Final Crisis

Chapter 41

They piled into the truck and waved off Uriel, then made their way down the street. Russell was driving and Juliet was in the passenger seat.

"Oh man…these seats are so comfy…" Raphael groaned and spread his arms out. "Hell of a lot better than the back."

"You got that right," Juliet muttered, resting her hands on her lap.

They made their way through the town at lightning speed, not coming across many infected along the way. Finn mused that perhaps they were all still drawn to the warehouse.

They only had to avoid one pair of infected, simply speeding away from it.

They pulled into the store parking lot, the familiar front a welcoming sight to them.

They scanned the area, deeming it to be clear and stepped out of the truck.

"Since when was it this long?" Russell nudged his head towards the fauna covering the front.

"I mean, I'm guessing they haven't had anyone to trim it lately," Raphael said.

"Feels like pretty fast growth though."

Finn peered over at the bike rack and scoffed. "Remember when I got attacked over there?"

"Oh yeah. Scary day!"

Finn led the way, through the colorful hallway. It was comforting to some extent, though it felt strange without the mean stare of bodyguards. He took a step inside the store itself and whistled. He heard no noise.

"Think the registers are clear."

The store was dimly lit. About half of the lights were turned off, seemingly broken from gunshots. The other lights flickered, switching between pale blue light and white light.

Not as many bodies littered the floor as they had expected, only a few strewn here and there, and the tile was surprisingly clean. Not a whole lot of blood.

"Oh wow, this brings back some memories," Raphael laughed and hopped over one of the registers. "This was mine. Jeez, I do not miss those days…"

"I can almost imagine you in that apron again," Juliet said.

Raphael groaned. "Do not remind me of that."

"Can I buy something?" Russell sifted through the empty candy boxes, pulling out a chocolate bar. "For old times sake."

Raphael gave a toothy grin. "Sure."

"Now's not the time for role-playing, guys," Finn said bluntly.

"Oh, come on, for fun!" Raphael said, pretending to scan the bar. It seemed that the machine was broken.

"Thanks," Russell pocketed the bar.

They grabbed baskets to store items in.

Raphael sighed and stayed put for a few seconds, running his hands along the dusty counter.

"Oh, I'm so proud! Your first job!"

A middle-aged woman was standing alert in front of Raphael, not paying much mind to the line behind here.

"Definitely not the last…" He yawned, mindlessly scanning the items.

"Oh, you look so handsome!"

She started squeezing his cheeks with her fingers and he felt his face getting warm, nervously staring at the people in line.

"Ma, cut it out, not here!" He stammered out, ignoring some of the snickering in line.