by Powell, Lora
I got a flashback to the day before the start of all of this when I had stood in a checkout line in another grocery store, and contemplated getting that flu shot. If not for the crowds of people getting on my nerves, I would likely be one of the zombies right now; eternally trapped inside our apartment with Evie and maybe Austin.
I wondered if the little girl with the snotty nose was alive out there, somewhere. I hoped she was, but the odds weren’t good. Other than those couple of kids living in murderous Mack’s compound, Luna was the only child anyone seemed to have seen in weeks.
That was the thing about the end of the world. Only the strong, and maybe a bit evil, survived. Humanity’s most important resource stood little chance.
Deeper in the store, something kicked a can, sending it rolling out into the main aisle with a clatter.
“Stay alert.” Mark walked in the lead. Charlie was next, with Shawn and me fanning out behind them. The guy whose name I hadn’t caught yet was last, keeping an eye on our backs.
A half a dozen aisles away, a badly decomposed zombie shuffled into view. The long, stringy hair was the only feature left that hinted what gender it had been. The creature shuffled toward the can that had rolled, oblivious to us watching it just feet away. While the fresher zombies were frighteningly fast and smarter than was comforting, these older ones were both slow and stupid. Thankfully, there seemed to be more of the latter than the former.
Sticking together, our group moved towards the zombie. Mark pulled a knife just as the creature finally noticed us. Swinging stiffly around, it let a low growl and lurched our way. Using one hand, Mark was able to easily hold it back while he stabbed it in the head. The zombie slumped to the floor with a disgustingly wet sound.
Grimacing, Mark tried to shake the zombie body fluids off of his hand. He ended up wiping it the best he could on the equally dirty floor, which didn’t help much.
The store turned out to be just as small on the inside as the outside had made it look. Working together, we swept up and down all of the aisles, checked in the bathrooms, and wandered around the warehouse. In the back, dragging itself along, we found the only other zombie still in the store. Whoever the guy had been, both of his legs were gone below the knees, nothing but ragged looking stumps were left. Shawn’s tire iron made short work of the pitiful thing.
The warehouse turned out to be the perfect place to start taking food. Most everything back there was already in boxes. It was an easy task to read the labels and choose nonperishables. With so many helping hands, the trucks filled up quickly. There were still entire skids of unopened boxes, plus the shelves out in the store that hadn’t been completely empty. It was going to take more than one trip to empty the store of supplies.
We were walking back through the store, arms loaded down with boxes of canned peaches and pasta when a short blast from one of the trucks outside roared.
Picking up speed, we jogged back out into the parking lot, fully expecting to see distant zombies. A few had been showing up in low numbers while we went back and forth carrying boxes, and the two who had been left outside had taken care of them. Maybe a couple of dozen bodies were now slumped around on the pavement. But we had all been operating with the understanding that, sooner or later, too many to safely face would show up, and we would need to make a hasty retreat.
So, when we emerged from the gloomy store and stepped into the sun, I was surprised when I didn’t see any threatening zombies. Instead, a third pickup had appeared and was parked maybe a dozen yards from our own vehicles. Two men sat tensely inside the cab. Two more, heavily armed, stood in the bed, eyeing our group with expressions that set off all sorts of warning bells.
Charlie and Mark both dropped their boxes right on the spot and took defensive looking holds on their guns. Standing behind either of our trucks, both Sara and Ed also had their guns in hand. The situation was turning into a tense-looking standoff, and no one had even said a word yet. I shuffled sideways, putting a vehicle in between myself and the strangers, and wished that I had already learned how to handle a gun.
Finally, Mark spoke up, “Can I help you gentlemen with something?”
It took several seconds, but the one driving their truck seemed to make a decision. Slowly, he opened his door and got out. “Looks like we weren’t the only ones who wanted to check the store.”
Something about the man set me on edge. It was more than his aggressive body language and the guns pointed our way. But I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Yeah, there’s still a good amount of food inside. Plenty to share. We were just getting ready to move out.” Mark made a gesture that I interpreted that we should get the last of the boxes in the truck. He seemed to be going cautiously friendly but wanted to get out of there in a hurry.
“That so?” The man looked to his own group meaningfully, before turning to look back at us. His focus shifted away from Mark as he evaluated the rest of our group.
We outnumbered them, something that I was fervently thankful for. These strangers were barely concealing their hostility. As I slid my box into the back of our truck, I was hoping that fact would keep them from trying anything.
Watching him suspiciously, I saw as he dismissed our group one after another as unimportant. He nearly scoffed at both Sara and Charlie, eyes flicking to their weapons like he found it humorous that they were aiming guns his way. He looked over Ed a second longer, before dismissing me with barely a second glance.
But then his eyes lit up as his gaze landed on Shawn. It was the moment I saw recognition in their flat depths, that I knew why I was so aware of this person as dangerous.
It was the man that Rex had bitten as we escaped from Mack’s stronghold.
I must have made some sort of sound of distress because I felt Shawn step closer behind me. The action brought the guy’s focus back to me, and I saw that this time he recognized me too. A flush started to work its way up to his dirty neck.
A calculating look crossed his face. “Well, if there’s that much still inside, I don’t see any harm in sharing. If you all are finished, we’ll head on in and take what we need.”
I could see that Mark knew that something had just happened, but he didn’t know what. One minute, the strangers had been clearly deciding if they should take our food, the next they were playing nice. Either way, he wasn’t about to waste the chance to leave. “Sounds like a plan. You fellas have a safe trip home.” He looked around at us. “Get in the trucks.”
My arms were shaking so hard that I almost fell climbing into the back of the truck. Shawn caught me and practically lifted me into the back. I could tell that he was unclear about what had suddenly set me off, but we trusted each other enough to know that if one of us was upset, there was a reason.
Swinging around, I kept the others in view, not about to turn my back on them. Charlie and Shawn were both crowded into the back of the loaded truck bed next to me. Slamming doors and starting engines were cold comforts because the man was watching us intently.
His earlier dismissal of me was long gone. With glinting eyes, he watched us as we started to pull away. Before we got too far away for me to have missed the expression, he sent a feral smile directly at me.
FIFTY-SIX
DAY 28
My eyes burned with exhaustion. I’d barely managed to sleep for three days. Between worrying about the group of insane people finding us, and watching a friend slowly succumb to his illness, I was mentally tapped out.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” I glanced over my shoulder to where Shawn was walking towards me through the darkened building. He walked up to stand right behind me and looked me over. When a hint of a frown twitched at the corners of his mouth, I knew he wasn’t thrilled with what he saw.
“You haven’t gotten any sleep yet, have you?”
“Not really.” I turned back to look out the sliver of cleared glass. I’d spent way too much time over the past few days, peeling back tiny sections of the newspaper that had
been used to cover the windows so I could see outside. “With everything that’s going on, I just can’t.”
“Yeah.” He moved closer and wrapped both arms around me. I settled back into the embrace but kept watching outside. “But it’s not going to do anybody any good if you run yourself into the ground.”
I sighed. “Something bad is coming. I feel it.”
He didn’t respond, so I kept going.
“Those people are dangerous. I don’t know how we managed to run into them twice, but we barely got away the first time. What if they’re still out there?”
“What if they’re not?” I stiffened at the question, so he hurried to go on. “It’s been days. If they were going to try anything, I’d think they would have by now. Maybe all they really wanted was the food in that store. Besides, Maggie took your warning seriously. The extra lookout is still up on the roof.”
I sighed again and covered the window back up. The only thing moving out there was a trio of slow zombies. If they came too close, someone on watch would take care of them. I turned in Shawn’s arms and wrapped my own around his waist.
He propped his chin on top of my head. “Are you sure that all of this isn’t because of what’s happening to Devon?”
I winced at the reminder.
We had all spent a lot of time with Devon these last few days. Someone was always with him. But he had fallen unconscious in the middle of last night. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to stay with him after that. Alex had quietly told us that he probably wouldn’t wake up again.
“I’m on my way to go sit with everyone. You should come too. It would mean a lot to them.”
He was right. I knew it. I had simply been stalling as I stared out the window. Devon was going to die, probably today, and we should all be there to support each other.
I didn’t know if I could watch someone die, though. We had all done so many things that none of us would have thought ourselves capable of. We lost so much of ourselves somewhere along the way, but the one thing I hadn’t had to endure yet was actually watching a friend die. At least, not since I knew what was going on.
Deep down, I feared that that would be the one thing that would change me into someone I no longer recognized.
We had lost friends along the way, and I, of course, knew that it would happen again and again, but actually seeing it, comprehending what was really at stake, would somehow make it too real. Death was inevitable in our new world, but I knew that the death of one person, in particular, had the potential to break me. And that was what ultimately scared the heck out of me.
“Ok,” my voice came out in a whisper.
“Ok.” Taking one of my hands in his, he led the way through the maze. While we were on the move, Rex came out of the shadows to follow us. The dog had been spending a lot of time following Luna around, and the two of them were becoming fast friends. Maggie didn’t seem to mind him roaming freely, and he had stopped growling suspiciously at all of the new people, so I was happy to let him go play. Right now, the little girl was better company than me, anyhow.
I mentally steadied myself as we approached Devon’s room. I needed it.
Someone had thought to move several folding chairs into the space. Already cramped, it was downright claustrophobic now.
I was a little surprised to find Maggie sitting in one of the chairs. Shawn and I took the two empty ones. Bill had been given the all clear to get out of bed, and he was sitting in the other chair. He had jokingly said that he never wanted to lie down again. Maya and Fallon sat next to each other on one of the cots.
Finally, I couldn’t put it off any longer. I looked at Devon. His breathing was rapid and shallow, but that wasn’t new. He’d been having difficulty breathing for at least a full day. More shocking was the swelling. The infection had spread throughout his system. Under the light blanket, he was covered with, I could make out just how distorted his leg had become.
His face and neck, the only parts of him uncovered, were swollen and discolored. Broken blood vessels were visible across his cheeks. His eyes were closed, but an almost distasteful looking expression was on his face as if he was uncomfortable.
The smell of sickness shrouded the room, despite having great air flow. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and looked away. Next to me, Shawn reached out. I took his hand gratefully.
My eyes traveled to Maggie. “Hi.” I kept my voice soft. It seemed wrong not to.
“Hey, Bri. Hanging in there?” Her eyes were warm with genuine concern. I knew that she knew about my obsessive new hobby of peeling back the newspaper.
“Not much of a choice, really. So, yeah.”
“This will never get any easier, and that’s a good thing. As long as death isn’t easy, we keep that bit of our humanity.” She smiled softly and stood up. “I need to go check on a few things. I’ll be back around after a while.”
After Maggie left, strained silence returned to our group. Fallon looked even worse than I felt. Her skin was blotchy from crying, and she was now staring vacantly into the distance. She hadn’t spoken since Devon fell unconscious.
I was glad when Alex shuffled into the room, despite my lingering mistrust of him. His comings and goings gave me something to focus on.
Squeezing his way to Devon’s bedside, Alex went through his usual routine of checks. Pulling a syringe from his pocket, he gave a dose to Devon.
“Morphine,” he looked at Maya as he explained. “We don’t have a lot of the stuff, but I’ll do what I can to keep him comfortable.”
After that, there wasn’t much left for the nurse to try. We were long past the point of no return. Smoothing the blanket back down, he quietly left the room.
Others came and went for the next few hours. Most didn’t stay, just offered their condolences, but I found that I appreciated the gesture. Maggie’s group had embraced us as one of their own, and it was starting to feel like we belonged here, instead of feeling like guests.
If my growling stomach was anything to go by, it was around lunchtime when we first noticed the change. Devon started to wheeze. When the sound didn’t go away, Maya jumped up to go find Alex. Fallon finally broke from her trance and moved closer to his cot. I was still hanging on to Shawn’s hand, and I squeezed it tighter, my own breathing ratcheting up.
Alex came quickly, but after another look at Devon, he straightened up with a grim look on his face. I realized then that I wasn’t the only one blaming themselves for not being able to save Devon. The nurse was too. He sat in the empty chair and joined our vigil.
Devon deteriorated rapidly after that. Within minutes, he choked out one last stuttering breath and fell completely still. Kneeling on the floor next to him, I saw tears begin to slide down Fallon’s cheeks.
Bill had moved to sit next to his wife, and he rubbed her back reassuringly as the two of them soberly watched on. Beside me, Alex let his head fall toward his chest for just a second, before he straightened up with a sigh and went to the cot.
I realized that I was squeezing all of the blood out of Shawn’s fingers and forced myself to relax my grip. He gave my hand a light squeeze back as we watched the nurse.
“I’m sorry. He’s gone.” Alex tucked the wrist he had been checking for a pulse back under the blanket. He looked around at all of us, and spoke before leaving the room, “He was a fighter. He held on for a long time. I, uh, I just thought you all should know that.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
DAY 28
Shawn went outside with a couple of other men to dig a grave. Maggie told us that they had started a graveyard on a grassy hill just behind the mall. They had been lucky so far; only a half a dozen people had been buried on that hill.
I had been clutching his hand nonstop, and not having that anchor to keep me grounded had left me feeling oddly bereft.
Looking for a way to keep busy, I wandered toward the community area. If I had to watch those silent tears track down Fallon’s face for another second, I was going to end up screaming my f
rustration for the world to hear.
Luna was playing with a doll in the corner. Rex jogged away from me to go sit next to the girl, his big ears perked up in interest as he watched her talk with the doll.
A pair of fire rings, the kind that stood on short metal legs and was topped with grates for cooking, was where the group heated food. Sara and a woman I hadn’t met yet were watching strips of some sort of meat sizzle over top of the coals.
I wandered their way. “Mind if I join you?”
Sara looked up at me. “Sure. Bri, this is Sasha.” The tone of her voice changed. “I’m sorry. We heard about Devon.”
That lump was back in my throat. I swallowed hard. “Yeah, thanks.”
The three of us looked at each other uncomfortably for a second before Sara cleared her throat. “Um, so, Charlie came back with a deer earlier. She said it ran right by her while she was up in the stand. It’s strange; we don’t usually see deer here, but I’ll take it.”
I knew what she meant. For the last month, any meat that we ate was of the canned variety. Along with the meat, fresh fruits and veggies were long ago spoiled. It was a detail that I knew weighed on everyone’s mind. What would we do when the cans ran out?
The simple answer was to farm. But I certainly didn’t know the first thing about growing my own food. I’d once tried to grow basil in my windowsill. The instructions on the box said for ages 6+, so I’d thought for sure I could handle it. I’d been wrong.
Shaking off those depressing thoughts, I pulled a camp chair over and sat with the two other women. No one said much as they kept an eye on the cooking meat. Seeing that a bunch of it looked almost ready to take off, I got up and went in search of a plate to pile it on. After handing the platter over, I sat back down.