V & V - Rageous Rageon Redemption.

Gnarly Groceries

Veneer POV:

The whole room is covered floor to ceiling in dripping, black liquid. The floor is swarmed with small, black worms. It is genuinely the worst thing I've ever smelled.

Ven: "What the fuck..."

I'm literally gagged over how overwhelmingly disgusting the odor is inside, closing my eyes in an attempt to stop myself from passing out. This can't be real; I have to be hallucinating.

I count to three mentally, willing my eyes to open once more. The horror scene is still here; from what I can tell, it's all real.

I need to get out of here.

I hurry downstairs, the sick smell burning my nose. I run out of the apartment, looking around frantically for my sister.

Ven: "Velv? Velvet! Where are you?"

I scream into the street, not caring who could hear me. I get no response, which just causes me to freak the fuck out more. 

Shit... ok... I need to come up with a game plan. Let me check the car to see if the keys are still there.

Quickly, I go to the car, searching the whole vehicle for the keys that are now gone. As much as it kills me, I can't stay here knowing what's in my old bedroom. 

With tears in my eyes, I set off on foot, not going in any particular direction. My mind is so foggy from the secondhand high that I can't make rational decisions, let alone think through things clearly and be level-headed.

Velvet POV:

Ven passes out again, his breathing sounding just as bad as it did when we were fleeing. I debate back and forth mentally if I should leave, finally deciding I can't sit here and listen to him suffer like this any longer.

Carefully, I lay Ven down, gently rubbing his shoulder before closing the door. He'll be safer if he stays here in the car; I shouldn't be long.

With one last, quick look, I jog toward the old grocery store. It's not incredibly far from here, and I should be able to reach it within half an hour by running.

Ven took forever to wake up the last few times, so I'm sure I'll be back long before he wakes up. I jog at a good pace, reaching the store in fifteen minutes. Maybe I should have become a track star—yeah, right! I HATED p.e. and would always force Ven to walk the mile with me. 

Luckily, he never had a problem with that, though our physical education teacher did. If only Coach D. could see me now.

Pushing my high school gym thoughts away, I creep to the front of the store, seeing it's dark inside. One of the windows is smashed in, broken glass littering the floor. Well, at least I have a way in.

Carefully, I climb through the smashed window, wincing as I hear how loud the glass crunches beneath my feet. Walking in, the store is eerily quiet. I regret not appreciating the previous times that I've been here for how calm and peacefully quiet the atmosphere was. Now, it's creepy and unnerving.

Ignoring my fears, I make my way through the store, noticing much of the food has been picked through. I go to the mini medicine aisle, looking for the closest thing I can get to an inhaler. 

I grab drugstore asthma combative meds before I spot packs of medically licensed ring pop gums. I grab a few boxes for Ven; maybe he can use them in place of the ring pop he has now, or even better, have them as an aid in weaning off.