Hunger

Chapter 3:4: Strange Happenings - The Catch Of The Day

It’s already 8 in the morning, and I was still lying on the bed. I still couldn’t believe that I was expelled from the force. I remembered the times when I used to fix my bed, take my morning bath, dress up in my police uniform and eat my breakfast. But then, those things were already vanished in the air.

As I fixed my bed, I looked at my pictures when I used to wear the uniform with the badge of honor. It was still making me smile whenever I remembered those times, when Bob and I used to work together. Sadly, Bob hadn’t been with me in a true action where everything was counting for him, yet he was still considering me as his brother in crime.

Then that was all over, I would still need Bob in the near future, wherein I should expect an even worse situation because of Chris' deception. I knew he’s dirt in disguise, but Chief wasn’t discovering it yet. In anytime, Chris would plan any assault or intrusion when one of those police officers found out about his true role in the police force, and of course, his true role on Halford Inc.

That made me hungry. As I opened the fridge, it was empty. I forgot to go on grocery.

As I got in my car, I thought of beeping Bob with my radio.

". . . Bob, this is Jay. Bob, do you copy?"

There was a silence. After several minutes, Bob picked up his frequency.

". . . Hey man, how are you doing? Jay, you better keep a low profile. Everything’s still fresh around here", Bob said.

". . . I know Bob. How is Chris doing in there?"

". . . Man, he was put in supervision by Chief. He makes his rounds. He checks everything that is suspicious, like all about you."

". . . Haha! Really? Come on! Do I need to be scared? I’m scared of nobody."

". . . I know Jay. You’re the man. So, what do you need?"

". . . I just need someone to talk to. I’m going on grocery shopping."

". . . So you’re now living the life of everyone's dream, huh? Grocery shopping?"

". . . Not exactly. I’m just hungry."

". . . Hold Jay, there he is. Beep me after an hour. He’s here. Got to go."

". . . Okay Bob. Hang in there."

I arrived at Rushford Mall. It was good to be back where I used to shop.

There were plenty of good sights here. Window shops, wardrobes, gadget bars, food kiosks. Everything was in here.

But there was one of the most important shops of them all, the grocery shop.

My hunger couldn’t wait, so I hurried at the push carts’ section to grab one. I first moved to cubicle far ahead, the frozen fishes' section.

Wow! All kinds of fishes were here, except that they were . . . a little bit bigger than before.

I passed by the seafood’s section. Strangely, they were also a bit bigger too.

"Hey! Look at all those fishes! They’re actually big!” a shopper exclaimed.

"Come on! Grab some, before everyone does!” exclaimed by another shopper.

"Don’t worry Sir. We still got a barrel. They’re very fresh and new from Rushford Lake", a retailer said.

What? Did I hear something familiar? Fishes from Rushford Lake? Wasn’t that the lake beside Halford Inc.? I approached the retailer and talked to him about this.

"Wait. Did you just say that these fishes come from Rushford Lake?", I asked.

"Yes Sir. Why did you ask?” the retailer asked.

I grabbed a fat fish, and checked its insides. It was very pale and with traces of green goo.

"Hey! Are you buying that or not?"

"I’m sorry. I’m just . . . yeah, I’ll take it", I replied.

"Say, are you a health inspector", he asked me again.

"No. I’m just like you", I replied.

He gave me the fish and my change.

"Thank you Sir", he said.

As I walked away from his fish stand, I whispered to myself:

"You’ve got to be kidding me. This is my favorite fish. Something’s not right. Wait, the policeman that talked with before said that it’s only algae, but why do fishes like this get allergies from algae? I think; something’s wrong right here. Fresh catch, huh? You’re not just paying attention to the fish."

As I exited the mall, I threw the fish in the garbage can because it’s useless to me no more. An hour has passed; I got a minute to talk to Bob.

". . . Bob, are you still there?"

Moments later, Bob had responded.

". . . Hey Jay! Anything wrong?"

". . . Yeah. I know you don’t eat fishes of all kinds, but I suspected something that’s very odd."

". . . What? Are you still hungry?"

". . . Not anymore, when I see one. It’s like; it’s been poisoned by the lake."

". . . The lake? What’s with the lake?"

". . . It was contaminated by an unknown chemical. You better check that out, before the citizens die of poisoning."

". . . Copy that cowboy."

At last, I returned home safely, and a complaint was being sent. Now, the RPD would investigate it. I wanted to know what was containing that chemical dumped into the lake. I couldn’t wait for the news flash tomorrow.