Fiend (4)

*Dud-dud-dud-dud dud*

Where Rando stood at. the loud sound of a bucket falling on the floor reverberated inside the convenience store.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no'

He remembered.

He remembered that when he was running, his heart warned him not to shout. He somehow knew that it was a bad idea and that he should not do it, no matter what.

Rando felt like a deer running away from a pack of wolves, only for a lion to appear at the end.

Maybe it's the instincts of a soldier, or maybe it was the instincts of a human.

Rando hurried back towards the closet door and sneaked a peek at the slime collector. He didn't know whether the existence, or anyone really, could hear him, and he didn't want to find out.

Through the gaps, Rando could see the slime collector still trying to enter. He could still feel the exact same vibrations that he felt earlier from the floor.

'It doesn't look like it's been agitated or something.'

Of course, Rando's worries were logical, but the Laws of Physics still stands. Although it was a metal bucket, it dropped inside the janitor's closet, which is inside a convenience store.

Sure, the store wasn't large, but most of the way in and out is blocked, so the sound waves that have already been muffled by the closet door, have been neutralized by the thick walls and by the already loud thumping of the red collector outside.

There was truly nothing to worry about, or is there?

The slime collector continued to push itself up through the window that's one meter away from the ground. Such a height could easily be jumped by humans, but the existence couldn't even lift itself up a few inches.

That was because it was too heavy. After absorbing about five human remains, some complete, some not, the existence has gained more weight than it could manage. It looked as if it was a fat grown man with heads, arms, and legs sticking out everywhere. Some innards of the body were even sticking out from it as if an explosion happened inside of the collector and his insides burst out.

Although it looks like a blob of slime because of the gooey texture of the blood and the sewer water, it looks more like a giant chocolate-chip cookie with the chocolate bit as the body parts. It may also look like a large chicken nugget made of blood with body parts hanging all over the nugget.

'Can it not hear me?'

'If that's the case, then I should be safe.'

At least that is what Rando thought.

With the little light that he had, Rando tried to find the bucket that fell on the floor.

Darkness covered the floor, which makes it hard for Rando to find the bucket. Unlike the detergent that was placed on top of a shelf where the light coincidentally shone, the bucket was on the blackness-filled floor and the only way to find it is using night vision, or just feeling for it.

Thoughts begin to form inside Rando's mind.

'It has been more than a month since the quarantine started, is there even running water left? Where would I even get some?'

It was the year 2020 when the Third World War broke out.

The flames of war rose to the already burning battles between the West and the Middle East. USA continued to fight the Middle Eastern terrorists, the ISIS, despite the constant protests of its citizens

China suddenly put more fuel to fire and Russia soon was forced to join as well because of China. North Korea of course felt threatened and decided to join as well. The surrounding countries were of course affected, and soon the Third World War began.

The Philippines was one of the countries that was soon 'persuaded to join' by the Chinese. At the time, the presidents of both countries were forming some sort of 'friendship' or a bond that connects both of them. The president of the Philippines was surprisingly prepared as he tried to befriend China, North Korea, and Russia even before this happened. Thus was able to avoid being enemies with them.

Still, during those times, although the Philippines was called the Rising Cub of Asia, a cub remained to be a cub in front of a grown tiger. It was still categorized as a Third World country and thus the Philippines sought help from other countries and immediately drafted soldiers from its citizens.

Rando was one of the drafted soldiers at the time. He lived in the second largest island of the Philippines called Mindanao, in the city of Davao. It was supposedly a relatively safe space from the flames of war since it is pretty far south and there were a lot of soldiers in Davao at the time.

Unfortunately, the war ended much sooner than expected.

In only three years, the planet was devastated and destroyed to the ground. Numerous bombing happened and nuclear bombs were deployed which hastened the destruction of the planet, making hundreds and thousands of areas announced to be "unlivable" until the radiation has gone away.

Davao City was quite fortunate to have been right at the edge of the closest nuclear bombing site. However, the flames of war weren't immediately put out.

Tanks and warships drove in the cities and roamed the seas. Numerous buildings collapsed and some exploded to bits. The remaining buildings that were still standing after the war were then rebuilt or repaired for temporary living spaces.

The apartment building where Rando lived was one of those buildings.

It was just refurbished to the point where it became livable, but six months wasn't enough to rebuild an entire city.

Most of the buildings, mainly housing areas, were left unattended as the government, or whatever is left of it, prioritized the repairing of the large shops and factories so that the people could buy what they need.

In just three months, with the combined efforts of the Philippine Government and it's loyal and hardworking citizens, they were able to rebuild the country's economy. New farming areas were developed and the meat and fish industry was reestablished. Soon, society was able to rise again.

It was right after the war that the world became alarmed with a virus. Apparently, it has been reported back in the last month of 2019 and has continued to spread during the war.

The government of the Philippines immediately ordered a quarantine six months after the war. The six months was crucial to the Filipinos as it determines whether they will survive after the war or not.

Factories of food and establishments immediately reopened and continued production at an incredible pace to keep up with the demand of the people, which was why by the time of the quarantine, there were already a lot of food, water, and clothes circulating around.

Even individuals sought to sell something just to make money during those six months. Construction groups, carpenters, tailors, chefs, and many more continued their businesses in order to profit during these dire times.

Every individual was still trying to make a living in spite of the war no matter what it took. So they were somewhat prepared when the government quarantined the country because of the disease.

It was a month after the quarantine that the last transmission of Rando's radio was delivered.

During the quarantine, almost all of the workers were told to stop working and were ordered to stay at home, except some factories which provided for the masses, and the media which informed the masses. Stores were still supplied and gas stations were still refilled because the medical personalities were trying their best to make a cure.

And since most of the working areas were now rid of humans, most systems were switched to computer mode. Water systems and Electricity management were put on automatic until further notice.

Which was why Rando was questioning the existence of running water, especially now that he saw the state of the building he was in.

'There was still running water back in the apartment though, I hope the water is still running here.'

Rando's reasoning was logical. Water and electricity could have stopped at any point during quarantine, and it may have stopped just now. Looters could have destroyed the pipes, too.

'Who knows what people could have done, if only I wasn't in a rush while entering, I would have noticed.'

Rando wished he was worrying too much.

When Rando found the bucket on the floor, he immediately picked it up and tried to find a tap for water.

The janitor's closet was pretty small, about three meters squared, so it wasn't too hard to find it.

'The tap was placed just behind the door, it seems.'

Rando quickly put the bucket below the tap. He tried to open the tap to see if there was water running. Of course, he did not open the tap all the way in fear of the noise the gushing water makes that may attract unwanted visitors.

*Splash*

The water softly fell into the bucket.

'Good.'

Rando then took the detergent from the shelf and poured some into the bucket. Bubbles formed as the water slowly but noiselessly filled the bucket.

'Now all that's left are those condoms. I should be safe if I go out.'

Confirming that it's gonna take a while to fill the bucket with water, Rando looked through the closet door first, before putting his hands on the doorknob and slowly turned it.

'Alright, let's start Operation: Detergent Balloons.'