Then a loud pop could be heard coming from the other side of the store and Carver snapped his head around in a panic and felt his chest tighten with fear. What was that? Where did it come from? What’s going on in the store? Then a knife was driven deep into his side and the major looked down to see Antonio’s hand holding the handle.
To the last bullet. The old man would be proud. Antonio couldn’t leave Miles behind on his own. His dumb tail would come back looking for him and get himself killed or do something stupid. And even if he did keep going on his own, Miles would blame himself for everything. And the old man told Antonio to keep Miles safe. Antonio looked the major in the eyes and pushed the older man off him.
Weaker now, Carver wheezed and collapsed to the ground fighting desperately to breathe. But his lungs burned, and his heart struggled with every pump. He coughed hard and long and his body quaked with pain. He looked up at Antonio and watched the teen climb to his feet. They looked at each other for a long time, both struggling to catch their breaths. Carver quivered again and rolled on his back to look up at the sky. What would happen to the store without him? How would they carry on? When Antonio lifted the trailer door and Carver heard it bang, he winced and slowly began to close his eyes.
Inside the store, Chakrabarti was rummaging through the cabinets in Manson’s bathroom, “Shit! Where is everything?”
The man with the gun stood near the door, nervous. “Is everything ok? Dr. Martyn? Is Major Carver going to be ok?”
“No! I mean, yes! But… we need to hurry!” The doctor knocked the cabinet over in a fit of rage, “Damn it Manson! Where is the medical equipment? The chest pads… alcohol! You bastard, did you take everything with you?”
“I think I should get back to my family.” The man at the door was sweating profusely. “This is all a bit too much for me. Escorting crazy kids who came in from outside and now the major’s sick. I don’t think I can handle all this in one day.” The man chuckled, “I wanted to join the military guys and be like Captain Baker and help protect the store, but… I don’t even know how to shoot a gun really.”
Chakrabarti sighed and went to open the bathroom stall doors, “What the hell is that smell?” He kicked open the door to the handicapped stall and saw a rotting corpse, wrapped in a clear trash bag, sitting on the seat. “Oh my god!”
The man at the door looked up and saw the creature in front of Chakrabarti. He was frozen solid for a full second, but then raised his gun and pointed it at the dead thing. “Oh my god! Is it still alive?”
“Relax, relax. It looks dead.” Chakrabarti urged the man to lower the gun. “Didn’t you just say you don’t--”
A loud bang could be heard from somewhere in the store and the building shook. The vibration caused the corpse to shake and it started to fall forward. The man at the door saw it move and felt the door behind him burst open with a gust of wind. The man screamed and opened fire, spraying bullets at the corpse, through Dr. Chakrabarti. The gunfire had ended and Chakrabarti fell to the floor, bleeding from his abdomen.
The two men at the door argued about what happened and what that loud noise was. But neither of them had an answer for anything. They didn’t even have an answer about what to do with the doctor. So they just ran out of the bathroom and went to find their people.
At the front of the store, where the grenade had gone off, there were bodies everywhere. Some people still alive. Some horribly dismembered. But many were just gone. Unrecogniz-able splotches and smears of blood and guts and name brand clothes. Captain Baker came to near the wreckage and his ears were ringing. When he could finally hear and make out sounds, he could only hear screams and cries for help from those who were still alive and able to speak clearly. The captain tried to push up off the ground but collapsed when he felt a burning pain shooting through his left shoulder. Then he realized his left arm wasn’t even there. He wasn’t standing close to the blast, but apparently he was standing close enough.
With his right hand, he fumbled with his belt trying to find his radio. When he did, he brought the receiver to his lips and turned over on his back, “This is Captain Baker! Captain Baker…the entrance to the store…” He dropped his radio but heard footsteps and saw movement all around. Then heard more screams and cries.
People were running out of the gaping hole in the shutter door of the front entrance. Freaks were screaming in the parking lot, striking towards the store and chasing people trying to escape. Baker saw Lesly running with a group and trying to find somewhere to hide. She was screaming for people to follow her but no one could make out what she was saying with her high pitched voice.
Some people were trying to escape before the monsters could get them, running out to the parking lot towards the abandoned cars trying to check them. Brandon was fleeing with some of these people but was one of the few who weren’t able to get away from the fast swarming creatures. Brandon went down screaming and begging for his life.
The growls and moaning of the infected was closer to the entrance and Captain Baker tried to sit up and aim his pistol out the door. Maybe he could buy someone some time to get away. He fired once. He fired twice, hitting one striker as it made a b-line for the shutter doors. More followed and they were inside the store scattering in all directions. Screams were everywhere. When a mob ran at the captain, he emptied the clip until the gun was only clicking.
Back on the docks outside, with Antonio and the dying Major Carver, Antonio cleaned out the trailer full of Hostess donuts, cupcakes, coffee cakes and strawberry shortcakes. He filled two shopping carts and tied them together with the shoestrings from his new shoes. Then took off the bag on his front and filled it to the brim with more sweets. He knew he’d have to travel slower and move more carefully but he wasn’t worried. He took clothes from bodies still all around the dock area and wrapped t-shirts and tied jeans to the shopping carts to camouflage the contents. Now it just looked like two carts full of dirty, bloody, old clothes.
Some of the blood and gunk got on Antonio’s sweatshirt but he just wiped his hands on his pants and hoped he wouldn’t stink too bad later. After he was done and closed the trailer back, he got his carts ready then went back to where Carver was. His breathing was shallow and his eyes were low. Antonio knelt down beside the major and looked him in the eyes.
“This was never personal. We just needed supplies. But since it played out like this… don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same shit nigga.” Antonio pulled his knife out of Carver’s side and blood rushed out to pool under him, then the teen went off pushing his carts.
He moved along the edge of the wall and around the dead bodies. When he came to the corner, he peaked around and saw strikers running around in the parking lot chasing people running and screaming. Antonio was practically invisible where he was but still moved out further and further from the entrance as he headed up to where the dirt hills met the parking lot. It took forever to push both carts up through the dirt and it took even more effort to do it and be quiet. But finally Antonio got up to the top of the hill and could see the whole Costco store and the massive parking lot. He spit, checked his bags, the carts, then kept moving.
***
Lance and the others were wrapping their people in plastic, all in somber and solemn moods. Alana sat with Tommy and even after bandaging his leg, he was still crying about the pain. Julia was pacing, looking for Castle and waiting for Miles to come back.
“That child isn’t coming back Julia.” Manson said, a few feet away, examining the recent dead infected that Burrows had shot.
“Well you better hope he does!” Julia shouted.
“He better hope he doesn’t!” Lance shouted back.
Julia turned to him, “It wasn’t his fault what happened to your wife Lance. You have to understand that.”
“That kid is a psychopath, Julia. You can see that.” Manson came back over to everyone else as they lined the bodies up after each was individually wrapped. “He kills people without any remorse.”
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“And you would be the best to identify a killer, right?” Julia snapped at him from where she was pacing, a few feet from the others.
“I would be! I’m a scientific genius. And you’re trying too hard to be that child’s mother to realize how dangerous he was.”
“We were traveling with him the whole time. He would’ve just left us to die at any minute.” Alana was shaking her head and holding Tommy as they sat on the ground.
“You weren’t supposed to even be here!” Julia pointed at the girl and the teen shrank. “None of us would even be here if it wasn’t for Miles! None of us would know how to make it out here! None of you know what it takes to survive out here or what he has had to do! You can’t judge him! This is all he knows!”
“And that makes it right!” Lance stood up from his half-wrapped wife and brushed the back of his hand against his face. “What happened to my wife--”
“Stop it Lance! Stop trying to blame everyone else for your wife’s death! Stop trying to blame someone for her making her own choice and it not being you! And stop blaming everyone because you hate yourself for not going with her! Or going instead… or trying to stop her…” Julia was gritting her teeth and stopped to choke back tears.
Lance hung his head and looked down at Nicole, still and serene.
Julia watched him and felt her heart break for him. “I know--”
Burrows opened fire when he saw two infected men stumble out into the open. The bangs were loud and echoed through the woods.
Torrez charged over to him and grabbed him, shoving him. “Would you cut that shit out man! Why the hell do you think these things keep coming?! Stop shooting your gun!” He cursed in Spanish and pushed Burrows again.
“Hey fuck you! I’m keeping us safe!” Burrows nearly tripped but kept his balance and his gun in hand. “They keep coming because y’all out here in the woods, yellin’ and it’s quiet as shit!”
“Shut the fuck up Burrows! You actually think It’s us yelling? Or could it be that we’re out here with an idiot like you!”
As the men continued arguing, Julia went to try talking them down, but saw more infected starting to come out from behind the trees. Many were still moving slow and lurking about, but others were jogging or starting to run and pick up speed.
“Infected! There! Shoot them! Shoot them!” Clint pulled out his revolver and fired, missing.
“Shit! You see! You see! Pinche pendejo!” Torrez got down and pumped his shotgun, opening fire on the infected running towards the group.
“Oh my god!” Alana tried to get up and run but Tommy held her down. She even tried to pick him up and get him to run with her, but he didn’t move.
“No! It’s over! They’re coming!” Tommy screamed and cried, clutching onto Alana and weighing her down.
Clint tried firing at the freaks but missed again and in his panic, just turned around and took off running back towards the van.
Burrows fired his M16A2 at the monsters as they came screaming from the trees. He stopped to reload and felt his skin burning hot. He threw down his gun and started tearing off his sweater trying to relieve the heat, but he was still burning up. He was breathing hard and started to retch, violently. Everyone watched him concerned but Manson watched him, mesmerized. Enthralled by the man’s erratic behavior as Burrows twitched and tweaked.
Burrows started biting at the air before throwing his head back and letting out an ear-splitting scream at the top of his lungs. The infected monsters in the woods were awakened with new appetite, and howled back at the screaming siren, beckoning to them. Those that were walking were quickening. Those that were running were at full sprint. The woods filled with marathon runners, charging for the beacon that was Burrows.
Off further in the woods in a different direction, Miles was jogging and sniffling, trying his best not to cry too loud. He could hear strikers screaming in the distance but they weren’t close. Still he wanted to keep quiet and not draw attention. He also didn’t want Ms. Julia or the others to find him or track him. He put enough distance between them and even doubled back when he felt he left enough markers to send someone in the wrong direction. He left no tracks. The old man would be proud of him. Or mad at him for letting these people get too close to the treehouse. Miles would get yelled at or even put on punishment, but it wouldn’t matter. He deserved to be punished for putting the family in danger and leaving Antonio behind at the store. Miles was the one who chose to go to the store. All of this was Miles’ fault.
Miles found a big redwood tree and sat down next to it. He put down his bag, stuck his knife in the ground and held his rifle against his chest. He took one of the ten round magazines and loaded the clip and did another count of twenty bullets on his fingers. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Then took another deep breath and exhaled. Then he started sobbing and had to bury his face in his sleeve to keep quiet. Never be found. Miles couldn’t let anyone find the treehouse and would have to scare them away if they got any closer. By scare, of course, that meant threatening to kill them if they kept following him in the woods. Miles hoped no one found him and believed he had lost anyone trying to follow him. But he wouldn’t let down the old man and let someone find the treehouse, even if that meant killing Ms. Julia or any of the others.
He liked Ms. Julia. She was nice and she tried to protect him. She tried to take up from him and Miles liked that. And she smelled pretty. Like flowers or cookies. Miles liked her hair too. And Mr. Toroz was nice too. He was a nice army man. Not like those other mean army men who don’t listen and say mean things. Mr. Toroz was nice and strong and brave. He was a good soldier. Miles still liked Alana too. Even if she had a boyfriend. She was still very pretty. Miles liked how her eyes sparkled. Her hair was pretty too. She didn’t smell like cookies like Ms. Julia, but she had her own smell and it was nice. Miles wouldn’t want to have to hurt any of them but he would if he had too.
After a long while of silence, Miles peered around the side of the tree and didn’t see anyone. Then he looked around the other side and didn’t see anyone. No one was there and the infected were gone. The boy sniffled and wiped his nose. He stood up, grabbed his knife and threw on his bag as he prepared to leave. He’d do like Antonio said and wait for his brother at the treehouse. He peered around the tree again and saw the big square jawed soldier, Castle, nearly a hundred yards away.
“Hey! Kid!” Castle screamed, crunching through the leaves with his heavy boots as he climbed over dead trees. “Hey kid! Where are you?”
Miles didn’t respond. He wouldn’t give away his position. The army man was way too close to finding him and seeing him. Miles ducked back when Castle looked in his direction.
“Wherever you are, I’m gonna find you. So you might as well come out.” Castle looked down the sights of his assault rifle and scanned the area. “Major Carver sent me out here to find your home and you’re going to take me to it kid. So just come out peacefully.”
Miles swallowed hard and cocked his rifle.
“You make this easy for me and I’ll be easy on you ok? We’re just trying to make sure you don’t have any people waiting to attack us or hurt any of us. If you got nothing to hide, then it won’t be any problems.” Castle looked left and right, spinning in circles as he continued through the woods. He turned when he heard leaves rustling and aimed his M4A1. “Damn it. C’mon kid! Come out already!” He was yelling louder.
“You have to stop getting loud!” Miles yelled back.
Castle looked around, not sure where the voice was coming from. “Kid? Where are you? Why don’t you just come out and we’ll go back to Julia and the others?”
“I can’t take you to my home.”
“Ha. Well you’re going to have to kid.”
“I can’t take you to my home because the old ma-- Mr. Johnathan said that no one can find where we live.”
“We don’t want to take nothing from you guys. We just want to make sure you’re not a threat. Where’s this Mr. Johnathan? Tell
him to come out and talk to me.”
Miles sniffled and wiped his face. He leaned out from behind the tree and aimed his rifle at Castle’s head, tracking his movements. “He’s dead. He died a long time ago.”
Castle crept around, still looking for Miles and crouched under a low hanging branch. “I’m sorry to hear that. Why don’t you come out and we can go back to the others.”
“No. I’ m going home.”
“And I’ll go with you and keep you safe.”
“No!”
Castle stopped and turned around to where the shout came from, “I’m not going to hurt you kid.”
Miles watched him start walking towards his tree. “Go back now. Or… or I’ll shoot you.”
“You don’t want to do that kid. I’m a friend. Remember how we took out that hive? You don’t want to hurt a friend now do you?” Castle aimed his gun, looking down his sights as he moved forward.
“Please. Just go back. I don’t want to shoot you.”
“I don’t think you will because you would’ve done it already. You don’t want to kill anyone, do you. What happened with Bates was necessary and I respect that. But I’m not infected, and you don’t want to kill me in cold blood.”
Miles sobbed and wiped his face. Then looked back down the sight of his gun.
Castle took his gun and held it up in one hand as a show of surrender but slowly brought his other hand down around his back to where a handgun was tucked in his waist band. “Look kid… you can trust me. I don’t want to hurt you eit--”
Two Alive Page 31