She wiped the sweat out of her eyes and tried to focus on the vinyl stick-on letters in front of her. The word “round” jumped out first, then the word “made”. But the letters in the first word wiggled and squirmed in her vision.
Platt? Flate? Nothing made sense to her. Not that she was sure it mattered anymore. She was in the middle of nowhere with less than nothing to her name. Flat broke… Wait! “Flats”! That was the first word.
Now her tired brain tried to make sense out of the three words. “Flats Made Round.” Maybe if she read it in a different order. “Round Flats Made”. Nope, that didn’t make any sense either.
She dropped her backpack to the ground and sat in the dirt beside it. The town was deserted, same as the last dozen or so she had passed through. An old Dairy Queen had provided some potable water, the first she had found in two days. She had filled up the plastic bottles she had collected during her journey. She pulled one out and took a sip, closing it tightly and returning it to her pack.
She closed her eyes and thought back over the last few months. She’d never thought this could happen to her. A broke, homeless wanderer – a far cry from her former life. A sudden gust of wind sent shivers through her slight frame. The following few raindrops sent spirals of dust into the air.
Six weeks later, a re-utilized military truck drove through town. One of the men on the back shouted to the driver. “Got another one!”
Two of the men jumped down and dragged the decaying body to the center of the road, then moved to the side and motioned the truck forward. The crunching of the bones was barely heard over the engine noise. He went into reverse and backed over it again. Two used shovels to scoop up the bones, dumping them into a metal drum while the third picked up the backpack.
“Bingo, got water!” he shouted.
“Great.” His co-worker banged the drum. “Last one, all six are full. We’ll be back to the factory in time for dinner.”
As they drove off, another letter dropped off but the company name was still legible on the side of the truck. “GROUND FLATS PREMADE”
My contribution to this week’s Friday Fotoflash Challenge.
Thank you.
Wow. I wonder what’s going on!