People Are Not Your Friends 3

by William R. Rohn

  Gunfire erupted from outside. It shattered the windows and flew all around the small sales floor. Sahir ducked down behind the counter and made his way towards the back door.

  Two more men were coming down the back hallway towards him. One had a pistol, the other a rifle. But Sahir saw them first and emptied the clip into them. They both went down.

  Sahir knew that he had to be gone before they stopped being stupid. From the gunfire out front there were quite a few of them. If any of them were smart, then he would be an easy kill.

  He reloaded and then peered out the open door. He didn't see anyone, so he went out and made his way along the back of the building.

  He was just turning back towards the workshop when a pain shot through his leg. He heard the shot as he stumbled and went down. He crawled up against the wall and listened. Someone was moving quickly, not wanting to let their kill get away.

  Sahir leaned out around the corner, bringing up the AK-47. He opened up as soon as he saw the man. The bullets bounced off of the street in front of the man and then rose up catching him in the legs and stomach. The man dropped to the street. Sahir didn't see anyone behind him.

  He leaned back around the corner and looked at his leg. There wasn't much blood. The man had been carrying a shotgun. He'd probably on hit him with one pellet of buckshot. Sahir knew he wouldn't die from the wound, at least not right away. The real danger lay in leaving a blood trail that the marauders could follow. He could get the pellet out of his leg at the workshop.

  Sahir got up and moved away. He put some pressure on the wound, but even he was surprised by how little it bled. It must not have went in real deep. That was good, because he was going to have to dig it out no matter how deep it was in his leg.

  It did hurt every time he came down on his right leg. There was no getting around that. He had made it halfway back when the rain started again. Now it would be to his advantage. Any blood he left would be washed away.

  He heard a vehicle coming and ducked into some bushes. It went by on the street ahead. A pickup full of guys with guns. Right now they were hunting him, but soon he would be hunting them. Then they would be scared. He would give them something to fear.

  Six

  Megan hadn't found Josh. It was around noon. The sky was overcast. It was probably going to rain. She knew that even if Josh had made it out of the shop, she was unlikely just to stumble upon him. There were a lot of places that he could have gone. But she had hoped that she would find him. She wouldn't say that she trusted him, but she didn't not trust him either.

  She looked around a corner and a zombie stood there looking at her only a foot away. She backed up. Her leg caught on something and she fell backwards. She twisted as she fell and got her hand out to brace herself. Pain shot up her arm. She hit and rolled. The zombie came around the corner.

  She scrambled to her feet. Blood dripped down her hand. She gripped the bat and the blood smeared. She hit the zombie in the head. It went down.

  She took a few more steps back and waited, but nothing else came around the corner.

  She looked at her hand. It was scraped raw and bleeding. It wasn't serious, but she would need to clean it or it might get infected. That would be bad.

  It began to rain. She needed to get inside. There was a house a little ways back. She backtracked the way she had come. Megan went around to the back door. Better not to be seen entering by the wrong people.

  She found the back door unlocked. She went inside. It wasn't the neatest house, but it didn't seem to have been ransacked. There wasn't much left in the cupboards or the bathroom cabinets. But there was water still in the toilet reservoir.

  Megan pulled out an empty bottle from her bag and filled it. Then she went over to the sink. Plugged the drain and cleaned her hand as best she could. The main problem she was going to have with her hand, was that it was going to get stiff as it healed. That didn't make for easily gripping a bat. She would probably rip parts of it back open every time she defended herself. Not much that could really be done.

  She heard gunfire outside. Not really close, but too close for her liking. She had best hole up here and try to get some rest. It would be easiest to move around again in the morning.

  Seven

  Lisa untangled herself from Marcus. He was asleep. She had been too, except that nature was calling. This end of the world shit was really upping her sex life. Now she just had to keep surviving.

  There had to be a rest room around here somewhere. She found a hallway with a few doors off of it. Surely it was one of these. It was getting dark outside. The light inside was disappearing fast.

  The first door was a closet with cleaning supplies and a mop and vacuum. There didn't seem to be anything of note in it so she closed it and went to the next door.

  She opened it and it lunged at her. She shrieked. Her first reaction was to cover herself, since she was naked. But flight was a close second.

  "Zombie!" she screamed.

  She could hear Marcus getting up. She ran back towards him. The zombie was close behind. She saw Marcus still naked and without a weapon. He seemed confused.

  "Zombie," she said. "Get a weapon."

  But the zombie was too close. They ran for the door and then went out into the garden. The zombie followed.

  Lisa was keeping close track of the zombie.

  "Maybe we can lead it around in a circle and go back inside," she said.

  "Sounds like a plan," said Marcus.

  They ran by a statue and turned a corner. The statue lopped the zombies head off with a sword. Apparently it wasn't a statue. That would be weird right, a walking statue.

  Eight

  Nishi heard the scream as she neared the dojo. Someone was inside. A woman was screaming about a zombie. It had to be sensei, since he was the only zombie inside. She hadn't wanted to face her teacher, but apparently now was the time.

  She came through the gate and followed the short hedges towards the entryway. But they came running out. A black man and a Latino woman. Both were naked. That was a little odd. Her sensei came stumbling after them. They ran past her.

  She sliced off sensei's head as he neared. The head and the body fell to the ground. The man and woman stopped a few feet away.

  "Thank you," said the woman.

  Nishi bowed her head to her dead sensei. Then looked over at them.

  "What are you doing here?" said Nishi.

  "We were just looking for someplace safe to stay," said the man.

  "Do you always go about naked?"

  "No, we..." said the man.

  "I'm Lisa and this is Marcus," said Lisa. "Our clothes are inside. Can we get them?"

  "Yes," said Nishi.

  She let them lead the way back inside. She was sure they would have weapons with their clothing, but if she was hostile, she might have to kill them also. She didn't want to do this unless she had to.

  "What happened to where you were staying?" said Nishi.

  They were both putting their clothes on.

  "Well I was stuck in a Zippy's Shack," said Lisa. "Marcus and his friend Barry crashed their truck into it. It was time to leave anyway, once the power and water went out. But without them, I couldn't get past the zombies."

  Nishi didn't say anything. She just nodded.

  "We were attacked by the Seventh Street boys. They torched our hangout and killed most of us. Barry and I got away, found Lisa. Then we found a lube shop, but some others were staying there."

  "Then the marauders found us again and we barely escaped. Some of us did anyways," said Lisa.

  "We have all suffered losses," said Nishi.

  "So why was there a zombie in one of your rooms?" said Lisa.

  "He was my teacher. I could not bring myself to kill him."

  "Until now," said Marcus.

  "It was necessary."

  "Well thanks for that," said Lisa. "Where is the restroom anyways?"

  "It is one further down," said Nishi. "Do not worry there are no
other zombies in here."

  Lisa wandered off into the dark. Marcus looked at her. She stared back at him.

  "You have a gun?" he said.

  "I have no need of a gun," said Nishi. She touched the hilt of her katana. "This is better than a gun for the dead."

  "Can we stay the night?"

  "Where else would you go?"

  "Thanks. We can move on in the morning."

  "Where will you go?"

  "I have no idea," said Marcus. "Try to find someplace with food and water."

  "Food will be the hardest," said Nishi. "For water just find a river or lake. That will provide some fish also."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I too will have to leave eventually. There is no food left here and only the water in the ponds."

  "Are the fish edible?"

  "Yes, but they taste bad and there are few left."

  "So you don't know of anyplace to go?"

  "No."

  "What about your family?"

  "They are all dead. sensei was all I had left, but he was like this when I arrived."

  "The whole world has gone to shit."

  "Yes."

  "You sure don't say much."

  "What is there to say?"

  "Not a lot. You had any trouble with any of the marauder gangs?"

  "No," said Nishi. "I only go out when I have to."

  Lisa came back. She stood next to Marcus.

  "She says we can stay," said Marcus.

  "Good," said Lisa. "It sucks out there in the dark."

  "Well then I shall see to teacher and leave you two alone," said Nishi.

  She went out into the night. Looking at sensei's body gave her pause, but it no longer moved. She went around the dojo to a small shed and got a shovel.

  She did not bury him very deep. Digging a hole was not as easy as it seemed. Plus it made a lot of noise. She put him in a depression in the ground that was already there and then covered him with whatever loose dirt she could gather.

  She went back inside and nodded to Marcus and Lisa. Then she retired to the small room where she had been staying. It wasn't much, but she had gathered some blankets and pillows. It was all she needed now.

  She didn't think they would attack her in the night, but you could never tell with people anymore. She went into the small room where she stayed and locked the door. At most it would provide a little warning. She lay on her cushion and held her katana tight. The morning would bring new things as always.

  Nine

  The next morning Megan was back on the move. It all seemed quiet outside. Even the zombies didn't seem to be doing much. She had made good time, but again there was no sign of Josh.

  Megan no longer expected to find him, so where was she going? She didn't know, but suspected that she would know it when she saw it. She kept moving towards the edge of town. Less people should mean less zombies and less problems.

  She heard the vehicle coming. She ducked back into the alleyway that she had just come out of. Zombies came around the corner. First one, then another and another. Until there were five. The engine noise grew louder.

  Megan gripped her bat. Her injured hand tingled. She moved up to the first zombie and brought the bat down on its head. She moved to the side and caught the second zombie with a solid blow that knocked it into the wall. It stumbled and fell, but then started to get up again.

  She heard the vehicle screech to a halt out on the road. Megan ran around the other three zombies and turned the corner. Gunfire erupted behind her. She kept moving.

  She ducked down behind a dumpster. The vehicle was coming closer. It was moving slow. They were searching for her.

  Megan thought about getting out the shotgun. But if she started shooting at them, they would shoot back. If she just ran, they usually would just chase her. For now that seemed like a better plan. She wasn't sure how many there were, but it was unlikely that she could get them all before they shot her. Even a non-fatal bullet wound would probably end up killing her from infection.

  She could hear them. They were close. She got a glimpse of them coming by looking through the crack of space between the dumpster and the wall of the building. There were at least six or eight and they were coming this way.

  Megan took off running. There was houses about a hundred feet away across the road. But she hadn't gone far before she heard the vehicle accelerating behind her.

  She turned up the first cross alley. There were at least five zombies further up. She stopped and ran back. She didn't look at the truck. She kept looking at the houses.

  Another truck full of men pulled into the alley from the street ahead. Her way was blocked. She turned into a cross alley.

  She hit the first zombie hard in the back. He went down. She stumbled, but maintained her feet. She could hear the men behind her.

  "Run baby girl, run," called one.

  "I told you it was her," said another.

  Megan kept going. There were more zombies ahead. She picked up her pace.

  "Megan Jones!"

  Were they calling her name? How did they know who she was? Had they captured Josh? She didn't remember ever telling Josh her last name.

  She ran around two of the zombies and beaned the last one with her bat. There was a solid crunch and it fell down.

  "Your daddy wants to see you Megan!"

  She stumbled. Was her dad still alive? He was their captive. Giving herself up wouldn't help him or her. She ran.

  The second vehicle pulled into the alley ahead of her. Shit. She looked back and saw the first coming down the alley towards her.

  She tried a door into a building. It was locked. She rammed her shoulder into it. Pain shot through her body, but the door didn't open.

  Megan turned and ran back up the alley at the first truck. It stopped and men jumped out. Men with guns.

  There was a ladder attached to the side of one of the buildings. Megan ran towards it and began to climb. Men grabbed her legs and pulled her down. They caught her before she hit the pavement. They took her bat and her bag. She fought with them, but they zip tied her hands behind her back.

  "Time to go see daddy," said one.

  There was nothing Megan could do. They had her. She had always known that it wouldn't be the zombies that got her. It would be the humans.

  Ten

  They took her to a big warehouse that wasn't more than a few miles away. It seemed to be full of all kinds of things. There were more than a few people around. Twenty or more at least. Plus whoever else was out in trucks.

  There were some women about. But there were a lot of women locked inside a fence. At least ten, maybe more. A little ways from the women there were three naked women tied to poles. Megan stared at them. Was that to be her fate?

  As they got closer, Megan could see why they were tied to the poles. They were zombies. One of the men was fucking one of them. There was definitely something wrong here. These people were animals.

  They took her to a small office area inside the warehouse. She saw cases of bottled water and canned foods scattered around. Well now she knew how they survived. They had found a source of food and water for themselves for as long as it lasted. It had never made much sense as to why they went around killing people. Now it made even less sense.

  They led her inside the offices and to an office in the back. Her dad was sitting behind a desk. His feet were kicked up and he was leaning back, relaxing.

  "This her?" said one.

  "That is her," said her dad. "Cut her loose and bring her some food and water. Bring some of that canned chili."

  They cut her loose. Her dad came around the desk, picked up a case of liquor bottles and handed it to the man.

  "Good work," said her dad.

  The man took the case and nodded at her dad. Then he turned and left.

  "What the fuck is going on?" said Megan.

  "Well," said her dad. "I am in charge here now."

  "How? Last I saw you they were parading yo
u around tied up in the back of a truck."

  "That's true. Then opportunity presented itself," he said. "They attacked the wrong people. They were holed up in some lube shop. Fought like rabid dogs."

  "That was me dad. Me and some of my friends were in there."

  "Nothing I could do at the time Megan. Like you said I was tied up in the back of a truck. But during the attack you and your friends killed a fair number of people. Including the leader and most of his lieutenants. That gave me the opportunity I needed."

  "So you took over the marauders?"

  "Somebody had to do it. I only had to kill two challengers and then everybody fell in line. Most of these dumb asses don't want to be in charge."

  "But you did."

  "It's called survival. What happened to Hank?"

  "He's dead."

  "Figured."

  A man came back with some water and a big bowl of chili. He set it on the desk along with a spoon. Then he turned and left.

  "Eat."

  "What is with the women in the cages?"

  "Have to keep the boys happy."

  "They are whores?"

  "Don't give me that attitude. That was in place before I got here. You can't change everything at once."

  "And the zombies?"

  "Boys will be boys."

  "I thought you were in charge?"

  "Like I said. You can't rock the boat too much until things have solidified."

  "How much food you got here?"

  "A lot."

  "Am I free to go?"

  "Where would you go?"

  "Away from here."

  "It's safe here. I can protect you here."

  "It may be safe for you here, but it will never be safe for me. Not while women are kept in cages for the pleasure of the men."

  "Stay for a few days. You will see. We can make changes together."

  "What about Mom and Karla?"

  "I got them looking for them too. But I haven't seen them since before."

  "So you don't think they are alive."