Usual crappy day for Miyamoto Musashi, except crappier. Got up 40 minutes late for school and the friends of his he’d usually be picking up had to ride the bus, meaning he also did. Got a migraine second hour and subs in most of his classes who made him do stupid, pointless worksheets based on stupid, pointless videos with facts in them so old they’re void. Musashi didn't do it – objecting on moral grounds – and one of the teachers gave him a tardy for it, taking advantage of the fact that they hadn't already taken attendance. By sixth hour he wanted to kill something, even if it was himself. The comfort of his black Lotus Elise on the ride home helped soothe him a little but not nearly enough, for at 4:30 p.m. less than 10 seconds before the second episode of XPlay came on his girlfriend Jen left him for not opening up to her, which considering he learned from friends and family of hers that she liked telling people other people's secrets would've been very difficult.

Around 7 p.m. he remembered that the 2004 Zack Snyder remake of Dawn of the Dead was coming out today (though exclusively the unrated version, a rating used both because submitting the director’s cut to the MPAA would cost money and because that money could be both saved and doubled by releasing an “unrated” version, as Universal Studios’ market research said) and decided that he’d go buy it. He’s 16, and if the Borders teller won’t let him buy it because of age he’ll walk out with it.

Fuck it all.

borders

Borders Books & Music was its normal self, except a few lights were out. Normally Musashi wouldn’t’ve liked such a thing, especially if he were going for a book, but all he’s there for is an overpriced DVD new release – probably $16 at Best Buy, he thought, figuring it would be about $24.99 here. Why’m I even going here? he wondered. Prob’ly because I used to work here, but it’s not like I get the goddamn reduced discount anymore. The employee discount at Borders used to be 33 percent off everything except magazines, which were 10 percent off, but then the electronics discount was established, it being 20 percent. Better than none but Musashi wouldn’t be stretching his mouth to say “20 percent is a very generous employee benefit” anytime before mental speech was discovered, and because Borders raises the prices of DVDs by more than any other major chain retailer all the discount really does it make the price what a store like Best Buy or Circuit City would charge at full price.

The DVD section is tiny and every time he sees it Musashi is reminded his personal collection has more variety. Borders has more DVDs by the number than Musashi, but when a store has five copies of the original DVD release of Underworld and three of its specialer editions he considers that store a gaggle of dumbfucks.

Dawn of the Dead wasn’t displayed out front…Which for Borders is standard policy, he thought. Only time they have a DVD anywhere but the minuscule section is when it’s by Disney or if it’s Indiana Jones, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

And there it was. A few other people were in the section but he more or less completely ignored them. If one of them were a Soviet spy sent only to wipe Musashi off the planet he wouldn’t care. The DVD called to him. So did the price tag, which said “$25.99” and in so doing irritated Musashi.

Someone else’s hand grabbed the right side of the DVD when he went for it.

They looked to one another at the exact same speed from nearly the same eye level – a 2” difference if not less. Her eyes told him “If you’re an asshole I’ll fucking kill you” (and no version sans the expletives would be accurate at all) and his eyes said the same to her.

“Take it,” the darkly-clothed brunette said.

“No, you take it.”

“Please – I’m not in the mood for a polite argument. Just take the movie. I’ll go somewhere else.”

“The only place you’ll go is checkout, then your house. I’ll find another copy.”

She watched Musashi for a while. He didn’t know or care how long and she felt the same. Their hands linked by a cheap black plastic Universal DVD case, she said, “Here’s the plan – you buy it, but we watch it at my house and I’ll give you something worth $27.”

“Sounds like a deal,” he said. In a better mood he would’ve smiled, and in a good mood he would've made a lewd joke.

Outside she got into her car – an AM General Corporation HMMWV (High-Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle) – then drove him to his Elise, then he began following her, the only DVD copy of Dawn of the Dead that mattered in the seat beside him.