Free Black Treacle Magazine (March/April 2013, Issue 2) by A.P. Matlock Page A

eventually they'd
hit I-44. But the parade of back roads just led to greater and
greater desolation.
    Elaine reached
across the cab of the truck and turned the volume down on Jesse's
music.
    He glanced at
her, turned the music back up. "Don't mess with the music, Elaine.
My car, my rules."
    "You've got it
so damn loud I can't even think."
    Jesse snorted.
"I bet you didn't mind it loud back when you were my age."
    He noticed the
road veering sharply to the right at the last moment and fought to
keep tires on pavement. It was a close thing and the growl of the
tires against gravel at the edge of the road drowned out whatever
reply Elaine had for his retort. He knew she was sensitive about
her age, ever since that time he'd commented that she was old
enough to be his mother. Man, was that a sore subject...
    The road kept
curving and twisting. Jesse had no clue what way they were going.
Hell, for all he knew, they could be on a road right back into
Haskell Canyon. And wouldn't that be a kick in the ass?
    The road
twisted around a little hill and finally hit a straightaway. A bit
down the road, Jesse saw a cluster of buildings.
    "Anything
yet?" He asked Elaine, thinking that they had to be getting some
kind of coverage this close to a town.
    "I said I'd
tell you, didn't I? You just pay attention to the road."
    Jesse didn't
want to have to stop in Nowheresville. People would remember seeing
them pass through. But if there wasn't signal out here, they'd just
have to chance it. Long enough to get their bearings. He
accelerated on the straight, flat road. The sooner they could get
into and out of this place, the happier he'd be.
    The truck
started to sputter. Jesse checked the dashboard. No lights flashed
but something was wrong. He wasn't getting any response to the gas
and the truck was coasting.
    A short ways
from town the truck shuddered violently and stopped. Jesse tried
starting it, but the engine wouldn't turn over.
    "Shit." Elaine
said. "This sucks."
    "Yeah, tell me
something I don't know, Elaine." He climbed out of the truck. "I'm
going into town, see if there's a mechanic or something. Stay here.
Don't do nothing stupid. Got me?"
    She nodded,
her lips tight.
    He started
down the road. The pavement was cracked and bumpy. The town itself
was off on a little spur of road, butted up against the base of a
hill. Jesse turned onto that bit of asphalt and walked by a sign
emblazoned "Welcome to Blackrock. Population 127." An old Buick,
rusty and missing a tire, was parked at the side of the road.
    The
late-September air was unseasonably hot. He was sweating as he
entered town. Everything was still; no one was around. Probably
staying inside, keeping out of the heat. He checked his cell phone,
but it was as dead as Elaine's.
    Jesse found a
gas station, two fuel pumps in front and a little shop in back.
There were a couple of cars parked, but no one was in the shop.
    "Hello?" he
called out, his voice sounding flat. No one replied.
    "Goddamn." A
door at the back of the store led to an office, also vacant.
    Jesse looked
around the store. It was a pretty pathetic place. He rubbed his
nose and tried to think of what he might find here that would help
get them going again. He browsed the auto aisle--lots more here
than in the food aisles--and grabbed fuel injector cleaner and a
gas can.
    Back outside,
he pumped a few gallons of gas into the can and dumped the fuel
injector cleaner in. The heat and the weight of the gasoline wore
him down as he walked out of town. By the time he got to the truck
his shirt was soaked and his head was pounding.
    "Run into any
trouble?" Elaine asked. She was sitting on a large rock a short
ways off the road.
    Jesse looked
at her, sitting there cool and collected. Shit, he should've had
her go into town. After all, she was the one who bragged about
running marathons in her fourth decade.
    "Not exactly,"
he said.
    "How's
that?"
    "It was weird.
I didn't see anyone around, not at the gas station, not anywhere.
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