Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 77: Convenience

It was a shame I couldn't make myself fly with my telekinesis. Everything I controlled moved relative to my own body, so I couldn't make myself simply hover.

Darrin peeked his head around the corner, swiveling his head. "We're good," he said, allowing me to draw him back. He followed my gaze to the Trader Joe's sign. "Is that where we're going? It doesn't look special."

"Yeah," I replied.

I let us drop to the battered concrete, feeling an invisible weight leave my core as I released Darrin from my shimmering white telekinesis. Our feet touched down silently.

I darted toward the sliding doors of the whole foods store. I waited for a second in front of them for a moment.

"So, what are we waiting–" The doors opened as the sensor detected my presence. "For..." Darrin finished awkwardly.

I stepped in, my head darting left and right for the undead. The inside of the store was just as it might have been on Earth: a grocery aisle, one for dry goods, and more.

I was immediately struck by the smell. The odor of rotting vegetables assaulted my nose the moment I stepped inside, nearly making me gag. It wasn't as bad as the Fiachran sewers, however. The source of the stench was quickly apparent: every single bit of produce left out was rotting, their deep brown juices soaking their stands.

"What the hell?" Darrin said, more taken aback by the smell than I was. "Is all the food here rotten?"

"No," I said, stepping into the store once I realized there were no undead waiting. "Just the produce. It's been left out for a long while, after all," I said.

It made sense. Darrin said he'd been here for three weeks. All the perishable goods in this place hadn't been rotated in nearly a month at least.

Darrin followed after me in a bit of awe as I navigated to the dry goods section. "I wondered how an entire civilization could feed themselves, packed in like sardines," he said, his eyes tracing over everything. "But if there are a whole bunch of places like this, it makes sense."

I grunted, not really listening. I knelt down in front of a bag of rice, turning it over. It was a good twenty pounds, labeled 'Mahatma.' "I'm going to grab all the rice I can," I said, not looking back at Darrin. He still seemed to be in a bit of a daze. "You should probably get whatever you think your team needs."

The piercing green eyes of the striker landed back on me as I inspected the bag. "Why are you focused on rice?" he asked, sounding a bit confused.

I sighed, then hefted the bag up to show him the back. "See this here?" I said, running my finger under the calorie count per serving. "That's the amount of calories each cup of rice has. On average, rice has far more calories than any other grain of the same weight. Nearly three times for most."

Darrin cocked his head, smirking slightly. "I'm afraid you've lost me here, Toren. You can read this font? And what are calories?"

"Yes, I can," I said, sounding more venomous than I would've liked. "Calories are basically the energy you get from food. Just trust me."

Darrin raised his hands, slightly taken aback by the snap in my tone. "Alright. I'll see if there's anything here they'd need."

He sauntered off to inspect what this place had to offer, leaving me to silently stew. This would normally be the time I'd ask Dawn for her advice, or she would tell me what steps I could take next. These brief moments of silence after a conversation ended were when my bond and I spoke.

Yet the silence between us yawned ever deeper, swallowing any chance of conversation. I looked up at the fluorescent lights above me as I stashed the bag of rice into my dimension ring.