Fort Supermart Chapter 1: Seeds of Doom

Seeds of Doom

I kept my eye on the television.

“It looks like African Rabies has broken out near the Taiwan Strait. Government officials are rushing to understand this new disease and how it spreads. No confirmed cases have been seen in the United States yet, but the world is preparing for a new epidemic.”

“Heh,” said my coworker, a man named James. He had long hair and long sideburns, but with a clean shaven chin. His eyes were brilliant blue. He wore the cashier’s uniform with “Superchain” written on it. Same as me. “It’s just a bunch of fear mongering,” said James. “The government wants to use the crisis as a reason to take our guns.”

“I’m not sure if I believe that,” I said, as I waited for someone to come through my aisle. James and I were talking across the checkout. The store was dead, which was usual considering that it was midnight. I broke from the register to take my break after ten minutes of keeping my eye on the store’s TV.

Inside the break room was another TV. The new station was showing a drug bust or something in China, where a group of heavily armed Chinese SWAT equivalents smashed into a house with a battering ram. The TV said something about a person inside who had overdosed on PCP. Crazy stuff, I thought. I turned away and began eating my snack.

The next day was as usual. The news covered more of the Taiwan Strait incident, which had escalated since last night. Apparently there were now riots in the streets in Taipei.

The first case of African Rabies happened in the US two days later. The CDC told us not to worry, as the disease could only be transferred by blood to blood contact. Just more reason to stay clean and not do stupid stuff. Despite this it was still spreading.

Three nights later I was stocking shelves next to James. James turned to me, clearly worried.

“My mom lives in Ohio,” he said. “She said a homeless man got infected with the rabies and attacked a police officer. He bit him.”

I frowned. “Well, at least it’s not here,” I said. “We’re in small town Louisiana. I don’t think we’ll have much trouble.”

“That’s what she thought,” said James. “But the government has issued a curfew.”

I tried my best to think optimistically. “It hasn’t gotten far, though,” I said.

The next day, American Crossing flight 235 made the news. Apparently someone had gotten on board with African Rabies and had attacked several passengers. The plane had made an emergency landing and the police were called to quell the individual. At least six people were bitten. They said the bitten people had gotten sick as well.

I was working the register one night when a number of police cars arrived in the parking lot. I went outside, being the highest ranking person at the store that night, and waved my hand at them.

“Back!” yelled one of the cops. “Get back! He’s dangerous!”

“Bath salts or something,” said one of the cops, loud enough for me to hear.

“No, I think it’s that African Rabies,” said another cop.

“What don’t you understand about get back?” said another cop, to me. I could see, in the darkness, that they were struggling with what looked like a bloody homeless man.

I backed away like a smart person and reentered the store.

“I just saw the craziest thing,” I said, to James. “The cops. They found someone infected with that new African Rabies.”

“Have you taken your Phalanx?” said James.

“Yeah, I have,” I said, “But I’m not sure it will do me any good if I get attacked by someone like that.”

James put his hand on my shoulder. “You’ll do fine. It’s not like the world is ending or whatever.”

“You might be wrong,” said Daisy, the third person on the graveyard shift. She was back from stocking the dairy section. “I heard that it’s getting pretty bad in China. Also, did you hear about the Cape Town disaster?”

“That’s in South Africa, right?” I said.

“Exactly,” said Daisy. “It’s bigger than anyone thinks. It’s probably going to get a lot worse.”

“But we’re safe here, right?” I said.

“At worst,” said James, “We can shelter with the military at Fort Airpreed.”

“That’s far,” said Daisy. “If everyone panics, that’s the first place everyone will go.”

“So what do you suggest?” said James.

“I suggest we hunker down at home until it passes,” said Daisy. “Eventually the government will bring in the military.”

“That contradicts what you just said,” said James. “You tell us not to go to the military base, but to trust the military?”

Daisy shook her head. “I know. Just start stocking up on food and guns and you’ll be okay.”

“We’re right next to the interstate,” I said. “This might not be a good place to stay if things go south.”

“What are you talking about?” said James. “This is the best place. If we need to we can go anywhere.”

“Not if the streets are clogged with traffic,” I said.

“The interstate?” said James. “No. It never gets traffic.”

“We haven’t seen a real panic yet,” I said.

James sighed. “Whatever. Talking about this is stupid when we’ll be just fine.”

Daisy shrugged. “I’m going to stock up on food,” she said.

“I already have enough food at home,” I said. “My roommate and I keep an emergency food storage, enough for one month for two people.”

“Then you’re better prepared than I am,” said James. He broke out into a small smile. “Jokes on us, though, if this all blows over.”

“I hope it does,” I said.

Daisy went back to work. I remained at the register, just one aisle across from James.

A man came in wearing a coat. It was cold out there, after all. He meandered through the store, until he came to the register with at least a week’s worth of canned goods.

“You know that’s only going to last you a week, right?” I said. I didn’t know why I said it.

“Oh?” said the man. “How much do you suggest I buy for a month?”

“One person needs two thousand calories per day,” I said. “Just look at the nutrition facts and do the math. With those cans, the average value is four hundred calories, give or take. You have about forty cans. That’s about sixteen thousand calories, or eight day’s worth.”

“Ah, I see,” said the man. He frowned. “What’s your name, son?”

“Mark,” I said.

“You’re a smart one, Mark,” he said. “When everything goes to shit, I want to be on your side.”

Jokingly, I said: “I have ideas on how to turn this place into a fortress. If you really do mean that, when everything goes to shit, come here. Even if the place is packed with panicked people, head to the back of the store, behind the employee only doors. We’ll let the panic die down and then get working.”

“You’ve thought this through,” said the man.

“It’s a hobby of mine,” I said. “I watch too many disaster movies.”

“Ah, yes,” said the man. “That’s an oddly specific disaster you’re preparing for. What, do you expect an army of cat people who devour everything in sight?”

I shrugged. “It’s just a hunch,” I said. “People can do stupid things when they’re panicked.”

“My name is Zachariah,” said the man. “Call me Zach.”

“Zach,” I said. “Nice to meet you.” We shook hands. “And,” I said, “When you come, bring all the guns you can find.”

“Deal,” said Zach.

“One last thing,” I said. “I really mean it when I said this place will be packed with panicking people. Like Black Friday but more dangerous. Don’t let anyone know you’re packing heat. In fact, don’t even go through the store proper. Come drive around to the back doors and I’ll let you in through there.”

Zach chuckled. “You really have thought this through.”

“I know,” I said. “You seem like you don’t believe it.”

Zach shrugged. “I mean, African Rabies is just that, right?” he said. “Rabies. And there’s Phalanx. It’ll protect us.”

“I have a bad feeling, is all,” I said. “I don’t trust the reporting. Something seems sinister.” I paused. “Give the cops a wide berth,” I said. “They’re dealing with something dangerous.”

“Thanks,” said Zach, leaving with his week’s worth of canned goods.

James leaned on his checkout counter and looked at me with a smirk. “You really think things will go to shit?” he said.

“No,” I said. “I just don’t like being caught unprepared.”

I looked at the TV just in time to hear the reporter say: “The governor of Louisiana has issued a curfew, and required that all people wear a mask when in public.”

“Looks like we won’t be on the night shift for long,” said James. “This kind of sucks. I enjoy how boring the night shift is.”

I shrugged. “I’ll take whatever I can get,” I said. “I’d prefer to be here when everything goes to hell.”

“Why is that?” said James.

“If this place is swarmed by panicked shoppers, we can lock the doors to the back and hide there. Once the panic dies down, we can fortify ourselves and make sure that we’ll survive.”

“You keep talking about forts,” said James. “What do you think we’ll need a fort for?”

“Just a hunch,” I said. “Don’t mind me. I’m just a pessimist when it comes to things like this.”

The police seemed to have finished whatever they were doing outside. Everything turned quiet. Suspiciously so. I had a hunch. I had never heard of anything quite like this African rabies virus, but there was a kernel of thought in the back of my mind telling me that this was the beginning of something crazy.

As I left my shift at three in the morning, I made sure to count the trucks outside and see how big of a perimeter we could make with their trailers. If we stacked them end to end, we could cover most of the parking lot and some of the empty grass lot next door.

I still didn’t know why I was thinking like this. There wasn’t going to be an army of ravenous cat people, was there?

I got into my car and drove home. My house was an apartment that I shared with my roommate, Devin. We split the rent and all the utilities. Devin came out of his room when I arrived.

“Why are you awake?” I asked, as I put down my stuff.

“I don’t feel right,” said Devin. “Like something strange is about to happen. You know, that feeling you get when you’re worried.”

“I’m worried too,” I said. “I don’t know what it is. I saw a bunch of police take down someone on bath salts in the parking lot and now I feel the same as you.”

“I think I’m going to take a few days off of work,” said Devin.

I shook my head. “I’d rather be at my work when things go to shit,” I said. “Not sure why.”

Devin yawned. “I suppose I’m finally tired. I’m going to sleep now.” He returned to his room.

I went to my room and fell asleep. That afternoon, when I woke up, I got a call from my boss telling me to be there ASAP. Apparently people were making a run on the store and he needed as much help as he could get. I left the house and got into my car.

The parking lot was a crazy hellhole of panic. Cars were everywhere, crashing into each other, running over stuff. People swarmed the place like ants.

I felt a little bit of myself become smugly satisfied. I had predicted this. Now I had to deal with it. I wasn’t going home soon, that much I knew.