Twix leaned forward over the bar to get the busy barman's attention
"does this town 'ave a general store o' some sort?"
The barman nodded and gestured in the direction of the door.
"That would be Taffy's, out the door, turn right and keep walking, you can't miss it." a mischievous light entered the barman's eye as he continued "Can I get you a drink before you go?"
Twix looked up at the grinning barman and sighed
"aye... one for the road I guess"
The Barman grabbed a bottle of clear liquid from below the bar and poured a large glass, Twix handed over some cash and with some trepidation reached for the glass, he examined the liquid carefully for a moment returning his attention to the barman.
"Don't you have customers to be serving?"
The barman's grin only widened.
Twix, never one to forego a challenge, raised his eyebrow and -keeping eye contact with the barman- raised the glass and began drinking, the strong taste hit his throat and it took an act of will to stop him from gagging, he forced it down and slammed the glass down on the counter.
The grinning barman collected the glass laughing good heartedly as he did.
"good effort son!"
Twix grinned and began making his way to the exit.
Cold fresh air hit him as he left, door swinging closed behind him. Across the street in the shadow of a burned out building two men were talking, one with an accent from some far away place, other people still wandered the streets quick strides taking them to their destinations.
Twix turned right and began walking.
A sign swung gently in the breeze, It proudly announced the ramshackle looking building as 'Taffy's General Store', Two large windows that probably used to contain glass were boarded with sturdy wooden planks and the door was criss crossed with Iron reinforcing bands, not somewhere easy to break into. Twix stumbled a little as he approached, the alcohol beginning to take effect.
As he pushed the door ajar a bell rang announcing his presence, A young looking woman -dark hair cut relatively short- poked her head up from behind a counter at the far end of the store.
"Wait there! I'll be right with you!"
Twix's eyes widened in alarm as there was a loud crashing noise, as if a pile of something had just gone tumbling, echoed around the store followed immediately by several colourful curses. The woman, Twix could now see more of her as she'd made it out from behind the counter, sauntered down the aisle in-between dusty shelves of equipment.
She wore a smart looking red polo-shirt and Camouflage Cargo-pants and as Twix realized as she approached, she was about his height.
She drew level with him and looked him up and down rather unsubtly.
"What's with the hat?"
Twix blinked momentarily stumped.
"umm-" he started but didn't quite get to finish as she went on.
"I'm Taffy by the way, you are?"
It took Twix's quickly becoming alcohol addled brain a second to catch up with events in which time she'd continued.
"What are you here for?"
under the tirade of questions Twix visibly wilted backing away almost unconsciously, he quickly stopped that and blushing furiously finally managed to stutter out a response.
"h..hey, Twix... I'm Twix"
He held out his hand in greeting as he spoke and the girl, Taffy, shook it energetically as she cocked an eyebrow at him, playful smile on her lips.
"So what're you looking for? and what's with the hat?"
Twix having regained his composure managed to answer without embarrassing himself
"I need firewood, enough for a small cooking fire, say.. 52 9mm rounds and water enough for my canteen" he said indicating the canteen poking out of his coat pocket.
he unconsciously reached up to touch his hat -smile on his face- as he finished
"The hats my luck"
Taffy's hand moved quick as a cobra grabbing the hat from Twix's head, Twix, normally fast to react, was sluggish in his response and his hand raked through his messy brown hair in bewilderment.
A mischievous glint similar to that of the barmans had entered Taffy's eyes as she pulled the hat down over her hair
"Alright, but it'll cost you $30"
Twix by this point was having trouble keeping up with exactly what was happening and did the air seem awfully dry in here? his eyes kept drying up and he had to keep blinking.
"umm.. umm sure?"
He turned away from her and counted out $30 from his gasmask, cash in hand he turned back
"and my hat?"
Taffy's smile widened
"You can come back tomorrow for it if you'd like"
Twix nodded disheartened by the loss of his hat, his mind rested momentarily on the concept of forcing her to give it back but she'd already turned away looking through the shelves for what he'd requested.
She returned momentarily, The firewood he tied carefully across straps specifically placed for the task on his back, she'd brought a bucket of water which he dipped his canteen into thankfully whilst handing over the money, when he stood back up from filling his canteen Taffy was much closer than she had been before and time seemed to slow as Twix's eyes caught on hers, his breath caught in his throat, she really has quite beautiful eyes.
The moment broke as she handed him a handful of 9mm rounds, blushing furiously -once again- Twix pocketed the rounds and took a step back towards the door.
"T..thanks"
the heavy door creaked as he pushed it open and as it swung shut he heard one last shout from Taffy
"See you tomorrow"
He stumbled away to find a clear area to light his fire and stay for a bit, the wind ruffled his hair reminding him that he'd lost his hat.
A wise man might have counted the rounds he'd bought, but half drunk men are rarely wise.
He soon found a nice clear area in between buildings in which to make his fire, it was closer to the tavern than he'd prefer but beggars can't be choosers, soon he had a nice little fire going and his rabbits heating up nicely, he sat back contently humming to himself as the smell of cooking meat filled the air.