The Escape!

hen I pulled into the truck stop, there were several pickups sitting in front and they were all locals. I had seen most of them before. When I looked over at the blockade, they were setting up the kind of lights they used on construction sites. They had an ADOT truck with the back loaded down. From what I could see, there were at least ten people busy unloading and setting up.

I went inside and JB was working again. I just nodded at him since he was checking out someone at the register. I went to the restaurant side and was immediately greeted by several of the ranchers who were sitting around drinking coffee. Zeke and the guys were in line to get coffee so I joined them. He told the girl behind the counter that I was getting all their orders so she should be collecting from me. She looked at me and I just shrugged at which she just smiled. I ordered a large coffee and a breakfast burrito, and paid the bill. I joined Zeke and the guys at a table in the corner and noticed that both the guys were already eating. Zeke was sipping coffee and looking at me as he ate. Whatever he was thinking, he never voiced it so I relaxed and ate my burrito. When we were all finished, the guys wandered off talking to the other people around us. Zeke and I got refills for our coffee and went outside to the table there so we could smoke after our meal.