There were two pairs of glass automatic doors, one set, on the right, slid open when Melissa approached, the other was already wide open and rebounding against a throng of infected who were standing in the way, probably wondering what kept knocking into them. Melissa stepped into the store, her boots tapping softly on the shiny white stone that was spattered with blood; some congealed, some relatively fresh. There was a small anterior area that housed a number of shopping carts, a surprising number of which were still racked as they normally would be, while others were overturned, perhaps having been used as makeshift weapons or to try and block off approaching infected. As Melissa crossed from the anterior into the store proper, the signs of battle became more obvious - as did the signs that the desperate last stand that had taken place had been a complete failure. Blood, bones, more blood, discarded items used as weapons, ranging from brooms and garden rakes, to shears, knives and whatever could be grabbed from the garden centre or the kitchen aisle. The carnage continued in a wide spread from the doorway, past the checkouts and down the main, central avenue. Looking up, she saw a sign indicating that there was a long aisle to the left of this led to a delicatessen and bakery, reached through the side aisles off the main avenue containing tinned goods, sodas, chips, or at the far end, the chilled and frozen goods section. The side aisle on the right contained health products, beauty products and household cleaning items, terminating at the garden centre, and these had only a narrow aisle, enough to push a shopping cart round to the next aisle, on the far side. Scanning the area revealed there were a number - dozens in fact - of infected in all directions, causing Melissa to suspect that in total there were more inside the store than milling around outside. She stepped forward cautiously, doing her best not to make any noise as she moved amongst the scattered debris, and looked for any sign of them congregating, which would likely disclose where the woman was hiding. Disgustingly, some she could see were too busy to hunt new prey because they were still devouring their last meal; ripping off pieces of flesh with their hands to push it hurriedly into their mouths and swallowing after barely chewing. Averting her gaze from the revolting sight, Melissa moved past them - although she couldn’t help but notice they dropped their ‘food’ and froze as the suppressive effect of the collar washed over them.
Melissa decided that the only way to proceed with her search was to continue down the main avenue to see if she could then spot the larger grouping of infected she was looking for. Melissa started to move quickly. She scanned left and right down the side aisles as she passed, again seeing infected come to a stop as they were suppressed. She saw small groups of two to five, as well as some individuals, but there was no expected horde of infected which would have revealed the woman’s hiding place. Melissa strained her ears, trying to pinpoint a loud chorus of groans and moans, but it was difficult, thanks in large part to the size of the store and also because there were just so many of them, making it near impossible to pinpoint a single source. Melissa continued to scan side to side, moving at a speedy walk, as she tried to find anything which would indicate where the mysterious woman was located. She was nearing the back of the store when she became aware that the general hum of groans was increasing, indicating that there was a greater concentration close by. She looked around; on her left were a number of small side aisles containing kitchenware and a wide open area filled with various clothing racks. To the right of these, clipped to the back wall, were a display of bicycles, while on her immediate right were two aisles filled with garden essentials, from packets of seeds to spades and rakes – the latter slotted into grooves cut in the countertop. Finally, there was an aisle displaying summer toys. When she came in line with that, what she saw made her gasp softly. In the corner, beneath a sign indicating it was the ‘Car Maintenance and Repair Center’ was a sea of infected. They were densely packed on both sides of a long, wide, L shaped countertop. Melissa couldn’t be sure from her vantage point, but she imagined there were close to a hundred in that specific location; all pressing forward in an attempt to reach something. They moaned and groaned, some outstretching their arms to swipe at the air as though it might help them catch whatever prey they could sense. Melissa cursed silently and instinctively tightened her grip on her weapon. As she thought about passing through them, the memory of attempting to cross the casino floor in the Seraph flashed into her mind and she quickly checked to make sure the light on the collar was a steady green. Seeing it was, Melissa approached the area and started leveraging the infected away, shifting them both carefully and with speed. She pushed through and eventually found herself at the counter, where she climbed up and took a look around. There were definitely a hundred or more infected around her, but thanks to the density of their packing, they were mostly under the effect of the collar. As might be expected, there were indentations where they’d banged up against the counter, but considering the volume of infected, Melissa was a little surprised it had stood up as well as it had. There was door labeled ‘Office’ behind the counter on the left, and Melissa decided it was the obvious place to check first.
With a little difficulty she slid down, jostling several infected as she did so. As she moved through, Melissa realized that if the woman she was hopefully about to rescue wasn’t close enough to her to be immediately shielded within the limit of the suppression area of her collar she would need to use her knife to execute many of the crushing throng of infected to reach her. It would be exhausting work, and she was already brain weary and achingly tired, but Melissa put that thought aside for now. First she needed to find out if the woman was still alive, only then could she develop a plan to get her to safety. Melissa forced her way towards the office, nearly tripping over a discarded metal tool box - which would have made a terrible racket had she kicked it. Reaching the office door, Melissa pushed on it, but found it was stuck on something, causing the door to make a clunking sound; it wasn’t loud, and was nowhere near loud enough to stir the infected from their collar induced stupor - as the tool box would have been - but it made Melissa think twice before applying more pressure to see if she could force the door open.
Close examination revealed the door was open a tiny crack, barely enough for her to squeeze her fingers through. She looked around, her discomfort increasing as noted the infected were within an inch of her on all sides; the stench of their decaying bodies nauseating in the claustrophobic space. Too much noise as she forced her way in and she’d be dead with no chance of escape, but her only other point of entry was the large, metal roll-up garage door further along on the right, which would mean she would have to climb out and edge around the countertop to access it. As she thought about both options she was struck by the thought that it was a strange place to have a garage door, as the cars in for repair were not going to enter the store, but she mused, if the centre was a new addition then it was possible it was at one time a warehouse used to store the bicycles and gardening tools and a roll up door would give easier access. Melissa shook her head, wondering how she had allowed her thoughts to be sidetracked in such a perilous situation, and focused on which way to gain entry. If she were to open the garage door the infected would be able to flood in and if the woman wasn’t in a secure position... she didn’t need to think any further. She had no choice but to find a way to open the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
Melissa pulled back then put the weight of her body behind a push with her shoulder... and found that it gave a little, the gap widening enough to get her hand through. Feeling relieved that the door was giving without too much noise, Melissa took a deep breath and then pulled back again to launch a third shove at the door. This time it gave away suddenly, the door flying open and launching Melissa through it. She tried to stop herself, especially upon seeing a trio of infected - one on the ground, presumably knocked away from the door and two others milling near a window that looked into the car maintenance garage - but there was nothing for her to grab hold of, so she fell, landing heavily on the downed infected. It roared,
but didn’t retaliate, becoming instantly subdued by the collar, for which Melissa felt a surge of relief. The noise of the door opening and Melissa’s fall through it however, had drawn a few of the infected in from outside, and they stumbled slowly forward. Melissa quickly rolled off the infected she’d landed on and got to her feet before she was trampled beneath the feet of those investigating the noise. She stood still, but grabbed her weapon in case she needed it. She was motionless and soundless, holding her breath and allowing the collar to do its work. The infected walked into the room, but came to a stop. Some were peering at her with what she could only perceive as a puzzled look, others appeared to have a faraway look on their dead faces. Melissa’s heart was racing, but as the infected settled down, she began to scan the office. It featured a desk set up beneath the window looking into the garage, with a tower unit and monitor on top, the latter playing a screensaver. A few filing cabinets ran along the opposite wall, with a door directly opposite the one she’d fallen through that led into the garage. There was blood on the floor and she surmised that three people had been trapped in here having tried to escape, but one had already been bitten and had turned after they locked the door; creating a tomb rather than a safe haven for the other pair. One of the trio was considerably more muscular and bulky than the two lingering near the window and it was obviously he that had been idling in front of the door and been the source of the obstruction when she tried to enter. Melissa had been unable to hear the sound of his irritated growls - which he surely issued when he was hit by the door - due to them being nullified by the solid wood, and also because they were drowned by the vast chorus of moans and groans which had surrounded her. She made her way to the window with some difficulty, as the relatively small office was now getting somewhat crowded. At the desk, Melissa peered through the window and tried to find evidence of the woman she’d spoken to on the radio.
The garage seemed to be fully functional and there was equipment, like wrenches of various sizes, power tools, screwdrivers, clips and cables, as well as tools Melissa didn’t recognize, and two sections for vehicles to park with an inspection pit beneath. A sign on the left wall indicated that it was the ‘Ultra Value Market, Ultra Value Car Maintenance Bay’, which was quite a mouthful, and Melissa became mentally tongue tied as she tried to read it. Why a supermarket had attempted to branch out in such a way Melissa couldn’t imagine. Regardless, it was there and she was hoping there would be some indication of the mysterious woman in need of rescue. Examining the area beyond the window in further detail, she saw that a body lay in each of the inspections pits, one with its head so brutally abused it was barely recognizable as once having been human, and the other with a screwdriver driven deep into its skull. Someone alive had been in there to inflict those death blows at some point, but, unfortunately, she couldn’t see anyone now. There was, however, a large pair of garage doors that would allow someone to exit the facility, so Melissa decided to investigate further. She turned, carefully pushed her way through the infected to the connecting door and tried the handle. Surprisingly, she discovered it opened easily. Melissa stepped through, shutting the door quickly behind her before any of the groaning multitude crowding the office could follow, and discovered the reason she had been able to gain entrance so effortlessly was because it had no lock. She gave it an extra nudge, though she doubted it would do much to help should the full weight of the infected press up against it.
The acrid smells of the garage filled Melissa’s nose as she moved into it, the combination of metallic odors and greasy, oily scents masking the stench of the decaying infected in the service pits somewhat. She was carefully looking around for any indication of a previously hidden infected or the woman she was trying to find, but as of yet, she could see nothing. Melissa brought her weapon up to a full ready position, bracing the stock against her shoulder before she spoke.
“Hey! Are you in here?” She demanded, somewhat loudly.
At first there was no sound, but then she detected a faint clunking as though someone was moving about.
“Identify yourself or you might get shot!” Melissa instructed harshly.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot me, please!” The woman from the radio pleaded. “I’m coming up, just please, don’t shoot me!” She begged. Melissa aimed her weapon where the woman would emerge from the inspection pit, seemingly having hidden beneath the body leaving her daubed in blood and viscera. Melissa kept her weapon level, but did not have her finger on the trigger.
A wild, messy mane of red hair appeared, followed by a frightened face. Her mascara had run, indicating that she’d been crying, a suspicion confirmed by the red, puffy lids around her grey eyes. She climbed out and raised her arms far too high above her head, almost comically so, in a gesture of absolute surrender. She was wearing - in the context of fighting the undead - a rather impractical dress that trailed down a few inches along the ground at the back and covered the leather boots in front that flashed as she took a step towards Melissa, who lowered her weapon a little.
“You were on the radio?” Melissa asked.
“Yes. Yes, I was.”
“Then where is it? The radio?”
“On my belt.” The woman replied, pirouetting around to show that the radio was clipped to a faux belt around the waist of her dress at the back.
“What’s your name?” Melissa asked.
“Rochelle.”
“Put your arms down, Rochelle, I’m not going to hurt you.” Melissa told her, lowering her weapon. “But we’ve got a real problem.”
“What’s that?” Rochelle asked as she brought her arms to her side.
“There’s a lot of infected on the other side of that door. I know a safe place, but getting there is going to be a bit tricky.” Melissa informed her, while thinking to herself that it just might’ve been the biggest understatement she’d ever made.
Chapter Five
Kevin approached the bus cautiously. He’d noted a convenience store about half way between the bus and the police station, but hadn’t wanted to lug the resources until the bus was secure if he could help it. When he saw the number of infected for the second time, he realized how good an idea that had been. He maneuvered himself carefully between them, feeling infinitely less safe doing so than when he was with Melissa and Roy, and he scolded himself severely for his... unease. Even so, every time a soft groan escaped a dead throat, every time one of them shifted to look at him as he slid past, he felt a fresh surge of panic and fear induced adrenaline pump into his already hammering heart. This wasn’t what he signed up for. Kevin wasn’t a coward; he’d been in gun battles, he’d been in some pretty intense investigations, but this was unreal. It was the kind of thing that happened in the movies his sister used to make him watch when they were kids. She loved zombie movies, and now the world was living a real one. Briefly, as he skirted around a half consumed woman lying on the road, Kevin wondered what his sister thought about the state of the world now. She’d moved to Alaska a few years ago; he’d mocked her, wondering how she could leave behind the big city and all it had to offer. In return she’d asked him how he could stand to be in such a busy place with crime on every street and no sense of community. There’d been no reports of infected or Reborn in Alaska the last he’d checked, but that had been days ago. Kevin decided that as soon as the Ancillary was dropped off wherever they needed to take her, he was going to Alaska to be with his sister. She was all he had in the world and he knew their parents would want him to keep her safe - his superiors would just have to understand, and if they didn’t, he would go anyway.
Thinking of Fiona, his sister, a sense of calm settled over him and allowed him to do the job he’d been sent there to do. First, he cleared the bodies from inside the bus, the whole ones as well as the parts left behind by the infected, and then he scouted around the bus looking for a closer store where he could get some supplies. The search proved fruitless, so he was forced to go back to the previously identified convenience store to get wh
at they would need. He lugged a few crates of water and some packs of junk food and sandwiches; not the most ideal food, but the junk stuff had the longest expiration date and, as such, would be better if they couldn’t safely stop again. It was foolish, but Kevin felt guilty just taking the supplies so he had left some cash in the tip jar on the counter, hoping whoever owned it was not only still alive, but would be able to collect the money at some point.
The work so far hadn’t been difficult, but it had left Kevin feeling a little tired, so he slumped into the driver's seat of the bus and took a moment to breathe. After he had started to feel less winded, he took several more minutes while trying to decipher the bus’ controls. He turned the ignition on and began to press some of the buttons; some were marked, making it easy for him to figure out what they did, but the symbols on others were so worn that the only way to figure out their meaning was by pressing them. One turned on the lights inside, one turned on the window wipers. The vehicle apparently had an automatic gear system, which was good, as Kevin didn’t know the first thing about driving a bus let alone having to figure out the gears. Next he found the button that closed the doors, which gave him some relief as the infected were still milling about outside.
“Okay you big metal beast, let’s see if we can start you up.” Kevin told the bus as he turned the ignition over, causing the engine to rumble, very loudly, into life. He revved the engine a little as he tried to get a feeling for how much pressure he needed to apply on the gas pedal. After that, he disengaged the parking brake and the bus rolled forward a little, so he grabbed the wheel and turned it hand over hand, trying to get the bus to turn. The way it had come to a stop made it difficult to turn in the intersection, so he was forced to slam on the brakes.
A World Reborn (Book 2): Global Outbreak Page 8