Among The Wolves

Spotted

Disorientation started to hit around nine in the morning, I had not eaten in twenty-four hours and hardly had a good drink. I mostly wanted a glass of water but the last I saw my water bottle it was tumbling down a set of metal stairs. I was never going to see that hollow object again. The stress from the last day had me running on adrenaline and my appetite had taken a mini vacation and now was returning with vengeance. Growling and grumbling that it needed to go back to work. I decided that now was the time to unwrap whatever it was that Nelly gave me. Pulling the brown paper bag from my backpack I looked at the contents. A deli sandwich, mini water bottle and a pickle. I happily sat on a wet log and took a savoring bite of the pickle. Boy, was it good. The sandwich was even better with that garlic aioli sauce.

After my sandwich was gone too soon I looked at the flavorless food packets that Hem'Lar had given me. There were only three left, I would need to go grocery shopping soon. Closing my bag back up I washed my hands with some wet leaves and began walking again.

The rain had completely stopped but my clothes were still sopping and my shoes still squelched with every step. I hoped that I could find a warm place tonight where I could at least hang the shoes to dry. I anticipated that my clothes would just have to dry while on my person. Hopefully this experience would not bog me down with a cold.

After I made it a few miles I entered into a town. I left my view of the main road and searched for a food store. Thankfully they had a general franchise store not far from the highway. I entered the building and began looking at what dehydrated goods they had. I was tempted by the rice-a-roni but alas I would have no microwave much less a fire pit to heat it up. With a disappointed sigh I placed it back on the shelf and stepped back to look at the vast variety of human foods. My stomach grumbled, I had not had this stuff in so long I missed the tastes of it. While gebhe had grown on me it did not actually compare to mashed potatoes and gravy.

Much to my cargin, most of the food required hot water, a stove or multiple ingredients to prepare it, I was left with two things... instant mashed potatoes and pudding. I put the pudding back on the shelf as pudding with water instead if milk seemed completely unappealing. Instead I grabbed a large handful of the potato packets, I stepped back to see if there was anything else I might have missed. Another shopper rolled his cart in front of me. He nodded and excused himself. Although, before he turned the past the aisle I saw from the corner of my eye that he was hesitating. Turning my head I saw him staring at me disconcertedly. Seeing that I saw him gawking he quickly looked away and walked out of sight. I frowned slightly and reached for a few bags of beef jerky. Wanting to forget what I just saw, I took my handful of items and went to the next aisle and picked up a container of milti-vitamin protein powder. Calling it good enough, I went to the counter to pay for the items. I caught myself trying to look around me a few times as paranoia started to set in again. The way that the man had looked at me was throwing me off.

Thanking the cashier for her service I went to the restroom and relieved myself and filled that plastic water bottle with the tap from the sink. I figured this water would be better than from the other bathroom.

When I stepped out of the bathroom I immediately noticed two men by the exit door. One of them was that shopper I had just seen that was staring at me and the other man looked dangerously like a security guard. Not that he was dangerous but any potential interactions with him may have dangerous consequences. Until I proved I could control my beastly outbursts I was not going to put anyone in unnecessary harm.

The shopper saw me again and pointed his finger at me. Electrical cheese curds! I spun around and ran straight for the back of the store.

"Stop!" The male voice called out to me.
And I did the exact opposite of that, running through an "Employees Only" door. Some bonehead had the bright idea of placing a stack of goods right in front of the door and parked the hi-low smack dab right next to it! I was never known for my non-existent quick reflexes but I was rather proud of myself when I twisted to the side, missing the pallet of banana boxes by a half inch, spun around, and slid past a hi-low, all in a smooth motion. With a mental cheer I then darted for the red EXIT sign.