Walking into work feels like having your face pressed against a sanding belt. With each step you take closer to that door, another inch of flesh ripped off till you’re nothing but bones. Casey felt like this as she walked into Greet-Mart, the world's largest (and happiest!) wholesale retailer of everything. The smiling bronze statue of the company's moose mascot, Greetal, met her in the courtyard. The mascot's oversized head allowed its smile to start from behind its eyes. Bird poop covered the small, round antlers that poked out from its head. The small body wouldn’t have been able to support its head if the abomination were to come to life. A small t-shirt had been added with the text “I ♥️ MINNESOTA” etched into it.
“The original Greet-Mart location was in Hastings, Minnesota. A small town right outside of St. Paul.” Casey recalled the orientation video. The soothing voice had nearly put her to sleep. Casey always had to squint as she crossed into the store; the harsh artificial lighting caused her eyes to adjust. Her ears twitched, hearing the low hum of electricity that ran through the store. She walked quickly to the employee-only section, pushing through the two large swing doors. She huffed as she placed her purple tote bag into her locker. Then she shrugged off her old high school varsity jacket. Despite graduating 2 years ago, it was still her best jacket for this time of year. On the right shoulder was a softball with the number 43 on it. She leaned forward momentarily, comforted by the darkness the locker provided.
Casey had a sports scholarship lined up for St. Augustine’s Women’s College but hadn’t gone. In the first game of her senior year, she tore her rotator cuff so severally that if she had kept playing, she’d risk losing her arm. There went her scholarship and her only ticket out of this pass-through town.
Her pity party was interrupted by a very sharp and stern clearing of the throat. She pulled her head back and looked into the messy bun of her supervisor. She looked down at the miniature woman, who snapped her gum at her.
“Afternoon, Veronica.”, Casey said with as little contempt as she could muster. She supposed it would make sense that God wouldn’t answer her prayers for slashed break lines on the old woman's car this time. The first thousand had gone unanswered.
“We expect you to be here 15 minutes before your shift. It’s 3:50; why aren’t you already on the floor?” the more petite woman got straight to business. There was a way that she could make her words dig into your gut like a knife or a particularly sharp corner of a kitchen table. She peered up at the girl from behind her red-horned glasses.
“I had car troubles.”, Casey said, hoping that that would spare her a verbal lashing. It rarely did.
“Don’t let it happen again.”, Veronica responded as she walked away. She pushed past Casey, waddling away and back into her office. It’s not like she could control it when her shitbox wanted to pop its tire. She clipped on her nametag and a green boxcutter to her belt. Casey bit her tongue as she heard the woman's heels click on the linoleum. She began to slowly count back from 10. A slight buzzing sound filled her ears as she exited onto the floor.
The 30,000-square-foot glorified convenience store was a ghost town. All 30 aisles lacked the expected scattering of families on road trips or teens with nothing better to do. Not even a grandmother shopping with her small grandchildren. Without the sounds of shaky wheeled shopping carts, the stock music that played over the speakers boomed. Only the most bland country hits are played at Greet-Mart.
Casey clicked her tongue, fishing her phone out of her pocket. There wasn’t much to do with the usual rush hour crowd missing. Even though he was scheduled, she hadn’t seen Ralph. Ralph was one of her favorite co-workers, despite that he was a decade or so older than her. The Uncle she’d never had.
Her assigned area was aisles 20-25: Novelty, Toys, and Gifts. She slowly went down the scented candle aisle, mindlessly scrolling through her phone. She had sent her friends the names of all the candles. Pecan Pleasure, Walnut Wonder, and Moose Mystery were the ones that she found the funniest. Moose Mystery had no discernible scent, yet it was the best seller. She constantly had to keep it restocked.
She hesitated at the end of the aisle; a pit had opened in her stomach. Some deep instinct inside of her told her something was watching her. Her ears twitched right as something shifted behind her. She turned on her heel to see someone at the end of the aisle. Her eyes adjusted to what made the noise, widening to the size of tea saucers.
What looked like a giant piece of chewed bubblegum sat at the edge of the aisle. Something moved under its skin; several somethings moved under its rubbery flesh. The first eye popped from under the surface near the top, rolling to look at Casey. Its pupil was constricted, a pinpoint of black in a green bloodshot iris. Another eye appeared near the middle of the mass, strikingly blue. The third was near the bottom; Casey could only see half its brown iris. Several more eyes popped across its surface, like koi fish breaching a pond after someone threw food.
A half dozen eyes of varied colors peered at her down the aisle- despite the creature’s shape, Casey thought the eyes looked remarkably human. She didn’t know why she hadn’t moved. Casey wanted to run and run and never turn around. Yet, she stood staring at this…thing. She wasn’t hypnotized, more akin to seeing the Real™ Santa. Something you know can’t be real, yet there he was, with a white beard and a big red sack.
The eyes rolled back under its flesh with a wet pop. Then, near the bottom of the creature, its flesh bulged with a gurgling sound, an arm pushed through the form. It shot straight up and then slapped against the linoleum. The skin on its hand fits like a loose glove, the excess spilling over the tip. Dragging the flaps across the floor as it tried to move. Another arm burst, followed by another, each one along with it more speed to pull itself closer to Casey.
When the fourth arm slapped to the ground, whatever hold the lump had over Casey had broken. She needed to get far away- VERY far away from WHATEVER that is. She took a few nervous steps back, watching as the creature dragged itself towards her. It moved like a garbage bag filled with water, the kind she would find near the dishwasher. A disgusting mix of foodstuffs and liquid that bulged against the cheap plastic bags they used. The bottom moved; the top sloshed back to make contact with the ground. Casey thought it might burst and her problems would be solved, yet with shocking speed, it scurried towards her carried by its arms.
“FUCK THIS!” Casey shrieked, grabbing one of the scented candles and throwing it at the approaching mass. The candle hit high on its back, squelching across its back, and left a small divot in the soft flesh. This didn’t stop the thing from barreling towards her. She looked at the display and threw herself into it, knocking over the shelf. Candles toppled around her as she scrambled to regain her footing. Pain ripped through her shoulder as her arm went limp. She shrieked guttural pain through gritted teeth - her damn rotator cuff. She heard another crash behind her and assumed the creature collided with whatever it intended to ram her against.
Casey’s shoes left scuffs on the floor as she sprinted towards the staff-only doors on the opposite side of the building. It was behind her. She wasn’t going to look; she knew it was. She could hear it’s loose skin slap against the ground. Using her shoulder, she bouldered through the door - pain blinded her then she slammed into something that sent her to the floor.
She rolled over on the ground as her vision came back to her. The object she hit was her stout boss, whose legs were in the air. Veronica rolled herself back up, straightening out her skirt.
“My word- Casey!” Her tone was venomous, eyes full of righteous fire. Veronica stood up and continued to fix herself up. She grabbed her clipboard that had gone flying as they collided.
“Well? Get up. We have to fill out an incident report.” The Manger sneered, her teeth barred in a snarl. Casey whined as she stood- well, more dragged herself up the wall with her working arm. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she looked over her manager’s head. The lump oozed through the swing doors, pushing them open. It’s body slammed down against the ground with a wet thwap. She quickly turned to look at the thing, letting out a frustrated groan.
“Why are you out from behind the registers?” She tapped her foot as if she expected an answer from the creature.
“The useless things corporate sends us,” Veronica said under her breath, fixing her hair and turning back to look at Casey, whose mouth was hanging open. Veronica rolled her eyes and walked over towards the girl.
“It's supposed to be replacing 5 of your co-workers. Shame.” She said that made it clear she was saying I wanted one of them to be you. The thing behind her slowly shook, stretching itself upwards. Casey watched as the lump slowly grew to Veronica’s height.
“I don’t know what you’re gawking at.” Veronica huffed. Casey should have said something, told her to get out of the way, or even just yelled to move. She didn’t. She wanted this. The lump came down on Veronica with a crunch. Casey could hear her muffled screams and a sucking sound then her manager was silent.
Along the side of the thing, a seam grew from the middle of its back to near the floor and slowly tore itself open. Casey watched as something close to a mouth opened up across its back. Strands of the flesh stretched across it like stitches before the thread was pulled.
“Leave.” A weak chorus of voices whined out a long breath behind rows of teeth. It sounded like an entire church choir on their last breath. Casey took its advice and staggered away towards the locker room. She pulled her jacket over her shoulders and hobbled out to her car. It sounded like Ralph- or some part of it did. She shook her head and started her shitbox toward the ER. She wondered if her insurance would cover this.