F.O.S.S.I.L Fuels

F.O.S.S.I.L Fuels

Robin Foale, 18/4/2013 - 20/5/2013

A cold and foreboding wind sweeps through the fields surrounding the small town in the middle of nowhere. It’s nearing the end of winter now, but that doesn't stop the cold affecting the thirty five thousand or so people who live in Valleyoaks. It’s a small town, close to a city which now houses a college, a church, general stores, a cinema, a pool, an old folk’s home, a golf course, a hospital, a TV and radio station along with the odd petrol station.

As the cold intensifies with the lateness of the hour one person feels it perhaps more than others in the town, that person is eighteen year old Conner Liverstan who is sitting alone in a petrol station just outside of town. Pressing himself as close as he can against the portable radiator in the cold and lifeless petrol station he shivers despite the artificial warmth. The heating has never worked in this small building and even with the portable radiator he struggles to keep his teeth from chattering. He pulls his orange service cap further down over his shoulder length brown hair and wraps his matching service jacket closer around him.

Every so often he starts to feel just a little bit warmer; relaxing he sighs with relief and by doing so is harshly returned to reality as his icy breath floats out from his mouth. Conner has never minded the cold-up till now. In fact, during winter he and his friends would always be the first ones out in the deep snow readying a defensive position for the inevitable snowball fight. But, at least he kept himself active with dodging throws and quickly making new ammo or running to a more fortified position. Most nights in the petrol station, however he ends up sitting on a cold and uncomfortable chair having done every job possible in just his first hour.

How he longs to switch off the cooled shelves and freezer that fill most of the room he feels trapped in. 

Maybe the food will keep for a few hours without the cold, he thinks as his eyes, with a hint of childish mischief in them focus on the dial next to one of the shelves. Besides, I'm sure this freezing temperature would still keep the food fresh. HECK! I'm sure even the ice cream would remain solid.

His eyes turn to the freezer that never seems to close properly, another constant reminder of the cold as its vapours loom out almost mocking him, as if Jack Frost has decided to occupy the small box of ice and frozen delights and is waving two icy fingers in disrespect to his neighbour.   

Conner wishes there was something he could do but as usual he can think of nothing. The petrol station is so small and constantly empty that everything seems to be cleaned or maintained all the time, which is surprising considering it’s only him and the owner, Mr. Harper who work there. However, most nights Conner is ‘trusted’ with the station when he knows full well the old man just can’t handle the cold and prefers to be home by a roaring fire watching TV, lucky bastard.

Conner sighs, if only a can would fall on the floor or a bag of potato chips would suddenly explode for no reason, covering the room in potato shrapnel. It would be messy sure, but he would then be able to clean up the mess and even eat the chips. After all, you can’t exactly sell an open pack of self-exploding potato chips now can you? Conner is so bored he even considers mopping the floor with the lonely mop and bucket in the far corner of the room, something he has now done at least twice already on his late shift. He looks up at the ticking clock and sees it’s almost midnight. Since his shift started five hours ago he has had to deal with three, maybe four customers max, not exactly challenging.

Reaching a hand over to the small radio in the corner of his service area he fiddles with the dial just managing to find a somewhat audible station, which is saying a lot considering the thing only works half the time. It’s muffled and often crackles but it’s something. Some old country song splutters into life and somehow proceeds to make Conner's environment even more lonesome. Sighing he stretches his arms into the air, yawning loudly before placing his head on the counter, bored out of his mind. 

He stays like this for a minute before a rocking eighties number interrupts the country and western track, a sign that his friend Jeff is calling him on his cell phone that rumbles in his jacket pocket. Conner puts a rather lazy hand into the pocket and pulls out the old reverberating device, pressing the button and putting it against his ear.

"Hell on earth services, please kill me now," Conner mumbles not even lifting his head.

"Oh come on dude! I'm sure it’s not that bad!" the relaxed voice of Jeff says down the line.

"I've literately done nothing for the past three hours."

"Bummer..."

"How about you, done that assignment yet?" 

"Ha! I'll just leave it to the last night like I usually do. But that's beside the point dude. Guess what? I'm at Lucas's party!"

Hearing this gets Conner’s attention making him sit up.

"You? You’re at THAT party tonight? How the hell did you get in? I thought he hated you?"

"He does! But since I fixed his car he let it slide when I showed up."

"Uh huh... by that do you mean he hasn't realised you gate crashed yet?" 

"Well… that as well, anyways dude I thought I would call to let you know Becky was here."

Hearing that name makes Conner’s heart skip a beat and stops him from replying for so long that he hardly hears Jeff down the line.

"Dude? You still there? Duuude!" Jeff says worriedly making Conner snap out of his trance and respond.

"Huh? Yea of course I am!" Conner says defensively.

"Look dude I don't want to get your hopes up, but I overheard Becky say before she left that she needed to get some gas for her car so she was going to stop off and get some with that friend of hers. And, since the party was near to your station I just thought I would let you know in advance before she showed up."

“Ha huh…” Conner murmurs as he hears a car pull up. He peers through the frost covered window to see what it looks like.   

"Tell me Jeff... is her car a red mini with pink dice hanging above the dashboard?”

"Err… Yea dude. Why you ask?"

"Ah crap, she’s here already!" Conner says in a panic as the red mini pulls up next to pump number 3. 

The car hums for a moment before the ignition is switched off and the back of a girl with long blond hair steps out of the passenger’s seat. Sweeping her hair away from her eyes she turns and Conner sees her in all of her glory. Becky Nightwell is perhaps Conner's biggest crush, despite being in the same class for almost two years neither of them have talked to one another.

Becky is wearing a long grey coat over what seems to be a sparkly red dress no doubt for the party she was just at. She smiles at the driver who gets out. Conner recognises the driver as Becky's constant follower Sammy Mayfield, a girl with short black hair and big round glasses that cover most of her serious face. Sammy is neither skinny nor fat, but the thick purple hoody she has on doesn't help her rather large figure. She seems to smile slightly at Becky, which is a rare sight as she always appears miserable. The two engage in chit chat he can't make out. 

"Dude, dude you still there? Hello!?" a voice in the distance finally seems to gain Conner's attention and he realises that Jeff had been trying to speak to him this whole time. 

"Huh? Yea of course I'm still here you idiot!" Conner says not taking his eyes away from the two girls.

"Ha I knew it! You’ve totally still got the hots for her dude! You only get this hot and flustered when she’s around!" Jeff laughs down the other end of the phone to which Conner works up more of a sweat.   

"No I don't!" Conner says defensively as he watches the two continue their chat whilst pumping the car with whatever fuel it takes. 

"Suuure you don't... anyways, don't screw this up dude! This is like your ONE chance to speak to her on her own without the other vultures always crowding around her. Anyways, I've got to scoot dude! I think Lucas is close on my tail! Good luck Romeo!" Jeff says in a rush before hanging up, leaving Conner panicking and wondering what to do. 

Conner’s eyes dart from the girls, to his service area, then to the shelves. He tries to decide quickly if he needs to clean anything up, if he needs to turn off the radio or even sort out his looks. However, in his panic he hears a ‘bing’ go off, indicating the opening of the automatic doors.   

The two girls enter rubbing their arms furiously and muttering to themselves about how cold it is outside. Conner keeps his distance and just watches, unsure whether or not to say hi or stay quiet. Neither of the two have even looked his way and are instead examining the large coffee machine stationed right next to the automatic doors. Becky seems excited and points towards the machine, Conner leans in slightly to try and hear what she is saying. 

"Hey Sammy? Want one on me? My treat! Sugar or no sugar?" Becky sounds very cheerful, perhaps she’s been drinking? Conner can't tell, but Sammy merely looks at her with a disdainful face.

"You’re offering me what you can barely call a hot drink from an overpriced machine? Keep your money and just wait till you get home." Sammy says with her rather bland emotionless voice.

"But it's SO cold!" Becky moans almost childlike to which Sammy looks around the room with disinterest.

"Well get one if you want one, sheesh! I'm going to the loo, see you back at the car ok?" Sammy replies clearly annoyed before turning away from Becky and making her way towards the restroom situated opposite the entrance to the store. 

Conner can't believe his luck; Becky Nightwell of all people is on her own and in the same room as him! No gang of girls following her and no muscle like Lucas trying to hit on her. Just regular gas attendant Conner and the beautiful and intelligent Becky Nightwell. Conner's heart starts to race as he thinks of this and even more so when he starts to think of ways to try and start a conversation with her. He doesn't want it to sound forced, but at the same time it needs to have an impact in order to get the ball rolling as it were. Conner thinks about this for a while when he notices that Becky is struggling with the machine. She is constantly pressing the same buttons again and again with no result. He probably should have warned her before she started to use it that it was temperamental but, regardless this is perfect! Conner can literally come to her rescue, her knight in shining armour perhaps? Conner thinks that last statement to be way too cheesy, but he’s not about to let an opportunity like this pass him by.

Taking a deep breath he takes the plunge and gets off his seat. He walks around his work station and approaches, the space between them suddenly feeling endless as he tries casually to walk towards her. After what feels like an eternity he finally finds himself next to her. Becky has not yet noticed his presence; Conner opens and closes his mouth a few times, unable to get the words out. Finally frustrated with his lack of bravery he says the first thing that naturally comes out of his mouth.  

“Err… can I help?”  His voice sounds slightly shaky.

Conner feels that that was a good way to start, not sounding too forced or awkward, however she doesn’t seem to respond, not does she seem to turn around. Tongue tied he tries again.

“Hel…” he begins to say when she finally notices him and jumps with fright, causing Conner to do so in response.

“Whoa! Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” She says slightly embarrassed pushing back her blond hair which had fallen into her eyes.

“Err… that’s ok. I’m sorry for startling you.” Conner says shyly as he can't help but stare at her.

The room suddenly feels a lot smaller and hotter as Conner stands next to Becky Nightwell. The girl of his dreams. She’s finally in front of him, alone, and yet he can hardly talk to her, he doesn’t even know where to begin.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” she finally says as Conner’s overloaded brain lets out a sigh of relief.

“Um… that’s right. We’ve been in the same class for two years now.” He says hoping this will make the conversation easier, however she merely looks puzzled.

“We are? How come I’ve never really spoken to or seen you before?” she says curiously.

“Oh well…” Conner says stunned, slightly hurt by her response. However, he can’t quit now so he decides to help her.

“Well um… You always sit near the front of the class and I prefer the back. We’ve never been partners for anything and I tend to do my homework in class during break whilst you hang out with your friends.” Recognising that he still hasn’t got a response he remembers one more thing. “Oh, and when we first started the year I suppose my hair was short.” Connor says pointing to his long hair.   

“Short hair… oh yea! I remember now. Kevin right?”

“Conner.”

“That’s right! Conner!” she says as her eyes look upwards, deep in thought. “I do believe we were partners once Conner.” She says with a smile.

“We… We were?” Conner says in amazement.

“Yea! When we had to dissect those dead frogs during our first science session and you ran out to throw up. That was pretty funny.” She says giggling.

“Oh right… that…” Conner says embarrassed.

He thought he had removed that memory from his head, but now he almost wished he hadn’t. He hadn’t realised that his partner then was Becky until now. In fact, he wasn’t really with it during that session. He had a bad stomach and didn’t want to miss his first week, therefore when he saw the dead frog jerk its legs in response to the shock treatment he just couldn’t take it and had to leave. Conner can only count his lucky stars that at least he hadn’t thrown up on her. Otherwise it would have been over for then for sure!

“Oh I’m sorry, that must have sounded rather bitchy.” Conner hears Becky say apologetically after he had remained silent for a good while. “And sorry for not remembering you, I have a bit of a headache at the moment, plus I tend to be a bit forgetful when I’ve had a drink… or two.” She starts to giggle to which Conner’s heart can’t help but melt like butter.

“It’s ok, really. I guess I was so embarrassed after that incident that I just wanted to sit at the back of the class and try and forget about it. And in the process everyone else did.” Conner chuckles nervously which makes Becky look at him sternly.

“Well that’s stupid!”

Taken aback by this Conner blinks and mumbles “Excuse me?” to which Becky adopts a deeper voice as if she’s quoting someone.

“You can’t just run away and hide from things forever. If you do that then how else will you ever proceed in life?” she finishes with a smile on her face.

“That’s… that’s good advice. Who said that?” Conner asks with genuine interest.

“Oh, it was just something my dad used to tell me.” Becky says with a weak smile.

“Used to?” Conner says with concern, unable to stop himself although Becky shakes her head.

“Oh he’s not dead. Sorry if it sounded like that. He’s just…” she stops as she coughs loudly into her hands.

“You ok?” Conner says instinctively.

Becky just waves a hand reassuringly and continues “Oh, sorry about that, I think I just need a hot drink more than ever now.” She smiles before beginning to cough even louder than before.

Conner moves past her and nearer to the coffee machine, positioning himself next to it. Now is his chance to impress her, to be cool.     

“It’s a rather old machine so sometimes you just need to give it a good whack” he says as Becky continues to cough and wheeze.  

Raising his fist Conner smacks the side of the machine hard and after a few seconds a paper cup drops down and proceeds to fill very slowly. Now Becky’s coughing louder than before. Looking at the filling cup, Conner smiles with satisfaction. He rubs his sore hand whilst returning to her side, not noticing that Becky has now stopped coughing.

"It's all in the wrist..." he says as smoothly as he can, regretting immediately the choice of such a clichéd line as he tries to keep some resemblance of the cool guy persona intact.

However, it is at this point that something drops on to the floor with a wet splat, something that will change Conner's life forever. 

*******************************************

Hearing the sound Conner looks down to see what caused it. At first he makes it out to be some coffee from the machine; however he quickly realises that it shines in the light and smells familiar, in fact, he knows it to be petrol.

"Oh, did you accidentally spray yourself? I'm sorry about that; let me get you something to wipe it off with!" Conner says apologetically and in a panic as he quickly turns around and grabs a couple of paper towels from behind his work place. 

Worried that she may get angry at him for getting petrol on herself, and her beautiful dress he tries to lighten the atmosphere by seeing if he can pass it off as just one of those things.

"You have to be careful with that number 3 pump..." he says with a forced smile as he turns around. “It has the tendency to leak just a tiny bit if you don't..." He stops talking when he notices that she hasn't moved from the spot and has now lowered her head. "Hey? Are you ok Becky?" he says, hoping that the event hasn't just made her cry. 

Becky doesn't reply, she just stands there motionless, not even shivering in the cold room. 

"Becky?" Conner says concerned, he can’t stop himself from placing his right hand on her left her shoulder. 

As his hand touches her shoulder however, he feels it suddenly become wet, a bubbling sound occurs and he realises that he is pushing down on what appears to be a thick shiny liquid. Petrol. 

"What the...?" he says shocked as he pulls away his hand and inspects it. Indeed his hand is covered in the stuff, but how did it get on his hand? He looks at the long trail of petrol connecting his hand to her shoulder and sure enough he sees a large amount of the stuff slowly seeping through the shoulder pad of her coat. 

"Oh wow! How much did you get on you Becky?" he says in utter amazement as he instinctively starts to wipe his wet hand with a piece of paper towel.

It is then, however that things start to get even weirder and scarier for Conner.

It’s the splashing he hears first, a sign that more petrol is dripping onto the floor. He looks down at the rapidly forming puddle around Becky’s feet before looking up at her. The shoulder pad isn't the only place that seems to be leaking petrol now, it appears to be coming from other parts on her coat and even in places on her hair, its oily texture blocking out her once natural blond colours. 

"Oh crap! BECKY!" Conner yells grabbing her shoulder he spins her around 180 degrees to check if she is ok. 

"How the hell did you get this much..." his frantic checking stops almost immediately when his eyes gaze at her face and his heart breaks at the sight he sees. 

In front of him stands Becky Nightwell, the girl of his dreams now with raven black hair and pale moon eyes, but it’s not these features that shock him the most. It’s the petrol. The shinning substance runs out of her nostrils, her ears and even her eyes, covering her once gorgeous face. 

"Oh god... oh god Becky..." Conner starts to say with tears welling up in his eyes, looking down at the rest of her body which is slowly covering in petrol.

Conner hasn't a clue what to do. He has never seen anything like this; he wasn't told how to deal with this kind of situation. Taking a deep breath he turns to call Sammy in some futile attempt to get help when Becky gives a choked groan and a hand presses down on his right shoulder. Surprised that she has touched him as well as spoken Conner remains still, turning slowly to face her. 

"Becky...?" he says confused. As he does so he feels her other hand clasp onto his left shoulder, her face lowered as petrol runs down her face and drips on the floor.

Conner is about to ask her again if she is ok when she raises her head with the same choked groan as before, suddenly petrol starts to pour out from her open mouth and splutters as she groans, its contents spreading over Conner’s boots and  soaking the bottom of his jeans. Shocked by this he instinctively backs away, but the hands have tightened around his shoulders, stopping him from doing so. Becky's face looks up, her eyes, now completely black stare into his for what feels like an eternity. Finally she tilts her head back and a garbled scream fills the room. Conner ducks just in time as her head comes swinging back towards his and finding an opening under her right arm he slips through it. Now facing the only way out and Becky who is blocking said way his feet start to walk backwards apparently with a mind of their own. Conner mutters a range of non- sensible words, gibberish in his panic as he looks for a means of escape. His hands moving frantically behind him finally come across the mop in the corner of the room. At first he is surprised at this but quickly finds himself pointing it in Becky's direction out of defence. 

"I don't want to hurt you Becky! Please don't make me do this!" he says with shaking hands as his eyes look frantically around for a way out. 

He considers the checkout for a brief second before hearing Becky stomping loudly on the floor. She marches towards him and takes two swings with her flailing arms; each time spluttering more petrol from her mouth onto the floor. Conner is able to block one hit and avoid the other only to slip on one of the pools of petrol and land heavily on his back. Groaning he looks up to see Becky slam her body onto the floor and start to drag her slippery form towards his. She crawls with outstretched clasping hands whilst moaning constantly. Yelling a mixture of profanity Conner backs away, slipping constantly in the oily substance before his back hits the restroom door. Suddenly realising that Sammy is in there he bangs on the door as hard as he can. 

"S... Sam, SAMMY! HELP!" he yells towards the door before turning back to Becky who is almost in reach of him. 

He lifts the mop just in time and slamming it hard into her face forces her to land on her back. 

"Sorry!" he says instinctively as the door behind him clicks, a sigh of relief escapes Conner’s mouth at the sound. "Oh thank god Sammy! I could kiss..." he says turning around before even he can register what he was just about to say.

His eyes gaze into the restroom; however he quickly notices that the floor is flooded with petrol and that a figure is standing behind him. Breathing heavily with fear he looks up at the figure that was once Sammy, her body, like Becky’s is dripping in petrol!

Conner screams and manages to push himself away from the looming figure now snapping her extended fingers towards him. Facing the new threat he slides through the petrol until his back rests against what he realises to be Becky's heels. Yelling Conner quickly turns and proceeds to try and pull himself upright using the mop as support when Sammy grabs his right foot and pulls it down. Gravity now joins in the fight as Conner is pulled back to the floor, winding him as his stomach and chin slam into the floor. Chin bleeding and head ringing with a high pitched noise, Conner turns to see Sammy desperately trying to claw at his boot. 

"Sorry Sammy..." Conner says before putting all his strength behind his foot and kicking hard into the girl’s forehead. 

Surprisingly, this sends her flying into the puddle of petrol slowly pouring out of the restroom. Conner hasn't the time to relax however, as he turns his head just in time to see Becky finally getting back on her feet, her eyes fixed on his as she splutters a volley of petrol into his face. Blinded Conner staggers backwards in terror, banging the back of his head on the central shelf, increasing the ringing in his ears but also waking him up just enough to propel himself down the aisle with help from the shelving.

Becky, surprisingly close behind him lunges towards Conner causing him to dodge. He thinks he has made good distance when he feels wet hands grab onto the back of his long hair and pull him back. A mixture of pain and curses stutter out of Conner's mouth as he is pulled back. It appears that Becky's hands are so oily however that she isn't able to hold onto his hair for long and instead staggers backwards when her hand suddenly slips out of its grip. Conner staggers, his feet slipping on the floor as his hands wildly scramble for support behind him. 

"Ah crap, crap, crap!" he splutters as his right hand finds a surface. His relief is short lived, however, as it slips downwards into the opening of the freezer. 

Banging his ribs as he falls against the appliance, his hand starts to feel like a block of ice as he tries desperately to pull himself up. He notices Becky is preparing to lunge at him and just as he manages to pull his frozen hand out Becky smashes through the lid as he dodges out of the way. 

With half of Becky’s body now in the freezer, Conner doesn't waste time in using the mop in order to trip her and cause her to fall further into the freezer. He cries out "sorry" as if that would help. The bottom half of Becky kicks frantically into the air as Conner turns and quickly makes it around the other side of the shelves. He’s about halfway up the opposite aisle when a sudden explosion of potato chips comes from his left. Sammy has smashed her way through the shelf of snacks in order to launch herself at Conner. Not expecting this Conner finds himself grabbed around the waist; her slimy arms squelch horribly as Conner tries to pull himself free. Dropping the mop out of fright it lands on the floor and rolls away from him. Sammy splutters a similar garbled scream to Becky's as she splatters petrol all over his service jacket. 

"AGGH! AGGH! AGGH!" Conner shrieks in almost perfect unison to Sammy's splutters as she pulls herself closer to him and Conner pushes away, backing up to the opposite shelf. 

Sammy manages to make it halfway through the gap in the shelf before suddenly falling to the floor, unable to register the lack of surface under her. As she falls however, her grip is futile as her oily arms slide down Conner and proceed to cover him completely from the waist down in petrol. Slamming onto the floor with a splat she sends more petrol spraying across the shelves. Sweating with fear Connor sees the exit only a few metres away. Overcome with joy at the possibility that he may escape this alive after all he proceeds to run towards it only for Sammy to grab his left trouser leg and leave him hopping fruitlessly in the air. 

"AGGH!" He screams in a higher pitch than normal. "GET OFF! GET OFF!" Conner panics as he tries to kick her away with the same leg, only to be yanked at his third attempt and tripped onto the floor. He lands on his side managing to absorb most of the impact with a sudden stretch of the arms; however the pain from falling is the least of his worries as he notices the slimy thing that was once Sammy now crawling up his leg. Screaming again he tries desperately to kick her off with both legs, but they slip and slide under her slimy body, only helping her reach his chest more quickly. 

"HELP! HELP! OH GOD SOMEONE HEL...!" he shrieks in horror only to be silenced as her hands clasp around his throat and despite their slipperiness fix on tight. 

Both Conner and Sammy splutter for air as the two fight one another. Conner kicks and punches in desperation, but the sliminess of Sammy's body only proceeds to soak up the damage. Conner can feel himself getting lighter as his eyes begin to roll upwards. 

"It can't end like this... can it?" Conner thinks to himself before everything goes black.

*******************************************

Bing!

The sound of the automatic doors is heard opening shortly followed by the appearance of a man with short dark hair wearing a long red trench coat. He whistles happily as he enters before stepping into a puddle of petrol. Lifting up his shoe in curiosity whilst still whistling he looks up and examines the petrol covered coffee machine next to him.

"Geez... you would think they would tidy up around here once in a while..." he mutters disapprovingly before hearing a noise behind him. 

Thinking it to be the gas attendant he turns on the spot with one leg in the air, putting on his biggest smile.

"Greeeetings my minimal wage associate! Now tell me, do you have any of those amazing toffee flavoured cornettos left?" The newcomer says confidently with his eyes shut from grinning so hard.

He waits a few seconds for a response but instead hears garbled moaning. He opens his eyes to see the events in front of him. Becky is still in the freezer with her legs kicking furiously into the air, and the creature, once known as Sammy is still on top of Conner. She looks up at the new arrival in confusion as the music from the radio continues to play an out of place country song. The man in the trench coat looks down at the suffocating gas attendant before looking back at the exit slightly confused and embarrassed.

"Err... Sorry sport. I didn't know you were entertaining. Need me to come back later?" he asks turning around and kneeling down next to Conner who just wheezes for air.  

The creature known as Sammy merely stares in confusion at the new presence as he continues to smile at the suffocating gas attendant.  

"Or perhaps you would like my help?" he says clapping his hands together and getting up whilst shifting into a defensive stance as the creature in front of him lets go of the gas attendant’s throat. Conner’s petrol covered body slumps to the floor as he desperately coughs for air. 

The man in the trench coat extends his left gloved hand towards the creature and beckons her forward. 

"Well come on... bring it." he says with a smirk which she acknowledges by lunging at him.

Without even flinching he raises his right fist and smacks it in her jaw, then quickly ducks down and hits her squarely in the stomach with his left. This sends her into the air before he cranes his right leg up before extending it into a kick that sends Sammy smashing into the cash register, immediately breaking the radio and cutting off the current song. Dollar bills explode into the air and proceed to float down. Many land and stick to the petrol covered walls, floor and even stick to Sammy whose head is now half way in the till itself. Breathing heavily the man slowly lowers his leg and puts a hand to his chin. He seems to be deep in thought. Whilst he is thinking however, Conner weakly looks up at the stranger in the room, knowing too well they need to get out he tries his best to talk, but his throat is so sore that he is barely even able to whisper.

"We need to get out of here before..." Conner eventually manages to wheeze trying to get upright, but the man merely tells him to shush.

"Hang on! Give me a minute here..." he says tapping his chin whilst muttering under his breath.  

Confused Conner just looks at him in amazement until he hears the groaning behind him. Remembering the danger he staggers back up and attempts to pull the man towards the exit. As Conner grabs the man’s left arm however, he feels it to be… unusual. In his panic Conner isn't able to acknowledge why but, he proceeds to try and tug at him regardless.

"You’re in danger here! We have to go!" Conner pleads. The man remains standing, unmoved by Conner's attempts.  

Finally, after a few seconds of pulling the man raises a finger in the air as if a light bulb has just switched on above his head.

"HA! Penny for your thoughts?" he chuckles rather heart heatedly to which Sammy finally wrenches her head out of the till and screams angrily in his direction. Conner also looks at him in amazement. Was he really only thinking of a one liner this whole time?

"What? Did I not say it soon enough? Sorry, but you put me on the spot and I hardly get to say one of those. At least give me some time to come up with a one liner ok? Geez..." he says slightly annoyed now turning away from Sammy before hearing a loud bang.

Realising that Becky has gained enough momentum to tip the freezer over and is now getting up the man in the trench coat proceeds to return to his defensive stance looking between the two things as he slowly steps backwards. Conner meanwhile follows his lead towards the exit.

"Two on one? Now that isn't fair..." the man in the trench coat starts to chuckle until he hears Conner shout "LOOK OUT!". 

Seeing that both the creatures are now marching towards him, the man in the trench coat quickly pushes Conner through the opening automatic doors causing the teenager to stumble through and land on the hard gravel with a thud. From outside Conner watches the rest of the event take place.

The man in the trench coat’s right arm rises instinctively to ward off Becky whilst he does the same for Sammy with his left. Unable to hold his attention however both of his arms are pushed upwards by the pair and he finds himself pushed back by the stampeding duo and into the coffee machine. Slamming into it, coffee suddenly starts to pour out over his extended arms, hot steam billowing out of them. In shock Conner looks at the man’s face which doesn't even seem to flinch. Instead he just closes his eyes and looks down smiling whilst the two creatures clasp tightly onto his arms and attempt to crush them under some newly found strength. Even from behind the automatic doors Conner can hear cracking. But, it’s not the cracking of bones he hears, it’s something else.

Finally, the stranger whistles loudly catching the attention of both creatures.

"Let me finish..." he says with a smile looking at the two dripping things. “Two on one... Now that isn't fair... for you is it?" he finishes the sentence with a chuckle to which the two creatures merely look at one another in confusion.

Neither Conner nor the creatures seem to be ready for what happens next.

The man pinned to the coffee machine suddenly yells loudly into the air as if gathering all his might before bringing both his arms together like some triggered bear trap, thus causing the two latched on to slam into each other in a shower of petrol and flailing limbs. The man proceeds to lift his arms higher into the air, lifting the two beings off the ground. As he does so the two creatures try in vain to escape, clawing at his trench coat and succeeding in shredding the sleeves which begin to fall apart. As Conner watches in amazement he suddenly notices why he thought the man’s arm felt odd. 

"Your... your arms..." he murmurs mouth open.  

Now that the man’s sleeves are ripped Conner can see that both his arms are prosthetic, consisting of numerous joints which are transparent since they are as far as Conner can make out... glass! Albeit slightly cracked from the recent crushing episode, but still glass none the less.

"Now... let’s finish this!" the man suddenly cries out lifting the pair even higher into the air before slamming them both onto the ground which results in a spray of petrol covering the his face. Undeterred, he merely smiles at the now crumpled mess on the floor. Flinching slightly the two creatures don't have time to react to the man’s brutish punches as he lays his fists into the duo, one fist for each of them over and over again. Conner can only watch in awe as the petrol creatures splatter everywhere, they limbs fruitlessly scrabbling at the floor as they try to escape. 

"Oh no you don't you slippery...!" the man’s words trail off as he slams a foot down heavily on each on the creatures, pinning them to the spot, continuing his barrage.

Conner watches for about a minute, too afraid to try to stop the powerful man. However, he feels he needs to say something.    

"Err... I think you..." Conner starts to say as he slowly approaches the automatic doors.

The man looks at him with a grin barely visible through the petrol that covers his face.

"Sport... you may want to back away from this next bit." he huffs as he starts to clench his fists. 

In spite of the ordeal Conner remembers that he knows who these creatures once were and  steps forward, the automatic doors opening as he does so.

"Wait! Please don't! They were once people I knew!" he starts to plead to which the man merely looks puzzled. 

"What? You thought I didn't know that?" he says inquisitively before turning back to the wild creatures.

"So you’re still just going to kill them!?" Conner yells in surprise and anger whilst the man just stares him straight in the eyes and gives Conner a straight expression, one which Conner hasn't seen until now.

"Kill them? Sport... I'm saving them here." he says finishing with his trademark smile intact.

Raising both his hands in front of his face, Conner sees the stranger’s finger tips suddenly spring open closely followed by a soft suction noise coming from each one. 

"Now... stand back!" the man with glass arms yells as he slams his fingers into the quivering monsters, instantly sending them into spasms of pain. 

As Conner retreats behind the automatic doors which shut as he watches with curiosity and concern what the man is doing. As he watches the work in progress he notices long transparent tubes fill the interior of the man’s prosthetic arms. Intrigued Conner watches as they slowly start to fill with a shiny liquid Conner immediately recognises to be petrol. He continues to watch as the man’s arms fill with more and more of the liquid and the creatures show signs of losing their strength. In fact, not even thirty seconds pass before Conner is relieved to see the human figures of both the girls now reappearing as the petrol is sucked out of them.

Conner tries to take a step forward but the man merely looks in his direction and says "Not yet!" before turning his attention back to the task. Conner waits anxiously behind the doors, staring at Becky's face which gradually comes back into view. He shudders slightly in the cold wind, but his concern for the girls is greater than his concern for himself right now. Finally after another thirty seconds has passed the man stops and wipes his forehead with his right arm, now clearly full of petrol which can be seen swirling inside. Conner takes this as a sign that he can re-enter the building, slowly walking in and standing over Becky. 

"Are... are they..." Conner asks the man behind him as he looks down at the two unconscious bodies.  

Their clothes are completely soaked through with petrol, and apart from Sammy's hair which was already black, Becky's once beautiful blond hair is now also dark and plastered across her face. Apart from these changes however, they appear to be what Conner would consider normal given the recent circumstances.

After no response Conner turns to the man in order to say something, however the man gestures him to be quiet with his right hand as his left clutches a red mobile phone against his ear.

"Trinity? Yea it’s me. I just had an encounter with our petrol friends." he pauses as Conner can just make out that the other person is talking rather loudly, perhaps with concern?  

"I'm fine, but two girls got possessed by the stuff and are now on the floor barely alive. I need to bring them back for processing." he pauses once again as the other person talks down the line. Conner in the meantime tries to enquire as to what the hell is going on.

"Processing!? What does...?" he manages to say before the man once again raises a finger to silence him before continuing.

"Ok, thanks Trin. See ya soon! Toodles!" the man finishes on a high note as he drops the phone into one of his large trench coat pockets before looking at Conner with a stern expression.

"Did no one ever tell you it's rude to talk to someone when they’re on the phone?" He looks at Conner who just looks back in utter amazement. 

Conner can feel his teeth grind against one another as he stares at the man in front of him who doesn’t even seem to be concerned, about what has just happened around him. Finally Conner can't help but say something; he is so angry and full of questions that he just has to say something.

"SHUT UP!" Conner yells at the man surprising himself with the loud volume of his voice.  However, he keeps going. He feels that he must say something. "Don't you dare try and shush me! I had to fight for my life just now against the girl of my dreams and her friend!" Conner continues unable to stop himself. "I almost died for crying out loud and you tell me to shush? What the hell is wrong with you?” 

Conner feels as if he can no longer look at the guy and turns away, now facing a sight that adds to his stress. 

"Oh god... I'm so dead." he says almost whimpering as he stares in horror at the mess the battle has caused. 

Petrol drips from nearly every surface; the coffee machine is busted along with the cash register, shelving and the freezer. Dollar notes litter the sticky surfaces whilst an assortment of frozen goods that fell out of the freezer along with a quantity of potato chips decorate the floor. The flood of petrol from the restroom continues to trickle out, bubbling as it does so. Conner continues to stare in disbelief as the strange man walks over to the mop on the floor and picks it up, examining it as he does so.

"So... you fought them of with this hey?" he says with a smile. "Tell me, where did you learn to mop the floor as it were?" he chuckles but Conner doesn't respond, he just stares at the guy choosing not to answer. 

"Well, excuse me for trying to complement you. It’s not very often that someone survives one of their attacks after all. Still, I'm surprised you weren't attacked before now considering you work in a place full of the stuff." he says carrying the mop back to the entrance where he examines the busted coffee machine for a minute, giving the kid a chance to breathe before turning around and putting his free hand on his shoulder.          

"Now, I understand that you have a lot of questions so let me explain real quick for you, ok?" He gives Conner a reassuring smile before using the mop to point towards the two girls. "Those were Petrol Phantoms, I'm the man with glass arms, and I work for a group called F.O.S.S.I.L. Does that help?" He explains in a way a grown up would talk to a child using a smile so confident that Conner can't make out if he is lying or just plain crazy.

"Wait? What? No, that doesn't..." Conner is about to say he doesn’t understand when the man rests the mop on his shoulder and speaks up again.

"Got it? Good!  Now... what's your name sport?" his tone now assertive.

Slightly taken by surprise by this shift in conversation and tone Conner stutters his answer. 

"Conner... Conner Liverstan." 

"Well Conner, Conner Liverstan, it's nice to meet you!" he says with a grin before extending his free right hand and grabbing Conner's which he shacks vigorously despite the petrol covering it before looking around the premises hopefully.

Unable to see what he is looking for, he turns once again to Conner and patting him firmly on the shoulder says.

"Now... about that toffee cornetto?"