Fatal Reaction, Survival

by M A Hollstein

  Amanda entered the grocery store parking lot. She carefully looked around before grabbing an empty shopping cart. There wasn’t a soul in sight. The clanging of the metal cart, as she dislodged it from a row of carts made a terribly loud noise which seemed to echo. She looked around again to make sure she was alone. That was when she realized the parking lot was clear. Come to think of it, so was her walk. She hadn’t encountered one dead body.

  Frowning, Amanda spun around. There were abandoned cars, but no bodies on the ground and none in the cars. Had someone cleaned up the lot? Bill had been clearing out the bodies from the apartment building and burning them in the dog run. Had someone done the same here? Maybe to keep from contaminating the food in the store. But that’d be a huge job. It’d take a long time or a group of people to undertake such a chore.

  Feeling even more anxious, Amanda tried to calm herself by sipping more coffee. She then set her purse with the butcher knife and her thermos in the child seat at the front of the cart. She rolled the cart up to the door. The motion detector sensed her presence, and slid open the glass doors welcoming her inside. The lights were on, and music played over the speakers just like when she was at Walmart. Amanda prayed that no one else was inside the store. What if the gangsters have claimed this store too? Amanda unzipped her purse giving easy access to the butcher knife. She could see a hint of the steel blade which gave her a false sense of security.

  Amanda rolled the metal cart with the squeaky wheel into the produce section. All of the rotten fruits and vegetables had been removed. She pushed the cart through the section, kicking herself for choosing the one cart with a wonky, squeaking wheel and stopped once she reached the back of the store. She stood there for a second and realized just how clean the store was. She eyed the fridges that usually contained meat such as steaks, hamburger, pork chops, chicken, etc. There was no putrid scent of rotting meat. All of the packages were gone. There were also no rotting corpses.

  Forcing the squeaky cart to turn, she walked down the aisle that housed the bottled water and sodas. She was happy to see that the shelves were still fairly full. She lifted several 24 packs of spring water into the cart and tossed a couple of 12 packs of diet soda beneath the cart. She walked past a couple more aisles. A lot of food items had been tossed on the floor, and there was still signs of struggle, but no bodies. And no perishables. It appeared that everything canned or boxed had been left untouched. Somebody had spent a lot of time removing rotten perishables and clearing bodies.

  Feeling a bit creeped out, and worried for her safety, Amanda felt it would be in her best interest to leave. As she headed towards the front doors she’d entered, she froze. A dark-haired man was standing near a rack of magazines, thumbing through a tabloid. He looked up at Amanda and stared at her with piercing green eyes. She’d never seen eyes so bright before.

  Forcing a weak smile, Amanda nodded at him. “Good morning.”

  The man didn’t answer. He didn’t smile. He didn’t blink. He didn’t do anything. He just stood there, unmoving.

  “I needed some water,” Amanda said quickly. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

  Seemingly unbothered by her appearance in the store, the man glanced back down at the magazine in his hands.

  Amanda took this as her cue to get the hell out of there. She pushed the squeaky cart as fast as she could towards the double front doors. The cases of water and soda were weighing the cart down, making the broken wheel squeak even louder. As the front doors slid open, Amanda looked over at the man to see him staring at her. She forced herself to smile again and could feel her lips trembling.

  The man tilted his head to the side as he examined her. His lips twitched and then mechanically formed into what resembled an awkward looking grin. The grin didn’t extend to his cold eyes or cheeks. Only the mouth portion of skin stretched and moved. It didn’t seem natural. Amanda’s stomach did a nervous flip-flop. Is he mimicking me? The way he tilted his head to the side was also unusual. Wanting to get the hell out of there, she quickly fled the store.

  Pushing the cart out onto the asphalt, she looked around the parking lot. She wouldn’t be able to walk home the same way she’d gotten there. It’d be too difficult to push the cart up the hill and through the thick, overgrown grass to the sidewalk. Silently, she cursed at herself for being stupid and not taking the car. She’d have to walk the long way around, pushing the grocery cart through the parking lot. Amanda glanced over her shoulder at the grocery store. She could see the strange man standing there, staring at her through the glass doors. His head was still tilted to the side. A disturbing grin was plastered on his face.

  Goosebumps rose on Amanda’s arms. Feeling frightened, she pushed the cart as fast as she could through the parking lot. Unfortunately, the broken wheel was slowing her down, and the cart kept swerving to the left. She eyed the other carts sprinkled throughout the lot but was too nervous to stop to transfer her groceries to another one. She kept forcing it to move forward and not in a circle like it wanted to do.

  A flicker of movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye. A woman with long, medium brown hair, twisted up in a knot on the top of her head, was walking along the sidewalk in front of the shops to the right of the grocery store. Amanda watched as the woman opened the door of a Chinese Restaurant and went inside. She then noticed several men on the other side of the lot in front of the hardware store.

  Are they all survivors? Maybe they were finally coming out of hiding. She was feeling both excited and anxious about the thought of no longer being all alone in the world.

  Amanda wrestled the stubborn grocery cart out of the parking lot. She passed a fast food restaurant and a gas station. She forced the cart to turn to the right and walked along the sidewalk towards the intersection. Her apartment complex was diagonal to the shopping center, located across the street. Amanda slowed her step when she noticed a short, heavyset, dark-haired woman wearing a black dress that was way too long for her, standing in the middle of the intersection. The fabric of the dress was piled on the ground, bunched up around her feet. The woman was holding something furry in her hands while staring at the flashing red stoplight.

  Reaching for her purse, Amanda gently ran her fingers over the zipper to make sure it was still unzipped, and that the handle of the butcher knife was accessible. She reached inside and gripped the handle. Deciding that she would look too threatening if she prematurely pulled out the knife and carried it while approaching the intersection, she left the purse open in the child seat of the cart.

  The squeaky wheel with the bad alignment, and the clanging of the metal cart, caught the woman’s attention, drawing her gaze away from the flashing stoplight. She eyed the cart. Her face was devoid of all emotion.

  Amanda tried not to make eye contact, but she could feel the woman staring at her. She felt she had to do or say something. She continued pushing the cart to the edge of the sidewalk and just before crossing the street, she got up the nerve to say something to the woman. Clearing her throat, she mumbled a nervous, “Good morning.”

  The woman didn’t say anything in return. She just stood there, staring. Amanda glanced at the woman while struggling to get the cart across the street. The gray fuzzy thing in her hands squirmed. At that moment, Amanda realized the gray thing was a squirrel. Shocked by this, Amanda’s brown eyes grew large as she made eye contact with the peculiar woman. The woman stared back at her with golden yellow eyes.

  “Omigod!” Amanda gasped. Heart pounding in her chest, she reached into her purse and clutched the wooden handle of the butcher knife. She yanked it from its hiding place and held the knife in front of her, no longer worried about looking too threatening. She prepared for the woman to attack.

  The woman unnaturally tilted her head to the side, the same way the strange man did in the grocery store. It was as if she were observing Amanda’s movements, trying to make sense of her behavior. The woman’s eyes never blinked. Amanda stood there for a moment, knife ready. W
hen the woman didn’t growl or prepare to pounce like the other infected people she’d encountered, Amanda realized the woman’s face was void of distortion. No sign of hives.

  The little gray squirrel squirmed again. Its bushy tail swished from side to side as it tried to get away. The woman, not taking her eyes off Amanda, lifted the squirrel to her face and then bit into the soft flesh of the animal’s stomach. The squirrel squealed in agony. Blood dripped from the woman’s face and hands as she casually devoured the animal.

  Knife still in hand, Amanda’s legs trembled as she pushed the cart as fast as she could the rest of the way across the street while the woman fed. Her stomach clenched in disgust at what she’d just witnessed. Amanda grimaced. She’d bit into the squirrel just as casually as if she were biting into an apple.

  Afraid that the woman would follow her home. Amanda looked back over her shoulder. She was relieved to see that the woman had returned to staring at the flashing red traffic light. What was left of the squirrel’s carcass, had been tossed down on the asphalt. The woman was no longer paying any attention to Amanda.

  Amanda glanced up at the spaceship still hovering above. Half-breeds, she thought, remembering what Susan had told her. That woman was probably a half-breed.

  Forcing the cart across the parking lot of the apartment complex, all the way to the bottom of the staircase leading to her apartment, Amanda wanted to freak out. Two tall men, one with blonde hair, and one with black hair, were rounding the corner of her building. She stood there, clutching the butcher knife while watching them approach. They walked directly past her, no expressions on their faces. They didn’t even acknowledge her existence. One of the men had golden yellow eyes. The other had bright green eyes like the man in the store. She noticed that each of the people she’d encountered this morning had pale, wax-like skin, and unnatural looking facial expressions and eyes. She thought of Susan and Liam, realizing that they’d probably spent numerous years studying humans to be able to fit in. According to Susan, the new arrivals didn’t have to worry about blending in since most of the human population had been wiped out. A wave of nausea swept through Amanda’s body. “Oh God,” she whispered, feeling like she was about to throw up. “The aliens are moving in.”

  ***

  “No,” Ellie cried. “I’m not moving!”

  Hiro, Mike, Jorge, and Ellie were sitting at the kitchen table in her condo. Jorge’s little sister, Bella, and Hiro’s granddaughter, Yuka, were playing in the living room of the neighboring condo with some toys that Bella had packed and brought with her. Aaron was rummaging through the cupboards in search of some breakfast.

  “Ellie,” Mike said, gently putting his hand on her forearm. “The Crusaders will be back.”

  “I don’t care,” she spat. “This is my home! I’m not leaving!”

  Hiro’s hands were clasped in front of him. He didn’t say a word.

  “They’ll burn this place down,” Aaron said, opening a bag of goldfish crackers that he found in the cupboard. “I’ve seen them do it before.”

  “Hey,” Jorge said, cupping his hands. Aaron poured some crackers onto his hands. “Thanks.”

  Ellie remembered the apartment complex on fire in downtown San Diego and frowned. “This is all I have left,” she said, her voice barely a squeak.

  “There’s a dead Crusader in your spare bedroom,” Aaron grimaced. “We can find an awesome beach house somewhere. I’m sure there’s a lot to choose from. Maybe a mansion even with enough room for all of us.”

  “My sister would love that,” Jorge said.

  “I removed and disposed of the body,” Mike said. “We can board up the window for now…”

  “You’re not actually thinking of staying here?” Aaron asked, shoving another handful of crackers into his mouth. “That’s freakin’ crazy! I’ve been following these guys. They’re monsters! They’ll kill you… all of you! I’m not staying.”

  “Where will you go?” Ellie asked.

  “We should stick together,” Jorge said. “We’re safer in numbers.”

  “I agree,” Ellie said.

  “My sister and I will do whatever you decide,” Jorge said.

  “I’m not staying here,” Aaron said, opening the fridge and removing a bottle of spring water. “I don’t have a death wish. I think there’s enough to worry about with the infection and alien ship. I don’t need to worry about these psychopaths, too.”

  Ellie frowned. Mike put his hand on her shoulder, and she shrugged it off. “Don’t…” she warned.

  “Ellie,” he said. “Please. Try to think about this rationally.”

  “Are you saying I’m being irrational?” she snapped at Mike. “You’re siding in with a teenage boy?” Ellie turned her attention to Hiro, who was sitting across the table from her, still staring down at this hands. “What about you? Are you leaving too?”

  Hiro looked up and shook his head. “We stay here.”

  “What?” Aaron laughed, smacking the countertop with his hand. “I can’t believe it! Are you guys nuts? Nothing you can say can change my mind. I’ll be gone before nightfall. That’s when the Crusaders will strike, you know. I know these guys, and Ronnie is a deranged psycho!”

  Hiro placed his hands flat on the table and stared at Mike. “We have everything we need here for survival; food, water, shelter, weapons. We are close to the military base, and we are close to the pier for fishing. We stay.”

  Mike shook his head. “How ‘bout we compromise? We move to another neighborhood close by.”

  “Won’t work. Ronnie won’t give up until he finds you,” Aaron said. “We need to move farther away.”

  “We can move into a house on the base,” Mike said. “Close up the gates. Use the base to protect us. Staying here, after last night, is not a smart move.”

  Both Mike and Hiro looked at Ellie for her opinion. “I suppose you’re both right. Once things settle down, if they ever settle down, I can return to my home.” Max scratched at the front door to get Ellie’s attention. He let out a small bark and then looked in her direction. “He needs to go out,” Ellie said, excusing herself from the table. She opened the front door, and Max ran out.

  “Max!” she called watching him disappear. She ran down the stairs trying to catch up to him. She saw his tail end run around the building in the direction of the garage. Ellie knew that the infected Marine’s body was still out there. Mike had mentioned that he was going to take care of that today. He wanted to dig a grave for him.

  “Come back! Max!” Ellie called, chasing after him. She was worried that she’d find Max over there with the body. The last thing she wanted was to see the body. She’d seen enough carnage over the last few weeks. Maybe Mike was right. Maybe moving into a new home wouldn’t be so bad. Did she really want to stay in her condo after a man was brutally attacked in her spare bedroom? If she stayed, she’d have to go in there and clean up the mess. She hadn’t gotten up the nerve to enter the room after what had happened last night. Mike said the damage wasn’t that bad. All she needed was a fresh coat of paint and a new window. She knew he was lying to make her feel better. She could only imagine the amount of blood on her walls and wood floor. The thought made her feel sick. She’d seen Mike and the guys caring out the Crusader’s body wrapped in the bedding from that spare room. Blood had soaked through the blankets.

  Preparing for the worst, Ellie sucked in a deep breath as she rounded the building. She stopped running and let out her breath. The body was gone. She glanced up at the balcony above her garage. No one was there. She looked again at where the body had been last night. This was where Hiro had said it was. Ellie took a few steps towards a dark blood stain on the asphalt and noticed something odd. She peered down at it just as an ocean breeze kicked up, blowing what appeared to be ashes across the ground. Ellie waved the ash away from her face and brushed it off her clothes.

  “Max!” Ellie walked past the garages towards the mailboxes at the end of the alley. “What in the world has gotten
into him?” she whispered to herself. For now on, she’d make sure to always put a leash on him. Having to chase him down was ridiculous. Ellie passed the mailboxes and noticed Max running down the side street. He stopped and went to the right. He was leaving the complex.

  Max was usually afraid of everything. He’d never wandered away from home before. Ellie ran after him. She was thankful when she saw him sit down on the edge of the sidewalk just outside of the condos. When Ellie caught up to him, he didn’t turn around. He was watching something.

  “Max,” Ellie said, coming up beside him. “What has gotten into you?” She scooped him up into her arms. She then looked across the street and noticed what he was looking at. Two men were walking around the gated apartments across from her. Her heart pounded in her chest. Crusaders? Max squirmed and jumped out of her arms. Ellie watched as he ran back towards the condo. She was positive he was heading home.

  The two men across the street were wearing what resembled cammies and military gear, but not the same as the Marines she’d seen in town. They were walking away from the parking lot and towards the buildings. Their backs were to her. She watched as they disappeared into the complex. Curious as to who they were, Ellie looked both ways and crossed the street. She entered the gated community and glanced around to make sure no one was observing her.

  Ellie scurried to the building she’d seen the men walk past. She walked almost the entire length of the building when she heard a loud zapping sound. The noise reminded her of a stun gun or one of those electric bug zappers. Ellie pressed her back to the side of the building and held her breath. She closed her eyes for a second and heard another zap. The sound was nearby.

  Careful not to be seen, Ellie peeked around the edge of the brown stucco building. There was a small parking lot with covered parking in between the building she was leaning against, and the next building. The two men were walking towards something lying on the ground. Their backs were once again to Ellie. Ellie crouched down and quickly scooted from the edge of the building to a car parked in the lot, and hid behind it. She crawled on hands and knees until she reached the rear of the car. Staying low to the ground, she peered around the back tires to see what the men were doing. They were looking down at a body. Ellie watched as one of the men drew a large, strange looking gun, and aimed it at the body. Zap! A bolt of blue electricity flashed from the end of the gun.