I sat in the back of the ambulance, a cup of water in my hands, a blanket over my shoulder, and a mask of oxygen strapped to my face. Allison sat on the bumper next to me as emergency workers tended to the more seriously injured around us.
"So," I said, "What now?"
"I'm not sure." Allison said, "There's probably going to be an investigation, with Wells and Prendick gone, there will, at least, be no one to testify to the contrary of what happened."
"You don't think Walton's will try and cover it up?" I said, "Like last time?"
"Walton's a corporation, and it'll act in its best interest, of course." She tapped the tablet against her knee, the shattered screen still glowing underneath. "But I think, if they were to have a way to pin all of it on two rogue actors, they would prefer scapegoating to cover up."
"We're okay with them getting to play the victim in all of this?"
"I'm indifferent to it," Allison said.
"I don't like that, I don't like this." I said, "Someone needs to be held accountable."
"By who, Patterson, the government? the government can barely hold itself together, much less hold a massive company to account."
"So we're just giving up?" I said.
"We fought our fight, Patterson." She said, "What else is there?"
I looked over at the emergency exit.
"I thought we were going to die back there when you closed the shutters on us."
"Don't be ridiculous, Patterson." She said, "I knew that Maggie would keep the throttle down, and even if she didn't we could have each jumped into one of the display freezers by the door."
"What?" I said, laughing into my oxygen mask.
"They're hermetically sealed." She said, "Haven't you seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?" She asked.
I was dumbfounded.
"You based our chances of survival on the worst Indiana Jones movie?"
"I liked it." She said, "It's one of my favorite movies."
I smacked my forehead, my eyes boggled.
"Have you not seen any other movies?" I said.
"I've seen other movies," Allison said, dryly. "Star Wars, Indiana Jones, American Graffiti, The Fugitive..."
"Have you seen any films that don't star Harrison Ford?" I asked.
Allison, who had been counting on her fingers, put her hand down.
"No."
"What?"
"Patterson, most of my free time I spend studying, when I do watch movies, they're typically in the background, so I just watch my old comfort shows."
"And they all star Harrison Ford?" I asked.
"He's cute," she said.
I stared at her.
"Say that again," I said.
"Harrison Ford is cute." She said in her monotonous tone, "Are you saying he's not?"
"No, I think he was very attractive when he was young. It's just, it's like when you told me you were a stripper, it's just hard for me to imagine you... I don't know... having a crush?"
"You've known me for six hours." Allison said, "I think if you got to know me better, you would be less surprised."
"I guess so." I said, "Shame that's unlikely to happen now."
"Why not?" Allison said in a way that almost very nearly could be perceived as hurt.
"Well, our workplace is on fire and full of poison gas, I just figured we're not likely to see each other at work anytime soon."
"We don't have to work together to be friends," Allison said.
I thought about this, maybe it was the near-death experience, the nice day, or the pure oxygen being pumped into my face, but I did like the idea of being Allison's friend.
"You know what," I said, "you're right." I nodded "Plus, it sounds like none of your other friends have been showing you any new movies."
"They're more into music," Allison said.
We both looked up as a firefighter walked over towards us. His bunker jacket was off, which when I saw his face, reminded me that it was because I had thrown up all over his jacket just minutes ago. Instead, he was in his blue fire department branded t-shirt with his name printed on it, right next to a little pin in the shape of a heart with blue, purple, and pink stripes across it.
"How're you doing?" He asked, handing up both fresh bottles of water.
"Better," I said, looking up at his piercing blue eyes.
"Good." Allison said, cocking her head to the side, "Sir, has anyone told you that you look like a young Harrison Ford?"
I slowly turned my head to look at Allison.
"Huh, you know, I haven't, but, working the night shift, you don't get out much."
"We can relate," Allison said.
"Well, I'm Engineer Nicholas. If either of you needs anything, there isn't much we can do right now because of the..."
He gestured broadly to the entire, massive store.
"...yeah, so, just let me know if anything changes, phosgene symptoms can take a while to show."
"Good to know." I said, nodding, "I'm Richard, by the way.."
"Allison," She said, holding out her hand first to shake the hand of the hunky firefighter.
"Well, it's nice to meet you both," Nicholas said before tipping his helmet and walking away. Allison and I turned to look at each other.
"Dibs," I said
"I have dibs." She said, "I saw him first."
"No, you didn't, I threw up all over him earlier."
"Well then you're just going to embarrass yourself even more, I have dibs," Allison said, picking up the tablet.
"I think it's endearing!" I said, "A good-natured country boy and the firefighter, tell me you don't see it."
"I'm not the one who has been lacking vision tonight, Patterson, besides, I am a highly educated woman with experience as a stripper, between that and an unemployed hick, it's no competition."
"Well, jokes on you, we're both unemployed."
Allison picked up the tablet and turned on the screen.
"You know," She said, tapping at some buttons "I've been thinking about that."
Three Months Later.
A sun-faded Grand Re-Opening banner still hung over the entrance of the store. It was an otherwise typical October day, the air was crisp, cool, and bright. Allison stood outside the store, looking up at the giant words on the storefront as she took a drink from her company-branded bottle. The last few slips of water were gone now, and she walked to the front of the store where a line of vending machines stood beside a public drinking fountain. She pushed down on the lever and began filling the bottle. A man stood next to her, putting quarters in the machine.
Allison looked over.
"Buying a soda?"
"Yep," The guy said.
"Are you heading in or coming out?" Allison asked, as conversationally as she could manage.
"Neither," the man said, "I work down the road and live on the other side of the highway, so I usually walk past here each day and grab a pop on my way home."
Allison nodded as the water reached about halfway up the bottle.
"Do you ever do your grocery shopping here?" She asked.
"Not really." He said as the soda fell from the machine "It's too far from my house."
"Shame there isn't a bus that comes through here," Allison said.
"Oh yeah," the man said, opening the soda "I'd grab my groceries from here if I didn't have to walk." He popped open the tab on the can and took a sip, then looked down at the bottle.
"AARS," he said "Haven't heard of that one."
Allison looked down at her water bottle as she put the cap back on the lid.
"Oh, it's just the lab I run." She said,
"Oh, cool." the guy said.
"Well," Allison nodded, "Have a nice day."
With that, she walked back into the parking lot to a small, unmarked, white truck.
"Learn anything useful, Doctor Rodriguez?" I asked.
She took a sip of water.
"Studies show that suburban and rural stores could see a substantial return on their investment if they partner with city and county governments to fund and expand public transportation." She said,
"And what's that study based on?" I asked as I put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking space.
"Extensive field work." She said with a coy smile.
"I still can't believe they hired you," I said.
"They said they typically wouldn't hire someone without a college degree, but Dr. Wells's letter of reference and my excellent service as their intern more than made up for my lack of official credentials."
"And they never thought to look at the time stamps of those recommendations," I asked.
"I think there was more interest in getting someone into the position who wasn't likely to turn around and pin the blame for Project Headly and the Perfect Consumer program on everyone else connected with the association.
"And those projects?" I asked, tentatively.
"Gone," Allison said. "All the code for Project Headly has been deleted, I oversaw it personally, and the Perfect Consumer lab had an unfortunate accident. I think those hard drives had to be removed from the rubble with a power washer."
"So now what?" I asked, "You got hired at AARS to stop everything they were doing, and now what?" I said as we turned onto the highway.
Allison shrugged as she looked out the window.
"Things like this, putting articles out there to try and support the public good. I've also been looking back through some of the journals I read when I was in college and seeing if any of those had published and peer-reviewed work that deserves another turn in the media cycle."
She sighed.
"I don't know if it's the best use of my time right now, but it's certainly the best idea I have for it at this moment. I wasted too much time trying to figure out what I could do throughout my life. I'm trying to focus on what I can do right now."
I turned on my blinker and started to slow the truck.
"I'm surprised how close this place is to the actual store," I said as we pulled into the parking lot. I could see my car, and Nicholas standing, leaning against the side of it in his blue t-shirt and unseasonable shorts like the true blue midwesterner he is.
Allison smiled and shook her head.
"I'll never understand how that happened."
"I'm charming," I said, flicking my hair as we pulled into the parking spot.
"How've you been since the incident," Allison said as we parked the car.
"Good," I said, nodding. "Mom's been sending me some money to help keep me on my feet while I look for a new job."
"So you finally got back in contact with her?" Allison said.
"I did." I said, "I guess she and my dad had a huge falling out after he kicked me out."
"That doesn't surprise me," Allison said.
I nodded.
"I just couldn't imagine disowning a kid like that, I guess in the end, neither could she."
"That's true as well, I guess," Allison said.
I looked over to her.
"Wait, what were you talking about?" I asked.
Allison looked over at me.
"Oh come on." Allison said, "Really think about it."
I shrugged.
"Your father kicked you out because you were gay."
"Yes," I said.
"And he learned it from your pastor."
I nodded.
"And I'm guessing you didn't tell your pastor directly, did you?"
I frowned.
"No, I didn't."
Allison nodded.
"But I'm going to guess you were signed up for a dating app."
I nodded.
Allison waited, and I met her gaze.
"I don't think your pastor is the one who told your father you were gay." She finally said.
I narrowed my eyebrows, and my mouth sort of hung open a bit as I looked out the front of the truck.
"Motherfucker." I said.
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