CHAPTER 4

-Crackers, cookies, crackers, cookies, crackers, cookies...

She tried to keep her mind busy.

Then she saw him reach. He was probably in his late 30s. Underdressed for the weather.

He was reaching to pluck something from an aluminum display tree adjacent to the Fudge Stripes. A Hot Wheels car. He ran a finger over the clear plastic shell, and raised the package up slightly to look at the undercarriage.

She dropped the bottle of soda, and a quick surge ran through her upper back. She waited for everything to turn red, she waited for the densified concrete floor to open and swallow her whole. But instead she just cried, low and quiet and shuddery.