Randy Moffet had been watching the two kids in Bell Mart for 30 minutes. They had been wandering up and down the discount store’s aisles, looking at nothing in particular. He knew that they had seen him, but still they grabbed candy, took it into the back of the store, and placed it in their pockets. The store’s policy was to stop anyone shoplifting merchandise over $10.00, but it was a slow Thursday night and there wasn’t much else to do.
The girl was perhaps 12 years old, about the same age as his daughter. The boy was a little younger. They had the same facial features and the same blank stare. Obviously the two were siblings. Sometimes it bothered him to arrest minors for theft, especially when they were poor and didn’t have the same chance as other kids. There was something different about these two kids. He couldn’t place a finger on it, but they were odd.
Finally, the kids walked outside of the store, with Randy close behind them. “Excuse me kids. My name is Randy. I’m with Bell Mart asset protection. I’ll need the property you just took.”
The kids stopped and slowly turned around, the same vacant look on their faces. The boy reached into his pocket and produced a pack of gum. The girl retrieved a candy bar from her purse. Randy escorted them inside the store and into a small security office that held surveillance equipment, chairs, and a desk. The kids sat in the chairs and Randy settled in at his desk.
The paperwork was long and tedious. That meant that he would have to process the kids, call the parents, and write the paperwork before he went home. It was his last day before he went on vacation. The family had been looking forward to Disneyworld. He glanced up at a picture of his daughter on the bulletin board and smiled. He looked over his shoulder at the kids as they sat quietly behind him. They returned his stare and were unafraid. He returned to the paperwork.
He was sure that management would give him a hard time about this arrest, but he could care less. Chills crawled up his spine like a frozen spider. He realized that the girl stood directly beside him. For the first time he noticed that her skin was ghostly white, her eyes were tinged in red, and her mouth was impossibly big. She smiled, revealing dagger like teeth. It was the eyes that drew him in. He stared into her bottomless eyes and felt himself drift away, but it felt so peaceful.
Searing pain in his throat shocked him back to reality. The boy tore at his jugular with the ferocity of a rabid dog. As life blood squirted from Randy’s throat, the girl joined her brother in the feast. Struggling was futile. Numbness enveloped Randy’s body as he looked at the picture of his daughter and drifted off into everlasting darkness.
After her thirst was satisfied, the girl stood up and surveyed the video equipment that monitored the store. Monitors showed customers shopping, unaware at the horror that was about to descend upon them. The girl smiled.
Detective Max Grim drove into the Bell Mart parking lot. Red lights from police and rescue vehicles flashed in the night. His head still pounded from the previous nights activities. It seemed that he never truly had a day off anymore. He exited his vehicle and was met by a uniformed officer. “Thank God you’re here. We have 32 mutilated bodies inside of the store.”
“What happened?”
“We’re not sure. Witnesses stated that the doors were locked upon their arrival and the heard screams coming from inside. They called 911.”
“Video?” Max was frustrated with having to ask the obvious questions that the officer should have already provided.
The officer was obviously horrified by the scene that awaited Max inside of the store. “Someone smashed the surveillance equipment.”
For the first time, Max noticed the large neon sign above the store that read, “bell mart.” Part of the “b” had burnt out and read, “hell mart.” Max walked toward the entrance to the store as paramedics and officers ran around in confusion. Two paramedics were exiting the store with two children. They draped blankets around them and hurried them into the back of a waiting ambulance. Max approached the two paramedics. “Survivors?”
The smaller of the two paramedics turned around and looked at the middle aged detective. “The only ones, from the look of it. They’re in shock. You’ll have to talk to them at the hospital.”
The paramedics jumped into the ambulance and drove away. Max watched the ambulance go. His headache intensified, it would be a very long night. It was the beginning of the end of mankind.