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.
“What about Bill?” Jason wanted to know about his friend.
“Well, there’s not much I can do for him, since there isn’t much left of him, but we’ll do what we can later. He’s not a priority at this point.” The brunette glared at me for that, and would have said something, but Kristen squeezed her arm and she stayed quiet. “If there’s nothing else, you all should head to the back.” I said.
I walked over to the car and took a look at it. Except for some minor damage, it should run decently. It was a Subaru Outback, and it had only crashed through the doors, scratching the hell out of it. I stepped around Bill and looked into the car. No blood inside that I could see, and the doors were all closed. The keys were in the ignition, so I figured, what the hell? I reached in the window and turned the key, expecting nothing like I had found in so many vehicles before. Imagine my surprise when the darn thing turned over and started! I hopped in the car and pulled it out of the store, hoping the tires would not be punctured by the glass. I grinned like a kid at Christmas as I pulled the car into the parking lot and drove it around to the back. It had nearly a full tank of gas, and might be very useful as a scout vehicle, having four wheel drive capability.
Charlie shook his head as I drove up and grinned at me. “Twenty car dealerships within a ten mile radius and you think that POS is worth keeping.” I laughed. “Its ugly but it has style, just like me.” Charlie laughed. “True that. The first bus load is gone, along with your survivors. Tommy says you want to take it all.” I looked at the
