Love For Sale: 3 Canned Meat, No Returns

Synopsis

The convenience store owner was a balding, middle-aged man. His filthy fingers slid across my face as he said to Raul Pratt, "Pay me two cans of meat, and you get her for three days." Raul hesitated for three seconds. Seriously, I counted. And then he nodded. "Deal." He took the box of canned meat without even looking at me. I watched his familiar back disappear behind the shutter door, while the sound of the owner undoing his belt echoed in my ears. Then I realized that in the apocalypse, love was cheaper than canned meat. I didn't cry or freak out. When the owner came at me, I grabbed the fruit knife tucked into his waistband. The blade was dull, but I stabbed with everything I had. I stabbed, twisted, yanked it out, and stabbed again. Warm blood sprayed all over my face. The smell made me gag. He collapsed, eyes wide open, like a fish out of water. I wiped the blood off my face, dug the car keys out of his pocket, and snagged a few food ration bars and a bottle of water from the shelves. When I stepped outside, I saw Raul squatting at the street corner, opening a canned meat. He looked up, saw me, and was stunned. I smiled at him and raised the bloody knife, "Raul, this is what you owe me." Then I turned, jumped into the beat-up van, and roared off into the zombie-infested streets. In the rearview mirror, I saw he stood there, the can dropping from his hand and tumbling down the street, pushed by the wind, like our love, gone and blown away.