It was a disgustingly warm night outside, the kind that caused the muggy air to cling to your body like a second skin. While the rain had paused it still brought about a plethora of mosquitos and irritation. Summertime in Florida really wasn't something one ever really got used to.
In a more rural part of the state sat a relatively large but dimly lit gas station that you'd almost miss if you didn't know it was there. The business for the night had mostly died off, It was only eight in the evening but the rain mixed with the howling wind had seemed to keep most people away.
Cherry sighed heavily as she drifted about the store wiping counters and stocking cups to pass the time. She was in the middle of scrubbing a small but tough coffee stain off the bright white counters when the overhead bell rang signifying a customer.
"Evening, young lady." Chimed a short but happy looking older man.
Cherry returned his smile with a small and tired one of her own. The end of her shift was nearing but she could never find it in her to be rude to the nice customers she sometimes got the pleasure of encountering. She walked behind the counter and to her register to greet the man once more. "What can I do for you tonight, sir?" She asked politely.
"I would just like twenty in gas please." He requested while digging through his wallet.
Cherry glanced outside to the gas pumps to see a lone truck that sat out at pump 7. She set his gas before turning back to the man. "Can I get you anything else?"
He shook his head silently and handed her a single bill. Cherry smiled in return and handed him his receipt. "Be careful out there tonight, it looks like the bottom is about to drop out the sky again."
The man chuckled "When you get to be my age all these storms seem like child's play. You should be careful though." He told her seriously.
Cherry stopped what she was doing and glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Me? Why is that?"
The man paused with his hand on the door, he glanced back slightly at her and shook his head. "Sometimes things have an odd way of coming to fruition... not everyone enjoys a twist of fate though." And with his cryptic words lingering in the air the man left and Cherry was alone again.
Cherry scoffed, the gas station always brought in the weirdos. She leaned against the counter near her and yawned as she thought about the odd old man. Sometimes people just seemed to throw her for a loop. People always told her to be careful, she was a young woman and sometimes they worried. But the way that man had said it... it almost sounded more like a warning.
Cherry laughed at herself and kicked off the counter before walking to the coffee area to continue cleaning. She was sure she was just overthinking the old man and his words. Cherry sometimes had a tendency to turn nothing into something, especially when her overactive imagination came into the picture. That's what this was, her scaring herself unintentionally again. She let out a small and almost soundless chuckle. She was really too much for herself sometimes.
By the time Cherry had convinced herself that she was just being irrational it was about time to close down. Usually two people closed the store but with her coworker calling out earlier in the day it had just left her. So she began the process of shutting her register and turning everything off.
Cherry had just clocked out and went to lock the front door on her way out when she heard a loud crack that came from her left. Her head snapped in the direction of the noise but there was nothing but the bushes moving in the wind. She tried to calm her racing heartbeat, the dark never helped her when she was trying to make her brain stop thinking paranoid thoughts.
Cherry huffed, locked the front door, and began walking quickly to her car. She was irritated with herself for acting like a giant baby again. "Get your shit together, Cherry." She mumbled quietly.
She was in the middle of fishing for her keys when she felt a cold sensation on the back of her neck that caused her to freeze in place.
"You're going to give me all your shit right now, or I'm going to blow your head sky fucking high." came a rough voice from behind her.
Cherry felt her whole body go numb in fear. This was everyone's worst fear at a place like this... getting robbed. Cherry had always imagined it would be for the money inside the store but then again she did probably look like an easy target, and the end of the parking lot she was on didn't have a security camera pointing that way.
The digging of the cold metal in the back of her neck brought her out of her thoughts and into reality once more. Shakily she tried to turn around to hand him what was in her hands but he stopped her. "Stay facing that way, if you try to see my face I'll shoot you."
She reached her arm backwards to hand him her purse, she didn't really care what he wanted out of it, he could have it all. Whatever it would take for him to leave.
She heard the gun click behind her and a body press again her back. The action made Cherry's whole body go rigid. "It's a shame that the boss man said not to leave witnesses, you cooperated very nicely." He breathed against her ear.
Cherry whipped her body around and tried to knock the gun out of his hands. If he was gonna kill her she wasn't going to make it easy. The man was thrown for a second and that second was all it took for Cherry to run. She couldn't fight a grown man that size, not when he had a weapon. So if she couldn't choose fight she sure a hell would choose flight.
She took off in a dead sprint hoping to make it to the tree line nearby. If she could get into the thick foliage he wouldn't be able to see her. At least that's what she was hoping for. Luck however, never seemed to be on her side.
Cherry heard the gunshot before she felt it. It sounded like an intense pop then there was a faint ring that seemed to echo it. That was when she felt a strong burning sensation spreading across her back. The pain caused her to stumble over her own feet and smack into the pavement harshly.
If she could find her breath she would probably laugh. This was not how she imagined going out of this world. Hell she didn't want to leave this world, she wasn't ready to die yet. All she could think about was who would find her body the following morning, and how the news channels were going to paint her as some pathetic cashier at the gas station who got gunned down. No, this couldn't be the end for her.
Cherry managed to roll over on her back to glance up at the sky. Everything hurt and she was feeling incredibly tired and drained. Really all she wanted was another chance at life, at all the things she didn't get to do. It was in that moment that the heavens opened up and the rain poured over her with a vengeance. She glanced sideways at the blood that was being washed away. It was almost symbolic, the more the rain pulled her blood away the more she felt her life being pulled away.
Cherry could vaguely here the thunder crashing through the static that was ringing in her ears. As the noises faded into nothing so did her vision. Cherry's last sight was a big bolt of lightning, and then she knew no more.