To put it simply: shit has hit the fan. The apocalypse has struck and all you could worry about was hiding out in an abandoned grocery store to hide from the murks all alone. At least, you used to be alone.

Pale sunlight filtered through the cracked and dirt covered windows of a lousy corner store. The place had been raided long before Lurid had gotten there and he knew that nothing conventionally useful would be left on the shelves. That didn’t mean something useful for him wouldn’t still be there.

Lurid brought his hand down on the checkout counter, wincing as the pastel multicolored powder of the now crushed tablet candies puffed up in a sweet cloud. He sniffed, inhaling the thin cloud left dissipating in the powerless store. Lurid sighed and ran a hand through his blue hair. So this is what he reduced his life to. It was the same as it was before the apocalypse but much more depressing.

Lurid plucked a lottery ticket out of the small display and used its edge to nudge the powder into a straight line before he rolled the lotto ticket up. He pressed the paper tube against the countertop before taking a deep inhale, moving it down the line. He took in a shaky inhale, letting the paper drop and unfurl. He sniffed and wiped his nose off with his finger. Without any cocaine, this would have to do. He’d gotten high off sugar before, why not do it again? He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the counter. He shook his head. God, he was a mess.