Why did there always have to be only one cash desk open at the supermarket when he had finally gotten up the nerve to walk out of the boarding school? 

Norton Kaspersky was at his limit. His virus sensors were on alert. Instead of people, he saw only potentially deadly pathogens everywhere. He put his cleaning and disinfecting supplies on the cash register belt.

Behind him, an elderly man coughed. The cough sounded nauseating and wet, like an entire orchestra of tuberculosis bacteria in his lungs. 

Norton wanted to put on a full protective suit with goggles and FFP2 mask, but he couldn’t escape. He stood at the checkout crammed between two people, candy as well as cigarette shock ads, and could only pull his scarf over his nose to protect himself from the germs. 

The old man began happily humming as he placed his purchases on the checkout belt. 

Norton broke out in a sweat. The beeping of the items in front of him sounded to him like the recording of an ICU heartbeat that was about to stop soon.

 The man sneezed into his palm and began placing more items on the belt with his germy hand. 

Norton felt sick. 

The belt stopped. But the man didn’t even think about stopping to place his groceries, and instead pushed the already placed ones together. 

Only now did Norton notice that the man had forgotten to place a goods separator between their purchases. The dirty items came closer and closer. 

His pulse rushed. His heartbeat drummed furiously in his ears. He clenched his fist. The scarf made breathing difficult, but he wouldn’t even dream of taking it off and possibly risking being sick tomorrow. 

Closer. Even closer. 

A vein popped out of his forehead, throbbing. He felt dizzy. It was only a few millimeters until the goods touched and his nice disinfectant was also useless and full of germs. He gasped loudly and looked at the old man with a pulsating expression. “No … more.” His trembling finger pointed at the separation block. “I can’t stand this anymore! I want my distance back!” 

A blinding flash shattered the supermarket’s windows. People screamed and ran around in a panic. The alarm system sounded, but it was drowned out the next moment by a loud whirring and humming. A small flying saucer rose and shot out through the broken store window.

The old man looked up at the sky in perplexity. “Gee, if Erich and David saw that …!” He shrugged his shoulders and then finally placed the separation block on the cash register belt.