i want to start this by saying, i work at a gas station. i work 3rd shift, (night shift), and i’m 19f. we are short staffed, so i lock the doors at night when i’m alone. my store is located in a wooded suburban area. behind my store is woods and so is the left side, in front of the store is a highway and on the right is another street, just so you can visualize what i’m about to tell you.
anyway, onto the story.
i was in the employee area, doing my work, i needed help wit something so i went to the front where the registers are, i get up there to ask my shift manager for help. my coworker looks at me and says “don’t look now but there’s a guy outside who won’t leave. he’s just sitting there with his bike. i told him that were closed and he’s just sitting there” i asked him if he’ll tell him to leave when they leave so i’m not stuck with a crazy dude outside.
i get my shift manager to help me, we go into the back, she tries to help me and gives up and leaves. i’m still back there when both my coworker and my manager rush in with the store phone. my coworker says “i’m calling the non emergency hotline. the guy is in front of the store fucking swinging a saw around” and i’m just like wtf.
he calls the hotline, he’s walking around the store with the phone against his ear, he looks at the guy outside and at this point the guy outside realizes he’s getting the cops called on him. while my coworker is on the phone on the cops, we see the man hop on the bike and drive towards the left, towards the woods. we did not see him go thru the lot, to the road, nothing. he immediately biked towards the woods. my coworker is still on the phone with the cops, updating them on what we just witnessed. a few moments later, we’re standing at the front door, inside the locked store, my coworker still on the phone. we look out and we see a little red flashing light across the highway, not on store property, but maybe on the grass between the store and the road. we realize that that’s from the crazy guys bike. he tells the cop on the phone what we see. and a minute later, the flashing light is gone and we don’t see it anymore.
a few minutes later a cop pulls up, asks us questions like “what was he wearing” “what he looks like” “what did he have with him” (which was a manual saw btw) stuff like that.
like at this point i’m on the verge of tears because i realize i’m going to be left alone in the store. my coworkers have to go home, they worked their shift already.
the cops leave and i’m talking wit my coworkers trying to pass the anxiety. eventually a cop pulls up and informs us that they couldn’t find him but they will write a report in the parking lot and stay nearby in case anything happens.
my coworker texts my boss telling her what just happened. she responds back with “ok”.
my coworker gives me his number incase anything happens and they both leave.
after they leave i have a fucking breakdown in the back, i call my boyfriend crying because i’m freaked out still and the realization has settled in that there’s a crazy man with an saw on the loose and i’m going to be in the store alone.
i decided for my safety, i was going to dress like a man. i found a random jacket, put it on, put my hair up and then put the hood up, untucked my shirt, put on a mask. doing everything i can so i don’t look like a woman. just in case the man comes back. and now it’s 3am. i’ve been alone since 12. i’ve been on the phone wit my boyfriend since and i’m safe but i’m scared to leave the back of the store.
however, while i’m shaking from anxiety, i’m still continuing to do my work, washing dishes, cleaning areas, but also not leaving the back unless necessary. at some point i think to myself “ok maybe it’s ok to go out and put these things away” the moment i step out of the employee area, i see a man in a bike driving across the lot. i run back into the employee area and start panicking. i don’t even know if it’s the same man because i didn’t get a good look at his face or what he was wearing. i’m so grateful for my boyfriend because if he wasn’t on the phone with me to calm me down i would’ve had a full on anxiety attack.
as of this moment, i’m sitting on a milk crate in the employee area because i’m too scared to leave. i’m in area where no one can see me, but i can see out. if anyone reads this and cares, i’ll update if anything interesting happens.