Sneak Peek: Last Chance

An excerpt from Marcy Westcott’s upcoming new book, Searching for Sanity.

Exactly 64 miles later, we coasted into what looked like a little village. It seemed to be trying hard to gain ghost town status. Ron shut the bike off, and we rolled to a stop in front of a white dilapidated building with paint peeling off. Two rusty gas tanks rose from the concrete, and I was certain one was leaning slightly. Miraculously, they were still operating, and Ron wrestled one of the nozzles into the bike’s tank.

We had been traveling for several hours, apart from our brief stop to look at the map an hour earlier. I was stiff as I made my way toward the building, looking for the restroom.

Inside, the building was in complete disarray. Boxes of food items were partially unpacked in the middle of one aisle. The shelves were empty in others, and I noticed one with just a pile of unrelated items dumped on it. Clearly, a zombie apocalypse had happened during stocking time. There was an old woman slumped behind the front counter, which seemed more like a barricade for the zombies. Behind a beat-up cash register, she sat in a faded, stained, blue Lazy Boy recliner.

She struggled to her feet and mumbled something about helping me. I noticed she leaned to one side like the gas tank outside.

“Can you tell me where the restroom is”? I nervously said.

With a robotic movement, she lifted her arm and pointed a crooked finger at the back of the store. I braced myself…