The People's Alpha ✔

29: Mincemeat

We dropped off our new acquaintance in the centre of the Industrial Zone. He had politely refused our offer to drive him all the way home and assured us he would be able to make his own way back, insisting he be left off in the middle of town.

Brian and I then had a long argument over whether we should tell Thurgood what we had just uncovered. Brian was of the opinion that the evidence at hand was too flimsy for Thurgood to believe us, not to mention that and that we should investigate further by ourselves. I said that the situation was too serious, and that we needed as much help as we could get.

Brian was right, after all. We knew that he was not lying, but nobody in their right mind would believe an old rogue. Eventually we lapsed into silence again, as we seemed wont to do.

I had a thought. "Well, it's simple. We just need to get to a supermarket and buy some Thunder Falls meat. And then we work out what it is."

"I think there's a Golden Mart around the corner here."

We parked on the roadside and I stepped out into the dusk. I motioned to Brian to wait for me. It was six-thirty in the Special Industrial Zone. Swarms of people walked past, carrying bulging shopping bags, heads down, completely engrossed in their own thoughts, ignoring the bustle and filth around them. Moths and gnats swarmed around the streetlights. Up the road, buses streamed out of the main bus station, filled with commuters heading back to the hostels and further out.

***

The Golden Mart had spotlessly scrubbed floors and the shelves were tightly packed, but it was clear that it had seen better days. The fruit and vegetable section was empty. I couldn't recall if this was normal or not; I usually shopped at Eldermart, but they didn't have any stores in this part of the Special Industrial Zone. Some kinda territorial dispute.

I brushed past a row of fish oil capsule bottles as I made for the freezers at the back.. A Rich Source of ---------3 fatty acid, the label on each bottle said. The word omega had been manually blanked out with black marker.

It was not hard to find the Thunder Falls stuff. They seemed to have taken over three-quarters of the freezer. Tenderloin. Belly. Ribs. Cutlets. Everything you could think of.

I pulled out a bulk packet of mince from the back of the freezer. I checked the label. Produced and packaged in the Independent Territories. I took another one, just to make sure, and headed for the front counter. 

***

"Hello. How are you?" The cashier had a broad smile on her face, but there were deep bags under her eyes, and her uniform was creased and noticeably dirty. I suspected she was thinking the same thing about me.

"I'm good. And you?"

"You're..." Her eyes flashed yellow for a brief moment.

"Yes. Just another customer."

"I'm fine," she replied.

I gave her with a sceptical look. There was a long silence. The only noise was the faint thrumming of the freezers and the sound of traffic from outside.

I looked around me. The store was empty. There was a surveillance camera hung above me. "It's broken," she replied. "It's been two weeks and nobody's come to fix it."

She lived in one of the many dormitory suburbs in the Zone. and hadn't been paid in over two months. Shipments of product had been sporadic lately as well, and sometimes didn't arrive at all. She had some savings and a small inheritance from her father, but that was quickly running out, and she was behind on her rent and struggling to buy food.