Trying to Survive (Part 3)

by Crowley,C. J.

  I knew we were definitely going to need light in that store, so instead of getting out I backed up and repositioned the car as he previously asked. When I glanced at Clara in the rearview mirror, she still wasn’t reacting at all.

  As I approached Brian I could hear groaning and see him moving around. I was hoping his injury would be similar to the bite Walt received on his shoulder when making a run for the water while we were stuck on that roof. The amount of blood on the back of his white t-shirt immediately told me that I was dead wrong.

  It had bitten away a large area of flesh where his neck ended and his right shoulder began. His shirt was ripped almost all the way down to his waist from it clawing at his back. Jenny, who was kneeling next to him, looked up to me and yelled out “Get the duffle bag! We need to start him on antibiotics immediately!”

  Brian said in a shaky voice “Oh, motherfucker… I can’t believe they got me… Fuck!” He let out a loud groan. “How bad is it, Jenny?”

  “Bad enough. Just stay still and keep calm so your blood won’t pump so quickly.”

  I fetched the duffle bag, motioned for Allen and Veronica not to get out of the car and hurried back over to Brian. Jenny and Walt were already dragging him into the store. He was moaning out in pain because they had no choice but to pull him by reaching underneath his arms and straining the wounds.

  As soon as they set Brian down, I took and knee next to him and started pulling everything we’d need out of the duffle bag. “Walt, get the body out of that car and away from Clara. Then go stand by the front door and watch over everyone. Remember – Allen and Veronica are unarmed.”

  “Should I give Allen one of the AK’s?”

  Jenny snapped “Not yet. We’re too vulnerable right now.”

  The headlights were almost blinding, but they enabled me to clearly see the severity of his wounds. They were life-threatening, but definitely survivable. I kept telling myself he was exactly the kind of man who could get through something like this.

  “He’s losing a lot of blood, hurry up with the antibiotics. He could pass out for hours… All you have to do is look at that shredder to know it’s fed on someone, which means its mouth is full of rotting flesh and bacteria. Probably it’s nails too.”

  “Way to make a guy feel like he’s gonna pull through.” Brian said sarcastically through a groan.

  After Brian swallowed the pills, Jenny and I helped him to his stomach. She gave him a rolled up towel to bite down on before she doused the wounds with alcohol. He slightly arched his back and clawed at the tile floor, but still managed to somewhat maintain his composure.

  “Does he need stitches?” I asked.

  “Only some near the top of his back where its nails first started to dig in. The gashes shrink substantially as they continue down.” She looked down at Brian. “Do you feel like you’re going to pass out?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m pretty fuckin awake.”

  “Okay, then I’ll just start stitching you up. I was going to wait and see if you faded for a while.”

  “Not happening. Just get it over with.”

  “It won’t be that bad. Only about four on each one.”

  That’s still twenty…

  “Hurry up. The longer you wait, the more it’ll hurt.”

  Walt’s voice came bellowing into the store. “Is he going to be okay?”

  Since Jenny had everything under control, I stood up and joined Walt outside. As I walked through the doorway, I heard Brian say “Hey look, Doritos… This place is packed full of stuff!”

  “Stop moving around!”

  Walt let his rifle fall to the side and leaned back against the wall. He looked up at the night sky as he said “Two in one day?” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his nose. “That guy Lee didn’t even last ten minutes with us.”

  “Brian’s not going to die.”

  We both began to lightly laugh when we heard Brian arguing with Jenny about getting him a cigarette. Of course, she refused, so I walked back in the store and looked for the area with the cash register. “I’ll get you one, man.”

  “He could give you a few lessons about bedside manner… Doctor.” Brian sarcastically remarked.

  “Shut up…” Jenny closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. “And stop moving your head around!”

  As I looked around the mostly darkened room, I began to realize that it wasn’t the average convenience store. Since the area was so lacking in commercial development, the store had a little bit of everything. I even noticed a rather large section near the back dedicated to automotive supplies and tools.

  If it wasn’t for what happened to Brian, I would have told myself we lucked out…

  After I lit a cigarette and gave it Brian, I joined Walt again. “That store is going to have us set for weeks… It has so much shit we need, we’ll probably fill up both trunks.”

  Walt was still stargazing, obviously thinking about something else. I’m not sure he even heard me. “What are we going to do about Clara?”

  I sighed and dropped my shoulders. “I don’t even know where to begin… What do you say to a twelve year old girl who decided to blow an innocent man’s head off at point-blank-range?”

  “It’s just paranoia, right? Because of what happened?” He panned down to me with a hopeful look in his eyes. “She just needs some time, right?”

  I looked over at the car. The headlights made it so I couldn’t see her at all. “Should I go try and talk to her?”

  “I really think you should… Maybe that’s the problem?” He left the wall and turned to me. “All we’ve done is silently mourn their deaths and teach her how to shoot.”

  “She and Jenny spent a lot of time in that bedroom alone at night. I’m sure they had more than few conversations.”

  “Still.”

  “I’ll do my best…” I looked back after a few steps. “Why don’t you go check on Allen and Veronica? Maybe give them some details. They’re probably freakin out.”

  I slowly opened the other passenger door, ignored all the blood and sat down next to Clara. She still didn’t even glance over at me. Her only reaction was to tighten her grip on the rifle, as if she knew we were thinking about taking it away from her… Maybe Jenny already tried…

  I was about to speak but she beat me to it. “I’m sorry, James.” She said in a completely flat and sorrowful tone.

  “I understand why you did it Clara. I was scared of them too.”

  “My finger just squeezed… I’m… I’m not sure I even meant to… I don’t know.”

  “It doesn’t matter. And you don’t have to tell me you’re sorry. I know you are. We all do… You just have to make sure you never do anything like that again.”

  Still not having made eye contact with me, she said “I won’t.”

  “The man and woman sitting in that other car are brother and sister. Allen and Veronica are their names… And I give you my word that they’re nothing like Naya.”

  I reached over and placed my hand on hers. She slightly flinched. “I think you should give me your gun. Just until you’re feeling better.”

  I squeezed Clara’s hand for a moment and then transitioned over to the rifle. When I began to pull it away, she tightened her grip. “Please, don’t.”

  What felt like ten seconds went by before she finally let go. I was right on the brink of having to forcefully take it away. The amount of relief I felt for not having to be aggressive toward her was indescribable.

  “I know it makes you feel safe. I just want to hold onto it for tonight.”

  I knew I was going too easy on her… I just didn’t want to risk going too far...

  Chapter 8

  When the sunlight began to fill the store, it wasn’t long before everyone else opened their eyes. I’d been awake for hours, having been lucky to sleep for twenty minutes here and there. As usual, my thoughts continuously chased away any chance for even a half-night of interrupted sleep.

  To ensu
re we didn’t draw any attention to ourselves, as soon as Jenny was done tending to Brian we brought everyone else inside and blocked off the gaping hole that used to be the front door with some shelving.

  We helped ourselves to some food, but decided not to scour the store until the sun was up… We’ve already learned the hard way that not seeing any shredders doesn’t mean they won’t just suddenly appear if we start making noise. It was also horrible for the car batteries to leave them sitting with the lights on.

  Brian seemed to be in good spirits, but was clearly in a lot of pain as well. Jenny gave him as much Tylenol as she could without hurting him to help ease his suffering. It probably didn’t do much, though I’m sure he appreciated having something instead of absolutely nothing.

  The store was almost pitch black. We were only able to find a few small patches that were illuminated by the moonlight. Allen and Veronica mainly kept to themselves. It was just an all-around horrible night.

  I spent a few minutes talking to them, but they seemed distracted and distant so I left them alone… I noticed that Allen rarely took his eyes off Clara’s shadowy figure on the other side of the room, even though I’d disarmed her.

  Guess I can’t blame him… He probably didn’t get much sleep either…

  I was dying of boredom. Jenny was the last one to open her eyes, and the moment she did I jumped up and walked over to Brian. He was rubbing his face and looking around the fully stocked, untouched store. “This is unbelievable.”

  He laughed through a long yawn and reached back to inspect the bandage near the back of his neck. “At least this didn’t happen for nothing.”

  Just to try and cheer him up, I said. “You have no idea how stupid I felt when I found out the shredders slowed down during the day… I’d still have two eyes if we just waited to try and escape my neighborhood until the next morning.”

  Brian continued to laugh, and then made a jokingly pained face. “Oh, yeah. That’s rough man.”

  Jenny bluntly cut in. “How do you feel?”

  “Uh… It hurts like hell.”

  She kneeled down beside him and gently pushed him forward. “Does it feel hot or itchy?”

  “Not that I can tell.”

  Jenny peeled away the bandage and her face twitched, seemingly showcasing concern. “It looks a little irritated.” Walt was standing right next to the duffle bag drinking some water, so she called over to him. “Walter, get me the alcohol.”

  Brian groaned out “Really?”

  “Don’t even start with me. This is serious. We’ll do it every few hours if we have to.”

  “Great…”

  I glanced back and noticed that Clara was sitting in the corner alone. Her hands were interlocked on her lap and her eyes were forever glued to the floor. When I saw the old blood stains on her clothes it reminded me of the night I found her in Melanie’s room.

  I got up and walked over to a shelf filled with snacks. Within a few seconds I spotted some chocolate doughnuts and brought them over to Clara. “I bet it’s been awhile since you’ve had something like this.”

  She only made eye contact with me for a moment before she looked away and shook her head. “I’m not hungry yet.”

  When Allen got to his feet and started walking around the store, Jenny jumped up and grabbed her rifle. Allen stopped and put his hands up to about shoulder level. “I just want to look around.”

  Jenny took a few steps forward and looked him over. “Once I’m done here we can walk around the store together and get to know each other… For now, I’ll have to ask that you sit down.”

  Veronica seemed somewhat annoyed, but she stayed quiet as Allen walked back over to her and sat down. After I told them everything, they were a lot more understanding of our distrust for them. I had a good feeling about them (unlike Naya). I just hope I wasn’t wrong. Though I did learn to never ignore my feelings in a situation like this again. Fortunately for them, I wasn’t getting any bad vibes. Otherwise, I truly would have had Walt let them out on the side of the road… Or they’d be dead.

  I sat down next to Clara and Walt walked up to us. He smiled and said “If you don’t eat those, I will.”

  Walt’s smile quickly faded when Clara picked them up off the floor and held them out. “Go ahead.”

  It was ironic to think that we were finally in a quiet, reasonably safe place with plenty of food and no one cared. It’s all we’ve been worried about, what Brian almost died for… Yet now that we’ve found it, the circumstances that led us here have made it almost meaningless.

  Sitting there and trying to think of something to say made me truly understand just how important Melanie’s presence had been for her… She’d know exactly what to do and say. If she was here, Lee would still be alive and Clara wouldn’t be acting like a fucking zombie… What do I say?

  Walt disrupted the awkward silence. “Clara... Sometimes it helps to tell people who care about you how you’re feeling.”

  She was quick to harshly respond “We barely know each other.”

  Walt shook it off and said “That may be true, but we’re stuck with each other. We have to look out for each other, share our pain and work to make sure we all get by... So really, we’re more like a family now.”

  “You’re not my family. My family is dead.”

  Walt walked over and squatted down directly in front of her. “Well, I’ll treat you like family anyway.”

  When Clara stood up, for a moment I suspected that Walt’s words had an effect on her. To my dismay, she said “Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom” and slowly walked toward the back of the store.

  I glanced over at Walt and whispered “Follow her.”

  Jenny got my attention. “Okay, let’s gather up everything we need.” She looked over at Allen and nodded so he stood up and joined us.

  “James told us what happened, so I understand why it has to be like this. Do what you have to do and we’ll comply.”

  “Thank you… So, she’s your sister?”

  “Yeah.”

  “James, did you explain what’s going on?”

  Allen turned to me, questioning. “Oh… Maybe you should do it. You said you wanted to talk to him anyway right? I’ll start gathering stuff up. It’s not like we’re in a rush or anything.”

  She nodded. “I planned on staying here awhile. You and Walt should go for a little drive later and see what else is around. There might be another store just like this one a few miles away… Maybe even a better place to stay, with some couches and beds to sleep on.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I said as I headed over to the automotive section.

  There was no question that we’d be taking every single piece of food we can find that’s still safe to eat, so I decided to start collecting anything else we might need.

  While the outside of the store made me feel like I’d stepped through a portal into the 1950’s, the inside had obviously been remodeled. The floors looked to have been recently replaced, the paint was fresh and the line of refrigerators up against the back wall were all brand new.

  The little store really did have just about everything a person would need. I guess it was necessary due to the fact that it was over thirty minutes to the nearest “real” stores in Hinesville or Savannah. The owners had the whole area on lockdown, and they took full advantage of it. All of the price tags I could see were a little higher than they should be… Dickheads…

  As I looked around, I saw something that we all desperately needed and broke away from my search. There was a small section near the front counter that had several racks of t-shirts. I figured it would be nice if we didn’t see old blood stains every time we looked at one another, and Brian was especially in need of a new shirt, so I walked over and began sifting through the racks, looking for the right sizes.

  I skipped over any white shirts for obvious reasons and kept going until I came upon a navy-blue Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt with “Free Bird” scrolled across the front of it in 70’s style text…
Mine… It wasn’t long before I found a dark-gray shirt with small lettering that said “Diesel Denim” so I confirmed it was a large and took it over to Brian.

  “Here you go, man.”

  Jenny looked surprised. “This store has just about everything. We should all get new shirts and take the rest with us.” I said as I changed into my Free Bird shirt.

  Jenny arched her left brow and smirked. “Free Bird?”

  “I’m not a huge Skynyrd fan… but that song does have one of the best damn solos of all time, or whatever you wanna call it.”

  Brian rolled his eyes. “Fuckin white guys and your guitar solos. Shit sounds like cats fighting in an alley to me.”

  “What!? A black guy is probably the best guitar player of all time… You never heard of Hendrix?”

  “He was an alien.”

  “Maybe it was all the acid?”

  We started cracking up and I turned to Jenny, expecting to see her laughing along with us. Instead, a heavy frown had formed, her jaw slightly dropped and she was just staring at Brian. He noticed and said “What?”

  “Why are you sweating so badly?”

  “Because it’s hot as balls…”

  “No, it’s not.”

  It isn’t… not yet anyway.

  “Hey, you might not be able to tell because I’m such a badass, but this shit is pretty painful. Maybe it’s makin me sweat a little… And you just got done putting more alcohol on it. That didn’t exactly help.”

  His explanations didn’t seem to comfort her. As I observed her wide array of doom-laced expressions over the next few moments, I began to realize that I’ve never seen her look so worried before – even after everything we’ve been through.

  “Doesn’t it take some time for the antibiotics to really start working?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Would Neosporin help? I’m sure this place has some.”

  “It could help a little.”

  “I’m on it.” I said as quickly headed over to the small shelf with Advil and the like.

  Walt came out from the back with Clara and noticed my shirt. “Where the hell did that come from?”