by Brian Grenda
Jon replies, “I’m parked right out front. I’m glad you and Phil are safe as well.”
We pause for a second and know that this is where we must part ways.
Jon looks at me and says, “This is where our journey ends for now, but I will see you again.”
Jon shakes my hand and waves goodbye to Phil and I. Jon and his dad then run out of the front entrance into the parking lot.
Phil and I leave the store through the back exit and make it back to our SUV. The SUV has a couple of zombies near it now. I push my shopping cart at a zombie and knock him down.
Phil pushes a zombie down with his right shoulder and makes it to the trunk of the SUV. I follow right behind him, and we load the supplies into the SUV.
Phil closes the trunk as I take out the zombies with my katana. Phil and I hop into the SUV, and we close the doors.
As I sit in my seat, I take a deep breath and feel a sense of gratitude that we made it out of the store alive. Phil starts the SUV and is ready to move onto another store.
“Where are we going next?” asks Phil.
“Onto the Big Club. It’s a bulk food store where we should be able to get a lot of supplies and food for the house, babies, and us.”
Phil backs out of the parking spot. He runs over a zombie body and a zombie head as he backs out of the parking space.
Phil hands me the list of items. I see that we got a lot of items from the hardware store, but now we need food, baby supplies, and other products from a food store.
We should be able to get all that we need from our next stop, unless the store has been taken over or looted already.
CHAPTER 7
THE BIG CLUB
Phil and I arrive at the Big Club bulk food store parking lot. As we pull into the parking lot entrance, we find it a chaotic mess, but different from the craziness at the hardware store. People are gathered by the front entrance of the store, but don’t seem to be going inside.
We drive past the front entrance and find that the store entrance is being guarded by several armed individuals. They are not letting people inside the store.
Phil stops the SUV in front of the main entrance and examines what is going on. Three armed men are blocking the entrance and not allowing anyone to enter the store. People are yelling at the men and pleading with them to let them inside.
A man tries to run past the armed men and make it into the store. The man is unsuccessful as one of the armed men grabs the man and slams him to the floor. Another man punches one of the armed men in the face. A fight breaks out and chaos ensues.
Phil drives away from the entrance and parks in a parking space. He parks the SUV in a parking space away from the store entrance that allows us to see the front entrance, but that is also a safe enough distance away, in case anything should happen.
The three men are pushing everyone away as they try to move closer to the entrance. People continue yelling to get into the store, but the group of men aren’t allowing it. More and more people get angry and start to get physical with the men.
A group of men come running towards the store with shopping carts. They try to push their way into the store through the crowd with their shopping carts. As the men get closer to the store, the armed men who a guarding the front door yell for them to stop.
The men with the shopping carts do not stop and the armed men start to fire bullets into the crowd.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Bullets fly into the air and people start to scream and fall to the floor. Blood and bodies are flying all over the place.
The sights and sounds of machine gunfire and screams are heard as Phil and I sit in the SUV. The men that were pushing the shopping carts as well as several other people that were surrounding the store entrance were immediately killed by the gunfire.
The crowd scatters. People are running all over the place and start screaming at the sound of the gunfire. The store entrance and parking lot have turned into a war zone.
Screams of fear and panic are heard as well as people speeding out of the parking lot in their cars. Phil and I look at each other with a concerned look. I can see that Phil wants to rush into the store, guns a blazing, but that isn’t the smartest move.
“We can’t go fight them for the store Phil.”
Phil replies, “We have to do something. We can’t let these people get away with this though.”
I reply, “We won’t, but we can’t get this done without help and without knowing all the information.”
I continue with, “Let’s just hang out here for a second and see what happens.”
Phil and I anxiously sit in our SUV and watch the front of the store. Bodies of men and women lie motionless at the entrance of the store. The angry mob who wanted to get into the store has cleared out from the store front now.
The front entrance to the store opens. A group of men come walking out the front door and start to examine the bodies. They stab the heads of the men and women, before dragging the bodies away from the main entrance and into the parking lot.
There looks to be about six men that came from inside the store. One man in a bright red shirt is directing the men. He clearly is the leader of the group, as the men do what he says.
As a group of men are dragging the bodies of the deceased victims into the parking lot, two trucks come speeding up to the front entrance. Four men get out of the trucks and start shooting at the store front and the men who were dragging the bodies into the parking lot.
Another gunfire battle starts. The armed men at the front of the store take cover and start firing at the trucks.
Bullets are flying all over the parking lot now. The men who were dragging the bodies into the parking lot are shot by the men who exited from the trucks.
Two men that exited from the trucks are immediately shot as they attack the men guarding the store.
A man sees his friends get shot as he takes cover behind the truck. He immediately wants to leave the store and jumps back into his truck.
The man starts the truck and starts to drive away. As the man speeds away in the truck, he leaves one survivor to fend for himself.
The men from the store yell at the last man that attacked the store to drop his weapon.
The man is helplessly standing in the street. The armed men order him to drop his weapon and get on his knees. The man isn’t sure what to do.
The men from the store front have their guns pointed at the man as he stands helpless in the middle of the store parking lot.
“Drop the gun or we will kill you,” shouts the leader of the men from the Big Club.
The man looks at his two friends’ lifeless bodies and points his gun at the men at the store front.
He aims directly at one of the men and pulls the trigger. He hits one of the men in the shoulder with his shot.
A barrage of bullets immediately comes flying towards the parking lot and hit the man as he stands facing the store with his gun drawn towards the store. He is ripped apart by the bullets and falls onto the pavement.
Phil and I watch everything that transpires between the group members and make mental notes. This group clearly has taken over this store and will defend it by any means necessary.
“We can’t make a stand here just yet. We are outnumbered.”
Phil says, “You are right, but we can’t just leave it like this.”
“We won’t Phil. We definitely won’t. We need more people and a plan. We can’t go in guns a blazing like the guys in the trucks just tried.”
He looks at me and says, “Where do we go now?”
“We go to the supermarket right by the house. We will be back for this store. Just have to strike when the time and numbers are on our side.”
Phil drives the SUV out of the parking space and out of the parking lot. He makes a left hand turn down the street, and we make our way down to the local supermarket.
The supermarket by the house is big and should have plenty of items. That is unless someone has taken over t
his store as well now.
Phil and I arrive at the local supermarket and we see that people are going in and out of the store. It looks like no one has taken over the supermarket, and that people are able to get food from the store without too much trouble.
Phil parks the SUV in a parking spot away from other cars at the back end of the parking lot. Phil and I exit the SUV. I take note of the chaotic parking lot. Phil grabs a shopping cart, and we start to walk to towards the store.
Phil and I start running towards the store. As we run towards the store, we pass people hysterically loading up their vehicles and leaving the parking lot.
The parking lot is scattered with bodies of crushed zombies, deceased people, discarded groceries and shopping carts.
We enter the store through the main entrance and find people all over the place. People are running quickly down aisles and grabbing everything that they can. The floor is a mess and covered with food, debris, and broken glass.
Phil and I run down an aisle and load the cart up with everything that we can fit. As we enter the aisle, I see a man get trampled by another man pushing a shopping cart. The store is disorganized and a mess. Tons of shelves are bare.
We run down another aisle and find a bunch of baby supplies. I grab diapers and several baby items that Nicole put on the item list. Surprisingly, the baby aisle is well stocked still and has everything that Nicole had on the list.
A fight breaks out in a nearby aisle. Two men are fighting over food. The men exchange punches and start to push each other. One of the men is pushed into the shelves. Food from the shelves comes crashing down onto the floor. The men are yelling at each other and continue to exchange punches.
Phil and I look at each other and know that we need to avoid the chaos, get our items and do it fast. We need to get out of the store, before it gets even crazier.
Phil takes the cart and runs down an aisle to get a couple of items. I go down another aisle and look for a couple of different things from the list.
I pass the man that was pushed down onto the ground. A group of people are helping him get up from the ground. He is an elderly man that seems to be very unhappy about what just happened to him. His face is bloody and starting to show some swelling under his right eye.
I look past the people and see several zombies coming down the aisle. People scream as they see the zombies walking down the aisle. The people can’t move quick enough to get away from the zombies and some are unfortunately bitten by the zombies.
Two men and two women are attacked and swarmed by the zombies. Blood goes flying all over the shelves and floor. The people attacked, scream in pain as the zombie’s latch onto their flesh with their teeth.
I run away from the zombies that are coming down the aisle and grab an unattended shopping cart that was stranded in the middle of the aisle. I push the shopping cart out of the aisle and go towards the produce section.
The produce section is a mess. Fruits and vegetables are thrown all over the place and there is a pretty limited selection left. I fill the cart with several items that I know don’t need to be refrigerated and exit the area.
Phil comes around the corner of an aisle with a half full cart. I meet him at the end of an aisle towards the back of the store.
Phil says, “The shelves are pretty bare now.”
I nod my head in agreement with him, but think to myself that the back-storage room of the supermarket is most likely untouched.
I look at the backroom entrance and motion to Phil that we should check the backroom of the supermarket for the rest of our supplies and food.
I run into the backroom and find it dimly light. The only light is coming from the emergency lights and back entrance door that is partially open.
Phil and I find the backroom to be stocked with tons of perishable and nonperishable food items. As Phil and I are loading up our shopping carts. Several zombies enter the backroom from the store’s back entrance.
I hear them enter the backroom as one of them trips over a bag of rice that was on the floor.
“Keep loading the carts, I’ll take these zombies out.”
Phil starts loading the shopping carts with a good mix of various items. I walk away from the shopping carts and take out my katana. A zombie reaches for me, but I stab him in the forehead before he can touch me.
I remove the katana from the zombies’ head and stab another zombie in the side of the head. As I remove my katana from that zombie, I can hear even more zombies walking towards the backroom entrance from inside the store.
I walk towards the backroom entrance, stab the zombie that is lying on the floor in the head, and see several more zombies walking towards me.
“Phil! Come help me over here.”
Phil runs over to me at the entrance of the backroom. He sees the zombies coming towards us and looks around for what to do about it.
“We need to block them from getting back here,” says Phil.
I start grabbing items and throwing them towards the backroom entrance. Phil grabs a metal U-frame cart that is loaded with items and parks it in front of the backroom entrance.
The zombies are at the backroom entrance now. They are partially blocked by the U-frame, but still trying to get in. The zombies push the metal U-frame, but I brace the frame with heavy rice bags near the tires. Phil grabs more items and positions them to fully block the zombies from getting in.
I check to make sure the cart is secure, when suddenly a can of peas comes flying by my head and smacks one of the zombies in the face.
The zombie falls backwards onto the tile floor of the supermarket.
I look back at Phil and he is laughing.
“Nice shot, guess you still got an arm from your baseball days.”
The zombies are moaning and screaming as they want to rip our flesh apart, but are unable to reach us. I perform one last check to make sure the entrance is secure and the zombies can’t get passed our makeshift barricade. The U-frame and groceries are holding and the zombies are blocked from getting into the backroom now.
Phil and I finish loading up the shopping carts with groceries from the backroom, but we aren’t sure how to get out of the supermarket now. Since the backroom entrance is blocked now, we need to find another way out. I see a beam of sunlight coming out from the back of the supermarket.
I walk over to the light and see one of the rear loading bay doors is partially open. I try to open it, but it’s stuck. The door gives a little when I push it, but it won’t fully open.
Phil comes over and sees that the door is jammed but could be opened. Phil pushes the door with both hands and it becomes a little looser.
I see that Phil loosened the door and I say, “Stand back.”
Phil stands out the way. I run towards the door and kick the door with my right foot. My side kick unjams the door and it swings open.
Phil looks at me and jokes, “Alright karate kid!”
As the door swings open, the hot and humid Florida sun shines on us. We gather our shopping carts and make our way to the rear exit of the supermarket.
The back-alley entrance to the shopping center is clear of zombies and people. Phil and I push our shopping carts down the ramp and into the street. Our shopping carts are very heavy as we loaded them up with tons of food.
We must take the long way around the rear of the entire shopping center back to the parking lot. It’s a long journey around the big L-shaped shopping center.
Phil and I make our way to a corner of the shopping center. As we go around the corner, we see a herd of zombies. The herd must have about 20 zombies in this group.
The zombies must have just chased a person into a local shop, as they are banging on a rear entrance door of a shop that is closed.
Phil sees the zombies and asks, “What the hell? Can’t we catch a break?”
Zombies start to move away from the door and walk towards us. Phil and I park the shopping carts and take out our shotguns.
Phil and I start
to open fire onto the herd of zombies.
Boom! Boom!
Zombies fall to the ground and start to form a pile of dead zombies. I am quickly out of shotgun rounds and take out my handgun.
More and more zombies move away from the door and try to make their way towards us. Phil takes his last shotgun shot and takes out two zombies. I point my handgun at the approaching zombies and take them out with head shots.
Phil grabs his handgun and takes out the last remaining zombies. A pile of lifeless zombies is blocking our path to the parking lot now.
I run over to the zombies and make sure they are all dead before we move them. I take out my katana and stab a few zombies in the head. Phil walks over to the pile and starts moving zombies out of the way.
As Phil and I are moving the zombies out of the way, I hear some noise behind us. I turn around and see two guys stealing our shopping carts.
“Hey! What hell are you doing?”
One of the men gives me the middle finger as the two men start to push the shopping carts down the other end of the alley.
Phil turns around and starts running after the two men. The two men try to steal the shopping carts, but the carts are too heavy for the men to move. Phil catches up to one of the men and tackles him.
I see Phil tackle one of the guys, and I start to run after the other man. The man screams in pain as Phil knocks him to the ground. As Phil is on top of the guy he tackled, the other man tries to punch Phil.
The guy connects his punch to the back of Phil’s head. He tries to land another punch on Phil’s head, but I tackle him before he can.
Phil gathers himself after being punched and rains down punches onto the man he tackled. I stand up and grab the man who I tackled. I grab his right arm, twist it behind his back and slam him into the back wall of the shopping center.
“Trying to steal our stuff, huh?”
The man screams in pain as I push his arm higher up his body.
The man pleads with me, “Please. I’m sorry.”
“You are sorry? You should be sorry that you tried to steal from us.”
I slam the man onto the ground and onto his stomach. He gasps for air as he lays on the street in the fetal position. I check him for weapons and find a knife in his right sock.