Terminus by Simon Farrant

Author:Simon Farrant [Farrant, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrant Fiction
Published: 2022-01-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Gary drove with more care than usual to the warehouse. At every junction, he used the indicators, and stopped when traffic lights turned amber. He turned the radio off; the music channels were too much, too invasive, and the talk stations inane. On any other day, he loved listening to Radio 5 Live, a BBC talk channel. As he got to the junction to turn left onto the industrial estate, Gary noticed a police car three vehicles behind him. Knowing that turning into the decrepit estate might cause unwelcome attention, he kept going. An Esso petrol station came into view. Gary indicated and turned into the forecourt, keeping an eye on the centre mirror. He blew out a breath of relief when the police car kept going. Slowly, Gary drove around the pumps, preparing to rejoin the road back to the warehouse. The shop caught his attention.

“Shit!” He cursed with a sudden realisation. Annie hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for a long time. It wouldn’t do if she died on him. He glanced at the clock, not taking in the time.

With a sigh, Gary left the warmth of the car into the cold and went into the shop. A large screen showing several CCTV streams hung from a pole inside the entrance, which Gary glanced at and pointed his eyes at the floor.

He swept the store with a quick turn of his head and counted one other customer and one assistant, putting cigarette packets onto a display. Without picking up a basket, Gary busied himself with grabbing goodies. He looked in each refrigerated cabinet, taking out sandwiches, pasties, and bottles of water. Satisfied that he had got enough, when he could barely hold everything, he shuffled across the shop in a strange way as he was concentrating more on not dropping things than walking normally.

With relief, Gary made it to the till and dropped everything onto the counter. The assistant stepped away from the cigarettes and smiled when she saw the mountain of goods.

“Buying the shop, darling?” Her eyes glinted behind her red framed glasses.

Gary didn’t look up at the woman and shrugged. He took out his wallet from his coat and removed a £20 note.

The woman’s tone changed at Gary’s rudeness. “Need a bag?”

Gary scoffed, still not meeting eye contact, and muttered. “Yeah. Don’t fancy carrying it all out in my arms.”

The woman tutted. If Gary had looked up, he would have seen her cheeks redden. She flacked a plastic bag noisily, scanning the items with speed and ramming them into the bag. ‘Maybe she’d be more careful if she knew who they were for. I hope I don’t regret coming here. This woman is too friendly and aware of everything.’

“That’s eighteen ninety-nine,” Gary heard her say, relieved that he had taken more than a hundred pounds in cash and wouldn’t need to make a digital transaction. He slid the twenty-pound note across the counter. “Keep the change, sweetheart,”

Gary took the bag and left as quickly as possible without actually breaking into a jog.

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