Pale, elongated fingers stretched out towards my throat. Fibrous muscles strained on inhuman arms, grasping out for the chance to destroy another human life. It was then that I realized, while hiding in that freezer, that people are really angry when they’re hungry. Especially when it comes to their baser needs. The monster moaned and howled in the same breath, showing its twisted teeth. Someone else’s dried blood was caked on its lips. Bile and intestines dribbled from them. It peered at me from the door, beating and pulling at the meat rack that was blocking the way. I knew what it wanted. It’s what we always want when we’re deprived of nutrients and sustenance. Food.

This was after society rejected every form of logical reasoning and chose to let someone else make decisions for them. The walls came tumbling down and people became something else, something entirely horrible and wretched. The rest of us just sat back and watched them mutate into thin, boney creatures, de-evolving into jittering mouths. Why do we never act when others descend into chaos?

At first, I couldn’t recognize them. They looked like normal people except angrier. I know them now. The Hungry. There’s always this anticipation in their eyes, like they knew if they waited long enough, they could go home and binge-eat all they wanted. We all knew how bad the foods were for us but we ate them anyways. Besides, how bad can it be if the cheaper, faster food could feed the less-abled and poverty-stricken. We all need food. Some of us more than others. And I don’t mean to stay alive. I mean to feel alive.

The fast food companies used American values to sell us horrible foods. They said things like, “Freedom of choice can get you a super-duper sized drink. All you have to do is pay less for more.” and “People should be free to choose what they eat. Are you free?” There was a certain sarcastic blame in those words. They were upset that their foods were deemed “bad for you.” We were supposed to eat their pancakes, their hamburgers, and their candy bars but instead we ate salads, fiber, and apples instead.

“We’re practically feeding the poor.” They said in their anti-legislation ads. There was a lot of talk about the poor and sickly, as if they secretly despised them. After each health bill that passed, they became more uncomfortable and arrogant. More and more lobbyists came out of the woodwork. “We must save American families from making poor financial decisions based on health lobbyists and ‘gut nuts.” said the Cholesterol Lobby.

They tried adding sugar to fruits and vegetables (despite these products already containing enough sugar.) Many critics felt that fast food restaurants were making healthy decisions for their consumers instead of their consumers making a better choice in where they ate. People seemed to forget history though. The same thing happened in the 50s when tobacco companies tried to prevent regulations on their products when they too were considered to cause health problems. They also blamed freedom.

The Health Wars were different though. After adding sugars, the food companies tried plant-based facsimiles. Plant-sausage and plant-burgers. Plant-chicken and plant-vegetables. These were also deemed unsafe due to their high calories and saturated fat. That’s when everything changed. Like everything in nature, once there’s a void, something always comes along to fill it.

That void was filled by Omnihealth. The company unleashed it’s “totally, super healthy (don’t read the labels) snack bar” to a frenzied community of health nuts. Their ad campaigns were obnoxious yet profitable. The young, grass-fed models would frolic through a playground while the salesperson spoke: “It’s organic, it’s a superfood, its sugar-free, plant-plant free, nonbinary, and its chock full of vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, and venenos. And now you can create your own shaloogy at our choose-a-shaloogy bar!”

Thanks to the limitations of the Food and Drug Administration on actually administrating food and drugs, Omnihealth was able to sell its product without disclosing its ingredients. When it came to proprietary information, corporate secrets were more important than public safety. It started with the allowance of companies to sell products and label the secret ingredients as “fragrance.” If you look at a bottle of any household product, you’ll see that most contain something called “fragrance.” These are undisclosed chemicals which a company is allowed to sell without hindrance from the FDA. Some have been known to cause cancer. But who cares, right?

The Omnihealth shaloogy bars didn’t just feed people for cheap, it created an addicted fan base that couldn’t stop coming back for more. They claimed that their waistlines were shrinking as their bank accounts were growing. If only we had known what was really happening on the inside.

The addicts changed first. Like any movement in America it started with a meme, an idea that spread through the culture like a virus. People grew comfortable with the idea as it became a household name. They just assumed that the changes weren’t caused by a protein bar. The Hungry developed distended stomachs, along with emaciated limbs. Their hair fell out and their skin became jaundice.

The health bars weren’t digesting, at all. That’s what the scientists said. They found that the bars were sitting in their guts and putrefying. Overtime whatever was in them started to release genome-altering chemicals and devouring whatever genes it felt the body didn’t need. It made the healthy choice for them, degenerating their forms so that they looked like walking skeletons. But it wasn’t just their appearances that changed.

Their hunger drove them to anger. Their bodies weren’t getting the sustenance they needed so they were constantly hurting others, both physically and mentally, to get what they wanted. The Hungry bullied everyone for food, claiming they needed more food than the non-Hungry. Which was the case since the food they were ingesting wasn’t satiating their appetites. The more food they ate, the more they changed into unrelenting junkies. They were never satisfied and soon they changed again. This time it was sudden and drastic.

Due to food shortages the Hungry ate anything they could find, while the genetically-modifying protein bars decayed their bodies and their minds. Children, parents, friends, colleague, and family members found their loved ones to be detestable and avoided them. This only hastened their anger and violence. They would attack them openly, thinking only of themselves and the desire for meat. Cities plunged into anarchy as the Hungry banded together claiming they deserved to eat whatever they wanted. Half-eaten corpses were everywhere.

I only survived because I fed them our restaurant’s food stock. I could easily toss a hamburger over the counter and they’d rush off to the next place of business with a typical growl, “What took you so long to make my food?” Others weren’t so courteous. “That wasn’t to my standards. I want a refund!” One had said. And another: “This is a public place. I can do what I want.” They were very selfish…I’m not even going to mention what they did to the bathrooms.

By the time I ran out of meat they had already eaten the remaining hostess and the owner. I only had time to tie together a few ketchup packets before they tried to storm the counter. The packets landed like a grenade closer to the door but there was one that kept coming for me. Back in the kitchen I ran for the freezer and threw a metal rack on the door but the thing kept coming.

Several minutes had passed when I discovered our shaloogy bars stockpiled in a shelf above. A single bar fell onto my lap as if a sign from the corporate gods. The creature tried desperately to snatch at my face but couldn’t reach its five-foot arm to my neck. I knew that if I ate it, I would be forever changed but it would be better than suffering another moment with this thing. It was only a second before I opened the wrapper and took three large bites out of the health bar. I knew my life was over but damn was it good. I guess it never really mattered what we put into our bodies, as long as it feels good.