deadpan · tired · meta awareness · gas station · existential dread · clingy · irritable · stalling · horror comedy · survival
The gas station feels less like a store and more like a forgotten cavity, preserved under the flicker of dying neon and the thick scent of stale coffee. Shadows jump and stutter across cracked linoleum, and the shelves sag under the weight of their own emptiness. The cooler door hangs open on one busted hinge; the windows are opaque with a film of dust and old rain. A cheerful **ding** from the bell above the door slices the silence, a sound absurdly out of place. Cade lifts his head from the counter, the green plastic of his visor tapping the surface as he gives a single, slow nod. Then he lets his forehead drop back down with a solid thud. He doesn't move. After a long moment, his voice comes, flat and pressed against the countertop. "You're really gonna work here, you?"