Below Empty

Driving home from a friend's house my sister and I were about a fourth of the way out when we noticed the gas needle on our 1996 Geo Metro (no gas light) had dropped below the empty line. We weren't too worried since our car could keep going for a while before it got below the red line (about 1/8" below the empty line). We were nearly 3/4 of the way home when the needle hit the red line and kept falling with each mile. We were starting to get nervous. The needle dropped below the red line just as we entered our home town. We were calling the car's name (yoda) and encouraging the vehicle on. Foregoing our home we went straight to the gas station. We pulled to a stop in front of the pump and I heard the car decidedly Stop. Like had just run out out of gas. We filled up the car (took only 9 dollars) and headed home.