by MJ Ware
Chapter 7 – Walmart Security Gets Tough
The lights flickered a couple of times, then went out. We both knew what happened.
"Oh cripes, Nate. The power's out."
It was dark—really dark. The sun must have set while we'd gotten everything moved. I looked around, but it was hard to see anything. I couldn't shake this feeling something was behind me. I reached back, feeling around in the darkness, making sure nothing was there.
A faint light floated a few feet in front of me. I froze, thinking it might be a ghost or something—as if things could get any worse.
"Least my cell phone's good for something." Misty went over to the totes that held our supplies. A few moments later, a bright light shined in my eyes.
"Put that down. You're blinding me."
"Oh, sorry. It's one of those high-power LED flashlights. Here's yours."
"Good thing we thought of the generator." I checked behind me with my flashlight, making sure there weren't any moving shadows.
"We thought of the generator?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's go pick out a TV, then get a generator running so the food doesn't spoil." The TVs were just a few aisles over. "We'll take the lift," I suggested.
Once our eyes adjusted, we saw a couple emergency lights on in the back of the store, but they didn't do much except cast creepy shadows along the back wall. Walmart was an entirely different place in the dark. The retail version of some spooky carnival funhouse.
We weren't picky about the TV. We just took a really big one that was part of a middle aisle display. I pushed the whole display onto the forks. Then hopped back on the forklift—only someone was in my seat.
Startled, I jumped up and hit my head on the forklift's overhead bar. "Ouch."
"Not in my lap, Nate."
"What, are you going to drive?" I said, rubbing my head.
"I think I oughta learn how to drive this thing."
"Okay, fine. Push this lever forward and press the gas," I said, still irritated.
"The gas is the left one, right?"
"Maybe this isn't a good idea. Maybe I should—"
"What was that? Nate, did you hear that?" Misty's head darted around.
"I didn't hear anything."
She punched the gas and we took off.
"You didn't hear that? It sounded like a thud."
"Nope. Didn't hear a thing." At the time, I thought she was just distracting me so she could drive. I should have taken her seriously.
Back in the vision center, I opened the generator box. This huge instruction manual sat right on top. I thought I'd just need to add gas and go, but it took over an hour to get it set up. While I worked on it, Misty lit a couple propane lanterns and cleared some counter space.
"Okay, I think this thing is ready."
"Did you get the oil? You can't start it without oil."
"Yeah, oil was included. I checked everything." With one pull, it started right up.
"Um, is that how loud it is? That's not going to cut it," she said, raising her voice above the hum of the engine.
"It'll get louder than that once we plug everything in."
"Let's put it outside the door," she suggested.
"It really should be put outside the building, because of the exhaust."
"We shoulda set it up sooner."
"Don't worry. I can put it in the men's bathroom. It should have an exhaust fan. I'll just connect power to it."
"Can you do that? It doesn't sound safe."
"Don't worry, it's easy. I helped my dad install lights in the garage. I'll connect the power through the light switch."
"If you're sure."
"I'll take care of it. You stay here."
"Nate, I'm coming." Misty pushed her long, brown hair back as she took a step toward me.
"No, it will be faster if I do it myself. Plus, I need you to plug everything in to make sure we don't overload the generator. Just lock the door behind me."
"Fine. Holler if you need me."
I loaded the generator, along with a large can of gas, onto the forklift. Took a deep breath and, flashlight in hand, drove into the shadows.
First stop, the hardware section to get some electrical cords. Then, I went back and passed one end of a cord through the gate to Misty.
The men's restroom was in the far corner of the store, right by menswear. I looked forward to picking up a new pair of underwear while there. Mine were getting pretty rank.
I drove down a wide middle aisle. The flashlight gave off just enough light to hint at monstrous creatures hiding in the dark, just out of the light's glow.
I scanned the area, then hopped off the lift. I topped off the generator's tank and started it up outside the bathroom door. I just had to slide it in and rig up the fan.
With a stripped extension cord and screwdriver in one hand, I pushed the door. Only it was locked.
Why was the door locked?
It felt hollow and had a light wooden frame, so I figured I could get in. A few well-placed kicks and the door swung open. As I lifted my flashlight, I heard a moan.
I knew I was in trouble.
Right in front of me stood a zombie, ashen-faced, mouth open, leaning in for a bite. I leapt backwards, avoiding its teeth, but tripped over the generator. I landed on the plastic gas tank, which popped out from under me. Gas flew everywhere: on the zombie, on the generator, on me, all over the clothes on the racks.
The zombie fell over the generator, too, and laid on the ground next to me—its eyes seemed to glow in the dark. I was so scared, I almost lost it. Shaking, I sprayed it in the face and rolled away.
It started smoking the same way the other zombies had, but then did something unexpected—it caught fire.
Instantly, the entire area went up in flames. I stepped back, and still standing, jumped up and down, kicking my gas-soaked pants and shoes off.
The flames sprouted up as if they had a life of their own.
I shot them with the Super Soaker, but it didn't do any good.
The flames spread up the side of a rack of cheesy Hawaiian shirts. I knew I had to put the fire out fast.
I ran to the aisle with the fire extinguishers and stopped. I'd dropped my flashlight back by the generator. A couple aisles over, something moved in the shadows. I started to lift my Super Soaker when I got hit in the face.
"Oww, it burns," I cried, "Darn it. It burns." My eyes started watering like a busted drinking fountain.
"Nathan, is that you? Were you bit? Did I kill you?"
"No, no. I'm fine, it's just the lemonade; that stuff burns."
"What's going on? You're burning the place down." I could hear panic in her voice.
"Grab a fire extinguisher and follow me."
My eyes dribbled lemonade-flavored tears as I grabbed two of the largest fire extinguishers and ran back. It took four extinguishers, but we managed to put the fire out.
"Wow, the generator's still running," I said.
Charred clothes were everywhere. Smoke filled the place—it smelled like fresh-roasted zombie. And I'd thought my day couldn't get any worse.
"What the heck happened?" Misty held her nose and looked around at the blackened remains.
"Security zombie in the bathroom; it was a close call."
"I'll say. We're lucky the fire sprinklers didn't come on."
"If this is lucky, I'd hate to see cursed."
"Umm, Nate?"
"Yeah?" I exhaled in relief. It would have been embarrassing if I'd burnt the place down.
"Where's your pants?"