Re-Routing

Act One: Scene Two

"Where is everyone?" Sam said more to himself than to Nicole as he looked in through large double glass doors. No one was inside, the shelves looked empty. 

Was this place abandoned? 

At ten in the morning, on a Friday? 

"Dad?" Nicole tugged on his sleeves, he didn't look away from the interior of the gas station, still determined to find out where everyone was. 

"Honey, not now."

"Maybe the door is open?"

"That's ridiculous, maybe they're out of business." Sam looked down and noticed Nicole was pushing on the door, leaving a slight hand print on the glass. "Honey, get away from the door."

The door opened without any resistance, Nicole stepped in and held it open for her father, with a grin on her face. Sam dropping his apprehension looked around one last time. "No one's here, I guess there isn't a reason to worry."

"Why aren't you coming in?" Nicole stood in the doorway a little confused, as her father just stood there. She looked inside, besides being dark and a little dusty, Nicole didn't see anything wrong with the place.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Sam stepped forward, walking past Nicole, gesturing to her. "Honey, wait here." He didn't stop and pause to look at her, his only focus was the space behind the counter.  The way the darkness seemed to stretch the further in... Almost invitingly.

"Jesus Christ!" Sam jumped as the door shut hard behind him, causing a loud bell to ring. Looking back he saw Nicole with an innocent expression on her face. He slowly pinched his forehead, trying to stay calm. "Honey, don't touch anything."

"Mmm-hmm." Nicole responded in a way Sam knew meant she wasn't paying attention. 

The gas station wasn't large, in fact he could cover it in a few footsteps, but the lack of materials or the presence of anyone made it seem larger than it was. The light filtered in from the glass doors and window, as he passed empty shelves. He stopped in front of a magazine rack. There were a handful of magazines just sitting there that Sam didn't notice it before.

"Great. Just great. It's abandoned. Why wouldn't it be abandoned?" Sam groaned as he ran his fingers down a shelf while walking towards the counter. Strange, he thought, he didn't feel any dust. Before he could remark on it, Nicole walked ahead and asked.

"What's abandoned mean?"

"It means no one's here." Sam lifted the empty counter latch, stepping behind the register. He looked at the shelves above the counter, before crouching and digging through the compartments under the counter. 

"What are you doing?" Nicole poked her head from around the corner.

"I'm looking for a map." Sam responded without looking up.

"Oh..." Nicole turned around, looking at the magazine rack. "Why are you looking for a map?"

"So we can find out where we are."

"Why?"

"Because mommy and daddy are lost." Sam could feel a headache coming on.

"How did you get lost?" 

"Honey... Why don't you look around, see if you can find anything interesting."

"Okay!" Nicole ran around the gas station, that was all the prompting she needed to go off and explore. 

Sam checked his phone, still no signal, no service, nothing. He screamed, something big and hairy walked across his hand. Shaking his hand violently,  he stood up. He watched a spider scurry off into a corner.

"Are you okay, daddy?" Nicole ran over, almost running head first into the counter. 

Sam pauses for a second and then he starts to laugh. "It's just a spider. Shit, that scared the Hell out of me."

Sam dropped the counter top and walked around the counter, The panic he felt was caught in the back of his throat. When Sam turned around, he saw Nicole standing there, innocently holding a batch of magazines.

"Will this help?" Nicole beamed, Sam patted her on the head.

"It might just make mommy a little less crazy..." Sam said quietly, Nicole giggled in response. "Just hold onto those. Why don't we get back on the road and see if mom figured anything out." 

He looked around one last time before heading towards the doors. He didn't like this feeling at all. Not like he was being watched, more like something was extremely wrong with this situation. There was no shaking the chill that ran up his spine. Before he could explore any further, he saw Michelle with half her body sticking out of the car. 

"Come on, looks like Mom's waiting for us."