The Zenith System

Chapter 006

Zack scans another bag of off-brand potato chips, while his mind is on Mason’s mood last night and the following morning.

“Two seventy-nine,” Zack murmurs, without looking up at the customer.

There is music of some famous artist singing in the background. The song might be well-received by QuickFix customers, but not him. It sounds like an ode while he is on his way to purgatory.

He groans, shaking his head with all his thoughts.

The chime above QuickFix’s entrance resounds again and Zack raises his head towards it. Four men saunter in and he feels anxious at the way they look. He glances at the back of the shop and realizes that the manager is out to have a quick supply run.

“Hello there, cashier boy,” the largest of them greets. He has a grin that doesn’t reach his cold eyes. He is also sporting a scar that runs like a fault line across his cheek.

“Good day! Welcome to QuickFix! How can I help you today?” he asks, glancing at his companions who are less intimidating but are also exuding malice and violence.

They moved with predatory grace, fanning out to flank their chosen prey. One thug, a mountain of a man, cracks his knuckles as a way to intimidate him.

There is no need for it, though. He is already afraid of just how large they are compared to him.

“Nice place, full of stocks,” the largest man says, his eyes scanning over the aisles.

“Actually, business has been slow for the past few days,” Zack says, trying to keep his voice even as they close in around him.

He is lying, though. There are a lot of customers today and the stocks at the back of the store have been depleted already — the reason the manager is on a quick supply run.

When the men laugh, Zack knows that they know he is lying. Not to mention that they seem to be mocking him.

“Doesn’t look too slow to me,” another thug chimes in. He nods towards the cash register with a crooked smile. “How about you empty that drawer and we call it a night, huh?”

Zack’s back meets the cold wall, the chill seeping through his QuickFix uniform as he gauges the distance to the phone. A futile thought—help won’t arrive soon enough. The thugs’ smiles widen, sensing his dilemma.

“Come on, boy. Don’t make this difficult,” the thug says, his tone suggesting that ‘difficult’ means that it will be much worse for him.

Then Zack remembers that the store has a panic button under the counter, but if he presses it, won’t it just escalate things? Besides, he is cornered, and he definitely doesn’t want to be a hero.

“Alright… alright…” Zack relents, his pride a small sacrifice if it meant avoiding his imminent death. He starts to empty out the register, hands shaking as he counts out the cash.

But then, on a whim, he suddenly presses the panic button under the counter.

The thugs freeze in shock for a moment before erupting into angry curses.

“What did you just do?!” one of them roars, slamming his fist against the counter.

“Oh crap,” Zack mutters to himself as he backs away towards the wall again. But before he can even reach a safe distance from the thugs, one of them lunges at him and pins him against it.

“Why did you press that button? You think anyone’s gonna come save you?” The thug sneers in his face.

“I—I thought... maybe...” Zack stammers, fear creeping into every fiber of his being.

“Wrong move,” mutters one thug.

The thug swings his fist, but Zack barely registers the pain until it connects to his gut, forcing out a pained gasp, his knees buckling from the force.

“Let’s teach him a lesson,” another thug growls.

Suddenly, hands are everywhere, shoving, striking, a flurry of blows raining down on him. Zack tries to defend himself, arms raised in a futile attempt to ward off the assault. But there are too many and they are too strong. A fist to his face sends him reeling. There is pain through his cheekbone and his mouth fills with a metallic taste.

They are relentless, their laughter being muffled by the ringing in his ears as he struggles to remain conscious. Why aren’t they stopping? Aren’t they afraid the police will come soon? They should run away and stop beating him up already!

Then his vision blurs as another hit jarred his jaw, pain exploding like fireworks. A bruise blossoms across his cheek, the skin splitting to leak droplets of his blood that trails down his neck.

But just then, he hears sirens in the distance. Relief washes over him and for a moment he thinks everything might turn out okay.

Suddenly, one of the goons pulls out a gun and points it at Zack’s head. “I’ll put a bullet in your skull before any cops get here!”

He closes his eyes and prepares for impact when suddenly there is a loud crash. He looks towards the entrance of QuickFix to see someone kicking down the door. A group of police officers rush in, guns drawn and shouting commands.

The thugs freeze, their faces contorting.

“Hands up! Don’t move!” one of the officers yells, pointing her gun at the thugs.

They comply, slowly raising their hands above their heads as more officers swarm into the store.

Zack slides down to the ground in shock and relief. The officer who kicked the door approaches him with concern written on her face.

“Are you okay, son?” she asks, crouching down next to him.

Zack nods, unable to find his voice. He stares at her in awe, grateful for her timely arrival.

“Thank you,” he manages to choke out, tears pricking at his eyes.

The officer gives him a small smile before turning back to her fellow officers. “Make sure these guys are arrested and take them into custody,” she orders.

As the thugs are handcuffed and escorted out of the store, Zack takes a moment to catch his breath. Everything happened so fast and he still can’t believe that it’s all over now.

“Hey kid,” one of the officers calls out to him. “Any family we should call?”

Celeste’s face appears in his mind, but he shakes his head instead. He doesn’t want to be nagged at and to feel so incompetent again.

“No, I think I’ll be okay,” he says, finding his voice.

The officer nods and helps him stand up. “We’ll need your statement about what happened here. You will also need some medical attention.”

Zack nods, grateful for his life being saved. He then gives his statement and watches the thugs being taken away by the police. He just hopes that Celeste won’t hear about the event.