“Pull your pistols boys, never know if one of those things managed to get stuck in here when Richey locked the place up the other day.” Bud said, pulling out one of the shiny old revolvers. Johnny and Roosevelt did the same and stood back as Bud flung open the door. Johnny and Roosevelt were the first ones in sweeping to either side of the building. Rows of candy sat to the right and the cashier's counter on the left as the two men pushed forward. Beyond the candy aisle were rows of chips and jerky and then rows of tools and other things a trucker might need for the job.
“Going left.” Johnny said in a low voice as he stalked toward an attached restaurant passing drink coolers that were set into the wall. Bud followed him in and the two cleared it quickly. When they returned to the front of the store, they spotted Roosevelt tearing into a bag of pork rinds, crunching them loudly.
“Snacks!” He mumbled through a mouthful of the dry, crunchy rinds. Johnny and Bud chuckled.
“Where does he put it all?” Bud asked as he looked over a shelf full of knick-knacks set into the wall.
“Couldn’t tell ya’. All I know is he eats like that every day and never gains a single pound or goes to the gym.” Johnny pointed out. Bud shook his head and grabbed a small glass horse figurine from the shelf. He stuck it in his shirt pocket and then headed back to the front counter to grab two plastic bags. He handed them to Roosevelt and said.
“Two bags of snacks. No more than that. The townspeople might end up needing this stuff before this is over. Johnny you come with me to get the truck filled up before the power goes out again. It’s been spotty for days now and we have no way of getting the place powered back up once it's down.” Bud said, ready to get things done and get back to the small town he called home. The two men pushed through the front doors and headed out to the pumps staying silent as they walked. Before they ever made it to the truck something tackled Bud to the ground with a screaming growl. Johnny spun on his heels to see a skinny white-haired zed on top of Bud snapping its teeth in his face. Bud pushed the thing up, his forearm under its chin and his left hand on its shoulder. Johnny was stunned at the sight. They had checked the place out and found the place to be empty but the scene before him said otherwise.
“Don’t just stand there! Shoot the damn thing!” Bud groaned, his old body starting to give out to the strain. Johnny quickly pulled his Kimber and took aim at the side of the things head.
“Push it up one more time!” Johnny shouted as he steadied his aim. Bud shoved with everything he had left, and Johnny squeezed the trigger. The things head popped like a watermelon, sending chunks of bone, blood and brain matter raining down all over Buds perfect white cowboy hat. Johnny ran forward and grabbed the thing by the shoulder and rolled it off him. Bud pushed the disgusting hat off his head and rolled over out of the mess. He looked up at Johnny to thank him but shouted.
“Look out!” Instead. A shot rang out from the store as something slammed into Johnny’s lower back sending him sprawling to the ground.
“You guys alright?” Roosevelt asked as he ran toward the downed men, two sacks full of snacks in his left hand and a smoking .45 in his right.
“Oh shit.” Roosevelt said, stopping next to the two men and gazing out at the truck parking area to see a herd of zeds bolting out from around the parked trucks.
Chapter Eighteen
9:07 a.m. January 4, 2049
Sweetwater, Tennessee
"Get back inside!" Bud shouted, firing two shots from his revolver, dropping the closest two zombies. The zeds slammed to the ground, sliding across the gravel in a cloud of white dust.
Johnny reached up grabbing Roosevelt's outstretched hand and pulling himself to his feet. He looked back to see the herd racing toward them. There had to have been a hundred of them and more were pouring from the woods across a large field. The three men turned and sprinted toward the front door of the store. Johnny got there first and slammed into the door pushing it inward and holding it open for Roosevelt and Bud. The two men entered behind him and he slammed the door shut, leaning against it. Bud twisted the keys that still hung from the door's lock and pulled them out. Zed's slammed into the door one after the other. Bud reached up and grabbed a white rope that hung just above the door, giving a yank. The quiet room grew louder as the metal gate slammed into the ground and bounced a few times before settling in place. Bud pressed his boot into the bottom of the gate and reached down, inserting a key into the lock, and giving it a twist and locking it in place.
"Let's get away from this door." Bud said.
Johnny nodded.
"Don't need to attract more attention that we have to." Roosevelt said.
"So, what now?" Johnny asked, as he and Roosevelt followed Bud through a door to the side of the building into a garage. The garage was large and lined with oversized air tools and massive wrenches. An old red Peterbilt 379 sat on a lift with the hood
