What Happens in Retail: The Pandemic Edition: What Happens in Retail, #2

By Matt R. King

In the first collection of stories, you found out what happens in retail, but now, get ready to find out what happens in retail during a pandemic!

Five months after the devastating fire broke out at the local MinusMart in Wallaceburg, things are finally back to normal … or as normal as things can get at MinusMart. Martin Roth and his cooky co-workers are back and ready to handle whatever comes at them … or at least they think they are. Things take a turn for the worst, however, when two new major threats make their presence known to the store. Susan Roe, the Reginal Manager of MinusMart, is hell-bent to fire the whole Fulfillment team, and an impending Pandemic threatens the team (and the whole world) with sickness and death.

Get ready to follow this ill-prepared team to hell as they deal with the waves of lockdowns within the country, crazy Panic Shoppers, and even a truck with blood in it! Retail will never be the same again after this.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matt R. King
• Release date: Sep 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223006282

Book preview

A group of people in a store Description automatically generated

Introduction

Welcome back to MinusMart, where we still subtract your bill at the till! We are proud to announce the grand re-opening of the store in Wallaceburg. We are back with even lower prices for everyone to enjoy.

Well, mostly everyone to enjoy ...

Okay, only some of you will get to enjoy it. This whole pandemic thing has affected the amount of stock we have on hand. So, hurry in, before all of the toilet paper is gone!

And always remember,

NO REFUNDS!!!

Dedication

Dedicated to all of the essential workers out there. You are the true heroes of the pandemic.

©2023

What Happens In Retail: The Pandemic Edition

By: Matt R. King

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – The Big Boss

Chapter 2 – Panic Shopping

Chapter 3 – Toilet Paper Blitz

Chapter 4 – Six Feet

Chapter 5 – The Midnight Shift

Chapter 6 – Where did Everyone Go

Chapter 7 – Let Us In

Chapter 8 – The Store Outbreak

Chapter 9 – Quarantined

Chapter 10 – The Blood Truck

Chapter 11 – Essentials Only

Chapter 12 – Online Pickup

Chapter 13 – Secret Shoppers

Chapter 14 – Yet Another Store manager

Chapter 15 – Power Outage

Chapter 1

The Big Boss

January 2020-2:15 P.M.

Martin Roth sat in the kitchen of his new apartment. He is twenty-one now, and he has finally managed to save up enough money working at MinusMart to afford an apartment. It wasn't the biggest or prettiest apartment, but it was enough for Martin.

His apartment consisted of three rooms. There was his living room/kitchen (the room he was currently sitting in, that was basically a living room and a kitchen smushed together), a bedroom, and a washroom. That was the current living condition for Martin, and it cost him five hundred dollars a month.

It was the same amount of money that Martin got from a single paycheck from MinusMart, but it still beat living with his parents any day. He finally didn't have to put up with the constant nagging of his mother to do his ‘around the house’ chores or put up with listening to his father drone on about what he should be doing with his life.

Both Martin's mother and father wanted him to go to college so that he could get a real job, but right now, Martin was content working at MinusMart. Sure, it wasn't the best job in the world, but it was... interesting. There was always something ... interesting going on at MinusMart. Today was going to be one of those interesting days.

A few days ago, Jim, Martin's little manager, had informed him and everyone else on the Fulfillment team that Susan Roe was going to be visiting the store today. Susan Roe was the Regional Manager of the store. In other words, she was the the big boss.

It was rare for Susan to make a visit to the store. So rare in fact, that Martin himself hadn't ever met her in person during his one and a half years at MinusMart. Today, Susan's visit was due to the fire incident that happened five months ago.

During the summer, Martin and his co-workers held a massive party in the store, one that got out of hand and ended with an accidental fire in the toilet paper section.

The fire cost the store two million dollars in damages and forced the store to close down for a whole month. After the store reopened, it took them another three months to get full stock of the toilet paper back.

Susan's visit today was to see for herself how the store had recovered from the incident, and possibly introduce new rules to ensure an incident like that never happens again.

Martin was very nervous about how today was going to go. If things went badly, he and his co-workers could get fired. They were extremely lucky to still have their jobs today as it was.

Ten workers, the ones responsible for the fire themselves, had already been fired after the incident. The only reason why Martin and the others still had their jobs was because the managers had no proof that their team was responsible for starting the party. Despite this, the managers still had their suspicions. That's why Martin and everyone else had to be on their best behaviour today. They were all just one more mistake away from losing their jobs. Martin couldn't afford to let this happen. He just moved into this apartment a month ago and needed the job to keep up with the monthly rent.

These were the thoughts that plagued Martin as he sat at his kitchen table, eating his before work meal. This meal came in the form of two Pizza Pops, a fast and easy meal that Martin liked to have before going into work at three o’clock. As he ate, he watched the news on TV.

They were covering a story about an outbreak of this virus in Wuhan, China, called Coronavirus. Apparently, doctors in the region were warning the world that this virus could spread globally.

Martin snickered. Disease outbreaks like this seemed to occur every year in China. The country was always eating unclean and disgusting things like insects. This Coronavirus they were talking about was just another example of that. Needless to say, Martin wasn't worried about some stupid virus in China. He had bigger things to worry about.

Martin quickly finished his meal then started getting ready for work. Fifteen minutes later, Martin was ready. His lunch was packed, his bowels were empty from the shit he just took, and he was ready to start walking to work.

Well, let's get this shit over with, Martin said to himself while standing at the front door of his apartment. He then took a deep breath, then opened and walked out of the new place he had come to call home.

3:00 P.M.

Just after Martin had clocked in for his shift, he walked to the backroom with everyone else on the Fulfillment team. Everyone was in today, and they all looked as nervous as Martin was as they entered the grey backroom. Dan, the Fulfillment team's supervisor, was already back there when they all arrived.

Then Martin spotted her. A woman in her fifties, with short, grey hair and bright red lipstick. She wore a black blazer with black dress pants and black high heels. This had to be Susan Roe.

She stood with their manager Jim, and Grace Donkers, the MinusMart store manager. They both looked as stiff as statues standing next to Susan, afraid that the slightest slouch would get them fired. Martin felt his own posture straighten as they all approached Susan.

As everyone grouped around the three managers, Susan looked at each of them, but didn't smile. She must not have liked any of them, but that should've been expected. She was surrounded by the workers who almost burnt the whole store down, after all.

Susan continued to stare suspiciously at everyone around her. she looked at Martin first, then to Ra-ja, the only East Indian on the team, to Little Pat, the skinniest member on the team, and then to Hilton, the most annoying member of the team.

Jim and Grace looked at Susan as she continued to examine the faces around her. They seemed to be expecting her to start talking, but she didn't, she was too busying eyeing everyone.

She looked at Ronald, the dumbest member of the team, to Trevor, the big black guy on the team, to Big Pat, the fattest member of the team. Then she finally stopped at Calvin, the strongest and strangest member of the team. Calvin raised an eyebrow at her, seeming to wonder why Susan was staring at him so intensely.

Realizing how awkward the situation was becoming, Jim took it upon himself to start talking first. Hello boys, Jim said to everyone. He gestured to Susan. This is Susan Roe, she's the Regional Manager of our store.

Yeah, we figured that out, Jim, Calvin said. Everyone's gaze shot to Calvin. Jim shot Calvin a warning look. Calvin was known to say random stuff like that during these meetings, but with Susan here, now wasn't a good time to interrupt. It was a shut up and listen moment, not a talking moment, but Calvin didn't seem to understand that part.

Susan will be with us for the remainder of the day, Jim said.

Yes, I will be evaluating the store to make sure everything is up to code after the ... incident we had five months ago, Susan said, finally saying something.

Everyone on the team exchanged a look with each other. They all knew that was bound to come up.

But if you notice Susan out on the sales floor while you're working, don't pay any attention to her, Grace added.

Yes, just pretend I'm not there, Susan said. I also want to observe everyone's working habits during my walk around the store.

Suddenly, Big Pat raised his hand. I have a question, he said.

Everyone looked nervously at Big Pat. He was notorious for asking the managers questions they didn't want to hear or answer. His questions would often lead to a heated argument, something that could get Big Pat fired right on the spot by Susan.

But Big Pat was already being more polite than he usually was. Usually, Big Pat would just blurt out his question without even raising his hand. This time, he raised his hand and asked if it was okay to ask a question.

Knowing that this could get bad, Jim was quick to intervene before Susan could say anything. Susan isn't taking any questions right now, Jim said to Big Pat with warning eyes.

Oh Jim, don't be ridiculous, Susan said. I may be the Regional Manager, but that doesn't mean this is a dictatorship. He can ask me anything he wants.

Jim nodded but continued to glare at Big Pat as if to say, don't piss her off.

Susan then turned towards Big Pat. What's your question? she asked.

Why do you want to see our work habits? Big Pat asked.

I want to do that for two reasons, Susan explained. The first reason is because it's part of my evaluation of the store, but the second reason is because I believe that you’re all incompetent.

Martin was shocked. His mouth, like his co-workers’ mouths, dropped open. Susan just called them all out on being stupid. I mean, it's true, but no manager had never said that to them flatly.

Even Jim and Grace seemed shocked by this response. Their mouths hung open as well. Martin half expected someone on the team to tell Susan to fuck off, but it never came. The backroom fell into another awkward silence until Susan started talking again.

You all seemed surprised to hear this, Susan said, noticing the open jaws around her. but there is plenty of evidence to support this claim. I mean, just last year I received multiple incident reports involving this Fulfillment team.

Incident reports? Ronald asked.

Yes, the incident reports Jim filed last year.

Everyone's heads immediately turned to Jim. He just looked down at the floor, too ashamed to look any of them in the eye. Clearly no one knew that Jim had been filling out incident reports behind their backs. And to make matters worse, he had been sending them all to Susan! It was then that Martin realized just how fucked they really were.

Last year alone, Susan continued, I received incident reports about multiple team members showing up high for their shifts, going on strike over a turd, falling asleep on an empty truck –

You guys fell asleep on a truck? Hilton exclaimed in surprise, cutting Susan off. Big Pat nudged Hilton hard from behind, indicating for him to shut up. After that everyone fell silent again.

Susan carried on. And then there was the most recent incident of the unauthorized party that took place five months ago.

We weren't responsible for starting that party, Ra-ja lied.

Yeah, we also weren't responsible for that fire either, Trevor added.

It was never determined who was responsible for that party, Susan corrected, narrowing her eyes at Ra-ja and Trevor. She was obviously on to them. She didn't have any evidence to back that up, but maybe that was why she was really here today.

Anyway, Susan continued. That's why I want to observe all of you while you work. I want to ensure that every employee here is correctly following the MinusMart policies now, and not slacking off like these reports have indicated. Now, are there any more questions?

Susan started eyeing everyone individually again. Martin turned his gaze to the ground when Susan looked at him, afraid to even make eye contact with her.

Okay, well we have a lot to get done today, so we better get started, Jim said quickly, obviously trying to end the meeting quickly. It was obvious he didn't want his team talking with Susan too much, and Martin didn't blame him. He was probably afraid of what else the team might ask Susan or say to her. It was better for him to get them away from Susan as quickly as he could, especially after what Susan just told them.

Wiat, ym nteos! (wait, my notes!) Dan said while raising the clipboard he held in his hands.

We don't have time for the notes today, Jim replied, looking annoyed. A hurt expression came over Dan. Giving the afternoon notes was Dan's favourite time of the shift, and Jim was robbing him of that today.

After turning Dan down, Jim quickly assigned everyone their work, and basically told them all to get lost. He put Martin in the Sports section of the store, a section that Martin wasn't used to working.

Martin grabbed a cart, went to a tall sports skid under the red zone, and threw a couple dozen boxes onto the cart. Martin then walked out of the backroom and out to the sales floor, heading towards the far back corner of the store where the Sports section waited for him.

4:30 P.M.

After working for an hour and a half in the Sports section alone, Martin was starting to feel anxious. He hadn't seen Susan, any other managers, or even any of his other co-workers at all. Actually, he hadn't even seen many customers come into the section, as it was the middle of winter, and most of the equipment in the Sports section was meant for the spring and summer months.

Susan had told them she would be walking around the store, examining their work habits, but Martin didn't know when she was going to show up in this section. He felt the urge to leave for a moment to find and talk to his other co-workers about what was going on, but the fear of accidently running into Susan kept him rooted where he was.

A couple of times, Martin had thought he heard something, but turned out to be nothing. He hoped Susan would just hurry up and find him already, he was starting to go insane with all this waiting.

Martin continued working as carefully as he could. He was making sure that he was placing each box in the right spot on the shelf and making sure that each shelf looked neat as he worked. He didn't want to be caught making any mistakes when Susan showed up. This process was slowing Martin down a little, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

Then, Mariah, the gossiping orange-vest, suddenly walked up to him. Martin immediately started to feel nervous again when he saw Mariah. She had a habit of talking to other workers for too long, and Martin didn't want Susan to catch him talking to her. However, Mariah didn't seem worried in the slightest as she strolled right up to Martin.

Hey, have you seen Susan yet? Mariah asked.

Not since the start of my shift, Martin replied while looking around, checking for Susan.

Yeah, me neither. I heard she was looking to fire at least five more people today.

Where did you hear that? Martin asked while rolling his eyes. Mariah had a habit of spreading around rumors that weren't true. He already doubted that what she was telling him was the truth.

I overheard Susan talking about it with Jim and Grace.

Well, I'll believe that when I see it.

You don't believe me?

I didn't say that.

But you implied it.

No, I didn't.

Yes, you did. Why do you think I would lie about this? Mariah asked with an angry expression on her face.

I don't think you're lying, Martin lied. I believe that you believe that you heard something about some of us getting fired today, but maybe you heard it wrong. What were you doing eavesdropping on the managers anyway?

Mariah shot him another angry expression but hesitated before speaking again. He knew Mariah wouldn't have any good reason for eavesdropping in on conversations, even though she did it all the time.

I wasn't eavesdropping, I simply overheard their conversation while working, Mariah said while blinking a lot (note: rapid blinking is a clear sign when someone is lying). Anyway, it doesn't matter. I think that Susan is still pissed off about the party your team threw in the store.

Shhh! Martin exclaimed loudly. Keep it down, would you. What if Susan hears you?

Oh relax, she's not going to find out.

She better not find out, Martin said while narrowing his eyes at Mariah, as if to say, you better not tell her. Mariah rolled her eyes.

She won't find out, Mariah repeated, this time looking Martin sternly in the eye. For the first time during this conversation, Martin believed her. Mariah was also at the party they had, so she wasn't going to risk herself getting in trouble by telling Susan.

Just then, Mariah and Martin heard multiple feet coming closer to them. One of the feet sounded like the click, click of high heels on the floor. It had to be Susan. Martin and Mariah exchanged a nervous look.

Mariah turned to leave, but then realized she wouldn't have enough time to run away without Susan seeing her. So instead, she moved about eight feet away from Martin, then turned towards a shelf, and pretended to be straightening up the items on the shelf. Martin also faced the shelf and continued putting out the box of hockey pucks in his hands.

A moment later, Susan came into view at the end of the aisle Martin and Mariah were in. She held a clipboard with some papers attached, and she was looking down at it, appearing to be writing something with a red pen.

Behind Susan stood Jim and Grace, following close behind. They looked like two slaves, blindly following their superior master.

Susan stopped at the entrance of the aisle, finished whatever it was she was writing, then looked up from the clipboard. However, she didn't look at Martin or Mariah first. It looked like she was examining the aisle itself, inspecting the shelves which held various sports equipment. It appeared like she was examining the shelving unit for any damage.

After the fire had broken out during the party, the fire had caused burn and smoke damage on multiple shelves on the other side of the store. Because of this, multiple shelves had to be replaced. However, the shelves in the Sports section were left unscathed. Susan must just be making sure that all of the shelves are up to code.

As Susan continued examining the shelf, Grace was quick to notice Mariah. She entered the aisle and walked up to her.

Mariah, aren't you supposed to be in the Grocery section, tidying up the aisles there? Grace asked her.

A customer just asked me where our soccer balls were, so I brought him over here, Mariah lied. But then I noticed that these aisles were messy, so I was taking a couple of minutes to tidy them up.

Martin was impressed by how quickly Mariah thought of that lie. It made him wonder how many lies she had made up while talking to him while they worked together.

Well, I think that Martin can do that, Grace replied, looking at Mariah with suspicious eyes. She looked like she wasn't sure if Mariah was being honest with her, and Martin didn't blame her.

In response, Mariah just nodded, then swiftly left the aisle without saying anything else. It was the shortest conversation Martin had ever seen Mariah have with someone.

After Mariah was gone, Susan stopped examining the shelves, and turned her attention to Martin. She walked up to him. Jim and Grace followed her over, like the good little slaves they were.

Hello Martin, how are things going over here? Susan asked.

How did you know my name? Martin asked, confused and a little scared. In response, Susan just looked down at Martin's name tag. Oh, right, Martin said with a nervous chuckle. Susan didn't chuckle back. She just continued to stare at Martin blackly with her brown eyes, seeming to still be waiting for an answer to the question she just asked.

Things are looking good, in this aisle, Martin finally said after an awkward moment of silence. See for yourself.

I already did, Susan replied.

Martin is a fine worker, Jim added.

No, he's not, Grace suddenly exclaimed. he's a liar! Martin was shocked by the anger in Grace's voice when she said that.

Is that so? Susan asked calmly while still looking at Martin.

Yes, Grace confirmed. He once lied to me about wanting to become a manager.

Martin closed his eyes in disappointment. He wished Grace hadn't brought that up. He wanted everyone to just forget about that, but that wasn't going to happen.

That was only one time, and it wasn't a big deal, Jim said in Martin's defence.

Martin wondered why Jim was trying to stick up for him. Maybe it was because Jim actually thought Martin's job was in danger, and didn't want to lose Martin, or anyone else on his team. That was just a theory, however.

Lying is still a breach of MinusMart's honesty policy, Susan said, still looking Martin over from head to toe. Jim didn't say anything. There was nothing else he could say to aid Martin. It was up to Martin himself to do that.

That was... a misunderstanding, Martin said.

A misunderstanding! Grace exclaimed, her voice getting loud. How was it a misunderstanding! You told me you wanted to eventually become a manager, then just magically changed your mind an hour later! Susan suddenly raised her hand to silence Grace.

Now Grace, let's not re-open past wounds here, Susan said. You never filed an incident report about that, so there's no need to focus on it. I would rather focus on the written incident reports Martin was involved in last year.

What incident reports are those, Martin asked nervously, not really wanting to know the answer to that.

Well ... most of them, actually, Susan said while tilting her head towards the ceiling, thinking it over.

Really? Martin asked, honestly surprised by this.

Yes, Susan confirmed. You were involved in at least seventy-five percent of the incident reports I received. You were involved with the turd strike in the washroom, and –

In my defense, Martin said, interrupting Susan. That turd was a work of art. You'd understand why I went to strike over it if you had seen it for yourself.

I did see it, Susan said in an annoyed voice. A picture of it was attached in the report.

Martin didn't recall Jim taking a picture of the beautiful turd, but he could have gotten it from Ra-ja, who took multiple pictures of the turd ... from multiple angles.

You had to see it in person, Martin said, knowing he must be starting to sound crazy. Slightly disgusted by Martin's last response, Susan quickly moved on, not wanting to continue talking about shit.

Anyway, as I said, that is just one of multiple incidents you've been involved in. All of which make me question how seriously you take your job.

I take my job very seriously, Martin said. For all of those incidents I was involved in, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn't mean to get involved in them, I just so happened to get tangled in with them.

Hmm, interesting, Susan said with squinted eyes. Would that include getting involved with the plan to start an unauthorized party in my store?

Susan was very close to Martin now. He could feel his back up against the shelf behind him. Susan was on to him, on to his team. He had to think of something good to say, and fast.

Uh ... no, of course not, Martin said. He was sweating buckets again. I was at the party, but I didn't help start it, and neither did any of my co-workers.

So, who’s responsible for it? Susan asked, not backing off. She was desperate for an answer, desperate to find out who was responsible for almost burning her store down. Then Martin thought of the perfect person to blame.

Ben, Martin lied.

Who? Susan asked.

Ben.

Do you mean Ben from Bakery? Grace asked.

Yes, Martin confirmed. There is only one Ben here.

Ben from Bakery was fired five months ago, Jim told Susan.

He was one of the workers responsible for the fire, Grace added.

Are you sure it was Ben, Susan asked Martin.

Positive, Martin lied confidently.

Hmm, okay, that checks out, Susan said, finally taking a step back from Martin. He felt like a huge weight had been taken off of him. Well, thank you for your honesty, Martin, Susan finished.

Susan then started walking away from him and started leaving the aisle. Jim and Grace again followed behind her. Before Susan left the aisle, she stopped right at the end of it and turned her head to look back at Martin.

Oh, and don't think this means you're out of the woods yet, Susan said. I will be watching you more closely during my time here, just to make sure that you don't accidently get tangled up in and other ... incidents.

Then Susan walked out of the aisle and walked away. Of course, Jim and Grace followed, but Jim gave Martin a nervous glance as he walked away, following his boss's boss.

Still inside the Sports aisle, Martin's blood ran cold. Those last words Susan said to him chilled him to his core. He was in deep shit ... and not a beautiful one either.

5:00 P.M.

Martin went to the breakroom for his break. He was still petrified after his talk with Susan. For the first time in his shift, he believed that Susan might actually fire him, if he gives her a good reason to do so. He didn't realize just how much trouble he could be in.

When Martin entered the breakroom, he wondered if any of his other co-workers had the same type of conversation as he just did. In the breakroom, most of the team was already there. Right away, Martin could tell they also had a run in with Susan. They had a mix of anger and worried expressions on their faces, except for Calvin, who remained emotionless as usual.

Martin walked over to the nearest table where Little Pat, Big Pat, and Ra-ja sat. They immediately asked him the same question Martin had on his mind.

Did you have a little chat with that bitch, Susan? Big Pat asked Martin sourly. Martin nodded grimly.

Yeah, it seemed like she was trying to find a good reason to fire me, Martin replied.

I felt like she was doing the same thing with me, Little Pat said.

Yeah, me too, Ra-ja agreed.

Did she also mention to any of you about the incidents you were involved in? Martin asked.

Not me, Little Pat said.

She did with me, Ra-ja said. She told me that I was involved in about fifty percent of the incident reports Jim submitted.

Really? Martin asked. Only fifty percent?

"Yeah, why? How