He watched as most of the zombies in the register area immediately rushed off towards the noise, moaning and thrashing as they went. This left only two in the register area, and two in the vestibule. Dante led them out, the three of them running hard.
They reached the register area, and one of the zombies spotted them. It moaned and started rushing, but Dante didn’t stop moving at full speed. As they prepared to crash into each other, he ducked down, planting his shoulder into its gut, picking it up and throwing it onto one of the checkout baggage areas. It hit hard, before sliding off into the area where the cashier would have stood.
While this happened, June ran forward, straight at a zombie near the double vestibule doors. It turned and started to come at her, but she managed to crack it on the head with her bat, dropping it to the ground. She swung several times, sending blood splatter onto herself and everywhere else.
Grace and Dante caught up to her, with Grace touching her shoulder to get her to calm down and focus. She nodded, and they continued on to the vestibule about ten yards away.
Dante flew through the doors first, immediately heading towards the two zombies at the far end. They quickly turned when the door opened, and rushed at him, so he lowered his shoulder and slammed into the lead ghoul’s chest, driving it back into the other.
They crashed into the back wall and flopped to the ground, giving Dante a brief moment to deliver strikes with his bat. He swung swiftly and violently, giving half a dozen strikes in rapid succession. With them thrashing on the ground, it was hard to see if he was making clean hits or not, so he kept going until they stopped moving. As soon as they were down, he turned his attention to the outer doors, finding the locks and getting them shut tight.
While he was battling, June focused on the doors they’d just come through, finally getting them locked. Grace rushed over to the two sets of double doors leaning into the store, frantically running her hand down the panel and trying to find the secret release. When she finally found it, she popped it out and secured it.
When she moved over to the second one, she popped it out, but then froze at the sight of Troy and Bailey running towards her, several zombies hot on their heels. As they blew through the clothing section, several more corpses darted out and joined the pursuit.
Grace’s eyes widened. She didn’t want to lock the door in case they could make it. She held steady, watching as they ran hard towards her. To the left she spotted one of the zombies from the register area running on an intercept course, and threw open the door, darting out.
“Grace!” Dante screamed, but she ignored him, taking a few steps away from the door and swinging her bat hard, catching the ghoul in the torso and sending it staggering back.
Troy and Bailey flew through the door.
“Hurry up, girl!” Troy barked, and Grace quickly leapt back inside the vestibule, pulling the door shut just in time.
A dozen zombies smacked into the glass, and Troy and Grace struggled to keep it shut as Bailey fumbled for the lock.
“Hold it steady!” she screamed.
“We’re fucking trying!” Troy bellowed back.
The door shook violently, and she tried to time the lock turn just right so that the bolt would slide into place. Finally there was a satisfying click of metal on metal, and the door was secure.
The duo tentatively let go of the door, taking a step back to make sure it was going to hold against the smacking angry monsters on the other side.
It did, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Troy patted Grace on the back.
“That was one hell of an assist, there,” he said, sounding genuine for the first time since they’d met.
Dante crossed his arms. “And one major heart attack on my part,” he added darkly.
“Sorry,” Grace said, avoiding his gaze. “I saw that thing was going to take them out, and I just reacted. Didn’t have time to think, just went into action.”
Bailey ran her hands over her disheveled ponytail. “I didn’t even see it.”
“Only reason I did was because she took it out,” Troy replied.
Dante took his sister’s arm, turning her to face him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said firmly, jutting out her chin and finally looking up at him. “I am capable of fighting, you know.”
He took a deep breath. “I know… it’s just…” He sighed. “I know.” He didn’t have the words to put the situation in perspective, so he dropped it. With the sudden silence, June’s racking sobs in the corner overtook the space, and the girls rushed over to her for comfort.
“Good job keeping her safe,” Dante said quietly to Troy.
The banker forced a smirk. “See, I’m not a total asshole.”
“Come on, we’re not out of this yet,” Dante said, chuckling, and gave him a playful punch in the arm. They joined the others by the front window, and the sight of the parking lot took their breath away.
It looked apocalyptic outside. There was an overturned car at the top of the parking lot, with several zombies crowded around it. There were also a handful of ghouls mingling in between the cars, though thankfully none had come up to the front of the store.
“So, which car is yours?” Bailey asked.
Grace inclined her head. “The shitty grey sedan on the right side, there,” she said.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” June said through her sniffles, voice thick.
Dante rolled his eyes. “She wanted the convertible,” he teased.
“That would have been perfect for this time of year,” Troy pointed out. “You know, without the whole end of the world thing.”
Grace glanced at her brother with a sly smile, her eyes saying see, I told you so!
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he groaned, “weather is different in other parts of the country.”
June got to her feet, straightening her shoulders and wiping her eyes. “So, how are we doing this?” she asked.
They studied the soon-to-be battlefield, scanning the several zombies by the cars. Grace angled her view out the front windows to see the left and right. “I’m not seeing anything to the sides, but I can’t get a great angle,” she said. “There may be some by the front walls, but I can’t be sure.”
“We’ll just have to check when we exit,” Dante replied. “Grace, you and June handle our flanks. If it’s one, take it out. If it’s more, call for help.”
They nodded firmly, tightening their grips around their bats.
“Troy, you and I are going straight for the car,” Dante continued. “We need some time to get everybody in, so we’re probably going to have to take those things down.”
The banker nodded. “All right,” he agreed. “You lead the way, I’ll brain whatever you don’t.”
Dante offered him a smile, thankful that the asshole finally seemed to be on board. “Okay, let’s do this.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Dante and Troy stood by the front doors, ready to do battle to get them to the cars. Bailey knelt down beside them, reaching over with her hand on the lock.
“Just tell me when,” she said.
“You ready?” Dante asked, turning to his partner.
“Ready as I’m ever going to be,” Troy replied.
Dante nodded. “Unlock it,” he said, and Bailey complied.
It clinked open, and as soon as she moved her arm, the two men burst out of the store, sprinting towards the cars.
The others piled out next, June and Grace checking the flanks. One ghoul on June’s side spotted them and came forward at a run. She stopped dead in her tracks, raised the bat above her head, and jutted out her chin.
“Come on, motherfucker!” she yelled, and then cracked it over the top of the head, dropping it in a single blow. She didn’t hesitate after killing it, rushing after the rest of the group.
There were about a dozen cars in the parking lot, Dante’s vehicle at the far end on the right side. As the two men grew close, their footsteps attracted the ghouls in the
ir direction.
Troy swung at a young-looking zombie, no more than twenty, missing several chunks of flesh from its neck and face. The bat caught it in the side of the head, sending the frail creature tumbling head over heels.
Dante saw two zombies running towards him from the next aisle, but kept rushing to the sedan. He hopped up onto the trunk and clambered over the top to the hood. The zombies reached him, but he was able to keep enough distance that they couldn’t bite him. From this vantage point, he smacked down the ghouls one after the other, cracking their skulls.
Dante looked over and saw Troy confronting another zombie. It ran up on him quick, and he couldn’t get a clean swing at it, so he used his large frame to pick the smaller corpse up and pile drive it into the pavement face first. Even at ten yards away, Dante heard the telltale crack of the neck snapping.
He watched the trio of women getting closer and then looked over at the road. Some of the car crash crowd had broken away from the wreck and sprinted across the lot towards them.
“We got incoming!” he bellowed.
Troy glanced over, seeing the new threat about forty yards away. “Well come the fuck on, then!” he yelled, raising his bat.
Dante hopped down from the car and rushed over, pulling out the keys and hitting the unlock button correctly this time. Everybody reached the vehicle, with Troy hopping in the front seat and the girls clambering into the back. They slammed the doors shut, and a few seconds later, rotted hands smacked into the glass.
Bailey jumped, afraid of the zombies that smeared crimson all across the back window, teeth gnashing at the glass, trying in vain to get through.
“Sometime today, Dante!” Troy cried, flinching away from the window.
Dante finally got the keys in the ignition and started up the car. He flipped it into gear and floored it. The tires squealed as much as they could on a late model sedan and then lurched forwards out of the space. There were a few zombies on the hood, and he swerved back and forth to throw them off.
When he reached the driveway, he stopped, looking both ways.
“What the hell are you waiting on?” Troy demanded, throwing his hands up. “Pretty sure you aren’t going to get a ticket if you blow through the stop sign!”
Dante didn’t respond, simply looking to the west, away from the island. There were zombies everywhere, congregating around a multi-car pileup near another of the shopping center exits. He finally snapped back to it and made the turn.
He picked up a bit of speed, but kept it manageable, about thirty miles an hour. As he focused solely on driving, the others watched the landscape roll by in horror.
There was a wreck on the side of the road with two zombies actively pulling a driver out of the car. He thrashed and screamed while being eaten alive. Down the street a little further, a pack of zombies chased a poor soul, frantically firing a handgun back in his pursuers’ direction, missing badly.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?!” Bailey moaned through her fingers.
“Yeah, we can survive,” Troy replied flatly.
She fell silent, overwhelmed with helplessness, fear for the victims, and for her family.
When they were within a couple miles of the bridge, Troy yelled, “Watch it!”
A small pack of zombies darted out from the side of the road, smacking into the vehicle. Dante wasn’t able to get it out of the way in time, so one of them flipped over the passenger side bumper, crashing into the windshield and cracking it, leaving a blood-stained spider web behind.
“Doesn’t look like you’re getting your deposit back,” Troy muttered, uncurling his fingers from the handle above his head.
Dante shook his head. “That’s why I always pay for the extra insurance.”
Troy chuckled, trying to diffuse his tension as they continued down the road.
One mile from the bridge, they hit trouble. There was a moderate pileup on the road, half a dozen cars with one flipped completely over. Dante slammed on the breaks and a pack of ten zombies turned towards them, tearing their way.
“Just plow through them!” Troy declared.
Dante shook his head firmly. “And then what?” he asked. “This car isn’t making it through that wreck.” He looked to the median, seeing that there was a metal barrier, so they couldn’t cross over. He threw the car into reverse.
“What are you doing?!” Troy cried.
“There was a crossover a mile back,” Dante grunted, “we’ll get on the other side and make our way up.”
“Wait!” June cried, and he stopped the car.
“What do you see?” he asked, brow furrowing.
June tapped on the window. “Apartment complex on the right,” she said. “They have to have multiple exits, right?” she asked.
The men shared a glance and shrugged.
“Good enough for me,” Dante said, and threw the car back into drive, quickly speeding into the complex. The parking lot was a bigger mess than the highway, carnage everywhere, zombies running around, bodies scattered everywhere. Just a bad day.
He drove fast, treating the speed bumps like ramps, flying through the air a bit. As they came around a corner, he was forced to slam on the brakes when another car appeared from one of the side alcoves.
The other driver didn’t slow down, smashing into the front of the car hard, spinning them around and sending shattered glass everywhere.
Dante was stunned for a moment, before snapping back to it. He looked around, checking out his passengers.
“Is everybody okay?” he asked.
There was a chorus in the affirmative, and then he unclipped his seatbelt, staggering out of the car. He shook his head to regain his wits and looked at the other car. The driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was halfway out of the windshield, a massive pool of blood forming on the hood.
He didn’t spend long focused on that, as he heard moaning and loud footsteps coming from behind him. He looked down the complex, spotting a couple dozen zombies rushing towards them, about fifty yards away and closing.
“Come on, we gotta move!” he barked. “We gotta move!”
The urgency in his voice got the group moving, quickly getting out of the car and to their feet. They saw the threat quickly closing in on them, and panicked, frantically looking around for options.
“Got an open door over here!” Grace cried.
“Go, now!” Dante yelled, and they took off towards the open apartment door as quickly as they could. When they reached it, he went first, raising his bat cautiously, unsure of what would be waiting inside.
The small one-bedroom apartment was a mess, a clear struggling having taken place. The dining room table was knocked on its side, pans strewn all over the kitchen floor, the stove still on. The rest bustled in and quickly shut the door, locking it at Troy and Dante inched their way towards the bedroom. There were distinct munching and smacking sounds coming from there, and the sickening noises made them tense as they approached.
Inside, they found a young woman in her twenties, her blonde hair perfectly coiffed, munching away at a young man on the bed.
When they entered the room, the feasting zombie growled and rushed them. Troy didn’t waste time delivering a solid strike to the head. Dante walked over to the victim, eyes widening when he realized he was still alive, though barely.
The man was covered in bite marks, missing huge chunks of flesh, bleeding out quickly. “What do you think?” he asked as Troy came over.
“I think he needs to be put down before he starts chasing us around in here,” the banker replied.
Dante gave a solemn nod, knowing he was right. He took a deep breath, hesitating.
“I can do it if you want,” Troy offered softly.
Dante shook his head. “No, just make sure the others don’t come in,” he muttered. “They don’t need to see me do this.”
Troy nodded and headed out into the hallway.
Dante swallowed hard, staring at the man’s wide eyes, terrified, knowing th
at this was the end. “I’m sorry man,” he said, shaking his head as he raised his bat. “I really am.”
He drove the bat straight down into the man’s forehead, wincing at the crack of his skull as the body went limp. Dante hit him a few more times, just to be sure. When he was satisfied, he turned away with a sick feeling in his stomach, and headed out of the room of death.
CHAPTER SIX
Grace sat by the window, looking back at the wreck and watching as a dozen zombies continued to congregate around the other driver. She stayed out of sight, not wanting to draw them over.
“How’s it looking out there?” June asked quietly, coming up beside her.
“They all seem distracted by the other driver,” Grace murmured. “I don’t think they saw us come in here. Or if they did, they’ve already forgotten about it.”
June nodded. “Are you hungry?” she asked.
Grace’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. How can you eat at a time like this… she thought, but then shook her head, realizing that it would be a good idea to eat while they had the chance. She patted her stomach.
“Amazingly enough, I think I am,” she said.
June nodded and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll whip you up something good, then,” she said. “Assuming they weren’t new age health freaks, in which case I’ll do my best to make something edible out of soy sausage.” She dissolved into a coughing fit, and then put a hand to her forehead, straightening up. “I’ll… put a mask on, too.”
Grace smiled appreciatively, though her eyes were tired.
As June went to the kitchen, Bailey fiddled around with the remote control, finally clicking it on. There was an old rerun of an 80s sitcom, complete with a laugh track.
“That hardly seems appropriate,” she muttered, “given the situation.” She clicked around to several different cable stations, all of them showing their regular programming, which made her brow furrow. “What is going on?” she murmured to herself. “Why are they ignoring this?”
Grace crossed over to her. “Most of the cable stations are automated,” she suggested, “so they have their programming set up in advance. Chances are, nobody is at the controls.”
Dead America | Book 1 | Lowcountry [Part 1] Page 4