Charlie was about twenty feet from the door when a zombie burst out of the doorway headed right at him and headed fast, like a speed walker. I had but a glimpse of his face as he strode past me, and that was enough. His lips were torn from his face, exposing his yellowed teeth. If that was how he got it, it was a nasty wound to die from. His neck and shirt front were completely covered in blood, and his hands were vicious claws he was extending to reach Charlie with.
I didn’t want to shoot for fear of attracting more of them, but Charlie looked like he was not going to be able to defend himself. I swung the carbine and was about to squeeze off a shot when Charlie moved. It happened so fast the zombie never knew what hit it. Charlie waited until the zombie’s hands were nearly on him, then he ducked and pivoted out of the way, sweeping the zombie’s legs from underneath him with one of his tomahawks. As the zombie landed flat on his back, Charlie jumped over its flailing arms and swung at the zombie’s head, intending to nail it from the top. The zombie had other ideas, rolling away and letting the tomahawk slam into its shoulder. Charlie left it there and the zombie stood up with the ‘hawk sticking out of it like a big toothpick on a rotten hors devours. It started for him again and Charlie sidestepped the lunging arms and swung at the back of its head. The axe blade bit deep with a sound like a watermelon being dropped, and the zombie stumbled forward, falling on its face, dead for good.
Charlie approached the zombie with his gun out in case the damn thing didn’t know it was dead. But it was and Charlie retrieved his weapons. Tommy and I exchanged looks, and Tommy said “Looks like that was a fast one.”
“Yeah.” I said. “I hope they all don’t get like that or we are going to have serious trouble.”
Charlie joined us. “Thanks for the warning on the fast ones. That little bastard nearly threw my timing off.”
“Dead is dead. You did fine.” I said. I looked at the zombie he killed. Something was wrong about it. “Hey, guys. Look at that Z over there. What’s wrong with him?
Charlie looked at him and shrugged. “He’s a born-again corpse. What’s right about him?”
Tommy looked. “You’re right, why doesn’t he look like the others.?”
It took me a minute to figure it out. “The blood. The blood on his shirt is fresh. He just killed something recently.” I said.
Charlie looked at Tommy and they both looked at me. “So?” they said.
I sighed. You gave them eyes, Lord, but they refuse to see, I thought. “Fresh blood means fresh kill. Fresh kill means there might be more survivors.”
That changed their expressions. Charlie looked at the dark opening and hefted his tomahawks. Tommy followed suit and gripped his crowbar tighter. I signaled to Sarah to watch the vehicle as we closed on the door and stepped inside.
The interior was dark, but the light spilling in the doorway provided a decent amount of light. The storeroom was filled with boxes, pallets, and assorted crates. I signaled Tommy to head to the left while Charlie broke off to the right. I went straight ahead staying in the light. I could see the wall of the storeroom in front of me, and I edged my way towards it, checking the aisles as I went by. Every ten steps I stopped and listened, and I could see Tommy and Charlie doing the same. I could see a body in the shadows on the left side, but it wasn’t moving. Tommy bent down to check it, and shook his head at me. Dead for sure.
Passing the third aisle, a small hand shot out and grabbed my foot. “Whoa!” I whispered loudly, causing Charlie to pause and Tommy to straighten up. I looked down and it was a small child, about three years old. It was a girl, judging by its clothes, but that was where the resemblance ended. Her hair was mostly torn off, like it had been trying to escape something that had grabbed it, and its legs were mostly gone, save for some bones sticking out in awkward positions. That’s why it hadn’t come to greet us, it couldn’t move.
I shook off the grasping hand and stepped back before she had a chance to get close for a bite. The pathetic creature let out a groan and dragged itself closer. I drew my knife and finished it off, closing its eyes forever. Part of me was sad at the necessity, but all it takes is a moment of pity and these things will rip your throat out.
We finished checking the storeroom without further incident, and regrouped back at the door with Sarah and Kristen.
“We still need to check the rest of the store, but I want to send supplies back now.” I told the group.
Charlie looked skeptical. “Don’t know if we want to split our forces, chief. Could be a hundred of those things in there.”
Tommy concurred. “He’s right. Could be a death trap, with no way to retreat.”
I nodded. “You’re right, it could be all that, but I don’t plan on going in just yet. We’ve got a lot of food here, and the truck will take too many trips. I’m sending Sarah back with a loaded truck, and she’s coming back with the bus for the rest. Besides, if there are survivors, we’ll need the extra room.”
Charlie and Tommy agreed with me on that point, so for the next fifteen minutes we spent loading up the truck with as much as we could without running the risk of spilling anything. Sarah got in the truck and I handed her the radio. “Let Duncan know what’s up when you’re on the road, so he can get the bus ready for a quick departure.”
Sarah nodded. “You want anyone else to come back with me.?”
I thought for a second. “See if the doc is available, and if she is, haul her along, just in case.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “And what do I tell her is she doesn’t want to come?”
“Tell her that we’ve busted a place that has a pharmacy, and would she like to do a little shopping?” I figured that little incentive might go a long way.
Sarah shrugged. “She won’t wear a gun, you know that.”
I nodded. “I don’t really care. Give her a stick if you have to, just get her.”
Sarah smiled. “Done.” With that, she rolled away carrying the first of what I hoped to be many food trips. We were going to attract a lot of attention, but it was worth it. I had winter to worry about, and I still needed to talk to Nate about some new plans.
Tommy and Charlie and Kristen watched the truck roll away, and Charlie was the first to speak up. “We just gonna wait here, then?”
I snorted. “Hell, no. We’re going in. They won’t be back for half an hour, and I want to see the situation inside.”
Tommy nudged Kristen. “Told you.” He said conspiratorially.
Kristen grinned at me. I flipped Tommy off and brought my gun up to the ready position. “Let’s go, we don’t have much time.”
Back inside, we stopped at the swinging doors which led to the store area. There was a window in the door, but it was useless in the dark light. I could see some light coming in the front windows, but as it got closer to the back where we were, the light was noticeably less. We had two options, bust through and let whatever was in there come at us, or creep in and hope we could gain some advantage. I looked at the aisle directly in front of me and saw it was clear. The good news was we could hold off quite a few if they had to funnel into the aisle to get us. The bad news was we could be overwhelmed if there was sufficient numbers. Always a risk, anyways.
I signaled to Charlie to hold the right, and Tommy to hold the left. Kristen was to come behind me and stay close. We pushed through the doors and headed to the middle of the aisle.
The first thing that struck me was the smell. It was nearly a physical thing that I had to wade through. Rotting meat and produce from the grocery section gave the air a sickly kind of stench. There was a smoky smell I couldn’t identify, and a definite coppery smell, like there was a lot of blood somewhere. Something had died here, and had died recently. I stopped in the aisle to get my bearings and to listen for anything attracted to the noise. I heard a thumping sound, and some groans, which told me we weren’t alone, but since the thumping hadn’t stopped, whatever it was focused on something else. I went down to the end of the aisle and peeked around. The store was s
urprisingly not a mess. Sure there were things on the floor, but I expected a lot worse. We worked our way down one of the center aisles, checking each row carefully for zombies. Nothing so far.
We got down to the end of the main aisle and regrouped at Lawn and Garden. The thumping sound continued unabated, which helped mask our presence. It was pretty creepy, knowing they were there somewhere, yet they didn’t know we were there.
We moved towards the outside wall, picking our way through some debris scattered on the floor. The Camping section seemed to be pretty well picked over, but I motioned Charlie to grab some karabiners, which are always useful for securing doors and gates. The next couple of aisles brought us to the sports equipment and it was interesting to note the baseball bats were all gone. Nice thought, but in the long run, not effective enough. Human heads were hard, and you needed penetration, not just force.
We passed quietly to the electronics section, and this area looked to have been looted. Not exactly sure why anyone would want anything electronic when the power was out, but some people didn’t care about that. The thumping was getting louder, and I thought I heard a voice amid the pounding. I looked at Charlie and he nodded his head. He heard it, too. Someone was alive in here.
We gripped our weapons a little tighter and moved our way towards the pounding. There was a lot of light coming in the front, and I could see why. A car had smashed through the front doors, opening up the building to anyone. A look at the car gave a grim picture as to what had happened. Someone had tried to find refuge here, and were attacked by local zombies. Dried blood covered the outside of the driver’s side of the car, and there were dark bits of flesh scattered around. On the other side of the car a body was laying on the ground, most of it had been eaten away. I could see ribs sticking out of the torso, and the organs were all missing. The flesh on the arms was shredded, and I could only imagine the fight, as what had once been a man tried to fend off his attackers. Behind me I could hear Kristen gag a little as she saw the corpse. I wondered about the little girl I had put down in the storeroom and if she had come from this car.
Pushing these thoughts aside, I raised my hand and ducked down by the car. Tommy moved to the side and Charlie covered the rear. About twelve zombies were gathered around an office door, and one of them was pounding on it, trying to break it in. The rest were hitting the door when they could reach it. During a lull I definitely heard someone scream at the zombies. Tommy and Charlie heard it, too. Definitely alive. We had to move. I figured the noise had attracted all the zombies in the store, which was why we hadn’t seen any elsewhere in the store.
I signaled to Tommy and Charlie and they drew back, allowing me a clear course of fire. We couldn’t risk getting swarmed, so the rest of the team fanned out and watched the aisles and the door. I heard Kristen curse as she slipped on the blood by the car.
I waved to Tommy and he turned on his flashlight, lighting up one of the zombies. I took quick aim and shot it dead. The loud report inside the building froze the zombies for a minute and I was able to drop two more that Tommy highlighted for me. The rest turned and with various degrees of mobility came at us. Tommy kept lighting them up and I kept putting them down. In short order, all twelve had been killed for good.
The silence was nearly deafening, and we held our collective breaths, waiting for any more noise or movement. Kristen broke the silence from the door.
“We got movement out here!” she shouted, adjusting her grip on her weapon and checking the magazine in her Glock.
“How many?” I yelled back.
“Six at least, headed this way.”
“Placement?”
Kristen glanced out the door. “All individuals, moving regular.”
I did a quick calculation. The bus should be here in ten minutes, if everything went well. We needed to be out back ready to go in five. “Charlie, head outside left and engage. Kristen, go with Tommy and see what’s left of whoever is alive in here. Tommy, give me your weapon, I’m going out with Charlie.”
Tommy handed over his crowbar and Charlie headed out the door, tomahawks at the ready. I handed the carbine to Tommy and he slung it over his shoulder.
I headed out to the parking lot and headed right. Charlie had already taken out one zombie and was heading for his second. I ran toward the closest one on the left and as soon as he was within reach, I smashed the crowbar across his forehead. His head caved in and he crumpled without a sound. I ran toward the second one, a medium-sized man who was missing most of his face, ducked under his hands and planted the hooked end of the crowbar in the back of his head. He went down with a small sigh, as if he was grateful I had ended his miserable existence. Charlie was working on his third one, an elderly woman, judging by her dress, hooking the legs out from under her with one ‘hawk and caving in her face with the other after she hit the ground. I left the crowbar and faced the last one, who had managed to close the distance while I was dealing with the little guy. She was a woman in her thirties, roughly, and looked like she had been through some tough times as a zombie. Her skin was tight against her skull, and her eyes were sunken. Her lips were black with dried blood, and her teeth were chipped and jagged. I could see a line of something coming out of the corner of her mouth, and made a note to stay the hell away from that disease-ridden spittle. I didn’t have time to retrieve the crowbar, so I drew my knife and waited, holding it in a reverse grip. As Drooley got close, her face turned into a snarl and she reached up with both hands. I pushed her arm away to the right with my left hand, pivoting on my waist and turning her to the left and profiling her head for a second. As her dead brain tried to re-orient itself, I reached high and slammed the knife down onto the top of her head, the tanto point punching through her skull like a bullet. She dropped without a sound, and the knife slipped out of her skull without my having to let go of it, making a slurping noise on the way out. Some things you never get used to, I thought, grimacing at the sound.
Charlie came up to me as I wiped off my blade and retrieved Tommy’s crowbar, wiping it off as well. He didn’t say a word, I didn’t feel the need to talk either. We just nodded to each other in that way men have, and looked around. The area was strangely quiet of zombie activity. I would have figured there to be more around here, it was oddly still. Usually that was when the floor fell out from under you, so Charlie and I jogged back to the store.
Inside, Tommy and Kristen were talking to a group of survivors. They jumped at the sight of us, but relaxed when they saw we weren’t zombies, and Kristen was reassuring the group. There were five of them, three females and two males. One of the females was openly crying, stealing glances at the body by the car. They looked like they had had a rough time. Small wonder, given what they thought might have been their last moments. As we got closer, I told Charlie to head to the back to wait for the bus. I walked over to Tommy and drew him aside, handing him back his crowbar and he gave me back my carbine.
“So what do we have here?” I asked.
Tommy shrugged. “Typical story, really. They were three neighbors that had banded together after everything had gone south. After a while, they ran out of food and water. They decided to go see if they could re-supply, and when they stopped to check out the store, they got jumped by what the blond woman says was a fast moving zombie. The thing had an arm in their car before they knew it, and Bill, the guy who got grabbed, panicked and hit the gas, crashing the car into the store. Before they could react, other zombies had dragged Bill out and were ripping him apart. Jason, the bigger guy there, he figured they needed to get out and use the distraction, so he pulled the rest out of the car and got them to the office before one of the zombies saw them and went after them. He’s pretty shaken up, and feels guilty he didn’t help his friend, but I figured you’d talk to him about that. That’s pretty much it, I’m sure there’s more, but I personally don’t need details.”
I smiled. Tommy was a great fighter and friend, but don’t ask him to give rat’s ass about your problems. �
��Thanks. Charlie’s out back, the bus should be here. We need to get loaded and get moving.”
“What are we taking?” Tommy asked, looking around. He wanted to know so he could tell the crew that had come back to help.
I looked at a virtual warehouse of items we could use. Clothing, tools, bedding, food, toys, everything. It coincided perfectly with what I wanted to do with the survivor group, so without hesitation, I said, “Everything.”
Tommy did a double take at me and looked around. “All of it?” he said incredulously.
I nodded. “All of it. We have a lot of work to do. When you get back, rouse everyone and get the gym ready, we’re packing it in there until we can get it sorted out. And Tommy?”
“Yeah, John?”
“No one takes anything until its all back and I have a chance to talk to everyone.”
“Got it.” Tommy jogged back to the rear of the building to tell Charlie the good news.
I turned back to the ragged group of survivors. Kristen was holding one of the women, a petite brunette who couldn’t stop crying. I went over to them and introduced myself. “My name is John Talon, and I’m part of a group of survivors who have managed to live in this mess for while now, and we are living in a school not far from here. There’s enough room for all of you if you want to stay and contribute to the group. If you want to go out on your own, we’ll supply you and see you on your way. Your choice. We’re going to clean out this store and take everything of value back with us. You can head back with the first bus load.”
I didn’t expect much in the way of conversation, but the one called Jason raised his hand. “How many people do you have?” he asked.
“Over a hundred. If you decide to stay with us, we’ll ask you to contribute in some way to the group. We’ll train you to defend yourself, and be part of the cleanup and eradication crews we have. If you show serious aptitude, you’ll become a raider if you want to. If not, good bye and good luck.” I learned a long time ago that honesty never hurt in the long run.
White Flag of the Dead Page 17