Tales Of Pete: I Work At The Only Pizza Place In Town (Part 2)
So some bullshit happened to me today. Well, technically yesterday as of my posting this. I got called into work. Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Formaggio had a family emergency involving Mrs. Formaggio’s mother. So, they couldn’t run the store. Yours truly was the first person they called. Now, I know that getting called in is just something that can’t be avoided. Thing is, the rain from last night had still been going on. And the returned and other creatures tend to come out more during darker times. Such as when visibility is low due to heavy rain or fog in some cases. The town does have a procedure where owners of shops can choose not to open their stores until the weather clears up. Thing is, there are a good bit of opportunistic criminals who will take these opportunities to try and break into the closed stores. And, Formaggio’s tends to make a lot of money.
Before I went out, I had to make a few preparations in addition to what I’d normally do. I made sure to bring my utility belt which I used to keep several more knives on me, in plus the knife and gun I normally carry. The knives in question have several different runes that I wrote on the blade. People in town figured out that most of the creatures that weren’t as susceptible to brute force were weakened by certain symbols. This was all figured out by early settlers of our town. Or at least that’s the theory. At the town library, there is an old book containing various runes and symbols corresponding to different creatures. For example, you’d open it to a page to see four symbols, then next to it the words” Blue-eyed wide-mouthed creature”. This helps people to know that those runes weaken that creature specifically. Most everybody in town has a copy of the original book, thanks to the librarian Alice. She handwrote multiple copies for the town. My hand hurts after writing just two pages. I have no idea how she was able to do it.
You might be thinking that people in town put multiple sets of runes on the same blade. That, however, isn’t a very good idea. Each set of runes can only be applied to a single object at a time If someone tried putting two or more sets of runes on the same object, they’d just cancel each other out. But, that’s just for small objects, such as knives. Large objects, such as houses or stores can have multiple runes on them, so long as each set is far enough apart from each other. When on a larger object, they have their own radius, and so long as different sets are far enough apart from each other on said object, they’ll work just fine. In fact, my house and many other homes and buildings in town are covered in these sets of runes. But, while they do keep the returned and many other creatures at bay, they don’t stop assholes who try breaking into stores.
That’s where I come in. I made sure to peek out before stepping outside. I was fortunate enough not to see any returned or glowing pairs of eyes. My luck changed when I stepped out and locked the door behind me. I looked up to see what we call a long-neck creature staring down at me from my roof. It had fleshy red scorpion-like skin, four legs similar to that of a spider, and to top it all off a long neck(duh) with a rounded head, sharp teeth, and white eyes. Its face was just a few inches from mine. It opened its mouth wide to bite me. But before it could, I pulled out one of my knives and thrust it into one of its eyes. I pulled my knife out before it hit the ground. Then when it did, I cut its throat. I had to, or else its dying screams would attract more creatures. A few spurts of green blood, shot from its neck before it fell still. Shaking my head in annoyance, I got in my car.
Usually, I would just walk to work since it’s so close by. However, a lot of those fuckers can attack someone in half an hour. And, I am fortunate enough to own a car with a quiet engine. It took me a few minutes to reach work. On the way there, I saw many returned running along the street and sidewalk, also other creatures crawling up buildings. Even a few flying creatures. I assumed those must be like the one Carl encountered. When I got to Formaggio’s. I was greeted with the sight of six returned. But, these returned looked different. While still in the spider pose, these looked as if two people had their waists cut off. Then were fused to the other person that had that happen to them. If you’ve ever seen CatDog, that should let you know what they were like. They had white eyes and were just staring at my headlights. Most likely because they thought my car was one of them. They aren’t exactly smart.
I was considering what I should do. I could have just run them over. But, I just took my car to the mechanic last week. My second option was to just shoot them. But, if I wasn’t quick enough to kill them all, they’d start shrieking when they saw one of their kind was killed and attract more of them or something even worse. I thought about honking my horn. It does work to scare them away. However, it may just end up attracting other creatures.
Just move! You pieces of shit!” I thought. Just as I was thinking this, I heard the sounds of a siren and saw blue and red lights in the distance. All of the returned immediately started crawling towards it. Seizing this opportunity, I was able to drive up to Formaggio’s, and park. Then unlock the door and head inside. It wasn’t long after heading inside that I heard several gunshots. Followed by the sound of the police car coming towards the store. I clocked in and was able to start some prepping before Chuck approached the building, along with his deputy, Bill.
“Hey, guys want to come in? The store isn’t open yet and I started on the prepping.”
Thanks, Pete. Come on, Sam,” Chuck said, stepping into the store with Sam behind him.
By the way, thanks for drawing those fuckers away from me.”
“Don’t mention it. But, weren’t you suppose to be off today?”
“The Formaggio’s had a family emergency.”
“I see. Anyone else working today?”
“Just me. I suggested to Mr.Formaggio that at least one other person should work with me. But, he said we aren’t busy enough during this kind of weather to justify it. Just my luck right? I’m the only thing standing between this store and drugged-out coke heads that try to break in.”
“Sorry to hear that, Pete. We’d love to stay and help. But, we need to make sure other stores are safe.”
“I understand. Why don’t you come back later, I’ll make you each a free pizza.”
“That sounds nice. Well, we better get going.”
“Right, later. Oh, before you go, I actually encountered one of those long-neck things. Its body is in my driveway, so if you could you know..”
“Understood, we’ll have someone clear it up as soon as we can,” Chuck said. Then he and Sam left.
Sam doesn’t talk all that much, in case you haven’t noticed. And tends to be a more by-the-book cop. Well, as by the book as you can be in this town, anyway. By the time, I finished prepping and setting everything up, I saw another car pull up. It rolled in. Then parked with smoke coming out of its hood. A man, who looked roughly the same age as me stepped out. He was thin with blonde hair and brown eyes.
“Hey, my car broke down. Mind if I sit in here for a bit and call a tow truck?” He asked me.
“Sure. But, one probably won’t come through here for a while.”
“Why’s that?”
I explained to him that it gets more dangerous around here during thunderstorms. Obviously, leaving out the part about the returned and creatures like that. I just told him, that muggings and break-ins tend to happen more often during weather like this. Through casual conversation, I learned that his name was Nick and that he was passing through town, on his way to his grandpa’s funeral.
“Your grandpa died? Condolences, man. I’ve been there,” I told him.
“Thanks. I feel really bad. But, he was in his eighties. It was bound to happen eventually. Still doesn’t make it any easier to deal with though. I live out of state, which is why I’m driving. I thought it’d be cheaper than flying. Then this happened,” Nick said, gesturing towards the car outside.
“Wish I could help somehow.”
“It’s alright. It’ll get fixed when it gets fixed. Actually, I haven’t eaten since yesterday,” He said, picking up one of the menus.
He ended up ordering a mushroom and pepperoni pizza, along with some pasta, and a beer.
“On the house,” I said to him, after setting his food down.
“Thanks, Pete. You know, I’m probably going to be back through here, after the funeral. I’d like for us to hang out.”
“Let’s just hope it isn’t raining again when you come back through,” I said.
We talked more, about different things. Favorite movies, food, and things like that. The rain let up, but by the time it did, it was nightfall.
Hey, this area tends to get pretty dangerous at night. Why don’t I take you to my place?” I asked him.
“You sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I just need to close.”
I had just finished closing when I heard Nick yell.
“What in the fuck is that thing?!” He screamed.
I looked up, to see another one of the white-eyed long-neck creatures, staring at us from the street.
“Oh, that? Yeah, we get those sometimes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Because you wouldn’t believe me.”
“I see what’s going on here.”
“What?”
“You drugged my beer, didn’t you?”
“What? No! Why would I do that?”
“Hell if I know. Maybe you’re just bored and this is how you get your kicks. I thought you were cool. I’m leaving!” Nick said, heading to the door.
“No!” I said, getting in front of him.
“That thing isn’t a hallucination. If you leave this store, while it’s still out there, it will kill you!”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Do you really want to go out there and take that chance?”
He looked at the creature. Then back to me.
“Okay, you have a point. Assuming that thing is real, how do we get rid of it?”
“Well, I could go out and kill it. But, there might be more.”
There’s more of them?!”
“Yeah, I’ll explain when we get to my place.”
The creature went away a few minutes after we were done talking. I clocked out. Then drove Nick to my house. He was, spooked about all the creatures he saw on the way there. Apparently, he hadn’t had any encounters on his way into town. Once we were in my house, I explained to him the full story about this town. He still thinks I probably drugged him. Hopefully, by tomorrow, he’ll believe me. He seems like a nice guy, and I’d hate for something to happen to him. He’s asleep on my couch right now. Mr. and Mrs. Formaggio won’t be back until Wednesday. As I’m finishing typing this, it’s nearly twenty to six. And, I have an opening shift in under three hours. Fuck my life, right? Oh well, at least I’ll have someone to work with this time. And, I’ll be sure to pound back some energy drinks. Wish me luck. I’ll update you all, probably next week if and when something else happens.