★ 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 ★ (𝓐𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓮)

The Backstabbing Betrayal 1

My name is Lemony Snicket with my associate and I am on the lam, a phrase which here means "conveying this information to you while being relentlessly pursued by the law." My associate is not on the lam but is relentlessly pursued by the bad men. 

Being on the lam is a disheartening and an uncomfortable way to live, not unlike being squeezed into a tight, dark box, tossed at high speed from a moving vehicle, and abandoned on a dusty patch of road, tormented by doubt and unsure of where you are going, which, if you are on the lam, is often the only way to travel. Baudelaires too found themselves on the lam. Tormented by doubt and unsure of where they were going. More so tormented for bringing their sweet friend Nadia into the mix. Especially when their fire truck ran out of gas deep in the Hinterlands, a term which here means "a desolate place unlikely to bring their troubles to an end." Oh. But your own troubles could be over this instant if you are sensible enough to halt this dire programming by pressing any nearby button marked "stop." I beg you, look away from this sorry tale now. This may be your last chance.

"Nadia!" A sweet voice exclaimed. "Nadia!" The brunette opened her eyes to see Violet smiling slightly at her. Nadia's throat felt as dry as the Sahara desert and she started coughing. "Water," She muttered. Immediately the intelligent Baudelaire gave her a bottle. She drank the water greedily and looked around. "Where are we?" She asked.

"Well," Violet pointed at a shop building named "Last Chance.' "We need to fill up on gas," The inventor said.

"Last Chance General Store." An ominous name." Klaus muttered as the children got out. Violet had two cans in her hand. They approached the building cautiously.

"It probably means it's the only building around for miles," Violet said.

"I guess the last chance is better than no chance. Let's see what we can find." Klaus said. Violet approached the gas tanks and Klaus approached the phone.

"Out of gas?" Violet read.

"Out of order," Klaus muttered disheartened.

"Out of luck," Sunny said as she read the sign on the jukebox. The children's eyes dropped to the newspaper on the ground. With pictures of the Baudelaires children, it was quite obvious that people were looking to arrest them. The newspaper read "Murders on the Lam"

"Should we go inside?" Klaus asked.

"If anyone read the paper, they'll know we're on the lam," Violet replied.

"If we keep wandering, we'll die of thirst and/or exposure," Klaus said.

"And/or Count Olaf, or even the other bad men out there," Nadia added. 

"This store has a telegraph machine." Violet pointed out. The second eldest Baudelaire turned to the brunette. "Will you stay here, so you can watch out for Count Olaf?" Nadia nodded in agreement. Violet opened her mouth to disagree but Klaus butted in.

"It will be good to have someone in watch to warn us," Klaus said logically and Violet couldn't help but agree.

Violet glanced at Nadia with worried eyes. The eldest Baudelaire couldn't imagine what she would do if the only Jewels child would get hurt. She had already helped them so much, that even imagining her hurt or even gone, made Violet heave out a breath in pain. She only hoped that Nadia would not get hurt with the children.

Nadia was standing in front of the truck keeping an eye out. The Baudelaire children quickly got it.

"Is that you, Lou?" called out a voice, but the children could not see who it belonged to. The inside of the Last Chance General Store was as crowded as its outside, with every inch of space crammed full of things for sale. There were shelves of canned asparagus and racks of fountain pens, next to barrels of onions and crates full of peacock feathers. There were cooking utensils nailed to the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and the floor was made out of thousands of different kinds of tiles, each one stamped with a price tag.