The Purple Xenomorph

Chapter 33.

My sense of smell lead me to a large complex, it was known as 'Wal-Mart'. This was one of the locations that Tundra had said I could find something to eat, I don't know what the others were as I did not really care. I truthfully question why humans don't go hunting for their own food, are they lazy? They must be if they can't track an animal and kill it, or they possess no battle skills. The lights within the 'store' were off, it would seem no one is here which I consider to be a lucky break.

Looking at the building from the rooftops, I could see that there were cameras on the outside of it. This place is equipped with a security system surely, I must be careful. They were aimed at the smooth black and white marked pavement, going in from the ground will surely be a way to blow my cover. Not like I had only a few minutes ago to 2 human females, I more than likely can't even trust their word to keep silent. The roof of the building had what looked to be a large vent entrance, perfect. Crawling through the vents will keep me from being exposed.

Running along the rooftops, I land onto the 'Wal-Mart' roof. The entrance to the ventilation system was to my left, it hummed lightly against the silence of the night. Approaching the vent, I grab a hold of the grate and pull it off. The shaft was just big enough for me to fit, I may need to squeeze myself in. I crawled into the shaft, a cool breeze sweeping past me while making my way into the building. I moved slowly as to not damage anything or alert anyone that may be here. Dropping in from another vent grate, I land on a stone floor as quietly as I could. My night vision setting activated in the darkness of the store, the sight before me was certainly not what I was expecting.

There were shelves on either side of me, on one side there were brightly colored objects that looked like firearms. On the other side, there were small plastic human abominations trapped within boxes with a clear window. Do the humans shrink their own kind? Why would they shrink them, kill them, and put them in boxes?? Upon further inspection, the boxes read the words "Beach Fun Barbie" while the colored firearms were labelled as 'Nerf'. Looking up, there was a sign labelling this area for something called Toys. To my understanding, that isn't food and I don't need to be here.

Leaving the row of shelves, there were more of these so called Toys in more rows of shelves. I rolled my eyes and was about to leave the area when something caught my attention, I turned to see a large box filled to the brim with fake animals. I chittered as I approached the box and felt the animal toys, I was surprised to feel that they were very soft against my skin and that they were plush. One on top looked like a canine, it had floppy ears and was a rather large size. I took the plush from the box and looked at it, then pulling it into a tight embrace with a purr.

I don't know why, but I admire this toy. I must take it back to the Corporal and put it upon my bed, it will be perfect there. Perhaps it will help me feel more at ease and not so alone, yes that is a wonderful idea. I put the toy under my arm and begin to browse around the store, leaving the toy area and entering a section reading Electronics with strange flat panels on the walls.

They seemed almost like large monitors, but all monitors are holographic are they not? Perhaps not on Earth. There were more boxes beneath the panels, reading their sizes and "prices". So they are not monitors, they are known as Televisions. Now I wonder if a television does the same utilities as a monitor, it just might. I cannot take one of the larger ones with me as they wouldn't fit into the vents, so I move onto another part of the section.

There were devices called Nintendo Switches, Playstations, Xboxs and things called video games designed for each device. The one that intrigued me the most was the Nintendo Switch box, there was an oddly deformed human on it with something on his head. He needed some training to work off the extra weight he had gained. The box said it included a game called 'Super Mario  Odyssey' and I was more than curious. I picked up the box containing the device and tucked it under my arm with the toy, my arm full with only 2 items.

Hmm, I may require a bag to carry my items. I haven't even gotten to the FOOD yet, I mentally curse myself as I was easily distracted by human objects. Find food now, come back the next night to browse more. But first a bag to carry both my miscellaneous items and the food, fortunately there was a section dedicated to such items near the electronics. I grabbed a decent sized carrying bag and placed my items in it with plenty of room left, zipping it closed and slinging the strap over my shoulder. Sniffing around, several scents coming from the opposite side of the building. The familiar aroma of meat immediately caught my attention, I followed the heavenly smell to the other side of the store. A hanging sign above read Grocery, that must be it.

As I got closer to the meat, I come across more shelves but upon these are strange bags, colorful boxes, and cylinders. Taking a glance around at the packages, I read the names upon them out of curiosity.

Cheetos, Pringles, Doritos, Pretzels, Tostitos, several types of Oreos. Are these supposed to be consumed? Grabbing a package of the "Chocolate Marshmallow Oreos" off the shelf, the packaged crinkled as I heard something shake within it. These must be edible, why else would they be in the food section? I open my bag and toss the strangely named food into it on top of the Nintendo switch, grabbing one of each of the other packaged foods to try. It couldn't hurt, could it?

Moving out of this area, I finally found the carnivore I was looking for. It was all wrapped in a thin clear package and each had their own specified label. I didn't care what type of meat it was, I needed this now. I grabbed one of the packages, ripping it open and tearing into the meat. I scarfed it down in less than a minute, it was enough to silence my stomach for now. After rabbing a few more packages of the meat and storing them away, I move onto another part of the food area.

Produce.