “So you go there, all the time?” Trudy asked, her voice thick with accusation.
    “Like I said, it’s a great place to unwind,” Will said, growing impatient and defensive.
    “I always knew you