Mankind

by Stalletti, Matthew

  Suddenly, Michael notices a lounge area of the store where there are tables and couches. Michael remembers how he kept his own couch from his home right up against the door, and it kept the infected out for a long time. Michael realizes how he can keep them out now.

  “The couches! The tables! Ram them up against the doors!” Michael screams.

  Michael and Moxxie quickly run over to the lounge and begin pushing couches toward the door. Linda hears Michaels scream and comes out to see what's going on. Linda looks confused as she watches Michael and Moxxie push furniture, but as soon as she sees what's right outside the front door, she understands what they are trying to do. Linda runs over to the lounge and begins pushing a table over toward the door. Michael and Moxxie finish pushing the furniture up against the door and run back to do it again. Couch by couch, the group secures the front entrance. The infected reach the doors and begin to bang and scratch on the windows. Their efforts are useless, but after some time, they might be able to break their way inside. Michael and Moxxie watch the door after finishing securing it. They look tired and scared, but they know they did a good job securing the building. Moxxie looks over at Michael, but he doesn't look back. He is mesmerized by the sight of all those infected trying to break their way in to eat them to death. Michael continues to watch the infected until he hears Moxxie walk over to her Mom. Moxxie walks up to Linda and hugs her.

  “Are you okay?” Linda asks.

  Moxxie finishes the hug, “Yeah. I had to kill a few of them though.”

  Linda looks at her daughter. Linda feels sad on the inside. She never wanted her daughter to have to be exposed to that kind of violent behavior. Linda reaches forward and hugs her daughter again. Michael watches them hug, and for a short moment, he feels happy. Michael quickly remembers that his sister is deeply wounded and is being treated in the back.

  Michael walks through the door of the storage room and looks around. Michael sees Sydney laying on her back with Shelby kneeling next to her. Sydney starts screaming loud, but Michael doesn't know why. Michael walks over to get a better view of what's happening. Shelby is cleaning the wound with rubbing alcohol. The burning is causing Sydney to experience severe pain. Michael walks over and crouches down next to her. Sydney has tears in her eyes as she is being treated. Michael wants the pain to stop, so he tries to get her mind off of it,

  “Hey, Sydney… look at me.” Michael leans forward, “What happened out there?”

  “Uh… we were driving. It was going well, but it all happened so quick.” Sydney says.

  “What happened?”

  “People started shooting at us. I don't even know where they were. Maybe in the bushes? But they shot at us and we went off road and crashed.” Sydney explains.

  Michael leans back, “God damn.”

  “When I woke up, I pretended to be dead, so they wouldn't kill me. But once Matthew got out of the wreck, they took him and drove off.”

  “But you said over the radio something about them leaving a trail?” Michael asks.

  “Yeah. Their truck must have been leaking gas cuz’ I saw a trail of it on the road. I’ll take you back there and we can go find Matthew.” Sydney suggests.

  “No! You’re in no condition to be moving around. You need to stay here for a little while. At least until the wound starts to heal.” Shelby says.

  Michael realizes that he just successfully acquired information about Matthews location, and also took his sisters mind off of the pain. Michael looks over to the door of the storage room and sees Moxxie, Linda, and Matteo standing in the entrance. Michael stands up and walks toward them to talk. Michael looks at Linda and Moxxie.

  “She’s not going to be able to move for a few days, and those infected outside aren't going anywhere.” Michael says.

  “What are we going to do?” Linda asks.

  “I don't know. The only thing I can think of is to get rid of the infected.”

  “I’ll help you with that.” Moxxie says.

  Linda looks at her daughter angrily, “No! You’re not going out there again!”

  “He can't do it alone, Mom!” Moxxie says.

  Michael looks at Linda, “She's right. It’ll be easier if there’s two of us.”

  Linda doesn't look very happy. She doesn't like the thought of her daughter being out there, fighting the infected, but she knows that they have a better chance of surviving if they get rid of the infected. Linda feels defeated, almost as if she has lost the power over her daughter. She knows that she will do whatever she wants now, so she might as well just leave her be. Linda looks down to the ground. Michael looks back at Sydney, who is still in pain, and then back at Moxxie.

  “If we keep everyone in here, then we can let the infected inside. I’m thinking that our best bet is get behind one of the cashier counters and lure them to us. Then we can just poke them until they’re all dead.” Michael explains.

  Moxxie nods her head, “Alright. When are we doing this?”

  “Let’s go right now.”

  Michael and Moxxie look at each other. They are both confident that they can easily take care of this. Michael looks back to his sisters, and then looks at Linda.

  “After this, I’m going out there… to find him. I can’t wait much longer. Who knows what could happen if I do.” Michael explains.

  “I’m going too. I’m sorry Mom, but you can’t stop me.” Moxxie says.

  Linda looks at Moxxie with complete and utter disbelief. She can’t imagine her own daughter throwing herself out into such a violent world. She turns around and begins to cry, knowing that she can’t stop her daughter. Moxxie feels bad, but she feels like she owes Matthew. Michael leaves the room, and Moxxie follows. She closes the door to the storage room as she leaves. Linda looks scared and fearful. She doesn't know what the outcome of the night will be. Matteo walks over to the other side of the room. Sydney looks up at him while lying on the floor and sees a flashlight in his hands.

  “Hey, Matteo.”

  Matteo looks over at her. He is confused and doesn’t know why she is talking to him. It’s the first time that anyone had spoken to him since they met.

  “That flashlight… don't turn it on at night. I think the monsters outside might be alarmed if they see it.” Sydney says.

  Matteo looks down at his flash light, and then walks away. Sydney realizes that he was the one playing with the flashlight, and that he lured the infected toward the store.

  Moxxie climbs over the cashier counter and looks at Michael. Michael begins to look anxious. He is going to let the infected inside and lure them to the back counter. Michael nods at Moxxie and quickly runs over to the front doors. Michael stops in front of the doors and looks at all the infected outside in the pitch-black night. Michael hesitates, but inevitably begins pulling the furniture away from the door. Piece by piece, the door slowly begins to open. After a few pulls, the door gets pushed open all the way, and the infected swarm inside. Michael turns around and runs back toward Moxxie at the counter. Michael reaches the counter and climbs over. Michael looks back at the group of infected.

  Michael screams, “Over here assholes!”

  The scream attracts the infected, and they make their way over to the counter. Michael pulls out his knife, and Moxxie pulls out hers.

  “Get ready.” Michael says.

  The two of them wait patiently for the infected to arrive. Eventually, the infected swarm the counter, but they don't know how to climb. They reach in to try and grab Michael and Moxxie, but they can't. Michael counts the infected and realizes that there are a lot fewer than he originally thought. Michael feels confident now. He knows that this will be much easier than anticipated. Michael reaches forward and thrusts his knife into the skull of an infected. Michael pulls the blade out of the dead body and does it to the next infected. Moxxie watches Michael's form, and tries to mimic it. She begins killing infected as well.

  The final body drops to the ground. Michael is sweating, but cocky after seeing all the dea
d infected on the floor. Michael looks over at Moxxie and smiles. She smiles back for a short moment.

  “We did it!” Moxxie says.

  “Yeah, we did…”

  Michael slowly climbs over the counter and walks back to the storage room. As he’s walking, he turns and looks at the front door. The doors are wide open, and all he can see is pitch black. The subtle breeze from the outside hits Michaels face. Out there is Michael's chance to leave and find Matthew. He knows he could do it, but he knows it's not safe. Michael looks back at Moxxie. She just finished climbing over the counter. She looks at him, confused and curious.

  “What is it?” Moxxie asks.

  “I'm gonna go now. I'm gonna find Matthew.”

  Moxxie wants to respond, but she doesn't know what to say. She wants to go with him, but she’s scared to go out in the darkness and look for someone in the wilderness. She said she would go with him before, but she starts to feel scared of what may happen. Michael sees her expression and quickly understands this. Michael turns and walks over to the wall near the storage door where he left his hunting rifle. Michael picks it up and begins walking toward the entrance of the store. He doesn't want to look back at Moxxie, because he knows that it might make him change his mind. As Michael steps outside, he hears someone behind him.

  Michael turns around to see Moxxie following him with her rifle in her hands as well. Michael stops and looks at her confused. Moxxie smiles and looks at Michael.

  “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

  Michael smiles back, realizing that she plans on joining him on his search. Michael is beginning to think that Moxxie may feel the same way about him that he feels about her. He feels like he should say something, but it's so soon after she lost her boyfriend. Michael turns and walks off into the darkness. Moxxie follows him.

  Michael and Moxxie walk down the road that Matthew had been driving on. For the longest time, they had seen nothing ahead of them. This is mostly because of the darkness, but now, they start to see the silhouette of the car that Matthew had drove. It is still crashed against the tree, just like Sydney told him. Michael walks past the car and sees the gas trail that Sydney told him about. Michael crouches down to get a better look. It is indeed the trail. Michael turns and looks back at Moxxie. They nod at each other. They know what to do next.

  The sun slowly rises over the horizon. Michaels eyes slowly begin to shut as he walks. Moxxie pats him on the shoulder once she sees this.

  “Stay awake. We gotta be getting closer.” Moxxie says.

  Michael and Moxxie had been walking on the road, following the trail of the truck all night. Michael is tired as he hasn't gotten any rest in the last 24 hours. Moxxie isn't as tired as Michael, so she understands how important it is to feel awake and stay focused.

  “Just talk to me Michael. It’ll help you stay awake.”

  “Okay, um… what’s your favorite color?” Michael asks sarcastically.

  Moxxie laughs, “Okay. Let's talk about something else please.”

  “Alright. Oh, here's something I’ve been thinking about; why is your brother so quiet? He hasn't said anything this entire time.”

  Moxxie looks down at the ground. She looks sad now. Michael looks over at her, not considering the actual reason her brother is quiet. He begins to think that something traumatic must have happened to him.

  “When it all started, he saw some things that no kid should see. We lost people that we cared about. Matteo didn't know how to take it, you know? He’s only 11.” Moxxie says.

  “Yeah… when we get back, I’m gonna try and talk to him more.” Michael says.

  “Oh yeah? About what?” Moxxie chuckles.

  Michael is about to respond by referencing a video game that the kid might have played, but quickly notices something on the road up ahead. Michael takes a closer look and notices that it’s a truck parked. Michael begins to run toward the truck, thinking that Matthew might be there. Moxxie sees the truck and thinks the same thing. She runs behind Michael.

  They reach the truck, and Michael sees that this is the truck that had been leaking the gas trail. Michael gets his rifle off his back and slowly walks over to the driver seat of the truck. Michael points his gun at the door, and quickly swings it open to see what's inside. It's empty. Michael realizes that the men who took Matthew must have run out of gas from the leak and continued to walk. Michael is visibly frustrated now. He has no lead on where they are. Michael is about to say something, but as soon as he turns and looks at Moxxie, he sees something truly frightening. Someone has Moxxie at gunpoint. She looks terrified and is about to cry. Michael doesn't know what to do. He can't try and shoot him, because he might hit her by accident. Michael looks at the man holding her with a handgun to her temple and sees his sadistic smile on his face. Michael wants to speak but is interrupted when he hears people come from the forest off the side of the road. Four other armed men come out from the bushes with their guns drawn. They look dirty, uncivilized, and sadistic. They are clearly not the men that took Matthew, but they can still very well be dangerous. Michael freezes up in fear. He knows that he can do nothing to make this situation better. One of the men from the woods looks at Michael and smiles.

  “You’re not the only one who’s been following this damn truck…”

  Chapter 10

  Torn Apart

  Shelby steps over the dead infected near the checkout counter. She sees all the wounds in their skulls. She doesn't need to worry about any of them still being alive, but she still wields a blade. She counts the bodies and realizes just how many infected her brother had to go through. She turns and looks over to the front doors of the store and sees that the front door is still left open. Shelby worries that more infected will come into the store, but she also realizes that her brother and Moxxie are long gone by now.

  Shelby quickly walks over to the front door of the store. She arrives and peaks out into the darkness of the night. It looks clear of any infected, but that doesn't stop Shelby from being cautious. She closes the doors of the store and steps back. It was never apparent how easy these doors swung open before. She figures that it was probably caused by the force of all the infected trying to break in from earlier. This easy accessibility from the outside is a problem for them. Shelby realizes this and begins to think of some safety precautions that can be made. She turns and begins walking back toward the storage room. As she does, she is very observant of the products in the aisles. She figures that something useful may be laying around that could help with the doors.

  She continues to walk, looking for something useful. Eventually, Shelby stumbles upon the toy section. She stops and looks down the aisle. She knows nothing here will help her, but a part of her wants to look. She begins walking down the aisle and looks at all the toys that have been left behind. Shelby begins to feel nostalgic as she sees the innocence around her. She remembers what it was like to be a kid, and how simple things were. Now she must survive in a cruel world. She stops walking and looks at a toy on the shelf nearby. It’s an action figure of a superhero. She looks at it and thinks about Matteo who is still in the storage room with the others. She thinks about what it must be like to live in a world like this as a child. She begins to feel sorry for him, but also for his mother. She would never want to live in a world like this as a child herself, so she understands why the kid is so distraught. Shelby decides to pick up the toy and give it to Matteo to try and make him a little happy. As she does, she reveals a bell toy that was hidden behind it. She stares at it for a moment as an idea pops into her head. Shelby looks over the shelf, back toward the front door. She wonders if she could use the bell to create some kind of alarm.

  Suddenly, Linda walks out from the storage room with her hands on her head. Shelby turns to look at Linda. Shelby can he the subtle sobs and sniffles coming from Linda. She is clearly upset, but Shelby doesn't know why. Linda wipes the tears from her eyes and notices Shelby standing in the toy aisle. She looks confused, but suddenly be
comes angry. Shelby steps out from the aisle and slowly approaches Linda. As Shelby walks close, Linda notices the dead infected near the checkout counter. She’s disgusted by the sight of the corpses, and the smell of the rotting bodies slowly fills the room over time.

  She walks up to Linda and notices the smell as well. Shelby turns and looks at the bodies. She realizes that they are going to have to get rid of the bodies if they plan on staying in the store any longer.

  “Did my daughter do that?” Linda asks.

  Shelby turns to face Linda, “Yeah… I think they left right after they cleared this place out. Do you smell it too?”

  “Yeah… what are we going to do about it?”

  Shelby thinks for a moment, “All we can really do is get rid of them… right?”

  Linda steps forward and gets closer to the bodies. As she nears, the stench grows much stronger. Linda squints her eyes and covers her nose as soon as the smell strengthens. Shelby decides to stay back, as she doesn’t want to smell the bodies any longer. She is still curious as to why Linda was crying earlier. She doesn't want to ask, but she still wants to find out. Linda turns around and begins walking back to the storage room. She can’t stand the smell any longer. She wants the bodies gone, but she does not want to dispose of them herself.

  As she walks, she notices the toy in Shelby’s hand. She stops in confusion. She wonders why someone of her age would stop to pick up a toy. Shelby looks at Linda. She sees her confused expression. Shelby doesn't really like Linda. Linda didn't make a very good first impression, and she's only been someone who complains, instead of someone who contributes. Shelby isn't going to do anything about her feelings though. Linda stops close to Shelby, still looking at the toy.