Fuel (Best Laid Plans Book 1) by Nathan Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

acquaintance at gunpoint. “What's wrong with you? Go.” When Nelson didn't immediately move he raised his voice to a shout. “Go!”
    At that Nelson finally turned and staggered away, back to his dorm and inside.
    As soon as he was gone Trev flipped the safety back on his gun and holstered it, then sagged down to the pavement leaning against the front of his car. In a way the encounter he'd just had was almost unreal. He'd spent the last few years frankly talking to his friends about the preparations he thought they'd be wise to make and the reasons he thought they were necessary. For the most part their response had been at best polite amusement at his quirky viewpoints, at worst good-natured ribbing. Or not so good-natured ribbing.
    And yet the only person who'd actually taken his words to heart enough to see the seriousness of the disaster when it finally arrived hadn't been interested in preparing, he'd just wanted to rob Trev and benefit from his preparations. It was almost enough to make him lose faith in humanity.
    Not to mention quite a bit of confidence in himself. Not only should he have seen Nelson coming a lot sooner but he should've been a lot quicker on the draw. And when he had his gun out? His aim had been wavering all over the place, his finger hadn't been properly positioned on the trigger for a smooth surprise break, and if he'd actually had to shot the recoil would've caused him problems like it always did.
    Lewis had frequently warned him that his one or twice a year visits to the shooting range weren't nearly enough for him to even claim competency, let alone proficiency. Trev had tried to make up for that with dry fire practice, but even there he'd slacked off more than he should. And it had nearly cost him when his life depended on it. Once he got down to Aspen Hill he'd apologize to his cousin and really work on improving his-
    Oh, Lewis. He'd spent the last half a minute or so sitting there dazed while his cousin was on the phone. In fact he could faintly hear muted squawking coming from beyond his still partly-open car door. He snapped back to reality and rushed to retrieve his phone.
    “Trev? Trev! Come on, you idiot, what's going on?”
    Trev took a breath. “Sorry man, I'm here.”
    “About time! You just vanished mid-sentence and after that all I heard was some shouting. What happened?”
    “Someone tried to rob me in my dorm's parking lot in broad daylight. I managed to get his gun away from him and send him packing.”
    There was a long pause. “Whoa. I didn't expect things like that to be happening this soon.”
    Trev noticed his hand holding the phone was shaking. “Me either. Listen, I need to call you back. I'll be on the road in a few minutes and on my way down. We can talk more then.”
    Once he'd hung up with Lewis he took a few more minutes to steady his breathing, then lifted his phone again and dialed Matt's number.
    “Hey. You make it to Aspen Hill?” his friend asked when he answered.
    “No, still in the dorm's parking lot.
    “Wow really? You said goodbye over two hours ago.”
    “Yeah, I was a bit delayed. Hey could you come out here? I've got something I want you to have before I go.”
    “Sure, I can cut my lunch break short. Be right there.”
    Trev shoved the phone into his pocket and leaned back against his car, straightening every few moments to look around in all directions. He didn't exactly expect Nelson to come back and try anything else, and he couldn't see why anyone else would be a specific threat to him, but after having a gun pointed at his head it was impossible not to be a bit jumpy. Especially when he'd had so little sleep on top of a tense night and now adrenaline was pumping through him.
    After what seemed like half an hour Matt finally showed up. Trev hurried over to meet him halfway. “Don't suppose you've changed your mind about going home?” he asked. “That offer to ride down with me is still on the table.”
    Matt gave him a patient