Circle Quay
"Welcome to circle quay," i said as the two heavily armed men burst through the door. They were both young, unshaven, smelly, and obviously startled at my greeting.
I politely pretended not to notice, but when they remained, frozen, i felt compelled to continue, "do you need help finding anything today, sirs?" I cocked one eyebrow at the shotguns they had trained on my head.
"What the actual FUCK" said the younger of the two, whos appearance was uninteresting and nearly identical to every other scavenger who had ever walked through those doors since the apocalypse.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Ask"
"Ask?" The young man continued as his companion stared, mouth agape.
"Yes. Unless you have no questions, in which case, i will kindly ask that you continue with your shopping," I said, using my admittedly greyish hands to make a 'move along' motion.
"What the FUCK" he said again.
***
Kyle and Devin. As it turned out, their names were Kyle and Devin. I don't get many human customers any more, so i like to at least TRY to remember their names.
It's good customer service, you know.
The two didn't end up finding anything they wanted in my little convenience store, but were, eventually, able to speak well enough to make supply requests.
This is the nature of my business now. The before was different... People came in, grabbed their crap, gave me money (and their bad attitudes), and left. I stocked shelves, cleaned toilets, and was generally entirely miserable about my entire existence.
So things haven't really changed for me... much. Now i take requests, though.
My store used to be open twenty for hours. I had co-workers then, though. I lost most of them during the end-days, unfortunately.
Carla and Travis had gone full zombie. I only saw Carla once - she was nude from the waist down, dead from a bullet to the brain post zombification, sitting on a sofa that was, for reasons that escape me, in the middle of State Rd. 776 I found this quite disgusting, not because she was a zombie, or because she was dead with her brains spilling down the side of her face, but because she wasn't wearing any pants and her bare bottom was right on the cushions.
Disgusting.
Travis was still alive. Sort of. He still came to work, too, but if human customers came in he became entirely unreasonable.
I think his appetite outweighs his commitment to the job.
He's been shot several times, but it hasn't changed his attitude one bit. I'd do something about him myself, but he doesn't bother me, and he cleans the bathrooms every single day, without fail, so I let him be.
I he's there when the living come in, i just lock him in the bathroom. Ever wonder why gas station bathrooms always have those big, heavy metal doors? The intention may have been to protect people from bullets, but they are ALSO very hard for zombies to break through. I don't even have to lock it, Travis can't figure out doorknobs, hahaha!
So my job has changed. I open every day at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.
I still take way too many smoke breaks, though now i don't feel bad about stealing the cigarettes, and while i used to sometimes chat with the locals who lingered around the store, now i stood talking to walking corpses who almost never answered.
These days, when the store is closed, i continue working. unlike other zombies, i don't have any compulsion to eat anybody's brains, but i also don't have any need for sleep, so, when my new life started, things became very boring.
I had to find something to do during my off time, so... i scavenge. It keeps me sane. I don't get many customers, but when i do, they clear out the whole place, from gasoline to urinal cakes. Replacing all that merchandise gives me something to do, at least.
It gives me a certain amount of pleasure, too, when people like Kyle and Brad - was it Brad? Maybe it was Ken? - come in and find an actual functioning store, fully stocked, with personnel on hand to ring up their purchases... It makes me feel... Almost alive.
I even keep my uniform clean and tidy, name badge on, hair braided neatly.
After Ken and Barb left empty handed, i went outside and lit a cigarette, absently surveying my appearance in the glass windows that comprised the stores front.
My hair has continued growing since my "death", but unlike my nails,i haven't trimmed it, so it is well past my shoulders. I'm kind of proud of it actually... I mean, it doesn't really matter, but my hair looks better than ever! I look otherwise exactly the same as i did when i was alive.
Other than my skin, of course, which was quite a bit more GRAY. My eyes, too,i suppose are a bit different... They are still large and a nice chocolate brown color, but instead of whites, these chocolate gems are resting in blood red orbs.
I tried using visine to clear them up, more than once, but it had zero effect. I blew a big cloud of smoke at my reflection and pulled a sour face, feeling sorry for myself and glaring at my stupid red eyes.
