Page 16 of The General's Captive
Costco was not one of those places.
Yet despite that, here I was, hoping it was worth the risk.
Well, by this point, it was take the chance or starve because I was down to my last supply of energy bars and I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten anything other than junk food. Fresh food like fruits and vegetables were a thing of the past, unless it came from a can.
Not that I was particularly hungry after seeing a rotting corpse half hanging out of a car, but I was sure as soon as I got inside… that would change.
Unfortunately, I had seen enough dead bodies to last me a lifetime. Most of which, weren’t exactly whole or intact, because with the loss of limbs and all the entrails strewn around, most had died awful deaths.
At first, I had cried and vomited the entire contents of my stomach up every single time I saw one but after so many months, I had become numb to it. In the end, I just told myself that they were at peace and no longer being forced to live out this mythological, apocalyptic nightmare.
It was impossible not to feel like you were being held captive by the creatures, even though, technically, I still had my freedom. One thing I had noticed, which gave me the heebie-jeebies, was the lack of animals. There were no coyotes, no deer, not even any birds. I hadn’t even seen any domesticated animals such as dogs or cats. Hell, the only cows I had seen were at an abandoned dairy farm where the poor things had been trapped and had all perished from starvation.
Putting that depressing memory aside and, with it, the smell of rotten beef and sour milk to the back of my mind, I entered the Costco. The front entrance had the roller doors halfway down, as if someone in a panic had tried to shut out the creatures but failed and decided to run instead. The blood staining the floor would certainly suggest as much.
Inside, it was like most of the stores I had come across on my journey, just on a larger scale. Of course, it had been looted and I had to laugh because I saw half of the electrical goods had been taken.
“Jesus, seriously… humankind is being hunted and killed by mythological creatures, so what do we need… oh I know… a PlayStation and a big ass TV… genius people,” I muttered to myself as I stepped over what was most likely a super expensive television at one time, now completely useless to the world.
“Idiots,” I grumbled again.
Scanning the store with narrowed eyes, I spotted what I was looking for, surprised to see any left.
“Bingo,” I said when I saw a packet of AA batteries that had slipped behind the display and someone had missed in theirhaste to grab them. But this wasn’t for a flashlight, nor anything practical, for that matter. I already had one of those wind-up camping lanterns, realizing this was far more practical after I had found it in someone’s garage a few months back. No, this was for the one thing that kept me sane.
I had found it when going through a thrift store a few weeks ago, intending on grabbing some new clothes. Which meant I had walked out of there wearing what I did now. A pair of pale blue jeans, a burgundy, long sleeve T-shirt, a black thermal jacket, and a blue hoodie. One that I currently had tied around my waist because I didn't want it taking up precious space in my bag and it was too warm to wear both.
I had also grabbed a few extra T-shirts, which were rolled up in the bottom of my bag so that I had spares.
Then I found it, just sitting there among the electricals. The old-fashioned, portable CD player that looked as if it was from the early 2000’s. I had then raided through the CD bargain bin, and come away with Elton John’s greatest hits, a mixed pop hits from 2005, and a best of 80’s rock.
After first checking that I was alone and feeling pretty confident that no creatures would be hanging around a Costco, I popped in the batteries, put on my headphones, and pressed play.
A male voice, I recognized but couldn’t put my finger on, sang out like a dying auto-tuned cat between the jaws of an alligator. But I didn’t care because I could not be happier. Once the chorus played for a second time, I had the lyrics down and I couldn’t help but dance around the store and sing along.
“OooOooh Ohh Oooh,” I sang with the backing singers and danced my way toward the mess of shelves, hoping to find anything that had been left behind.
“Oh my God, yes! Flamin’ hot Cheetos!” I cried out as I rushed to fill my backpack with a bag of chips I found. I wouldhave liked to have taken more but knew that it would have only taken up precious space in my bag. And let’s face it, most of them were filled with more air than chips these days. So, I wisely grabbed the few packets of trail mix and mini bags of cookies that had been littering the floor, too.
“Six-month rule,” I said as I shook them to make sure none were open before stuffing them in. However, it was when I was crouched on the ground that I started to scratch at the itchy scar behind my ear. I frowned, hoping it wasn’t what I thought it meant. Because I had come to discover that whenever a Myth was near, my scars started to burn. A feeling that usually caused a chill of terror to run down my spine, just like it did now.
I frantically turned to look, searching all around me and freezing when I heard an almighty screech carrying over the music. One that made me feel like my head was going to split in two.
I spun the dial on the volume right down, cutting off the music as my eyes continued to dart around wildly in search of what had made that horrendous noise.
Nothing caught my eye, but I knew I hadn’t imagined it, even if I was starting to go a little apocalyptic crazy. I ducked down against a shelving unit I had been rummaging through, pulling my backpack close to me. Then as quietly as I could, I started looking for the weapon in my bag, cursing when the packet of Cheetos crunched, making me wince.
I had learned my lesson about my knife, at least, because this was currently attached to my belt in a sheath I had found in Walmart at the camping section. But as for the gun and bullets I had found in a glove box once, this was something I had kept in my bag. And I just hoped it wasn’t going to be another life lesson in survival like last time.
Of course, I still didn’t have much experience with the gun, but I was hoping, at this point, it was a simple aim, shoot, and hey presto, one dead Myth.
I had already practiced loading the gun, it was just the shooting part I wasn’t so sure on. Because one, I hadn’t wanted to waste the bullets on practicing and two, I had been worried that the sound would draw Myths to me.
I shimmied along the aisle and peeked around the edge of the shelves, hoping for a better view. And holy shit, I wished that I hadn’t! I was met with one of my top ten worst sights I had encountered so far, possibly even making it to the top five!
Naturally, I stifled a scream the second I was faced with the saggy, wrinkly ass old woman that looked about a hundred years past her sell by date. I quickly scurried back, placing an arm over my mouth to try and minimize the combined smell of shit and piss, along with the usual smell of rotting death that emanated from the creature.
At first glance, it looked like an extremely old naked lady had managed to escape the care home and take a trip to Costco. But then the rat-like tail sitting just above her buttocks and the haggard, fleshy wings drooping from her shoulders, quickly gave away the fact that she was a Myth.
