Disclaimer: I don't own the TCM :)
Enjoy!
A bell rang when Paul pushed the door open.
The café was a mess, just like the outside of it had been. It hadn't had a good clean in a long time, judging by the layers of dust that had settled on most of the surfaces and windows. The floor was sticky, and cobwebs hung in the corners of the walls. The lights inside were dim.
There were many tables and booths scattered around, the fabrics of the chairs faded. There was a large counted to the side, a till perched on the corner. Menus hung on the wall, aged and stained. There was also a food display, but no food.
A beaded curtain hung in a doorway at the very end of the counter, some beads were missing and even when the café was in use, it probably looked tacky. A stove was just visible through the curtain, but it didn't appear to be in working condition. No surprise there.
"The light's on, but nobody's home…" Paul murmured as he wandered through the café.
"Great. I don't see a phone, either." Elizabeth replied as she carried on surveying the room.
Frowning to herself, she moved forward.
There was a book shelf. Magazines were scattered on it, along with some books and newspapers. A clothes rail hung next to the shelf, dated dresses and hats hanging from it. There was also a counter displaying perfumes, but their bottles looked empty.
Walking over to the clothes rail, Elizabeth picked up a long white dress, patting it lightly to get rid of the dust, she smiled.
"I bet this place was nice in its heyday…" she told Paul, "A shop and café, bet it got a lot of custom. It's the only building I've seen so far."
Paul nodded, his head snapping up when the bell rang.
A grumble of disgust was heard, "This place is a wreck. It stinks. The gas pumps are empty…" shuffles were heard, "And there's no food."
"The pumps are empty?" Paul repeated, moving away from the shop section to go to Daniel, who was slouched on a stool in a booth, a sneer of disgust on his face.
"Yeah, I just checked. It's not looking good, is it?" Daniel said with a sigh, eyeing the dirty table.
"Are Chad and Carrie still in the van?" Paul asked, looking towards the window by the door. He couldn't see out of it.
Daniel nodded in confirmation before sighing and asking, "Where's the owner?"
"Don't know. This place is empty, but the owner might come in the morning? We could camp in the van tonight, or in here, I guess…" Paul said, looking around the room. There would be plenty of room for everyone to sleep for the night, and even though it was dirty, they would be more comfortable in here than in the van.
"I don't like that idea, this place is disgusting. We sleep here; we'll get rabies or something. I'm happy to stay in the van…" Daniel grumbled lightly.
The wind hit the windows hard, and both boys jumped. Laughing nervously, Paul shook his head, "Sounds like the rain is dying down a little."
"So what's the plan?" Elizabeth asked, having put the dress back on the rail. She walked over to the booth Daniel had perched on and slid in beside him.
"I believe the sign on the door says Closed." A harsh voice rang through the room, causing all three of them to jump.
Snapping their heads to the sound of the voice, they saw an old woman. She was wearing a tatty purple dress, which had a discoloured floral design. Her grey hair was messily pulled into a bun, and she had an angry scowl etched on her face. Thick black glasses rested on her nose, and her wrinkled arms were crossed over her chest.
"Well?" she asked them, raising her eyebrows and walking out from behind the beaded curtain, "Don't you have anything to say?"
Paul was the first to recover from the shock, and he stood from the booth and nervously coughed, "I'm sorry, it's just our van is out of gas and we needed-"
But his words were cut of, as the woman angrily interrupted him, "The sign on the door says Closed. Can't you read?"
"I...I didn't notice the sign, I'm sorry…" Paul tried but Daniel stepped in, "We're sorry for coming in here like this, but we really need some gas. This is the only building we've come across so far, and we've been driving for hours. I noticed your gas pumps are empty, though…"
"Of course they're empty. We don't get much business around here, anymore." The old woman answered shortly. She moved away from the curtain and eyed the two boys before taking a hand rolled cigarette from her pocket and lighting it.
"How many of there are you?" She asked, before eyeing Elizabeth, "Where're you headed?"
Paul and Daniel shuffled nervously, and looked at Elizabeth. Would this woman help them? She seemed more interested in asking them questions than helping them with their gas situation.
"There are five of us in total; two are in the van outside…" Elizabeth responded.
"We're headed down to a summer resort…like a caravan site; we've hired a cabin for the summer. The highway was packed so we, uh, took this road. Didn't realise it was this long…" Daniel finished, rocking back and forth on his heel.
"Do you have a phone we could use? I'm sure we could phone someone to help us…" Elizabeth tried, smiling lightly at the woman.
"No. No phone." The woman replied shortly once more, "What're your names?"
Paul almost groaned in exasperation. Why all the questions? "Paul, Daniel and Elizabeth, in the van there's Carrie and Chad," he answered, pointing them out as he spoke, "Please, ma'am can you help us?"
"I don't have gas here." The woman reaffirmed, "But I do know two places were you're likely to find some. It's pretty dark out, now though, so you should just wait until morning…"
"No. Please, we really should just get the gas and go as soon as possible, we don't want to miss our check in time…" Daniel said.
"It's raining. You'll have quite a walk…" the woman replied, taking a deep drag of her cigarette, "But if you're desperate. Now, there's my house. The sheriff is my brother and he always has lots of gas, for the patrol car, you see. It'll take, oh, about an hours walk from here to there."
Paul nodded intently as she continued, "The other, it's an old factory. Not in use anymore, but the men still do their work in there. You can't keep boys away from their toys," she smiled knowingly at Elizabeth, "They're sure to have gas, but might not give it to you. So I suggest you offer to pay them."
Daniel smiled, "What direction is the house? If Elizabeth and I go there, Paul you can take Chad and go to the factory…"
"What about Carrie?" Elizabeth asked, biting her lip gently – why was this woman being so helpful all of a sudden?
"She can come with us, I don't mind." Daniel replied, "We've all got coats…and I'm sure there's a flashlight or two in the van…"
"You can't exactly make plans when you don't know where you're going now, can you?" the woman said with a large smile, showing her rotten teeth.
She leaned forward on the counter and began to tell them where the house and factory was, the smile never left her face, but a strange glint appeared in her eye.
