Does It Matter

32

  Zhang Qiling sighed with relief as the gas station came into view, and glanced at the empty gas tank warning light that had been glowing bright red at him for the past two miles.

He wandered around the station, absently remembering the events of the morning as he sought out his desired item.
The old woman was suspicious as far as he was concerned, but he doubted that she would act rashly, no matter what her goal was, and so he felt safe enough with leaving his sleeping companion there for the next half hour. He would be back soon anyway.
"Oh." He whispered under his breath, as he finally found some gas cans, and grabbed two of the three gallon containers before heading to the counter to pay. He never wanted to be forced to stop in unsafe territory again if he had any other options, and so the travel cans were the best option at the moment.
 
He drove away with a full tank and the full cans in the trunk, feeling very satisfied now that the irritating problem had been solved, what good would asking a farmer to drive them here do in the first place? They would just have to drive back anyway.

Yet another point against the overly friendly woman, spouting nonsense just for the sake of talking. She had been very insistent on getting him to eat before leaving that morning, which he had adamantly refused as he was in a hurry and already slept in. She had continued to bother him all the way out to the porch, which had only caused him to feel more wary of her.
 
While he was thinking about all of this he suddenly realized that he should have gotten back to town by now. The scenery all appeared the same, just a muddy flat land, but somewhere along the way he must have taken a wrong turn.
He shook his head, mentally berating himself for getting distracted, and turned around on the first side road that he found.
Around the same time a sense of foreboding was slowly pouring over his being, causing him to press harder on the gas peddle. Perhaps he had been wrong, and something had in fact happened in the short time that he was gone, but then he really didn't know just what time it was, or what time he had left.
   He really should get a phone, he thought with regret. He normally was not a fan of technology, as it made him easier to track, and he really didn't have a way to change watch batteries or charge a phone when he spent most of his time in the wilderness. But right now he really wished to be able to tell the time, or call his companion to ensure that everything was alright, and he hadn't gone and found more trouble for himself after barely escaping the day before.
 
He almost sagged with relief when he saw the first houses come into view, relief at the fact that he had found the correct road, and at the fact that he could almost put his fears to rest, just two minutes more and he would be back at the inn.

He pulled up in front of the dilapidated building, throwing gravel up as he stomped on the brake and put it in park, with a quick twist and pull he snatched the key and jogged into the place, once again ignoring the old annoying woman and taking the stairs two at a time to the room. He stumbled on the last step as he caught sight of the door hanging ajar, he furrowed his brows and stepped inside, ready to draw his sword at any moment if deemed necessary.
  The room appeared to be in the same state that he had left it in, the only difference upon first glance being that the second bed was now empty, blankets and sheets tangled and hanging halfway off the bed, but as he looked further he saw that Wu Xie's shoes and jacket were gone, as well as Wu Xie's backpack of supplies, with only a few items dropped haphazardly around the floor. It appeared as though someone had left in a great hurry, not thinking of the mess they had left in their wake.

 
With the sense of something amiss still lingering strongly in his mind, Qiling grabbed up the remaining belongings and closed the door before running back down the stairs, cringing as he realized that he would have to make conversation with the woman downstairs.
Luckily she didn't need to be found, as she was cleaning up a set of dishes from a table when he got down to the first floor.