The camera system of this local gas station spotted the most peculiar thing. A young woman made her appearance, and it grabbed the attention of the attending security guard right away—and for good reason—because she was secretly up to some strange behavior. When the poor man saw what it was, he turned pale instantly.
Marcus squinted his eyes, trying to identify what the woman was doing. It wasn’t normal to arrive on foot, and the way the woman was behaving added to his piqued interest. The lady looked around nervously multiple times, like she didn’t want to be seen. That’s when Marcus spotted the small jerry can in her hand. There was something off about this woman, so Marcus decided to ignore the other cameras for a while and focus on what this woman was doing. It seemed like she was waiting for cars to fill up their tanks with gas, and once they had their fill, then she made her move.
Marcus could see the first car leaving the station, and immediately after it was finished pumping gas, she rushed toward the pump that the car had previously occupied. “She is siphoning off the excess gasoline in the pump after a car is finished!” Marcus shouted at the screen in surprise and anger. Disappointed, Marcus walked back to his security booth.
He had let a petty criminal take off with her prize, and that didn’t feel good. But what he did not know was that the woman wasn’t done yet. Because just after he returned to his stationary post, the woman reappeared on his television prompter.
He still had his gear at the ready, so that made him good to go instantly. But still, he was too late to catch the perpetrator in her stealing act. This game of cat and mouse occurred over three times, and every time, Marcus was just slightly too late.
He had to devise another plan. His constantly missing his target made the security guard fill up with anger. He knew he could not go back and repeatedly make the same mistake. That’s why he decided to leave his off-site security booth and stake out the gas station itself.
And it turned out that this plan of his was the best thing he could do because after about an hour of waiting, it all came to fruition. He watched his monitor like a hawk, and eventually, he saw the mysterious woman appear on screen again, and she was oblivious to his hidden location. She walked up to the gas pump to steal some more gasoline, but this time, Marcus was ready. He saw her coming and had all of his equipment with him from the start. He got on his feet, ready to strike at a moment’s notice, but then he realized something: he had to catch her in the act. Even though she had committed this crime multiple times already, he felt like he had to catch her in the act this time. He needed ultimate proof.
So he waited for her to grab the hose and fill up her jerry can, his eyes glued to the screen. When the young woman was filling up her few free liters of gasoline, Marcus saw his chance. He jumped out from his hiding spot behind the building and jolted toward the unsuspecting female.
The gasoline-stealing female let out a small scream as she saw Marcus approaching, but his element of surprise was short-lived because within seconds, she detached her jerry can from the gas pump and started running the opposite way. It was time for a high-speed chase. Was Marcus ready for it? The woman held the jerry can under her right arm and started picking up the pace instantly. Before Marcus knew it, they were both in full sprint.
The woman seemed to know the way and traversed through the narrow urban streets surrounding the gas station. “Where the hell is this woman going?” Even though her outfit didn’t make it seem like it, this woman was very fast. She ran at high speed through the narrow alleyways and was clearly very determined, but the heavy jerry can slowed her down just enough.
Walking around with a full gallon of extra weight couldn’t have been easy. Marcus noticed it too; she had a quick start, shooting away from the gas pump with quite a big head start on him, but he could clearly see that he was inching closer to her position.
But right before Marcus could grab the woman’s collar, she ran into a seemingly abandoned lot. There were no cars parked there, and it was eerily quiet—just the quick footsteps of the woman rushing over the concrete pavement. On the lot stood a singular tall building; that was her destination.
The woman ran through the open door of the building, thinking she had made it. She did not realize how close Marcus was behind her because she just focused on getting out of there as quickly as possible. So, thinking she was safe, she let herself breathe for a moment. Unfortunately for her, this false sense of safety was short-lived because right after she made her way through the doorway, the hand of the determined security guard grabbed her forearm, locking her in place. Marcus knew she wasn’t getting away. Entering some building was not going to stop him this time.
After that, he explained to the woman that she was in big trouble. He was going to arrest her, but before he would do that, he demanded an explanation. “You are going to tell me right now why you siphoned all that extra gasoline. What is it all for?” Marcus said with a serious face.
Marcus was expecting a snobby response after that demand, but to his surprise, he got the opposite reaction. The young woman started weeping softly and brushed away a tear with her free hand. The act of crying caught Marcus off guard, and he even loosened his grip because of it. You might expect the woman to run away again—Marcus losing focus and loosening his grip certainly gave her the opportunity to do so—but the woman tried another approach. She put her hand on his shoulder and asked Marcus to follow her. There was something he had to see.
The woman’s touch made Marcus shiver. He didn’t expect this criminal to have such a gentle touch. It caught him off guard, but guarded he did remain. “What do you want me to see?” he asked her. They took some more steps forward, and that was when Marcus noticed that the vibe in the room started to change. The backside of the area was shrouded in shadow, and Marcus could hear voices coming from that part of the room. “Who is there?” Marcus asked the mysterious woman. The woman pointed forward, and then Marcus saw it. The floor was filled with large mattresses; food and curtains were scattered all over the room, and when he looked to his right, he even saw a cooking setup, but this one was made out of empty bean cans. “What is all of this?”
But the biggest surprise was yet to come because after that realization, dozens of people emerged from the shadows. They were all covered in dirt and had raggedy clothes. Most of them were shy at first, but after the woman nodded her head, they came over to greet Marcus. Initially, Marcus wanted to stop the little girl from running away with the gasoline. “Stop right there, little girl! Give that back to me!” Marcus demanded, but before he could reach out and grab the jerry can for himself, the woman stopped him and started talking. “Don’t do this. I can explain everything,” she said. She started out by saying that her name was Amber. It was good to finally put a name to the face. “But Amber, what is all of this?” Marcus asked.
Amber explained that many of the homeless people in the city were living inside this very building, and that was not without reason. Amber said that this building was the very last place where these people were able to go. The city had been focused on its rich and privileged people for years, leaving the less fortunate families to fend for themselves.
These people begged the local government for shelter but were refused time after time. Marcus had been angry and determined to make an arrest the entire time, but now, for the first time, he could feel his anger slip away. It gave way to understanding and sympathy. He still did not understand why Amber needed to steal that gasoline—the thing that started this chase in the first place. A metal sound was heard in the distance, and suddenly the dark room lit up.
You see, that gasoline fuels a large portable battery that provides power and heat to this entire floor.” The little girl must have made it over to the battery with the jerry can and powered up the device again. Marcus now saw all the homeless people in the room clearly. The woman explained that even though it was fine during the day, this place got really cold during the night. Marcus stood there with his mouth wide open. He now finally understood and realized that these people were in desperate need of help. They couldn’t live without warmth, and this city wasn’t going to give it to them out of the kindness of their hearts.
But still, one question remained to be answered: if fuel was the only thing that Amber needed, she could have simply bought it like normal people would have, right? “So why didn’t you simply do that?” Marcus asked. That way, the homeless would have been helped, and Amber wouldn’t have done anything wrong. But she had an answer to that. It wasn’t just time that Amber donated to these people—all her own money went into the foundation. It was a noble cause, but the foundation was the long-term solution, and these people needed warmth and power right now. Without money in the bank to provide, the young woman had to get creative.
After hearing this heroic tale, Marcus was fully conflicted. He got why she did what she did. These people desperately needed help, and she was giving it. He couldn’t take that stolen gasoline away,
but he also couldn’t let Amber keep stealing from the gas station. That would make him the worst guard ever. That’s when Marcus decided to do something totally out of character. He was normally a guy who lived in the background, only stepping into the spotlight when it was a last resort.
But these people needed help now. He offered to buy all the daily gasoline they needed, but he also did something else. The humble security guard decided to start a community drive at the gas station where this all began. Here, people from within the community itself could offer their help, a little bit at a time, and all proceeds would go to these families.
And wouldn’t you know it, it became a hit success! Within weeks, the local community picked up Marcus’s initiative, and the word spread like wildfire. His gas station was visited well over four times more than the second most popular one in town, and the donations just kept flooding in. “I still have a hard time believing it,” Marcus said, smiling. At this moment in time, the gas station has already gathered enough money to provide the families with a year’s worth of power. But why stop there? Marcus has promised to keep the community drive going for as long as needed. Who knows where this could go? It’s time they get a second chance at life.
