by Travis Tufo
“Aurora!” An intense fire sparked in his gut. He looked around, grabbed a plasma TV and headed for her, much like all the infected closing in on them. He threw the big screen against a woman who had bent down to start devouring Aurora. It snapped her neck and she fell back. Eli knelt down, and without even checking to see if she was alive, flung her over his shoulder and ran back towards Niva, carrying Aurora like a firefighter.
“What do we do now?” Niva cried.
“I don’t know.” Eli ran right past her. Together they zig-zagged all around the store, avoiding being cut off or surrounded by the mob of infected that were crammed in the store.
“I have an idea.” Determined, Eli rushed back towards the front of the store.
“Anything is better than this,” Niva said and she followed him. Eli saw just what he wanted to see when he made it to the front, a doorway to the second floor. It was probably for management, but today it was for saving lives. They ran up the stairs, making it to the top and slamming the door behind them in the face of an infected who had stuck with them the entire time. They both gasped for air as Eli set Aurora down gently on the manager’s table. She was bleeding a lot from her leg. He wiped away a thick layer of blood and revealed a deep, ragged dog bite.
“I think she’s bleeding out,” Niva said, pointing out the obvious, more from fear than to let Eli in on any medical secret. Eli ripped off the remainder of his shirt and tied it tight against her wound. He placed his forehead against hers and started to cry.
“Please don’t leave me Aurora…. Please.” His tears fell onto her face. It would have been a sad scene, had there not been loud banging on the door to the office from infected trying to get in for a meal.
“Eli, where is your gun?” The girl who was once afraid of killing was now worried that Eli wouldn’t be able to kill to save her.
“It’s in the alleyway. Do you want to go get it?” There was anger in his tone.
“No…I just…”
“Look, if you don’t help me, we are going to lose her.”
“Oh…uh…what do you need me to do?” It was hard to hear each other over the constant pounding on the door.
“Can you find any supplies up here?” Eli never left Aurora’s side. Niva hurried off to explore the large office. She managed to find some pain killers in the drawers and eventually stumbled across a vending machine. It had some bags of chips, cans of soda, and a few water bottles. She grabbed the monitor on the desk and threw it right into the vending machine. She quickly grabbed all the things inside amongst the broken glass.
“Niva, what was that?” She didn’t respond, but instead ran back into the room with her arms full of goodies. Eli gave her a look of great appreciation.
“Thank you.” Eli poured some water over Aurora’s bite and then some down her throat and followed the water with some pain killers, then he took some too. He let her lie there after draping a jacket over her to keep her warm.
“There’s not much more I can do, and I hate that.”
“You’ve done all you can, Eli. All we can do now is hope, pray, and wait.” Eli gave her a half smile and a hug.
“I’m sorry about everything. Shaun, Aurora, all the shit that’s going down,” Eli said and hugged her tighter.
“No, no, I should apologize. I set off that car alar...” Eli cut her off.
“I don’t blame you, Niva. We are all just doing what we can to survive.” There was a brief moment of silence and then they gave their attention back to the banging on the door.
“What are we going to do about them?” Niva asked, pushing aside her fear as if to accept the world around her for once.
“I’m not sure. They are going to be in here any minute and we don’t have any way to defend ourselves. Hey, it’s kinda like our personal paparazzi.” Eli’s humor seemed misplaced, but it managed to draw a smile from Niva’s.
“I always wanted to be famous.”
“Well, you have a ton of fans out there that are dying to meet you!” They laughed together and ate some of the snacks that she’d found. It wasn’t too long before exhaustion got the best of Niva. She looked to Eli.
“It’s fine, you should sleep. Someone might as well get some, no reason for us both to suffer.” She listened to him as best as she could. It would have been hard for the dead to sleep in that room that night with all the constant life threatening noises coming from the hallway. The door represented a shield keeping the three of them alive. An hour passed and Niva found herself in a less than comfortable slumber amidst the floorboards. Eli, on the other hand, sat up with notable posture in a hard backed chair, holding onto Aurora’s cold hand. His mind was a circus, nothing going on in it was normal, and he had no idea what to do next. That whole night he fixed his sights on the small window, wondering if maybe they could squeeze through, and on the door keeping the infected at bay. The door was hands-down suicide; the number of flesh eaters on the other side was seemingly unending. The window would seem to be a decent idea, but it was on a very high second floor, and the drop was straight onto concrete. For the first time in a long time, Eli made a move. He stood up, not wanting to let go of Aurora’s hand, but doing so anyway. He slowly walked towards the window on the other side of the room, getting on his tippy-toes to peer out of it. The sight was more frightening than he had imagined. There were dozens of infected fiends shambling around the parking lot, bumping into cars and looking for their next meal. Of course, the only way they would become an issue for Eli was if he managed to survive the fall. He looked down to the concrete sidewalk. To him, in that specific instance, it was like gazing into a bottomless pit.
“Damn it! Are the odds ever going to be in our favor?” He got down off his toes and returned to his chair, once again grasping Aurora’s dying hand. When his skin touched hers, he felt something. He couldn’t quite describe what it was, but it reminded him of his childhood, back when he was carefree and full of innocence and joy. He gave her a grin, which quickly faded into a frown, and that frown blossomed into gritted teeth and a sick, hateful look. He stood up, muscles clenched and ready to go. He was definitely going to do something, he just didn’t know what.
“Maybe I can open that door and make it downstairs! I can lead them all away from these two and give them a chance.” Alongside the exhaustion, the pain of losing his friend and the intense stress of the situation, he found he was starting to become delusional. There was no way for him to open the door without the monsters killing him immediately and then ultimately eating Niva and Aurora as well. That wasn’t the thought process in his mind as he grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and slowly marched towards what might as well have been the gate to hell. Eli slowly made it half way to the door, dead center in the office when he heard a slight shuffling and a weak moan from behind him. Aurora, for the first time since she had been bitten, was starting to move again. Eli turned to see her open her eyes ever so slightly. He never stopped marching forward, however. They made eye contact and she tried to say something, but nothing came through. Eli placed his hand on the doorknob.
“Eli…don’t.” Her voice was faint, barely heard over the sound of heavy breathing and grunting on the other side of the door.
“I need to keep you two alive, and this is the only way that makes sense to me.” He twisted the knob, coming ever so close to his demise. Before the final click unlocking the door forever, a horn, practically being played by God himself, could be heard blaring out in the parking lot. Eli, still not totally “all there,” squinted his eyes in confusion. He mouthed “what?” and then heard the shuffling and banging on the other side of the door seize. Shivers fired off throughout his body as if he had just entered a meat locker. He placed his ear against the wood of the door and heard the footsteps of countless undead marching back downstairs. The horn outside never quit wailing. Niva was startled awake in a panic.
“Eli!” she called out. He ran to her and forcefully shoved his index finger against her lips, getting his point across. T
hen he whispered, “I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care what it is.” She nodded, completely going along with the noise and letting the mysterious sound continue. Aurora was fading in and out of consciousness, but at the moment all Eli could do was let it happen. For a few seconds longer, the loud noise continued. Then it ended and was instantly followed by a laugh, a few gun shots, and the sound of an engine working hard and sending a car screaming out of the parking lot.
“Get the hell outta there!” a loud call could be heard, quickly fading away as it must have come from the car. Eli ran to the window just in time to see the tailgate of a truck clear across the parking lot, driving away to safety and a very large horde of infected standing in the middle of the parking lot turning to follow. There must have been hundreds, but he knew he had to act quickly before they were back, knocking on the door.
“Niva, I need you to do something for me.” She didn’t like the sound of that; her gut sank.
“I’m going to open that door and sprint down there to get some supplies real quick. I need you get to a safe place near the front of the store.”
“What? That’s where all those fungal things are! And what about all the infected on the way to the front of the store?” She wasn’t having it.
“I’ll kill them. Every last one of them.” He was quiet and intense.
“Well, why do you need me to be at the front of the store? It’s too dangerous! Let me come with you.”
“Niva, I need you to do as I say and shut your damn mouth right now. After I get the supplies I’m coming back for Aurora and if you aren’t at the front of the store to distract them from us, then we will all die.”
“Oh I get it, I perish to save you two.” Her eyes filled with tears of hate.
“Niva…I won’t let those things get you. I really just need you to get to the cash registers and stay there long enough to maybe scream or something once I get a hold of Aurora.” She was hesitant, and clearly hated the idea, but she nodded her head. He gave her a nod and mouthed a thank you. He then ran to the door.
“Now.” He opened the door, still holding the pair of scissors. Immediately he was met by a teenage girl. Her entire face had a thick layer of pale fungus on it, with the occasional tendril sticking out. Blood dripped from her eyes and she opened her mouth to let out a low moan. One quick swing of his arm and the scissors were lost in her skull. She died instantly and dropped to the ground spurting dark red blood on the way down. He pulled his weapon out and made his way to the next infected standing in the hallway. Niva cringed every time she saw Eli kill another.
“Now Niva!” he yelled back to her as he removed his small blade from another’s eye socket. She remained on her knees, frozen solid in fear. She couldn’t move until Aurora put her weak hand onto her shoulder. She had managed to reach her from the table she was laying on. It was like a spark of inspiration. Niva stood to her feet and followed the trail of carnage to Eli who was in the middle of snapping another man’s neck. It didn’t kill him at all, but it did make him less lethal from the front. The infected man turned around so that his back and his newly fashioned face were pointed at Eli. He was a hefty man in a purple flannel shirt. His beard had bits of intestine and other strings of various innards tangled in it from his last meal. At the top of his head, a large, thick, mushroom was starting to grow. Eli swung his scissors at the mushroom, cutting it right off. It was surprisingly sturdy and securely attached to the man’s cranium; it could be compared to ripping a thick stem from a large pumpkin. The man screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. Eli was surprised to see this kind of reaction. Like an open valve, blood rocketed out of the large hole on the top of the man’s scalp. Eli lifted his leg up and kicked the man in the back, sending him tumbling down the stairs and finally killing him in the process.
“Did you see that?” he said to Niva, who was standing at his side in awe.
“It…it was growing out of him.”
“They are becoming the infection. It’s like they are morphing into it.”
“Not only did it kill them; now it’s taking away what made them a human to begin with.” They were dumbfounded, but had no time to dwell on what was happening. They both bolted down the stairs; Niva broke away from Eli at the bottom of the stairs and ran left. She remained hidden from the infected all around her; their attention was still directed outside. She curled up into a ball in one of the cash register slots and waited for a sign from Eli.
Eli, who’d gone to the right, sprinted through aisle after aisle first grabbing a new bag and then his and Aurora’s old bags. He filled them to the brim with food and first aid supplies. He managed to dodge and weave enough to grab Aurora’s gun as well and one machete. Every now and then he had no choice but to stop and fight an infected. Quick, well placed slashes from his small pair of scissors is what kept him alive, slitting throats, snapping necks, and spilling insides had become second nature to Eli. He was on his way back when he had a brilliant idea.
“Bullets!” he nearly yelled out. He pulled a U-turn and ran back for the aisle with guns and ammunition. When he got there he had to jump over the man-made barricade and the two bodies from their earlier gun fight. His shoes sloshed through blood like he was in a swamp. He reached the gun cabinet, but it was bone dry, he looked behind him and saw all the rifles on the ground, soaking in blood. He wanted to grab them all, but he was already getting overburdened by the fifty or so pound backpacks, a machete, a rifle, and he still had to grab bullets for the two guns he and Aurora owned.
Grabbing a cart would have been ideal but it never crossed his mind. On top of all that he didn’t even know what calibers the guns were and didn’t have the time to figure it out. He searched what was left of the nearly bone dry shelves and came across a few boxes of .357 rounds for his hand gun, which still lay, lonely, outside on the street. He fully intended to retrieve it, but he didn’t have a plan quite yet. He came across some .308s for Aurora’s rifle. He didn’t know if she was going to make it, but if not, then the best he could do was carry out her legacy through her gun. Eli felt his calves burn like he was on a never ending Stair master thanks to the extra weight he was carrying. He was on his way back to the front to get Niva’s attention. He came right up on an infected, who turned and screamed at him, causing spit to crash against his face.
Eli just used his forward momentum to run right over the infected, sending him tumbling to the ground. He didn’t have the time to fight anymore; the fungal monsters were quickly starting to lose their interest with the noise that had once come from outside. He was only thirty yards away, but couldn’t see Niva as she was crouched down. He reached the stairs leading up to Aurora.
“Niva?” he yelled out her name, doing the complete opposite of what he wanted to do: avoid their attention. His voice was like a dinner bell; infected snapped their necks around to his location, and a split second later they were charging for him, some walking, some sprinting. Eli’s eyes widened and he rushed up stairs. Behind him he heard a blood curdling scream—it was Niva finally fulfilling her part of the plan. Eli felt a great relief when he heard the footsteps that were just behind him stop dead in their tracks and turn around to head towards the scream.
Niva had stolen away all the attention of the infected from Eli, yet she never stood up, so they had no idea where she was. They searched for her aimlessly, screaming and grunting as they tore apart the front of the store. They threw shopping carts and ripped registers off their stands. Eli reached the office, dropping his bags to the ground as he neared Aurora. He knelt down, knowing deep down that he didn’t have time for this and that Niva needed him, but he couldn’t stop himself. He got close to her face and looked for any sign of life.
“I need a sign, Aurora, anything.” He waited, longer than he should have, but to no avail. He didn’t dare place an ear against her chest as he thought hearing the lack of her heartbeat would be worse than death.
“Please.” He fought back the rush of grief; he needed to be strong. He le
aned in and gave her cold lips a kiss, then rolled to his feet, reaching for his new bag and their old ones.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and like clockwork her eye lids flickered. They never fully opened, nor did she make a noise, but it was enough for him. He would have taken anything, any movement at all, at that point. He grabbed her and threw her over his left shoulder, the still decently injured one, bringing blood to the surface. He slung the heavy bags over his right. It was nearly two hundred pounds of extra weight on his body. He walked slowly, ignoring his pain and exhaustion. Instead he focused all of his physical and mental energy on carrying his burden: Aurora and the bags that would assure they could survive at least a few days longer. His steps pounded at the ground as he made his journey down stairs, yet no one paid him any mind as they continued in their search for the secretive screamer.
Niva poked her head up just enough to lock eyes with Eli as he made his way to the front. There was something in her gut telling her to do so, maybe even fate itself, but she stared at him, longing for his help. She was scared and without any defense. All Eli could offer was a directional nod with his head towards the back door that they had broken in through. He then mouthed something that she could barely make out. He wanted her to wait before she booked for the door as she would quickly outrun him and he might have to drop a piece of the precious cargo to outrun the stalking horde. He turned and headed towards the door, staying clear of every single infected. He reached the door and let the bags go, freeing one arm. He turned back to see if Niva was behind him, but she wasn’t. It gave him an uneasy feeling.
“Come on Niva, we don’t have all day,” he said to himself, using impatience as a scapegoat to hide his fear of her getting caught. Then he heard a window shatter in the distance. It startled him; he readied himself to leave. Within moments, speedy footsteps could be heard echoing through the store, and like a miracle, Niva emerged from an aisle. She had to plant hard into the ground to stop herself from steamrolling right into Eli and the door.