Animals We've Become/Want a Receipt?

**Want a Receipt?** is the fifth episode in Animals We've Become.

## Issue

“AJ! Why the hell did you do that!?” I scream.

“H-H-H-H-He was always th-th-threatening us!” AJ stumbled. “We should-should leave him.”

“No! We can’t leave him!” Sarah cried out.

I couldn’t believe it, my baby girl wants Ethan to stay in the group, of course she went for the bad boys, why do they always do that!? A nice guy like me can’t ever seem to get a date.

“Alright, we’re taking him.” I said.

“B-b-b-b-b-but.” AJ mumbled.

“No butts AJ. I know we don’t like him, but we’re not animals, not yet.” I said.

AJ looked down at the ground in defeat, before childishly kicking a few pebbles with his crutch. “F-fine.”

“I’ll grab his legs, Sarah you grab the legs and Mark you grab the head.” I order.

“Sounds like a plan.” Mark said, giving a thumbs up.

“Okay.” Sarah said.

I grab his right foot while Sarah grabs his left foot. Mark grabs the head. We carry the unconscious Ethan out of the bank.

“Are ya gonna carry this dingus all the way there? We don’t have a car!” Sonnie said.

“Well you got any better idea, old man?” Sarah snapped.

“Well; actually,” he said, clenching his fist before turning around looking at a nearby wheelbarrow.

Before we knew it, we were on the road, taking turns on steering the wheelbarrow with that dickhead sound asleep in it. I hated Ethan but for Sarah’s sake I had to keep him alive.

“It’s getting dark out, we should find some shelter.” Mark says.

“We don’t need shelter.” Sonnie responds.

“Easy for you to say, you’re homeless.” I point out.

“Yeah.” Sonnie says, sadly.

“Let-let-let-let-let’s just set up a campsite or something. Always wanted to go-go camping.” AJ says happily.

“Gay!!” Ethan says waking up.

I drop the wheelbarrow. “How long have you been up?”

“I’ve been up for like three hours now, idiot!” Ethan snarks.

I ignore him for both Sarah and Amber’s sakes, didn’t want my two angels to see me at my worst.

Ethan crawled out of the wheelbarrow and got up quickly, brushing the dirt off his jacket, scanning the group and pointing at them with his fingers. “I don’t know which little shit knocked me out!! But mark my words you’ll get what’s comin to ya!”

“Someone say my name?” Mark asked with a smile.

Amber looked at her watch. “It’s late,” she noted. “We need to set up camp for the night.”

“Don’t wanna miss your beauty sleep.” I mumble to myself.

"Y-Y-Yeah!" AJ agrees.

“I hope I can have some good dreams tonight.” Amber said, slipping out of her jacket, revealing a silk nightgown underneath. “I used to dream of my Uncle Rorke when I was sad, he made me feel better in the best kind of ways.”

“S-s-so did my uncle!!!” AJ agreed nodding his head up and down.

“I can’t sleep here!” I said.

“Why not?” Sarah asks.

“I don’t have my pajamas!” I complained, as I kicked a rock away from me.

“It’s fine kid, I haven’t worn my pajamas in years.” Sonnie said.

“Thanks Sonnie.” Mark says. “Now I won’t get that image out of my head.”

“I-I-I sleep in my un-underwear!” AJ cheered.

"And I sleep naked!" Ethan says.

“Night boys.” Sonnie says laying down on the ground spread eagle.

“Goodnight, Winston.” Amber said

“Don’t call me that, bitch.” Sonnie said, he turned over and began to snore

You’re lucky I don’t kill you for that, old man. I thought.

“Sarah, get over here!!” Ethan demands. Sarah crawls over to him as they cuddle.

This made me extremely pissed off. Why couldn’t I ever cuddle with a girl? The only person I’ve cuddled with is AJ and that was a long time ago. I don't like to think of that.

“N-N-N-N-Night guys!” AJ stuttered before laying on the ground.

Before long it was only me and Mark awake, everyone else was asleep. We were the only ones up as everyone else was asleep.

I hear a faint “psst” beside me. I turn and see Mark smiling at me. “Hey! You awake?”

“Yeah. Can’t sleep.” I reply.

“Oh, why so?” Mark said putting his hand on his chin.

“Dunno man. Going thru a lot right now.”

“Me too, say um, not to be rude but um.” Mark says.

“What is it?” I ask, this was it. He was going to prove to me whether or not I was going to hate him or not.

“What’s wrong with AJ?” He chuckled awkwardly.

I sighed, “AJ has cerebral palsy just like his father. You see AJ and I knew each other for years before the zombies rose up and he and I had to escape the school. We met in first grade when our school bully Jason beat him up for being handicapped. He called him a fucking cripple and said he hated those. I told him to leave him alone but he just pushed me into the sand pit. Can’t ever go near one of those again, caught something similar to what Sonnie’s got or something, I don’t know. The point is that he’s been my best friend since then. He and I got along for years until eventually the fourth grade we were put in different classes. Man Ms. Pickett was a bitch, anyways we continued being friends for years after that until one day Jason took our seats at lunch and we had to eat lunch with the janitor. That’s what happened. Mark, I had to kill Jason. It was out of mercy but I felt happy doing it, all those years, my anger just built up into a sweet release. I know that sounds weird Mark but thanks for listening.” I said, finishing up my speech. I look over and see that Mark was sleep.

I chuckle, “Night Mark.”

It’s the following morning. We were all on the road again, closing in on our target location - the grocery store.

“Baby, I’m hungry.” Sarah tells Ethan.

“Don’t worry, sweet pea, we’re almost there!” Ethan told her.

I wish they’d stop using pet names like that. It always got me riled up when I heard them do that. I can only imagine how it’d sound if Sarah or Amber called me baby. A man can dream.

Just as he said that, we arrive at the top of the hill and see it in the distance. AJ’s face lights up. “T-t-t-t-t-there it is!”

I look at AJ assuredly and smile. “You’re goddamn right.”

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s haul ass!” Sonnie said, assuming a pose like he was about to start running, but just stood there.

“L-L-L-Let’s go!” AJ Stutters attempting to run only to nearly fall.

“I got you, baby!” Amber shouted, scooping AJ off the ground, but leaving his crutches behind.

“N-no! My crutches!” AJ cries out.

“We’ll get you some more!” Amber cried.

I felt kind of bad for AJ but I knew sacrifices had to be made.

We all began running in a group towards the grocery store before suddenly a bullet flies by my head.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” I roared with extreme anger.

“Stand down!” A voice calls from a loudspeaker.

We stop running.

“Who are you all!?” The voice yells.

“I’m Glenn Richardson.” I say.

“I’m A-A-A-A-AJ-J-J Miller.” AJ shouts.

“I’m Amber Rose.” Amber says.

“I’m Sarah Fox.” Sarah says.

“I’m Ethan Walker!!” Ethan says.

“I’m Winston “Sonnie” Hopper. But my friends call me Sonnie.” Winston says.

“I’m Mark.” Mark says.

“Didn’t need a roll call, Christ! Nice to meet all ya’ll.” The voice said. “Just wanted to make sure you’re all good.”

“I understand.” I said. I understood, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

“Bert open the door for these guys!” The voice says.

“You got it Donnie.” Bert said.

Suddenly the door the grocery store opened up, it was like looking into heaven with binoculars.

We all walk into the grocery store.

“Alright, we finally made it.” Amber said putting AJ down and started stretching.

“About time.” I respond looking at her legs hoping nobody would notice, although I think Sonnie noticed.

“Hi, name’s Bert.” Bert said. “We’re just a group of survivors like you.”

"Lame!" Ethan said.

Another man walks out with another man and a woman.

“This is Donnie, our leader.” Bert says.

“Hi, I’m Donnie. Donnie Cruz.” Donnie says. “And my, my what do we have here, did God let out two of his angels?”

Amber and Sarah blushed. My face also turned red, in anger. The third man noticed and called me out on it.

"Got something to say, kid?" the man asked. I recognized his high-pitched voice, and the fact he was still wearing his suit and his tie. He had a stern look on his face behind his signature glasses, like he was angry all the time, with disgusting looking sideburns. He was the Principal of our school.

"Mr. Chatwin?" I asked, confused. "What are you doing with these people?"

“Well if it isn’t my third least favorite student. Glenn Richardson.”

Yeah, I always knew Mr. Chatwin hated me. He loved the asshole jocks who spent their entire time drinking Mountain Dew and being jerks to women, and never truly saw the potential of the hardworking, smart gamers like me and AJ. Just because we didn’t kick around a football like a bunch of barbarians and instead enjoyed the finer things in life like FPS games and J-RPGs.

“O-o-o-oh no!” AJ stammered.

"Hello, Mr. Chatwin!! Long time no see!" Ethan said, shaking Mr. Chatwin's hand.

“Walker…” Mr. Chatwin muttered, before eagerly shaking his hand. “Ethan Walker! Good to see you made it. Where's your best bud Jason?”

Ethan looked down at the floor, saddened, not saying a word.

"He didn't make it." Sarah said, trying not to cry. "He got bitten and Glenn put him out of his misery."

"Well, maybe you're not completely worthless after all, Richardson." Mr. Chatwin said.

"Yeah, he was kind of a jerk, but he was alright in the end." I said. "He made up for all of his mistake."

“That’s how it is on this bitch of an Earth.” Donnie said, stepping forward. “So anyway, we’re all here because of Bert over there. Man was alone in the store when me and my girl Steph needed help. We owe him our lives.”

"Yo." Bert said, raising his right hand. “How are you folks doing?”

"Then, this suited up fellow arrived and we let him in. Now we’re kind of a group I guess.” Donnie grinned slightly.

“It’s good to see other people alive. We thought maybe it was pretty bad out there.” Stephanie said.

“It is. We saw a lot of death on the way here. But hey, we’re all alive!” Mark said optimistically.

“Not ALL of us…” I looked at AJ, who was laying on the ground, visibly sad thinking about his mom.

"We've all lost people." Sonnie sighed, scratching his beard and making a few bugs fly off. I couldn’t help but notice Bert staring at him, obviously disgusted.

I noticed Donnie's girlfriend standing, cross armed. She sure was pretty. Her breasts were not too big, but not too small, like hills across a grassy field and she had a nice, plump butt. Not as pretty as Amber or Sarah Fox, but pretty nonetheless. But for Amber and Sarah’s sakes I had to stay loyal to them. She also had a piercing on her tongue, and I don't like body modifications, they give off kind of a slutty vibe.

“Hey! Why don’t you take a picture of her, Nerd! It’ll last longer!” Ethan yelled directly into my ear.

“Don-don’t call him a ner-nerd!” AJ stammered.

“What are you!? His boyfriend!?” Ethan mocked.

“No-no! He’s a boy and he’s my fri-friend!” AJ cried out in protest.

“Whatever brittle bones!” Ethan laughed.

AJ didn’t respond, he was too offended. I would beat Ethan up but like before I don’t want to upset my gorgeous gals.

"Whatever, at least I'm not staring at that piece of hot ass like a dog staring at a roast chicken!!" Ethan said.

"What the fuck, man that's my girlfriend" Donnie protested. “Stop talking about her like that!”

“What the hell!” Ethan said. “I was talking about…!”

And then as if God himself sent the hand, I felt Amber’s soft hand on my broad, muscled out shoulder, holding me back from kicking Ethan’s ass right there.

“Glenn, baby. What do you think of these people?”

I smiled. I’d never been called baby before, not by any woman anyway. One time Jason called me a baby, glad that piece of shit is dead now. Fuck him. I sighed. “I don’t know, Ms. Rose. They seem okay to me, we’ll stick around for now. I sure could use a shower…. My armpits smell like shit ” I smile.

“Ok.” Amber replied.

Fucking blew it… I thought, clenching my fist.

"Ok, uh… I guess you guys will need a tour of the place now, since you're staying with us." Donnie said, opening his arms wide. "Bert, Chatwin, please show our guests the store."

“Dude it’s a grocery store!” Ethan said. “We don’t need a tour!”

“Shut the fuck up, kid." Donnie said, threateningly. "Bert. Chatwin. Show them around."

“W-h-h-h-h-at kinda of food d-d-do you h-h-h-h-h-h-h-have here?” AJ said as he tried his best to crawl forwards.

"You'll know that if you just follow us, Miller." Mr. Chatwin said, pinching his nose in annoyance. He had always hated AJ for being mentally and physically handicapped. And for being smarter than him.

So we all followed Bert and Mr. Chatwin through a backdoor into the storage of the store, while Donnie and Stephanie stayed behind. I was the last one through the door so I could hear her giggling, before the giggles turned into moans of deep pleasure.

“I can’t-can’t crawl that f-far.” AJ muttered.

“I got you buddy.” I say with a smile. I go over and grab a shopping cart.

“That’s really resourceful of you Glenn.” Mark said. “Great idea. But I got this.”

Mark crouched on the ground and placed AJ on his back, giving him a piggyback ride.

"S-S-Sweet! J-J-J-Just like the old t-t-times with Uncle M-Mason!" AJ clapped.

"So, here we have the candy bars." Bert started explaining.

"H-H-H-Hell yeah! I l-l-love candy!" AJ screamed as he grabbed left and right, at least five in each hand. "Lift it with your back, Mark!"

"Stay away from me." I heard Amber tell Sonnie behind my back.

I could still hear Stephanie giggling in the distance. Donnie was a lucky man, truly. AJ was still grabbing more and more candy bars, like a hungry hippopotamus.

“Hey kid, if you like candy so much you should talk to Chatwin; he’s got a whole stash packed somewhere.” Bert laughed. “Ain't that right Chatwin… Chatwin?”

We all looked around, Mr. Chatwin was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey dude, what the FUCK!” Ethan shouted. We all looked at him. “WHERE THE FUCK IS SARAH!?”

"Where did everyone go?" I asked, confused. "Where the FUCK did they go?"

Then I heard it again… The giggle. That fucking giggle.

“No way!” Ethan said. “No fucking way!”

We’d heard that giggle before, high pitched and twisted. We heard it whenever Jason and his gang went too far, whenever a kid who couldn’t do sports got hurt, whenever AJ had a bad time…

We ran to the door where I had heard Stephanie and Donnie before. Only now… Sonnie quickly snatched Mark's gun and raised with one hand and put another to the door. We nodded at each other and kicked open the door.

## Trivia

* This is the St. Patrick's Day Special
* This is the longest issue yet