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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/_Quinntessential on 2024-01-07 07:53:52.

The gas station gig isn’t the job of my dreams, but when your diet becomes nothing but a steady stream of Top Ramen and tap water, you take what you can get.

Thing is, the gas station I work at is…different.For starters, we don’t sell any brand you’d recognize. There’s brands like Po-Chips and Drink. Some are written in a language that I don’t recognize. We’re allowed to eat whatever we’d like though, so I’ve tried almost everything. I do not recommend Drink.

We don’t get very many customers on the night shift, but the ones we do- our regulars- are off.

Like Plaid Shirt, who comes in about once a week and buys the same map every time. He’s also always in the same plaid shirt.

And Mr. Freeze, who comes in sporadically but always stares at the frozen section. He doesn’t do anything else, and no amount of interaction will break his focus. He leaves after about 30 minutes. When he first started coming in my co-worker Jude and I used to take turns asking if he needed help finding anything. Now we have a competition to see who can balance the most snack cakes on his shoulders before they fall. I currently hold the record at 8.

Jude and I are definitely unlikely friends, as he’s a 40 something year old man built like Frankenstein’s monster, and I’m a 28 year old woman who frequently forgets she’s an adult. He’s been working here longer than I have though, and showed me the ropes when I first started. Even talked me off the ledge of quitting after my very first shift. I’d had my first experience with the trash and after vomiting profusely I was ready to go.

That’s the other thing about the gas station. Yeah, the customers are pretty weird, but the place itself does things. Really weird things; the trash is one of them.We have to take it out every night, at 5 minutes to midnight. Can’t do it sooner and we’re fucked if we do it any later. It fills to the brim with a grotesque compilation of maggots, centipedes and other abominations that probably crawled up from Hell itself. Our job is to take that bag (or bags, depending on the night) and deliver it to the edge of the parking lot. Jude says the Trashman comes to collect it, but I’ve never seen him. Jude says I should be glad.

Last shift started as usual. Jude was already there when I clocked in, and I tossed my backpack in my locker and made my way behind the counter to watch the telenovela Jude always has playing on the mini-TV stashed behind the counter. We usually pass the time this way, and even though we can’t speak the language, the drama is always understood.

It was about 11:45 when they arrived. A family of four, mother, father and two kids. We could hear them from the parking lot, the father’s booming voice overtaking the mother’s light, even tone. Jude and I exchanged a curious look and reluctantly I turned off the mini-TV.

The bell above the door rang its shrill song as the father pushed the door open. Mother followed next, and behind her a little girl, and a little boy with a beagle in a blue collar that danced around his feet, nearly tripping him.

“Stupid dog.” The father scolded as he grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt to save him from falling.

“Adam.” The mother scolded.

With their slick hairstyles and ‘70s style clothing they looked incredibly out of place in the lobby. Jude and I glanced at each other again- we’d never seen any of them before.

“Excuse me,” the father, Adam, approached the counter. “We can’t seem to find our way back to the highway. Would you be able to give us directions?”

“We have an excellent collection of maps,” Jude offered, motioning to the display rack. As Adam mused his wife and daughter stepped up.

“Where’s your lavatory?” The woman asked, her tone urgent as the girl in front of her shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“Rachel, really? I wanted to be out of here in a jiffy and back on the road.” Adam’s tone was condescending as he addressed his wife. Rachel rolled her eyes.

“Dawn needs to go.” She replied matter of factly.

“It’s just down the hall, second door on your right.” I pointed and Rachel nodded, ushering Dawn along. I turned to Jude, wanting to ask if I should warn them about the Woman in the Bathroom, but he was preoccupied with Adam’s questions about the maps.

Rustling drew my attention to the little boy and the dog who were rooting around the shelves, searching for snacks.

“Dad, I want these!” the boy whined. Adam ignored him as he glanced between two maps, trying to make a final decision.The boy gathered up an armful of snacks and shuffled up to the counter, the beagle on his heels.

“I’ll take this one,” Adam slid the map toward the register as his son released his cache of snacks onto the counter. “And those too.”

While Jude began ringing up the items I slipped from behind the counter and walked briskly to the women’s restroom, bracing myself before opening the door. I was surprised to see Rachel and Dawn at the sinks, washing their hands. They were surprised to see me peeking through the door, too.

“Uh, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay!” I called out, scanning the restroom for anything abnormal. Rachel chuckled nervously as she dried her hands, but Dawn stared bewildered as water continued to run into the sink.

I sheepishly slipped out of the bathroom, relieved the Woman decided against rearing her ugly head tonight. Well, it wasn’t really ugly, but that was beside the point. Customers interacting with her never turned out well. My relief only lasted a moment though.

I made it to the start of the hallway and saw a dark figure pressed against the front windows. My veins turned to ice.

“Jude,” my voice was barely above a whisper, but Jude turned to me, then followed my gaze to the window.

“Trashman.” he gasped.

“Oh shit.” I replied.

Then the power went out.

I’d never seen Trashman before. If I’m honest, part of me wasn’t sure if he existed. As wild as it was that bugs spontaneously manifested in the trash, it just seemed improbable that someone was coming to pick them up from the edge of the parking lot. I thought Jude was fucking with me. I should have known better. I squinted to read the clock face above the drink section.

12:07. We were late.

Jude vaulted over the counter, kicking the map and snacks onto the floor as he raced to the front door, arms outstretched to help him navigate the darkness. Adam and his son yelled in protest, but Jude was on the move. As soon as I saw the Panic Kit in his hand I knew shit was about to hit the fan.

He pulled the salt from the bag in a flash and poured a thick line of it in front of the door before turning to face Trashman. The power outage extended to the parking lot, and without those lights I could barely make out his dark, looming figure as he stood fixed in the window. He wore some sort of hooded cloak that obscured his face, and his frame was enormous, easily twice the size of Jude. Malice exuded from him.

“What’s going on?” Rachel demanded as she and Dawn exited the restroom. She briskly walked past me to join her husband and son at the counter. Dawn lingered next to me, her eyes wide.

“That’s what I’d damn well like to know.” Adam said indignantly.

“That should hold him for now.” Jude’s voice was confident, but his distraught expression was concerning.

“Well, who the hell is that?” the boy asked, his tone reminiscent of his father’s.

“Gregory!” Rachel scoffed. A brief smirk crossed Adam’s face before he placed his hand on Gregory’s shoulder and pulled him close. A loud clunk broke the silence and Jude and I locked eyes.

“I’ll get it.” I said softly before turning and walking down the hall to The Manager’s office.

No one’s seen The Manager before. He doesn’t leave his office, and no one goes in. He communicates through notes that he slides through the mail slot in his door, their delivery signaled by the solid clunk of the flap closing. While I’d never received one before, Jude’s rule is that we follow all directions from The Manager. I agree, but mostly because I’m pretty sure he signs out paychecks.

I could hear Adam and Jude arguing as I rounded the corner. I had no idea how Jude was going to explain any of this, but I was glad I didn’t have to do it. I picked up the paper and read The Manager’s instructions.

“Fuck.”

When I returned Trashman had disappeared from the window. The family had grouped together against the front counter while Jude paced in front of the door. He stopped when he saw me.

“What did he say?” Jude asked.

“What did who say?” Adam barked. I swallowed hard.

“The Manager says…we need a sacrifice.”The beagle whined.

“Shut up, Zipper!” Adam roared. The dog, along with the kids, shrank back. Rachel stepped forward.

“Can I speak with this manager?” she asked. “I’m sure if we had more information this could be an easier process.”

“To hell with that! This doesn’t have anything to do with us. We’re leaving.” Adam grabbed the map from the floor and marched toward the door. Jude blocked his path.

“You can’t go out there.”

“The hell I can. I don’t know what kind of con the two of you are running, but my family and I are leaving.”

“He’s hungry, and he’s hunting, okay? We have to stay here and figure out what The Manager meant-” Adam shoved Jude hard, cutting his speech short.

“Honey, wait.” Rachel cried. Both of the kids were clinging to her now.

“Damnit Rachel, not now!” Adam bellowed. He pushed past Jude and held the door open. “All of you, out!”

I’m still not sure if it...

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