He stepped gingerly around the body then paused. Ensuring that he had forgotten nothing, he cracked the door open and peered into the darkened hallway. He quickly slipped out and pulled the door shut behind him.
Kevin pushed the door to the lab open and pulled his lab coat from the wall hook. He quickly made his way to the incinerator and shoved the trash bag inside. He sealed the door then pressed the button, destroying the evidence.
Kevin slipped his lab coat on and went back to work, pushing every thought of the dead man from his mind. He could continue working until either the man was found or he became tired enough that he could return and “discover” the body.
He smiled to himself as he went over the data from his last experiments. “Who would ever suspect me?” He tapped his pencil against the table as he glanced toward the door. “I pissed my pants being confronted by somebody half his size.”
Simon marched his throng of people through the abandoned streets of the city until he saw what he was looking for. His head throbbed and his eyes were having trouble focusing as he stared at the large sign over the parking lot, but he knew what the building was.
He pointed toward the front and raised his boomstick high in the air. “There! There’s food in there!”
To his ears, it sounded like he was whooping and yipping at the crowd, but they seemed to understand him. They anxiously followed him to the front of the building and Simon threw the doors open with flair, beckoning them to enter.
He marched in with them and his eyes quickly adjusted to the nearly total darkness. “It’s been ransacked a time or three, but there’s still plenty left.”
He marched past the milling crowd, most of whom stared at him with clueless eyes. Simon strolled through the aisles of the supermarket, taking a mental inventory. He paused at one shelf and stared at row after row of bottles. It was only then that he realized…he’d forgotten to bring his liquor with him. He felt panic rise up from the depths of his gut but he quickly reached out and steadied himself against the shelf beside him.
I don’t need that bottle. There are more right here. He slowly raised his head and stared at the wine and liquor lining the shelves. He stretched a hand out and felt the cool smoothness of a glass bottle. He pulled a bottle of something he couldn’t read toward him and stared at it.
For the first time since he discovered that his old lady had been screwing his best friend…he didn’t want the fire water. He dropped the bottle to the floor and walked on by, his eyes taking in the food stuffs.
Simon reached the next aisle and slowly smiled. He pulled a tin from the shelf and turned to face the confused crowd. “This is FOOD. You can eat this.” He held it up and their eyes followed his hand into the air.
He couldn’t understand why they weren’t excited. With the dwindling number of people left in the god forsaken town, you’d think they’d be thrilled at the idea of an expanded diet.
Simon sighed heavily and pulled the tin to his chest. His fingers fumbled with the metal tab at the top until he finally got his booger hook into the ring. With a satisfying grunt he pulled the metal lid off and reached into the can, pulling the slimy pink meat from inside.
He turned to the crowd and smiled, holding the meat into the air. “Eat!” He brought the cooked pork product to his mouth and sucked at the salty slime on the outside. He opened his mouth wide and bit a large chunk from the pink slab then handed it to his naked girlfriend. “Eat.”
She sniffed it tentatively then recoiled, disgust painted across her features. Simon chewed the salty mess then swallowed. “You’re hungry, right?” He shoved the meat into her face. “Eat.”
She pulled back further and Simon’s hand shot out, snatching her by the back of the neck. He forced her face closer and pressed the chopped and formed meat product to her lips. “I said eat!”
He squeezed her neck and wrenched her head back. She stared at him wide eyed, her jaw trembling. “Simon says, EAT, you cunt!” He mashed the meat to her mouth and forced it past her lips.
A moment later she was on all fours, scrambling for the broken pieces of pork that had fallen to the ground. Simon nodded slowly then pointed to the others. “EAT!”
He grabbed another tin and pulled the lid off before tossing it into the crowd. He continued until there were no more cans on the shelf.
He pushed past the mob until he came to large teardrop-shaped cans. He couldn’t read them, but he knew…there was MEAT inside those cans. He snatched one from the shelf and fumbled with the key on the side. It took a full five minutes of him beating on the can before his jumbled mind made the connection with the key and he somehow remembered how to open it.
That night, Simon went aisle after aisle, row after row, pulling different items from the shadows and offering it to his people. He watched as they hurriedly sucked down the food stuffs. They gorged themselves on canned meats, canned fruits, and stale tortillas. He actually found a few goodies that he hid away for himself for later.
He peeled the top off the last can of Spam and pulled the pale, jelly coated meat out with his fingers. He halfheartedly chewed as he watched his people curl into corners and prepare to sleep. A quick glance to the front revealed
