79,999

All of a sudden, his attention slips on to something else.
“Hey. Are you making that fuckin’ noise?”

“Huh? W-what noise?” I genuinely have no idea what he’s talking about. Is he going insane? Either way, I need to get the hell out of here fast.

“You fuckin’…get the fuck back here!” While he’s distracted, I run for the back of the store. He fires a couple shots but he’s really bad at aiming. It sounds like he’s using a suppressor for some reason. There’s an exit at the back of the store, but…

It’s locked. The handle jiggles a little bit, but it won’t move.

“Lookin’ for the key? I can give it to ya. Just wait there, ok? I won’t bite.” I turn around, but I don’t see him anywhere. How does he know where I’m at? I start running to the left corner of the store, where the restrooms are. If I remember correctly, the staff room is around there. On the way there I spot a handgun and pick it up, the indicator on the top tells me it’s loaded. Why did someone leave this here?

The staff room is unlocked, thank God. But it’s a dead end. I kick the long table on its side to give me some cover, and pull out the cheap handgun I picked up. Jesus, I think I know why nobody wanted this. It feels like it’s going to break just by me moving the slide. Out pops a cartridge, the primer seems to already have an indent in it. Shit, this thing better fucking work.

“Sorry, no exit in the staff room. Sounds like you got…one of those Lo Peak handguns! Ahahaha! Do you really expect that piece of shit to work?”

I peek my head over the table slightly, but I don’t see anyone. How does he know all of this? Does he have X ray vision or something? No…something’s up with what he just said.

As I finish that thought, I hear him stop outside the entrance to the staff room.

“You’ve done something very, very stupid y’know. Put your hands up, above that there table you’re hidin’ behind. I still need ya to tell me where these keys go to. If I see ANYTHING other than that, I’m pumping you full of lead. ‘Kay?”

Shit. What do I do? My aim’s alright, but I’d have to shoot through this table, and if I don’t kill him instantly, I’m done for.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a fire alarm. This is a risky bet, but…I don’t really have another choice. I shoot the fire alarm with the cheap pistol, and it starts blaring.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH FUCK!” I hear him collapse to the floor. Thank god those batteries still work. I get up quickly from behind the table, he’s still on the ground covering his ears. I shoot him in the head, killing him instantly.

Holy shit. If my bet about his hearing wasn’t right, I’d be dead. I go over to his body and take my belongings back from him. The rifle he’s using has a suppressor on it, just like I thought. He has a couple other things on him, a somewhat older phone with a cracked screen, and some scrap of paper with some coordinates to something. It has some weird looking emblem on it. I feel like I’ve seen it before…but I can’t quite put my finger on it. All I remember is that I saw it in some news article a very long time ago. I take it with my for the time being.

I exit the store, and my car is flashing its lights. He must’ve pressed the alarm button on the keyfob, that’s what the sound was. After looking around, it doesn’t seem like anyone else is here. I get in my car, and take out my phone to talk to Her.

“Holy shit, going to that store was an awful idea.”

“What happened, Gabe?”

“There was some, fucking middle aged guy holding me at gunpoint, he was gonna take all my stuff and, I dunno maybe kill me after I led him to my house.”

“Since you are talking to me, I can assume you have disposed of him. What did you do?”

I tell Her the rest of what happened in the store.

“That was…pure dumb luck on your part. There are many things you could’ve done to get out of there at higher odds of survival. However, I will admit that figuring out his Seraphin ability from his language was rather…smart…of you, Gabe.”

“I don’t know how to respond to all that…a-anyways…when I took my stuff back off of him, he was also carrying this scrap of paper with some coordinates on it. It has this weird…hand that’s missing the ring finger and thumb, stylized like some…holy symbol, but…wrong, on the top of it. I’ve seen it somewhere, but I can’t quite remember what it is.”

“Hmm…your description sounds a lot like the emblem of the ‘half devils’ religious group—a cult is what you would call it.”

“Ah, shit you’re right! That’s the weirdos who were rumored to eat people, right?”

“Correct. Though, it seems like the only sources for that are gossip magazines and tabloids.”

“Well, they are a cult right? It can’t be too farfetched.”

“Were you thinking of checking it out by following those coordinates?”

“W-what? Do you think I’m crazy? No, I’m just going to start heading to that warehouse.”

I put my phone in one of the cup holders, and begin to drive to the warehouse. I always used to have issues following map directions with heavy traffic, I just couldn’t concentrate—but now that the roads are empty that’s not even a concern anymore. Only downside is that these maps I downloaded are from a few years back. Sometimes the street names are different, or the roads are different.

As I drive, I spot someone, a woman waving both her hands at me. There isn’t anybody else around either. Even after the encounter I just had, I slow down and pull over close to her. I mean, she doesn’t seem to have any guns on her.

“Thank you so much for stopping! I’ve been trying to get back to my house up north, but I can’t find my way back! I was just wondering…if you could um, help me…?” She says, in this really high pitched cutesy voice.

“Oh…um…yeah! I have some maps, I can take you to your house. Get in!”

She hops in the passenger seat of the car, and gives me the address to her house while thanking me profusely. I punch in the address and start driving.

“Thank you again for driving me to my house~! You know, my grandpa was a truck driver, he knew how to get to anywhere across the world, without even looking at a map! I wish I listened to him a little more when I was younger, haha~!”

“Sounds like a very valuable skill to have. Though, driving all the way from south coast to north coast would take, what, a month? Maybe two?”

“That’s true! He was never home very often because of his job…”

Eventually, we arrive at her house.

“Oh…it’s getting reeeeeally late out isn’t it? Hey, I wouldn’t want you to drive in the dark! You can stay over for the night~!”

…

I mean, even if it wasn’t a bit dangerous at night, I can’t pass that opportunity up…
I go inside the house with her. Damn, my throat’s really dry. I haven’t had any water all day. Guess that encounter really shook me, huh?

“Hey, sorry to ask, you wouldn’t have anything to drink right? I don’t mind what it is, I’m just really thirsty.”

“Oh, of course! Here,” She grabs a bottle of water she must’ve been carrying with her. “You can have the rest of this!”

I open the partially drunk bottle of water she gives me, and take a drink. I give it back to her, but,
“Oh, don’t worry dumba—ahem silly~! You can keep it. I have a lot more for me!”

“Thanks again. Your house is…pretty nice honestly.”

“Oh, no, thank you! You’re my lifesaver y’know~! Now that we’re here, what do you want to do? Do you want to blah blah blah blah blah blah blah—”

H…m….mm? W…hat..s g…oi…ng….on? W..ha…t….is…s..he…sayin…g?
Suddenly, I wake up somewhere.
P…prison bars?? What the fuck? Wh-where am I?!